The Sokoto administration in Nigeria has imposed a curfew in the northwestern Nigerian city after hundreds of protesters came out on the streets demanding the release of culprits who had been arrested after a Christian student named Deborah Samuel was brutally murdered over allegations of ‘blasphemy’.
On May 14, hundreds of people came out to protest against the arrest of two students in the case where Samuel was murdered over alleged blasphemy. Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, said, “Everyone should, please, in the interest of peace, go back home.” Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. It is roughly divided between Christians and Muslims. Religious tensions and communal riots are common, especially in the Muslim-majority north.
Reportedly, they also surrounded the palace of Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and the highest spiritual figure among Muslims in Nigeria, as he had condemned the murder of the young girl and demanded action against the culprits. Basically, the protestors were in support of the murder and were demanding that the local authorities release the murder accused.
The protesters were asked by the security personnel to stay away from the palace, which further irked the mob. The Police had to use teargas shells against the mob. They also fired warning shots in the air to disperse the crowd.
The mob then attacked the shops belonging to Christians in downtown and looted them, as per some reports. They were removed by the security forces.
In a statement, Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria, strongly condemned the murder of the woman. He said, “I strongly condemn the resort to self-help by the mob in Sokoto, resulting in violence, destruction and in the very tragic killing of Deborah Samuel, following an allegation that she had blasphemed Muhammad (SAW), the Prophet of Islam.”
He added, “The news of the killing of the young lady by fellow students is a matter of great concern, and there must be an impartial and extensive probe into all that happened before and during the incident. No person has the right to take the law into his or her own hands in this country. Violence has and never will solve any problem.”
The murder of Deborah Samuel
On May 12, a Christian student named Deborah Samuel was beaten to death by an Islamic mob over an allegation of blasphemy in Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto. Reports suggested that the violent mob, comprised of Deborah’s fellow students in a WhatsApp group, was upset over some of her comments and had declared her a ‘blasphemer’. They stoned Samuel to death and burnt her body while chanting Allah-Hu-Akbar.
Some reports mention that Deborah had only objected to religious content being shared in a college WhatsApp group. There were attempts to rescue the victim, but they did not succeed because of the size of the mob.
Following the incident, Police arrested two men and initiated a search for other suspects based on the footage circulating on social media. After the protesters took to the streets demanding their release, an additional police force was deployed in the city.
The Aam Aadmi Party had launched the Parivartan Yatra on 15th May 2022 to reach out to the voters of 182 constituencies ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat. However, the rallies during the Parivartan Yatra looked empty and the meeting places were also deserted. Most of the vehicles and people spotted in the rallies were from Punjab. People shared various videos on social media saying that this Parivartan Yatra was a flop.
The Aam Aadmi Party has gone into action mode over the Gujarat assembly elections. Parivartan Yatra was organized to contact the voters in all the 182 legislative assemblies of the state. In this effort, on the 15th of May, Gopal Italia started the Parivartan Yatra from Somnath Temple, and Isudan Gadhvi started the Parivartan Yatra from Dwarka. In addition, the yatra was also started in 6 different places in the state.
But the Parivartan Yatra of the Aam Aadmi Party did not get much response from the Gujarati people. As the leaders of Aam Aadmi Party already knew this, they had already called a large number of cars and people from Punjab for the yatra. At some venues of the Yatra, there were very few people while at some other venues the Parivartan Yatra witnessed a deserted rally place. AAP leader and former journalist Isudan Gadhvi was tired of showing his hand at the rally but no one seemed to respond to him in front.
As AAP’s Parivartan Yatra proved to be just a fiasco, people posted on social media to show the mirror to the Aam Aadmi Party and AAP leaders. There were plenty of reactions on Twitter on the subject.
Netizens react to AAP’s Parivartan Yatra
Twitter was flooded with reactions to this effect after the Aam Aadmi Party’s Parivartan Yatra proved to be a fiasco. Vijay Patel (@vijaygajera), a well-known investigating journalist from Gujarat, shared a series of videos and photos of his visit to Porbandar, in which vehicles and people from outside Gujarat called for the yatra were seen and the venues were empty. Their photos and videos went viral on Twitter.
AAP Gujarat is not getting support from Gujarati people so AAP has arranged people from Punjab in their rallies!
Even the main vehicle for the AAP CM candidate has been arranged from Punjab! pic.twitter.com/SqmOKOPGBh
In the tweet along with a photo of the Parivartan Yatra, he wrote, “AAP Gujarat is not getting support from Gujarati people so AAP has arranged people from Punjab in their rallies! Even the main vehicle for the AAP CM candidate has been arranged from Punjab!” Here he also allegedly called Isudan Gadhvi the AAP’s Gujarat chief ministerial candidate. Also, many cars with Punjab passing can also be seen in the photos attached to the tweet.
This was the AAP Rally in Gujarat where the candidate is on a truck waving away to the trees on the roadside, no crowds on the streets??? pic.twitter.com/oQNpkEFRBh
Another Twitter user @SortedEagle shared another video of Isudan Gadhvi’s Parivartan Yatra and mocked it and wrote, “This was the AAP Rally in Gujarat where the candidate is on a truck waving away to the trees on the roadside, no crowds on the streets.” In the video, Isudan Gadhvi is seen waving his hand up, but there is no crowd or people on the opposite side.
આના કરતા તો વધારે ભીડ અમારે ત્યાં સોસાયટીના ગણેશ વિસર્જનમાં હોય છે. ? https://t.co/YlPzCGE5sh
Commenting on the same video, another Twitter user @himani411 wrote, “We have a bigger crowd than this at the Ganesh Visarjan program of the society.”
પરિવર્તન યાત્રાની ફૂટેજ છે. સાચું કહેજો કે જનતાનો રિસ્પોન્સ કેટલો છે? આપ નેતા બિચારા હાથ હલાવી-હલાવી થાકી ગયા, પણ જનતાને AAP માં કોઈ રસ નથી. આપ નેતાની બોડીલેંગ્વેજ નોટિસ કરો કે અંદરખાને તે પણ નિરાશ છે,પણ કહે કોને. AAP મોટી-મોટી ફેંકવામાં નંબર વન છે,મરી જશે પણ સત્ય સ્વીકાર નહિ કરે pic.twitter.com/S4tRpq5L14
— Dixita Viral Joshi (@iamdixitajoshi) May 17, 2022
Twitter user @iamdixitajoshi also shared the video and took a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party and wrote, “There is footage of the Parivartan Yatra. Tell me the truth, what is the response of the public? The poor AAP leader is tired of waving hands but the public is not interested in AAP. Notice the AAP leader’s body language which tells that he is also disappointed inside, but whom to tell? AAP is number one in throwing big fat lies, will die but won’t accept the truth.”
Massive crowd in support of AAP in Gujarat!
One of the CM candidate Isudan Gadhvi welcomed by a huge crowd. This could be a Guinness book world record! pic.twitter.com/YHFoRoQxOr
@vijaygajera shared another video in which Isudan Gadhvi is seen walking towards the auditorium to hold a meeting after the rally but no one came there to listen to him. Only a handful of Aam Aadmi Party people are seen there. Vijay Patel wrote in a tweet, “Massive crowd in support of AAP in Gujarat! One of the CM candidate Isudan Gadhvi welcomed by a huge crowd. This could be a Guinness book world record!”
ઇસુદાન નેય ખબર છે ગુજરાતમાં 24 કલાક વીજળી હોય છે!?
@vijaygajera shared another video in which Isudan Gadhvi is already sitting down as a precaution as an electric wire comes in the middle of the rally route. Commenting on this Patel wrote, “Even AAP politicians of Gujarat know that Gujarat has 24×7 electricity!”
This is hilarious ? AAP Gujarat CM candidate(unofficially) Is claiming that the people of Punjab have the same power as CM now! They can directly suspend any officers!
Sharing a video of Aam Aadmi Party’s Isudan Gadhvi’s speech at the meeting, Patel wrote, “This is hilarious. AAP Gujarat CM candidate(unofficially) Is claiming that the people of Punjab have the same power as CM now! They can directly suspend any officers! He is giving a tough fight to Bhagwant Mann! Obviously in cracking jokes.”
Thus this entire Parivartan Yatra is proving to be a lesson for the Aam Aadmi Party that they have not yet been accepted so much by Gujaratis. And this is known internally by the Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders, which is why they felt it necessary to call men from Punjab.
‘It was a Mistake’ – is what all it took for Journalist Saba Naqvi to get away with her casual exercise in Hinduphobia. Naqvi had shared an obnoxious meme stating it as a WhatsApp forward on Twitter. When the news of the Shivling being found in the disputed Gyanwapi structure came, India’s left intelligentsia got themselves an opportunity to ridicule the ‘false gods’ of the heathen Hindus.
For them, the only reality is the Mosque. That is the only truth they subscribe to. The only principle Islamic propagandists like Saba Naqvi adhere to is defending their religion and ideology, at all costs. And if reality serves a different picture, an engagement with the fact without ridicule, mockery, and denial doesn’t go far away. Earlier, Naqvi had tweeted an image comparing a Shivlinga with that of a reactor at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai.
Saba Naqvi, Islamists mock Hindu Gods after the discovery of Shivling at Gyanvapi structure
Mocking the development at the Gyanwapi site, Naqvi along with her ideological ilk mocked the presence of the Shiva icon at the disputed site. It is noteworthy, that the Shivlinga was found inside the Wuzukhana section of the present-day mosque, where worshippers wash their hands and feet with water before offering the prayers. The Kashi Vishvanath, who is one of the utmost sacred Gods in the Hindu cosmos, was left to be the victim of such unholy treatment from Islamist occupation over the centuries.
Screengrab of the deleted tweet Saba Naqvi
Saba Naqvi, with her tweet, did a no different thing. Her ridicule of Shiva was a testament to her entitlement as a practising Abrahamic, to whom the Hindu gods and their idols are false. Naqvi washed her hands of the Shiva, the way her (male) Islamic compatriots would do at the Wuzukhana – given that she would not be allowed to do so physically. However, when questions were raised on how one easily gets away after offending the belief of Hindus, she deleted the tweet with an excuse that it was a WhatsApp forward.
Screengrab of the ‘apology’ by Saba Naqvi on Twitter
While Naqvi was surely not the only one to have suffered a meltdown, the Islamists, ‘secular’ intellectuals and journalists from the Left indulged in making casual Hinduphobic remarks and mocking Hindu deities in an attempt to discredit the recent discovery of the Shivling. While the other habitual offenders are yet to chart an apology, it was for Saba Naqvi to sit on a proverbial aisle and simply ascertain her mocking tweet as a mistake. The making up came as a given because she knew she could get away with it.
The willful ignorance, obfuscation of history and mockery of religion came bundled in the Hinduphobia, although the collective ‘liberal’ morality still continues to approve of it. The dangerous precedent of gaslighting especially when it came to coming to terms with the atrocities by Islamic invaders in India, was already laid down in the annals of history. The destruction of temples was justified by the middle-eastern coloniality as idolatry was haram in Islam. The present-day bigotry is hence, only an offshoot of what rulers from Qutb al-Din Aibak to Ahmed Shah Abdali did in the history with the idols of Hindu Gods and their hallowed abodes.
How Kishan Bharwad from Gujarat was shot dead by Islamists for sharing a message on Prophet Muhammad
Now if in this case, the tables are to be turned, and if the Islamic almighty has to be questioned with the slightest of rhetoric, it would account for blasphemy. The political conscience in India has half-forgotten the murder of 27-year-old Kishan Bharwad from Gujarat, yet another victim of gory Islamic violence. Bharwad was shot dead by radicals inspired by Islamic clerics who had instigated them to carry out the ‘Jihad’ of killing a man who had ‘blasphemed’.
Kishan had shared a video which showed an image of Prophet Muhammad. Muslims firmly believe that the visual depiction of Muhammad is forbidden. Islamists believe that such a visual depiction is blasphemy and an ‘insult’ to Muhammad, and the beheading of the one who blasphemed is the appropriate punishment. On 25th January 2022, days after he shared a video that depicted Prophet Muhammad, Dhandhuka youth Kishan Bharwad was shot dead by two bike-borne Islamists.
A similar fate befell the Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari, who was assassinated at his Lucknow office by Ashfaq and Moinuddin from Surat in 2019. Tiwari was murdered in broad daylight for his remarks on Prophet Muhammad, made more than 4 years ago and for which he was imprisoned for several months. Yet, the Islamists deemed that the criminal justice system of the country that had incarcerated Tiwari for months for his remarks against Prophet Muhammad was insufficient and the only way the affront could be avenged is by killing the said person.
Tiwari was killed for his remarks on Prophet Muhammad and Kishan was shot dead over a video message, but none of the prominent Muslim leaders condemned the violence or expressed solidarity with the family of the decedents who were targeted and killed over ‘blasphemy’. More recently, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the chief abbot of the Dasna Devi Temple, attracted clarion calls of ‘Sar Tan see Juda’ for exhorting people to express their views on Prophet Muhammad just like the way they do for any other Hindu God. The Islamists, including Delhi AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, considered it an insult to Prophet Muhammad, prompting calls for the beheading of the Hindu priest.
For Islamists, having an open discussion of the teachings of Islam or the characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad is a strict no-go zone. Islamists and their allies in the form of left-leaning liberals have upheld Islam, and public scrutiny of the Islamic religious texts has attracted both—intellectual opposition as well as crude one—in the form of violence and intimidation.
Anyone who speaks against Islam or broaches the topic of Prophet Muhammad has to face severe backlash from the liberal intelligentsia, who are quick to ostracise such individuals and brand them as Islamophobic bigots. Their counterparts, in the form of Islamists, then dish out threats against them and some of them even go to the extent of killing the “offenders” so as to discourage others and instil fear among them to speak on Islam.
Insulting Hindus and Hindu Gods is par for the course while ridiculing other faiths is a forbidden act
While it is a strict no-go zone for people to mock Islam or scrutinise its religious texts and theological commandments, it is par for the course for them to mock, denigrate and vilify Hinduism and Hindu Gods. For a long time now, mocking Hindus, Hindu Gods and Goddesses and Hinduism has become a hallmark of the Indian Left. They leave no stone unturned to subject Hindus and their faith to contempt, all under the tenuous pretext of “Freedom of Expression”. This freedom, predictably, does not extend to criticising other faiths.
From raising the false bogey of “saffron terror” to concocting the imaginary construct of “rising intolerance”, liberals felt no qualms in painting Hindus as aggressors so that their objective of toppling the Modi government could be fulfilled. The hatred for Hindus has inevitably extended to their beliefs, Gods and traditions, underscoring the deep-seated and institutionalised antagonism harboured by the Left for the country’s majority. Those who blatantly indulge in Hinduphobic activities are not only celebrated but are also professionally rewarded, with many of them receiving affirmation from liberal ideologues and employment at sundry leftist organisations and online rags.
Today, many including Naqvi get validation from their ecosystem for mocking the Hindus. However, Kishan was no liberal icon. He was not the one to whom the tenets of Free Speech would apply. Abiding by the Jihadist cry ‘Gustakh-E-Rasul ki Ek hi saja, Sar tan se juda’, the murder of Kishan Bharwad was executed brutally, with an alleged link from Pakistan’s Tahrik-E-Labbaik.
The offender of one religion meets with a tragic end, while the other gets to walk the carpet, basking in the liberal sunlight. To expect that principles should be applied equally would be asking too much, especially when doorkeepers of the erstwhile establishment would stop not to insult the indigenous values. Unfortunately in India, the burden of upholding secularism rests solely on Hindus, who are expected to put up with their places of worship being defiled, desecrated and illegally occupied by adherents of other faiths, while others still continue to remain “secular” despite hurling insults, throwing barbs at Hindus and mocking their Gods.
An unverified video of a group of school girls attacking each other, reportedly in front of the prestigious Bishop Cotton Girls’ school in Bengaluru has gone viral on social media.
In the video, the schoolgirls were seen in uniform indulging in a dirty street fight with their schoolmates near Vittal Mallya road on Tuesday. The reason for such a brawl is yet to be known. However, screenshots from social media allege that the cause behind the incident was a fight between two girls over one of their boyfriends and a fake date.
The young girls can be seen slapping each other and pulling each other’s hair. One girl can be seen taking out a baseball bat to beat others. While a number of boys and some women try to pry them apart, two girls drag each other down a staircase. With kicks, punches and plenty of hairpulling around, some people watch helplessly as the schoolgirls indulge in what seemed like a gang war between two school groups.
— Harsha H Hanumegowda ™ (@Harsha_Reports) May 18, 2022
The fight continued for some time, as young school girls from Bishop Cotton Girls’ school could be heard shouting and shrieking. The bystanders, including some schoolboys, tried to stop the girls from fighting. However, the girls continued to hit each other.
Another video shows a girl bleeding from her nose after being pushed towards the barricades.
— Harsha H Hanumegowda ™ (@Harsha_Reports) May 18, 2022
According to the reports, the school authorities did not intervene to stop the street fight. The Bishop Cotton Girls’ school has also not issued any statement so far. The videos are doing rounds on social media and are becoming meme material.
On Thursday, various farmer unions from the state of Punjab camped up at the Chandigarh-Mohali border to stage protest against the Aam Aadmi Party led Punjab state government. They carried ration, beds, fans, utensils, and cooking gas cylinders and stationed at the border to press the AAP government to fulfill their demands.
According to the reports, the farmers belonging to various farmer unions are demanding increased bonus on wheat and permit to paddy sowing schedule from June 10. Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal warned on May 18 that if all the grievances of the farmers are not redressed, they will break the barricades and move towards Chandigarh. “It is the start of our struggle in Punjab and it will continue till our demands are met. Only 25 per cent of farmers have come here so far. More will come on Wednesday. It is a do or die battle,” the leader was quoted.
Punjab | Morning visuals from Chandigarh-Mohali border where farmers are sitting on a protest against the state government over various demands. They were stopped by the state police from entering Chandigarh, yesterday, May 17 pic.twitter.com/fUnr0bwz4Z
The leader further said that the protestors had recieved call from the Chandigarh DGP that a meeting with CM Mann had been fixed on Wednesday at 11 am. But he called again to inform that CM Mann had gone to Delhi and that the chief secretary was available for the meeting. The protesting farmers were not hopeful of getting their issues redressed by meeting a government official. This led to the protests at Chandigarh-Mohali border.
The protesters gathered on May 17 and marched from Gurdwara Amb Sahib towards the border. They broke the first layer of barricades set up at YPS Chowk and moved towards the other barriers put up by the Mohali Police near the Chandigarh-Mohali border. They were stopped by the police on May 17 near the Gita Bhawan where leader Dallewal urged the protesters not to break the second layer of barricades and instead begin the protest there peacefully.
Punjab | Farmers sit on a protest at the Chandigarh-Mohali border against the state government after police stopped them from entering Chandigarh
“Our protest will continue until our 11 demands are fulfilled,” says a farmer pic.twitter.com/AIWGrrKvGJ
The farmers are protesting against the state Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over the nonfulfillment of their demands. Apart from bonus on wheat and preponement of the paddy sowing schedule from from June 18 to June 10, the farmer’s demand list includes guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 23 crops including maize and green grams, uninterrupted power supply, and removal of the ban on the export of wheat.
As reported earlier, the farmer’s unions had held talks with CM Mann about their demands but there was no resolution. Following the failure of the talks, the farmers decided to take out the protest march. Reportedly, CM Mann left for Delhi to meet AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal leaving farmers in the state unattended. Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira said, “The way Bhagwant Mann left the farmers in lurch and unattended by leaving for Delhi to meet Arvind Kejriwal it shows how much concern he has for the farmers of Punjab!
However, this is not the first time that the farmers from Punjab are protesting against the government for pressing their demands. Earlier, the farmers had protested against the Central government who had passed the three farm acts in September 2020. The AAP government had also supported the farmers and had urged the centre to immediately resume talks with farmers and accede to their demands. “Aam Aadmi Party extends support to call given by Samyukt Kisan Morcha to observe a countrywide protest on 26 May marking the completion of 6 months of their Andolan. We urge the centre to immediately resume talks with farmers and accede to their demands. AAP stands firmly with the farmers,” AAP’s Raghav Chadha had tweeted.
Khaira slammed the AAP for leaving the farmers unattended at the Chandigarh-Mohali border and accused that all the AAP’s support for farmers’ agitation in Delhi was politically motivated and only for political gains.
The way @BhagwantMann left the farmers in lurch and unattended by leaving for Delhi to meet @ArvindKejriwal it shows how much concern he has for the farmers of Punjab! It means all the Aap support to farmers agitation in Delhi was politically motivated and for political gains!
— Sukhpal Singh Khaira (@SukhpalKhaira) May 17, 2022
At present, heavy police force has been deployed at the border who is trying to take the control of the situation. While the aggressive farmers carrying ration, beds, fans, utensils, and cooking gas cylinders have decided to protest for long, AAP’s Punjab unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang has stated that the government is committed to the welfare of the farmers and it will address farmer’s genuine demands.
Former Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Regional Director Dharamveer Sharma has said that Qutub Minar was actually Surya Stambh. He claimed it was not built by the Mughals but by Emperor Vikramaditya. He further said that the structure was not built in parts as the historians suggest.
Sharma said the tower was an observatory to count constellations. There are 27 binocular locations in the Minaret to calculate 27 constellations. He further claimed that on the third floor of the Minaret, there is a mention of Surya Stambh.
Dharamveer Sharma is one of the most respected archaeologists in India. He has served as Superintending Archaeologist in the Delhi division of ASI three times. As per a report in Hindi daily Jagran, he had worked extensively on the conservation of Qutub Minar and went inside the Minaret multiple times. He said he had seen Devanagari writing in the inner parts of the minaret. Every year on June 21, he takes astronomers to the complex.
Sharma said that based on the archaeological evidence, Qutub Minar used to be a large observatory, and it was built by Emporer Vikramaditya. He presented a 20-point fact sheet to prove his theory that Qutub Minar was an observatory.
The construction of the Minar is based on astronomy.
The Minar was built above the Tropic of Cancer.
It was constructed to calculate the activity of the sun.
At 12 PM on June 21, the shadow of the tower did not fall on the ground.
It is five degrees north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Emperor Vikramaditya built it on Vishnupad hill and it was named Surya Stambh.
There were bells, climbers etc., made on the Minaret that point toward Hindu architecture.
Not even a single name of a Muslim appeared on the Minaret constructed it.
It was built under the leadership of astronomer Varaha Mihir.
There is no roof on the observatory.
The main gate of the observatory opens in the direction of the pole star.
Till the year 968, there used to be a stone in front of the main gate of Qutub Minar. It was cut in a U shape. If someone placed his/her chin on the stone, he/she would see a pole star in front.
There are 27 niches in the Minaret. In those niches, words like Pal and Ghati are written in Devanagari.
The niches have holes that would fit binoculars. Every niche can accommodate three people.
Several inscriptions inside Minaret are written in Devanagari, dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.
Leaving the main gate, all the gates of the Minaret open towards the east, making it easier to observe the rising sun.
If someone shouts inside Minaret, the sound will not go out. Thus, it cannot be used to give Azaan.
The Minaret was built in one go, contrary to the Historians’ claims that it was built by several Mughal rulers.
Farsi can be found only on the outer side of the Minaret.
There used to be 27 constellation temples around the Minaret. They were demolished by the Mughals.
NMA asked to move Hindu idols from the Qutub Minar complex
Recently, it was reported that the National Monuments Authority (NMA) has asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to retrieve two Ganesha idols placed in the Qutub Minar complex. The NMA chairman wrote to ASI late last month, requesting that the two Ganesh idols called, Ulta Ganesh and Ganesha in cage, be removed from the Qutub Minar complex and relocated to the National Museum. He believed that the “placement of the idols is disrespectful,” and that it should be changed.
Court rejected a plea to restore temples destroyed to build Qutub Minar Complex
In December 2021, a Delhi Court had rejected a plea to restore 27 temples destroyed to build Qutub Minar Complex. The court accepted that the temples were destroyed, however, the court had refused to admit the petition because it was scared of “disturbing peace”.
On Wednesday, the Sirmaur Police in Himachal Pradesh arrested BJP Minority Morcha Paonta President Naseem Naaz and Armaan Malik (Mehboob) for using abusive language toward Lord Shiva and demeaning Hindu religion on the social media. Naaz and Malik had compared the Shivling to a toilet seat and remarked that the Hindu devotees were unnecessarily happy over the discovery of the Shivling in the disputed structure of the Gyanvapi Masjid in Uttar Pradesh.
The incident pertains to Paonta Sahib located in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, where radical Muslims made derogatory remarks on social media about Shivling, leading to tension in the area. According to the reports, two accused, Paonta Minority Morcha President Naseem and Salon shop owner Armaan Malik were arrested by the police for making controversial statements regarding Shivling in Majra under Paonta Sahib police station. Angered by this, Muslim fundamentalists surrounded the police station and attacked it with swords and sticks. Meanwhile, as Hindus came to know about the incident, hundreds of them reached the police station to confront the lumpen Muslim radicals.
Minority Morcha leader Naseem Naaz had claimed in a Facebook post that there is no Shivling in Gyanvapi, saying that no proof of the existence of the Shivling has been found. He had said the claim of Shivling is just propaganda spread by the media. He added that there is a stone in his toilet too, and if searched, some important clue will be found.
“My toilet seat is also made up of stone. Please check that too. You never know that could also mosque, be a Shivling”, Malik addressed the Hindu devotees while commenting on the Facebook post posted by Naseem Naaz that made similar derogatory remarks. Communal tensions escalated in the area as Islamist people gathered around the Paonta Sahib Police station in Sirmaur and raised anti-India and anti-Hindu slogans. They carried swords and lathis and protested against the arrest of Malik and Naaz.
Image source- Social media
According to the reports, several Hindu people then gathered in the areas and demanded discontinuance of the anti-India and anti-Hindu slogans being raised by the Islamists. The members of the Hindu organisation, Sanjay Singhal, Ajay Sansarwal, Vivek Saini, Mayank Mahawar, Hemant Sharma, Sachin Oberoi, Vaibhav Gupta and Garvit Gupta registered an official case against the duo for demeaning Lord Shiva and the Hindu religion. “The comment has hurt the sentiments of the Hindu people. Action must be taken against such people. The Shivaling, the form of the adorable deity Shiva, has been attached to a toilet in a very messy and indecent manner”, the members noted.
“Such remarks have been made deliberately to incite riots and social discord. Today on one hand, while the whole of the world is paying respect to Hindu deities, there are some anti-social elements who are making such remarks to incite riots. If action is not taken on this then Hindu society will be compelled to take to the streets”, they warned.
Copy of official complaint (Image source- Dainik Bhasker)
Nazeem Naaz suspended from BJP
The Sirmaur Police deployed a heavy police force in the area on May 17 and tried to pacify the situation, but to no avail. The brawl continued for more than three hours from around 9 pm till Thursday midnight. The situation was mollified only after the Deputy Commissioner, the Deputy Superintendent of Police and BJP MLA Dr Rajiv Bindal arrived at the spot.
Reports further mention that while Malik has been arrested, Paonta Sahib BJP President Arvind Gupta temporarily has suspended BJP Minority Morcha Paonta President Naseem Naaz. His BJP membership has also been suspended amid the police investigation in the case that is underway.
Image Source- Dainik Bhasker
Shivling found in disputed Gyanvapi structure-
Recently, a court-monitored survey of the disputed Gyanvapi structure found a Shivling inside the Wuzukhana of the mosque. The Wuzukhana is a place inside a mosque where Muslims wash their hands and feet before offering namaz. The apex court on Tuesday issued orders to protect the site where the Shivling was discovered from the disputed structure. The order also denies entry of Muslims in Wuzukhana, disallowing washing of their feet and spitting on the Shivling. Supreme Court however also maintains that the order in any manner should not restrict or impede the right of the Muslims to use the Mosque for religious purposes.
A day after some far-left organisations had protested against the inclusion of a speech by Hindutva ideologue and writer Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in a revised Kannada textbook for students of class X, the Karnataka government has defended its stand saying there was no question of altering it.
In a recent decision, the Karnataka government had decided to include Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar’s speech as a lesson for the Class 10 Kannada medium students as part of the curriculum for this academic year (2022-23).
As per the latest changes adopted by the Textbook Revision Committee, the Class 10 students who have opted for Kannada as their first language will study several new chapters, including lessons – ‘Nijavada Adarsha Purusha Yaraagabeku’ (Who is a good male role model), ‘Swadeshi Sutrada Sarala Habba’ by Shivananda Kalave and ‘Naanu Prasa Bitta Kathe’ by M Govinda Pai, ‘Sukanashana Upadesha’ by Vedic scholar the late Bannanje Govindacharya, and ‘Shrestha Bharatiya Chintanegalu’ by Shatavadhani R. Ganesh.
The Karnataka Textbook Revision Committee has also dropped chapters of controversial figures such as – ‘Mruga Mattu Sundari’ a piece by journalist P Lankesh and ‘Bhagat Singh’ by left-activist G Ramakrishna, ‘Yuddha’ by Kasargod’s Sara Aboobacker, ‘Vyaghra Kathe’ by AN Murthy Rao and ‘Sukumara Swamy Kathe’ by Shivakotyacharya from the detailed and non-detailed Kannada textbooks.
Following the decision by the Karnataka government to revise textbooks, the far-left groups have attacked the government claiming that the BJP-led government was attempting to ‘saffronise’ the education. Far-left student organisation All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) had claimed that the Karnataka government had omitted lessons of Bhagat Singh, while a speech made by the founder of the RSS, allegedly spread communal hatred, was added.
“Already, people across the State had raised questions about the committee set up for textbook revision by the BJP government and its chairman. It is now proven that the government constituted this committee to include the BJP agenda in education. AIDSO calls upon people and students to resist the government’s propaganda of narrow-minded ideology. We demand that the texts removed be immediately added,” the far-left organisation claimed.
Karnataka government defends revision, says Bhagat Singh is not removed from textbooks
However, the Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh has defended the inclusion of a speech by RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in the Kannada language textbook for Class X. The minister categorically stated that the focus of the government is on promoting the RSS ideology from which students can derive inspiration on patriotism and nationalism. He said those who have been criticising our move should go through the content first and then come for a debate.
“Some people oppose it as they wish to insert their own ideology into textbooks. There is no question of removing Hedgewar’s speech from the textbook. The book has already gone for print,” he said, stressing that the changes in textbook content are an evolving process.
Karnataka | Hedgewar’s speech is about who to idealise. It doesn’t say anything about RSS or his own life. No one read the speech.People protesting to protest.Only opposing because Hedgewar said this:BC Nagesh, Edu min on adding RSS founder-Hedgewar’s speech as lesson in textbook pic.twitter.com/8ISKDBhgAG
He added that young minds must embrace an inspirational ideology instead of merely taking individuals as their role models.
“Innumerable leaders have shaped their lives by following the RSS founder’s ideology, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Experts do suggest changes from time to time which have to be incorporated. As per Christian history, the Earth was flat. Should we continue that,” asked BC Nagesh, as he defended the inclusion of Hedgewar’s speech by the Textbook Revision Committee.
The minister also denied that the content on Bhagat Singh was removed from textbooks and termed media reports false.
Meanwhile, Rohit Chakrateertha, the chairman of the Textbook Revision Committee, said there was no pressure from any political party or organisation, and the revision does not amount to imposing any organisation’s ideology on students.
“We have chosen Hedgewar as a writer and not on the basis of his ideology or organisation,” Chakrateertha said.
Earlier, the Textbook Review Committee set up by the Karnataka government had also recommended toning down the “glorified content” on Islamic tyrant Tipu Sultan in the syllabus. The changes in the syllabus were recommended by the textbooks review committee that will be incorporated for the 2022-23 academic year.
Burqa-clad terrorists in north Kashmir’s Baramulla region strolled up to a newly opened wine shop in the region and hurled a grenade inside through the porthole window, sparking an explosion that killed one employee and injured three others, news reports said.
Terrorists lobbed hand grenade inside a newly opened wine shop in Baramulla. O4 employees got injured. One among them succumbed to his injuries. All are from Jammu division. Area cordoned and search started to nab culprits.@JmuKmrPolice@BaramullaPolice
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) May 17, 2022
According to the police, at 8 PM, two terrorists on a bike stopped near the store in the Dewan Bagh area, and the one riding a pillion and wearing a burqa dropped the grenade. According to the authorities, the pair then departed the scene after the attack. Four store employees from Jammu were injured by splinters and were taken to the hospital, where Ranjit Singh (52) of Bakra in Rajouri died. Govardhan Singh, Ravi Kumar, and Govind Singh are the three injured.
The police said, “Terrorists lobbed hand grenades inside a newly opened wine shop in Baramulla. Four employees got injured. One among them succumbed to his injuries. All are from the Jammu division. Area cordoned and the search started to nab culprits.”
TRF claimed responsibility for the barbaric attack on the store, stating that “traitors” were spreading the “drug menace” throughout Valley.
The wine shop opened earlier this year in the Baramulla suburb of Dewan Bagh after the government approved the establishment of 51 wine shops in J&K. The incident took place on a route leading to numerous important police and government offices in the region.
It is worth noting that recently Terrorists killed a young Kashmiri Pandit named Rahul Bhat at Chadoora in Budgam in another heinous act of targeted assassination in Jammu and Kashmir. Two Islamic terrorists opened fire on Rahul Bhat, a clerk at the Tehsildar’s office, on May 12, Thursday.
In recent times, specific assaults on Kashmiri Hindus have increased in Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorists opened fire on a civilian identified as Satish Kumar Singh Rajput on the 14th of last month in the Kulgam area of Jammu and Kashmir.
As Shivling was found inside the disputed structure of Gyanvapi mosque proving it beyond doubt that it was constructed after demolishing the ancient Kashi Vishwanath temples, attempts by Islamists and liberals have increased that Islamic invaders didn’t destroy Hindu temples to construct Mosques. In a hate frenzy layered with deliberate ignorance, Politician Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan has made a strange claim that a large number of people “converted their places of worship to mosques” when they adopted Islam, while Islamist invaders did not attack the temples. On Tuesday, he was seen justifying the violence perpetrated by Islamic invaders on Hindus in Medieval India.
Tauqeer Raza, the founder of the political party Ittehad-e-Millat Council in UP spoke on the issue of the disputed Gyanwapi structure in Bareilly on Tuesday. He remarked, “There are many mosques in the country where there were temples before. Those Temples were not razed, just converted (into mosques) when people adopted Islam.” In a tone of threat, Raza insinuated, “Mosques shouldn’t be touched, and if anything is done forcefully, Muslims will oppose the government.”
Issuing a direct threat of violence, he said, ‘the day my youths become angry, the day I lose control over them, the day these youths take law in their hands, you will have no place to hide’.
Raza opined that calling ‘what was found in the Gyanvapi mosque’ a Shivling is actually making a mockery of Hinduism. He further added that Muslims do not need any legal fight as they have seen the judgment in the ‘Babri Mosque’ case. “This time, we won’t appeal in any court. Hatemongers will find a Shivling at every mosque in the country with a fountain. If they have their way, they will encroach all of them. I would like to see where these people will stop. Muslims have remained quiet to ensure peace in the country,” he added.
Mullah Tauqeer Raza Khan, leader of Bareilvi sect and Ittehad-e-Millat Council, in full flow at Bareilly after Jumma Namaz: ‘If Muslims were to…” Repulsive #HateSpeech is no offence, nor is threat of apocalyptic violence, when directed at Hindus. pic.twitter.com/6RksUwhQxB
Millat Council’s Tauqeer Raza Khan is infamous for his threats and tirade against Hindu sentiments and has made a lot of objectionable statements in the past. In January, while speaking at a Public rally in UP’s Bareilly, he was seen openly provocating the audience with an open threat to Hindus. He had said, “I see the anger within my Muslim youths and I am afraid that the day this anger bursts out, the day I lose control over them…I want to warn my Hindu brothers that I’m scared that the day my Muslim youths are forced to take the law into their hands, you will not find a place to hide anywhere in India.”
‘जिस दिन मुसलमान सड़कों पर आ गया, किसी से संभलने वाला नहीं है’: दिल्ली में अवैध अतिक्रमण पर बुलडोजर चलने से बौखलाए मौलाना तौकीर रजा ने मोदी सरकार को दे दी चेतावनी pic.twitter.com/EBxH6LrQFG
Last month in April, while speaking against the Bulldozer action on perpetrators of violence, he issued threats of unrest in the society, saying, “The day Muslims come to the streets, one must understand that they will be uncontrollable. Therefore I warn the government and Narendra Modi in particular that if he fails to correct this way of taking action with immediate effect…”
Maulana Taqueer Raza Khan is an Islamic scholar and heads the political outfit Ittehad-e-Millat Council active in parts of Uttar Pradesh. A Barelvi scholar by tradition and a staunch radical by his speech, Raza Khan has been supportive of the Congress party in the political milieu.
