A Shiva temple in the Cholapur village of the Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh was attacked on 22nd August 2022. The Shivling in the temple was also vandalized in this attack. The police have registered a case in this matter and started an investigation to locate the unknown accused. The incident took place at Rajla village under the Cholapur Police Station Area.
The attack was discovered when some of the local residents came to the temple for morning prayers on 23rd August 2022. At that time they noticed that the temple interiors and the Shivling were mutilated. The unknown attackers had vandalized the temple and the Shivling. Reportedly, they also found some objectionable items placed inside the temple. This incident was immediately reported to the nearby police station and a complaint was filed.
The local residents claimed that they had seen a person whose frequent visits to the temple in the recent past were suspicious. There was a massive protest against this attack on the Hindu temple and the protesting Hindus demanded the immediate arrest of the attackers. The locals also protested when police took way the objectionable item placed in the temple, alleging that police were removing evidence about the attack.
Additional SP Neeraj Pandey said that case has been registered for the incident, and raids are being conducted on the adjoining of Varanasi district, Azamgarh, Mirzapur, Chandauli and Jaunpur etc. to nab the culprit.
Attacks on Hindu temples have become common thing in the recent past. A Hindu temple in the Kanchanpur village of the Shergadh area in the Bareilly district was vandalized by Islamists on 11th August 2022 while taking processions of Moharram from the site. Uttar Pradesh police arrested 7 miscreants in this case.
The arrested Muslims were accused of chopping larger branches of the holy Pipal tree near a temple located at the Brahmadev Sthal, allegedly to widen the path for the Taziya procession during Muharram. During the process of cutting the branches, they allegedly vandalized the idol in the temple, threw away the donation box, and damaged the temple by using a bulldozer. Now this incident of vandalizing a Hindu temple has occurred in Varanasi – the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Local residents are demanding quick arrests of the accused in this case.
The online banter between Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on education in both states escalated today after Kejriwal refused to answer Sarma’s question on how many new schools have been built by the Delhi govt. The Assam CM gave a befitting reply to the Delhi CM after Kejriwal said that they should visit each other’s state to see the schools.
Pointing out the attempt of Kejriwal to compare the education system of Delhi with the same of Assam, Sarma said that both can’t be compared because the two are completely different regions. He pointed out that while Delhi is a rich city-state, Assam is a much larger state with huge diversities and poorer economic conditions, and therefore the schools of both can’t be compared.
This all started yesterday when Arvind Kejriwal criticised the Assam govt for the decision to shut down 34 schools for poor performance in board exams. Quoting a report saying that the Assam govt has ordered to close 34 schools after not a single student was able to pass the 10th exam from those schools, Kejriwal had tweeted that closing schools is not the solution. ‘We need to open many new schools all over the country. Instead of closing the school, improve the school and make education right,’ he had added.
Himanta Biswa Sarma had responded to this by saying while the govt is shutting down some poor-performing schools, the Assam govt has built many new schools during his tenure as education minister and then chief minister. Giving an account of new schools built and private schools provincialized, Sarma had asked Kejriwal, “How many new schools Delhi Government has started in last 7 yrs?”
Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that 8610 new schools were added to the number of govt schools in Assam, which included 8391 private schools taken over by the govt, and the rest new schools built.
While the Assam CM and everyone else were waiting for Kejriwal to respond with the corresponding numbers for Delhi, he decided to dodge the question completely. Instead, he claimed that he was not criticising the education system in Assam, and instead everyone should learn from each other to make the country number one.
अरे। लगता है आप बुरा मान गए। मेरा मक़सद आपकी कमियाँ निकालने का नहीं था। हम सब एक देश हैं। हमें एक दूसरे से सीखना है। तभी तो भारत नम्बर वन देश बनेगा
मैं आता हूँ ना असम। बताइए कब आऊँ? आप शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में अपने अच्छे काम दिखाना। आप दिल्ली आइये, मैं आपको दिल्ली के काम दिखाता हूँ https://t.co/SQCJyerfII
Then he offered to visit Assam to see the Assam govt’s work in education, and invited Sarma to Delhi so that he can show his govt’s work in the sector.
However, Himanta Biswa Sarma lambasted Kejriwal for his attempt to compare education in both states. Pointing out how the scale of the sector is vastly different, he tweeted, “Your ignorance is painful. Let me help you. Assam is 50 times bigger than Delhi! Our 44521 govt schools teach 65 lakh students- against your 1000+ odd schools. Our army of dedicated teachers number 2+ lakh; Midday meal workers 1.18 lakh. Fathom it?”
He added that unlike Delhi, Assam has to manage the fury of floods, deal with militancy, negotiate hilly & tough terrains – and yet deliver high-quality education.
Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji, Your ignorance is painful. Let me help you. Assam is 50 times bigger than Delhi! Our 44521 govt schools teach 65 lakh students- against your 1000+ odd schools. Our army of dedicated teachers number 2+ lakh; Midday meal workers 1.18 lakh. Fathom it??
Pointing out further differences between the two states, Assam CM said, “We impart education in six mediums including 14 different tribal languages. Our diversity is something that we’r proud of, cherish, & ensure it to thrive through our unique education system. And yes, we do not have resources like that in Delhi. We’re proud of what we’ve and do!”
The six mediums that schools in Assam impart education are Assamese, English, Hindi, Bodo, Bengali and Nepali.
He then invited Arvind Kejriwal to visit Assam and said that after he sees the challenges faced by Assam, he will stop lecturing. “We’re amazing hosts. Please come; spend 2 nights in our riverine area and hill districts. See challenges we face. You’ll stop lecturing,” Sarma tweeted.
The Assam CM also offered him to show the medical colleges in Assam, saying they are 1000 times better than Kejriwal’s Mohalla clinics.
And yes, when you're in Assam, which you so desperately wish to, I will take you to our Medical Colleges, 1000 times better than your Mohalla Clinic. Also meet our bright Govt school teachers & students.
और हाँ, आप देश को No 1 बनाने की चिंता छोड़ दें, वो मोदी जी कर रहे हैं।
Ending the thread of his tweets, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Arvind Kejriwal need not worry of making the country number 1, as PM Modi is already doing that.
The Assam CM also responded to questions on the issue by reporters in Assam, and pointed out the vast difference between Delhi and Assam. He said that Delhi is basically a municipality, and it has been the capital of India for a long time, on the other hand, Assam is a remote state with several challenges.
‘They run 1200 schools where 15-16 lakh children study, and we run schools in areas like North Kachar Hills, Karbi Anglong Hills, Riverine areas where even today there are no electricity. We deal with almost a crore student in 50,000-60,000 schools. There can’t be a comparison between a municipality and a state,’ he said.
Sarma added, ‘if there were only 1200 schools in Assam, every student would have got a computer, an iPad, smart class, and they would have got non-veg food for breakfast and lunch in the schools. I don’t why a person running 1200 schools comparing himself with a state.’
He said that even private organisations like Don Bosco, St. Mary’s, Sankardev Vidya Niketan etc run a large number of schools comparable to schools run by Delhi govt, therefore the talk about Delhi model of education is meaningless.
‘Against 1200 schools and few Mohalla clinics, we run 2000 hospitals and 60000 schools, that too in an area of 80000 square kilometre that includes difficult terrains like hills, rivers etc. How he can sell that model? He can compare Delhi model vs Chandigarh Model, he can compare Delhi model vs Andaman Model, but he should not bring this comparison,’ Sarma further said.
On the invitation to visit Delhi, the Assam CM said that he anyway keeps visiting Delhi for official work, he had already seen the Mohalla clinics, and he can see the schools also anytime. Therefore, it is for Kejriwal for visit Assam to seen the ground realities of Assam. He said Kejriwal should visit Assam and spend some days in places like Dima Hasao, Baghbar, Jania etc. He also should visit other northeastern states to see the situation there and how the region has been victim of partition, militancy and natural calamities etc.
It is notable that while the Assam CM said that Delhi govt runs around 1200 schools, the actual number is even less. The education department of the Delhi govt lists 1040 schools on its website.
Six more Congress leaders have resigned from their primary membership of the Congress party following the resignation of Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. At the same time, former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that he will be forming his own party in Jammu & Kashmir.
Congress leader GM Saroori, Haji Abdul Rashid, Mohd Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani, Choudhary Mohd Akram, and Senior Congress Leader & Former Minister RS Chib resigned from the primary membership of the Congress party.
J&K | GM Saroori, Haji Abdul Rashid, Mohd Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani and Choudhary Mohd Akram resign from the primary membership of Congress “in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad”. pic.twitter.com/PciPTd3QS3
In his resignation letter addressed to Sonia Gandhi, RS Chib said, “Keeping in view the turmoil that the State of J&K has witnessed over the past decades, the people require a decisive leader like lb. Ghulam Nabi Azad to guide them towards a better future. I feel that the Congress Party has not been able to play the role that is expected of it.”
J&K | Senior Congress Leader & Former Minister RS Chib resigns from Primary membership of Congress soon after the resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad pic.twitter.com/HPFgfb886W
“I firmly believe that there is a growing divergence between my views and the views of those at the helm of the Party affairs. In light of the same, I feel that the best course of action would be for me to part ways with your Party. Accordingly, I am tendering my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress,” the letter further added.
Meanwhile, senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has stated that he will be forming a new political party in Kashmir. He said, “I will go to Jammu and Kashmir. I will form my own party in the state.”
It is noteworthy that senior Congressman Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had been involved with the party since the mid-1970s, resigned from the party on Friday. Azad criticised the Congress’ top leadership in his letter for ignoring senior party figures and caving into the preferences and desires of “inexperienced sycophants.”
Jaiveer Shergill, the spokesperson for the Congress party, recently resigned after making similar claims as Azad, stating that the party’s senior leadership only pays attention to bootlickers. Hardik Patel also left the Congress, claiming that the party’s leaders were more concerned with feeding Delhi leaders chicken sandwiches than concentrating on the problems in Gujarat.
On Friday, the Kerala High Court refused to grant permission to build a new mosque in a locality in Kerala which already had many mosques. The Court said that the state already has many religious places where the faithful can worship and that the ratio of religious structures to the population in the state is very high.
According to the reports, the Court was hearing the case filed by Noorul Islam Samskarika Sangam which sought to change a commercial building to a Muslim place of worship. The petition claimed that this would enable Muslims in the vicinity to access a mosque to offer prayers five times a day.
However, the District Collector evaluated the request and refused it based on reports from the District Police Chief, who stated that there are around 36 mosques within a 5-kilometre radius of the petitioner’s current commercial structure.
Justice PV Kunhikrishnan while hearing the case stated that the state of Kerala is known as ‘God’s own country’ and that it is full of religious places. “We are exhausted with religious places and prayer halls and we are not in a position to allow any new religious places and prayer halls except in the rarest of rare cases”, the judgement read.
The Justice also referred to the Quran and said that it was nowhere written in the book that there must be a Mosque for Muslim community in every nook and corner of the locality. Court further referred to the verses Juz 10 Surah 18 and Juz 1 Surah 114 of the Holy Quran and to Clause 1064 of Riyadussaliheen.
“The above verses of the Holy Quran, clearly highlight the importance of the Mosque to the Muslim community. But it is not stated in the above verses of the Holy Quran that Mosque is necessary in every nook and corner. It is not stated in the Hadees or in the Holy Quran that the mosque is to be situated adjacent to the house of every Muslim community member. Distance is not the criteria, but reaching the mosque is important,” the Court observed.
“If every devotee of Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jews, Parsis, etc. start to construct religious places and prayer halls near their residence, the State will face serious consequence including communal disharmony”, the Court stated adding that as per the police report, conversion of commercial building to a religious prayer hall might lead to communal disharmony in the area.
In the instant case, because 36 mosques already existed in the vicinity in question, the Court determined there was no need for yet another mosque in that area because Muslims could travel to other nearby mosques, especially given that most citizens have access to a vehicle or public transportation.
“It is true that Article 26(a) of the Constitution of India states that subject to the public order, morality and health, every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes. That does not mean that they can construct religious places in every nook and corner of the country. Kerala is a very small State”, the Court observed.
Justice Kunhikrishnan also cited a movie song by late famous poet Late Vayalar Ramavarma, which refers of how man created religions, religions created God, and religions and God split the globe and humanity.
“Let the citizens love each other and follow their religious practices according to their religious beliefs. They can do it from their house and if their religion insists that, it should be done together in a prayer hall. They can travel to the nearest mosque instead of constructing another mosque or prayer hall in their neighbourhood….If the poet is alive today, I am sure that the poet will rewrite the second line of the above song as “religion is the creator of religious places”, instead of God,” the judgment stated.
The Court reviewed the ‘The Manual of guidelines to prevent and regulate community disruption and to encourage communal harmony’ issued by the State via a Government Order and determined that approval from district authorities is required even for a change of occupation.
“Therefore, it is declared that, even for a change of occupancy of a building to a religious place, the Manual of Guidelines is applicable and the approval from the competent authority as per the Manual of Guidelines is necessary”, the Court held in its judgment.
The Court further went on to say that the presence of other religious places or prayer halls nearby is a sufficient reason to deny a request to convert the category of a structure to a religious place and even to develop a new religious prayer hall. In this case, the Court saw no basis to overturn the State authorities’ judgement and dismissed the petition.
Hours after the senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad quit the party, Congress Sevadal released an old video of Rahul Gandhi to mock the veteran leader’s exit from the party.
In the video, which dates back to 2021, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is heard saying that the party needs “fearless” people and those who are ‘darpoks’ (cowards) are welcome to leave the party and run away to the RSS.
The Congress Sevadal shared the video with a Hindi caption mocking Azad, “Congress is fearless Those who are afraid are Azad (free)! @RahulGandhi.”
“There are many people outside Congress who are not scared, bring them in and the people in the party who are scared, throw them out. You people belong to RSS, run away…go enjoy, we don’t need you. We need fearless people, that is our ideology,” Rahul Gandhi said in the video.
Reportedly, this video surfaced in July 2021. Rahul Gandhi made this remark while addressing social media workers of the party at an online event. He cited the example of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who quit Congress to join the BJP in the year 2020 while making the statement.
Today, after veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the Congress, the party re-shared Rahul Gandhi’s last year’s video to taunt the veteran leader.
‘Non-serious Rahul Gandhi destroyed party, his PAs and guards taking decisions’, writes Ghulam Nabi Azad as he quits Congress
Notably, Ghulam Nabi Azad has become the senior-most leader to quit the Congress. He had been associated with the party since the mid-1970s. In his resignation letter addressed to party supremo Sonia Gandhi, Azad did not shy away from blaming Rahul Gandhi for the party’s failure in elections and said that the Gandhi scion was the reason Congress lost its political space to the BJP.
He catalogued the “childish behaviour, glaring immaturity” of Rahul Gandhi who he said has also demolished the “consultative mechanism within the party”.
In his letter, Azad further slammed the Congress high command for sidelining senior party leaders and giving in to the whims and fancies of ‘inexperienced sycophants.’
He pulled up a ‘non-serious’ Rahul Gandhi for infamously tearing a copy of the ordinance, approved by the UPA Cabinet. The veteran Congress leader suggested that the decisions of the grand old party are now being made by the Personal assistants and security guards of Rahul Gandhi.
He informed how the senior party leaders were insulted by the Congress scion in a special Congress Working Committee meeting. Azad lambasted the party’s high command for not holding transparent elections at any level within the organisation.
While Liger is receiving negative reviews from movie critics and audiences alike, a theatre owner in Mumbai believes actor Vijay Deverakonda’s indiscreet comments on the boycott trend also harmed the movie’s box office performance. Manoj Desai, a theatre owner in Mumbai, castigated Vijay Deverakonda for his “arrogance” and added that he should have learnt from Aamir Khan.
Liger, one of the most anticipated movies of 2022, had a disastrous opening on its first day. The negative word of mouth and critical reviews have further exacerbated the collections for the movie across the weekend.
Manoj Desai, executive director of Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir Cinema, two of the well-known and among the oldest theatres in Mumbai, slammed Vijay Deverakonda for his comments on the boycott trends. While speaking with BollywoodLife, Desai said, “Why are you showing smartness by saying ‘Boycott our movie’? People won’t even watch on OTT. Such behaviour of yours has put us in trouble and impacted our bookings. Mr Vijay, you are ‘Devarakonda’, not ‘anaconda’. You are talking like an anaconda. ‘Vinaash kaale vipareet buddhi’, when the time of destruction inches closer, the mind stops working, and you are doing that. Anyways, it’s your wish.”
He further said that Vijay should have learnt lessons from actors Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu, all of whom had a rough outing at the box office of late after facing boycott calls for their respective movies.
“Mr Vijay, it seems, you have become arrogant, ‘Watch the movie or if you don’t wish to, then don’t watch’, haven’t you seen its impact? If the audience will not watch, see what Taapsee Pannu, Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar are going through. I had high expectations from the movie, but such statements during the interview had harsh impacts. One shouldn’t do this and never pay heed to hashtags,” Manoj further added.
Earlier, while discussing whether the boycott trend will affect Liger, Vijay arrogantly said, “Kaun rokega dekh lenge (we’ll see who can stop us).” A few days ago, Deverakonda had said, “I think we are giving this too much attention. Toh karne do (boycott), kya krenge hum. Hum toh picture banaayenge, jinko picture dekhna hai vo dekhnge. Jinko nahi dekhna vo tv pe yaa phone pe dekhnge,” triggering boycott calls against his movie.
Aamir Khan starrer ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ and Akshay Kumar’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’ face boycott calls
It is worth noting that Aamir Khan starrer ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ failed miserably at the box office after it faced boycott calls on social media over the actor’s past statements and movies that hurt the sentiments of people. While some people boycotted Laal Singh Chaddha for his comment that he was mulling over migrating out of India due to “rising intolerance”, most boycotted it because of Aamir’s anti-Hindu stance in his movie PK.
Akshay Kumar starrer Raksha Bandhan also fell flat at the box office after Hinduphobic tweets by the movie’s writer went viral on social media, spurring boycott calls against the film.
While Taapsee Pannu’s film ‘Dobaara’ did not face any concerted boycott campaign, however, the fact that Anurag Kashyap directed the movie may have played its part to keep the audiences away from movie theatres.
After spending nearly 50 years with the Congress, veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad announced severing all ties with the grand-old-party in a scathing letter on Friday (August 26).
Azad’s discontentment with Congress became evident when he joined the G-23 rebel group in Jammu last year. He had also showered praise upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and hinted at the lack of ‘reality check’ within the Congress.
After being unceremoniously ousted from the disciplinary committee and the party’s list of star campaigners before the 2022 Punjab elections, resignation was on the cards. The last nail in the coffin was perhaps his ‘downgrade’ appointment to 2 committees of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress on August 17 this year.
Recommendations and feedback fell on deaf ears: Ghulam Nabi Azad
In his parting note, Ghulam Nabi Azad did not mince any words in holding the Congress high command accountable for the party’s downfall. He squarely blamed Congress scion Rahul Gandhi for single-handedly destroying the consultative mechanism within the party.
Azad remarked that the success of UPA-I and UPA-II was the result of the wise counsel of the senior party leaders, and the trust enshrined in them by Sonia Gandhi.
“However unfortunately after the entry of Shri Rahul Gandhi into politics and particularly after January 2013 when he was appointed as Vice President by you, the entire consultative mechanism which existed earlier was demolished by him,” he lamented.
“Worse still the ‘remote control model’ that demolished institutional integrity of UPA govt now got applied to INC. While,you’re just a nominal figure heard all the important decisions were being taken by Shri Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards & PAs,” GN Azad says.
“All senior and experienced leaders were sidelined and the new coterie of inexperienced sycophants started running the affairs of the Party,” Azad pointed out.
The veteran leader expressed regret that none of the recommendations, proposed by him during brainstorming sessions in Panchmari (1998), Simla (2033), and Jaipur (2013), were ever implemented by the party’s high command.
“Unfortunately, — these recommendations are lying in the storeroom of the AICC for the past 9 years. Inspite of my repeated reminders in person both to you and the then Vice President Shri Rahul Gandhi from 2013 onwards to implement these recommendations. However, no effort was made to even examine them seriously,” he added.
Childish, non-serious behaviour of Rahul Gandhi
Ghulam Nabi Azad, in his letter, drew attention to the childish, immature and non-serious attitude of Rahul Gandhi towards Congress and national politics. He recounted how the Congress scion tore a government ordinance publically, which was approved by the Union Cabinet and the President of India in 2013.
He emphasised, “This ‘childish’ behaviour completely subverted the authority of the Prime Minister and the Government of India.” Azad claimed that it was the single largest action that changed the perception of Congress in people’s mind, leading to the defeat of the UPA in 2014.
He said that while Sonia Gandhi is the nominal Head of the grand old party, the key decisions are being made by Rahul Gandhi’s personal assistants and security guards. The veteran Congress leader remarked that even in her absence, only a puppet will be appointed as the Congress Chief.
“The ‘chosen one’ would be nothing more than a puppet on a string. Unfortunately, at the National level, we have conceded the political space available to us to the BJP and state level space to regional parties. This all happened because the leadership in the past 08 years has tried to foist a non-serious individual at the helm of the Party,” he added.
Azad did not lose out on the opportunity of rubbing salt to the Congress’ wounds. He held the Gandhi family responsible for the poor performance of the grand-old-party in elections.
“Under your stewardship since 2014 and subsequently that of Shri Rahul Gandhi, the INC has lost two Lok Sabha elections in a humiliating manner. It has lost 39 out of the 49 assembly elections held between 2014-2022. The Party only won four slate elections and was able to get into a coalition situation in six instances,” he emphasised.
Azad scoffed, “Unfortunately, today, the INC is ruling in only two states and is a very marginal coalition partner in two other slates. Since the 2019 elections the situation in the party has only worsened.
Systematic targeting of senior party leaders
The veteran Congress leader lamented how the party, where he served close to 50 years, targeted him for holding a mirror to the high command.
“In the August of 2020, when I and 22 other senior colleagues including former Union Ministers and Chief Ministers wrote to you to flag the abysmal drift in the Party, the ‘coterie’ chose to unleash its sycophants on us and got us attacked, vilified and humiliated in the crudest manner possible,” he said.
He further added, “In fact on the directions of the coterie that runs the AICC today, my mock funeral procession was taken out in Jammu. Those who committed this indiscipline were feted in Delhi by the General Secretaries of the AICC and Shri Rahul Gandhi personally.”
Ghulam Nabi Azad remarked, “Subsequently, the same coterie unleashed its goondas to physically attack the residence of a former Ministerial Colleague Sh. Kapil Sibal who incidentally was defending you and your kin in the courts of Law for your alleged attacks of omission and commission.”
He also pointed out how Rahul Gandhi abused, insulted and humiliated the senior loyalists of the Congress in a special Congress Working Committee meeting.
Lack of transparency within the Congress
In his parting note, Ghulam Nabi Azad pointed out the lack of transparency in appointments at all levels of the Congress party.
“The entire organizational election process is a farce and a sham. At no place anywhere in the country have elections been held at any level of the organisation. Handpicked lieutenants of the AICC have been coerced to sign on lists prepared by the coterie that runs the AICC siting in 24 Akbar Road,” he remarked.
“The AICC leadership is squarely responsible for perpetrating a giant fraud on the party to perpetuate its hold on the ruins of what once was a national movement that fought for and attained the Independence of India,” he emphasised.
With Ghulam Nabi Azad gone, the Congress is now fighting its last battle for survival.
In the Sirma village in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, a Hindu girl is forced to leave her home along with her sister and widowed mother and live at a relative’s home after she was beaten on 10th August 2022 by a gang of men led by on Md Waseem over a viral video. The victim’s family is not ready to come back to the village even after the accused son of the Sarpanch of the village surrendered on Tuesday 23rd August 2022.
Sarpanch’s son Md Waseem harassed the Hindu family
According to a report by News Track Live, a Hindu widowed woman Kiran Devi Sao lives with her two minor daughters in the Sirma village of the Barkagaon police station area of the Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand. This family is one of the 3-4 Hindu families living in this Muslim-majority village. The victim Kiran Devi alleged that her two minor daughters were abused by a group of local Muslims who slapped the girls and made them perform sit-ups in front of the Panchayat when it was raining. Its video was also made viral on social media. The incident took place on 10th August 2022.
According to Kiran Devi, the Muslims threatened that they will prohibit the Hindu family from worshipping their deities and the mob of Muslims also pressurized them to convert to Islam if they wanted to live in the village. This attack by the local Muslims on the Hindu family was done allegedly because of a viral video. The minor victim girl, in this case, is accused to have made a video viral in which a group of Muslims, allegedly from the same village, is seen waving a Pakistani flag.
Police booked the victims and the Congress leader suggested to ‘compromise’
Enraged over this video, a mob of men, comprising of Md Waseem and his accomplices, broke into the victim’s home and beat all of them, and forced them to do sit-ups in public. The police first registered a case against the victims instead of the miscreants. Sanatan Hindu Samaj Organization started a hunger strike against this action and demanded that security should be given to the victim’s family. It was after this, that the police took note of the victim’s complaint and registered a case against Mohammad Waseem – son of village head Ishrat Jahan, Shajibullah, Mohammad Nazim, Mohammad Saqib, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Nadim, and 10 others.
Mohd Waseem and his gang molested minor girls from a minority Hindu family in the village. The victims were made to tie rakhis on their wrist by villagers. Incident from Jharkhand pic.twitter.com/QPUHgowLpE
On 21st August 2022, when the local Congress MLA Amba Prasad reached the village to visit the victim’s family, he forced the minor girl to tie a Rakhi to the people who had harassed her in an attempt to showcase his efforts to ‘maintain the peace’. The victim later said that she was forced to do so. The MLA is reported to have advised the victim saying ‘How long will the administration help you? Ultimately you have to live here with these people (Waseem and his gang) only.’
The minor victim has told media that the Congress MLA threatened her that if she pursues the case, she (the victim herself) may be arrested.
माननीय @AmbaPrasadINC जी,आपसे उम्मीद न थी की फोटो अपॉर्चुनिटी के लिए आप बड़कागांव में जबरन धर्मांतरण का प्रयास की शिकार हो चुकी नाबालिग बच्ची का प्रयोग करेंगी।इस बच्ची ने स्पष्ट किया की आप खुद राखी लेकर आई थी और इस बच्ची से अल्पसंख्यक समुदाय के युवक को जबरदस्ती राखी बन्धवाया। pic.twitter.com/v7fy4Mp46X
Accused Mohammad Nadeem and Mohammad Saqib were first arrested by the police. On Tuesday 23rd August 2022, the main accused Mohammad Waseem surrendered in the POSCO court. Some of the locals had also pressurized the families of the accused to ‘cooperate’ in this case. Sirma Anjuman Committee held a press conference and said that this incident has brought shame to the whole community. The main accused surrendered after the Anjuman Committee appealed to him to surrender failing to which his family would be boycotted by the local Muslims. Police are conducting raids to arrest the other accused. Preparations are also being made for the attachment and seizure of their houses.
The victim left the village
The victim’s family left the village soon after the Congress MLA forced them to tie Rakhi to the persons who were behind the incident. The minor victim, her sister, and their widowed mother have left the village. The house is locked. The entire family is staying at the house of their uncle in a nearby village. After the incident, the frightened victim also stopped going to school.
The child protection committee team met the victim and her relatives on Tuesday. The victim said she was being pressurised to withdraw the case soon after the incident. She added that until all the accused are arrested, the family will not return to the village. The administration has provided them security, yet the family does not feel safe. Child Protection Officer Sanjay Kumar has asked the administration to make adequate security arrangements and ensure that the minor’s education is not interrupted.
On Friday, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court ordered the reopening of the case concerning the Nadimarg massacre in which 24 Kashmiri Pandits were brutally murdered in the Pulwama district. The incident happened in March 2003 when the Kashmiri Pandits were murdered by Islamist terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba.
This is after the state government had issued an application seeking recall of an order which had dismissed a criminal revision petition in December 2011 which challenged a lower court order. The order by the lower court had denied the prosecution to examine witnesses and materials related to the Nadimarg massacre.
High court has therefore allowed the application of state government seeking recall of an order which had dismissed a criminal revision petition in 2011, challenging a lower court order which had DENIED the prosecution to examine witnesses & materials related to Nadimarg massacre
Justice Sanjay Dhar stated that the recognition of the court’s order dated December 21, 2011, by which the criminal review petition against a sessions judge’s order was rejected, will stand because it is within its authority to recall orders that are void in the eyes of the law. He said that the High Court then had passed an order in the case without giving any reasons.
“It seems that during the pendency of the trial, the prosecution moved an application before the trial court seeking permission to examine material prosecution witnesses on commission. According to the prosecution, these witnesses had migrated out of Kashmir Valley and they were reluctant to depose before the trial court at Shopian in view of the threat perception”, Dhar said stating the reason for the application dismissal by the sessions judge on February 9, 2011. However, when it was challenged in High Court via Criminal Revision petition, it was dismissed as well.
The judge meanwhile also rejected the contention of terrorist Zia Mustaffa who is considered to be the mastermind of the 2003 massacre, that the judge cannot review its own order by highlighting the difference power of recall from the power of review of the judgment.
The Nadimarg massacre of 2003-
On March 23, 2003, 24 Hindu Kashmiri Pandits in the village of Nadimarg in Pulwama District of Jammu and Kashmir were killed by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. The armed militants came dressed in counterfeit military uniforms and dragged the Hindus out of their homes, lined them and shot them with automatic weapons.
The victims, 11 men, 11 women and 2 small children, ranged from a 65-year-old to 2-year-old. The policemen posted there fled the scene. The killers disfigured the bodies of the victims, looted their houses and took away the ornaments from the bodies of the dead women.
Following the slaughter, an FIR was filed in Zainapore, and seven accused people were brought before the Court of Principal Sessions Judge, Pulwama, following an inquiry. The case was later transferred to the Shopian Court of Principal Sessions Judge.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the then Uttar Pradesh government’s refusal to grant sanction to prosecute then-Parliamentarian Yogi Adityanath for a ‘hate-speech’ case allegedly delivered by him in Gorakhpur in 2007.
While delivering the verdict, the bench led by outgoing Chief Justice of India NV Ramana stated, “In view of the above circumstances, we do not think it is necessary to go into the legal questions relating to grant of sanction. Consequently, the appeal is dismissed. The question of law is left open.”
The bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar was hearing a petition filed by Parvez Parwaz challenging the denial of sanction to prosecute Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for alleged role in the 2007 Gorakhpur riots while challenging an Allahabad High Court order upholding it.
The matter
The matter dates back to 2007 when Yogi Adityanath, a Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur was arrested on the charges of disturbing the peace and violating prohibitory orders. This was prompted after he along with his supporters gathered to mourn a man’s death during communal clashes.
In November 2008, almost a year later, an FIR was lodged which alleged that Yogi and others had incited communal riots in 2007 via their hate speeches. The CID completed the investigation in 2015 and sought sanction for prosecution.
In 2017, the UP government refused to grant a sanction to prosecute, citing a draft investigation report filed by the police’s CB-CID as evidence that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a trial against Yogi Adityanath. The government observed that video evidence submitted by the complainant against Adityanath and four others, which was sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in October 2014 was tampered with.
A petition was filed in the Allahabad High court by Parvez Parwaz and Asad Hayat (a supposed witness in the matter) challenging the UP government’s decision not to grant sanction. These petitioners asked the High Court to direct an independent agency to carry out an investigation into this matter, which was rejected by the Allahabad High Court in February 2018.
Following the court’s verdict, Parvez Parwaz approached the Supreme Court. Later that year, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government in response to the Allahabad High Court’s order.
