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‘Mumbai won’t be financial capital without Gujaratis and Rajasthanis’: Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari stokes controversy with his remarks, issues clarification later

OpIndia Staff
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‘Mumbai won’t be financial capital without Gujaratis and Rajasthanis’: Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari stokes controversy with his remarks, issues clarification later

Maharashtra’s Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is in the middle of a controversy that erupted after his statement in a program organized by the Rajasthani community in Mumbai on 29th July 2022. In this program, Bhagat Singh Koshyari said that without the contribution of Gujaratis and Rajasthanis, Mumbai and Thane region could not become the financial capital of the country.

However, after criticism by many Marathi politicians, both in government and in opposition, Bhagat Singh Koshyari has issued an explanation from his Twitter handle in which he said that he did not mean to insult Marathis but he was rather talking about the contribution by the Gujarati and Rajasthani people in the development of the state.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari presided over the inauguration and naming ceremony of a chowk in the Andheri area of Mumbai named after Late Smt Shantidevi Champalalji Kothari. After the inaugural program, he was addressing a program in which he said, “Sometimes I tell the people here in Maharashtra that if we remove Gujaratis and Rajasthanis from Maharashtra, especially from the Mumbai and Thane region, you will be left with no money. The state capital will no longer be known as the economic capital.”

This statement by the governor drew criticism from politicians representing various parties in Maharashtra. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee member Sachin Sawant said in his tweet, “It is a serious concern that the governor of a state defames the people of the very state. Before Gujaratis and Rajasthanis we should give a farewell to him. During his tenure, we saw a lowered stature of the governor’s post and repeated insults to Maharashtra.”

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said in his tweet, “If you don’t know about the history of Maharashtra, then you don’t talk about it. People avoid speaking about you because the governor is a respectable post. But sentiments of the people of Maharashtra get hurt due to your statements. The people of Maharashtra have always kept their hearts and the land business-friendly. Isn’t it because of this, that people from other states come here to do their business? Will they get such an atmosphere anywhere else? Please don’t spoil things at the behest of someone else when there are elections to be held soon in the state. We are not too naive to understand the reason behind your this statement. For now, all we can tell you is that don’t provoke Marathi men.”

After this criticism, governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari issued an explanation in this matter from the official Twitter handle of the Governor of Maharashtra. He said, “Mumbai is the pride of Maharashtra. It is also the financial capital of the country. I am proud that I got the opportunity to serve as governor in this land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Marathi men. That is why I tried to learn the Marathi language in a very short period of time. I had no intention of undermining Marathis in the statement I made at a Rajasthani community event yesterday. I spoke only about the contribution made by Gujarati and Rajasthani people to the business here.”

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari further said, “It was the Marathi people who worked hard and raised Maharashtra. That is why many Marathi entrepreneurs are famous today. They are taking ahead the Marathi legacy not only in Maharashtra but also in India and around the world. Therefore, there is no question of underestimating the contribution of the Marathi people. But as always, my statement was distorted. The contribution of the hard work of the Marathi people in building the Maharashtra state is the highest. Recently, people have developed a habit to view everything with a short-sighted vision through a political lens. We have to change this. The appreciation of one community is never an insult to another.”

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari further said that political parties should not create any unnecessary controversy over it. He retreated that he can never disrespect the Marathi people because, though everyone holds his share in the development of this state housing many different castes and communities, the contribution of Marathi people is the highest among them all.

Germany: Muslim man who stabbed train passengers wanted to get rid of ‘non-Muslims’; media had billed him as ‘mentally ill’

Jinit Jain
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Germany: Muslim man who stabbed train passengers wanted to get rid of ‘non-Muslims’; media had billed him as ‘mentally ill’

A psychiatric evaluation of a Muslim man who randomly stabbed passengers on an ICE train travelling from Nuremberg to Hamburg in Germany in November 2021 revealed that he wanted to get rid of ‘non-Muslims’ on the train.

The man had injured four men with a knife, some of them seriously. After his arrest, he suddenly started behaving like a mental patient, alleging that he heard voices. The investigators and experts took his claims at face value for the time being, and the German media quickly painted him as a “mentally ill man”.

However, a psychiatric examination of the assailant, whose report was released only recently, revealed that he was fully conscious and not mentally impaired at the time of the attack. In the course of the investigation, the authorities found incriminating IS propaganda material on him, a Palestinian national, indicating that the man was brainwashed to carry out the attacks.

According to the German prosecutors, Abdelrahman A., a Palestinian national, made up his mind in September 2021 to contribute to global jihad by indiscriminately killing “infidel” non-Muslims in Germany. During his Islamist attack, he stabbed multiple ICE train passengers in the neck, head and chest. Two people suffered life-threatening injuries.

The prosecutors stated that Abdelrahman A. acted with a goal in mind which was to kill as many non-Muslims as possible, and was mentally conscious when he committed the crime.

But the case throws light on the German media’s willingness to play down the crime committed by the assailant before authorities could conduct a thorough and proper examination of his mental condition. Soon after the attack, German media organisations billed Abdelrahman A. as a patient of mental illness, effectively sweeping under the rug the supremacist motivations that led to the attack.

“Mental illness” has been the go-to alibi for the sympathisers of the Islamists in the media, who fall over themselves to declare the perpetrators of hate crimes as “mentally ill”, for that avoids critical examination of the motivations that led to the attack and expose the rampant Islamist indoctrination that is underway. And this phenomenon is not just limited to Europe or the United States. In Asia, too, India in particular, apologists of Islamists have leaned on the excuse of “mental illness” to gaslight the population into believing there is no threat from Islamic radicalisation.

“Mental-illness” is a well-planned alibi for Islamists who are caught alive committing a hate crime

In April 2022, Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi, an IIT-Mumbai graduate, screamed Allahu Akbar and tried to enter the Gorakhnath Temple. Wielding a knife that he intended to use, Abbasi injured two cops in the tussle that followed. Several revelations came to the fore after he was apprehended and an investigation was launched. One of the revelations was that Abbasi had taken an oath of allegiance to ISIS. Abbasi was active on all social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, and so on and so forth and through these accounts, he was in touch with ISIS terrorists. He was also in touch with Mehandi Masood Vishwas who was arrested by the Bangalore police in 2014.

From the bank accounts of the accused, 8.5 lakh Indian rupees were sent to different countries in Europe and America to help the terrorist activities of ISIS that it carries out through its supporters. With an intent to execute terrorist activities, the accused used to read online articles and watch videos on the internet related to weapons like the AK-47 rifle, M4 Carbine, and missile technology.

But what was the narrative in the media? Firstly, the corporate English media hardly discussed the case with the seriousness it deserved. Those who did, tried their best to allege that Abbasi was actually not a terrorist, but merely mentally unstable. His father asserted the same, rather vehemently. Later, a doctor confirmed that Abbasi was mentally fit and there was no sign that he was unstable.

The above two instances reveal that being mentally ill is just a charade that Islamists who are caught alive after committing a hate crime put up often, and which their supporters and sympathisers in the media amplify so that the “infidels” continue to remain oblivious to the dangers posed by Islamic radicalisation and their goal of establishing a homogenous society that is intolerant, even to the existence of non-Muslims.

Kerala: Congress leader prevents hoisting of Indian Union Muslim League flag at UDF event, asks League leader to hoist it in Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Congress leader prevents hoisting of Indian Union Muslim League flag at UDF event, asks League leader to hoist it in Pakistan

On Saturday, a Muslim League leader named Vembaya Nazeer criticized a Congress party leader for disrespecting the Indian Union Muslim League’s (IUML) flag at a United Democratic Front (UDF) program in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Nazeer was prevented from hoisting the flag by the Congress leader and was asked to hoist the flag in Pakistan.

According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened at a protest event in Attipara in the state capital. The program was interrupted by the Congress block president named Sanalkumar who allegedly asked the Muslim league leaders to remove the party flag and asked them to go to Pakistan to hoist the flag.

The event was a United Democratic Front (UDF) program and flags of other alliance partners including that of the Revolutionary Socialist Party were also put up at the event. It is notable that Congress, Indian Union Muslim League, Revolutionary Socialist Party etc are constituents of the United Democratic Front in Kerala, which is currently in opposition. When League district committee member Vembayam Nazeer went on to put up the IUML flag, Sanalkumar blocked him and threw the flag. He also shouted at the Muslim league leader and asked him to go to Pakistan and hoist the flag there.

“It was a UDF event and the RSP flag was also displayed. When I placed the IUML flag, he threw it away and shouted at me. He asked me to take it to Malappuram. When I reminded him that the program was organized by UDF, he said Muslim League’s flag was not allowed”, Nazeer was quoted.

The argument reportedly escalated when Nazeer revolted against the Congress leader’s actions and said that League was the second biggest party in UDF. To this, Sanalkumar responded saying that Nazeer could take the flag to Pakistan. “I felt really bad. Not even BJP workers from the area will say something like that. Is this the culture of Congress”, Nazeer added.

However, commenting on the issue, Congress leader Sanalkumar denied having made any such statement. “It is true that I asked him to remove the flag. It was a Congress program. If they bring their flag, others too may follow. But I did not throw it away or make any such comments”, he said.

The United Democratic Front (UDF) is the Indian National Congress-led alliance of several political parties in the Indian state of Kerala.

Kerala: Professor TJ Joseph, whose right hand was chopped off by Islamists, wins Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for his autobiography

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Professor TJ Joseph, whose right hand was chopped off by Islamists, wins Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for his autobiography

On Friday, Kerala professor TJ Joseph, whose right hand was chopped off by the Islamists over the charges of blasphemy, was awarded the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for his autobiography named Attupokatha Ormakal, meaning memories that were not chopped off. The author wrote the book with his left hand after his writing hand was separated from his body by radical Islamists.

According to the reports, the author who worked as a Malayalam professor at Newman college at Thodupuzha in the Idukki district has been awarded for writing the best autobiography of the year 2022. The award was announced on Wednesday, July 27, by K Satchidanandan, president of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. The award carries a certificate, citation, two-sovereign gold locket and a cash award of Rs 50,000.

On July 4, 2010, the PFI activists backed by other Islamist organizations had chopped off Joseph’s right hand, accusing him of blasphemy.

The saga began in March 2010 when Joseph had prepared a set of questions for the Malayalam language paper for 2nd-year BCom students. Reportedly, one of the questions asked students to punctuate a conversation between God and a character. The conversation was extracted from the book ‘Thirakathayude Reethisasthram‘, written by Malayalam Director Kunju Muhammed. The character in the passage was that of a man suffering from schizophrenia and having a constant dialogue with God.

Without thinking much about the consequences, he had named the man ‘Muhammed’ after the name of the Malayalam director. Islamists were quick to cry ‘blasphemy’ and interpret the question as a conversation between Prophet Muhammad and God. Soon, the matter became public resulting in violent protests by radical Islamic outfits such as the Popular Front of India (PFI), Campus Front of India (CFI), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and even the Congress party.

On July 4 2010, the Islamists trapped Joseph, who was returning home from church in his car at about 8 o’clock in the morning. He was accompanied by his sister and mother. A gang of 6 Islamists laid siege on his car. Armed with an axe, they chopped off his hand below the wrist and ditched the severed part in a nearby land. The assailants also stabbed the Professor in the leg and arm. Joseph was 52 when the incident happened.

The case was probed by the NIA, and in 2015, 13 people linked to PFI were convicted of the crime by an NIA court. The NIA had charge-sheeted 45 people, 35 of them had faced trial, out of which 13 were convicted. In 2020, NIA had framed charges against 11 more people in the case.

After recovering from the injuries, the professor wrote an autobiography with his left hand that was well received by the readers. The book was also later translated into English titled ‘A thousand cuts’. Reports mention that the Kerala Sahitya Akademi awardee has also written another book titled Bhranthanu Sthuthi (Praise the Madman), which is based on the story of the madman he had referred to in the question paper.

Sa*li, m*darch*d, bh*nch*d: Leaked audio clip of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut abusing, threatening Swapna Patker goes viral, police complaint filed

OpIndia Staff
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Sa*li, m*darch*d, bh*nch*d: Leaked audio clip of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut abusing, threatening Swapna Patker goes viral, police complaint filed

On July 28, an alleged conversation between Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and Dr Swapna Patker, a Marathi film producer and renowned psychologist went viral on the internet. In the leaked audio file, the voice of a man, allegedly that of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, can be heard using extremely foul language while threatening a woman, allegedly Swapna Patkar.

Patkar is the same lady who had in 2021 alleged that she is being harassed, tortured and abused by Shiv Sena MP and Editor of Saamana, Sanjay Raut, for the past eight years.

“Record this call and send it to the police, do whatever you want. Wait and watch. Transfer the property in either Sujit or my name”, said a male voice, using foul language with extremely rude mannerisms while speaking to a female. During the conversation, the male speaker is heard threatening the woman with veiled threats and calling her ‘Sa*li’, ‘madharch*d’ and ‘behench*d’.

The edited version of the audio clip was shared by Navbharat Times with claims that in the 70-second audio clip, the Shiv Sena MP was heard mouthing profanities against Swapna Patkar at least 27 times.

Meanwhile, Patkar in an interview that was posted by the YouTube channel SSR Warriors on July 29, is heard acknowledging that it was Sanjay Raut and her who were in conversation in the alleged tape. Though OpIndia could not independently verify whether the voice of the lady in the audio interview is that of Swapna Patkar, she was heard further claiming that she had received threats multiple times during the previous 18 months.

She added that on Thursday she filed a police complaint after receiving rape and death threats to withdraw her statements against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Rs 1,034-crore Patra Chawl land scam case.

She said that she has submitted the threat letter and the audio clip as evidence to concerned authorities. She also said she has written a letter to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and the Enforcement Directorate regarding the threats issued to her. 

Swapna is further heard saying that she and Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha jointly held land parcels in Alibag which were attached by the ED during the investigation of the case. The property documents were found when the probe agency conducted searches at the residence of her estranged husband Sujit Patkar, a close aide of Sanjay Raut. Since the ED started questioning her in the money laundering case related to the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl project at Goregaon, she has been getting rape and death threats and is being asked to withdraw the statement given against Sanjay Raut, alleged Patkar.

Notably, last week Swapna Patkar also received a threat letter in which it was reportedly written that she will be raped if she reveals anything before ED, after which she filed a complaint with the Vakola Police.

The letter further stated that she should tell the media that she did all this on BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s instructions.

Reacting to this, the BJP leader Tweeted that he would be visiting the Vakola PS today (Saturday) at 4 pm “to pursue complaints of DHAMAKI, abuse, Letter, Audio Clips…. by Sanjay Raut… Supporters.”

It may be recalled that in April 2021, Dr Swapna Patker revealed in a series of tweets that Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut threatened her mother with dire consequences, tortured her family and trapped her friends in bogus cases.

After addressing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking justice and fearing for her life, Dr Swapna has released a 40-tweet-long thread detailing her complaint and allegations against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut along with documented proof. In the letter to the PM, she alleged she is being harassed, tortured and abused by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut for the past eight years.

Dr Swapna informed OpIndia that she used to write columns for Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece publication Saamna from 2009-2014 and also took care of some of Sanjay Raut’s Rajya Sabha work. However, when she decided to get back to her profession from her passion, Dr Swapna alleged that Sanjay Raut was not happy with her decision and started to heckle, harass and torture her. 

Delhi Court finds enough evidence prima facie to prove Satyendar Jain and his aides used hawala funds to buy agricultural lands: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Court finds enough evidence prima facie to prove Satyendar Jain and his aides used hawala funds to buy agricultural lands: Details

On Friday, a Special Court in Delhi stated that there is prima facie substantial evidence against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in the charge sheet submitted by the Enforcement Directorate to indicate that he and his colleagues used hawala cash to acquire agricultural property in and around the national capital.

According to the reports, the charge sheet was submitted before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on July 27, and the court has taken cognizance of it. In the charge sheet, the ED has named Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and colleagues Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain, and Ankush Jain, as well as enterprises Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, Manglayatan Developers Pvt Ltd, and J J Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd.

On May 30, the ED detained Jain, a minister without a responsibility in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi cabinet, in connection with the money laundering investigation. Before being arrested by the ED, Jain controlled several portfolios, including health, power, and a few others.

The ED in the investigation discovered that during 2015-16, Satyendar Jain was a public servant, and the above-mentioned four companies were beneficially owned and controlled by him. These companies had received funds via hawala to the tune of Rs 4.81 crore from other shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators via the hawala route.

The agency in the charge sheet mentioned that the Minister had used these amounts for the direct purchase of agricultural land or the repayment of loans taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi. When asked, the Minister said that he had lost his memory due to COVID. The accused were therefore found to be guilty under Section 3 of PMLA 2002.

To note, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister, and AAP national leader had previously spoken out in favor of his minister, saying he was a “hardcore, honest, and patriot” who was being framed in a false case. Kejriwal had also hoped that Jain would come clean following the ED inquiry.

Delhi govt to go back to old excise policy amidst allegations of corruption, undue benefit given to liquor mafia by Manish Sisodia: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi govt to go back to old excise policy amidst allegations of corruption, undue benefit given to liquor mafia by Manish Sisodia: Reports

Days after a report of the Delhi Chief Secretary accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led-government of financial quid pro quo, the Delhi government has taken a U-turn on its new excise policy.

As per reports, the current Excise Policy 2021-22 is set to expire on Sunday (July 31). Amidst criticism, the Delhi government is now switching back to its old regime of retail liquor sales for the following 6 months.

Veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta asked, “If new excise policy of @ArvindKejriwal Govt was not a ‘mega scam’, why are they rushing to revert to old policy after CBI inquiry heat? So, who’s running scared in panic?”

Reportedly, an official direction was issued on Friday (July 29) by Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. “…Vide which it has, inter-alia, been directed to revert to the old regime of excise policy for a period of six months till a fresh excise policy is in place…” read one of the orders.

The order bore the signature of the Principal Secretary of the Finance Department, Ashish Chandra Verma. It directed 4 govt agencies to collect the names and locations of old vendors and the current status of their shops.

The agencies included Delhi Consumer’s Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS), Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (DSCSC), Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), and Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC).

Another order was issued by RP Singh, who serves as the manager of personnel at DSCSC. It directed the agency to reach out to the staff of the vends, prepare rent agreements with their landlords for reopening their shops.

Allegations of corruption and financial impropriety

Earlier, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had recommended an investigation into the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 based on a report by the Delhi Chief Secretary.

The report alleged breaches of the GNCTD Act of 1991, the Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR) of 1993, the Delhi Excise Act of 2009, and the Delhi Excise Rules of 2010. It claimed that the liquor mafia was also granted a benefit of Rs 144 crores.

The Chief Secretary’s report, which was sent to both LG and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, “indicate substantively of financial quid pro quo at the top political level, wherein the Minister In-charge of the Excise Department, Manish Sisodia, took and got executed, major decisions/actions in violation of the statutory provisions and the notified Excise Policy that had huge financial implications.”

“Sisodia also allegedly extended undue financial favours to the liquor licensees much after the tenders had been awarded and thus caused huge losses to the exchequer,” the report further added.

After Adhir Chowdhury creates a storm insulting the President, he proceeds to shift blame, target Smriti Irani for insulting Droupadi Murmu

OpIndia Staff
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After Adhir Chowdhury creates a storm insulting the President, he proceeds to shift blame, target Smriti Irani for insulting Droupadi Murmu

A couple of days after BJP leader Smriti Irani slammed the Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for disrespecting the newly elected President Draupadi Murmu, Chowdhury tried to turn the table on Friday and wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker pushing allegations against Irani. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the letter alleged that Minister Smriti Irani had yelled the name of President Droupadi Murmu without using any prefix like Madame or Smt during her address in the House.

He said that the BJP leader had degraded the stature of the highest office. “The manner in which Smt. Smriti Irani was taking the name of Hon’ble Madam President in the House was not proper and in consonance with the status and position of the Hon’ble President. She was yelling ‘Droupadi Murmu’ repeatedly without prefixing Hon’ble President or Madame or Smt. before the Hon’ble President’s name”, the letter read.

“This clearly amounts to degrading the stature of the office of the Hon’ble President. Therefore, I demand that the way Smt. Smriti Irani was addressing the Hon’ble President may be expunged from the proceedings of the House”, Chowdhury who earlier had denied to apologize for his statement wrote in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Meanwhile, referring to the issue (Rashtrapatni comment) that sparked BJP demonstrations in the Parliament complex, Chowdhury, who had called the event a “slip of the tongue,” stated that the blunder occurred because he is not fluent in Hindi. “I regret to say that this controversy erupted because of a mere slip of the tongue on my part. This error occurred because my mother tongue is Bengali and I am not well versed in Hindi. It is really very sad that Madam Rashtrapati Ji’s name is being unnecessarily dragged to gain cheap publicity and political one-upmanship by the ruling party,” he wrote.

Smriti Irani on July 28 led the protest in the Lok Sabha against Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Sonia Gandhi over the ‘Rashtrapatni’ remark. Smriti Irani also slammed Congress and demanded an apology for maliciously targeting President Droupadi Murmu and said that the country knows that the opposition party is anti-tribal, anti-Dalit, and anti-women.

During the protest, a war of words also broke between Smriti Irani and Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi when the latter outraged at Irani and said, ‘You don’t talk to me’. Amid the protest, Sonia Gandhi who was present in the house approached the protesting BJP MP Rama Devi and asked ‘What is my fault? Why is my name being dragged in this?”. Seeing this, Smriti Irani intervened to know what was the matter that was being discussed when Sonia Gandhi outraged and said, “you don’t talk to me”.

Later Rama Devi talked to the media and said that Gandhi’s fault was that she had selected Chowdhury as the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha. further said that Sonia Gandhi had delivered her statement in anger, which she should not have spoken. “She should have asked Congress’ leader instead that how he dared call the President as ‘Rashtrapatni’, that too not once but twice”. She also cleared that Smriti Irani was not angry, but Sonia Gandhi was angry and walked out of the Parliament but then returned.

After initial flip-flop, Bihar Govt seeks report on state-run schools in Muslim-dominated areas observing Friday off as BJP insists on uniformity

OpIndia Staff
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After initial flip-flop, Bihar Govt seeks report on state-run schools in Muslim-dominated areas observing Friday off as BJP insists on uniformity

Taking cognisance of media reports about as many as 500 government schools in Muslim-dominated districts in the state observing Friday as weekly offs, Bihar education minister and JD (U) leader Vijay Kumar Choudhary has asked district education officers to submit a detailed list of schools which are following this practice.

“As we learnt about it, we have asked these four districts to submit a report,” said the JD(U) minister.

On July 26, OpIndia reported that more than 500 government schools in Bihar’s Seemanchal area, which has a sizable Muslim population, have been observing Friday as their weekly off instead of Sunday, despite no official mandate to that effect. This practice has been followed for years, by the schools located in the eastern part of Bihar including districts of Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, and Purnia.

According to the 2011 Census, the eastern part of Bihar has a Muslim population varying from 30 per cent to 70 per cent. The Jokihat block of the Araria district houses most of these schools, with 229 out of 244 government schools having their weekly break on Friday.

We reported how the Bihar Education Minister had earlier claimed ignorance when questioned about this long-standing practice followed by many government schools in Bihar’s Muslim-dominated regions. “Once we receive formal notice from the district involved, we’ll respond by the applicable procedures,” the JD(U) leader had said.

In fact, when asked about this old practice in Bihar, the party’s parliamentary board president Upendra Kushwaha called it a “non-issue” and alleged some people are unnecessarily spoiling the cordial atmosphere in the state.

In a Twitter post in Hindi, he said, “Is weekly holiday provision in Urdu schools a real issue and an attempt to create an unnecessary controversy? Those who object to a Friday holiday in Urdu schools should know that Sanskrit universities also declare a day off on Pratipada and Ashtami every month.” He posted a holiday calendar of the Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University for reference.

Meanwhile, BJP, which is JD(U)’s ally in the state has strongly opposed the observance of weekly off on Friday and said that rules suitable to one religion cannot be allowed as per the Constitution.

Replying to Kushwaha, BJP spokesperson Arvind Singh said, “Be it an Urdu school or Sanskrit school, both must run as per the Bihar government’s rules. Holidays in schools should not be decided on the basis of religion. This country should have one flag, one rule and one constitution.”

BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan also weighed in on the issue, “There is a rule of law and every institution must follow the constitutional framework. We hope the state government will sincerely look into this.”

Earlier, BJP state spokesperson Nikhil Anand had also asserted, “India is a secular country and making rules to suit one’s religion is not permissible under the Constitution. If the schools are closed on Friday to suit Muslims, Hindus may demand to close the schools on Tuesday. This kind of practice should not be promoted for religious appeasement.”

UP: Sameer Siddiqui threatens to bury RSS worker alive on Instagram for supporting Nupur Sharma, arrested

OpIndia Staff
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UP: Sameer Siddiqui threatens to bury RSS worker alive on Instagram for supporting Nupur Sharma, arrested

On July 28, the Kashganj police in Uttar Pradesh arrested a youth identified as Sameer Siddiqui for issuing death threats to an RSS worker named Dushyant Gupta for supporting the former BJP leader Nupur Sharma. According to reports, the accused took to Instagram to threaten to bury the RSS worker alive.

Kasganj Police took to its official Twitter handle to inform the same. In a video byte, Kashganj SP BBGTS Murthy informed that on July 25, Dushyant Gupta, a resident of the Gandhinagar locality in Kashganj, Amanpur, saw a threatening Instagram post from Sameer Siddiqui in which the latter threatened to bury Gupta alive for voicing his support for the ex-BJP spokesperson. “Dushyant Kumar, you will be buried alive,” read the message, which was later deleted.

Gupta approached the Amanpur police with a complaint against Sameer Siddiqui. Owing to the gravity of the situation and the delicate situation in the country engendered by Islamists’ fury over Nupur Sharma’s remark, SP BBGTS Murthy stated that the police immediately took cognisance of the complaint and formed two police teams to investigate the matter. On July 27, the Amanpur police filed an FIR against the accused under IPC section 507 (Criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and Section 66C of the IT Act. Later, after going through all the evidence, the police also invoked IPC Section 505(2) in the case.

Kasganj Police press release

On July 28, at around 9.05 am, the police teams apprehended Sameer Siddiqui from the Sidhpura Circle in Kasganj district, Uttar Pradesh, said SP BBGTS Murthy, adding that the mobile phone which the accused had used to send the threat message to the RSS worker has also been recovered by the police.

It may be recalled how AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair’s dog-whistling about Nupur Sharma’s comment to Islamists, set off a chain of events that culminated into a constant barrage of threats at Sharma and attacks on those who dared to speak out in her support, many of which turned out to be extremely brutal. Recently, OpIndia chronicled a series of incidents wherein in the last few months, rabid Islamists, who have been using Nupur Sharma just as an excuse to show muscle power and challenge state forces, have brutally executed, attacked and threatened a number of people for voicing their support for the former BJP leader on social media.

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