On Thursday (August 18), former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy met Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. The author of ‘Virat Hindu Identity: Concept and Its Power’ heaped praise on the West Bengal Chief Minister, despite being aware of her recent anti-Hindu remarks and the plight of the Hindu community during the 2021 post-poll violence.
In a tweet, he remarked, “Today I was in Kolkata and met the charismatic Mamata Banerjee. She is a courageous person. I admired her fight against the CPM in which she decimated the Communists.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Subramanian Swamy
The development comes amidst rumours about Subramanian Swamy, defecting to the Trinamool Congress. Last month, he praised the Trinamool Congress Chief for being an ‘intelligent leader.’ “We have to recognise talent even if we have ideological differences,” he had insisted.
Screengrab of the tweet by Subramanian Swamy
In November last year, he met Mamata Banerjee and compared her with the likes of Jayprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Chandrashekhar, Rajiv Gandhi, and P V Narasimha Rao.
Screengrab of the tweet by Subramanian Swamy
Post poll violence and anti-Hindu remarks of Mamata Banerjee
A staunch critic of the Modi dispensation, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had ignored the anti-Hindu antecedents of the West Bengal Chief Minister out of political convenience. The ‘Virat Hindu’ has compromised on his values to remain under the spotlight and it is not the first time he seems to be changing his ideology either.
Mamata Banerjee had courted controversy in May this year after she was heard saying, “Hum Kafir nahin hai“. While addressing a crowd on the occasion of Eid, she said, “Let them do what they want. We are not scared. We are not cowards. We are not ‘Kafir’.”
“We fight. We know how to fight. We will fight against them. We will finish them,” she continued. Netizens were in disbelief as the video went viral. Many expressed their concern over a sitting CM using the word in a public address, given that it is often used by Islamists to dehumanise non-Muslims.
Recently, she called for a ‘jihad’ against the BJP, a radical Islamist term that calls for the annihilation of the disbelievers of Allah. Mamata Banerjee later defended her remark by claiming that it meant ‘strong protest’ in Banga.
Under her leadership, goons associated with the Trinamool Congress wreaked havoc on Hindu BJP workers in the aftermath of the 2021 West Bengal Vidhan Sabha polls.
In a statement, Hindu rights outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said, ” “More than 3500 villages and over 40-thousand Hindus, including our SC & ST brethren in great numbers, are badly affected by the violence.”
It pointed out how shops, houses, and crops belonging to Hindus were systematically destroyed in the post-poll violence. VHP highlighted that unspeakable atrocities were committed against women in the State.
‘Karthikeya 2’ is a Telugu film. Lord Shri Krishna and his holy city Dwaraka make the theme of this film. As the film is related to Lord Shri Krishna, a part of this film takes place in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, a few important scenes in this film happen in Himachal Pradesh. In this way, collecting the varied geographical scenery of India is the beauty of the film ‘Karthikeya 2’. In fact, this is more than just a film. This is an experience.
A big media house mentioned that ‘there is too much of Shri Krishna in this film’. Actually, I too have a similar opinion. But then what is wrong with that? Has anyone ever asked why there is too much of ‘spice’ in the film Dune (2021), or why there is too much ring in the film series Lord of the Rings? Likewise, nobody asked why there is too much Hinduphobia in the film PK. Then why such a question now?
The film ‘Karthikeya 2’ starts with a story from the Mahabharat period – that is – the era of Lord Shri Krishna. The way director Chandu Mondeti has connected the Dwapar Yug and the current times through a story, it is commendable. The part of this film depicting ancient times has been explained through animation. This has also been the signature style of the ‘Karthikeya’ series. The first part also told some parts of the story through animation.
Today’s young generation should watch this film because they will get entertainment as well as knowledge of their history. They should watch it because it will also give them information about some stories of the city of Dwarka – submerged in the sea – from the Dwapar Yug. Parallelly, the film runs through the current times and everything is connected with each other. The writers have kept the story as simple as it could be. It has a definite rhythm. The characters are built in an interesting way.
Nikhil Siddharth is constantly evolving as an actor. He is already known for choosing different kinds of themes in his films. Be it ‘Ekkadiki (2016)’ or ‘Swamy Ra Ra (2013)’, these films have brought a different kind of experiment. Nikhil Siddharth has a strong screen presence, despite being present in most of the frames, he does not bore the audience.
Some of the scenes of the film could have been shorter. Despite this, ‘Karthikeya 2’ maintains the grip on the plot and captivates the audience till the end. The negative characters played by Shantanu and Abhir are also portrayed with panache.
When it comes to acting, the discussion of a person becomes important, who is seen in the film for a few minutes and makes a lasting mark that proves his 40-year film career absolutely justified. It is none other than Anupam Kher who was a part of the previous film produced by Abhishek Agrawal – The Kashmir Files. Abhishek Agrawal is also producing a Ravi Teja starrer film ‘Tiger Nageshwar Rao’ and Anupam Kher is playing an important character in that film too.
Anupam Kher played a cameo in ‘Karthikeya 2’. He has delivered every word describing Lord Shri Krishna in such a way that, at one point, you feel that it is not the character anymore; rather it is Anupam Kher speaking from the bottom of his heart. No person could have played this character without reverence and devotion to Lord -Shri Krishna.
There is a character Suleman, Most of the events take place in front of Suleman and he is a witness to this journey of discovery of Shri Krishna. During this journey, he extends help to the protagonist and is surprised everywhere. The message of the film is that Ramayana and Mahabharata are parts of our history and not myths for us. And it is a message for the whole of Indians, including Hindus and Muslims. The stalwarts of ancient times were the ancestors of all of us.
‘Karthikeya 2’ can be placed in the category of adventure films more than a mystery-thriller. Showcasing the hills of Govardhan, lanes of Dwaraka, the desert of Bundelkhand, and rivers of Himachal Pradesh – this film is in a way a reflection of India’s unity in diversity. There is a message of distinguishing spirituality from superstitions. But this is achieved without insulting Hinduism. In fact, the core message of the film is that the ancients were people of knowledge and science and their accomplishments were remarkable.
Karthikeya 2 has “too much Sri Krishna references”, but “Hinduism fervour” may make it a hit despite being no fun, said India Today review after public anger made them tweak the headline pic.twitter.com/3Hg9LYgkTN
This film should be watched to experience the acting of 37-year-old Nikhil Siddharth who has the potential of becoming the next pan-India star. This should be watched for producer Abhishek Agrawal, who is trying to give us something different than the usual Bollywood propaganda. This film should be watched to know that the stories of Krishna and Mahabharata can be told in an appealing, innovative way to the youngsters of today. It should be seen for its fine cinematography. Kaal Bhairav’s background music is superb and in harmony with the scenes.
The second film of the Karthikeya franchise has ensured that the third film in the series will be a pan-India hit film. Despite the flops of Aamir Khan’s ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’ and Akshay Kumar’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’, the film ‘Karthikeya 2’ has survived and its number of screens is being increased in the Hindi belt. There is also a surge in the collections of the film. However, Kartikeya 2’s biggest success will be opening the industry up to the ideas of the Indic narrative. It will be a good experience to watch ‘Karthikeya 2’ on the occasion of Janmashtami.
Sam Harris has been slowly but surely sliding into insanity for a while now, ever since the USA was gripped by the Donald Trump phenomenon. In an interview on the YouTube channel Triggernometry, Sam Harris has now admitted that the censoring of the Hunter Biden laptop story was a warranted “left-wing conspiracy” to ensure that Joe Biden could unseat Donald Trump. He has also gone on record to support the censor of the story, saying that even if there were corpses of children found in his basement at the time, he would not have cared. Sam Harris is one of the intellectual leaders of the “New Athiest Movement” and calls himself a Rational Atheist.
In a short clip from the almost 90 minute interview shared by Jack Posobiec, the senior editor of website HumanEvents.com, Sam Harris said that he supported the censoring of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Holy shlit
Sam Harris just admitted he supported censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story because it helped Biden
In the full interview, for at least a good 6-7 minutes, Sam Harris essentially defends censoring the Hunter Biden story because it was far more important to him to unseat Donald Trump. He draws a comparison to the 2016 Hillary Clinton email fiasco saying that the fact that an investigation had to be opened days before the election. Hillary Clinton herself and several others who support her, including Sam Harris, believe that the investigation into her emails back in 2016 cost her the elections, or she would have been President. Citing this incident, Harris says, “We will get 4 more years of Trump if we actually give this a fair hearing”, referring to the bombshell “laptop from hell” belonging to Hunter Biden.
“It is like a coin toss for, the Hunter Biden laptop thing, I do understand how corrosive it is for an institution like the NYT to show obvious bias and inconsistency and dishonestly – it is like they couldn’t even frame it honestly – how I would frame it is – listen I don’t care what’s in the Hunter Biden laptop – at that point, Hunter Biden could have had corpses of children in his basement and I would not have cared, right? There is nothing. Firstly, it is Hunter Biden, not Joe Biden and whatever the scope of Joe Biden’s corruption is – if we could go down that rabbit hole endlessly – like he was getting kickbacks from Hunter Biden’s deal in Ukraine or wherever else, like China – it is small in comparison to the corruption Trump is involved in. It does not even stack up to Trump University. Trump University as a story is worse than anything that could be there in the Hunter Biden laptop”.
Sam Harris then talks about Twitter shutting down the account of The New York Post and censoring the story, saying that people allege it was a Left Wing Conspiracy to deny Donald Trump the Presidency. He admits that it was “absolutely a conspiracy” but says that the conspiracy was “warranted”.
The flabbergasted host prods Harris further asking in dismay how he can be satisfied with a left-wing conspiracy to stop the democratic election of a leader he might not like. To that, he first tries to say it wasn’t the “left-wing” (after saying it was), but when caught, he goes back to saying that “it was a conspiracy out in the open – it doesn’t matter what part is a conspiracy and what part is out in the open. If people get together and talk about what should we do about this – it’s like there was an asteroid heading towards earth and people huddled around in a room with all of our friends to discuss what we could do to deflect its course, would that be a conspiracy?”. He then claimed that Donald Trump was an existential threat similar to an asteroid hitting the earth.
When asked about destroying democracy to protect democracy, deranged Harris tries to defend his rant by claiming that he was not suggesting that ballots be stuffed, BUT, political opinion is already being inundated with misinformation, biased takes, outright lies etc, and therefore, since it is already happening, he says “the question is what can be done with your own biases to get a better outcome”. Harris here essentially defends the entire Left ecosystem lying, obfuscating and censoring information that they deem uncomfortable for their political position.
In this segment, Harris goes on to say that “we could have known that Biden would be comatose in office, and he still would not be worse than Trump”.
It is pertinent to note that this is not the first time that Sam Harris has gone completely unhinged.
Earlier, Sam Harris was heard saying, “Osama bin Laden, as a person, is far more understandable to me and far less reprehensible, personally, psychologically, than Trump.” The entire context of the conversation is not yet known but that is not entirely necessary as the atheist has said the same thing in the past as well.
In an audio clip uploaded to his Facebook account on the 19th of February 2020, he explains his position in detail. Sam Harris says, “I find Trump more despicable than I found Osama bin Laden… With Osama bin Laden, it’s just obvious to me that he could have been a mensch in some sense, right? He’s making serious sacrifices for ideas that he deeply believes in. He’s committed to a cause greater than himself.”
The deluded atheist continued, “I don’t doubt he had real ethical connections to the people in his life that he cared about. He’s a real person, right? And in some ways, he is kind of a moral hero in a very bad game. And so, therefore, he’s kind of prototypically evil when viewed from my game. he’s a person of actual substance- he’s just committed to the wrong ends, whereas Trump is the negation of all those things.”
Sam Harris is recognised across the ‘atheist community’ as someone who oozes intellect and rationality. However, quite clearly, he is further evidence of the fact a lack of religious faith does not automatically translate into a more rational worldview or more rational opinions.
The motion poster of the film ‘1770’ was recently released. The film is based on the Bangla novel ‘Anand Math’ penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The story of the novel and the film revolves around the armed struggle by the Hindu Sadhus against the British East India Company in the second half of the eighteenth century – particularly in the year 1770.
The second half of the eighteenth century is marked by unparalleled anarchy in the history of India. With the Marathas holding on to the power in the North and West even after the battle of Panipat and the Mughal dynasty being ineffective outside certain parts of Delhi, it was regional Islamic rulers and the British East India Company who were in the middle of a power tussle in the various parts of the country.
The battle of Plassey marked the rise of British power in Bengal in 1757. Image Source: India Today
At this juncture, common Hindus were persecuted by both regional Islamic rulers and the British East India Company on a religious and financial basis. When various kingdoms in the country were disintegrating and kings were abdicating their thrones out of fear of consequences, it was the tenacious armed revolution headed by the Sanyasis that fought the invader for as long as they could. No wonder this Sanyasi Rebellion caught the attention of one of India’s most revered screenplay writers V Vijayendra Prasad, who went on to write the film ‘1770’ which is being directed by Ashwin Gangaraju who is known for assisting SS Rajamouli on Baahubali.
The film 1770 will depict the story of the Sanyasi Rebellion. Image Source: Cinestaan.com
The turbulent times before the Sanyasi Rebellion
Although the East India Company entered and settled in Calcutta in 1688, the year 1765 marked a turning point for both India and the East India Company. The East India Company opened its first Diwani in Bengal in 1765. As a result, they were put in charge of controlling and collecting taxes for Bengal. In those days, Bengal comprised of today’s West Bengal, Bangladesh, Assam, and parts of Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The first year they were in power, the British doubled the Diwani amount; the next year, they raised it by 10%. A lot of their policies had a bad impact on the economy, one of which was the 1770 famine.
The treaty of Allahabad followed by the battle of Buxar gave Diwani rights of Bengal to the East India Company in 1764. Image Source: IAScurrent.com
Hindu Sanyasis travelled to various places of pilgrimage at the time, a practice they still continue. Followers of the Adwaita doctrine of Adi Shankaracharya were divided into ten groups based on their schools of thought and functional responsibilities in the Sanatan Dharma. These ten sects are collectively called ‘Dasnami’ sects. They are Giri, Puri, Bharati, Ban, Aranya, Parbat, Sagar, Tirtha, Ashrama, Saraswati. Unlike popular opinions, these Sadhus would also get involved in trade and would keep a decent amount of money for meeting operating costs, travel expenses and for procuring weapons as they would fight for Dharma. These sages were also funded by local landlords in whichever area they would go for pilgrimage.
However, the landlords in Bengal were unable to pay the Sadhus after the new taxation system was enforced as the East India Company took over the reigns. Common people were also not in a position to survive the brutal tax regime. Britishers forced them to pay taxes in cash and sell all their crop produce to the East India Company. This policy broke the domestic economic structure of villages pushing farmers and peasants into a situation where they had neither cash nor kinds to barter with. It was then that the common people in Bengal, mostly Hindus, were led by the Sanyasis who fought against the British Rule and registered significant victories in certain areas of Bengal from 1763 to 1802.
The Sanyasi Rebellion
The sadhus and sanyasis became the vanguard for the poor, oppressed, and brutalised Hindu majority’s eventual rebellion. The Hindus of Bengal were too damaged to fight back since they had been emotionally destroyed, financially devastated, and subjected to religious persecution, first by the muslim conquerors and then by British authorities. The roving groups of sadhus, particularly those from the Naga, Giri, and Puri sects, offered reassurance and encouragement. These sects’ sanyasis were the ones who started fighting back against the Muslim and British overlords. They gave the persecuted Hindus direction and inspired them to rebel against injustice.
Failed journo Sagarika tweets “People wearing saffron have never been known to have the stomach to fight British.” This is a picture of a group of saffron wearing sanyasis who led a revolt against British. “Sanyasi rebellion” predates Gandhi, Nehru by 150 years. – By Trueindology pic.twitter.com/RWexyRyxli
— Rakesh Krishnan Simha (@ByRakeshSimha) July 1, 2019
The major battles in this revolt took place in the years 1763 (Capture of Dhaka Factory), 1766 (Battle of Malda and killing of two officers of the company), 1770-1771 (Battle of Ghodaghat and winning a fort in Purnia), 1784 (Recapturing Dhaka Factory), and 1791 (Battle of Gobindganj). In each of these battles, the troops of untrained peasants led by Hindu Sanyasis forced British military to step back and went on to capture important forts like Purnia, Malda, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Murshidabad, Kuchbihar. For a few months after every victory, the locals ensured a short-lived self-rule which would be eventually over once the East India Company struck back after the Sadhus left the forts.
Hindu Monk Bhabani Charan Pathak is credited for organizing these revolts against the East India Company. He led the Hindus from the front in all these battles and he made the supreme sacrifice in the battle of Gobindganj in 1791. However, under the leadership of Devi Chaudhurani, the rebellion continued for 11 more years till 1802.
The Fighting Techniques used by Sanyasis
Though in most of the battles, Sanyasis and their army of common peasants and farmers relied on traditional weapons like swords, daggers, bow and arrows, etc., they also used cannons against the British forces which they had seized from the enemies after victories. The troops were highly unorganized providing them with all the advantages of guerilla warfare and in the deep forests along Ganga and Brahmaputra. The Sanyasis, on two occasions, also led the fights from boats in rivers as the factories of the East India Company were established on the banks of rivers. Besides, in the battles of 1770-1771 and 1784, the Sanyasis – otherwise characterized as the epitome of honesty and truth – skillfully deceived the enemy to secure the wins and minimize the losses.
A portrait of Pandit Bhabani Charan Pathak who led the Sanyasi Rebellion. Image Source: Rattibha.com
Coordination between the common people and revolutionary monks
The sanyasis were incredibly quick and had the ability to vanish at any time. They were very skilled at hiding themselves. Their key survival strategy against the British army, a military behemoth, was their dexterity. The British forces were unaware of the timing or location of the strikes. Sanyasi groups would usually target the fortress of the East India Company, their factory, and the residences of the landlords loyal to the Company. The peasants and farmers acted as their intelligence agents and kept them informed of the Company’s movements and whereabouts. The vast majority of the collected cash was set aside for arming themselves to the teeth, training camps for young hires, and supplying food and water to famine-stricken rural residents.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and ‘Anand Math’
19th century Bangla author and poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee is one of the most influential writers in Bangla. He is credited for adapting the stories of the Sanyasi rebellion into his novels. The most popular among his novels are ‘Anand Math’ and ‘Devi Choudhurani’. Both of them are based on the battles fought under the leadership of the sanyasis.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote Bengali novels based on the Sanyasi Rebellion. Image Source: Free Press Journal
‘Anand Math’ was written in 1872. In ‘Anand Math’ novel the rebels bow to the motherland singing the song ‘Vande Mataram’. These words went on to become the most revered slogan of the freedom struggle against British Rule. After independence, this song was declared as the National song of India. This song had shaken the roots of the British Empire.
Adaptations of ‘Anand Math’
The novel ‘Anand Math’ was adapted into a movie in 1952. It was directed by Hemen Gupta. Actors like Prithviraj Kapoor, Ajit, Bharat Bhushan, Pradeep Kumar, and Geeta Bali played significant roles in this film. Hemat Kumar composed the music for this film. ‘Vande Mataram’ sung in this film by Lata Mangeshkar went on to become a rousing success. Now, in 2022, writer V Vijayendra Prasad is adapting this novel into a film which will be directed by Ashwin Gangaraju.
Anand Math was adapted into a film in 1952 by Hemen Gupta. Image Source: Radio Times
Motion poster of 1770 released
Shailendra K Kumar, Sujay Kutty, Krishan Kumar B, and Suraj Sharma came together to produce a grand film based on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel Anand Math. The film is titled 1770. The motion poster of the film ‘1770’ was recently launched on social media. The film will be released simultaneously in six languages – Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Bangla. The film is being produced under the banner ‘SS1’ Entertainment and PK Entertainment.
Director of the film ‘1770’, Ashwin Gangaraju said, “This subject was very challenging for me. But, with legendary V Vijayendra Prasad writing adapted stories and screenplays, I am sure that the way we have this written, is going to be a blockbuster cinematic experience.”
He further said, “As a filmmaker, I am more attracted to stories that have a background that shows a particular period, where emotions matter more, and where there is scope for larger-than-life action. I was initially a little skeptical about this. However, when I spoke to Ram Kamal Mukherjee and got to know his approach towards it, I gained confidence.”
This movie is going to be heartburn for secular. This movie #1770 is based on lesser known fight for Independence called Sanyasi Kranti under the leadership of Devi Choudrani and Bhawani Pathak. They were sanyasi and renouced the world, but came to fight Britisher to save Dharma. https://t.co/zaS7lPxqrp
He added, “Not long after that, I met producers Shailendra Ji, Sujay Kutty sir, Krishan Kumar sir, and Suraj Sharma in Mumbai. We had a long discussion about the film and how they wanted to take the film project ahead. Their attitude toward working together, and the compatibility of their minds made me connect with them immediately.”
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ and the novel ‘Anand Math’. V Vijayendra Prasad – the Screenwriter of the film ‘1770’ – said, “I think, ‘Vande Mataram’ was a magical slogan. It was a mantra given by Maharshi Bankim Chandra to the nation to fight against oppression and injustice. In ‘1770’, we are dealing with the story of many unknown warriors who ignited the fire of the freedom movement. The cast of the film will be announced by Diwali.”
On Thursday, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde announced that Dahi Handi will now be recognized as an official sport in the state. Citing the occasion of Janmashtami, he also said that ‘pro-dahi-handi’ competitions will be introduced in the state.
“Dahi-handi will be recognized under the sports category in Maharashtra. Pro-Dahi-Handi will be introduced. The Govindas will get jobs under the sports category. We will provide insurance cover of Rs 10 lakhs for all Govindas”, said CM Eknath Shinde on August 18.
‘Dahi-handi’ will be recognised under the sports category in Maharashtra. ‘Pro-Dahi-Handi’ will be introduced. The ‘Govindas’ will get jobs under sports category. We will provide insurance cover of Rs 10 lakhs for all ‘Govindas’: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde pic.twitter.com/7LLmgAnZOD
This is after Dahi Handi Utsav Samanvay Samiti wrote to the CM requesting to make Dahi Handi an adventurous sport. “This has been a long pending demand. Rather than playing it only once a year on the day of the festival, we hope for more competitions and events such as pro kabaddi will be organized so that the Govindas can practice, play and have a healthy competition throughout the year”, said the committee member Arun Pati.
He was further quoted saying, “This will help the Govindas to have advanced practice and remain healthy and fit to perform the human pyramid across the year. We will like to form a committee along with members of the government and plan further activities to make it an adventure sport for youngsters”.
The decision to grant sports status to Dahi-Handi comes after the ban on it imposed by the previous Uddhav Thackeray government for the last two years. The Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP govt had banned mass celebrations of Dahi-Handi citing Covid-19 pandemic, and banned the formation of human pyramids, which led to protests by BJP and Hindu organisations. The ban on Dahi-Handi came amid ongoing attacks on Hindu festivals by left-liberals, as petitions were filed in court demanding to ban it alleging that the ritual is unsafe. As a result, the Supreme Court imposed several restrictions on Dahi Handi, like a limiting the heights of the human pyramids to 20 feet, and disallowing minors to take part in it.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court had issued directions that the SC’s order on height and age restrictions should be followed while performing the Dahi Handi. The Court had also questioned the then government over categorizing Dahi Handi as an adventure sport. Later, Swati Patil, a Mumbai-based activist also filed a PIL against the breach of the HC order and raised concern about the casualties and injuries caused during the Dahi Handi celebrations.
“The human pyramid formed by the Govindas to break the handi is a symbol of Lord Krishna eating the curd from the earthen pot (handi). The festival should be celebrated as a festival rather than naming it as a sport or outdoor game. We have other outdoor games like Kabaddi and Kho Kho where the players don’t even have a good playground to play. The government should try to revive the existing outdoor games rather than a human pyramid as an adventure sport”, Patil had said.
To note, in July this year, the Maharashtra government led by CM Eknath Shinde decided to withdraw all the legal cases filed in connection with the alleged agitations during the Dahi Handi. CM Shinde had announced that all such cases up to March 2022 would be withdrawn.
On August 17, choreographer and wife of cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal, Dhanashree, removed Chahal from her surname on Instagram and reverted to Dhanashree Verma.
Dhanashree changed her surname on Instagram. Source: Instagram.
Around the same time, Chahal posted a cryptic story that said, “New Life Loading.”
Story by Chahal. Source: Instagram.
News portals like Hindustan Times’ HTCity added fuel to the fire by claiming Chahal posted “New Wife Loading” on Instagram, though they eventually deleted the tweet after spreading the rumour.
HTCity’s now deleted tweet
In the most recent story on Instagram, Chahal urged his fans not to believe any rumours. He wrote, “A humble request to you all to not believe in any sort of rumours pertaining to our relationship. Kindly put an end to it. Love and light to everyone.”
Story by Chahal. Source: Instagram.
However, by the time Chahal published the story, the unclear message led to mushrooming of several rumours around their married life as fans assumed they might be getting divorced. What added more fuel to the fire is the fake news published by Twitter handles portraying themselves as News Agency ANI about the couple filing for divorce. To clarify, ANI had to publish a tweet informing about the fake handles.
Please note: All three are fake accounts impersonating ANI. No such news has been flashed. pic.twitter.com/rIRwhzneit
The couple that got married in 2020 is adored by the fans overall. However, the rumours that spread today led to Dhanashree getting several hate messages from the trolls.
Trolls attacked Dhanashree on Instagram. Source: Instagram
So far, Dhanashree has not issued any statement on the matter.
In an exclusive report, News18 has explained how the Popular Front of India is using fake Aadhaar cards, manufactured family trees, and more to recruitments of new members of the extremist organization. Patna Police’s crackdown against PFI has exposed a new modus operandi of the organization that is being implemented in several districts of Bihar, including Purnia, Madhubani, Kishanganj, Katihar, and Supal which comes under the Seemanchal region.
The investigating agencies found during the probe that PFI is working with human traffickers to get fake Aadhaar documents for Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. Once the documents are delivered, these illegal immigrants are translocated in states including Karnataka and Maharashtra, where they work as labour at a very competitive price.
News18 quoted an officer involved in the investigation who said, “The modus operandi seems to be to include them in the family tree of an Indian Muslim. The head of the family, in lieu of money, often comes up with the plea that as a child, the suspect was sent to live with a relative, and now that he has returned to help on the farm or other work, his Aadhaar card needs to be made.”
Furthermore, it was noted that when Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) members were arrested in Bhopal recently, all of them had the same date of birth, i.e., January 1, and the same place of birth that is Araria. A multi-agency probe was initiated to investigate how the fake documents were procured by the culprits.
It is noteworthy that the security around the Bengal-Assam border has gone stricter in recent times, which has led to PFI looking for new ways to get illegal immigrants inside the country. They are now allegedly entering via the open India-Nepal border. Notably, illegal colonies on the no-man’s land in this region have sprung up rapidly in recent times, and temporary shelters are being provided to these illegal immigrants around the inhabitable land masses around highways.
During the investigation, Police found that as many as 694 madrasas and mosques have been constructed on the India-Nepal border since 2018. The cost of these constructions could be around Rs 500 crores. These funds are suspected of having come from Islamic nations such as Qatar, Turkey, and UAE.
In July this year, a retired Jharkhand Police officer identified as Mohammad Jalaluddin and Athar Parvez were arrested by Bihar Police from Phulwari Sharif area of state capital Patna. Another arrest of Nuruddin Jangi was made by Uttar Pradesh ATS from Lucknow at the request of Bihar Police.
A Patna Police official told News18, “They (Jalaluddin and Parvez) were teaching locals how to use swords and knives and also instigating them for communal violence. They have links with PFI”. He further added that during the investigation, the agencies recovered several objectionable documents related to Islamic extremism.
One of the most intriguing recoveries made by the Police was a pamphlet written in English with the title “India 2047: Towards rule of Islamic India and Popular Front of India” that was found during searches conducted against Jalaluddin and Parvez. The exclusive breakdown of the document by OpIndia can be seen here.
It is noteworthy that PFI has been linked to several anti-India activities across the country, including several murders and riots.
On August 12, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Uttar Pradesh arrested a terrorist named Nadeem Mohammed associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan from Kunda Kalan village, Saharanpur. According to the ATS, Muhammad Nadeem was given the task of killing Nupur Sharma, the former spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party, for her allegedly blasphemous statement against the Prophet Muhammed.
Team OpIndia reached Kunda Kalan village on August 17 to see the locality where Nadeem was staying and allegedly building a terrorist network in India. On the way from Gangoh village to Kunda Kalan, the team saw that there are villages like Bilaspur and Binpur which consist of a Hindu majority population whereas most of the houses in the Kunda Kalan village belong to Muslims. Village head Gulfam told OpIndia, “There are around 7500 voters in the village. Of these, only about 500 are Hindus”. According to former village head Iqbal, there are 6 madrasas and 15 mosques in the village which is located just two km away from the Haryana border.
The infrastructure of nearby villages which leads to Kunda Kalan is quite developed. There is a primary health center about 1 km before Nadeem’s village. Two women who were passing on the paved road talked to Opindia and said that they had heard about a terrorist being caught at some distance.
Two woman who talked to Opindia
On reaching the Kunda Kalan village, the team saw a gate outside Nadeem’s locality that displayed the name of Haji Sharif’s son Noura as the village President and the name of Om Prakash as village Vice President. Naseem, who was grazing goats near the gate, informed us that Haji Sharif has died. Regarding the arrest of Nadeem, he said, “Nadeem has committed a grave mistake. What did he have to do with Pakistan?”. Meanwhile, a woman grazing the goats said, “We are poor. We don’t even know who Nupur Sharma is”.
Gate at the entrance of Nadeem’s locality
Team OpIndia team then reached Nadeem’s house on August 17 where many people from the village had gathered. Initially, Nadeem’s father Nafees refused to speak saying that he was ill. However, after a while, he agreed. He told that his village houses the Sunni majority community. Most people follow the Deobandi faith. “Before the arrest, some people from the ATS had come to our house in the morning and they inquired about our Aadhar cards. They asked us whether had we linked our Aadhaar cards with our voter IDs. They met the whole family. Then in the evening same people came in 4 vehicles and took Nadeem away from his room”, Nadeem’s father Nafees said adding that they neither know about Nupur Sharma nor about Jaish-e-Mohammed.
According to Nafees, the mobile of his other son who looks after a grocery shop in Dehradun was also checked. “ATS had also caught my another son named Taimur. But they released him later”, he said. He further tried to portray that his son Nadeem was innocent and said that Nadeem was talking to his ‘relatives’ in Pakistan. “He should not be punished this severely if he must have passed some wrong comment while talking to his relatives in Pakistan”, father Nafees said.
Nadeem’s father Nafees
Nadeem’s father further said that his son was being trapped deliberately by the security forces. “Earlier many people have been made to look like terrorists. And now my son has become one of those”, he complained. However, after some time he reversed his words and sought mercy for his son. He said that even if Nadeem has made any mistake, the government should forgive him. “I’ll take his complete responsibility. The government must forgive my son”, he appealed.
Nadeem’s room from where he was arrested by ATS
According to Nadeem’s family, he had no habit of consuming intoxicants. Nadeem’s neighbor told that when the ATS officers came at night, it was raining heavily and the streets were filled with water. “The ATS men left the car on the main road and walked down towards Nadeem’s house”, he said adding that there was no police case against Nadeem.
Former village head Iqbal
Also, the local villagers talked to Opinda on August 17. They said that there should be a fair investigation into the incident. Former head Iqbal said, “About 60 families of the village have a kinship in Pakistan. Of these, why only Nadeem has been caught is a matter of investigation”. The villagers also said that the incident is bringing a bad name to the village.
On August 18, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that it had banned seven Indian and one Pakistan-based YouTube channel under IT Rule 2021. These channels combined had a viewership of over 144 crores with a total of 85.73 lakh subscribers. It is notable that these channels were monetized, which means they were earning money from the fake anti-India content. The order to block these channels was issued on August 16, 2022.
So far, the Government of India has banned over 102 YouTube channels and their accounts on social media platforms for spreading fake, misleading, and anti-India content since December 2021. It is noteworthy that apart from YouTube channels, GoI has also imposed a ban on social media handles on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms that were found spreading fake or anti-India content. Furthermore, GoI has also banned over a hundred Chinese apps that indulged in anti-India activities.
The fake and misleading content used to mint money
OpIndia went through the channels that GoI has issued an order to ban. As it takes a few hours for the Internet Service Providers to block the content as per the orders, we were able to check them before they were blocked.
First of all, let’s talk about Loktantra TV. Both the YouTube channel and Facebook page for this channel has been blocked by GoI. The channel has 12.9 lakh subscribers.
Source: YouTube
When we sorted the videos by ‘popularity,’ we found that the most viewed video was two years old, and it had 5.9 million or 59 lakh views. Twenty of the videos had over one million or 10 lakh views.
Source: YouTube
The video that was published on August 18, just before the block was imposed, had the title “Top cow beef exporter India received a shock.” The title itself is misleading, and India does not export cow beef. Though it is true that India is among the top exporters of beef, it is buffalo meat and not cows.
Source: YouTube
Another video had the title “Because of Modi, millions of youth cannot get married.” In the press release, the Ministry of I&B added two screenshots from the channel. The first had the title “Modi banned Bakrid,” and the second video had the title “Civil war in India.”
The next channel blocked by GoI is U&V TV, which has over 10 lakh subscribers.
Source: YouTube
The most popular video from the channel was three years old, with 1.4 million views. The latest video that was uploaded on August 18 had the title “Gadkari and Shivraj expelled from BJP,” which is fake news. Similar fake and misleading reports were being uploaded by the channel every day.
Source: YouTube
The next channel is AM Razvi, which has 95,900 subscribers. The channel is owned by a YouTuber by the same name.
Source: YouTube
The most popular videos on the channel had scripted and fake content. The titles were found to be misleading as well.
Source: YouTube
In its press release, GoI shared a screenshot from the channel that read, “It is difficult to save Ajmer Dargah Shareef. Bhagwadharis have attacked the Dargah”. The thumbnail of the image has UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s image with a bulldozer image in the background giving a fake narrative that CM Yogi wanted to demolish the dargah.
Source: PIB
The next channel on the list is Gauravshali Pawan Mithilanchal, which has seven lakh subscribers.
Source: YouTube
The most popular video on the channel has over 5.7 million views, and the other 8 top videos have over 1 million views. The channel has been verified by YouTube, which is no less than shocking as the majority of the videos on the channel have fake information.
Source: YouTube
The next channel is SeeTop5TH, which has 33.5 lakh subscribers. The top video on the channel is nine months old and has 9.8 million views. The channel, in a video, claimed actress Rekha accepted Islam. It further claimed that Rekha said, “Allah will not forgive those who conspired to demolish Babri Masjid.”
Source: YouTube
In the press release, the Ministry of I&B added a screenshot where the title read “Modi government’s announcement on Ajmer Dargah. It will be removed.”
Source: PIB
Three more channels, Sab Kuch Dekho with 19.4 lakh subscribers, Sarkari Update with over 80,000 subscribers, and News Ki Duniya (Pakistani YouTube channel) with 97,000 subscribers, were blocked by the Government of India.
How monetization on YouTube works and why Google should be held responsible
Most of the channels that have been blocked recently by the Government of India were monetized. That means ads were being shown on the videos and the creators were earning money from it. To understand why it raises questions against YouTube, it is essential to understand how monetization works on the platform. According to the terms and conditions, there are certain milestones that a channel has to complete before getting approval for monetization such as minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 minutes of views on the content in the last six months. Once a channel has achieved these milestones, the creator can apply for monetization.
Nowadays, YouTube claims to have a rigorous policy that is followed while allowing channels for monetization. Interestingly, though their policy on misinformation is vague, it is often seen that fake news and misleading information does not get banned on YouTube unless reported by the masses.
YouTube misinformation policy. Source: Google Support
Coming to monetization, when an ad is displayed on a YouTube video, both the creator and YouTube make money. On average, YouTube shares up to 55% of the revenue from the ads with the creators. That means if a channel has made $100 in a month, YouTube could have made up to $81. That means from the fake reports and anti-India content, YouTube is making a lot of money by allowing them to monetize the videos. Some of the channels are even verified giving it authentication that the content has some value in real life.
Though the government has banned the channels, it has to be noted that individual videos can be seen in India as the video URLs do not get banned even if the channel is banned. Also, if a person accesses the channel from outside India or uses a VPN network, the channel will run smoothly. Instead of just banning these channels on ISPs, the government of India should push YouTube and Google to ban the creators and suspend the channels completely.
In February-March 2022, at the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, thousands of Indian students were stuck in a war zone cut off from supplies, food and essentials and signalled to return to their country. Colleges and universities were shut down, and Ukrainians were moving to safe places, taking shelter in nearby countries but foreigners were left helpless. Indian students studying there were clueless about how to escape and were desperate for a way out. Ukrainian administration could not provide any solution or help nor come to rescue, as they were themselves caught in the sudden war.
Luckily for Indians, Russia announced to allow safe passage to Indian students back to their homeland, if they travelled to the nearest airport with the Tiranga flying or placed atop their vehicle. Within the next 13 days, in the midst of war, around 18,000 Indian citizens were evacuated and saved and brought back to their motherland. It was our National Flag, not money, wealth, high connections or network, that saved Indians from a warzone. In fact, not just Indians but even Pakistanis and Turkish nationals used our Tiranga to travel to safety back to their country, as the Russian warplanes announced not to target any vehicles plying with Tiranga over it.
That’s our Tiranga saving human lives – Priceless.
Our national flag, though, had its own difficulties and testing journey. In 1904, still under British rule, the first known Indian flag was made by Sister Nivedita, an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda. The flag was red and contained a yellow figure of ‘Vajra’ (thunderbolt) and a lotus. It had the words “Bonde Matoram” written in Bengali script.
On August 21, 1907, the Indian national flag was unfurled for the first time in a foreign land at an International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany by fiery lady Bhikaji Rustom Cama who was staying in exile outside India. One thousand representatives from across the world attending the conference stood up and saluted the flag. She announced, “This is the flag of independent India. I appeal to all gentlemen to stand and salute the Flag,” drawing attention to human rights, equality and autonomy from Great Britain.
The flag she unfurled was co-designed by Cama and Shyamji Krishna Varma. In the flag, the top green stripe had eight blooming lotuses representing pre-independence India’s eight provinces. ‘Bande Mataram‘ was written across the central saffron stripe in Hindi. On the bottom red stripe, a half moon was on the right and the rising sun on the left, indicating the Hindu and Muslim faith.
In 1931 Pingali Venkayya designed the tricolour with a ‘charkha’ (spinning wheel) in the centre, and this was adopted as the official flag of the Indian National Congress.
On December 30, 1943, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the first freedom fighter to hoist the Indian flag at Port Blair, Andaman, a British-occupied territory, and announced the islands as the first Indian Territory freed from the British rule. The place of hoisting the flag was the Gymkhana Ground (now named Netaji stadium).
In 1947, the then official flag designed by Pingali Venkayya was adopted as the national flag of India, but the ‘charkha’ in the centre was replaced with the ‘Ashoka Chakra’ (a wheel with 24 spokes). And hence, our mighty National Flag came into being on 22 July 1947, a few days before India’s independence from the British on 15 August 1947.
There have been regions in our country where citizens had difficulty hoisting or unfurling the Tiranga, like in Assam and Kashmir. In Assam, the banned terrorist outfit ULFA since its inception in 1979 has been giving calls for boycott and bandh of Independence Day and Republic Day. For decades it prevented any celebration, killed the spirit of freedom, of happiness and joy and forced from rejoicing these days. Consequently, there were subdued small official events only. Kashmir has, on the other hand, always been under Pakistan-backed terrorist influence that also prevented the celebration of Independence Day, Republic Day and hoisting of the national flag. However, in 1991, our present PM Narendra Modi than an active political party worker and a member of the National Election Committee of the party conceived, designed and planned an Ekta Yatra with a challenge to hoist the flag in Kashmir Lal Chowk. Death threats and warnings were given but on 1992, 26th January Republic day saw history in the making when he along with Murli Manohar Joshi unfurled the Tiranga- the national flag at Lal Chowk.
In 2020, for the first time ever, New York’s iconic Times Square hoisted the Indian flag and the Empire State Building was lit up with tricolours to commemorate India’s Independence Day. It was an extra special August 15, 2020, India Independence Day celebration in the US.
On 26th January 2002, the Indian flag code was modified and after several years of independence, the citizens of India were finally allowed to hoist the Indian flag over their homes, offices and factories on any day and not just on National days as was the case earlier. Under the revised flag code now Indians can proudly display the national flag in their homes 24 hours a day including at night, as long as the provisions of the Flag Code are strictly followed to avoid any disrespect to the tricolour.
From 13th August to 15th August 2022 as part of the celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the 75th anniversary of the country’s Independence, on the appeal of PM Narendra Modi 154 crores (1.54 billion) Indians hoisted the Tiranga at their homes. A record-breaking flag hoisting movement in the entire world showering respect, love and affection for our national flag, the tricolour, a symbol of freedom.
A mass nationalist movement never ever seen before in the last 75 years and a matter of immense pride for all Indians. Our Nation was coloured in Tiranga and a new history was made.
