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Filmfare 2022 fails to invite ‘The Kashmir Files’ stars: Here is why Vivek Agnihotri said he is happy to not be invited

On Thursday, the 67th event of the Filmfare Awards was organized at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai where many Bollywood celebrities including Ranveer Singh, Kiara Advani, Disha Patani, Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, etc were invited. The evening was star-studded but unfortunately, not a single person from the team of the movie ‘the Kashmir Files’ was invited to the event.

The matter was flagged by a Twitter user named Rajeev Singh Rathore who happens to be associated with the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Madhya Pradesh. He said that the Filmfare event organizers had failed to invite persons associated with the biggest blockbuster of the year 2022 named ‘the Kashmir Files’. He also suggested that it was high time for people to boycott Bollywood completely.

“So Filmfare didn’t invite a single person associated with the movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ and nobody from Bollywood objected against it shows why Bollywood needs a permanent boycott and not just a few films. If you can’t respect our sentiments, you don’t deserve our money and appreciation”, he tweeted.

The incident was further confirmed to OpIndia by ‘The Kashmir Files’ director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri. “This is 100% true. The organizers used to call me and my wife till the year 2014, but after that, they stopped and I am very happy about it”, Agnihotri said. Further, he stated that he had lost interest in the Bollywood Award nights and that would not go even if invited. “It is time that people take a stand so everyone knows who stands with India and who does not. Now if Pakistan calls me, will I go?”, the director added.

Earlier, Agnihotri had also slammed a certain section of media houses who tried to downplay the movie by claiming that it had failed to grab National Awards, despite being a super-hit at the box office. “A lot of reputed media houses are running a vicious ‘Hit Job’ against #TheKashmirFiles. And no one is fact-checking them. If they do this to ‘terrorist-friendly’ Bollywood films, the ecosystem would instantly call it Islamophobia. I leave it here for your conscience to decide”, he had said.

As reported earlier, the 68th National Awards were decided by a 10-member jury, led by director Vipul Shah. Given that only films made in 2020 were honoured, it was obvious that ‘The Kashmir Files’ released this year did not feature in any of the categories.

The film ‘The Kashmir Files’ takes the viewers back to 1989, when due to rising Islamic Jihad, a huge conflict erupted in Kashmir, forcing the great majority of Hindus to flee the valley. According to estimates, roughly 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated between February and March 1990. More of them fled in the years that followed until just about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011.

The movie which was released on March 11, this year proved to be the biggest hit of the decade. Though the film was praised all over the world, a section of Indian opposition parties and leftists tried to run down the film or discredit the story shown within. While some directly called the film a pack of lies, others tried to target the BJP over the issue. Multiple theories were also peddled to discredit the film and its makers, but the public verdict muted all the criticism.

The Kashmir Files starring Darshan Pathak, Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, and Pallavi Joshi in their lead roles earned around Rs 337.23 crore, making it the only Hindi film to cross the Rs 300 crore club during the pandemic as well.

‘Temples cater to larger needs of society’: Supreme Court gives sermons to Hindus, doubts necessity of revisiting 1863 Religious Endowments Act

The Supreme Court questioned the relevance of public interest litigation (PIL) that pushed for Hindus to have the same right as Christians and Muslims to manage religious places like temples without government interference, noting that since all temple revenues come from society, they may very well be returned to the people by way of creating colleges and universities.

A bench of Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat heard the case. While the PIL emphasised the problem of Hindus being “singled out,” with state governments overseeing temples and their profits, the bench questioned the need to revise the 1863 Religious Endowments Act, noting that the statute has enabled temples to serve “larger needs of the society.”

“What is the need for this? This has been functioning for such a long time…If it is a receipt of the temple, it is by the people. So, it has to go back to the people. Take the example of Tirupati, you have colleges there…Universities are set up in Delhi by state enterprises. What’s wrong with that?” the bench observed during the hearing.

“This Act has been working since 1863. We have a history of 150 years where these denominations catered to the larger needs of society and not for their purpose only. Some temples have even given their lands. Now, you are asking us to roll the clock back,” the bench further remarked.

Petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, an advocate and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, through senior counsels Arvind Datar and Gopal Sankaranarayanan contended that Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs should have the same rights as Muslims, Parsis, and Christians to establish, manage, and maintain religious places and that the state cannot deny this right.

According to the PIL, the government controls around 400,000 of the country’s 900,000 temples, but no church or mosque-related religious organisation is under government control or administration.

It is notable that religious endowments are included in the concurrent list, which allows both the Centre and the states to enact legislation that allows governments to exert certain authority over administration, supervision, and levy on Hindu religious sites.

A similar statute exists in the state of Tamil Nadu. All temple hundi collections (offerings) are placed in the specified temple bank accounts. The government uses 14% of this as administrative costs, 4% as audit fees, and between 4 and 10% as the ‘Commissioner Common Good Fund.’ Furthermore, funds are allocated to various government-run programmes.

Datar protested, citing the Tamil Nadu statute, that similar laws have been enacted in other states, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, allowing state governments to use temple money for non-religious or just administrative reasons. In support of him, Sankaranarayan stated that 50,000 temples in Karnataka had been shuttered due to a lack of funds, and temple properties have been utterly wasted.

In reference to the Naganathswamy Temple case, the PIL argues that the cause of action in the matter began on April 10, 2016, when the King Rajendra Chola-built Naganathswamy Temple under Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, was “pulled down by the State in the garb of renovation.”

The petition notes that mosques and churches are not under the supervision of State governments, but that this causes “injury to Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs is extremely large.” However, the bench directed the lawyers to present evidence to back up their claims about temple closures and other allegations of money embezzlement. It then scheduled the issue for hearing on September 19.

As the Supreme Court made these observations, it is notable that the Madras High Court made a strange observation while hearing a plea where the petitioner had sought protection to offer worship at a temple of the family deity. The Madras HC observed that temples become a cause of law and order problems, and such temples should be closed down to restore peace and normalcy in society. “It is a paradox that closure of a temple actually leads to peace,” the court had then observed.

Hindu girl gang raped by Khalid and Dilsher on the pretext of providing food amid devastating floods in Sindh, Pakistan

Amid heavy floods unfolding in the Sindh province of Pakistan, adversities and devastations continue to shatter the minds of Hindus living in the area. On Friday, reports emerged revealing that a young girl was gang-raped by two Pakistani Muslims in the flood-hit area on the pretext of providing grocery items and food.

The two accused have been identified as Khalid who is an auto-rickshaw driver and Dilsher. The duo who belong to the Macchi caste allegedly drugged the victim woman and raped her brutally for two days. The incident is reported to have happened in Shahdadpur, Sanghar district of Sindh province.

The woman recorded her plight in a video that is now going viral over social media platforms. She said that the accused auto rickshaw driver duped her and said that he would provide grocery items. “He took me and made me eat poisonous substance and raped me. They were two men Khalid and Dilsher. Later they offered me water and left me”, she added.

Hindu people residing in Pakistan have been facing adversities and severe institutionalized discrimination in Pakistan. However, the recent flood-like situation in the Sindh province has added to their plight. Earlier on August 31, a similar video from Pakistan had gone viral over social media where a man was seen complaining of attempted rapes of their women by the Pakistani goons.

Also, a heart-wrenching incident was reported yesterday from Sindh, Pakistan where an 8-year-old Hindu girl was gang-raped amid the devastating floods. The suspects scratched her entire face and also gauged out her eyes.

To note, many of the Hindus living in Sindh province of Pakistan are among the poorest sections of Pakistani society. They face human rights violations in cases regarding land grabbing, abduction, and conversion. They have fewer employment opportunities and many still live as bonded labourers under Muslim landlords. Hindus also suffer routine exploitation which they dare not report to the police.

The current floods in the southern part of Pakistan have created havoc by killing more than 1100 people. According to the reports, a surge of water is flowing down the Indus river and is threatening the communities living in the southern part of the Sindh province.

Jhatka meat based ‘Kulhad Biryani’ debuts on Zomato, Tajinder Bagga says AAP supporters giving fake reviews

On Thursday (September 1), BJP National spokesperson Tajinder Bagga took to Twitter to announce the launch of his cloud kitchen ‘Kulhad Biriyani’.

The cloud eatery serves only jhatka meat, thereby making it a first-of-its-kind initiative against the hegemony of Halal. Bagga also received praise for renaming the ‘Hyderabadi chicken biriyani’ dish to ‘Bhagyanagar Dum Chicken Biriyani’.

The launch of India’s first jhatka biriyani brand drew the ire of the usual suspects, who systematically posted negative reviews to tarnish the image of Kulhad Biriyani.

Tajinder Bagga accused the supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of carrying a negative campaign against his newly launched cloud kitchen.

He tweeted, “AAPtards started campaign against our Brand and sending message to all groups to post negative reviews. Giving example of Mayukh Roy who is sitting in Kolkata giving feedback in Delhi. You can check the comments here.”

The BJP spokesperson also attached screenshots of the fake reviews posted by Roy.

Tajinder Bagga also pointed out the case of one Sangam Garg, who had posted a negative review on the Zomato page of Kulhad Biriyani. Interestingly, Garg had earlier batted for AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal after the latter mocked the sufferings of the Kashmiri Hindus.

In another case, Bagga pointed out how his eatery received a negative review for the ‘Dal Makhni’ even though the dish is not served by Kulhad Biriyani.

The BJP spokesperson also exhibited how Islamists and their sympathisers were deliberately posting negative feedback about the Jhatka meat eatery on Zomato.

It must be mentioned that Tajinder Bagga has been at loggerheads with the Aam Aadmi Party. Earlier on May 6 this year, the BJP leader was arrested from his residence in Delhi by the Punjab police.

OpIndia had reported that a convoy of 10-12 cars, carrying 50 odd police personnel from Punjab forcibly entered the BJP leader’s house and took him away. The cops also assaulted his aged father and did not inform Bagga about the ‘arrest warrant’.

Although the FIR was later withdrawn, it soon surfaced that the Aam Aadmi Party-run-Punjab government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the ‘provocative remarks’ of Tajinder Bagga.

It is important to note that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had faced criticism in the past for harbouring Khalistani elements. Bagga, who is a Sikh by Faith and a vocal critic of the separatist movement, has thus drawn the ire of the party.

Kavita Krishnan tweets about socialist regimes being autocratic, removed from primary membership by CPI(ML) after differences of opinion

CPI(ML) Liberation’s Polit Bureau member and a Central Committee member for more than two decades Kavita Krishnan has been relieved of all posts she held in the party and all responsibilities after ideological differences between the party and Kavita as far as socialist regimes were concerned, reported The Hindu. According to the report, she has also been removed from the primary membership of the party.

Only recently, Kavita Krishnan had commented on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and asserted that socialist regimes were autocratic regimes, far worse than parliamentary democracies. Evidently, for stating this proven fact, differences emerged between her and the party that led to Krishnan being relieved of her posts.

Interestingly, Kavita Krishnan has expressed these views in the past as well while supporting “true communism” and Kark Marx, nonetheless.

She had in June called China a totalitarian regime.

She had also criticised USSR under Stalin.

Speaking to The Hindu, Kavita Krishnan said that she had requested the party to relieve her of her posts since she felt an urgent need to defend parliamentary democracies, not just in India but across the world. While she would remain a primary member of the party, she said that there was a need to recognise that socialist regimes, past and present, have been authoritarian, far worse than Capitalist parliamentary democracies.

Kavita Krishnan said that she needed to explore these political questions and it was not possible to do so while holding posts and responsibilities with the Communist party. “The party Central Committee has agreed to my request,” she said. “It was not possible to write on these questions remaining in the leadership. It is not a resignation, it is a mutually agreed to step aside from the responsibilities. There is no quarrelling with the party,” she said. 

“The conviction that for our fight for democracy against fascism and growing totalitarianism in India to be consistent, we must acknowledge the entitlement to the same democratic rights and civil liberties for all people across the world, including subjects of socialist totalitarian regimes past and present,” she added.

Interestingly, while Kavita Krishnan wanted to remain a primary member of the party, the Communist party, that has been talking about dissent and freedom of expression, decided to remove her from primary membership.

It is evident from this development that the Communists believe that authoritarian regimes like China, USSR led by Stalin etc are acceptable forms of government, where people are starved, subjugated and beaten. Any deviation from this line that calls out Communist and Socialist regimes as authoritarian would not be tolerated by the Communists. It is also worthy to note that while Kavita Krishnan lost her political career with CPI(ML) for stating a basic fact about socialist regimes, her other opinions continue to be vile and problematic. That even those vile opinions were not enough for her to continue with CPI(ML) speaks volumes about the space for dissent in the Communist ecosystem.

In the past, Kavita Krishnan has compared Hindutva to the Taliban and the Ku Klux Klan and denied the existence of “Love Jihad” (Grooming Jihad) which has claimed the lives of several Hindu women. Over the last few years, Kavita Krishnan has been caught several times for peddling fake news, however, she continues to do so with impunity.

Besides expressing solidarity with anti-national elements, Kavita Krishnan has a history of backing radical Islamists, fake news peddlers, and pro-Pakistan propagandists. Last year, she was exposed for standing in support of a notorious fake news peddler Mohammad Asif Khan, who has a history of propagating communally sensitive fake news.

Delhi: A boy in 3rd standard sodomised by a class 10 student in a government school

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In a disturbing incident, a student studying in Class 3 was sodomized by another student in Class 10 at a Delhi government school in the Madhu Vihar locality of Mandawali in East Delhi. According to reports, the incident took place around three days ago.

The victim’s father told IANS that an FIR has been filed in relation to the event. However, he has not sent his kid to school since the incident.

The father of the victim said, “The incident occurred on the school’s premises. My son complained to the School teacher about it, after which the incident was investigated and I was summoned.”

Police haven’t yet commented on this matter. Further details are awaited in the case.

Australia: Punjabi singer dies in a horrifying three-vehicle car crash near Melbourne

Punjabi singer Nirvair Singh was killed in a road accident near Melbourne in Australia. Nirvair had relocated to Australia nine years ago. He was traveling in his lane when a fast vehicle lost control and hit a jeep, which overturned into the singer’s lane. The vocalist passed away immediately due to the collision’s extreme intensity. The accident took place in an area called Diggers Rest in the northwest direction of Melbourne on Tuesday 30th August 2022 at around 3:30 pm.

Nirvair, 42, met with this unfortunate accident while traveling to a job site, and a 23-year-old has been charged in connection with the event. The woman in the Jeep involved in the accident survived injuries. The singer’s untimely passing has shocked the Indian community in Melbourne. The performer is well known for his popular song “Tere Bina,” which is from the album “My Turn.” Nirvair Singh is survived by two kids.

The singer’s friend Gagan Kokri posted a few pictures of Nirvair Singh along with a heartfelt message on social media, lamenting the tragic loss. The deceased musician’s buddy hailed his late friend’s singing career in a lengthy Punjabi caption, citing “Tere Bina” from “My Turn” as one of his finest songs. Singh was among the sweetest people, he continued, and his loss has shocked the Melbourne Indian community’s conscience.

Nirvair Singh is the second Punjabi singer who passed away in recent months. In May 2022, Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in an attack in Mansa, Punjab. The attack took place in the village Jawaharke of Mansa on Sunday 29th May 2022 in the evening. Moosewala and his two accomplices were fired upon by unidentified assailants. He was rushed to the hospital in serious condition where he was declared brought dead.

Twitter announces it is testing feature to edit Tweets, the option to be available for Twitter Blue subscribers first

The much-anticipated edit button is finally coming to Twitter. The microblogging site today announced that it has started testing the edit option internally, and soon some people will see it in their accounts.

Twitter tweeted from its official Twitter account, “if you see an edited Tweet it’s because we’re testing the edit button.” They further added, “this is happening and you’ll be okay”.

The company added details about the most demanded feature on a blog post, where they added a screenshot to show how an edited Tweet will look like. The screenshot showed the message ‘Last edited 8:55 AM – 09/01/22’, clearly informing that the text in the tweet was edited.

The company said that the Edit Tweet option is being tested by their team internally, and after that, it will be expanded to Twitter Blue subscribers in the coming weeks. Noting that Edit Tweet is the most requested feature to date, Twitter said that everyone will be able to identify an edited tweet, even though not everyone will get the feature to edit tweets initially.

Giving details about the feature, Twitter said, “Edit Tweet is a feature that lets people make changes to their Tweet after it’s been published.” During the test period, Tweets will be able to be edited a few times in the 30 minutes following their publication.

Example of how an edited tweet will look like

Edited Tweets will appear with an icon, timestamp, and label so it’s clear to readers that the original Tweet has been modified. Tapping the label will take viewers to the Tweet’s Edit History, which includes past versions of the Tweet. This feature is similar to the edit option on Facebook, which also shows the edit history of a post.

Twitter added that the time limit and version history play an important role here, as they help protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said.

The company said that initially the feature will be available to a small group of people to incorporate feedback while identifying and resolving potential issues. They added that the potential issues include how people might misuse the feature.

After that, the Edit Twitter feature will be expanded to the Twitter Blue subscribers later this month. Twitter Blue is the paid version of the platform that offers exclusive access to premium features like ad-free access, bookmarks, customisation options etc.

“The test will be localized to a single country at first and expand as we learn and observe how people use Edit Tweet. We’ll also be paying close attention to how the feature impacts the way people read, write, and engage with Tweets”, the company said.

The company further added, “We’re hoping that, with the availability of Edit Tweet, Tweeting will feel more approachable and less stressful. You should be able to participate in the conversation in a way that makes sense to you, and we’ll keep working on ways that make it feel effortless to do just that.”

Ambedkarites attack ‘Brahmin’ Mamata Banerjee for saying that she does not think RSS is so bad

West Bengal’s chief minister and the Trinamool Congress Party’s chief Mamata Banerjee was under the attack of Ambedkarites on the internet as she said that she does not think Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is that bad. Mamata Banerjee made this statement while addressing a press conference in Nabanna on 31st August 2022.

In a short part of this press conference that went viral as a video clip, Mamata Banerjee said, “RSS was not that bad. I don’t believe it is so bad. Even now there are good people in RSS who don’t support BJP. One day they will break their silence.”

She said this while replying to a question on ED raids on TV channels close to TMC. In August, ED raided the offices and residences of Kaustav Roy, the CEO of Kolkata TV. Saying that Kaustav Roy is a brave person who does not indulge in politics, she said that there are still good journalists in media houses. Mamata Banerjee alleged that BJP had put one person in every media house, and the media houses are forced to follow the party’s dictates. ‘That person tells what to report in the morning, and media houses follow that’, she alleged.

Mamata Banerjee also attacked the media for running stories based on sources, and said she can also release a video on who went for foreign trips using chit fund money.

Mamata Banerjee who was a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government turned out to be a target of Ambedkarites who attacked her for her apparent soft-corner towards RSS. A Twitter user Jaimine tweeted quoting Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, “In my judgment, it is useless to make a distinction between the secular Brahmins and priestly Brahmins. Both are kith and kin. They are two arms of the same body, and one is bound to fight for the existence of the other. – Dr. Ambedkar”

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted, “In 2003 too Mamata had called RSS “patriots”. In turn RSS had called her “Durga”. RSS wants Hindu Rashtra. Its history is full of anti-Muslim hate crimes. She’d defended the BJP govt in Parliament after the Gujarat pogrom. I Hope TMC’s “Muslim faces” praise her for her honesty & consistency.”

Another Twitter user Thaiyaan wrote, “The brahmin woman, Banerjee, gives a certificate to a terrorist organization run by brahmin men.”

Amit Dake tweeted, “Cause she is Brah**min & they r the core members of RSS.”

The full video of the press conference can be viewed in the video below. She made the comments on the RSS towards the end.

Dharma productions Development Executive Shreemi Verma deactivates account after her tweets mocking Hindus, with gau mutra jibes, go viral

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Dharma Productions’ Brahmastra is scheduled for release on September 9, 2022, and it is considered one of the most anticipated films of the production house this year. With actors including Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and others, Karan Johar, owner of Dharma Productions, must be expecting a great response from the audience. However, people behind the movie also must be very worried given the recent big flops in Bollywood and the trend of the boycott of several movies for various reasons.

And making the worst fears of the film-makers true, Brahmastra is also facing trouble as one of the production house’s Development Executive, Shreemi Verma, is under fire for her tweets mocking Hindus with Gau Mutra jibes that have gone viral on social media. Verma has deactivated her account after the uproar on social media.

Shreemi Verma deactivated her account. (Source: Twitter)

Shreemi Verma tweeted a series of derogatory and anti-Hindu tweets on her verified Twitter handle in the past few years. In 2019, she proudly declared that her father was a Sanghi, but she was not. ‘Sanghi’ is a term used by the left-leaning section of society to mock Hindus and is often used as a shield by them when they do not have any logical argument. Sanghi literally means someone associated with Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh or RSS.

A few days back, she wrote, “Bhakts legit have such small d**k energy it’s just embarrassing”. Bhakts is a term used by the left-leaning section of the society used for Hindus supporting RSS/BJP or followers of PM Modi. Though the phrase means ‘showing cockiness or masculinity without skills’, some netizens took the literal meaning of it and said that she was suggesting that ‘Bhakts’ have small genitals.

When she started getting criticized for the tweet, Verma got irked and wrote, “Oh my God, everyone has gone crazy. In fact, they are all proving my point right.” She added, “At least do a Google search to understand what it means. Even expecting Bhakts to fact-check is hilarious to even expect.”

She did not stop there and further mocked those who were opposing her. This time, she brought in their mothers and said, “Those who are asking me how I know that you guys have small ‘Di#k’, your moms told me about it because no other woman is actually going to look at yours.” While in the beginning, there was some genuine confusion as everyone is not well versed with urban slang like ‘small d**k energy’, Verma’s rant in the following tweets implied that she also used it for its literal meaning, proving how much hate she carries for the Hindus, especially those who are devoted towards Hinduism or follow RSS or BJP.

As the opposition to Shreemi intensified on social media, she locked her account. However, by then, her tweets were dug, and more derogatory content surfaced. Screenshots of three tweets from 2020 and 2021 were shared on social media by Twitter handle Gems Of Bollywood, where she had used the Gau Mutra jibe that is used by Islamist terroirists and left-liberals to mock Hindus because they worship cows.

On March 19, 2020, she wrote, “If Modi does a gaumutra shots party at 8 pm, it’ll be pretty wild.”

On March 14, 2020, she wrote, “2 parts lime 3 parts tequila and a dash of gaumutra,” while replying to a tweet of one OCreativityGang (an account that does not exist anymore.

On April 27, 2021, she wrote, “if this situation doesn’t require urgency, then what does? lack of gaumutra? is that when we should panic?” This was the time when India was gripped by the deadly second wave of the Covid pandemic.

With the screenshots of her anti-Hindu tweets, netizens started to post on Twitter that she is associated with Dharma Productions, and by that association, she is linked to the upcoming movie Brahmastra. Netizens called for boycott of the movie for its association with such an Hinduphobic person, which must have led to worries in the production house, and she eventually deactivated her account.

She is not the only one associated with Dharma Productions or the upcoming film Bhramastra who is under attack. Alia Bhatt recently said on camera that if people do not like her work, they can skip watching her films. Actor Ranbir Kapoor’s video where he said he was a beef-eating foodie also went viral attracting criticism.