Kamal Rashid Khan (KRK) was arrested on Monday (August 29) over a controversial tweet that the ‘Deshdrohi’ actor posted in 2020.
As per reports, KRK was apprehended shortly after he landed at the Mumbai airport. Popular on social media as a film critic, he will be produced before the Borivali court today.
Maharashtra | Kamal Rashid Khan arrested by Malad Police over his controversial tweet in 2020. He was arrested after he landed at Mumbai Airport. He will be presented before Borivali Court today: Mumbai Police
Earlier, journalist Nikhil Choudhary had posted about the development from his Twitter handle. At this point, it remains unknown as to which tweet led to KRK’s detention and eventual arrest.
Khan was reportedly arrested over his tweets on Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. A complaint was lodged by Yuva Sena member Rahul Kanal in April 2020.
Arrested for tweets about Rishi Kapoor & Irffan Khan. Complaint was lodged by Yuva Sena member Rahul Kanal in April 2020: pic.twitter.com/WbixFYM1BU
The Deshdrohi actor has recently courted controversy for blaming actress Anushka Sharma for the alleged depression of cricketer Virat Kohli.
In a now-deleted tweet, KRK remarked, “Virat Kohli is the first cricketer in India who is having a problem of depression. Ye hai result ek heroine se shaadi karne ka. She must have put in his head that he is having a depression problem.”
Screengrab of the tweet by KRK
KRK has been in the news for some time for his scathing remarks about Salman Khan, Mika Singh, and Aamir Khan. He has gained massive popularity on social media for his film reviews, which have now drawn the ire of Bollywood filmmakers.
On August 12, the ‘Deshdrohi’ actor uploaded a 13-minute long review of the Aamir Khan starrer on Youtube. In his review, KRK has accused Aamir Khan of unnecessarily dragging the movie like chewing gum. “The film has added especially extra 15 minutes to show the greatness of the people of Pakistan,” he added.
Rishi Kapoor is uncle of Kareena Kapoor Khan, who starred along with Aamir Khan in Laal Singh Chaddha. Khan has been quite vocal about criticising the film and has mocked its low collection.
On August 29, Basti Police (Uttar Pradesh) arrested two brothers identified as Irfan and Irshad and their cousin Israr for murdering a 19-year-old Hindu boy Ankit as he allegedly was in a relationship with their sister Ameena Khatun. The sister was also found dead under mysterious circumstances, as per reports.
The incident took place at Padriya Chet Singh village in Ruthauli Police Station area on August 26, and the dead body of the deceased Hindu boy was found the next day. The arrests were made following the post-mortem of Ankit that confirmed he was killed by strangulation.
जांच में पता चला कि इरफान और इरशाद की बहन की मृत्यु भी रहस्यमय परिस्थितियां में हुई थी जिसका अंतिम संस्कार भी इन्होंने कर दिया है। मृतक के परिजनों ने इरशाद, इरफान और उनके परिजनों पर अंकित की हत्या का आरोप लगाया है। मौके पर पुलिस बल तैनात है। मामले में कार्रवाई जारी है: ASP(27.08) pic.twitter.com/3rVO1NHZDx
Inspector General (Basti Range) Ram Krishna Bhardwaj said in a statement, “The post-mortem report of the 19-year-old Dalit youth stated that he died of throttling. No other injury mark except the strangulation mark was found on the youth’s body. The cause of the girl’s death could not be ascertained in the autopsy. There was no injury mark on her body. Her viscera has been preserved and will be sent to a laboratory for examination.”
A Police officer was quoted by Indian Express saying the girl might have died from consuming poison. “This will be corroborated after receiving the viscera report,” he said.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Basti) Deependra Nath Chaudhary said, “The three have confessed to killing the youth… During questioning, they told us that they killed the Dalit youth after they found him with their sister in the house. After killing him, they dragged his body to a nearby field.”
On August 26 (Friday), Ankit received a call from Ameena’s brothers, who asked him for a meeting. He left the house after receiving the call. When he did not return till late in the evening, his family members went to the girl’s house to ask about him. “The brothers told us that they had no information about Ankit. We immediately started looking for him. In the wee hours of Saturday, we came to know from the villagers that the girl had died, and the family was burying her dead body in the village,” Ankit’s elder brother said.
Suspecting foul play, Ankit’s family started looking for him near their house and found the body of Ankit just 100 metres away from their house. Ankit’s elder brother, who drove a tractor at the farm of the accused, said, “We found my brother’s body and immediately informed the police.” A complaint was filed by Ankit’s family based on which Ameena’s brothers and cousin were booked for murder (302) and destruction of evidence (201). The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has also been invoked against the three accused.
During the initial investigation, Police found that Ankit was in regular contact with the girl who belonged to an affluent family.
The area is Hindu-dominant, and everyone is in shock by the incident. Heavy Police forces have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order.
DSP Noor Mustafa of Dumka has been suspended following allegations of negligence and helping the accused Shahrukh Hussain in weakening the case. 19 year old schoolgirl Ankita was set on fire by Shahrukh after she repeatedly rejected his advances. Shahrukh used to stalk her and as per Ankita’s father had asked her to convert to Islam and marry him.
At the time the country erupted in anger over the horrifying incident the chief minister of state, Hemant Soren, was out on a picnic with his colleague MLAs. The visuals during Shahrukh’s arrest also show how he was smiling as if he knew he would get away with it.
The local DSP Noor Mustafa has been accused of trying to save Shahrukh. Former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi shared some documents stating that DSP Mustafa has not only been anti-tribals but also had a communal trait to him.
इसी आधार पर ज़ुल्फ़िकार को बेल मिल गया।उसके बाद डीएसपी नूर मुस्तफ़ा ने उसके जेल से निकल जाने के कुछ देर बाद चार्जशीट कर दिया।
आदिवासियों के नाम पर घड़ियाली आंसू बहाने वाले सीटीबाज मुख्यमंत्री हेमंत सोरेन जी, बताइये न, ऐसे अफ़सर को जेल में होना चाहिये या नहीं? 2/2
Ex-CM Marandi said that one Zulfikar, who exploited tribals, was booked under the SC/ST Act and was sent to jail. Noor Mustafa allegedly did not file chargesheet for 90 days. In the documents shared by Marandi, this information is given along with the signature of the judge. On basis of these documents, Zulfikar got the bail. As per Marandi, DSP Noor Mustafa filed the chargesheet some time after Zulfikar got out of the jail.
As per reports, DSP Noor Mustafa has been suspended.
Meanwhile, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has raised concerns about change in demography in Jharkhand. He said that what happened to Ankita has happened to thousands of girls and women in Jharkhand.
यह सिर्फ डेमोग्राफिक ही नहीं बदलना चाहते बल्कि ज़मीन का भी जिहाद कर रहे हैं। बंग्लादेशी जिहादियों ने अब तक 10,000 एकड़ ज़मीन हड़प ली है। मैं सरकार से मांग करता हूं की SIT गठन कर इसपर फास्ट्रैक मामला चलाया जाए: झारखंड के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री और भाजपा के राष्ट्रीय उपाध्यक्ष रघुबर दास pic.twitter.com/LKrQXiA4oo
Das said that what happened to Ankita is not a normal incident and is a part of larger conspiracy where people of one community are trying to forcefully convert people of other faith to Islam and thereby change demography. He also talked about illegal encroachment of land by Islamists and said that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have taken over about 10,000 acre land. He also demanded formation of SIT and fasttrack the case.
Sanjeev Singh, the distraught father of the deceased Dumka girl Ankita Kumari, has told Swarajya that the accused Shahrukh Hussain was forcing his daughter to marry him and convert to Islam. Ankita Kumari, a student studying in class 12, suffered a painful death after she refused the advances of Shahrukh Hussain, who set her on fire for rejecting him. She succumbed to her injuries in the hospital during the early hours of Sunday.
Speaking to the news portal, Singh said, “Shahrukh used to tell her – marry me, accept Islam, else I will make your life hell.”
“He Was Forcing My Daughter To Convert To Islam And Marry Him”: Sanjeev Singh, father Of Ankita Who Died After Stalker Set Her On Fire. Told Swarajyahttps://t.co/JFxSFkID4e
When Swarjya questioned Ankita’s father about whether Shahrukh used a different name to introduce himself, Sanjeev Singh responded in the negative. He said he introduced himself as Shahrukh Hussain right from day one but kept hounding her and pressuring her to convert to Islam. “He kept on forcing my daughter to marry and convert for months. He was a one-sided lover, a stalker,” Singh said.
Swarajya journalist Subhi Vishwakarma uploaded the audio wherein Ankita Kumari’s father can be heard saying the same while speaking to the news portal.
I talked to Sanjeev Singh, father of Ankita, when she was still in hospital. This is what he told me (@SwarajyaMag). Sharing a brief recording; pic.twitter.com/iVy2fSNSk0
Further detailing how the accused tortured his daughter, Singh said that Shahrukh Hussain was stalking his daughter for more than a year now. He was pursuing her to have a “love relationship” with him. She used to be followed by Shahrukh as she made her way to school. He managed to get her phone number from someone and began calling her, said the father of the deceased Dumka girl.
Singh added that Shahrukh Hussain also tried to lure her on the pretext of getting her a job in the police when she turned down his proposal saying she had career ambitions.
The father recalled how terrified Ankita Kumari was of the entire scenario that despite being an excellent student, she began missing school frequently after Shahrukh began tormenting her. She also insisted that her father accompanies her to the coaching classes.
Sanjeev also shared that Shahrukh “crossed all limits” a few months ago when he attempted to barge inside their residence.
It was only after the children inside the house shouted that neighbours came and helped them in grabbing Shahrukh. “They even beat him. But his behaviour did not change,” Sanjeev Singh told Swarajya.
It may be recalled that Ankita Kumari, who was set ablaze by her stalker neighbour named Shahrukh Hussain on Tuesday (August 23) morning in Dumka in Jharkhand, died on Sunday in hospital. Ankita breathed her last at 2:30 AM on Sunday morning. She was admitted to Ranchi RIMS for treatment.
Jharkhand girl Ankita, who was poured with petrol and set on fire by neighbour-stalker Shahrukh Hussain, died last night. Her father Sanjeev Singh told me she breathed her last at 2.30 am. Till last evening, she was asking every visitor to tell her honestly if she would survive pic.twitter.com/ppFTGEHIAU
Heart-rending last statement of Dumka girl Ankita who was set on fire by Shahrukh Hussain surfaces
Today, two videos surfaced on social media containing the deceased’s painful, heart-rending dying statement. In the first video, Ankita Kumari was heard saying that Shahrukh Hussain had threatened her with dire consequences the night before the attack. Ankita said near the end of the video that she wishes Shahrukh is not spared. “He should die the way I am dying today,” said the Dumka girl.
In the second video that surfaced, the deceased had said that Shahrukh Hussain’s brother had warned action against those who dare to complain against Shahrukh and get him arrested. Ankita also recalled how Shahrukh’s brother had openly threatened her. “He had threatened me saying kill the girl who got him (Shahrukh Hussain) arrested.”
Notably, Ankita had also told the police in a critical state that Shahrukh, used to harass her every day. He used to approach her and seek her friendship. He had also obtained her phone number and used to call her repeatedly, asking her for friendship. When Ankita chastised him for not stopping, he threatened to kill her.
Ankita informed her father of this on Monday. When she woke up the next morning, her body was in flames as she ran up to family members who attempted to extinguish the fire. Her family then hurriedly took her to Phoolo Jhano Medical College Hospital in Dumka and she was later shifted to RIMS in Ranchi where she succumbed to her injuries.
In the hospital, Ankita named Shahrukh as the culprit behind the horrific crime. After taking Ankita and her family members’ statements, police arrested Shahrukh the same day.
Recent events suggest that being a security guard in a society in the National Capital Region (NCR) is a very hazardous job. The risk doesn’t seem to be from intruders or outsiders, but from the residents of the housing societies where they are employed.
The latest case has come from The Close North Society in Sector 50 of Gurugram where a man repeatedly slapped the security guard and the liftman. The incident happened after the lift got stuck for 3-4 minutes on the ground floor of one of the towers in the society.
The security guard, Ashok Kumar, shared that at 7:20 in the morning, a resident got stuck in one of the lifts due to a technical glitch. The resident contacted Kumar via intercom and Kumar in turn called the liftman to open the lift. As per Kumar, the liftman was there within 3-4 minutes and managed to get the door opened.
However, immediately after coming out of the lift, the resident started slapping the security guard repeatedly. When the liftman tried to intervene, he was also confronted by the irate resident. A CCTV recording of the incident has since gone viral on social media.
Sharing updates about the incident, Virender Vij, DCP east, said, “With reference to a video in which a security guard is being beaten up, we have registered an FIR. The accused has been detained.”
Noida resident arrested for abusing security guards
Earlier this month, a lawyer Bhaavya Roy was arrested after she was seen abusing and hitting security personnel at a housing complex in Noida. The woman was arrested after a complaint was filed against her by the police in Noida. She was later released on bail.
The guard who was assaulted said the woman started to abuse him by pulling the window down, and when he requested her not to abuse him as he has already opened the gate, she got offended, got out of the car, and started abusing him more. The guard also claimed that the woman had behaved like this earlier also.
On Friday (August 26), former CEO of Prasar Bharti, Shashi Shekhar Vempati, debunked the anti-India propaganda of the New York Times and its guest essayist Debasish Roy Chowdhury.
In an article titled, ‘Modi’s India is Where Global Democracy dies’, Chowdhury cast aspersions on India’s vibrant democracy and its institutions. The Hong Kong-based journalist claimed that India has embraced intolerance, Hindu supremacy and majoritarianism.
He further alleged that the country has shunned ideals of secularism, pluralism and religious tolerance under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chowdhury was irked by the fact that the United States did not reprimand India, despite his concerted efforts to demonise the country.
Screengrab of the article in the New York Times
The New York Times’ guest essayist went on to claim that India has descended into tyranny, a process that has somehow accelerated under the BJP rule. He, however, failed to provide evidence for the same.
In a bid to appear neutral, he briefly criticises the 34-year-long Communist regime in West Bengal and the incumbent Trinamool Congress dispensation. Chowdhury claimed that the Indian government has failed the poor citizens, despite the Centre implementing multiple policies for their welfare.
He then used the same tricks employed by an average leftist to shame India at a global level. That included stories about perpetual Muslim victimhood, supposed breakdown of the law and order system, aspersions on the credibility of the Judiciary and supposed curbing of dissent in India.
Chowdhury also attempted to create hysteria about an impending ‘Muslim genocide’, redefining of ‘secular India as a Hindu State’, weaponisation of law against ‘minority’ Muslim community and supposed State patronage to convicted rapists of Bilkis Bano.
Shashi Shekhar exposes the pro-China bias of Debasish Roy Chowdhury
In an article in The Print, Shashi Shekhar Vempati ripped through the guest essay by the Hong Kong-based journalist in The New York Times. At the very onset, the ex-CEO of Prasar Bharti pointed out how China has been actively using social media influencers to disseminate pro-Beijing propaganda.
He also cited another research report wherein Standford Internet Observatory found a network of Facebook and Twitter handles peddling Western narratives in specific geographical regions.
Shashi Shekhar stated how a recent analysis in the peer-reviewed journal of the Indian Institute of Mass Communications (IIMC) exposed the use of sensational headlines and trigger keywords in foreign publications to defame India on an international scale.
Screengrab of the article by Shashi Shekhar Vempati in The Print
“The guest essay in The New York Times is a typical example of the kind of narratives global mainstream media have been carrying on India for some time now. Curiously, the article had little to say about ‘global democracy’ despite the title,” he emphasised.
The former CEO of Prasar Bharti listed various pro-China and anti-India articles by Debasish Roy Chowdhury, dating back to 2008. He remarked, “From questioning the role of anti-China narratives in Bollywood to blaming Indian media for ratcheting up China tensions, this essayist seems to have built quite a resume over the years, batting for China at times overtly and at other times subtly while tiarding against Modi’s India.”
Shashi Shekhar also pointed out how Chowdhury has been soft on pro-democratic protests in Hong Kong and has tried to mainstream the fake narrative that India provoked the Sino-Indian war of 1962.
“Stunning though is how between 2019 and 2022, more than 25 articles by this author have singularly focused on the so-called death of democracy in Modi’s India with not even a single instance of mildly positive commentary,” he emphasised.
The meltdown of John Keane and his pro-China bias
Shashi Shekhar’s article in The Print ruffled the feathers of a Sydney-based political scientist named John Keane. He tweeted, “Falsely accused by Modi toady Shashi of defaming India and writing ‘paeans to China’, my co-author coolly explains why Modi’s India is the world’s biggest failing democracy…”
Interestingly, Keane and Debasish Roy Chowdhury are the co-authors of a 2021 propaganda book titled, ‘To Kill a Democracy: India’s Passage to Despotism.’ As such, his sudden urge to defend Chowdhury makes perfect sense.
After all, John Keane’s pro-China antecedents are out in the public domain since 2018. In an article published by Inside Story, Professor John Fitzgerald reveals how the political scientist has been an apologist for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Reportedly, Keane dislikes the association of authoritarianism with China. “He dismisses authoritarianism as a convenient label, or “mantra,” employed by blinkered observers to distract readers from the protean experiment that is China and to blind them to what the country has to offer to the world,” wrote Fitzgerald.
Screengrab of the news report in Inside Story
According to the Professor, Keane finds the Chinese one-party system ‘enduring’, given that it enjoys popular support. To his mind, the Communist country is in fact a ‘phantom democracy.’
Fitzgerald states, “He finds that the omnipresence of the word “democracy” in Chinese films, in textbooks, in uplifting speeches and declarations, in conversations with visiting scholars such as himself, suffices to warrant China’s inclusion in the ranks of democratic countries.”
Keane claims that China is inching towards a form of democracy by winning the consent of the public through opinion polling, time limits for officeholders and conduct of local elections.
The CCP apologist has even written a book titled, ‘When Trees Fall, Monkeys Scatter: Rethinking Democracy in China,’ to mislead people into believing that the communist country is gradually turning democratic.
While non-State actors and pro-China lapdogs have been desperately trying to tarnish India’s image globally, John Keane’s attempt to defend Debasish Roy Chowdhury over the latter’s tirade in his latest column in the New York Times that vilified PM Modi and India demonstrates that global propagandists have been working in tandem to reinforce their narrative and suppress voices that seek to call out their treachery.
For five years, Shahrukh Hussain harassed a Hindu girl student in Dumka, Jharkhand. He eventually set her ablaze by pouring petrol on her while she was asleep, and the girl, Ankita Singh, died during treatment. The region where this tragedy occurred has long been a bastion of the state’s ruling party and the family of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. He has previously served as an MLA from Dumka. Shibu Soren, his father, has served as an MP from this district seven times. In such a scenario, the occurrence of such an incident in this area directly raises doubts about the government’s functioning style, because it is the governing party’s heartland.
Ankita Singh dies, Hemant Soren Government continues to enjoy their picnic
First and foremost, let’s talk about the recent incident in Dumka. Ankita Singh was a class 12 student, and her father sustained the family by running a grocery store. Shahrukh used to call Ankita over the phone and harass her. He used to tease Ankita on the way to school, which forced her to stop going to school. He set fire to Ankita, who was asleep, at 4 AM after throwing petrol from the window. The Hindu student died after a week of the struggle for her life in the hospital.
Following the incident, the locals became enraged and protested demanding action. Shahrukh’s smiling face while in police custody added fuel to the fire. Since we live in the age of social media, the demand for justice cannot be silenced with old government techniques. The police administration tried it and enacted Section-144, which prohibits citizens from raising their voices. People yelled anti-administration chants in response and demanded the hanging of Shahrukh during Ankita’s funeral.
It may come as a surprise that the police and district administration are currently less focused on punishing Shahrukh Hussain and more on how to ensure that this event does not disrupt the picnic of the JMM MLAs led by Hemant Soren. Is it not allowed to seek justice in the state ruled by the ‘Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)’? Even though there was no violence or arson, why was Section 144 imposed? This is not the first time that this has been done to silence Hindus’ concerns.
And where is Hemant Soren, the Chief Minister? In Latratu, he is having a picnic with his MLAs. He is accused of having a conflict of interest in allocating himself a coal mine and may lose his assembly seat as well. However, Jharkhand’s ruling coalition is engaged in ‘resort politics’ with its MLAs. 43 MLAs were taken for a picnic in three buses. In Khunti, the Jharkhand government is enjoying mutton-rice, while Ankita Singh’s destitute family is mourning her death.
Not the first instance of suppressing Hindu voices in Jharkhand
Do you recall Rupesh Pandey’s murder? Rupesh Pandey was killed by Muslims in Hazaribagh during Saraswati Puja. Section-144 was imposed in Barhi in February 2022, after Hindus demanded justice in this case. After 17-year-old Rupesh Pandey was lynched during the immersion of Saraswati Puja, communal tensions escalated in the area, and religious structures were also vandalised. What action did the government take in response, imposed Section 144.
Similarly, in January 2020, an artist named Neeraj Prajapati was slain after a pro-CAA march in Lohardaga was stormed by a mob yelling ‘Pakistan Zindabad.’ The government enforced a curfew at the time, not just Section-144.
Sympathisers from all around the country, however, gathered money for the unfortunate victim’s family. Common people, on the other hand, were deprived of pulses and vegetables owing to the government curfew.
Now we should recollect the assassination of VHP leader Mukesh Soni in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand. He was a jewellery merchant, and following his death in December 2021, enraged Hindus flocked to the streets. Following this, the government deployed a huge number of policemen to prevent Hindus from protesting for justice. Mukesh Soni, who used to live in Khalari, used to own a business in McCluskeyganj. Even then, Hindu organisations highlighted concerns about Hindus’ safety in the state.
Air ambulance for rioter Nadeem, while Ankita’s family struggled for her treatment
After all, why does Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren government want Hindus to continue dying whilst also remaining silent? At the same time, what is the JMM government’s position on Muslims? When stone pelter Nadeem Ansari was hurt in a riot in Ranchi in June 2022, he was treated at the cost of the government. He was transported by air ambulance. Nadeem was flown to Delhi by air ambulance, but when Ankita Singh was referred to RIMS, her family struggled to pay for her treatment.
अब इससे दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण और क्या होगा? एक सीटीबाज मुख्यमंत्री से राज्य में महिलाओं के सम्मान और सुरक्षा की इससे ज्यादा उम्मीद भी नहीं की जा सकती। अब कम से कम फास्टट्रैक कोर्ट का गठन कर हत्यारे को फाँसी दिलाये मुख्यमंत्री, ताकि मृतका के परिजनों को न्याय मिले।#JusticeForAnkita
Not an air ambulance, but if an ordinary ambulance was provided in time and Ankita Singh had been treated at RIMS from the start, she may have survived. However, as stone pelter Nadeem was treated at AIIMS, the destiny of innocent Ankita was predetermined. Jharkhand government officials are still facing charges of cover-up in this matter. No minister-MLA visited to see Ankita or her family for the number of days she was in the hospital.
In a horrific incident from Dumka in Jharkhand, young student Ankita Kumari was burnt to death by Shahrukh Hussain. After Ankita refused the advances of Shahrukh, he threw petrol on her while she was sleeping and then set her on fire. Ankita later lost the fight for her life in the hospital and died during the early hours of Sunday.
It was interesting to note how this horrific crime was covered by “liberal” news outlets like NDTV. While they have never shied away from naming religions of the people involved in the headlines in the past, even for crimes where no communal angle was involved, this time not only did they avoid mentioning the religions, but even stopped short of naming the accused in the headline.
In fact, the headline only referred to Shahrukh Hussain as “the stalker” and Ankita as “Jharkhand schoolgirl”. The report titled “Jharkhand Schoolgirl Dies After Stalker Set Her On Fire: Police” was published by NDTV on Monday, 29th of August.
It would not have raised any eyebrows if this was the standard style guide for NDTV where they avoided mentioning religions or the names of the people involved in such incidents. However, as we can see in this report, from the same state of Jharkhand, the news channel hasn’t shied away from highlighting religion when their own report, later on, says that there was no communal angle to the crime.
The double standards of NDTV while reporting such incidents were very visible to the people online, and quickly got highlighted.
This is not an arbitrary decision to highlight religion in the headline in one case, and hide it in the other case. It is regularly done by mainstream Indian news channels to reinforce the narrative that the victims can only belong to one religion, and the aggressor always comes from one particular religion. If the victim is Hindu, the mention of religion disappears from the headlines but reappears when a Muslim ends up being the victim.
Apart from this selective mention of religion in the headlines, sometimes the media selects a new name for the aggressor when he is a Muslim. India Today, for example, today changed the name of Shahrukh Hussain in this case to Abhishek while reporting about the incident. Online outrage forced them to correct the name in their report and quietly update it.
This is not a new practice in the Indian media industry and is unlikely to change any time soon. If we are expecting consistency in reporting for all crimes, I am afraid it is going to be a long wait.
On August 29, Finance Minister of Pakistan Miftah Ismail said that the government could consider reopening trade with India to import vegetables and other edible items. Miftah was answering a media query during a recent press conference that was held in Islamabad. He said it would facilitate people in view of the recent floods that have destroyed crops across the country.
According to Dunya News, when Miftah was asked what if his statements of pro-trade with India affect his post, he said, “I am working for the improvement of the economy, I hope I will not be fired.” He added that the fruits and vegetable supply is likely to get affected by the floods and that Pakistan has to import them. “If we have to import vegetables from India, we will do so,” he said.
In August 2019, Pakistan suspended all ties with India after the latter abrogated Article 370, which granted separate status to Jammu and Kashmir and passed legislation that turned the state into two independent union territories. Rattled by India’s move, Pakistan called an NSC meeting that arrived at the decision of severing trade between the two countries, downgrading bilateral diplomatic ties with India and raising the issue of Kashmir in the United Nations Security Council, among other things.
However, days after severing all ties with India, Pakistan felt the heat as the prices of vegetables, most notably tomatoes, started to soar. In August 2019, days after Pakistan abruptly cut off trade ties with India, tomato prices in Pakistan went through the roof, triggering a domestic crisis in the country. The prices of tomatoes in Pakistan had soared to Rs 300 per kg. Prices of various other vegetables, including potatoes, onions and green vegetables in Pakistan, had also risen considerably, given its high dependence on exports from India.
A similar situation is being seen in Pakistan as the price of fruits and vegetables is on the rise. Reports suggest that the price of Tomato has touched PKR 500 per KG while the onion is being sold at a retail price of PKR 400 per KG. The prices may touch PKR 700 in the coming days if the supply of fruits and vegetables is not restored.
Naeem alias Chhotu Khan, the second culprit in the murder of Hindu student Ankita in Dumka, has been apprehended by police in Jharkhand. Naeem was absconding after the incident. The primary accused, Shahrukh Hussain, was apprehended by police on August 23.
Jharkhand | Naeem alias Chhotu Khan, the second accused in Dumka murder case, has been arrested. After presenting the accused in Dumka court, he was sent to jail: Dumka SP Amber Lakra https://t.co/Fu6bDvGAOdpic.twitter.com/J2qdAW9iKf
According to Dumka Superintendent of Police Amber Lakra, Naeem was arrested and produced in court after which he was sent to jail. The horrific attack on Ankita happened on Tuesday (August 23) morning in Dumka in Jharkhand.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that SDPO Noor Mustafa Khan has been removed as the Investigation Officer from the case. There were protests from the locals regarding negligence by SDPO Noor Mustafa in investigating the case. Reports also suggest that former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das accused Noor Mustafa of being involved with the radical Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).
Ankita died struggling for life on Sunday
On Sunday, Ankita Kumari, who was being treated at a hospital in Jharkhand after Shahrukh Hussain poured petrol on her and set fire to her, died in hospital. Ankita had rejected Shahrukh Hussain’s advances, so he doused her with petrol and set her ablaze.
Ankita had told the police in a critical state that her neighbour, Shahrukh, used to harass her every day. In the past, he would approach her and want to be ‘friends’ with her. Additionally, he had her phone number and had called her frequently, appealing for a relationship. When Ankita chastised him for not stopping, he threatened to kill her.
Ankita told her father about the incident on Monday (August 22). However, when she got up the next morning, her body was engulfed in flames as she ran up to family members attempting to extinguish the fire. Her relatives rushed her to the hospital. It was found in the hospital that Ankita had suffered severe burns. It turned out that Shahrukh went to Ankita’s house on Tuesday morning, poured petrol on Ankita through a window when she was asleep in her bed and torched her, and then fled from the scene.
Ankita identified Shahrukh as the perpetrator in the hospital. The following day, authorities nabbed Shahrukh after recording testimonies from Ankita and her family members. She was brought to Phoolo Jhano Medical College Hospital in Dumka but was later transferred to RIMS in Ranchi due to her serious condition. Ankita’s family members hoped she would survive. However, due to severe burns which were reportedly around 90%, she was unable to recuperate and died around 2:30 AM on Sunday.
