The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the centre’s response to a plea that the Dalits who have converted to Islam and Christianity from Hinduism, should be eligible for the same quota benefits that are reserved for Scheduled Castes.
The bench, hearing the plea over the issue of reservation, requested a response from the Centre within three weeks and gave the other side one week to respond thereafter.
#SupremeCourt asked Centre to provide its stand on the issue of extending reservation to Dalit Christians and Muslims under the SC category within a period of 3 weeks. pic.twitter.com/GNLI3xUj8k
Notably, during the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought an adjournment stating that the matter has been listed after a long time.
Meanwhile, advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the petitioner submitted before the apex court that if the Dalit Hindus are also provided with the reservation, then the Dalit Christians who are usually ‘better educated’ they’ll corner the recruitment.
Dalits converted to Christianity and Islam not eligible for reservation benefits: Govt
Notably, last year, the then Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Rajya Sabha that Dalits who had shunned their faith and converted to Islam and Christianity will not be permitted to contest parliamentary or assembly elections from constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), and will not be allowed to claim other reservation benefits.
Speaking on eligibility to contest from reserved constituencies, Prasad said, “Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order outlines that… no person who professes a religion different from Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.”
Prasad clearly drew a distinction between Dalits embracing Islam and Christianity with those choosing to remain within the folds of Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism. In 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru-led central government passed an order limiting the definition of “scheduled caste” only to members of the Hindu faith which was later extended in 1956 to Sikhs and to Buddishts in 1990.
In the past, Supreme Court, too, had upheld the caste benefits only to those belonging to the Indic faiths.
On August 29, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and BJP leader Raghubar Das alleged involvement of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in the Ankita Kumari murder case. As per a report by Amar Ujala, Das said that Noor Mustafa has PFI connections. PFI (Popular Front of India) is an Islamist organisation that has been demands to ban it in some states and is often behind communal violence. Its members are accused of radicalisation activities.
In an interview with ABP News, he said, “When we were in power, we had banned PFI. However, since Hemant Soren government came to power, the activities of Jihadi groups have increased.”
WATCH | दुमका कांड पर झारखंड के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री @dasraghubar EXCLUSIVE
When asked if he was alleging PFI’s hand in the murder, he said, “Of course. There is no doubt PFI was involved. You might have heard of holiday (in schools) being shifted from Sunday to Friday. PFI is behind all this because this time 42 people linked to PFI have won the elections. They want to change the demography of the area. Bangladeshi and Rohingya are reaching there in large number. Our innocent tribal girls are falling for them. They are also taking control over land too.” He further added the administration should look into possible PFI connection with Shahrukh. He said, “There is a DSP Noor Mustafa, the group is working under his supervision.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a 10-member probe team headed by CID DSP Sandeep Kumar Gupta reached the residence of Hindu girl Ankita who was burnt alive by Muslim man Shahrukh for allegedly not reciprocating his advances. The team includes members of the Forensic Science Laboratory, CID officials and the Finger Print bureau.
Dumka, Jharkhand | We are collecting evidence from the site which will be later presented before the court. We received an order to come here yesterday: CID DSP Sandeep Kumar Gupta pic.twitter.com/pRyO10Tf55
In a statement, Sandeep Kumar Gupta, DSP, CID, said, “We are collecting evidence from the site, which will be later presented before the court. We received an order to come here on Monday.”
Ankita Kumari was burnt on August 23 by Shahrukh Hussain. He had allegedly poured petrol on Ankita from outside the window of her room while she was sleeping and set her on fire. Ankita succumbed to her burn injuries on Sunday morning while undergoing treatment at Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) and died in the early hours of Sunday. Hussain was her neighbour and had been after Ankita for some time, but she did not show any interest in his advances.
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.
On August 23 (Tuesday), Ankita Kumari, a class 12th student in Dumka, Jharkhand was set on fire by her stalker neighbour Shahrukh Hussain for refusing his advances. On August 28 (Sunday), the Hindu girl succumbed to the over 90% burn injuries she had suffered.
Now, after Ankita’s demise, as events leading to her death are gradually unfolding, it has come to light that Shahrukh Hussain had been hounding and harassing her for the past two years. In fact, Shahrukh Hussain’s elder brother, who has lately been threatening Ankita Kumari’s family, had once apologised to her father when he wanted to file a complaint against Shahrukh.
Five days before Ankita passed away, she had recorded her testimony before the Executive Magistrate at the Phulo Jhanno Medical College Hospital. In her statement, she revealed how Shahrukh had tormented her because of which, she even stopped going to school. She revealed that he had managed to get her phone number from one of her friends and began calling her up frequently.
Shahrukh used to throw stones at Ankita’s house. Not only this, he often attempted to break into her house. It may be recalled that Ankita’s father, while speaking to Swarajya, had also confirmed this fact. He shared how Shahrukh “crossed all limits” a few months ago when he attempted to barge into their house.
It was only after the children inside the house shouted that neighbours came and helped them in grabbing Shahrukh. “They even beat him up. But his behaviour did not change,” Ankita’s father Sanjeev Singh told Swarajya.
Sanjeev Singh has also told Swarajya that the accused Shahrukh Hussain was forcing his daughter to marry him and convert to Islam.
Now it has been further revealed that once Shahrukh had also attempted to break the grill placed in front of Ankita’s house with an iron rod. Initially, fearing embarrassment, Ankita’s family refrained from calling the police. However, when Shahrukh started crossing limits, Ankita’s father decided to lodge a complaint against him with the local police.
Then, Shahrukh’s older brother offered an apology on his brother’s behalf and urged Ankita’s father to refrain from going to the police station. Now, it is this brother only who has been threatening Ankita’s family.
Ankita confirmed in her dying statement that Shahrukh’s brother was threatening her family
In fact, Ankita, in her dying declaration had also said that Shahrukh Hussain’s brother did not fear the law. He had warned action against those who dare to complain against Shahrukh and get him arrested. He had said, “Dekhte hai kaun jail me dhukata hai, jail se niklenge toh sabko dekh lenge. (lets see who dares to get us jailed, won’t spare them after coming out of the prison)”. 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,” Ankita recalled.
Image source: Prabhat Khabar
The deceased, in evident pain, also said that Shahrukh Hussain had threatened her with dire consequences a night before the attack. She further recalled how she went and immediately informed her father about the same. Since it was late in the night, her father asked her to go to sleep and said that they would think about what step needed to be taken the next morning.
Ankita further said in her dying declaration that she was in deep sleep at around 4 in the morning, when Shahrukh and his friend, whom she identified as Chhotu, threw petrol at her from the room’s window and set her on fire. When her eyes opened she saw the two running away. On being asked, Ankita confirmed that the area she lived in had a predominantly Muslim population.
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 who breathed her last at 2.30 am on Sunday morning.
Soon after her death, the police arrested the accused Shahrukh Hussain. A video emerged wherein he could be seen smiling nonchalantly and walking casually as he was handcuffed and taken to a police vehicle.
Meanwhile, enraged people took to the streets in considerable numbers to condemn the incident and demand that the accused be brought to justice as soon as possible. Section 144 was imposed in the Dumka district shortly after the incident.
Jharkhand | Mortal remains of the std 12th girl who succumbed to her injuries after being set ablaze by a boy for allegedly turning down his proposal, were taken to cremation ground for her last rites earlier today.
On Monday, August 29, Ankit Kumari Singh was cremated amid tight security. The deceased’s last rites were conducted by her grandfather. Armed policemen were present on the route between her residence and the crematorium.
On Monday, Islamists in Murumatu village of Jharkhand’s Palamu district launched an attack on the houses of people belonging to the Mahadalit Musahar community. They destroyed around 18-20 houses and huts belonging to people of Muhasar community and forced them to leave the village. The Islamists also abused and thrashed the victims and threw their valuables in the forest near Loto village of Chhatarpur.
According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened on Monday afternoon in Murumatu village in the area around the Pandu Police Station. Frightened by the attack, as many as 50 people reached the Pandu Police Station and sought justice against the Islamists.
यह अस्वीकार्य है !!!
खबर पाकिस्तान, अफगानिस्तान, बांग्लादेश की नहीं बल्कि “पलामू,झारखंड” की है।@DC_Palamu महोदय, मामले का अविलंब संज्ञान लेते हुए परिवारों का पुनर्वास सुनिश्चित किया जाए अन्यथा @BJPSCMorcha प्रचंड आंदोलन को बाध्य होगी।@BJP4Jharkhand https://t.co/PpWMK1HXCt
A stampede-like situation occurred in the area after the attack as many family members and small children ran around to save their lives. Children were seen crying and wandering in the forest of Loto village while many of them gathered the courage to reach Pandu Police Station to seek justice. Reportedly, the Islamists are said to have launched the attack claiming that the Mahadalit Musahar families had illegally occupied the land which belongs to a madarsa.
Meanwhile, the people of Musahar community rubbished the allegations and clarified that they had been staying in the village for around 4 decades and that the land where they had built their huts and houses was GM land (government land). “The administration has settled us here after conducting a survey. People belonging to the Muslim community want to take possession of the land”, the victims were quoted.
Reports mention that around one and a half dozen families have become homeless amid the incident and many others have been forced to leave the village. Victims loaded all their belongings in trucks and transported the same to the forest near Loto village of Chhatarpur. People from nearby villages came to Murumatu to help the people of Musahar community but were restricted to help due to the fear of Islamists.
To note, the incident continued to happen throughout the day but even the Police failed to take any action against the Islamists. The incident was confirmed by Dhuma Kisku who is the in-charge of Pandu Police Station. He said that the matter is of land dispute and that the Islamists want to occupy the land which they say belong to Madarsa.
Taking the cognizance of the event the Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Hemant Soren government and said that Dalits and tribals were not safe in the state of Jharkhand. BJP State Scheduled Caste Morcha President and MLA Amar Bauri said, “It seems that this news of the attack is from Pakistan or Afghanistan but the truth is that this incident has happened in Palamu, Jharkhand”.
The matter is being investigated by the Jharkhand Police.
According to reports, a merchant from Telangana mysteriously disappeared after purchasing apples worth Rs 2 crore all without paying for them. Ishaq Ibrahim, the accused merchant, had been residing in Anni’s Khegsu Mandi in Himachal Pradesh for one and a half months. He kept sending away containers of apples every day after buying from the arhtiyas, promising to pay the money later.
The accused had slept in a room with an agent on Sunday night. He took advantage of the situation and fled via the room’s window, as per reports. When the suspected merchant did not appear on Monday morning, the arhtiyas began searching for him, according to Kumar Singh, Suresh Kumar, and Rajendra Kumar. However, he was nowhere to be seen. A complaint was then filed in this respect at the Luhri police station.
The accused’s name, according to the complainants, is Ishaq Ibrahim Atnookar. He is a resident of Mahbubnagar in Telangana. Krishan Thakur, president of the Khegsu Apple Market Association, has asked the police to apprehend the fugitive dealer as soon as possible. In the meantime time, DSP Anni Ravindra Negi stated that a complaint concerning the businessman’s vanishing act had been received and the police have launched a probe.
Ishaq Ibrahim purchased apples from Suresh Kumar for 80 lakhs, from Rajendra Kumar for 60 lakhs, and from Kumar Singh for 60 lakhs, as per the complaint. It is important to highlight that if the fleeing suspect is not captured promptly, suppliers will have to incur a huge loss.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed down all proceedings initiated in the aftermath of the 2002 Godhra communal riots in Gujarat. The top court also drew curtains on a batch of contempt petitions against the Uttar Pradesh government and its officials stemming from the demolition of the Babri controversial structure in Ayodhya in 1992.
In cases concerning the communal riots that erupted in Gujarat in the wake of the Godhra Train burning incident, when an Islamist mob torched a Sabarmati Express bogey carrying Karsevaks, killing 59 people, including children and women, the apex court said the cases have become infructuous with time and trials competing in eight out of nine cases prosecuted by the special investigation team under the court’s orders.
On 27th February 2002, a train coming from Ayodhya was set on fire by a Muslim mob in Godhra, Gujarat. 59 karsevaks, who were returning from a pilgrimage at Ram Janmabhoomi, were burnt alive. Subsequently, widespread communal riots took place in Gujarat leaving hundreds dead.
For the cases that were filed over the Babri demolition in Ayodhya in 1992, the Supreme Court observed that with more than three decades since the incident and given the court’s momentous 2019 verdict on the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri structure land dispute case in Ayodhya, the contempt cases don’t survive.
In 2019, In a historic judgement ending a dispute spanning centuries, the Supreme Court of India handed over the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid land to the Hindu parties, making way for Hindu devotees to have a grand Ram Mandir at the birthplace of Lord Ram. The Apex court also ordered the union government to provide 5 acres of land at an alternate site at a prominent location in Ayodhya to the Sunni Waqf Board to rebuild the Babri Masjid which was demolished in 1992.
The 5-judge bench of the supreme court delivered a unanimous judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi case. The top 5 senior judges decided after weighing the arguments presented by all sides for 40 days. CJI Ranjan Gogoi said that the bench is the final arbitrator in the matter, and he said that the court is not obligated to give a religious rationale while deciding the case.
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.
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, when the family started looking for Ankit, they found his dead body tossed just 100 meters from their house.
The corporate, mainstream media, overall, often ignores cases where Hindus are hacked to death by Islamists simply because of their Hindu identity. Victims are often made not by the perpetrators of the violence against them, but the media and the establishment that chooses to play up the case of certain victims they can use to build their own motivated narrative, while ignoring rampant and regular crimes against those they wish to demonise. As far as Hindus are concerned, the crimes are documented infrequently and if they are, the severity of the crime, the nature of the crime and the religious hatred that drives Islamists to commit such crimes are often pushed under the rug with carefully crafted headlines that are bound to get missed by most.
In the case of Ankit, the Times of India seems to have pulled a similar feat. Their headline in the Ankit murder case was problematic on several levels. Their headline is, “Uttar Pradesh: 3 brothers arrested for killing sister’s Dalit boyfriend in Basti”.
Times of India headline
First and foremost, one must appreciate the Times of India for at least covering the news of a Hindu man being killed by Muslim men because he dared to date their sister. However, as is the nature of corporate media, it is almost infuriating that the Times of India, while covering the news, downplayed the incident and slyly attempted to mislead its audiences by the virtue of its headline.
There are two fundamental problems with how Times of India chose to craft their headline.
Mention of the ‘Dalit’ identity of the victim with no mention of the Muslim identity of the perpetrators
In the Times of India headline, the ‘Dalit’ identity of the victim, Ankit, is prominently mentioned. One could safely say that the Times of India made his Dalit identity the peg of their reportage – a peg being the central point that the news revolves around. However, the Muslim identity of the perpetrators is conspicuous by its absence.
Given that Indian media and the Left ecosystem is obsessed with caste faultlines within the Hindu society, at first glance, an unsuspecting reader would assume that a Dalit, a “lower caste Hindu” was murdered by “upper caste Hindus”. You see, the media has long peddled the narrative that the faultlines within the Hindu society are far more detrimental to Hindus compared to the Islamist violence that the Hindu community is subjected to. They further peddle the narrative of Jai Bheem Jai Meem, which essentially claims that Dalits and Muslims are in some sort of an alliance, given that both are troubled by the “Hindu majority” – Dalits due to casteism, Muslims due to majoritarianism. To peddle these motivated narratives, every crime by Muslims against Hindus or even Dalit Hindus has to be watered down – God forbid the real victims are recognised and the cacophony of fake victimhood by the second largest majority is summarily busted.
The headline of the Times of India either by design or chance does exactly that. When they highlight the Dalit identity of the victim and miss mentioning the Muslim identity of the murderers, an unsuspecting reader would assume that the “Dalit” man was killed by “Upper caste Hindus” and not that they were actually Muslims who had killed him because he was a Hindu man in love with their Muslim sister.
Was Ankit killed because of his “Dalit” identity or his Hindu identity
It is often noticed that the caste identity of a Dalit victim is mentioned by the media and the Left while reporting crimes. The non-Left has theorised that this is perhaps to drive a wedge in the society and further the narrative that in Hindu majority India, Dalits and lower castes are brutalised on a regular basis and therefore, further the ‘Muslim-Dalit unity’ trope that would then help ‘secular fronts’ electorally.
While that may be the agenda for several media houses and Left intelligentsia, the rationale behind highlighting the caste identity of Dalit 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 Dalit and hence, mentioning the caste identity is essential as even if the crime is not motivated by caste animosity, the victim was at a higher risk by virtue of her caste.
In this case, the Times of India could potentially believe that Ankit was at a greater risk of violence because of his Dalit identity and therefore, mentioning his Dalit identity was of paramount importance. However, we must critically analyse these crimes to understand which identity of Ankit made him vulnerable to being murdered by Muslim men.
Irshad, Israr and Irfan murdered Ankit because he was in a relationship with their sister, Ameena Khatun. The question that we need to ask ourselves is simple – Would Ankit be spared his fate if he was, say, a Brahmin instead of a Dalit? If not, what was the primary identity due to which the Muslim men decided to murder Ankit?
The truth is that for the Muslim men, it was Ankit’s Hindu identity that was the cause of their religious hatred and it was his Hindu identity that put him at risk the moment he started dating Ameena Khatun. His caste identity would not put him at risk or save him from the crime. So he was not particularly murdered for being a Dalit, since we understand by precedent, that he would not have been spared had he been a Brahmin. Therefore, the fact that the Times of India mentions his Dalit identity instead of his Hindu identity is only a testament to the fact that the media either deliberately ignored ground realities to peddle a set narrative or they are woefully unaware of the reality of Islamist crimes.
When we talk about religious identities, one must also acknowledge in no uncertain terms that Hindus and Muslims have been co-existing in India but the historicity of that relationship is strained and blood-soaked at the very least.
Hindus have seen over 800 years of Islamic rule where they were beaten, raped, killed and converted. Where their temples were trampled upon and their identity as Hindus was under siege. Post the Islamic rule, in Independent India, the atrocities committed by Islamists have not stopped, whether the Left likes to believe it or not. If we take Kashmir, for example, India’s only Muslim-dominated state, the picture becomes evident. The Hindu minority of the state were beaten, raped, murdered and cleansed from the state. The slogans that emanated from the mosques of Kashmir in the 90s said that Hindu men should leave the valley but leave their women behind for the Islamists. The chants also asked the Hindus to either convert to Islam or leave the valley.
With these examples alone it is acceptable to conclude that Hindus have been historically in a disadvantaged position with respect to Muslims in India and have often been victimised, brutally, by Muslims. Therefore, a Hindu man, regardless of his caste, is at a greater risk of violence when the perpetrator is a Muslim and is oppressed because of his Hindu identity, not Muslim identity. Once we understand that, it becomes greatly problematic that the media chooses to highlight the Dalit identity of a victim instead of his Hindu identity when the perpetrators are Muslim. The issues become far worse when only the Dalit identity is mentioned in the headline and the media deliberately omits the Muslim identity of the perpetrators from the headline.
In a horrifying incident, Ankita Singh who was 19 years old succumbed to her burn injuries on August 28. Ankita was studying in 12th and was aiming to become a police officer. She was, however, set on fire on an ill-fated night on August 23. The accused has been identified as Shahrukh who used to stalk Ankita pestering her to become a friend. Ankita’s father has said that Shahrukh would stalk her and pester her to convert to Islam and marry him.
Ankita in her dying statement stated that the boy had called her on August 22 and had forced her to accept his ‘friendship’. He had threatened to kill her if she refused to talk to him. “He told me that he would kill me if I did not talk to him. I informed my father about the threat, after which he assured me that he would talk to the man’s family”, Ankita had said. However, on August 23 at 4 am, Shahrukh threw petrol through a window in Ankita’s room and set her ablaze.
Reports mention that while she was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment, her family struggled to save her. Ankita’s father runs a grocery shop and barely earns Rs 200 per day. Ankita was taken to the hospital for treatment where she was referred to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for further treatment. Her family reportedly struggled to pay for her treatment.
Ankita could have been alive today had the Jharkhand government extended her the required financial assistance the way it aided stone pelter Nadeem Ansari in June this year. Rioter Nadeem who was hit by a bullet during a protest against remarks on the Prophet in Ranchi was treated at the cost of the state government in Delhi. He was admitted at RIMS and was later airlifted by an air ambulance to Gurugram’s Medanta hospital for further advanced treatment. The government had then paid for his treatment at the hospital.
Nadeem was accused of rioting during the violence that broke out in Ranchi during the protests over ex-BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s comments on Prophet Muhammad.
In case of Ankita, the Jharkhand government failed to provide even an ordinary ambulance in time. Had Ankita been treated at RIMS from the start, she might have survived. CM Heman Soren instead chose to continue to enjoy picnic with other 43 MLAs of the state at Latratu.
Further, while the citizens protested against the state administration demanding strict action against the accused Shahrukh in the case, the state government imposed section 144, prohibiting citizens from raising their voices. People also yelled anti-administration chants in response and demanded the hanging of Shahrukh during Ankita’s funeral.
Days after Ankita’s death, videos of her last words are going viral over social media where she can be heard demanding painful death for the accused who set her on fire alive. “He should die the way I am dying today,” the Dumka girl had said who breathed her last at 2.30 am on Sunday morning.
She reiterated that Shahrukh Hussain had threatened her with dire consequences the night before the attack. She further recalled how she went and immediately informed her father about the same. Since it was late in the night, her father asked her to sleep and said they would think about what step needed to be taken the next morning.
Ankita further said in her dying declaration that she was in deep sleep at around 4 in the morning, when Shahrukh and his friend, whom she identified as Chhotu, threw petrol at her from the room’s window and set her on fire. When her eyes opened she saw the two running away. On being asked, Ankita confirmed that the area she lived in had a predominantly Muslim population.
As reported earlier, the Police and district administration are currently less focused on punishing accused Shahrukh Hussain severely. CM Heman Soren meanwhile has condemned the incident and has declared financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh, a day after Ankita breathed her last.
In the midst of the acute energy crisis plaguing Bangladesh, its government is mulling establishing a long-term partnership with India to import fuel oil from its surplus, the country’s Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has confirmed.
While discussing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming trip to India, the minister reportedly said that India is in a better position on the fuel issue.
“We will definitely try to enter a long-term agreement with them if they have a surplus. But it will depend on how much they have in excess. They have their own supply and demand thing”, Masud said.
Foreign Secretary Masud was hopeful that the Indian government would agree to assist as India has helped Bangladesh at different times in the past.
Masud stated that in order to address the energy problem, the administration wanted to keep all options open, including importing hydroelectricity from Nepal or crude oil from India.
Fuel crisis in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has lately been dealing with a major fuel crisis. To deal with this, the Bangladeshi government on August 5 increased the price of petrol by 51.7% and diesel by 45.2%.
While speaking about the matter, Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid had said, “Some adjustments have to be made in view of the global situation. If the situation normalises, the fuel prices will be revised accordingly. The new prices will not seem tolerable to everyone, but we had no other choice. People have to be patient.”
The drastic hike in fuel prices sparked off protests, led to long queues at fuel stations, and even violent demonstrations in various parts of the country.
China lurking to take advantage of Bangladesh’s economic woes
As Bangladesh struggles with the fuel crisis and rising inflation, there have been fears that the economic situation can quickly spiral out of control and the country can become another Sri Lanka due to rising debt. China, as it was present in Sri Lanka, is also lurking to take advantage of the situation in Bangladesh.
China is thinking about using it to its own benefit and expanding duty-free access to 99% Bangladeshi goods and services. The move is likely to benefit the exporters of garments and woven products in Bangladesh.
While speaking about the development, Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, said, “It’s good news for Bangladesh as we have a thriving economy based on exports. We already had duty-free access for 98 percent of items exported to China.”
He added, ”The remaining 2 percent, like any other bilateral trade, has been important and sensitive. Now, they have offered duty-free access to 1 percent more from September 1.”
The matter was taken up for discussion during a bilateral meeting between Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on August 7. China is also eyeing setting up factories and providing technological support in Anowara upazila in the Chittagong district of Bangladesh.
The two countries are also likely to sign an MoU regarding Public-private cooperation, and chalk out plans for increasing aerial connectivity, and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). China has reportedly promised to help resolve the Rohingya crisis and the internal challenges in Myanmar as well.
Earlier, four state-owned Chinese companies had expressed interest in building a ‘Smart City’ and a metro rail network in Chittagong. China is known to push developing countries into debt by lending money for building infrastructure projects with marginal or no economic returns.
While Bangladesh is relatively safe for now, things may spiral out of control if the Sheikh Hasina government fails to keep inflation and the associated unrest in check. It will then be an uphill task for India to support both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the same time.
India bought Russian crude oil at a heavily discounted price
Meanwhile, it is pertinent to recall here how when European nations and the United States had put several sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February, India bought Russian crude oil at a heavily discounted price. A report by Financial Times stated that while European buyers avoid Russian cargoes of oil, India has almost quadrupled its purchase of Russian crude.
A report in FT states that Russia has sent over 360,000 barrels of crude oil per day to India so far in March, nearly 4 times higher than the average per day exports in 2021.
India, which does not have vast reserves of oil and natural gas and imports over 82% of crude oil and 45% of natural gas from other nations, has been considering all options to avoid the sanctions against Russia and get crude oil at a discounted price. India is the world’s third-largest energy-consuming country.
It is notable here that India and Russia have long-standing and deep trade ties, especially in the defence sector. Both countries have already decided to explore Rupee-Rouble trades, to reduce dependency on US dollars.
On August 29, Nihang Sikhs disrupted a Christian program in Village Daduana near Jandiala Guru in the Amritsar district of Punjab, over allegations of forced conversion. The Police were informed about the incident, after which senior officials reached the spot and pacified the situation. The Police assured the Nihang Sikh groups that Christian programs would not take place in the village in the future.
As per reports, a Christian religious program was taking place in village Daduana. A group of Nihang Sikhs disrupted the program and blocked access to the place where the event was happening. They alleged that the organizers had been running a conversion program in the name of prayer sessions for the past few months. They further alleged that despite the resistance from the locals, no one from the administration took any action. Hence, they themselves had to come and take appropriate action against the conversion program.
The Nihang Sikhs further claimed that the organizers are themselves unaware of Christianity. They make their relatives sit during the programs to lure people and get them converted. Following the intervention from the Police, the religious leaders from the village sat together and pacified the situation.
Visuals from the spot show that the Nihang Sikhs stopped the program and threw away chairs. Speaking to Sikh News Express, a Nihang Sikh leader said, “They prepare their relatives beforehand and guide them on what to say and how to behave during the program to lure more people to Christianity.” In the video, a poster of Pastor Sukhwinder Raja was visible but the date mentioned was June 24, 2022. It is unclear if the event was being organized by the people linked to his ministry or not.
The Sikh leader further said, “They use women to distribute pamphlets in the nearby villages. We filed a complaint against them six months ago. However, the administration assured us today that no such programs will happen again in the village.” He further requested all Sikh religious groups in Punjab to come together and fight against such superstitions. He said, “It does not matter which religion the priests belong to. They can be from Sikhism, Christianity, or any other religion. If they are indulging in promoting superstitions, we have to stop them to save our state and religion.”
When asked about the assurance from the Police, he said, “I have complete trust in the administration. They will listen to both parties and take an informed decision.”
SP Jaswant Kaur informed the media that the Police talked to both sides, and they reached a solution peacefully. She added, “Every religion has the right to preach its teachings. Our gurus have taught us to live peacefully with all religions.” She said the Christian group took the land on lease from the Sarpanch for a year.
OpIndia tried to contact the Nihang Sikh group and Police for further information but could not reach them.
Local protests against Christian programs in Punjab
This is not the first time locals have resisted Christian programs in their areas. In May 2022, OpIndia published an exclusive report on how locals from Dhakoli, Punjab, resisted missionary programs in a locality. Members of Hindu organizations and local BJP leaders joined hands and protested against the Christian program. Notably, no locals were involved in that program that continued for two days.
