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After 28 years, a child born out of rape helps his mother get justice: UP police nabs Naqi and Razi Hasan who had raped a 12-year-old girl in 1994

OpIndia Staff
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After 28 years, a child born out of rape helps his mother get justice: UP police nabs Naqi and Razi Hasan who had raped a 12-year-old girl in 1994

After a long wait of 28 years, a rape survivor in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur has finally seen justice, primarily due to the efforts of her son, who was born out of the rape. Uttar Pradesh police apprehended and sent one of the rapists identified as Mohammad Razi alias Guddu Hasan to jail on Tuesday (August 2). Efforts are being made to apprehend the second accused, Naqi Hassan, who has been traced somewhere in Odisha.

According to reports, the police arrested Mohammad Razi alias Guddu Hasan from Hyderabad where he had been hiding. “Razi confessed and said that he never imagined that the case would be opened after all these years,” investigating inspector Dharmendra Kumar Gupta told TOI.

The police revealed that the brothers had raped the victim when she was 12 years old. After 28 years, based on the complaint of the victim’s son, Shahajahanpur registered a case against the accused on March 4, 2021, and started investigating the case. After a lot of effort, the police managed to crack the case and arrested the accused.

Speaking about the case, Shahjahanpur SSP, S Anand said, “The crime came to my notice after the FIR was registered on March 4, 2021, on the court’s orders. We didn’t have the complete names of the accused and their addresses were not confirmed either. It was quite an old case but the complaint looked genuine. We wanted to help the woman get justice as she had suffered a lot in her childhood. After an extensive follow-up, we managed to identify the accused brothers and found them living freely in the Haddaf area of the city.”

Anand stated that when authorities confronted the accused, they claimed they had never met the survivor. As a result, the police decided to conduct a DNA test. In July 2021, samples were sent to a lab, and the results which were obtained in April 2022 turned out to be positive. The results concluded that one of the accused Mohammad Razi was the biological father of the victim’s son. Cops immediately secured a warrant from the court to arrest the duo, but they had already fled by then.

“Since we were very close to solving the case, we deployed multiple teams and sent them to various locations in search of the absconding brothers. The role of the surveillance team was important in finding the locations of the two men, which was not an easy task after so many years,” the SSP said.

According to reports, the incident dates back to the year 1994. Mohammad Razi and Naqi were the victim’s family acquaintances. Taking advantage of her family’s trust in them, the duo raped her several times and impregnated her at the age of 12.

After the child was born, the accused reportedly compelled the victim to give up her son for adoption and warned her not to register an FIR.

In 2021, the survivor’s son found his mother and persuaded her to seek justice. On March 4, 2021, an FIR was lodged in Shahjahanpur pursuant to court directives.

Viral video of Gwalior Judge getting upset over a Muslim girl’s conversion to Hinduism for marriage highlights double standards of judiciary for inter-faith marriages

OpIndia Staff
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Viral video of Gwalior Judge getting upset over a Muslim girl’s conversion to Hinduism for marriage highlights double standards of judiciary for inter-faith marriages

An old video from the proceedings in Gwalior High Court in January went viral recently on social media. Justice Rohit Arya of the High Court can be heard asking why a girl converted from Islam to Hinduism. He further asked why can’t the boy convert to Islam instead.

Even though the video is from January 2022, the video came into the social media spotlight at the end of July, and left social media users confused about the Judge’s comments.

In the video, the judge can be heard telling the boy’s lawyer that it is not a joke to convert a Muslim girl to Hinduism. He further said that if this is accepted by the court then what will happen to society? The boy, who was in custody, was further advised by the Judge to convert to Islam instead.

Justice Arya said that the boy will go to prison since he has converted the girl to Hinduism by ‘fraud’. He mentioned that they will bring even a Qazi to get his input in the case.

The Muslim girl and the Hindu boy got married at Arya Samaj Sammelan Trust Ghaziabad (UP) on September 17, 2019. The trust had issued a marriage certificate to the couple and had also issued a conversion certificate to them that they have converted to Arya Samajis.

Justice Arya further questioned the legitimacy of that certificate in the viral video and asked the counsel under which act Arya Samaj can issue such a certificate. The court also questioned whether an Arya Samaj Trust could solemnize a marriage between an inter-faith couple.

A sharp contrast to the Supreme Court verdict in the Hadiya case

Back in 2018, the Indian Supreme Court had upheld the marriage of Hadiya to Shafin Jahan after her religious conversion, a marriage that was earlier annulled in 2017 by the Kerala High Court.

Hadiya (who was earlier Akhila) had converted to Islam at the age of 16 to marry Shafin Jahan. Hadiya had submitted an affidavit that she is converting to Islam out of her own free will, a decision that was finally accepted by the Supreme Court.

In its verdict, Supreme Court had noted that when Hadiya appeared before the High Court, she stated that she was not under illegal confinement. The High Court has no power to decide the ‘just’ way of life or ‘correct’ course of living for Hadiya. She has absolute autonomy over her person.

In fact, Supreme Court had also noted that the Kerala High Court was guided by social considerations while annulling her marriage, which was wrong.

Interestingly, in Gwalior High Court, Justice Arya seems to be guided by the same social considerations when he asks what will happen to society if they allow such conversions. Interesting to note that in the case before Gwalior High Court, both boy and girl were above 18 years of age at the time of conversion and marriage. That was not the case when it came to Hadiya, as she was 16 years old at the time of her conversion.

Acceptance of marriage certificates from Islamic bodies but rejection of certificates issued by Arya Samaj

In the Hadiya case, a questionable marriage certificate was produced, and it was claimed that Hadiya and Shafin got married in a ceremony that was attended by close relatives from both sides. However, nobody from Hadiya’s side, not even her parents, were aware of the marriage. Moreover, the Kerala High Court observed that “Thanveerul Islam Sangham”, which issued the marriage certificate has no authority to issue any such certificates. 

The court was not even sure of the identity of the names that appeared on that certificate. When Akhila converted to Islam, which doesn’t have any documentary proof, she assumed the name “Aasiya” through an affidavit. Later on, in her writ petitions, she called herself “Akhila Ashokan @ Adhiya”.

Despite all these discrepancies with the marriage certificate and lack of clarity on even the existence of the organisation that issued the certificate, Supreme Court upheld the marriage as legal.

However, in the case in Gwalior High Court, the judge straightaway rejected the idea that Arya Samaj trust can solemnize the marriage. Questioning under which act Arya Samaj can issue a marriage certificate, Justice Arya questioned the legitimacy of the wedding between these two consenting adults.

Spain bans ACs in commercial establishments from dropping below 27 degrees, up to 6 lakh euros fine

OpIndia Staff
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Spain bans ACs in commercial establishments from dropping below 27 degrees, up to 6 lakh euros fine

As Europe reels under a heat wave, the Spanish government has decided to forbid establishments with air conditioning from setting it below 27°C throughout the summer. The decision is a part of strategies that have been employed to decrease the nation’s reliance on Russian gas and reduce its energy usage. Additionally, the rule will prohibit wintertime heating from being set above 19°C. The government of Spain made this decision public on Tuesday 2nd August 2022.

According to a report by Euronews, all public and commercial establishments, including pubs, theatres, movie theatres, airports, and railway stations in Spain will have to abide by these restrictions. Besides, commercial establishments, Spanish households are also advised to adopt it as a guideline. The measure was enacted by the government as part of an effort to cut the country’s gas usage by 7% in accordance with recent European Union energy accords to minimize reliance on Russian gas. In case anyone violates this rule, the government has decided on a fine of up to 600,000 euros for such defaulters.

Teresa Ribera, Spain’s minister of ecological transition, stated that the restrictions, which include turning off store window lights after 10 pm but not street illumination, will be first enforced until November 2023. She urged Spaniards to embrace the cutbacks, claiming that it would not only reduce consumption but also lower home electricity bills.

This order by the Spanish government in the middle of the ongoing energy crisis in Europe has caused a heated debate and reactions from the Spanish people. Laura Berge, a Valencia public official, questioned the measure’s feasibility. She said, “Generally speaking, you can work at 27 degrees, but to reach that temperature in hot areas, you need to put the air conditioner at 22 or 23 degrees for a couple of hours, so I am worried that it will not be allowed to exceed 27 degrees. at any time.”

She added, “In that case, the air would have to be turned on well in advance and it would be counterproductive in terms of energy savings.” This criticism has come in the wake of the heat wave that has struck the European country. Andrea Castillo, a worker at Castellón university in Spain, said, “Right now, perhaps suggested by the heat wave we are experiencing, I would say that with 27 degrees we will be very hot. Perhaps we could work at 25 degrees, but not at 27.”

It is notable that Spain is not the only European country to enforce such restrictions on people in this energy crisis. France, Lithuania, and Germany have also imposed various restrictions on the public given that the crisis is only worsening after Russia waged a war against Ukraine and the European Union decided to reduce its reliance on Russian gas imports.

The Hindu wilfully misrepresents what Kishan Reddy said about #HarGharTiranga program to insert China, KTR furthers the propaganda

S. Sudhir Kumar
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The Hindu wilfully misrepresents what Kishan Reddy said about #HarGharTiranga program to insert China, KTR furthers the propaganda

On August 1st, 2022, The Hindu published a report with a headline – “Kishan Reddy defends flag import”. The accompanying tagline attributed the quote ‘Country’s khadi industry cannot meet the demand for Har Ghar Tiranga scheme’. 

The Hindu article

As expected, Telangana CM KCR’s son, KTR, who holds multiple portfolios in the cabinet, picked up on this report and tweeted that the reality of Make in India was that our flags are being imported from China. 

KTR tweet

Now, nowhere in the report is China mentioned so people just figured out that this was one of those KTR’s half-baked tweets with loads of misinformation. This piqued my interest further though and I went through the video link of the press conference, only to realise the cunning and deadly game that The Hindu has played. 

The conversation between the Journalist (from The Hindu) and Minister Kishan Reddy happens from 37:45 to 38:42 in the video link. Am reproducing the conversation below for ease: 

Journalist: You amended the flag code. It is benefitting China only. 

Kishan Reddy (with a clear gesture indicating “No”): We only are stitching flags in our villages with self help groups. 

The journalist cuts short the minister and rephrases his question:

Journalist: Because of the import of polyester cloth, the khadi industry is getting affected severely. 

Kishan Reddy: We have given orders to all the Khadi industries. However, we cannot manufacture so many crores of flags with the Khadi that we have. That you have to understand. 

Journalist: You are planning from a year.

Kishan Reddy: No, we weren’t planning this from an year. This idea came recently.

Journalist: You did not have this thought before? 

Kishan Reddy: No, we didn’t. People like you gave this idea <smiles>.

We now revisit KTR’s tweet in its totality. The Hindu’s report, which severely misrepresents Kishan Reddy, does not mention China anywhere. It looks like KTR picked it from the journalist’s question and simply used it in his tweet to further his meaningless propaganda. KTR also tweeted that though the Modi government knew that the 75th year is in 2022, it couldn’t plan for flags for all homes. This argument is again directly from the playbook of the journalist who asked the same question, for which Kishan Reddy has given a clear-cut answer.

Whilst it is understandable that KTR is playing politics with even something like the #HarGharTiranga program, it is completely unfathomable as to why The Hindu would resort to such mischief. The journalist’s question was about the impact on the Khadi industry because of polyester, for which the minister had categorically stated that there is no impact because the industry is flooded with orders. At no place has he defended a “flag import”? He had, in fact, categorically denied any import from China (Note how only The Hindu cares about China!). He has only explained the need to amend the flag code for the usage of polyester in addition to Khadi. While the interaction is so clear-cut, how did The Hindu manage to think that in today’s day and age, they can get away with such wonton mischief that will aid the minister KTR in furthering his propaganda?

The original flag code says:  “The National Flag shall be made of hand-spun and hand-woven wool/cotton/silk khadi bunting”.

The revised flag code says: “The National Flag shall be made of hand-spun and hand-woven or machine-made, cotton, polyester, wool, silk khadi bunting”. 

The amendment was done on 30 December 2021 to include machine-made flags and also that polyester as a material can be used for making these flags. There are many huge flags that are flown across India, including one in Hyderabad. These hand-woven flags often get damaged because of the wind, and so they are very often changed. In fact, the TRS government spends huge amounts of money to maintain the huge flag that flies in Hyderabad. Using machine-made polyester material will help prevent these frequent damages. This is a common practice worldwide. The Modi government made a very logical amendment to our flag code, to enable longer-lasting huge flags. 

At no place in the revised flag code is the word “import” used. The English media woke up very late in the day and simply concluded that this change implies that machine-made polyester will only be imported. KTR’s own party tweeted that the flag code was amended because Ambani is the largest manufactured Polyester in India! Only KTR and his party can explain how can both Ambani and China get benefitted at the same time on the same issue!

The Hindu’s original report was published in the “South” section in the Hyderabad edition on August 1st, 2022. Kishan Reddy’s OSD sent a stinging clarification letter to The Hindu. That clarification was NOT published in the “South” section of the Hyderabad edition on August 4th, 2022. Instead, it was published only in the “Andhra Pradesh” section. 

The Hindu papers

After the clarification from the office of Kishan Reddy, The Hindu has slyly changed its headline in the online version. The headline now reads – “Kishan Reddy brushes aside criticism on procurement of national flags”. Remember how the original headline talks about imports of the flag? The Hindu’s report starts with “Even as a controversy rages”. The only controversy is this willful misrepresentation of the Q&A with Shri Kishan Reddy solely intended to mislead the reader.  

As custody gets extended, Sanjay Raut complains of windowless room, ED says ‘because there is AC’

OpIndia Staff
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As custody gets extended, Sanjay Raut complains of windowless room, ED says ‘because there is AC’

Shiv Sena’s motormouth leader Sanjay Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 31 for his alleged links with the Patra Chawl property scam case. On August 4, a special court in Mumbai extended his ED custody till August 8.

As per reports, judge MG Deshpande stated that ED has made remarkable progress in the investigation. The court also rejected an intervention petition filed by witness Swapna Patakar, who had accused that Raut was threatening him.

Raut’s brother Praveen has also been arrested in the case. The ED has also attached the properties of Varsha Raut, Sanjay Raut’s wife.

The ED is investigating violations under PMLA in the Patra Chawl scam case. Patra Chawl was developed by Guru Ashish Constructions Ltd, a subsidiary of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited. Guru Ashish Constructions Ltd, in an agreement with MHADA, had taken a project to develop 672 flats for Patra Chawl tenants, flats for MHADA and sell the remaining land to private developers.

ED has alleged that the company sold the FSI to private developers for over 900 crores, without constructing flats for the Patra Chawl tenants or the MHADA. Praveen Raut is accused of receiving over 100 crores from the scam and diverting the funds among family members of Sanjay Raut. The ED states that Sanjay Raut and his wife had received over 1.06 crores from the proceeds of the crime in their bank account.

Sanjay Raut complains of ‘windowless room’

As per reports, when Raut was presented in court on August 4, he complained that the ED kept him in a ‘windowless room’ that has no ventilation. The judge then asked ED why they had kept Raut in a windowless room. As per reports, the ED replied that the room is ‘windowless’ because it has air conditioning.

Sanjay Raut reportedly stated that he cannot use the AC because of his health conditions. Following this, the court has asked the ED to keep Raut in a room that has proper ventilation.

What the court said while rejecting Siddique Kappan’s bail: Prima Facie offence committed, use of tainted money, connection to PFI and more

OpIndia Staff
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What the court said while rejecting Siddique Kappan’s bail: Prima Facie offence committed, use of tainted money, connection to PFI and more

On August 2, Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) rejected the bail plea submitted by alleged journalist and PFI member Siddique Kappan who was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police in the ‘Hathras conspiracy’ case in October 2020. Single-Judge bench comprising Justice Krishan Pahal observed in the judgment that in the perusal of the documents and charge sheet, “prima facie reveal that the applicant has committed the offence”.

Notably, the Court observed that Kappan had no work at Hathras. Also, the co-accused accompanying him did not belong to the media fraternity. The Court said, “It has come up in the investigation that the applicant had no work at Hathras. The State machinery was at tenterhooks owing to the tension prevailing due to various types of information being viral across all forms of media, including the internet. The said sojourn of the applicant with co-accused persons who do not belong to media fraternity is a crucial circumstance going against him.”

Excerpt from judgment. Source: Allahabad High Court Website

The Court said that Kappan, in his defence, stated he went to Hathras owing to his professional duty as a journalist. However, pertaining to the charge sheet and the persons he was arrested with, his justification stood nullified. The order read, “The tainted money being used by the applicant and his colleagues cannot be ruled out.”

‘Accused collected funds to break the social harmony and incite violence

The Court noted that the prosecution informed the Court about the incriminating material recovered from Kappan and other accused, including Athikurrehman, Alam and Masood. The Police had recovered six smartphones, laptops and pamphlets that the accused were planning to use.

The prosecution said, “The said persons are said to have been collecting funds and running a website ‘Carrd.com’. It was also revealed that the said collected funds were used to break the social harmony and incite violence. The pamphlets read as ‘AM I NOT INDIAS DAUGHTER MADE WITH Carrd etc. It was also found that the incident of mob lynching, exodus of labourers and the Kashmir issues were also highlighted through the same website. The website also imparts training pertaining to concealing one’s identity during demonstrations and ways to incite violence. The website was found to be full of misinformation, thereby distorting true facts. There was another website operated by the laptop which had the heading ‘Justice For Hathras’.”

Chats between Kappan and PFI General Secretary

During the investigation, the Police found WhatsApp chats between Kappan and General Secretary of PFI Kamal KP. The order read, “[The chats] also revealed about the alleged workshop having been conducted by the applicant and other co-accused persons. The said workshop is stated to have been conducted to incite riots across the country by raking up issues of CAA and Babri Masjid demolition.”

Kappan was in contact with PFI General Secretary. Excerpt from judgment. Source: Allahabad High Court Website

Kappan was arrested by UP Police on October 5, 2020, when he was travelling to Hathras with his co-accused. He was booked under relevant sections of UAPA, IPC and IT Act. Earlier, the Mathura court had rejected his bail plea in 2021.

Haryana: Suspended Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, whose cross-voting cost Ajay Maken a Rajya Sabha seat, joins BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Haryana: Suspended Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, whose cross-voting cost Ajay Maken a Rajya Sabha seat, joins BJP

Kuldeep Bishnoi, a former Haryana Congress politician, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday 4th August 2022 at the party’s head office in New Delhi. Manohar Lal Khattar, the Chief Minister of Haryana, welcomed him to the party. Kuldeep Bishnoi was expelled from the Congress party in June 2022 after he cross-voted in favor of a BJP-backed independent candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections held on June 10.

Manohar Lal Khattar, on this occasion, said, “Kuldeep Bishnoi supported PM Modi’s leadership, backed BJP candidate in Rajya Sabha poll. We welcome him.” Kuldeep Bishnoi’s wife Renuka Bishnoi, who was also a member of the Congress party, has also switched to the BJP.

On Wednesday, 3rd August 2022, Bishnoi announced his resignation from the Vidhan Sabha. Bishnoi, son of former Congress stalwart Bhajan Lal, was first ousted from Congress in 2007 when he went on to form his own party, Haryana Janhit Congress (BL). In 2016, he returned to Congress after merging his party with them. He spent six years on good terms with the Congress party before being dismissed in June.

In the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections from Haryana, the Adampur MLA cross-voted, which caused Congress nominee Ajay Maken to lose and opened the way for independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, who was supported by the BJP and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP). Bishnoi was fired from all party posts the next day.

Congress appointed Udaybhan as the Haryana State Congress President in April 2022. Since then, Bishnoi was angry and did not attend any congress event. He had said that he will take his next political decision only after meeting Rahul Gandhi. Everyone including Congress leader Ajay Maken and the state in-charge Vivek Bansal insisted that he should participate in party activities but things did not work out.

Allahabad High Court dismisses bail plea of PFI’s Siddique Kappan on merit

OpIndia Staff
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Allahabad High Court dismisses bail plea of PFI’s Siddique Kappan on merit

On August 3, a single-judge bench comprising Justice Krishnan Pahal of Allahabad High Court rejected the bail plea of alleged journalist Siddique Kappan who has links with the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The court rejected the bail plea on merits. Complete orders are yet to be uploaded to Allahabad High Court’s website.

Who is Siddique Kappan?

Siddique Kappan is an office bearer of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India(PFI). He was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police when he was attempting to enter Hathras under the grab of journalism following the death of a Dalit girl in 2020. The UP government has slapped UAPA on Kappan. As per the affidavit submitted by the UP government in the Supreme Court, his aim was “to create a caste divide and law & order disturbance in the state.”

As per the affidavit, Kappan pretended to be a newspaper from a Kerala-based outlet called ‘Tejas’ that was closed in 2018. On October 5, 2020, he was arrested by the Police and booked under Sections 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Section 124A (sedition), Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion) and Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of Indian Penal Code and Sections 65, 72 and 75 of the Information Technology Act for attempting to create a caste-conflict in the state amidst the ongoing Hathras case controversy.

Earlier, a Mathura court had also rejected his bail plea in July 2021 on the grounds that Kappan and the co-accused in the case tried to disturb the law and order situation.

PFI’s India Vision 2047

It is noteworthy that following Kappan’s arrest in 2020, the UP Police mentioned in the charge sheet filed against him and co-accused that their intentions were to disturb law and order in the state. The allegations are in line with the ‘India Vision 2047’ manifesto that was recently recovered from PFI’s by Bihar Police.

The 8-page PFI document underlines the PFI goal for the years ahead. In the document named ‘India Vision 2047’, PFI has circulated internally among its cadre that they aim to completely dominate the ‘coward Hindus’ and subjugate them, and this goal will be achievable even with 10% of Muslims rallying behind PFI.

They have also mentioned that they plan to launch a full-fledged armed uprising against the Indian state with the help of their trained cadre and with the help of Islamic countries like Turkey. They have also appealed to other Islamic countries for help to bring the Indian state and the majority of Hindus ‘to their knees. The Police added that former SIMI terrorist Parvez and the ex-police officer named Jalluuddin, arrested by the Police, have raised funds worth lakhs for this recent endeavour.

OpIndia accessed the document and the contents of which are far more shocking than what the Police have revealed so far. The “India 2047” document has a tagline that underlines the goal of PFI – “Towards Rule of Islam in India”. The document talked about different stages in which they had to work to make India an Islamic state. Those stages included recruiting more members and giving them arms training, including the use of rods, swords and other weapons – this training would also include offensive and defensive techniques, use of punch lines with words like “Ambedkar” and “constitution” to shield the real intentions of the organization, creating a divide between RSS and SC/ST/OBCs and more.

A detailed analysis of the document can be read here. 

Love in the time of war: Russian-Ukrainian couple marries as per Hindu rituals in Himachal Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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Love in the time of war: Russian-Ukrainian couple marries as per Hindu rituals in Himachal Pradesh

Amidst the ongoing armed confrontation between Russia and Ukraine that has been going on for more than five months, a young couple from Russia and Ukraine got married as per the Hindu rituals in Himachal Pradesh. Sergei Novikov, a Russian expatriate who used to live in Ukraine married his girlfriend Elona Bramoka in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh at Divya Ashram Kharota. The wedding took place according to the rituals of the Sanatana Dharma.

The wedding was attended by locals who conducted all the customs and danced to Himachali folk music to make the newlyweds feel “at home”. The visitors were provided with a Kangri Dham arrangement. Despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Novikov and Bramoka chose to get married this year after dating for two years, choosing Dharamshala as their wedding location.

According to a report by News18, Pandit Sandeep Sharma of Divya Ashram Kharota said, “The two had been living in Dharamkot, close to Dharamshala for the past year. Our pandit Raman Sharma solemnized their marriage and told them about the importance of marriage as per the traditions of the Sanatan Dharma.”

A local resident Vinod Sharma and his family performed the wedding rituals including Bramoka’s ‘kanyadan’. Additionally, foreign visitors who reside in Dharamkot participated in the wedding, taking part in the various rituals. The couple was dressed in traditional Indian wedding attire, and while they listened attentively to the hymns being chanted, Pandit Raman Sharma translated the meaning of each mantra for both.

This is not the first instance in which a love story has surfaced out of the war-hit neighboring countries Russia and Ukraine. In fact, this couple has joined the wave of marriage proposals and weddings that have recently occurred in Ukraine. Even an Indian youth from Kerala, who fled war-torn Ukraine, fell in love with a Romanian girl while waiting in Romania before he was evacuated.

Agra: Tourists from Thailand in traditional dresses denied entry to the Taj Mahal for wearing masks and metal crowns

OpIndia Staff
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Agra: Tourists from Thailand in traditional dresses denied entry to the Taj Mahal for wearing masks and metal crowns

On Wednesday, 3rd August 2022, a controversy erupted in Agra over denying the entry of tourists to the Taj Mahal. Six tourists from Thailand visited Agra on Wednesday. When they attempted to visit the Taj Mahal, they were denied entry because they were wearing their traditional dresses.

According to a report by Amar Ujala, a group of six tourists from Thailand on Wednesday reached the facility centre at the east gate for visiting the Taj Mahal, where the CISF prevented three tourists from entering because they were wearing traditional costumes with masks and metal crowns. These tourists had come to shoot a traditional dance of Thailand at the Taj Mahal but were not allowed. The tourists were asked to keep their masks in the locker. The Thai tourists were asked to go to Dussehra Ghat instead for shooting. Accordingly, they went there, shot videos, and then left the monument. Meanwhile, one of the tourists shot a video of the whole incident.

On being stopped by CISF officials from entering the Taj Mahal, the tourists went to Dussehra Ghat to make videos, where they shot videos of dancing in traditional dresses. Shooting at the Taj Mahal requires prior permission and even after payment of shooting fees, people are allowed only to go up to the Red Sand Stone platform of the Royal Gate.

Dr. Rajkumar Patel, the superintending archaeologist of the Archeological Survey of India, said, “There was no objection to the traditional dress. Only the tourists with masks and metal crowns were prevented from going in. They were asked to keep the mask and crown in the locker. They were stopped because being an international tourist, it was being ensured that no objectionable message should be passed due to their entry. There is no prohibition on entry for a tourist wearing a particular dress.”

It is notable that on 26th April 2022, Jagadguru Paramahansacharya had come to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal but he was denied entry along with the Brahmadanda. He was allowed to enter only after keeping the Brahmadanda in the locker. Jagadguru Paramahansacharya had objected to this. There is a fixed list of permissible and prohibited items while entering the Taj Mahal.

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