On May 12, three cow smugglers identified as Zeeshan, Saddam and Qasim were apprehended by Ghaziabad Police after a fierce encounter. As per reports, they were running away after stealing a cow in a Scorpio vehicle. The Police chased them, during which their vehicle collided with a tree. The Police asked them to surrender, but the smugglers opened fire. A constable reportedly got injured. In retaliation, the Police opened fire, and all three cow smugglers were wounded. The cow has been rescued safely.
गाजियाबाद में स्कॉर्पियो में गाय चुराकर ले जा रहे 3 गोतस्कर जीशान, सद्दाम और कासिम एनकाउंटर में पुलिस गोली का शिकार हुए हैं। फिलहाल अस्पताल में भर्ती हैं। #Ghaziabad#Uppic.twitter.com/ou53y3qIwJ
— Sachin Gupta | सचिन गुप्ता (@sachingupta787) May 12, 2022
Nipun Aggarwal, Superintendent of Police City (First), said in a statement that at around 4:30 AM, the team was checking vehicles in the Jal Nigam Police Outpost area of Vijayanagar police station. When they tried to stop the silver-coloured Scorpio, it did not stop and sped away. The Police chased the vehicle, during which the Scorpio collided with a tree.
Cow saved by Ghaziabad Police. Source: Dainik Bhaskar
SP said, “When Police asked the cow smugglers to surrender, they started firing. Constable Deepak Kumar of Vijaynagar Police Station sustained injury due to a bullet. The Police opened fire in retaliation. All three smugglers were shot during the encounter.”
The three accused, Zeeshan of Falavada, Meerut, Saddam and Qasim of Muradnagar Ghaziabad, were arrested by the Police. They recovered three pistols, cartridges, Scorpio, a stolen cow, animal sedatives, rope and butchering tools from the accused. As per the Police, there are 23 cases registered against the three accused in different Police Stations.
On May 11, the Human Rights Commission of Balochistan released its annual report for the year 2021. In the report, HRC said there was an increase in fake encounters, enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, target killings, torture, collective punishment, and the killing of women for honour in the family.
As per the report, 47 fake encounters were committed by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Police. 442 people went missing, and a total of 366 people were killed in 2021 alone. The report suggested that students remained the prime target of the military and its shadow organizations not only in Balochistan but also in other parts of Pakistan.
Enforced disappearances on the rise
In the case of enforced disappearances, HRC of Balochistan received information of 442 people. 170 of them were reportedly released after torture, but the whereabouts of 272 people remained unknown. Under the pretext of national security, in some cases, entire villages were bulldozed in military operations. Children and women were detained and shited to army camps where they allegedly received inhumane torture. Political activists and their family members remained on the hit-list of the military as well as state-sponsored death squads. Many families from rural areas disappeared without leaving any trace.
New laws were introduced to restrain the movement of villagers
As per the law, all-male members above the age of 12 are required to appear in a nearby army camp at least once a month. The Army has restricted entry and exit to the villages. Even for small purchases like food or travel, the locals need to get permission from the Army.
Rampant honour killings
Honour killing of 57 women was reported in 2021. They were killed on the charge of alleged adultery. Those who killed the women got a free hand from the government as not a single arrest was made, the report stated.
Families of victims targetted
The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has proposed amendments to the law that would put the families of the victims of enforced disappearances in jeopardy. As per the proposed amendments, if the family fails to prove the state’s involvement in the disappearance, they would face charges that could lead to up to 5 years in prison and a fine of PKR 100,000. As per the report, members of civil society, NGOs, human rights commission etc. were not part of the standing committee, making it impossible for the victims’ families to have a stand.
Students were targetted
A total of 38 students were on the list of enforced disappearances. Eighteen were released, while 20 are still missing. The report suggested all the victims were subjected to inhuman torture during interrogation.
Extra-Judicial killings
As er reports, Frontier Corps, a para-military force, allegedly killed 50 people, 47 people were allegedly killed by Police CTD in a fake encounter, Baloch Militants were responsible for 44 killings, and 57 women were killed in the name of honour.
Fake charges on locals
HRC suggested people were framed for crimes that they had not committed. For example, Siraj Ahmed, a mentally unstable person, was framed by Counter-Terrorism Department in a terror attack. His family was threatened to bring Siraj to Army Camp to submit statements. Disobeying the orders would have meant facing military action. When Siraj was brought to the camp along with another accused by their respective families, he was tortured by the military personnel. Siraj, a 15-year-old boy, was later sent to Khuzdar, and the military told the family that it would take at least six months for him to come back.
Bibi Muskan Zainab Khan, who rose to fame during the hijab protests in Karnataka, has now become part of another controversy. According to the latest reports, Muskan Khan has left for Saudi Arabia along with her family without intimating the local police officials.
According to the reports, Muskan Khan has left for Saudi Arabia on a religious trip with her family on April 25. The controversial hijab protestor and her family are scheduled to visit Mecca on May 18. Apparently, Muskan Khan has failed to notify her visit to Saudi Arabia to the local police.
The local police had verbally asked Muskan Khan to inform them about her whereabouts and travel plans to the police regularly to keep track of her whereabouts for her safety. However, she has reportedly left for Saudi Arabia without informing the police officials, giving them a scare.
Muskan Khan, a student of PES College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Mandya, had come to the limelight after yelling Islamic slogans “Allahu Akbar” at Hindu students in Mandya, Karnataka, during the hijab protests.
Her visit to Saudi Arabia comes just a month after Muskan Khan had received high praise and support from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of terror outfit Al-Qaeda. The chief of Islamic terror organisation Al-Qaeda had extended his support to the burqa-clad protestor Bibi Muskan Zainab Khan and had praised her for chanting provocative Islamic slogans at Hindu students.
In a nine-minute video released by Al-Qaeda’s official Shabab media, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of terror outfit Al-Qaeda, praised Muskan Khan and said he was impressed by her chanting Islamic slogans near her college.
In the video titled “The Noble Woman of India”, which carried an infographic depicting Muskan Zainab Khan, Zawahiri recited and dedicated a poem he had composed to praise Khan.
Seems Ayman al-Zawahiri is alive after all. The al-Qaeda leader has appeared in a ‘proof of life’ video commenting on a February 2022 incident where a college student in India protested he right to wear a hijab pic.twitter.com/JCNuXbYqsD
The jihadi terrorist had said he learned about Muskan Khan from videos and social media. Referring to Muskan Khan as ‘sister’, the Al-Qaeda chief said he was so moved by her act, especially the raising of “cries of Takbeer”.
A month later, Muskan Khan has purportedly gone on an ‘Umrah’ to Saudi Arabia suspiciously without informing the local police.
Meanwhile, the Hindu activist groups have been demanding a probe against Muskan Khan, especially after the Al-Qaeda chief supported her actions. The Hindu groups had also asked for detailed inquiries on the gifts and money Muskan Khan received after her theatrics inside the PES College campus in Mandya.
It is important to note that Muskan Zainab was also hailed as another “shero” by the left-liberal media establishment. It was later revealed that Muskan Zainab has links to the radical Islamic organisation PFI through her father. Bibi Muskan Zainab is the daughter of PFI leader Abdul Sukoor.
Following the media coverage of what appeared to be a carefully timed and orchestrated video, Muskan Khan became a household name amongst Muslims, who showered praise and gifts on her. Maharashtra Congress MLA (Bandra) Zeeshan Siddique had also paid a visit to her residence in Mandya and handed Khan an iPhone and a smartwatch for her ‘courageous act’. Islamic outfit Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had also announced a cash reward of Rs. 5 lakh to Muskan Khan.
Not just that, the Mayor of Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC), Tahera Shaikh Rasheed, had also announced that the ‘Urdu Ghar’ in the city would be named after Muskan Khan.
North Korea has declared a “severe national emergency” in the country after it confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19.
According to the reports, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered all cities to be put under lockdown after the nuclear-armed nation reported Covid-19 cases for the first time in the last two years ever since the pandemic began.
“A serious situation has been created due to the introduction of a stealth omicron mutant virus into our precincts. At a party meeting Thursday attended by Kim, authorities elevated the country’s national quarantine measures to a maximum emergency,” Korean Central News Agency added.
Reportedly, a few people in Pyongyang have contracted the Omicron variant. However, there are no details pertaining to the numbers or possible sources of infection.
Kim Jong Un has held a crisis politburo meeting to discuss the outbreak and announced they would implement a “maximum emergency” virus control system. The North Korean leader has also vowed to “eliminate” the virus within the shortest period of time, the state media said on Thursday.
“He assured us that because of the people’s high political awareness… we will surely overcome the emergency and win the emergency quarantine project,” the state media said.
Kim has also called for tighter border controls and lockdown measures, telling citizens “to completely block the spread of the malicious virus by thoroughly blocking their areas in all cities and counties across the country”.
All business and production activities will be organised, so each work unit is “isolated” to prevent the spread of disease, KCNA added.
Meanwhile, North Korea has turned down vaccination offers from the World Health Organization, China and Russia.
The Arabic term ‘Ummah’ refers to ‘nation’ which basically is the whole of Muslim world or the community of ‘believers’. The one which unites all Muslims. In what appears like an example of ‘Ummah’, Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of ‘fact-checking’ website AltNews, on Thursday ‘fact-checked’ a viral video where a Muslim man can be seen beating up a woman. The video had gone viral with claims that the family was based out of America and that the Muslim girl was being beaten up by her family members for dating a non-Muslim man.
On seeing allegations put on an alleged American Muslim family, Zubair took it upon himself to ‘fact-check’ the claims in the viral video.
Zubair ‘fact-checking’ viral video
Mohammed Zubair, AltNews cofounder, claimed that the video is not from America but from Russia. he claimed that since he was tagged by many people on social media to verify this viral video with claims that a Muslim girl was being beaten up by her family members, he took it upon himself to verify.
Zubair then described an elaborate procedure on how he ‘fact-checked’ the viral claim. Zubair, it seems almost instinctively, carried out a reverse image search on Yandex, a search engine for Russian language often pegged as ‘Google’ for Russian. Zubair, it seems, didn’t look anywhere else but went directly on Yandex.
So, Zubair went on Yandex, found some article from 2021 which had embedded an Instagram video, he reached out to the Instagram user who was the girl’s friend and informed that the girl as well as the guy she was in love with (because of whom she was beaten up) were both Muslims. Girl’s family from Russia while guy’s from Ukraine and the families had a long time feud going on, he claimed. Almost like a Bollywood potboiler.
Mohammed Zubair’s conclusion
At the end of his thread explaining how it was just some people of Muslim family beating up the girl for falling in love with another Muslim man the family was enemies with. The claim in the video is false, he added. What claim? That the girl was in love with a non-Muslim. And perhaps that the family was Russian and not American. OpIndia cannot independently verify these claims by Zubair. But the fact that a Muslim girl was indeed being beaten up by her own family members for falling in love with a man they did not approve of was true.
But see how the ‘fact-check’ was selective? This is also how AltNews has regularly ‘fact-checked’ irrelevant videos in middle of violence against Hindus as ‘old’ and tried to create a narrative that even the current videos are ‘fake’. During the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, the ‘factcheckers’ launched a staunch defence of Tahir Hussain, the AAP Councillor, who played a prominent part in the violence in North East Delhi and is an accused in the murder case of Ankit Sharma. Few days back, while framing charges of conspiracy, arson, rioting against Hussain, a Delhi Court observed that he ‘instigated a mob to teach kafirs a lesson’.
You can read how AltNews doubles up as Islamic propaganda website in detail here.
While a petition has been filed demanding to open locked 22 doors of Taj Mahal in Agra, Diya Kumari, a member of the Royal Family of Jaipur and an MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party, has claimed that the land where the Taj Mahal is located belonged to the Royal Family. The BJP MP says that the Royal Family had a palace at the Taj Mahal site.
Diya Kumari, while praising the petition filed for opening the closed doors of the Taj Mahal, said that the truth will come out of it. Along with this, she has also claimed that she has documents, which prove that the Taj Mahal was the palace of the old royal family of Jaipur. It was occupied by the Mughal invaders, but during that time the royal family could not oppose it due to the Mughal rule, she said.
Diya Kumari said, “I won’t say that the Taj Mahal should be demolished. But the closed rooms of the Taj Mahal should be opened. Some parts of it have been sealed for a long time, which should be checked. Their rooms should be opened so that the truth can be found out what was there and what wasn’t. When it is checked properly, all the facts will be better established.”
She further said, “Even today, if a government acquires land, it gives compensation in return for it. I heard that he (Shah Jahan) gave some compensation in return, but at that time there was no law that could appeal against him or do anything against him. Now it is good that someone has raised his voice and filed a petition in the court.”
Diya Kumari said, “I am not saying that the land is ours. I am not aware of what the circumstances were then, but if the court asks us to provide anything or any documents available to us, we will provide them from Pothikhana (record room at the palace). In the documents we have, it is clear that Shah Jahan liked the palace at that time and then he acquired it. I haven’t seen all the documents yet, but that property belonged to our family.”
In 2017, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has also made a similar statement. Swamy had said, “We have reached out to the documents of the Taj Mahal. There is evidence that Shah Jahan had forcibly asked the kings and maharajas of Jaipur to sell the land where the Taj Mahal is built. Shah Jahan had given 40 villages as compensation which were nothing compared to the price of the Taj Mahal land.”
It is notable that in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, Dr. Rajneesh had filed a petition regarding the opening of the closed sections of the Taj Mahal. Rajneesh is the media in charge of the BJP in the Ayodhya district. He said that it is believed that idols of Hindu gods and scriptures are present in the locked rooms.
In India, it may not be surprising for young women to have children, but in reality, it is a matter of concern in terms of women’s health. When a young girl conceives, it is not only her body affected, but she also has to go through a mental struggle. This has changed in today’s time compared to before. With the improved level of education, women have become aware of their rights. But in many places, things are still the same.
A report by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) shows that the rate of women who gave birth to their first child by conceiving at the age of 15-19 years decreased by 1 percent in 2019-2021 as compared to 2015-16. That is, the rate which was 8% in 2015-16 is now 7%. Obviously, amidst the concern of the growing population of the country, the change of this 1% in these figures must have come due to education. Where women have moved towards becoming more educated, these figures would have come down and where this would not have happened, the situation would be the same as before.
Lack of education directly linked to early pregnancy
From the report, it is seen that even today, rural women are ahead of urban women in giving birth to children at a young age. One of the biggest reasons for this is the lack of education. According to the NFHS report, 18 percent of girls between the ages of 15-19 who never went to a school conceived at this age, and gave birth to a child, while only 4 percent of the girls in the list had studied (girls who had an education up to 12 years) and became pregnant for the first time at an early age and gave birth to a child.
Apart from education, the prosperity of the family also decreases the chances of girls getting pregnant at a young age. This is also revealed by this report. According to the data, only 2 percent of young women in families whose condition was well had a child born at a young age, while in low-income households, the rate reached 10 percent.
The pregnancy rate of Muslim women is more than others
A deeper view of the report reveals that the women from the Scheduled Tribes registered 9% more pregnancies than the women from the Other Backward Castes. When it comes to becoming pregnant in this age group (15 to 19), Muslim women surpassed all other women. At the age of 15-19, the rate of conception was 8.4 percent among Muslim women. After this, the next number was seen to be 6.8% among Christians, 6.5% among Hindus, 3.7% in Buddhists, and 2.8% among Sikhs.
States-wise percentages of teenage pregnancies
Looking at teenage pregnancy statistics in a state-wise manner, it shows that women who get pregnant in teenage are the highest in Tripura at 22%. This is followed by West Bengal at 16%, Andhra Pradesh at 13%, Assam at 12%, Bihar at 11%, and Jharkhand at 10%.
The figures for being pregnant at an early age are the lowest in the Union Territory of Chandigarh (0.8%). Slightly above this are Jammu and Kashmir (1.0%), and Lakshadweep (1.1%). Talking about the state, Uttarakhand is the only state where the rate of pregnancy of girls in the age group of 15-19 years is 3%.
Muslim women register the highest rates of fertility and pregnancies among teenagers and desire to have more kids
Earlier, we had informed our readers about the reduced fertility rate of women by quoting the same survey report, in which the data had concluded that even today Muslim women are ahead of women of other religions in giving birth to children (despite the lowered fertility rate among the women of the community than before). Now, this report also gives information that the girls who get pregnant at a young age are more in the Muslim community. Similarly, the survey also revealed how many women did not want more children, with the lowest percentage which is 64% of them coming from Muslim women; while 72% of Sikh women and 71% of Hindu women said they don’t want extra children anymore.
Bathing during menstruation
Apart from these, the hygiene of women was also questioned in the survey. Women were asked how much attention they paid to bathing during menstruation. According to the report, 96 percent of urban women and 91 percent of rural women bathe during menstruation and bathe in the same bathroom in which other people in the household bathe. Statistics show that educated women take more care of their hygiene during this time. While 94% of non-school goers take baths, the percentage of bathing during menstruation is 97% among the school goers.
99% of Hindu women bathe during menstruation. This is followed by Jains (98%) and finally Muslim women with 88% of them. Further reports suggest that 97% of women in a well-off family home take a bath during this period, while the number drops to 85% in less affluent families. In terms of states, 90% of the women of most of the states and union territories take baths during this period. While in Ladakh, the figure is 37%, in Jammu and Kashmir it is 43%.
NFHS – 5
It is worth mentioning that the work of the National Family Health Survey was carried out in two phases in India. The first phase from June 2019 to 2020 covered 17 states and 5 Union Territories. Then the next phase ran from January 2020 to April 2021 covering 11 states and 3 Union Territories. The survey is based on feedback given by 6.3 lakh families. 7.2 lakh women and 1.01 men participated. Before this, such a report was released in 2016. The report for 2019-2021 was released by Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya a few days ago.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named the promoters of NGO Omidyar Network, supported by e-Bay founder Pierre Omidyar, 36 persons/entities including 6 government officials who were employed in the FCRA division of the MHA, and one official of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in the FCRA bribery scandal.
#BREAKING | CBI names promoters of NGO Omidyar Network & 36 persons & entities including 6 govt officials who worked in FCRA division of MHA & one official of NIC, in alleged FCRA bribery scandal; Tune in to watch #LIVE here – https://t.co/Zrg39BK1iq
Omidyar Network is known for funding many publications across India. 36 persons/entities, including 6 govt officials who worked in the FCRA division of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) & one official of the NIC, have been taken into custody in connection with the case. A few days back, CBI filed an FIR regarding a national FCRA funding scam. At present, there are at least 6 to 8 more networks under the CBI scanner.
The revelation came a day after the premier agency conducted raids at 40 locations in multiple cities, including Delhi, Rajasthan, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Mysuru and others, based on a tip-off by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The ministry had filed a complaint against its officials and NGOs for committing violations of FCRA provisions and allotting licenses in exchange for bribes.
According to reports, the promoters of NGO Omidyar Network are under the scanner for allegedly bribing officials to receive FCRA licenses. A CBI spokesperson had earlier said the raids were conducted “to nab representatives of NGOs, middlemen and public servants of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) division of MHA for committing violations of FCRA provisions and facilitating illegal clearances in lieu of bribes.”
According to an officer at CBI, the accused, including public servants, were caught red-handed while exchanging bribes. The officer said, “Around half a dozen public servants and others are being questioned. During searches so far, transactions of around Rs 2 crore through hawala channels have been found.”
The questionable antecedents of the Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is reportedly a self-styled “philanthropic investment firm” comprising a foundation and an impact investment firm. It was established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. Omidyar Network reports that it has committed more than $992 million to non-profit organisations and for-profit companies across multiple investment areas.
While the name of Omidyar Network has cropped up in the FCRA bribery scandal, it is notable to mention that the organisation has questionable antecedents. In September 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs put the Omidyar Network under the FCRA watchlist.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had sent an internal note to all the banks directing them to put a specific number of foreign organizations in the PRC list (Prior Reference Category) under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010. More than 80 foreign organizations were under the radar of the government’s PRC list. The new ones added include three NGOs from the USA named the Omidyar Network International, Humanity United and Stardust foundation.
Back in 2019, it came to light that the Omidyar Group was one of the donors to Forbidden Stories (FS), a dubious organisation launched with the underlying aim of effectuating regime changes and installing pliant governments in countries across the world that align with the left-liberal ideology and reinforce the primacy of the Left’s narrative.
FS was launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Freedom Voices Network. RSF is the same organisation that came up with a dishonest ‘Press Freedom Index‘ to malign India internationally and portray it as a country where journalists are targeted and persecuted for pursuing truth. However, its propaganda stood exposed when the list of journalists it claimed was imprisoned or killed in India to implicate the Centre belonged mostly to Congress-ruled states and Jammu and Kashmir, where journalists are notorious for being overground workers for terrorists.
The Omidyar Group donated to FS through a front organisation Luminate, whose Strategic Plan for 2018-2022 mentioned that “‘Illiberal democracies’ are emerging,” “Civic space is shrinking, and civil society is under attack,” “Rising populism is creating ruptures in historical party politics,” “Insular, nationalist perspectives are resonating with more people,” and “Communities are becoming more polarized among other things.
While the strategic plan and its animosity towards nationalism made its ideological orientations abundantly clear, it is important to note that the Omidyar Group funded a host of media organisations worldwide, mostly leftist globalist portals such as Scroll.in.
As per The Grayzone, Luminate donated to the Sundance Institute for producing films “used strategically to articulate pressing public issues and movement-building campaigns.” The Grayzone report states, “Among the films cited by Omidyar’s Luminate as a strategic success was The Last Men in Aleppo, an Oscar-nominated propaganda vehicle for the Syrian White Helmets that was produced by the Sundance Institute.”
In a nutshell, Omidyar Group invested in organisations and efforts that were aimed to dislodge governments and regimes it thought did not align with the “liberal worldview” by bankrolling news organisations, entities, movies etc that they thought would aid them in building an alternative narrative and challenging the legitimacy of the incumbent “illiberal” governments.
On May 10, an FIR was registered against Professor Ravi Kant Chandan of the Hindi Department at Lucknow University for alleged derogatory remarks on Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Hindu saints during a debate on Journalist and former AAP member Ashutosh’s YouTube channel Satya Hindi. The FIR has been registered against Prof Ravi Kant at Hasanganj Police Station under sections 153-A, 504 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 166 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act.
Members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest against the Professor at Lucknow University. They demanded the sacking of the Professor. The University administration has also sought an explanation from the Professor. Notably, on his Facebook profile, Prof Ravi Kant has claimed that the issue has been resolved.
Source: Facebook
The complaint against prof Ravi Kant was registered by Aman Dubey, a student of Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) hostel. In his complaint, Dubey said Prof Ravi Kant made indecent remarks during a debate that took place on May 9.
He said that the professor “hurt the sentiments of Hindu students, and he also attempted to vitiate the harmony of the University. When he was confronted by the students after the video was leaked, the Professor called goons who attempted to assault the protesters. Apart from this, malpractices are being done through social media. Due to this, the image of the University and the students are being tarnished.” He further requested the Police to register a case against him and take action as per the law.
Copy of FIR. Source: TOI/ArvindcTOI
Speaking to Indian Express, ABVP’s LU campus president Pradeep Kumar Maurya said that on Tuesday, they met Ravi Kant at Proctor’s office. They demanded an apology from him, after which Kant expressed regret over the remarks. The situation was pacified. “However, a few minutes later, Kant posted on social media that the ABVP wanted to “lynch” him. Then we again started a demonstration and demanded that the LU administration sack him because he was spreading hatred on campus. He later deleted that post,” Maurya added.
Complaint by Prof Ravi Kant
A complaint has been filed by Prof Ravi Kant in which he has alleged that the students wanted to “lynch” him. He said, “In the debate, I spoke about the matter taking context from Historian Pattabhi Sitaramayya’s book. It has been twisted and shared on social media by ABVP and other students. They circled me in the University today and tried to lynch me. They used derogatory words and slogans like ‘desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko’ against me. I am a Dalit. They used casteist remarks against me. It is an assault on my fundamental rights, right to live and right to expression.” He further alleged his and his family’s life was in danger and urged Police to take action against the students.
Speaking to Indian Express, Kant alleged he was being targeted for being a Dalit. He said, “I am being targeted on campus because I am a Dalit. Some savarna (upper caste) teachers are behind this. When I was inside the proctor’s office, students were knocking loudly on the door… it seemed as if they wanted to lynch me. I wrote about this on social media but deleted the post later.”
What did Prof Ravi Kant say in the discussion?
Prof Ravi Kant participated in a discussion on Journalist Ashutosh’s YouTube channel Satya Hindi. During his remarks, he said the five women who submitted a plea in the court to allow them to worship in Gyanvapi did not know about the “history” of why Aurangzeb demolished it. He continued to refer to a book by Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Feather And Stones.
There is a section by the name “Aurangzeb and the Benares Temple” in the book on page 177. The book alleged that though Aurangzeb is called a bigot in religion, there was a story about why he demolished the temple. The author of the book alleged that once Aurangzeb went to see the Kashi Vishwanath temple. A Queen of Kutch was with him. When they were returning, the Queen went missing.
Upon searching for the, she was found in the basement of the temple. The book reads, “It turned out that the Mahants were in the habit of picking out wealthy and be-jewelled pilgrims and in guiding them to see the temple, decoying them to the underground cellar and robbing them of their jewellery. What exactly would have happened to their life, one did not know.”
Excerpt from the book Feather and Stones.
It further stated Aurangzeb, after watching what was happening in the temple, ordered to demolish it. The Queen, who was saved, insisted on building a mosque in that place. The author claimed the story of Varanasi Mosque was in a rare manuscript in Lucknow in possession of a “respected Mulla”. The respected Mullah had promised a friend of the author to hand over the Manuscript, but he “without fulfilling his promise”.
Now there are two points that need to be considered. First, Prof Ravi Kant himself said during the debate that there was no way to prove the story. However, he still used the derogatory and anti-Hindu story as an excuse against the Hindu devotees who wanted access to the mosque.
Secondly, the book he referred to cannot be seen as proof for the story is real or not. The author himself said he only heard this story. There is no mention of the alleged Manuscript anywhere in any documents available online except it is being mentioned by the left-liberal historian. A similar breakdown of the story was done by Dharma Dispatch in one of their articles. Sitaramayya’s book is often used as the “documentary” evidence of the story. The story was told to him by some “respected mullah”.
Now coming back to the book by Sitaramayya. The preface of the book reads, “This is a book which the author (amongst whose infirmities modesty is not one) may claim to be a book of humour, wit and wisdom. None of these is the original product of the author’s ‘genius’ for it only embodies what has been heard or read by him. If anyone looks to this publication for originality of ideas, a rich imagination or a bright intellectual display, he is sure to be disappointed. Let no reader give a good name to the author and hang him for not living (or writing) up to the reader’s expectation.”
Sitaramayya himself hinted that the stories he had written in the book were either heard or read. There was no documentary proof of anything he had written in the book. Yet, the left-liberal historians and the academicians use it as documentary proof.
The well-played ‘Dalit’ victim card
One of the important aspects of this incident is the well-played ‘Dalit’ victim card by Prof Ravi Kant and the left-liberal section of the society. Prof Ravi Kant himself played it in his complaint. Media houses and so-called intellectuals of the left-liberal side also jumped and “liberally” used it.
Multiple media houses, including The Wire, Scroll, Hindustan Times, Indian Express and others, mentioned him as Dalit Professor. Twitter user Alamgir said, “Prof Ravikant said nothing wrong he is one of the most intelligent Dalit intellectuals. He had a heated debate with Sanghi journalist Anupam Mishra he must say ABVP to do this.”
AISA UP said, “Shame on the hooliganism and terrorism of ABVP! AISA strongly stands against ABVP’s heckling and harassing of Prof. Ravikant Chandan, a Dalit Professor of Hindi in Lucknow University.”
Activist Sandeep Singh said, “Prof.Ravi Kant Ji continues to raise the voice of Dalits. They are getting scared of educated people who are talking in the country. The first target is Muslim, and the second is Dalits. Narendra Modi is scared, he does not want the voice of Dalits to be raised.”
The Dalit Voice wrote, “#Harrasment Shocking heckling of a #Dalit professor at Lucknow University. Professor Ravikant of the Hindi Dept being abused by ABVP and right-wing goons.”
Author Saba Naqvi said, “Shocking heckling of a #Dalit professor at #LucknowUniversity. Professor #Ravikant of the Hindi Dept being abused by ABVP and right-wing goons. This is a mobocracy and do not confuse with Law & Order.”
OpIndia tried to contact ABVP and UP Police but could not connect.
Dr Senthilkumar, a DMK MP from Dharmapuri parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu, recently took to Twitter to congratulate A G Perarivalan, a man convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for his early release from the jail.
Sharing Perarivalan’s picture, the DMK MP tweeted “Advance Congratulations”. Curiously, Dr Senthilkumar wrote ‘Congratulations’ in Tamil, a native language of Tamil Nadu but which is not widely understood or known in other parts of the country.
Source: Twitter
It is worth noting that Perarivalan was jailed for procuring nine-volt batteries, which were allegedly used in the improvised explosive device (IED) that had killed Rajiv Gandhi. The former PM was assassinated by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber during an election rally in Sriperumbudur in May 1991.
After serving in jail for decades, Perarivalan moved a mercy petition to seek clemency. Then in February 2014, the Supreme Court commuted Perarivalan’s death sentence to life imprisonment, citing the Centre’s 11-year delay in deciding mercy petitions.
Perarivalan subsequently applied for a pardon on 30 December 2015. Close to three years later, in 2018, the Supreme Court asked the Governor to decide the pardon plea as he deemed fit. In 2018, the Council of Ministers of the Tamil Nadu government also recommended the release of 7 convicts, including Perarivalan.
Recently, files on the premature release of seven Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts were referred to the President by Governor RN Ravi. The Supreme Court had then pulled up the Governor, stating that he was bound by the state cabinet’s decision to release AG Perarivalan, who had served 36 years of his life term in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and castigated his action of sending the mercy plea to the President. The top court has reserved its verdict on the plea filed by AG Perarivalan seeking premature release from jail.
Kin of victims who died alongside Rajiv Gandhi question the Gandhi family’s decision to ‘forgive’ the convicts of the former PM’s assassination
While the Gandhi family had chosen to ‘forgive’ the convicts responsible for the death of Rajiv Gandhi, the kin of those who had died along with the former PM were not too happy with the Gandhi family’s move to grant mercy to the culprits.
When the Tamil Nadu government recommended the release of seven life convicts in the case in 2018, the family members of the victims had met Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and urged him to not give consent to the same.
“All we received of my mother were pieces wrapped in a blood-stained blanket. The attack on Rajiv Gandhi orphaned me and my siblings. 12 other families suffered because of it. But politicians don’t seem to consider the trauma we have been through. They want to release the murderers for their own political gains and we all condemn this,” S Abbas, whose mother died along with Rajiv Gandhi in the blast had told The News Minute in 2018.
