Reports of Bollywood Actress Alia Bhatt being pregnant have surfaced in the news cycle. In a picture posted by the actress on Instagram, she could be seen in a hospital with her husband actor Ranbir Kapoor by her side. It seems to be image of sonography, a procedure carried out during pregnancy with the caption ‘Our baby… coming soon’.
However, according to some fans, this could be a publicity gimmick, to promote the couple’s first film together ‘Bramhastra’ releasing on September 9 this year.
According to Entertainment News agency Pinkvilla, the 29-year-old actress is reportedly pregnant after she tied the knot with Ranbir Kapoor on April 14 in Mumbai. Nearly two and a half months later, the reports of the Bollywood diva being pregnant have come to the fore. In the pictures that have surfaced, the actress is all smiling while she looks at the monitor, in what looks like a preliminary sonography test. Soon congratulations started pouring in for the newly-wed couple.
The couple looks forward to their joint next flick directed by Ayan Mukherjee, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna and Mouni Roy.
Following the arrest of self-proclaimed activist Teesta Setalvad by Gujarat ATS, the entire ecosystem, which was previously busy incriminating the then-chief minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat riots in 2002, has sprung back into action. They have now taken a stand to protest the authorities’ decision and characterize the government as dictatorial.
The Mumbai Press Club took to Twitter to condemn the move by the authorities and ask to free Teesta Setalvad. They wrote, “Mumbai Press Club expresses shock and dismay at the arrest of journalist and human rights activist Teesta Setalvad by the Gujarat Police on Saturday 25th June. This followed the dismissal by the Supreme Court on Friday, 24th June, of a petition in which Setalvad is a co-petitioner who appealed against a lower court’s order in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots case.”
— Mumbai Press Club (@mumbaipressclub) June 26, 2022
They further said, “It is unacceptable that a person who has been fighting for civil justice should be accused of fabricating evidence and misleading the Special Investigation Team.”
Somehow, Teesta Setalvad metamorphosed into a ‘journalist’ just because she runs one propaganda outlet called ‘Sabrang’ which has been used to spread anti-Modi propaganda over the years.
Notable pro-Congress activist Shabnam Hashmi also took to Twitter and shared a poster seeking support from the public to protest in Delhi against the arrest of Teesta Setalvad. Hashmi has been caught several times spreading fake news and lies.
The tweet by Shabnam Hashmi.
Hashmi, a pro-Congress ‘activist’ is sister of Safdar Hashmi, a communist activist who was killed by Congress leaders while performing a play.
Communist leader Kavita Krishnan, who has compared the Taliban to Hindutva, also took to Twitter pouring her outrage after the arrest of Teesta Setalvad. She wrote, “Bad enough that the Supreme Court rejected Zakia Jafri’s petition – but outrageous that it criminalised @TeestaSetalvad & others who supported her quest for justice for Gujarat 2002 violence! Chronology is clear – SC has enabled Gujarat ATS & Modi-Shah’s vindictive actions.”
The tweet by Kavita Krishnan.
Financial fraud accused Rana Ayyub also jumped in to support her partner. She retweeted a tweet by another member of their Karuna Nundy, who accused the Supreme Court of undermining India’s constitution after Teesta Setalvad was arrested. It is worth noting that the Supreme Court of India dismissed Rana Ayyub’s description in ‘Gujarat Files,’ rubbishing the book as being based on surmises, conjectures, and suppositions.
The retweet by Rana Ayyub.
Amnesty India also weighed in to defend Teesta Setalvad. They characterised the action as a deliberate retaliation against anyone who dared to call their human rights record into question.
The tweet by Amnesty India.
It should be noted that all of this is happening in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s rejection of a petition in which the Supreme Court of India upheld the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat Riots when he was the state’s chief minister. The Supreme Court stated in its decision that Zakia Jafri’s petition was without foundation and had been done to keep the pot boiling.
On June 25, 2022, a squad from Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad apprehended so-called activist Teesta Setalvad. She was detained from her residence in Mumbai’s Juhu locality at about 3 PM and brought to Ahmedabad via road.
The court even said that there is a need for further investigation into Teesta Setalvad as she was using Zakia Jafri’s feelings in the case for her own benefit. The court noted, “It is submitted that Ms Teesta Setalvad, for reasons best known to her and out of vengeance, was interested in continuing with her tirade and persecution on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations in the complaint in the name of the quest for justice with real purpose to keep the pot boiling and sensationalise and politicise the crime.”
Days after Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal issued disqualification notices to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, Eknath Shinde had moved the Supreme Court to seek a stay on the notices.
The Shinde camp will be represented in the apex court on Monday (June 27) by eminent lawyer, Harish Salve.
Breaking – Senior counsel Harish Salve to represent Eknath Shinde camp in Supreme Court tomorrow
— Ganesh Thakur गणेश ठाकूर (@7_ganesh) June 26, 2022
On the other hand, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Sena will be represented in the Court by Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
“Learnt that two writs filed today by #Shinde group listed tomorrow in SC for hearing in vacation bench! Happy to appear for #ShivSena headed by #Uddhavji and its office bearers,” he had informed in a tweet.
Learnt that two writs filed today by #Shinde group listed tomm in #sc for hearing in vacation bench! Happy to appear for #shivSena headed by #uddhavji and its office bearers.
Until a few years ago, Singhvi, like many Congress leaders, was a vocal proponent of the Sema. In July 2014, he tweeted, “Shiv Sena is not Shiv Sena / It is Shameless Sena.” The Congress leader has now deleted the contentious tweet from his timeline.
Screengrab of the deleted tweet by Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Reportedly, the matter will be heard by a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala.
The Courtroom is expected to be heated with, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Harish Salve facing each other. The two great legal minds had earlier come face to face during the Rajasthan political crisis.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had requested the deployment of additional central security forces to maintain the law and order in the State. The development came at the backdrop of provocative remarks by the Uddhav Thackeray camp.
“Offices and homes of some of the MLAs have been vandalised with the police being a mute spectator,” he had informed in a letter to Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla. The Centre had also provided Y+ security cover to the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs.
On June 26, Twitter withheld a tweet by financial fraud accused Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub in response to legal demand by the Government of India. As soon as Ayyub got the information about it in her email, all hell broke loose, and the ecosystem that backs her propaganda-filled reports and tweets came out in her support. Notably, in the tweet that has been withheld, Ayyub had cast aspersions on the judiciary in connection to the disputed structures called mosques.
After the survey was allowed by the court, the judge who had passed the order had been given additional security after they received death threats. The threats came after the videography of survey found Shivling in the wuzukhana of the ‘mosque’ where people who offer namaz at masjids would wash their dirty hands and legs before offering prayer.
Ayyub added a screenshot of the email she received from Twitter and wrote, “Hello Twitter, what exactly is this?” In the email received at 9:29 PM, it was mentioned that a particular tweet was withheld in India under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The content of the Tweet was blocked only for the Indian audience, and Twitter users from other countries could access it.
Rana posted screenshot of the email she received from Twitter. Source: Twitter
The screenshot of the email was taken on an Android phone while she tweeted the same via iPhone, which is also quite curious and elaborate process to do just for sharing a screenshot.
The content of the tweet withheld by Twitter
In the tweet that has not been withheld by Twitter, Ayyub had said, “Setting the stage for demolition of yet another mosque in India, sanctioned by the judiciary, endorsed by the regime, abetted by the silence of its liberals and enabled by the complicity of the citizenry. Yet another day of humiliating the Muslim minority. Democracy anyone?” The tweet was published on April 9, 2021. Ayyub was quoting a tweet by Bar & Bench where it was reported that the court had allowed an ASI survey of the disputed structure known as Gyanvapi ‘mosque’ adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath Mandir.
The tweet that got withheld in India. Source: Twitter.
The ecosystem activated to support Ayyub
As expected, the ecosystem that backs Ayyub’s propaganda-filled tweets and reports rushed to support her. Pro-Aurangzeb “professor” Audrey Truschke, who is on the mission to defame India, wrote, “Twitter appears to be censoring one of India’s leading journalists, in India.”
Tweet by Audrey Truschke in support of Rana Ayyub. Source: Twitter
Truschke’s claim that Ayyub is “one of the leading journalists” in the country was not marked by Twitter as ‘disputed’ yet.
Danielle Citron, a professor at UVA Law, said, “Twitter Safety do not let the Modi regime silence the magnificent journalist and human rights activist Rana Ayyub with false abuse reports. Please protect her account. From a trust and safety task force member.” Citron might be unaware that Ayyub has been accused of misappropriation of funds she had collected during the Covid period to help people.
Tweet by Dainielle Citron in support of Rana Ayyub. Source: Twitter
One Neha Shastry who identifies herself as ‘Director’ said, “Hey @twitter – are you seriously bowing down to the Indian government right now? A government that is infamously squashing freedom of the press and dissidents?”
Tweet by Neha Shastry in support of Rana Ayyub. Source: Twitter
Director Smriti Mundhra said, “After the Indian prime minister “won” a Supreme Court decision about his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, a leading activist was arrested in Mumbai, and now a Muslim journalist is being censored by @Twitter. Why?” Mundhra must be unaware of the fact that while unholding the SIT report on giving clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat Riots, the apex court had clearly pointed out that people with vested interest ran propaganda against the state of Gujarat and PM Modi. The activist she was referring to was Teesta Setalvad, who has been accused of submitting forged documents and statements of the eyewitnesses and tutoring victims to malign the image of PM Modi and the state of Gujarat. She has also been accused of misappropriating funds she collected for 2002 riots victims.
Tweet by Smriti Mundhra in support of Rana Ayyub. Source: Twitter
Dr Julie Posetti, Global Director of Research at the International Centre For Journalists, said, “Outrageous censorship of investigative journalist Rana Ayyub in India. She struggles to get @TwitterSafety to act against perpetrators of the serious #onlineviolence she experiences, but @TwitterIndia appears to have silenced her account at the behest of the Indian authorities.”
Tweet by Julie Posetti in support of Rana Ayyub. Source: Twitter
Agnes Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International, said, “Seriously @Twitter? @RanaAyyub has spoken truth to power, denouncing hatred, discrimination, and religious violence – and for these, you are silencing her? Shame.” It is noteworthy that Amnesty International had to pack bags from India after the Government of India initiated action against the NGO for violating FCRA regulations. Amnesty has been accused of alleged anti-India activities on multiple occasions.
Tweet by Agnes Callamard in support of Rana Ayyub. Source: Twitter
Arrest of Teesta Setalvad
On June 25, Teesta Setalvad was arrested by ATS Gujarat Police for creating a sensation by making false claims about the Gujarat riots. She was brought to Ahmedabad by road from Mumbai on June 26 and has been sent to judicial custody till July 2.
Allegations of fund misappropriation against Rana Ayyub
On February 10 this year, OpIndia had reported that ED seized Rs 1.77 crore in Ayyub’s and her family’s accounts under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. A few days after the expose, Ayyub alleged in a statement that she was being framed for her “journalism” and that she did not misuse the money.
However, all her claims were debunked by a Twitter user Hawk Eye who was the first to share details of alleged charity fraud last year. The ED has, in its attachment order, said, “Rana Ayyub has cheated the general Public Donors in a pre-planned manner and with the intention to cheat the general public donors.”
The order emphasised that the ‘scam’ started from the time she received the funds, which she did not use for Covid-19 relief work. She instead made a fixed deposit of ₹50 lakhs and transferred the amount to the savings account of her father and sister through net banking. You can read the details about the allegations of misuse of Covid-19 funds by clicking on the link here.
On March 29, Rana Ayyub was stopped by Indian Immigration officials from boarding a flight to London due to the pending money laundering case against her. On April 4, she was granted permission to travel abroad by the Delhi High Court with the pre-requirement that she divulges details of her travel, contacts and her place of stay.
Notably, Ayyub had penned down her so-called expose of the Gujarat Riots in her book Gujarat Files which was rejected as evidence by the Supreme Court. Also, a detailed rebuttal of the book by OpIndia’s Editor Nirwa Mehta can be read here.
The Maharashtra political turmoil has reached the Supreme Court, with dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde submitting a writ petition contesting the Deputy Speaker’s disqualification notifications issued to rebel MLAs for proceedings under the Constitution’s tenth schedule over purported defection. The rebel camp has also challenged other actions taken by the deputy speaker in the matter, like removing Shinde from the post of leader of legislative party and accepting the replacement made by the Uddhav Thackeray faction. The petition will be heard by a vacation bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala on June 27.
#BREAKING Supreme Court to hear tomorrow Eknath Shinde’s plea challenging disqualification notices issued by Deputy Speaker to rebel MLAs.
The no-confidence resolution against Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, a member of the Nationalist Congress Party, was rejected, according to Shinde’s petition, which was submitted on June 26 at around 6.30 PM. As the position of Speaker in the Maharashtra legislative assembly is unoccupied, the Deputy Speaker issued the disqualification notifications.
The argument made in the petition is that it is unlawful for the Deputy Speaker to recognize Ajay Choudhury as the head of the Shiv Sena Legislative Party (SSLP). Shinde, who claims to have the backing of more than two-thirds of Shiv Sena MLAs, asks that the processes regarding the disqualification notices be suspended until the conclusion of the dispute about the removal of the Deputy Speaker.
The plea contended that while a resolution to remove himself is pending, the Deputy Speaker is not permitted to disqualify any member under Schedule X of the Constitution. It also said that Without leaving the NCP, Narhari Zirwal is serving in the capacity of Deputy Speaker while also actively taking part in NCP operations. Shiv Sena’s ideology is deferential to NCP. Zirwal is therefore politically prejudiced and cannot be trusted to make an objective and just decision.
The petition also said that the disqualification notices cannot be upheld since merely missing party meetings is not sufficient ground for disqualification. The Party’s issued whip solely applies to procedures taking place in the House. According to Shinde, he and his supporters have not resigned from the Shiv Sena, and their actions do not fall under the definition of “voluntarily giving up membership” as stated in Paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule. In any event, the majority of the party members had revoked Sunil Prabhu’s position as Chief Whip and replaced him with Bharat Gogawale. Therefore, the whip given by Sunil Prabhu is invalid.
The Shinde camp has petitioned the apex court to issue the following directions:
Stay on the disqualification notice issued by Deputy Speaker against Shinde and 15 other MLAs
Direction to the Deputy Speaker to not take any decision on the disqualification petition, till the no confidence motion against the Deputy Speaker is decided
To quash the deputy speaker’s order recognizing Ajay Choudhari as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader.
Directions to the Centre and Maharashtra Police to provide security to the family of the dissident MLAs.
Eknath Shinde is backed by more than 50 MLAs of the Maharashtra assembly out of which more than 40 are Shiv Sena MLAs. Shiv Sena has a total strength of 55 MLAs in the house and Eknath Shinde already has the support of more than two-thirds of them which is the basic requirement to duck the anti-defection law. The rebel MLAs are currently living in Hotel Radisson Blu in Guwahati.
In Gujarat, one after another cases of love jihad is coming out. One such fresh case of love jihad has come to light at Enghal village in Gandevi taluka of Navsari.
According to information received by the local sources, a 24-year-old girl living in Mahyavanshi Mohalla of Enghal village in Gandevi taluka of south Gujarat was talking to a young man named ‘Jigar’ on Instagram for last some time. The young man talked to her and trapped her in love. As the friendship progressed on Instagram, they also started talking on the phone by exchanging mobile numbers.
On June 21, the girl left the house after receiving a call around 3 pm from the Instagram-based ‘Jigar’. As the girl did not return to her house till late in the night, the family members were worried as they searched and came to know that the girl had eloped with Jigar. The girl’s brother later filed an application at Gandevi police station in this regard.
Ashfaq Sheikh made an Instagram account as Jigar Patel.
After the complaint was filed by the brother, further investigations revealed more disturbing facts. The Instagram ID was actually a fake ID, and there was no one named ‘Jigar’ behind that account. On talking to the father of the accused it was found that the real name of the accused was Asfaq Ibrahim Sheikh. At this time, everyone came to know that it was ‘Ashfaq’ who was talking to the victim girl on Instagram as a ‘Jigar’. The victim girl’s brother wrote to Navsari’s superintendent of police and urged him to take appropriate action.
The victim girl’s brother wrote to Navsari’s SP.
In an exclusive conversation with OpIndia, the victim’s brother-in-law said, “Even after making an application to the Gandevi police station on June 21, we did not find any trace of our daughter, and therefore, we were forced to apply to the Navsari superintendent of police.”
He further said, “My sister-in-law is forcefully married to a Muslim youth who hid his true identity and took her away with a Hindu name. This is a case of love jihad, so this should be dealt with in the same way.”
It may be noted that there has been an increase in cases of love jihad in Gujarat in recent times. Just last week, a double love jihad case was reported in Bilkha village of Junagadh district in which an accused named Sharafat Hasan Qadri, who had already eloped with a Hindu girl and married her, was reported to have eloped with another Hindu girl. Now, this case has appeared in Navsari.
On Saturday (June 25), the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) took activist ‘Teesta Setalvad’ into custody for falsifying information about the 2002 Gujarat riots, along with former cop Sanjib Bhatt, and former cop and AAP leader R.B. Sreekumar.
The development came a day after the Supreme Court rejected claims of a larger conspiracy into the Gujarat riots by PM Narendra Modi. It had accused Teesta Setalvad of exploiting the emotions of petitioner Zakiya Jafri.
During an interview with ANI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah discussed her involvement in the case to defame the authorities and the government.
“Even the affidavits of the victims were signed by the NGOs. Things were fabricated this way. Teesta Setalvad’s name is openly known to all. Everyone knows how she has been involved in this,” he remarked.
#WATCH LIVE | HM Amit Shah breaks his silence on what happened during the 2002 Gujarat riots. An interview with ANI Editor Smita Prakash. https://t.co/qkX9eAYeG6
Soon after the arrest of Teesta Setalvad, her supporters began casting aspersions on the integrity of the law enforcement authorities and the Judiciary. Setalvad is not just another activist who made a career out of the deadly riots of 2002.
From the very onset, she enjoyed the patronage of a cabal of activists, journalists and members of the film fraternity. Such has been the influence of Teesta Setalvad that it took decades to finally hold her accountable.
The support from Bollywood
Lyricist Javed Akhtar has been a vocal supporter of Teesta Setalvad. A tweet from 2010 read, “Who has given a bad name to the country, Teesta who is fighting for the victims or those who are responsible for the genocide?”
Screengrab of the tweets by Javed Akhtar
In several other tweets, he was seen batting for the activist and occasionally resorting to whataboutery to establish his ‘secular and neutral’ credentials. Interestingly, Akhtar had served on the Board of Trustee of a controversial NGO named Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) .
As per the website of CJP, Teesta Setalvad is the Secretary of the same organisation. Thus, other than ideological similarities, Javed Akhtar has more reasons to support the activist who is now under the custody of Gujarat ATS.
The lyricist is not the only one from the Hindi film fraternity to support Teesta Setalvad. Singer Vishal Dadlani, an AAP supporter, had also been campaigning at her behest.
In a tweet in 2015, Dadlani had concluded that Teesta was being ‘wilfully harassed’ and urged citizens to stand up for her. In 2017, he was seen promoting her propaganda book ‘Foot Soldier of the Constitution: A Memoir.’
Screengrab of the tweets by Vishal Dadlani
The singer had described her as a ‘demonised activist’ and ‘chronicler of our times.’ Following her arrest, a disillusioned Dadlani drew false equivalences between the cases of Teesta and Sajeev Bhatt with that of Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi to cast aspersions on the integrity of the Judiciary.
Journalists at work
Several journalist rose to prominence by spreading canards about the Gujarat riots. Rajdeep Sardesai had apologised to Teesta Setalvad after Supreme Court had pulled up the then Government of Gujarat over alleged ‘spurious’ cases against Teesta Setalvad.
However, the India Today journalist is yet to apologise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decade-long insinuations about the former’s complicity in the riots.
Screengrab of the tweets by Rajdeep Sardesai
His wife, Sagarika Ghose, too had been upfront about demonising the then Gujarat Chief Minister and siding with Teesta Setalvad.
“When the definitive book is written on Modi, the role of Teesta Setalvad in shaping his post-riot persona simply cannot be ignored,” her tweet from 2012 read, although such fantasies could not reach fruition.
She also claimed that Narendra Modi must thank Teesta for forcing him to ‘rebuild his image’ and become successful.
Screengrab of the tweets by Sagarika Ghose
Sagarika Ghose, who happens to be a journalist, had also remarked, “Kudos to Teesta Setalvad and her fellow campaigners for justice in Gujarat. Vilified, abused, they have pressed on year after year.”
Serial activist supports co-activist in propaganda
Kavita Krishnan, a serial activist, had also expressed her open support for Teesta. She claimed that the Gujarat government protected rioters, who were convicted only because of Teesta’s intervention.
“Judges threatened, Teesta hounded, Gujarat 2002 cover up cops promoted in CBI. Modi invented Vyapam-style cover-up,” the Communist party member alleged.
Screengrab of the tweets by Vishal Dadlani
In another tweet, She claimed, “At Left parties March, we ask why Modi Govt is hounding Teesta, protecting corrupt Vasundhara, Shivraj, Sushma, Pankaja, Raman, Smriti?”
With the combined support of pay-for-hire activists, pretentious journalists and Bollywood cheerleaders, the fake narrative of PM Modi’s involvement in the Gujarat riots was imbibed into the Indian psyche.
Teesta Setalvad taken to Ahmedabad, produced before Magistrate
On Sunday (June 26), ‘activist’ Teesta Setalvad was brought to Ahmedabad via road by Gujarat Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS). According to journalist Ashlin Mathew, the ‘activist’ was first taken to SVP Hospital in Ahmedabad for a Covid-19 test.
She informed that Teesta Setalvad will be presented before a magistrate, following her medical test. Reportedly, the activist had asked the ACP to allow her to present her case before the magistrate.
She dubbed her arrest as a case of ‘kidnapping’ and claimed that she was not served any notice. At the conclusion of her medical test, Testa Setalvad addressed the media and said, “They have done my medical. I have a big bruise on my hand, this is what the ATS did to me. They are taking me to the magistrate’s court.”
A video showing a Hindu college principal being compelled to wear a garland of shoes has provoked fury on social media in Bangladesh. The Muslims put the garland on shoes on around the neck of Principal Swapan Kumar Biswas in the presence of police personnel only because a Hindu student had posted a image of Nupur Sharma on social media. The student has already been arrested for the crime of posting the photograph of the former BJP spokesperson.
The incident took place at Mirzapur United College in Narail’s Sadar Upazila on June 17. According to reports, the incident occurred after a Hindu student named Rahul Dev Roy studying in eleventh class shared a post hailing Nupur Sharma on Facebook along with her photo. Nupur Sharma has been criticized for her allegedly derogatory comments on the Prophet Muhammad. When the Hindu student arrived at the campus, some Muslim students met him and asked him to delete the post. But the Hindu student refused to so. he had written ‘Pranam Nio bas Nupur Sharma, Jai Shri Ram’, and it was deemed insulting to Islam by the Islamists.
After that, the Muslims went to meet principal Swapan Kumar Biswas and demanded to take strong action against the student. Seeing that the situation has become serious, the principal kept the Hindu student in his office and called the police to take appropriate action.
The offending FB post
But this worsened the situation, because the Islamist Students started to spread the rumour that the Hindu principal was protecting the Hindu student despite committee blasphemy. The rumour spread outside the campus, and Islamists and clerics from the area arrived at the college demanding action against both the principal and the students. Angry Muslim residents and students set fire to the principal’s and two other teachers’ motorbikes. Meanwhile the police arrived and the tried to take the student to the police station. But the mob prevented them, and they clashed with the police.
They then put garlands of shoes around the neck of both the student and the teacher. In the video that went viral, locals and students were seen putting the grand of shoes around the principal’s neck, accusing him of insulting Islam, while the student already has such a garland around his neck.
In the video it can be seen that several policemen were present at the scene, but they were mute spectators. They didn’t anything to protect the student and the principal from this Islamist attack. Later, more police came and they tried to extract Rahul from the mob, but were not able to so. Instead, there was a big fight, and several people were injured in it, including Bangla language teacher Shaymal Kumar Ghosh who was seriously injured. Several students, policemen and outsiders were injured in the clash.
The mob also burnt down the two wheelers of Principal Swapan Biswas, and teachers Prashant Roy and Arun Kumar Mandal. This mayhem went on from 10 AM till 4 PM, which increasing number of police could not stop the violence because the number of Islamists also kept increasing. In fact, many people joined the fight without even knowing what was the issue. Police even fired tear gas shells and used lathi charge to disperse the mob.
By evening, senior officials of district administration and police arrived at the college and they were able to pacify the mob. They assured proper investigation ofthe case, and took the two Hindus to the police station. Later the student Rahul was arrested under Digital Safety laws, while principal Biswas was let go.
However, the college principal has been in hiding after that, and not going to the college fearing more attacks by radical Islamists. Both the principal and his family is untraceable after the incident. As a result, he has been removed from the post and Akhtar Hossen Tinku has been appointed as Principal in-charge.
In the meanwhile, two committees have been formed by district magistrate and the police to probe the incident. Rahul Dev Roy has been sent to judicial custody by a court.
The incident has caused an outrage in Bangladeshi social media, with many criticising the police for not protecting the Hindus in the incident. Many people have questioned how a teacher could be beaten in presence of the police. Protesters also organized a march for Monday, June 27 at Shahbagh in Dhaka, claiming that the teacher was humiliated just because he belonged to a religious minority group.
Robin Ahsan, one of the organizers of the rally said, “The teacher had no role in the incident. Police took him out without protecting him. What do those who run the administration want? This happened in front of hundreds of police personnel. This is a signal for Bangladesh. Has the administration fallen into the hands of fundamentalists?”
Theatre artist Zulfikar Chanchal wrote on Facebook, “What’s the allegation? He has insulted religion. How? A group of angry students went to him and informed him that a Hindu student had insulted religion with a post supporting India’s Nupur Sharma. Swapan Kumar Biswas immediately called the police. He made the phone call – this was seen as his crime; making this call was seen as an insult to religion.”
Another Facebook user Sudipto Sujoy shared poet Kazi Quader Nawaz’s poem “Teacher’s Dignity”. He wrote, “Honourable Prime Minister, you are doing a great job in infrastructure development. But doesn’t the human brain need a little development? My country was not this bigoted, why is it so now? Why do people try to take the law into their own hands despite having a court, while the police become the spectator? Can a civilized country run this way?” Since the event, the principal has kept a safe distance from everyone. He is not staying at home out of fear.
Narail Sadar Police Station chief Mohammad Shawkat Kabir said while speaking to bdnews24.com, “The college principal Swapan Kumar Biswas didn’t insult any religion. He wasn’t detained. We saved him that day. No question of filing a case against him arises as he didn’t commit any crime.” He stated he was unaware of the incident in which a garland of shoes was placed around the teacher’s neck. Shawkat further said Swapan did not seek police protection for himself. He said, “We’ll take security measures if he wants.” The Hindu student was detained and charged under the Digital Security Act.
Conspiracy to remove Principal
Interestingly, according to a report, the incident was a ploy to grab the position of Principal from Biswas, and that is why he was attacked despite having no role in the Facebook post. Reportedly, the mob focused more on the Principal instead of the student who had praised Nupur Sharma, because a conspiracy was going on to remove him from the post. Therefore when the Hindu student made the post, the opportunity was taken to target the principal.
Another Shiv Sena leader and Uddhav Thackeray aide Uday Samant has left for Guwahati from Surat, to join the rebel MLAs camp led by Eknath Shinde. Samant, who is an MLA from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra’s Konkan region, has left for Guwahati from Surat on Sunday. He is also a minister in the MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray. He has become the 9th minister to join Eknath Shinde led rebel group.
As reported by ANI, Samant was seen taking a private Jet from the Surat airport to join the rebel camp of Eknath Shinde-led MLAs stationed at Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati Assam. Uday Samant is serving as the Cabinet Minister for the Ministry of Higher Education in the incumbent Maha Vikas Aghadi Government. He is the eight Maharashtra minister to join the rebel camp.
The details of Uday Samant’s flight from Surat, hired from a private aviation agency have come forward, which took off for Guwahati at 2:30 PM on Sunday.
At the Moment, Eknath Shinde’s rebellion camp in Guwahati has 38 MLAs from the Shiv Sena, 2 Prahar Jan Shakti Party MLAs and 7 independents with a total tally of 47. With now Uday Samant joining the camp, the Shiv Sena number has gone up to 39.
On the other hand, the Shiv Sena is left with only two MLAs as ministers in the MVA government. Aditya Thackeray and Shankarrao Gadakh are the only two ministers in the government who are Shiv Sena MLAs. The party has two more ministers but they MLCs. They are Anil Parab and Subhash Desai, who are Legislative Council members. CM Uddhav Thackeray is also an MLC.
Apart from Aditya Thackeray, Shankarrao Gadakh is the second Sena MLA in the MVA cabinet. He had contested the elections originally as an Independent MLA, but later merged his party Krantikari Shetkari Paksha into Shiv Sena in August 2020.
The ministers in the rebel group are Eknath Shinde, Dadaji Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Sandeepan Bhumre, Shambhuraj Desai, Abdul Sattar, Rajendra Patil Yedravkar, Bachhu Kadu and Uday Samant.
A case of love jihad has come to light in Bilkha village of Junagadh which has led to tension in the area. A 21-year-old Hindu girl from Bilkha village was lured and taken away by a mid-aged Muslim man Sharafat Qadri who had fled away with another Hindu girl 10 years ago who now has a 6-year-old child from Sharafat Qadri.
According to the information received, the accused Sharafat Hasan Qadri had eloped with a Hindu girl 10 years ago and married her. He again lured and took away a 21-year-old Hindu girl on 22nd June 2022. Sharafat Qadri’s age is almost double than that of the girl. As the news spread, the villagers were enraged. Local Hindu organizations met the SP and gave a memorandum to him. The villagers also observed a tight shutdown to mark the protest against this incident.
In an exclusive conversation with OpIndia, a senior member of the Hindu Jagran Manch of Junagadh district said, “This Sarafat Hasan Qadri is a habitual criminal. He has a history of driving away Hindu girls. Earlier also, we noticed that he had eloped with a Hindu girl whom he had forcibly married. Now he has again taken away another Hindu girl.”
He further said, “We took the entire Hindu community of the village with us to the SP (Superintendent of Police) office and formally informed him of the incident on behalf of Hindu organizations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Bajrang Dal. But so far, the police have not arrested the accused.”
The Hindu Organizations gave a memorandum to the SP.
He added, “This same man Sharafat Qadri had eloped with a Hindu girl 10 years ago. According to our information, he forcefully converted that girl to his religion and married her. We are confirming this right now. We will also lodge a complaint against him in this case as well.”
The members of the Hindu Jagran Manch also said that if the accused is not arrested soon and the Hindu girl does not return safely to her house, all Hindu organizations will come together and call for a ‘Junagadh bandh’ and launch a fierce agitation. In an exclusive conversation with OpIndia, the victim’s father said that he wanted his daughter back at any cost.
It is notable that this is not the first case of love jihad in this area. Similar cases have taken place in the Saurashtra region in the past. This time, the Hindu organizations have warned that there will be aggressive agitations if the girl does not safely return to her home.
