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Enforcement Directorate imposes ₹51.72 crore and ₹10 crore penalty on Amnesty India and Aakar Patel for FEMA violations

OpIndia Staff
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Enforcement Directorate imposes ₹51.72 crore and ₹10 crore penalty on Amnesty India and Aakar Patel for FEMA violations

On Friday (July 8), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a show-cause notice [pdf] to Amnesty India International Pvt. Ltd and its former CEO Aakar Patel for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Besides, the central agency has also imposed a penalty of ₹51.72 crores and ₹10 crores on Amnesty India and Patel respectively. Reportedly, Amnesty International (UK) had received large sums of money through its FCRA non-compliant companies in India.

The Enforcement Directorate pointed out that foreign contributions were received as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to evade restrictions imposed by the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

In a press release, it stated, “ED, had initiated investigation under FEMA on the basis of information that Amnesty International, UK had been remitting huge amount of foreign contribution through its Indian entities (non-FCRA companies) following FDI route, in order to evade Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to expand its NGO activities in India, despite of denial of prior registration or permissions to Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) and other trusts under FCRA by Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.”

The Enforcement Directorate stated that between November 2013 and June 2018, Amnesty India International received foreign funds under the Head of ‘Business/Management Consultancy’ and ‘Public Relation Services.’ These donations were described as foreign remittances received for export to services to circumvent FCRA guidelines.

“The Adjudicating Authority of ED has held that AIIPL is an umbrella entity under M/s. Amnesty International Ltd., UK, which was declared to be set up for the cause of social activities in India,” it stated.

ED further emphasised, “However, AIIPL has been involved in many activities which are not relevant to their declared commercial business, and circumventing model has been applied by them to route the foreign funds in the guise of business activities to escape FCRA scrutiny.”

“Consequently, it is held that the funds that have arrived in the hands of AIIPL through inward remittances to the tune of Rs 51,72,78,111.87 is nothing but the fund lent by Amnesty International to AIIPL to ensure its objectives in the territorial jurisdiction of India, which is not accordance with the provisions of Regulation 3 of Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, 2000,” the central agency concluded.

Aakar Patel stopped from leaving the country

Earlier in April, Aakar Patel was stopped from boarding a flight to the USA at the Bengaluru airport. The former Amnesty India chief had tweeted that he was put on an exit control list. Patel claimed that he had obtained his passport through a court order.

He added that a CBI officer informed him that he is on a Look Out Circular because of the case against Amnesty International India regarding the FCRA violations. He was later granted temporary relief by the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi yesterday. And the CBI has stated that they would challenge the court order.

In February 2021, the Enforcement Directorate had attached movable properties of Amnesty International India worth Rs 17.66 crore in a money laundering case.

ED had found that after the cancellation of the FCRA license by the Indian government, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust and other Amnesty entities adopted ‘new methods’ to receive money from abroad. 

Based on SC judgement in Rohit Ranjan case today, two Judges who refused to give relief to Nupur Sharma need to introspect

Nupur J Sharma
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Based on SC judgement in Rohit Ranjan case today, two Judges who refused to give relief to Nupur Sharma need to introspect

The Supreme Court today granted the much-deserved relief to Zee News journalist Rohit Ranjan. Ranjan had moved a petition in the Supreme Court asking for the multiple FIRs against him to be clubbed. A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari heard the plea and granted the clubbing of FIRs in this case and also ordered that no coercive action will be taken against Rohit Ranjan.

The court was informed that he was arrested by the Noida police on Tuesday and released on bail. After he was released, now the Chhatisgarh police wants to arrest him. The charges against him are that he shared a video with misleading claims about Rahul Gandhi. Ranjan informed the court that he had retracted the news and even apologised for it on air.

The Judge, in this case, said that since the multiple FIRs against Ranjan were filed in the same matter, the TT Antony case would apply. In the TT Antony case, the court had laid down the law that a second FIR for the same cause of action cannot be filed. It is, therefore, safe to say that in the case of Ranjan, the Supreme Court relied on law and precedent to grant relief to the journalist swiftly and effectively.

However, this was not the case when ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma approached the court for the same relief that has today been granted to Rohit Ranjan. Nupur Sharma appeared before the Supreme Court on the 1st of July 2022 to ask for relief. Her plea was simple – multiple FIRs have been filed against her for the same cause of action, and given the fact that she is under grave threat, the FIRs should be clubbed together so she does not have to travel to different cities in order to cooperate with the investigation.

During the hearing, Judges Surya Kant and Pardiwala made several problematic statements that effectively blamed Nupur Sharma for the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal by Islamists, almost exonerating the Islamists from moral culpability.

Blaming Nupur Sharma for the chaos unleashed by the Islamists and the regressive ideas that ambiguously declare any criticism of the Islamic prophet as ‘blasphemy’, the apex court of the country has surprisingly ignored the hatred and violence unleashed by Islamists and has instead blamed the woman who had stated merely what is written in Islamic hadiths, and affirmed by Islamic scholars all over the world. 

The Supreme Court judges said that Nupur Sharma and her “loose tongue” was to be blamed for the chaos in the nation today by Islamists, that she is responsible for the brutal beheading of Kanhaiya Lal and that she should apologise to the nation.

Interestingly, while these comments, that did not make it to the written order, were being made, Nupur Sharma’s lawyer had also mentioned the TT Antony case to the Supreme Court judges.

Right after blaming Nupur Sharma for the chaos by Islamists, Justice Surya Kant categorically denied the application of the law laid down in the TT Antony case and asked Nupur Sharma to approach the High Court.

The exchange of arguments that happened after this comment by Justice Surya Kant was even worse.

Source: Twitter

When pointed out that Arnab Goswami was given the same relief by the courts, Judge Kant says that journalists are on a different pedestal compared to spokespersons who are “lambasting others making irresponsible statements”. When said that the law has been laid down for every citizen, shockingly, Justice Kant said that not every citizen is the same and that even Goswami was given “special treatment”.

When pointed out that even businessmen were granted the same relief, justice Kant simply said that his “conscience” was not satisfied and therefore, no relief would be given.

The Judges in the Nupur Sharma case willy-nilly refused to apply the law and the precedent that is applied almost uniformly for all – journalists, businessmen and other average citizens. While the Judges exceeded their brief and spoke out of their jurisdiction while passing these observations against Nupur Sharma, the fact that they simply refused to apply the law because they did not like Nupur Sharma or the political ideology she espouses is even more shocking.

The Judiciary is meant to protect every citizen – without fear or favour – whether the judges personally like the defendant or not. In a previous article, I had written that Nupur Sharma would have perhaps been safer if she had appeared in a Sharia court because even there, she would have at least been heard before strictures were passed against her.

With the judgement in the Rohit Ranjan case, Judges Surya Kant and Pardiwala need to introspect on the grave miscarriage of justice at their hands and the precarious, dire situation they have forced upon Nupur Sharma, who is getting death and rape threats.

In the daily news cycle of tweets and reactions, it is incumbent upon the Court to function as an institution in a fearless and fair manner. While the Court does function in a discretionary manner on the writ side, it cannot function in a whimsical manner. The criminal justice system can appropriately deal with the loose tongues of the common people, politicians or media personalities. However, some other loose tongues remain immune. 

‘Hamdard does not employ Hindus’: Mahapanchayat in Haryana demands 50% reservation for local Hindus in jobs in the company

OpIndia Staff
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‘Hamdard does not employ Hindus’: Mahapanchayat in Haryana demands 50% reservation for local Hindus in jobs in the company

After a mahapanchayat that took place on Thursday, 7th July 2022 in Haryana, there is a demand for 50 percent job reservation for Hindus in the pharmaceutical company Hamdard. The mahapanchayat announced that in case the demand is not met, the Manesar-based company will be forced to shut down. In this panchayat, the Hamdard company was accused of discriminating against Hindus.

According to a report by Live Hindustan, the local villagers and members of Hindu organizations present in the panchayat submitted a memorandum to the local administration regarding their demands. According to Ram Avtar, a former sarpanch of Manesar, Hamdard’s factory is built on the lands of local Hindu farmers. Being registered as a trust, it is also getting a lot of leeways and a free hand to operate in the way it wants.

Ram Avtar said that even after all this, no local Hindu has been given a job in this medicine company to date. The people urged the administration to go to the factory and check how many Hindu workers work there.

According to reports, In a memorandum to the administration, it is contended that even a deserving person is not given a job opportunity in the Hamdard company as a local Hindu. The people participating in the panchayat also demanded an inquiry into the recruitment process in Hamdard Company.

The mahapanchayat decided to lock the factory if it does not reserve 50% of its jobs for the local Hindus. The local police force was alert considering the grand organization of this mahapanchayat. Mahaveer Singh, DCP of Manesar, said, “The law and order situation was completely normal during and after the mahapanchayat.”

According to a report by The Tribune, Shailesh Tiwari, Chief of Operations unit, Manesar said, “I am a Hindu who is heading the unit here and that says all about the recruitment policy. I cannot divulge anymore but can say, these allegations and threats are all baseless publicity stunts. The unit is secure.”

It is notable that some time ago, the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana had announced a 75 percent reservation for the people of Haryana in the private companies operating in Haryana. After this, the private companies had expressed their displeasure.

Congress spokesperson uses Shinzo Abe’s tragic assassination to target the Agnipath scheme of the Indian Armed Forces

OpIndia Staff
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Congress spokesperson uses Shinzo Abe’s tragic assassination to target the Agnipath scheme of the Indian Armed Forces

The Congress party has resorted to using the unfortunate assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for political purposes. After Abe was shot by a man in Nara city in Japan, Surendra Rajput, National Media Panellist of the Congress Party, rushed to Twitter and stated that the murderer of Shinzo Abe was a member of the Japanese Self Defence Forces (SDF), which he compared with the Agnipath scheme announced by the Indian Armed Forces in collaboration with the Government of India.

In the tweet, Rajput said, “Shinzo Abe #ShinzoAbeShot the shooter #tetsuyayamagami Yamagami He had worked in Japan’s SDF i.e. Army without pension.”

The tweet.

The Japanese Self Defence Forces are the military forces of Japan, which includes Japan Ground Self-Defence Force, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force, and Japan Air Self-Defence Force. The personnel in the Japanese defence forces receive an one-time payment after their retirement, but there is not a regular pension scheme for them. Therefore, the Congress leader tried to equate SDF with Agnipath, to score political points over an assassination that has been condemned by leaders from all across the world.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has slammed this statement by Surendra Rajput, a spokesperson of the Congress party. BJP National Spokesman Shehzad Poonawalla condemned the remarks, saying that the official spokesperson of Congress picked even Shinzo Abe’s terrible death to engage in petty politics.

Shehzad said, “There has to be a limit to this. This is embarrassing & quite disgusting. It is devoid of fact but it is devoid of morality & any sense of propriety to politicise the death of a great world leader & India’s true friend. I hope Congress will act on him without delay.”

Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo was shot by a miscreant in the city of Nara on Friday. While addressing a rally in western Japan, Abe was shot from behind. He was immediately transported to the hospital and was being treated. He has, however, been declared dead.

Notably, the recently announced Agnipath scheme by the Armed Forces in collaboration with the Government of India has come under attack from opposition parties throughout the country, including the Congress party. Pressure groups across the country worked to influence the decisions made by authorities in this regard.

Pakistan: Sacrificial goat purchased by former wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal for Eid ul Adha stolen from his Lahore residence

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Sacrificial goat purchased by former wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal for Eid ul Adha stolen from his Lahore residence

Days before Eid ul Adha, former captain of the Pakistani cricket team wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal made it to headlines for the reason he would not solicit. In a theft that took place at Kamran Akmal’s residential home at a private housing society in Lahore, one the sacrificial goats that he had purchased for the upcoming Eid ul Adha was stolen on 7th July 2022 late in the night.

The event happened after the Akmal family of Lahore purchased six goats for sacrifice a day before and tied them all together in front of their residence. The incident may have occurred about three in the morning when a servant asked to guard the goats, who was supposed to be awake, fell asleep.

The missing sacrifice goat, according to Akmal’s father, was the best in the purchased lot and cost about Rs 90,000. According to a report by the Crictracker, Kamran Akmal’s father said, “The thieves have taken away the best of them which was bought at the price of Rs 90,000.” The housing society’s security has assured the cricketer’s family that the goat would be found and the thieves will be arrested.

Eid ul Adha is scheduled to take place on 10th July, in which devote Muslims make sacrifices of animals and other items. The festival honours the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as per Allah’s command. As part of the festival, animals are ritually slaughtered. Part of the meat of the slaughtered animals is consumed by the family that sacrificed it, while the rest is distributed to the poor.

40-year-old Kamran Akmal is playing domestic cricket in Pakistan after a 15-year-long career in international cricket that ended in 2017. Eid ul Adha is a Muslim festival that will be celebrated this year on July 10. Muslims often sacrifice some animal, commonly goats, on this occasion. The incident of theft at Kamran Akmal’s residence in Lahore occurred just two days before the annual festival.

Bihar: Akbar goes berserk and intimidates his child’s school administration with a sword. Here is what we know so far

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: Akbar goes berserk and intimidates his child’s school administration with a sword. Here is what we know so far

On Tuesday (July 5), a man named Akbar barged into his son’s school with a sword over the alleged non-receipt of dues for books and school uniforms.

As per reports, the incident took place in Jokihaat block, which falls under the Bhagwanpur panchayat in the Aaria district of Bihar.

In a video that has now surfaced on social media, a bare-chested Akbar could be seen yelling at the teachers. While reprimanding the school headmaster for not receiving funds on time, he intimidated everyone with his sword.

The incident took everyone by both shock and surprise. Several children, present at the school at that time, were witnesses to the disturbing situation. Many of them even started crying for help.

Akbar then warned the school administration that he would return the following day if his grievance remained unaddressed. The teachers informed that the accused tried to solicit an additional sum of money from them.

Reportedly, the school headmaster had briefed Jokihat Block Development Officer (BDO) about the incident. Although the school administration did not file a written complaint, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged in the case.

While speaking about the development, Jokihat Station Station House Officer (SHO) remarked, “The father reached his child’s school with a sword and threatened teachers allegedly after he didn’t get money for school uniform in Araria.”

Miscreants attack Lakshmi Narayan temple, unfurl Islamic flag in Araria

Last month, a group of unidentified persons attacked the Lakshmi Narayan temple in the Araria district of Bihar and vandalised the temple idol. The group that attacked the temple and damaged the idol also hoisted an Islamic flag inside the temple premises.

As per reports, the incident took place in a village in the Rampur Kodarkatti panchayat area. The miscreants also vandalised the idol of ‘Sheshnag’ and hoisted the Islamic flag, which was later taken down.

The Chief Representative of the Panchayat Rajesh Kumar Singh said that people were shocked to see the damaged temple. He stated that the attackers had malicious intent behind damaging the Hindu religious symbol and the temple idol.

Ghaziabad: Lawyer Parvez Ali uses his neighbour Sadar Pathan’s name to issue death threats to a Hindu businessman, arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Ghaziabad: Lawyer Parvez Ali uses his neighbour Sadar Pathan’s name to issue death threats to a Hindu businessman, arrested

In Ghaziabad, the police arrested an accused named Parvez Ali for issuing death threats to Bharatiya Vyapar Mandal’s state-level office-bearer, Devendra Dhaka. Parvez Ali reeportedly intended to trap his neighbour, so he sent a threatening letter to the Hindu businessman Devendra Dhaka in his name. 

Parvez Ali wrote a threat letter to Devendra Dhaka but pretended to be Sadar Pathan. Image Source: Dainik Bhaskar

In this threat letter, Parvez Ali wrote, “Devendra Dhaka, be ready to die after Kanhaiya Lal of Udaipur. You share so many posts against Muslims. I will openly challenge you and kill you. After that, I may be martyred or I may get arrested. But we Pathans never attack covertly. Start the countdown of yourself and your son Rachit from today. I have studied from Jamia, and against you, I have formed a whole army there. You now note my name and number too. There is a reason I am called crazy. Your Death, Sadar Pathan, son of Shahid, Khekda, Uparkot.”

The in-charge of the Loni border police station Yogendra Singh Panwar said, “Business leader Devendra Dhaka received the letter by post at home on the evening of July 4. The letter threatened to kill Devendra Dhaka and his son. The name of Sadar Pathan was mentioned on the envelope of the letter. Police registered a case of threatening against the unidentified person and started an investigation.”

The Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja said, “Devendra Dhaka, a resident of the Loni Border police station area, received a death threat through a letter that was sent to him via speed post. The letter threatened to kill him. Taking immediate cognizance of the letter, we provided necessary security to Devendra Dhaka. Many teams were formed and directed to solve this case. A person named Parvez Ali lives in the Loni Border police station area. He wrote this fake threat letter to trap his neighbor Sadar Pathan so that an FIR is lodged against him and police take an action against him. But our teams worked very well in this case. Tracking the speed post, checking the CCTV footage of the corresponding post office, and other electronic evidence, we found that the threat letter is sent by Parvez Ali and not by Sadar Pathan. Parvez Ali intended to trap Sadar Pathan. Parvez Ali is arrested and sent to jail.”

According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, the arrested accused Parvez Ali told during the investigation that Sadar Khan Pathan whose name is mentioned on the envelope of that threat letter is his neighbour. Some days ago, both of them had an argument over some issue. Therefore, Parvez Ali conspired to trap Sadar Pathan. Parvez Ali was looking for a chance to trap Sadar Pathan in some matter. As Parvez Ali realized that people are being threatened over supporting Nupur Sharma in the last few weeks, he wrote a threat letter to businessman Devendra Dhaka pretending to be Sadar Khan Pathan so that Sadar Pathan gets arrested.

Radical Islamic outfit PFI extends support to TMC MP Mahua Moitra for her controversial remark on Goddess Kali

OpIndia Staff
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Radical Islamic outfit PFI extends support to TMC MP Mahua Moitra for her controversial remark on Goddess Kali

On Friday, July 8, the radical Islamic organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) extended its support to TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who had recently waded into the Kaali poster row with her contentious remark on the Hindu Goddess Maa Kali. The extremist Islamic outfit, that has been involved in serious acts of violence across India, called the TMC MP ‘courageous’ for taking a principled stand against Hindutva. The PFI’s support for the TMC leader came after the party distanced itself from her comments.

Anis Ahmed, the General Secretary of the Popular Front of India Tweeted on July 7, “It takes a lot of courage to be firm on our stand when even people who believe in our stand ask us to be silent. @MahuaMoitra has always taken a principled stand against Hindutva and the RSS attempt to hijack Hinduism. Surely the Sanghis are rattled by her stand and courage.”

Notably, Anis Ahmed is the same PFI leader who was booked last year for his hate speech during the Ram Mandir donation drive. Anis Ahmed had warned Muslims against donating to Ram Mandir’s construction. Speaking at a PFI rally in Ullal, Karnataka, the PFI leader asked Muslims to mark the Hindu activists, especially RSS and BJP workers, residing in their locality. Anis Ahmad had said that the Hindu nationalist organisation was the country’s real enemy and claimed that the RSS was more dangerous than cancer. He further said that RSS should be confronted and not appeased.

Mamata Banerjee defends her MP Mahua Moitra

PFI’s remark came on the day, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee too came out in defence of her MP. “We make mistakes while working but they can be rectified,” said Mamata Banerjee while addressing a students’ credit cards distribution event in Kolkata where she tried to vindicate Moitra, facing flak for her disparaging remark against the Hindu deity.

TMC condemns comments on Goddess Kaali by its own MP Mahua Moitra

Prior to this, TMC had condemned the remarks made by party Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra on Goddess Kaali during the India Today Conclave East 2022. Distancing itself from Mahua’s controversial comments, the party said that the comments were made by Mahua Moitra in her personal capacity and were not endorsed by TMC.

TMC MP’s remark on Maa Kali

On July 5, while responding to a question at the media event, Mahua Moitra said, “You have the freedom to imagine your goddess. To me, Kaali is a meat-eating, alcohol-accepting goddess. There are some places where whiskey is offered to gods and in some other places it would be blasphemy.”

Mahua Moitra was speaking in support of the Canadian Canada-based filmmaker Leena Manimekali who has come under fire for using a poster with a cigarette-smoking image of Maa Kaali to promote her upcoming film.

After receiving widespread criticism on social media, Mahua Moitra Tweeted, “To all you sanghis- lying will NOT make you better hindus. I NEVER backed any film or poster or mentioned the word smoking.” She also asked people to visit Maa Kali in Tarapith to see what food & drink is offered as bhog at that temple.

I am an 18-year-old progressive woman who supports LGBTQ rights, but I no longer support Pride Month: Here is why

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I am an 18-year-old progressive woman who supports LGBTQ rights, but I no longer support Pride Month: Here is why

I’m an 18 year old student from a privileged family. I consider myself a progressive woman. But I no longer support Pride Month.

Since I’ve known about Pride, it has always been in the context of love, freedom and equality. Like anyone with a moral compass, I stood for LGBTQ rights and as a matter of fact, I still do. The thought of participating in a Pride parade seemed perfectly okay because I believed it was a march for equality. It was a natural way to stand up for a marginalised section of our society. I still support equality and dignity for all. I have LGBTQ friends and I will continue to be friends with them.

But from my first participation in Pride, fast forward a few years, and this illusion of Pride Month has fallen apart. As I peel through the layers, needless to say, I am baffled by the turn it took. I realised that one doesn’t have to be the most perceptive person in the world to realise that what is happening now under the label of Pride Month is not about rights.

The Woke madness
The Woke madness

I came across an Instagram reel recently (image above) of a kid dancing with a drag queen in India and my mind instantly drew a parallel with the image on the right. That image is from a ‘children-friendly’ drag show in the USA this month. Literally 2 minutes ago such extremely sexualised exposure to children was not part of Pride but now it is commonplace. In our slide down this slippery slope, the image on the right will be what Pride organisers will want to next recreate in India. This is not about LGBTQ rights; this is the thinly veiled grooming of children by exposing them to nudity and sexually explicit behaviour. This used to be unethical and illegal only yesterday, but now it is everywhere. And the argument put forth by these groomers that kids love drag queens holds no merit. Kids also love eating sand, which doesn’t necessarily mean what kids like is good for them. Exposing vulnerable children to explicit visuals like those of drag shows is bound to leave a lasting negative impact on their minds. The demand to expose kids to drag culture is not only ridiculous but harmful as well.

I did bring this up with a few of my ‘woke’ friends, and the popular response I got was “it’s 2022 bro, you should do better”, what connection does this virtue-signalling statement have with the indoctrination of kids? A lot of people also told me that this is just “my prejudiced opinion”. I’m certain that even a semi-intelligent person can tell the difference between documented incidents and opinions.

As for the few rational friends who agree that pride has been hijacked and is no longer about a genuine struggle for rights and representation refuse to say so out loud because it comes with a 99% chance of being cancelled and called every ‘ist’ and ‘phobe’ in the dictionary. This often leaves me wondering how 18-year-olds in our country got so radical?

Since Pride Month has been imported from the west, looking at the developments around indoctrination of kids in the U.S would mean looking at a fortune-telling crystal ball for us.

What started as a seemingly well-intentioned argument to educate and sensitize children about LGBTQ individuals, so they grow up seeing it as a natural phenomenon has snowballed into absolute lunacy. Stories of teachers discussing their sexual orientation and identity in classrooms have become increasingly common and a fair worry for parents. This blew out of proportion with puberty blockers and gender identity becoming common classroom topics.  

Some parents continued objecting and subsequently, Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed the ‘HB 1557 Parental rights in Education Bill’ informally known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill’. Amongst other things, the bill has been mainly contentious for prohibiting “classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students”.

Read that again, grade 3! It took a House Bill to establish that teachers should not have inappropriate sexual conversations about sexual orientation with children as young as kindergarten to grade 3. One would hope to see this as a sign of sanity making a comeback in schools, but the horror show continues. Here’s a clip of a teacher talking about how to make a switch to ‘subtle’ propaganda after the passing of this bill.

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to ask how far are we from letting this culture influence schools in India. Only last year NCERT’s gender studies department had made an effective attempt to give an opening to gender identity politics through its “Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap”. The manual was subsequently removed after backlash.

For someone who genuinely supports LGBTQ rights, it’s important to establish the stark difference between advocating for rights and grooming children. Why should I be compelled to pretend that exposing kids to a sexualised environment is going to benefit them?

This derailing of pride spells disaster for all, as much as this will harm children it will also harm the progress we’ve made with LGBTQ acceptance and advocacy. The original demand to treat LGBTQ rights as Human rights will take a back seat. As a rational ally, I feel that prominent LGBTQ personalities and activists should lead the charge in this to prevent pride month from being stigmatised and interchangeably used with the grooming of children.      

Silence is compliance.

(NOTE: This article has been written by an 18-year-old girl who wants to be anonymous because she fears being ostracised by her woke social circle after this article).

Grocery store owner and teacher receive ‘Sar tan se juda in 10 days’ threat in Bharatpur in Rajasthan

OpIndia Staff
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Grocery store owner and teacher receive ‘Sar tan se juda in 10 days’ threat in Bharatpur in Rajasthan

Islamists across the country continue to issue beheading threats to people for supporting former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. After the killing of Umesh Kolhe in Amravati in Maharashtra and Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur in Rajasthan, two more people in Rajasthan has received threats of ‘sar tan se juda’. On Wednesday, two notes were handed over to an ambulance driver in Bharatpur in Rajasthan, with threats to two people from his village.

On July 6, when ambulance driver Mukesh Kumar was going to the Pahadi area in Bharatpur, two people on a two-wheeler without number plate stopped the ambulance and threw in two notes asking to deliver them his village. They also brandished a dagger and threatened him of dire consequences if he approaches the police.

When Mukesh Kumar opened the notes, he saw the words ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ written on them, each addressed to two names, Satish Chand and Pramod. The notes said that both will be beheaded with 10 days. Satish is a grocery store owner and Pramod is a govt school teacher. There were cross signs on the names in the notes. The ambulance driver and the two persons named in the notes are the residents of Ranph village in Bharatpur.

Mukesh went to the village after seeing the threat and informed the two persons about it and gave them the notes. He also approached police and lodged a complaint in the matter. Satish and Pramod also approached the police and handed over the notes. The police have provided security to the two persons following this threat. Policemen in plainclothes have been deployed in front of both the houses.

While the threat comes amid numerous threats by Islamists for supporting Nupur Sharma, the exact reason of this threat is not known yet. Satish Chand’s son Mohit Khandelwal said that his father is a simple man and is not social media, and he has not shared any post on any social media platform. Similarly, teacher Pramod also does not have any social media presence.

Reportedly, ambulance driver Mukesh was so scared after seeing the notes that he started to feel ill, and he went straight to the hospital. From there he called his friend Sukhpal and narrated him the entire incident. After that both them went to the village, met the two persons and gave them the notes.

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