The Twitter feud between Arvind Kejriwal and Himanta Biswa Sarma continued on Monday as Assam CM slammed the Delhi CM for mocking the poor states and called for parity in the distribution of wealth, suggesting that India should have five capitals, one in each zone.
“Having been engaged in a dialogue with Delhi CM Shri @ArvindKejriwal, who’s by now in habit of mocking at other states, I’m of the view that we should work on curing the disease of disparity, and not mock poor states. Can we have 5 Capitals of India, one in every zone?” Sarma tweeted.
Having been engaged in a dialogue with Delhi CM Shri @ArvindKejriwal, who’s by now in habit of mocking at other states, I’m of the view that we should work on curing the disease of disparity, and not mock poor states. Can we have 5 Capitals of India, one in every zone? 1/3
In another tweet, the Assam CM elaborated that having five capitals in each zone would ensure that governments like Delhi will not have massive wealth at their disposal vis a vis North East and states from East.
Sarma also highlighted how the North East had been neglected for over 70 years, and it was after PM Modi came to power in 2024 that the focus shifted to the North East.
“Finally, after seven decades of denial & negligence, the mainstreaming of the North East started in 2014 by Hon PM, and the pace of progress is unrelenting. North East does not need sympathy & ridicule, we need what’s due to us – respect, resources and regeneration,” Sarma said in the third tweet.
Sarma’s suggestion, calling for having five capitals of India, came after the Delhi CM mocked the Assam government over reports of closures of several educational institutes in the state in the wake of poor performance in the HSLC examinations, results for which were declared in June this year.
Twitter spat between Arvind Kejriwal and Himanta Biswa Sarma
The saga began on August 25 when Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal criticized the Assam govt for the decision to merge 34 schools with other schools following their poor performance in board exams. Quoting a report saying that the Assam govt has ordered to close 34 schools after not a single student could pass the 10th exam from those schools, Kejriwal tweeted that closing schools are not the solution. “We need to open many new schools all over the country. Instead of closing the school, improve the school and make education right,” he had added.
Responding to this, Sarma stated that Assam had opened 8610 new government schools which included 8391 private schools taken over by the government in the state. “How many new schools Delhi Government has started in the last 7 yrs?”, he had pondered.
While the Assam CM and everyone else was waiting for Kejriwal to respond with the corresponding numbers for Delhi, he decided to dodge the question completely. Instead, he claimed that he was not criticizing Assam’s education system; instead, everyone should learn from each other to make the country number one. Then he offered to visit Assam to see the Assam government’s work in education, and invited Sarma to Delhi so that he can show his government’s work in the sector.
However, Himanta Biswa Sarma lambasted Kejriwal for his attempt to compare the education sector in both states. Pointing out how the scale of the challenge in Assam is vastly different from what Kejriwal faces in Delhi, he tweeted, “Your ignorance is painful. Let me help you. Assam is 50 times bigger than Delhi! Our 44521 govt schools teach 65 lakh students- against your 1000+ odd schools. Our army of dedicated teachers numbers 2+ lakh; Midday meal workers 1.18 lakh. Fathom it?”
He added that, unlike Delhi, Assam has to manage the fury of floods, deal with militancy, negotiate hilly & tough terrains – and yet deliver high-quality education. Pointing out further differences between the two states, Assam CM said, “We impart education in six mediums including 14 different tribal languages. Our diversity is something that we’re proud of, cherish, & ensure to thrive through our unique education system. And yes, we do not have resources like that in Delhi. We’re proud of what we’ve and do!”
On Monday, August 29, the district administration and police in the Barpeta district in Assam demolished a Madarsa, run by Maulvis Akbar Ali and his brother Abul Kalam Azad, arrested for their links with Bangladesh-based terror outfit Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).
The madarsa named Shaikhul Hind Mahmudul Hasan Jamiul Huda Islamic Academy against which the action was taken was located at Dhakaliapara in the Barpeta district of Assam and said to be illegally constructed on government land. The administration demolished the illegal structure under the Disaster Management Act & UAPA Act.
During the eviction drive, heavy presence of security personnel was seen in the area.
Amitava Sinha, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Barpeta district confirmed that the madarsa was illegally constructed on government land and that there is a link between the arrested cleric and the madarsa.
Assam | 2 more persons linked with AQIS/ABT in Barpeta district arrested. Police also conducted an eviction drive in a Madrasa in Barpeta as it was illegally constructed on government land & also has a link with the two arrested accused: Amitava Sinha, SP Barpeta https://t.co/bvsQPRcvRX
The Assam police had reportedly detained Akbar Ali and his brother Abul Kalam Azad from a house in the Sorbhog area of the district on Saturday night. “Following their interrogation overnight, they were arrested on Sunday,” a police officer said. When produced before a local court, they were remanded to 10 days in police custody, he said.
The police also arrested Mahmunur Rashid, the principal of the madarsa.
Notably, the aforementioned Madarsa had housed the Bangladeshi terrorist Md Suman alias Saiful Islam, who was arrested by the Assam police in March this year. Md Suman reportedly stayed here along with one of his aides, who is still on the run.
Media reports confirmed that the now arrested Bangladeshi terrorist Akbar Ali, along with his brother Abul Kalam Azad use to help Md Suman alias Saiful Islam and his accomplice in their illegal activities.
As per reports, Md Suman had been carrying out jihadi activities under the guise of a madarsa teacher since 2019. Under the supervision of Md Suman, this madrasa became the epicentre of jihadi activities.
In March this year, the Barpeta police arrested Md Suman alias Saiful Islam and four others based on an intelligence report shared by the Special Branch of the state police.
The police had then said that Md Suman had indoctrinated the other four arrested accused in a bid to develop Barpeta as a base for jehadi activities for AQIS. The police also recovered documents and several electronic devices including mobile, laptops, and pen drives, along with jihadi literature.
Assam crackdown on Jihadi terrorists operating from mosques and madarsas
The demolition and the arrest were a part of the ongoing crackdown on Jihadi terrorists operating from mosques and madarsas in the state. Prior to this, on August 26 (Friday), the Assam Police arrested another person linked to Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in Assam’s Goalpara district.
Hafizur Rahman Mufti, the arrested terrorist, is a resident of Goalpara and was working as a cleric in a madarsa located in the region.
On Saturday, the Assam police arrested two more imams linked with Islamic terror groups. The two Imams were arrested by the Goalpara Police in Assam as part of a broad anti-terror operation against the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and the Islamic terrorist group Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent. After being questioned by police for many hours, Jalaluddin Sheikh (49), the imam of Tilapara Natun Masjid, and Abdus Subhan (43), the imam of Tinkunia Shantipur Masjid, Mornoi, were both taken into police custody.
Notably, the crackdown on Jihadi terrorists by the Assam police came weeks after the Morigaon district administration demolished the Jamiul Huda Madarsa in the Moirabari area. The madrasa was sealed after Mufti Mustafa, who was running it, was arrested for his links with Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team & AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent).
On August 29, Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal tabled a ‘vote of confidence’ in the Assembly. During his address in the house, he spoke about several issued and presented his party’s stand by bluntly using misinformation and lies.
‘Tax on wheat, lassi etc. causing inflation’
At the beginning of his address, CM Kejriwal claimed that people have stopped buying vegetables at one time and reduced consumption of milk and milk products because of inflation. He said this was for the first time in the history of Independent India that curd, honey, wheat, rice and other products had been taxed. He further claimed not even the British government imposed a tax on these things before independence.
The matter of tax on food items, including curd, wheat etc., was cleared by Union Finance Minister in the month of July after there were reports that these items were going to get costlier because of GST. In a series of Tweets, Nirmala Sitharaman pointed out that before GST was implemented, states were charging VAT or Value Added Tax on food grain that varied from one per cent to six per cent.
It must also be noted that items specified below in the list, when sold loose, and not pre-packed or pre-labeled, will not attract any GST. (10/14) pic.twitter.com/NM69RbU13I
After the implementation of GST, there were some issues faced due to the non-uniform taxation system for branded and non-branded packed items. Upon the request of the stakeholders, the decision was taken in the presence of all state representatives to impose a uniform tax only on the packed items. If these items are sold loose, no GST will be implemented. Items that were exempted from taxes if sold lose include pulses, wheat, oats, maize, rice, curd, lassi, besan, puffed rice and more.
‘Govt imposed a tax on Garba’ claimed Kejriwal
The second blunt lie that Kejriwal told in the Assembly was about imposing a tax on Garba. This incomplete and ill-informed statement that was made by Kejriwal in the Assembly was busted weeks ago. Kejriwal said, “Gujarat is known for Garba Dance. People worship Devi Maa during Navratri and do the Garba with devotion. But now they have imposed a tax on Garba as well.”
On August 4, OpIndia did a fact-check on the claims that were circulating on social media about the tax on Garba events. Congress and AAP were spreading misinformation that GST was implemented at Garba events. The fact, however, is that the state government has not imposed any fresh GST on Garba or any such event. Basically, prior to the implementation of GST, service tax on the entrance to such events was imposed at a rate of 15% if the ticket price per person was greater than Rs 500. In addition to service tax, VAT was also levied on goods used for organizing such events.
Notably, when Goods and Services Tax (GST) came into effect on July 1 2017, under the government’s ‘One Nation, One Tax’ policy, it subsumed 17 large taxes and 13 cesses levied by the central and state governments like VAT, octroi, luxury tax, purchase tax, and central taxes like customs duty, central excise duty, and service tax.
The 18% GST on the admission ticket for Garba or any such event if the price of entry is above Rupees 500 per person has been applicable from January 1, 2018, and not introduced this year as being peddled by some media houses and the opposition parties. Since then, the position has remained the same.
Notably, GST is only levied on tickets that cost more than Rs 500 for professional Garba events held at party sites, clubs, and stadiums. Residential societies are organizing Garba and issuing tickets to residents, if under 500, they are not taxed.
The lies about loan waivers
Next, CM Kejriwal talked about loan waivers that never happened. He said, “There are friends of this government. These friends are billionaires. They took thousands of crores worth of loans from the banks. After taking the loans, they intended not to repay them. They approached the government and asked for a loan waiver. The government imposed a tax on food items and used that money to waive their loans.”
Not only Kejriwal but many other opposition leaders have been using the confusion between loan waiver and loan written-off. Even BJP leader Varun Gandhi who is showing signs of rebellion, just listed Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha, spread misinformation about loan waivers.
On August 7, OpIndia did an explainer on loan waiver and loan written-off with details on how these leaders wrongly implicated the data provided by the government in the Parliament. Their ill-informed tweets were based on a post made by the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA). Also, likes of Kejriwal used newspaper clippings clearly mentioning loan written-off as loan waiver.
On August 2, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Bhagwat Karad, informed the Lok Sabha that in the past five financial years, commercial banks have written off bad loans worth Rs 9,91,640 crores.
He further added that as per data provided by the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database of the Reserve Bank of India, there were 2,207 willful defaulters in 2019 having aggregate credit exposure of Rs 5 crore and above. In 2020, the number went up to 2,469, followed by 2,840 willful defaulters in 2021 and 2,790 in 2022.
Speaking on the recovery of bad loans, MoS Karad mentioned that SBI had recovered Rs 41,006.94 crores of bad loans that were waived off during that period, and the process of recovering the remaining bad loans is in the process by the bank. Similarly, Union Bank of India recovered Rs 6,955.12 crores, Punjab National bank recovered 11,821.37 crores, Bank of Baroda recovered Rs 9,540.04 crores, and Canara Bank recovered Rs 7,348.52 crores. The government of India is using all possible means to recover the bad loans, and the results are visible in the stats. In recent years, the recovery process and paced up, and year-wise, recovery has increased for almost all commercial banks.
Not to forget, it was reported in February 2022 that Rs 18,000 crores were recovered from three defaulters, including Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
As per the data misrepresented by CM Kejriwal as “waived off” loans, the banks recovered 1,32,035.78 crores between Financial Years 2017-18 and 2021-22. Contrary to the claims made by Kejriwal, the waived-off loans are being recovered with the help of relevant agencies. Even if the accused have fled India, like in the case of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, the government agencies and judiciary are working together to recover the money.
‘Fuel tax used in operation lotus’
Further in his address, Kejriwal claimed that the government of India is using tax collected on fuel to fund “operation lotus”. He alleged that the money the union government collects from the taxes on petrol and diesel is being used for “purchasing MLAs” across states. He further claimed BJP offered Rs 20 crores to 12 of his MLAs, but they refused to leave AAP and join BJP. Kejriwal said, “If they are offering Rs 20 crores to all MLAs they have bought in recent years, they must have spent Rs 5,540 crores to buy 277 MLAs in different states.”
First of all, Kejriwal conveniently skipped the fact that his government collects tax on fuel as well. As per an April 28 report in the Times of India, Delhi has imposed Value Added Tax (VAT) of Rs 17.13 per litre on Petrol and Rs 14.12 per litre on diesel. The base price of petrol was Rs 56.32 per litre, freight charges were Rs 0.20, the union government’s excise duty was Rs 27.90, and the dealer’s commission was Rs 3.86 per litre in case of petrol.
In the case of diesel, the base price was Rs 57.94, freight charges were Rs 0.22, excise duty was Rs 21.80, and dealer commission was Rs 2.59. As per the report, from April 2021 to December 2021, Delhi collected Rs 2713 crores from VAT and Sales Tax on fuel. Despite being the smallest state, Delhi collected VAT from more than nine states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim, and Mizoram.
Coming to operation lotus is just a figment of the imagination of AAP, possibly to divert attention from the corruption charged its MLAs and ministers are facing. It is ironic of CM Kejriwal to accuse BJP of corruption when one of his ministers Satyendra Jain, is in custody and Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia is facing accusations of scam in liquor policy.
‘BJP is furious as we made so many schools’
During the address, CM Kejriwal claimed that his government had built many schools in Delhi. However, whenever a question arises of how many schools the Delhi government has built, no data is presented by the Kejriwal government. Kejriwal recently dodged the question by Assam CM Hemanta Biswa Sarma where he had asked Kejriwal about the new schools built by his government. They have upgraded and added classrooms but it is unclear how much difference has it made. Recent reports of schools running without headmasters, and no science classes in over 60 per cent of the schools have added to red flags about the education policy of the Delhi Government.
During the session, Rakhi Birla, the AAP MLA who laughed at the “Kashmir Files” remarks of CM Kejriwal, was in the chair.
Following India’s stunning victory against Pakistan in the Asia Cup cricket match on Sunday, social media was flooded with jokes and reactions to the Indian cricket team’s amazing performance as Twitterati celebrated the victory. The catchphrase ‘Baap Baap Hota Hai’ trended on Twitter soon after the win.
‘Baap baap hota hai’ trends on Twitter
The expression was used in a number of tweets alluding to India’s win over Pakistan.
As the phrase circulates on Twitter, it is important to note that former Indian cricketer Virendra Sehwag popularised it during a gala event. During an award function held more than a decade ago, Sehwag recounted a match in which he and Sachin Tendulkar were on the pitch playing against Pakistan.
Sehwag said, “I was playing at a score of 200 and Shoaib (Akhtar) was annoyed seeing me on the strike wanting to sledge and bowl me out in pressure. He started bowling bouncers and sledging me. After an over, when I realised that he is going to bowl the same way, I told him that your ‘baap’ is standing on the non-striker end (Tera baap non-striker end pe hhada hai) and try this ball on him, he will show you your place.”
“In next over, when he bowled a bouncer, Sachin hit a six on that. Then I told him baap baap hota hai beta beta hota hai,” he added.
It should be noted that India beat Pakistan in yesterday’s Asia Cup match in Dubai. Hardik Pandya’s superb all-round performance helped India thrash Pakistan by an astounding five wickets in the Asia Cup match on Sunday. Pandya hit 33 runs off 17 balls, including the game-winning six off left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz’s final over, while Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli both collected 35 runs.
Dumka in Jharkhand witnessed one of the most brutal murders recently when accused Shahrukh Hussain burnt Ankita alive because she refused her advances. Shahrukh poured petrol on Ankita through an open window while she was asleep and then set fire to her, resulting in her death later in the hospital.
While people across the country are shocked by the heinous crime and are demanding the strictest possible punishment for Shahrukh, the India Today group seems to be more concerned about protecting Shahrukh’s identity. Following his arrest, Shahrukh was seen shamelessly smiling in police custody without any remorse on his face. While reporting on that incident, the media group decided to change the accused’s name from Shahrukh to Abhishek.
Screenshot of the original news published by India Today
The name Abhishek was repeatedly used in the report, and it was nowhere even mentioned that they have changed the name for whatever their reasons might be. The archived link of the report can be accessed here- https://web.archive.org/web/20220829093012/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/man-set-girl-on-fire-jharkhand-dumka-seen-smiling-police-custody-1993882-2022-08-29
However, people online soon noticed this change of the accused’s name from Shahrukh to Abhishek and questioned India Today’s motivations to do the same.
India today changed the name of accused in Jharkhand case. His real name is Shahrukh and India today print the name Abhishek. Shame on you India Today. pic.twitter.com/7ky0xF5wK8
An infant stolen from Mathura Junction railway station’s platform 9 in the early hours of August 24 has been found at the residence of a Municipal councillor in Firozabad. The councillor and her husband have been arrested by police. The child was traced with the help of CCTV recordings.
When the authorities apprehended the child’s kidnapper using CCTV footage, he acknowledged that the child had been sold to a couple in Firozabad who were desperately looking for a son.
Radha, a native of Fariha’s Parakham village, Mathura, was sleeping on Mathura Junction’s platform number 9 early on August 24 when her infant child was kidnapped. When she got up, she looked everywhere for the child, but she couldn’t find it, so she reported it to the Government Railway Police (GRP). Following that, the GRP inspected the CCTV footage and saw a man stealing the baby and walking away. Following that, the police filed a case of child theft and began looking for the culprits.
ये व्यक्ति रे०स्टेशन मथुरा जं० से अपनी माँ के साथ सो रहे महज 7 माह के बच्चे को उठाकर ले गया। इस व्यक्ति को पकड़वाने में मदद कीजिये। आप सिर्फ Retweet कर इसके फ़ोटो/वीडियो को Groups में share कर दीजिये, विशेष कर कासगंज, बदायूँ और बरेली साइड में। मुझे भरोसा है ये अवश्य पकड़ा जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/fTnuGbSlsi
The police also shared the CCTV video on social media in order to track down the toddler and requested people to contact them as soon as they know anything about the child. After some time, the authorities apprehended a lady and some men who disclosed that the infant had been sold in Firozabad. Following this, the Mathura Police SOG stormed the residence of Municipal Corporation Councilor Vinita Agarwal and her husband Krishna Murari Agarwal in the Firozabad South PS area, in the dark of night and rescued the baby. As per reports, Vinita Agarwal and her husband are both in BJP.
The couple had reportedly told the police that they did not know the child was ‘stolen’, and were given the child by a nurse. However, reports mention that the neighbours and acquaintances of the couple knew that they had ‘bought’ the child.
Update : विनीता अग्रवाल मौजूदा पार्षद हैं। पति कृष्ण मुरारी अग्रवाल एडवोकेट हैं। दोनों BJP से हैं। दंपति पर एक बेटी थी, बेटा नहीं था।
दंपति का कहना है कि उन्हें चुराया हुआ बच्चा लेने की जानकारी नहीं थी। नर्स ने एक दंपति को दिखाकर उनका ये बच्चा होना बताया था।#Firozabad#Uppic.twitter.com/QThGfLm62j
— Sachin Gupta | सचिन गुप्ता (@sachingupta787) August 29, 2022
Vinita and Krishna Murari Agarwal have a 12-year-old daughter. A report in Dainik Bhaskar says that the couple was childless and the daughter is the child of a relative that they have adopted. Last night, the police arrested the entire family on charges of purchasing a stolen infant. Krishna Murari Lal Agarwal, a former city councillor, owns and runs OL Jewelers, a profitable jewellery store.
Earlier yesterday, Ankita Kumari, who was being treated after a neighbour named Shahrukh Hussain poured petrol on her and set fire to her four days ago, died in a hospital. Ankita Kumari, a student studying in class 12, became the victim of unrequited love after she refused the advances of Shahrukh Hussain, who set her on fire for rejecting him.
The horrific attack on Ankita happened on Tuesday (August 23) morning in Dhumka in Jharkhand. Ankita had told the police in a critical state that her neighbour, 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 hurried 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.
Shahrukh was subsequently arrested by the police. A video of him being arrested has gone viral on social media in which he is seen smiling unrepentantly and having no regrets about the heinous crime he had committed.
The incident should have provoked angry reactions from the Left, ceaseless debates, and undying outrage in the form of lengthy op-eds in leading publications over how a Hindu girl was killed by her spurned Muslim pursuer. But it did not spark any kind of outrage among the Left. However, perhaps since the perpetrator was a Muslim and the victim Hindu, the media organisations and elite commentariats who like to comment on every issue under the sun conveniently gave a pass to the horrifying tragedy that fell upon Ankita. Many mainstream media organisations and left-wing media personalities have so far not reported on the death. Those who did, most likely grudgingly, resorted to obscurantism, carefully hiding the identities of the perpetrator and the victim in their headline and using a more generalist title to report about the incident. India Today published a report, representing Shahrukh Hussain as one ‘Abhishek’.
However, there is little surprise to this enduring deceit that has come to define the Left and the media ecosystem controlled by them. Unabashed hypocrisy has become a hallmark of the Indian left intelligentsia. They would continue to harp on the faith of the perpetrator should they be a Hindu and the victim a Muslim or a Christian. In that case, they would hunker themselves to weave fictitious stories about the “persecution of minorities” and “rising intolerance” in the country even though the crime committed had no religious connotation. The same standards are not applied when the identities of the perpetrators and the victims are reversed.
This dichotomy stems from a bloated sense of entitlement among ‘liberals’, who often subject others to higher standards of noble beliefs and virtues while refraining from holding themselves to the same rigorous standards. They labour under a mistaken belief that they are a cut above the world, with a false sense of the notion that they are exempted from being evaluated by the same token as they use to judge others.
For instance, the left-leaning liberals had recently displayed unmatched alacrity in criticising Nupur Sharma for her remarks on Prophet Muhammad in a TV News debate. The same lot that moralised over how Sharma was wrong for her comments, effectively painting a target on her back and granting legitimacy to the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ threats issued by Islamists, made a shameless volte-face when Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, whose dog-whistling made Sharma the target of Islamists, was arrested for hurting sentiments of Hindus with his disparaging posts against Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
They defended Zubair, claiming that his arrest was the suppression of free speech in India. Some of them even floated the theory that Zubair was arrested because he was a Muslim. The fact that Hindus such as Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kolhe became the victim of his dog-whistling was conveniently swept under the rug by the Left eager to shield Zubair and project him as a victim of state repression. That Nupur Sharma and those supporting her faced ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ threats by Islamist mob was also paid no heed to by the Left that outrages over even most innocuous statements made by Hindu leaders or BJP politicians.
The deaths of Lal and Kolhe, who were killed by Islamists for social media posts supporting Nupur Sharma, were met with silence and indifference from the Left, with some of the members even holding the former BJP spokesperson responsible for their killing. The treachery seems to have persisted in Ankita Kumari’s case as well, where the mainstream media has abstained from focusing on the religious identities of the perpetrator and the victim as it undermines their meticulously crafted propaganda of minority victimhood.
Intersectionality: The significance of mentioning the identities of victims and perpetrators
While several media houses and Left intelligentsia are driven by their motive to break the Indian society, the rationale behind highlighting the identity of Muslim victims has a separate origin altogether. The theory essentially believes that the victim would have been at a lower risk had her identity not been that of a Muslim and hence, mentioning the religious identity is essential as even if the crime is not motivated by religious animosity, the victim was at a higher risk by virtue of his/her religion. This sociological concept is called as ‘Intersectionality’, the point where multiple identities of an individual meet.
Intersectionality is thus a theoretical framework for understanding how aspects of one’s social and political identities (e.g., gender, race, class, sexuality, disability, etc.) might combine to create unique modes of discrimination. So when a Muslim victim is identified by his/her identity, it is an acknowledgement of the fact that his/her faith has played a role in the discrimination or atrocities meted out on him/her. In addition to this, in such cases, the identity of the perpetrators also holds significance since the crime is committed on the premise of existing religious inequities. The media houses, therefore, fall over themselves in case the perpetrator of such atrocities happens to be Hindus.
Gaslighting Hindus into guilt-tripping
By contrast, they refrain from placing emphasis on identities when the victim is a Hindu and the perpetrator of the crime is a Muslim. When the non-left highlights the identities in such cases, the allegation that is often levelled by left ideologues and media organisations is that non-left is blatantly ‘communalising’ an incident. This is nothing but a shameless attempt at gaslighting Hindus into guilt-tripping, into making them believe that raising voices against atrocities meted out on them could touch off communal conflagration for which they would alone be held responsible.
Apparently, as per the Indian left’s understanding, incidents are communalised only when the perpetrators happen to be Muslims and victims Hindus. When it is the other way around, the media organisations feel no qualms in harping on the religious and caste identities of the victims and assailants, to insinuate how minorities are attacking people from the majority community like they would normally do when the identities of the victim and the perpetrator is reversed.
Behind this transparent hypocrisy, lies the nefarious aim of the Left, who in connivance with their supporters in the media have concocted the farce of “perpetual threat facing minorities in India” to prevent the consolidation of the Hindu majority and thereby undermine their outsize influence on the country’s electoral politics. The Left works studiously to reinforce the narrative that Muslims, Christians, and other minorities in India perpetually remain under threat as long as the Modi-led BJP is at the Centre.
The Left also gains from the consequence of such an insidious narrative, which helps to instil fear of persecution among minorities, polarise and consolidate them against the majority and political parties that seek to end the decades-old tradition of appeasing minorities and treating them with kid gloves.
To prevent this trope from falling apart, the media organisations consciously refrain from invoking religious identities when a Muslim perpetrator is found to have committed an act of brutality against a Hindu as witnessed in Ankita Kumari’s barbaric murder when Shahrukh Hussain decided to end the life of a Hindu girl who exercised her agency and rebuffed his advances.
On Monday (August 29), BJP MP Rama Devi slammed the family of Tejashwi Yadav for allegedly orchestrating the murder of her husband Brij Behari Prasad. She made the remarks in response to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s threat to teach BJP leader Nityanand Rai a lesson. Yadav had used the phrase ‘Thanda Kar Denge’ in a press conference to say how he and his party deal with political opponents.
While speaking to news agency ANI, she said, “I know several people who the RJD has silenced by murder. My husband, Brij Behari Prasad, was one of them. They feared that he might become the Chief Minister of the State.”
“I am here to respond to these people. They (Tejashwi Yadav and his family) must be ashamed of themselves. The public can see through their nepotism,” Rama Devi added.
#WATCH | Bihar: While speaking on Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav’s “thanda karna” remark, BJP MP from Sheohar, Rama Devi alleges the Yadav family’s hand behind the murder of her husband Brij Behari Prasad. She says, “…Yes, they made someone do it. There’s no doubt about it…” (28.8) pic.twitter.com/DXbptGbWci
When pressed about the Yadav family’s alleged role in murdering her husband, Rama Devi clarified, “Yes, they killed my husband. There is no doubt about it. They have killed my husband through their henchmen.”
“This is why they are trying to bring back the days of ‘Jungle Raj.’ Nitish Kumar has now become a party to it,” she added. Rama Devi’s husband Brij Behari Prasad was a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. He had served as Bihar’s Minister for Science and Technology.
On June 13, 1998, he was assassinated in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences parking lot in Patna. It is believed that Prasad was killed by the accomplice of deceased gangster Chhotan Shukla.
The contentious remark of Tejashwi Yadav
The RJD chief has been engaged in a war of words with BJP MP Nityanand Rai for some time. Tejashwi Yadav had recently threatened Rai, following CBI raids at the residences of several party leaders.
Tejashwi Yadav, who is worried about Rai’s rise in the State , had remarked, “Thandaa denge, Delhi wale bachane nahi aayenge (We will teach you a lesson and make you sober. The leaders in Delhi will not come to protect you).”
Reportedly, the RJD chief is of the view that Nityanand Rai is the man behind the CBI raids at the properties of his party leaders in land-for-job-case. He is also intimidated by Rai’s potential CM candidature for the 2025 Bihar elections.
Nevertheless, the BJP leader told Tejashwi Yadav, “Hamko thandaa do bhai (Please teach me a lesson). Bhains ka doodh peene se log thanda ho jaate hain (I have heard that people w become calm and sober after drinking buffalo’s milk).”
Cricket, which is supposed to be a sport, has become a tool of anti-India propaganda in our neighbouring country Pakistan. Whether it is Shahid Afridi or Shoaib Akhtar who repeatedly attacked India over Kashmir, or former PM and former Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan who called cricket match between India and Pakistan ‘a way of Jihad’ against India, the hate against India and Hindus in India in particular from Pakistan cricketers has been ever-present.
Here are some examples of how Pakistani cricketers relentlessly spew venom against India.
It has to be noted that despite their hate towards India, there are some Indian media houses that often invite them for their shows. Even during these shows on Indian channels, they do not resist spewing venom against India.
Former cricketer and currently a coach, Javed Miandad, published a 9-minute anti-India video in 2020. The video was published a day before the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir. In the video, Miandad claimed that the Muslims in India knew how to fight, and they were ready to sacrifice themselves. Attacking PM Modi, he said, “I want to tell you, PM Modi, that you are finishing your country.”
Miandad also tried to provoke Sikhs in Amritsar while mentioning insurgency in Punjab and urged them to help Muslims in Kashmir. Miandad attacked PM Modi and called him a “blot on the nation”. He tried to provoke the Indians to come out and remove him from power.
Ironically, he accused India of attacks on minorities, especially Muslims. Miandad, while sitting in a country named Pakistan that has categorically attacked, killed, and converted the minority Hindu and Sikh population, accused India and Hindus of being intolerant.
For former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, a cricket match against India was always a ‘jihad’
Former Pakistan cricket captain and ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan had once said he viewed a cricketing contest against India not as a mundane match but as jihad. The revelation was made by former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy, who was once told by a Pakistani journalist that when he asked Imran Khan how he bowls with such fire against India, he responded ‘whenever I play against India, I don’t treat it as a game, I think of Kashmir and treat it as a jihad’.
Waqar Younis rant against Hindus
During a talk show last year, Waqar Younis praised the Pakistani players for offering Namaz at the ground. He was visibly gloating over the fact that Namaz was offered in “front of Hindus”. He said, “The manner in which Babar and Rizwan batted, sensible yet aggressive, the strike-rotation, the look on their faces, it was amazing. The best thing, what Rizwan did, Mashallah, he offered the Namaz on the ground surrounded by Hindus, that was really something very, very special for me.”
Waqar Younis was proud that Pak player read Namaz in middle of Hindus (Indian players). He is currently commentating with Indian Hindu commentators. Indians pretending as if nothing happened. Waqar ‘bhai’ enjoying Stockholm syndrome of Hindus.pic.twitter.com/ELTVJSCnf4
There have been other instances in the past when Waqar Younis has not shied away from his bigoted rants against Hindus. Years ago, Younis remarked that Indians could not bowl fast because they do not consume beef. The snide remark was meant for Hindus who refrain from consuming beef as a cow is considered a sacred animal according to Hinduism.
Shoaib Akhtar endorsed the two-nation theory
In an interview on the Indian channel Aaj Tak, Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar recently endorsed the two-nation theory that led to the partition of India. While speaking on a cricket show organised by the channel, Shoaib Akhtar said he believed in the two-nation theory.
Shoaib Akhtar’s comments on Aaj Tak reflect the clarity in Pakistanis and their staunch belief in two nation theory despite everything else. Important for Idiots from Indian side who lost half state to Pakistan in 1947 to keep Pakistanis intention in mind.pic.twitter.com/0GynpF85zv
The two-nation theory was first promulgated by Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. The theory asserts that Muslims and Hindus form two separate nations that cannot coexist peacefully in one country.
It is worth noting that the two-nation theory became the cornerstone of the Muslim League’s demand for a separate country for Indian Muslims, which triggered a violent spate of Hindu-Muslim clashes across the country and ultimately resulted in the partition of India into two nations—Pakistan and India.
Shoaib Akhtar echoed the Gawza-e-Hind prophecy
Shoaib Akhtar had lent his support to an extremist ideology. In a news chat show, Shoaib Akhtar advocated the Islamic supremacist fantasy of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’, stating that Islamic forces will capture Kashmir and invade India.
Here @shoaib100mph talking about Gazwa-E-Hind. How he wants i$lamic rule on all over India…conquering Kashmir & then entire India…
“It is written in our scriptures that Ghazwa e Hind will take place. The river in Attock will be coloured red twice with blood. Forces from Afghanistan will reach Attock. Then after that, forces will rise from Shamal Mashriq, and different contingents will arrive from Uzbekistan etc. This refers to Khorasan, a historical region that extended to Lahore. Later those forces will conquer Kashmir, and then, inshallah, they will march onwards (to the rest of India),” Shoaib Akhtar said.
The term Ghazwa-e-Hind or a holy raid of India has been used by Pakistani terrorists against India for decades. The concept of Ghazwa-e-hind is rooted in several works of Islamic literature. The doctrine prophesizes a pitched battle between Hindus and Muslims before (qayamat), resulting in a decisive victory of Muslims over Hindu India.
Saeed Anwar had said all non-Muslims will be incinerated in hellfire
Former Pakistani batsman Saeed Anwar was another cricketer who supported Islamic supremacism and treated non-Muslims with contempt. In a meeting, Anwar said all non-Muslims were going to be incinerated in hellfire, and it was the duty of Muslims to save them by converting them into Islam.
Proof 7 #CricketJihad: Saeed Anwar – “All 6 Billion non-Muslims will burn in hell. Let’s save them by converting them to Islam.”@WasimJaffer14 crying for Pakistan cricket won’t tell u thispic.twitter.com/Fbd10F1d1z
“There are 6 billion non-Muslims. They are all going to burn in hellfire. It’s Muslims’ duty to save them by converting them to Islam,” he said.
‘No non-Muslim can ever enter Jannat, but even the worst Muslim criminal can’: Muhammad Yousuf
This view was concurred by Mohammad Yousuf, who renounced Christianity and converted to Islam after his selection to the Pakistan cricket team. In a speech years after embracing Islam, Yousuf said no non-Muslim can ever enter Jannat, but Allah will send even the worst Muslim criminals to Jannat.
Proof 15 #CricketJihad#PakistanCricket: Mohammad Yusuf-” No Non-Muslim can enter Jannat ever. But Allah will send even a worst criminal Muslim to Jannat (all Taliban, ISIS!).”
‘If Muslims show their Muslim-ism, not one human on earth will remain non-Muslim’: Inzamam-ul-Haq
Another Pakistani cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had captained the Pakistani cricket team and also served as chief selector, had also spewed venom against non-Muslims. In an interview, Inzamam-ul-Haq warned that if Muslims started showing their Muslimism, not one human on earth would remain non-Muslim.
Sharing details about how the Pakistani dressing room was a breeding ground for disseminating Islam, Inzamam-ul-Haq had once said that Indian Muslim cricketers were invited to hear mullah in the Pakistani dressing room, adding that Harbhajan Singh had almost converted to Islam.
Proof 6 #CricketJihad: Inzamam ul Haq wants all non-Muslims to convert to Islam. Shares how to Islamise whole world.
Contrary to how Pakistani cricketers spew venom against India and Hindus, Indian cricketer Virat Kohli recently praised Pakistani captain Babar Azam. Hailing Babar as “the top batsman in the world across formats” currently, Kohli said the Pakistani batsman is the kind of player world cricket needs. “The first interaction I had with him was the 2019 World Cup after the game in Manchester. He and Imad (Wasim). Imad I have known since Under-19 cricket, we have played against each other and Imad said Babar wanted to have a chat,” Kohli said during his interaction with Star Sports.
“We sat down and spoke about the game. I saw a lot of regard and respect from him and that hasn’t changed regardless of the fact that he is probably the top batsman in the world right now across formats, performing so consistently,” Kohli said about Babar Azam. While Kohli heaped praises on Babar Azam, he had once asked his fan not to live in India if they loved batters from other countries. During his interactions with fans on social media, Kohli said “those who prefer English and Australian batsmen should not live in India.”
On Monday, the Allahabad High Court issued order allowing videography of the disputed structure at Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura on the lines of disputed structure ‘Gyanvapi Masjid’ at Kashi Vishwanath temple. A petition was filed in connection with the Mathura Janmabhoomi. A bench of Justice Piyush Agarwal issued the order.
A senior advocate will be appointed as commissioner and two advocates will be assistant commissioners for the videography. The survey report has to be submitted in 4 months’ time.
Petitioner Manish Yadav said that the plea was stuck in court on the disputed structure in Mathura District court since a year. But now the Allahabad High Court has clearly said that the report of videography needs to be submitted in 4 months’ time.
This order comes months after the videography survey at disputed structure at Gyanvapi showed a Shivling was found at the wuzukhana at the mosque. The Kashi Vishwanath mandir, just like the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, was destroyed by Islamic invaders and a mosque was constructed on the ruins of Hindu temples. Mathura, too, is one such place where a temple was destroyed for mosque.
The Shahi Idgah Mosque stands at the Krishna Janmabhoomi in the city of Mathura. The Islamic invader Aurangzeb had destroyed the ancient Keshavnath temple and built the Shahi Idgah Mosque on its plinth in 1669.
In his petition, Yadav has stated that “religious artefacts, ancient inscriptions and mythological evidence related to the Hindu religion exist on the Idgah premises, and the same has been concealed there. These facts need to be presented before the court.”
There has been a growing demand among Hindus to reclaim Kashi and Mathura, along with Ayodhya. Reclaiming the disputed sites of Kashi Vishwanath temple and Krishna Janmabhoomi temple at Mathura has now become a priority for various Hindu groups in the country.
