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Jahangirpuri violence: Politicians rush to help the Muslims, Hindu victims abandoned, no relief has been offered, no one visited them

राहुल पाण्डेय
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Jahangirpuri violence: Politicians rush to help the Muslims, Hindu victims abandoned, no relief has been offered, no one visited them

Since communal violence took place in Jahangirpuri, Delhi, after Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra on April 16 got attacked by a Muslim mob, a lot of political parties have visited the affected areas, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. Photos and videos have surfaced on social media platforms where the leaders of these parties could be seen distributing relief material to the “victims”. Some organizations also offered legal help to the accused in cases linked to communal violence.

OpIndia went to Jahangirpuri to examine the situation of relief and help provided by the political leaders. We found that most of the help was being provided only to one community. The political leaders seem to have abandoned the Hindu victims, and no one has come forward to help them. That means those who attacked the procession and started the violence are getting all the help they need, but those who were attacked have been abandoned.

TMC declared Muslims ‘scared’

A delegation of Trinamool Congress had visited Jahagirpuri. They called it a ‘fact-finding team’ The party leaders targeted the Delhi Police and the government and declared Muslims who were seen throwing stones at the procession and even firing during the commotion as ‘scared’. They claimed that the facilities in the homes of the Muslim community were scarce, and the people of the community were living in fear.

SP MP HT Hassan and Shafiqur Rahman Burk called encroachers ‘poor’

A delegation was sent by Samajwadi Party as well. Moradabad MP HT Hassan and Shafiqur Rahman led the delegation. Hassan condemned the demolition drive and termed the illegal encroachers as ‘poor’ and ‘destroyed’. He said the livelihood of the people was snatched away by the demolition drive. CPI leaders were also present with the SP delegation. They called the anti-encroachment campaign a ‘government tyranny’.

These leaders talked about the accused. They visited their houses. However, they did not try to understand the pain of the victims. The OpIndia team went to the ground and talked to the victims. What they told us exposed the Left-Congress ecosystem.

No one went to the victims’ homes after the violence

OpIndia met the families of Hindu victims. Every family suffered loss and damage. Someone’s shop was looted, a victim’s car was damaged, another’s bike was broken, and another victim’s cart was burnt down to ashes. All of them told us the same thing. No one had visited them or ohas ffered any kind of help.

Mahesh’s cart was destroyed

Mahesh ran a fast-food cart by the name ‘Jai Maa Vaishno Chow Mein’. During the violence, his cart was severely damaged. Speaking to OpIndia, he said, “Our father Ashok Kumar was here on the day of the incident. Our cart was overturned. They scattered out belongings. We have the photographs. We are rebuilding the cart with our own money. It is the main source of income for our family. Till now, no one has come forward to meet us or offered help.”

The cart has been rebuilt by Mahesh himself and he has restarted the food cart to earn his livelihood.

Rebuilt cart

Garg store was robbed, and the owner had to run for his life

A local resident of Kushal Cinema Road spoke to OpIndia on the condition of anonymity. He said, “The rioters robbed Garg grocery store. I witnessed what had happened. A Bengali boy robbed them. The owner ran away to save his life and left the shop open. He hid in the back house. The main gate on that side was closed. Otherwise, they would have followed him. The rioters were inside the streets. No one had come here to take stock of our situation. Perhaps it is too much to expect from politicians.”

OpIndia team visited the Garg store. We found it was closed, and Police personnel were deployed in front of it.

Garg store was attacked during the violence.

Gautam Studio and Rohini Clinic

Gautam studio and Rohini Clinic are located close to Kushal Cinema Road. On the day of the incident, the bikes of owners of both establishments were parked outside. Gautam Studio owner had a Yamaha bike, while BL Mathur, the doctor who runs Rohini Clinic, had a scooty. Both the vehicles were ransacked. They closed the shutters when the rioters attacked to save themselves. Speaking to OpIndia, the person at Gautam Studio said no one had approached them to provide any support.

Owners of Gautam Studio and Rohini Clinic suffered losses.

The broken bike of the owner of Gautam Studio was still there. However, the clinic was closed, and its owner’s scooty was removed from the scene.

Gautam Studio owner’s bike was damaged.

Son of Dalit family injured, car damaged

Naresh Kumar, a Dalit living in Azadpur, had brought a car after saving money for years. It was damaged by the rioters. “We did not receive any help of any kind. We are getting the car repaired on our own. The attack was made by Muslims. We had no enmity with them. They were attacking from all sides”, he said.

He added, “My son was grabbed by the rioters. He was brutally beaten up. We are also bearing the cost of his treatment.”

Car damaged by rioters.

Panipuri seller’s cart was burnt

While meeting the locals, we noticed a burnt cart close to Naresh’s house. A local named Rakesh Sahu told OpIndia, “I witnessed the riots. The other side started the violence. This cart belonged to a Hindu man who sold panipuri and Tikki. During the violence, the rioters overturned his cart and set it on fire. He had built the cart by taking a loan. He lives in rented accommodation. Around 40-50 Hindu families suffered losses during riots. No one has come to offer any relief to the Hindu side. All the support and relief is going to the Muslims. No one came here to check our condition.”

‘Our scooty damaged, our people are being arrested’

Another local resident Mangal said, “My nephew was driving the scooty on the day of the violence. No one knows from where the rioters came from. They beat him up and broke our scooty. We did not receive any help. The most surprising thing is we were the victims, and our people are being arrested by the Police.

‘Got hit by stones, scooter broken’

Another local, Sanjay Kaushik, said, “I was part of the Shobha Yatra. Suddenly they started pelting stones. I was hit by the stones and got injured. The mob ransacked my scooty. No one has offered any help yet.”

According to locals, the violent mob had entered a wide lane on the road that led to Kushal Cinema. Many vehicles parked there were damaged. People who were on the street at that time were beaten up by the mob. The Police were helpless and could not stop the rioters. OpIndia talked to several other victims who said they suffered loss but refused to talk on camera.

How former Congress IT cell head’s ‘fan page’ ended up being Islamist propaganda page which is regularly promoted by the terror apologists

OpIndia Staff
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How former Congress IT cell head’s ‘fan page’ ended up being Islamist propaganda page which is regularly promoted by the terror apologists

Maktoob media – a propaganda portal with a rich history of propagating Islamic propaganda and Hinduphobic content on social media platforms, seems to have a Congress party connection to it. The OpInida investigation into the Islamist portal’s history has revealed that the portal’s social media pages were once either handled by the Congress party’s social media cell or the main page acted as former Congress IT cell head’s ‘fan page’. Here is what we know:

Maktoob Media

According to Maktoob media’s website, Maktoob is an ‘independent’ media initiative founded in Delhi in 2014 by two Kerala-based journalists, Aslah Kayyalakkath and Naseel Voici. However, the social media pages of the Maktoob media once were Congress leader’s fan page.

The OpIndia investigation has revealed that the Maktoob media’s Facebook page may have been created by the supporters of the Congress party in 2017. When we looked into the history of the Maktoob media’s Facebook, it came to light that one of the fan pages of erstwhile Congress leaders, managed by the Congress IT cell, was rebranded as Maktoob media.

The Facebook page of Maktoob media was started as “Ramya Spandana Fanc”, a fan page account that was created on October 17, 2017. The fan account is dedicated to former Congress leader and social media head Divya Spandana, who is also known as Ramya.

The page history of Maktoob media on Facebook

It is interesting to know that former actress Divya Spandana was the head of the Congress party’s social media cell in 2017. It is not yet clear whether the Congress IT cell had created this Facebook page as a propaganda tool to boost actress-turned-politician Divya Spandana’s popularity. But, later, it turned into to full-fledged Islamic propaganda site.

Later, the page was renamed “Ramya Spandana – Fans page”.

Interestingly, seven months later, the page transformed itself into Ramya Maktoob Media in June 2018. Again, a few days later, Facebook, seemingly run by Congress supporters, changed its avatar by renaming itself Maktoob Media 2.

The Facebook page presumably ran by the Congress IT cell to boost the image of a former politician had now become a full-fledged news website. Finally, in September 2018, the Divya Spandana fan page renamed itself “Maktoob media”, a website dedicated to peddling Islamist propaganda.

Maktoob media – from being a Congress IT cell page to an Islamist propaganda site

Ever since then, Maktoob media transformed itself into a ‘neutral-secular media’ from being a Congress IT cell, it has been a full-time Islamic propaganda website propagating false claims against Hindus. The page has been caught several times peddling fake news in the last few years to not only absolve crimes committed by Muslim criminals in the country but also portray that Muslims in India are victims of hatred and violence.

In June last year, the Kerala-based portal was caught propagating lies connected to the Loni incident. The portal had shared an edited out video of an elderly Muslim man from Loni in Uttar Pradesh being beaten up by a few individuals. However, the Islamist portal had given the crime a communal colour by saying that he was beaten for refusing to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. The Ghaziabad police had clarified that there was no communal angle in the incident.

In fact, it was later revealed that some people who allegedly beat him up were also Muslims and they did so after a ‘taveez’ (amulet), he had made for someone did not work. Despite the clarification, the Islamist portal had continued to peddle lies regarding the Loni incident.

Not only that, during the anti-CAA riots, Maktoob media had selectively shared videos to misinform the public about attacks on students inside the Jamia Millia campus.

At 1:30 AM on 16th February 2020, a Twitter account by the name of ‘Jamia Coordination Committee’ (JCC) (now deleted) tweeted an ‘exclusive CCTV footage’ from the reading hall in Jamia Millia Islamia university. The carefully edited video shared by JCC was soon used by anti-BJP ecosystem including journalists to claim police brutality. Jamia has provided footage to MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development), NHRC (National Human Rights Commission), Delhi Police, internal fact-finding team as well as Jamia’s Teachers’ Association. Sources in Jamia say that the CCTV footage was also given to certain individuals who had reportedly sustained injuries and wanted to take up legal proceedings. They were given footage on condition that they will use this footage for legal proceedings only.

Later, another video surfaced which was an ‘exclusive footage’ obtained by Maktoob Media. Maktoob Media claimed it had an hour-long footage, but chose to release only about 5 minute clipped version.

Back then, on its website it mentioned it is based in Delhi. It mentioned “Shaheen Abdulla” as its Associate Creative Editor in its “About Us” section. Who was Shaheen Abdulla? Shaheen Abdulla was the same person who was ‘saved’ by the “Jamia Sheroes” who were hailed by controversial journalist Barkha Dutt. Husband of Aysha Renna, one of the “Sheroes”, Afsal Rahman, has also worked with Maktoob Media. As per his LinkedIn profile, he was associated with Maktoob till September 2019.

Shaheen, Ladeeda and Aysha – all three hail from Kerala where Maktoob Media is based out of. Ladeeda’s husband, Shiyas Perumathura, is Secretary of Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), Kerala. Mumbai chief of SIO, Salman Ahmed, was detained by Mumbai Police for making provocative statement during an anti-CAA gathering in Nanded, Maharashtra.

Students Islamic Organisation

The SIO was founded by Jamaat-e-Islami in 1982 after the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) broke away from it in 1981. A Livemint report from 2008 puts the relationship between the two organizations in this manner, “Blood brothers they may be, but the groups have charted conflicting courses, both in principle and actions. While SIMI is largely underground after the government crackdown, SIO is a gradually swelling student revolution in the making, taking Islam beyond the parodied stereotypes of fundamentalism and violence. Its mission: to prepare students, Muslims and non-Muslims, for reconstruction of a peaceful India on the basis of Islamic principles.”

Regardless of what the report may say, the people associated with SIO have clearly demonstrated that they have a tendency to gravitate towards violence as well. The mainstream media through its ignorance has given a pass to extremely toxic individuals. Due to their inherent ‘secular’ biases, journalists have taken dubious individuals at face value and have made no effort to throw hard questions at them. Even when their bigotry stood exposed, the media has attempted to provide them with an opportunity to clear their names. 

The Jamaat-e-Islami itself has an extremely turbulent past. After the partition of the country, the organization split itself into independent organizations in the newly created states. It has been described as having undergone an “ideological transformation” and said to have abandoned its goal of transforming India into an Islamic State. But given everything that has occurred in recent times, we will have to revisit this question.

Pro-Congress posts on Maktoob Media

Besides putting misinformation on social media platforms, the Islamist propaganda website has also been promoting the Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi on social media sites. On its Facebook page, Maktoob media has put up several advertisements regarding pro-Congress posts.

Here is an ad put by Maktoob media which promotes Rahul Gandhi. Facebook had published a paid ad of Maktoob in which it had glorified Rahul Gandhi.

In another ad, Maktoob media had carried out campaigning for Rahul Gandhi by referring to him as a PM candidate.

Similarly, ahead of the 2019 elections, Maktoob had put up another paid ad on April 21, 2019, mocking Prime Minister Modi. In the ad, Maktoob media had referred to PM Modi as ‘Steal Jobs’, a popular meme that was also simultaneously shared by the Congress party on social media platforms in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

From being a fan page of a former small-time Congress leader to transforming itself to an Islamist website propagating fake narratives, Maktoob Media has come a long way.

Shaheen Bagh drugs case: NCB arrests Shamim Ahmad from Delhi, drugs worth Rs 1300 crores recovered from Muzaffarnagar

OpIndia Staff
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Shaheen Bagh drugs case: NCB arrests Shamim Ahmad from Delhi, drugs worth Rs 1300 crores recovered from Muzaffarnagar

The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested Shamim Ahmad from the Laxmi Nagar area of Delhi. Shamim is the latest arrest made by the NCB in the Shaheen Bagh drugs case. On April 27, 2022, the NCB raided Shaheen Bagh. So far, 5 people have been arrested in this case.

Also, Heroin worth Rs 1,300 crore has been recovered from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Its ties are also reported to be linked to the narcotics racket unearthed in Shaheen Bagh of Delhi. According to media reports, the NCB and Gujarat ATS found 210 kg of heroin at a residence in the Kidwai Nagar police station area of Muzaffarpur.

The NCB received intelligence inputs about this shelter during the interrogation of Ahmed, a native of Kairana in the Shamli area of Uttar Pradesh. Ahmed, along with two Afghan nationals, was captured with a huge quantity of drugs from Shaheen Bagh.

The house from where the drugs were recovered belongs to Haider’s neighbour. According to the neighbour, Haider’s mother had stored the goods in his residence, claiming that some work was being done in their home and that she needed to store certain belongings for a few days.

Haider alias Chunnu used to work as a painter in Muzaffarnagar 30 years ago. He was arrested by the Delhi Police 20 years ago in connection with a theft case, and he afterwards relocated to Shaheen Bagh. He became involved in drugs around this time and built a massive house in Muzaffarnagar. Even before this, Haider had been found in drugs found on Gujarat’s beaches.

It is notable that on April 27, 2022, the Delhi Drugs Control Bureau (NCB) confiscated 50 kg of heroin, 47 kg of suspected narcotics, Rs 30 lakhs of drug money in cash counting machines, and other incriminating evidence from a residential premise in Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh.

Maharashtra: Solapur Police serve food at Iftar party; Mumbai CP had earlier attended Iftar hosted by Azad Maidan riots accused Raza Academy

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Solapur Police serve food at Iftar party; Mumbai CP had earlier attended Iftar hosted by Azad Maidan riots accused Raza Academy

A video of Solapur Police is making rounds on social media platforms in which the Police Commissioner and other personnel could be seen serving food to members of the Muslim community at an Iftar Party. As per reports, the video was from April 27. Police Commissioner of Solapur Harish Baijal had hosted an Iftar party for school students and teachers of Social Urdu Primary School.

Baijal had invited students to spend some time with the birds he has at his residence. During the interaction with the students, he was informed majority of them were observing fast. He recalled them the next day for Iftar at his place which was followed by Azan (prayer call) and Salah (Namaaz) at the venue.

Netizens condemned Police Personnel serving food.

The video that went viral on social media had Police Personnel serving food in uniform. The video received sharp criticism from the netizens. Twitter user Ranjeet Bagga said, “Police commissioner in Maharashtra serving food at Iftar party, can we expect Kanya Pujan from Maharashtra police during Navratri?”

Prakash Doshi added, “This not their job to do it just to please UT’s newly found Muslim community friends.”

Shankhnaad questioned, “Will the Police do the same on Kanya Poojan?”

Twitter user Pandey Ji said, “They should have opted for hotel management instead of joining the Police force. Those hands that are supposed to manage law and order are holding plates and spoons. If someone asks them why they were late while reaching a crime scene, they will start making excuses.”

BJP slams Mumbai police commissioner for attending Raza Academy’s Iftar Party

A few days ago, on April 18, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nitesh Rane had shared a photograph on Twitter and alleged that Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pande had attended the Iftar Party of riots-accused Raza Academy. In the photograph shared by Rane, CP Pande was seen with other Police Personnel standing alongside Raza Academy members.

Rane said, “A few years back, a protest called by Raza Academy in Mumbai had turned violent in which they had attacked Mumbai police officials too who were on duty to control things. There were allegations against those violent protestors that they misbehaved with female cops who were on duty on that day in South Mumbai’s Azad Maidan area.”

He further added, “Is it an attempt by the MVA government to appease such people who were involved in acts which are against our nation, or there is pressure on officials to attend such gatherings from Govt (Maharashtra Government) only.”

Raza Academy reportedly denied the allegations and said Mumbai CP did not attend Iftar Party.

In the past, Rane had accused Raza Academy of spreading misinformation about the vandalism of Mosque in Tripura. At that time, Raza Academy had called for protests in several parts of the state. The reports of vandalism of the Mosque were proven fake by the Tripura Police. Nitesh Rane had filed a complaint against the academy. The organization was also responsible for vandalism of Amar Jawan Jyothi memorial at Azad Madian.

On 11 August 2012, Raza academy had staged a morcha at Azad Maidan ground to protest against the alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar. However, the protest turned violent after the notorious group attacked the policemen. This led to police firing, resulting in 2 deaths and 63 injuries. Raza Academy had earlier assured the Mumbai Police that only 1500 people would turn up for the protest. 

If loudspeakers breach prescribed decibel level, they should be removed: Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar says after Raj Thackeray’s ultimatum

OpIndia Staff
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If loudspeakers breach prescribed decibel level, they should be removed: Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar says after Raj Thackeray’s ultimatum

Responding to Raj Thackeray’s loudspeaker ultimatum from Aurangabad on Sunday, Mumbai Mayor, and Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar has said that loudspeakers will be removed from mosques as well as from the temples if they breach prescribed decibel levels. Pednekar was speaking at a press conference in Mumbai on Monday.

While responding to Raj Thackeray’s demand to pull down loudspeakers from mosques by May 4, she said, “No one including Muslims opposed Hanuman Chalisa. Loudspeakers will be removed from temples and mosques. I appeal to all to maintain peace. Law is equal for all. If Raj Thackeray has said anything objectionable in his speech then action will be taken against him.”

Furthermore, she said, “Loudspeakers should be used in accordance with noise pollution rules. If anyone breaches the prescribed decibel limit then loudspeaker should be removed. MNS workers shouldn’t take the law into their hands otherwise their life will be wasted attending court dates: Kishori Pednekar.”

During her press conference, Pednekar said that because of Raj Thackeray’s demands, loudspeakers will now have to be brought down from temples as well. “Until now no Muslims objected to Hanuman Chalisa. But from now loudspeakers will be removed from temples as well. This is Hindustan, and we will miss the morning ‘kakad’ aarti in temples. In villages, many people live far away from temples, therefore loudspeakers were used whenever kirtans, bhajans, and aartis took place in the temples. However, now they have been removed. This act of Raj Thackeray is anti-Hindu,” she added.

She also asked MNS workers to maintain law and order in the state. “We do not want riots to take place here. Last time they threatened to chant Hanuman Chalisa inside Matoshree and Shivsena workers rose in protest. We have asked our workers to cool down and handle the situation with peace,” asserted Kishori Pednekar in the press conference.

Pednekar’s remarks have come a day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray addressed a public meeting at Aurangabad regarding the loudspeaker controversy. He warned the Government of Maharashtra to take down the loudspeakers from mosques before the 4th of May 2022, falling which, he said that his party workers would play Hanuman Chalisa on speakers in front of mosques with a volume double than that of the Azaan.

BBMP dismisses rumours of ‘meat ban’ in Bengaluru on Eid: Details

OpIndia Staff
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BBMP dismisses rumours of ‘meat ban’ in Bengaluru on Eid: Details

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has dismissed rumours about a ‘meat ban’ on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, reported Deccan Herald.

The rumour stems from the fact that the Islamic festival of Eid will be celebrated on the same day as that Basava Jayanti. The latter is an auspicious Hindu festival, primarily observed by the Lingayat community to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Basavanna.

While speaking about the matter, a senior BBMP told the newspaper that the claims of a ‘meat ban’ on Tuesday (May 3, 2022) were baseless. The official also emphasised that the Urban Development Board did not mark Basava Jayanti as a festival for restricting the sale of meat.

As per a news report in The Hindustan Times, the moratorium on selling meat applied to Martyrs’ Day, Mahashivratri, Sri Rama Navami, Mahaveer Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, Krishna Janmasthami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Gandhi Jayanti and Sadhu Vaswani Jayanti.

The BBMP had earlier banned the sale of meat during Sri Ram Navami celebrations on April 10 this year, in accordance with an order by BBMP chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta dated April 3, 2022.

Meat ban during Navaratri sparked outrage

Earlier on April 4 this year, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation announced that all meat shops located within the vicinity of a temple would remain closed between April 2-April 11, in light of Navaratri celebrations.

The decision was taken keeping in view the sentiments of the public during Navratri when a strict vegetarian diet is followed by the devotees during the nine days of the festival. South Delhi Mayor, Mukkesh Suryaan, had noted that many often restrict the use of onion and garlic in their diets during Navaratri.

Along with Delhi’s SDMC, many parts of North India have prohibited the sale of meat during the nine days of Navaratri. This had outraged a lot of people on social media.

Delhi government fails to ensure water supply in the national capital, residents suffer from acute scarcity amidst sultry hot weather

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi government fails to ensure water supply in the national capital, residents suffer from acute scarcity amidst sultry hot weather

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has failed to assure consistent water supply in parts of the national capital resulting in a serious supply crisis. Where the supply is normal, the quality of the water supplied through the taps is so bad that it looks like drainage water.

People in various parts of Delhi are concerned about water scarcity and have filed many complaints with the Delhi Jal Board. The Delhi Jal Board continues claiming that things are getting better or that they would be better soon. However, in certain regions, individuals claim that there was previously water in the taps for 10 minutes, but that it has suddenly vanished.

According to a report in Navbharat Times, Sadh Nagar resident Vimla says she sleeps with an alarm set at 4 AM. Previously, water would come for 10 minutes at this time. In which she would fill one to two buckets of water and resume work. However, in the last few days, there has been no water. She is continuously waking up, checking the taps, and returning dissatisfied. Several social media users also shared about the crisis on various platforms.

Residents of New Gupta Colony Sector-10 claim that they get up early every morning and wait until late at night for water, but there has been no water for several days. Water scarcity was also reported in Kirari’s Inder Enclave Phase 2 and Suleman Nagar. The situation has been grave for three days, according to locals of Rohini Sector-1, D Block, due to the regular inflow of polluted water in the taps.

President of the Delhi Jal Board, Satyendra Jain, claimed that the Jal Board has made sufficient arrangements to assure water delivery throughout the summer months. A ‘Summer Action Plan 2022’ has been designed to address the problem of drinking water. However, the situation on the ground has not changed as of yet. In Delhi, people are buying packaged water to meet their everyday demands.

Residents in southeast Delhi are the worst affected by the water supply crisis, as per reports. The worst-affected regions are Trilokpuri, Mayur Vihar, Pandav Nagar, Chilla Village, Patparganj, Ganesh Nagar, Mandawali, and Laxmi Nagar.

The Yamuna River has been drying at worrisome levels as a result of the accumulation of waste and rising temperature. Three water treatment facilities in Delhi, Wazirabad, Chandrawal, and Okhla, are working below capacity, affecting supplies, as per reports.

Watch: PM Modi lavishes praises on an Indian-origin boy for singing a patriotic song on his arrival in Berlin 

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: PM Modi lavishes praises on an Indian-origin boy for singing a patriotic song on his arrival in Berlin 

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lent his heart out to praise a young Indian-origin boy who sang a patriotic Hindi song on his arrival in Berlin in Germany. PM Modi arrived in Berlin early morning on Monday during his three-day tour to European countries of Germany, France and Denmark.

PM Modi received a warm welcome by the Indian diaspora as he arrived in Berlin Monday morning. “It was still early in the morning in Berlin, but many people from the Indian community stopped by. It was wonderful talking to them. India is proud of what our diaspora achieves,” he wrote while expressing his joy on Twitter.

PM Modi also met a young boy who sang the patriotic Hindi song, “Hey Janma Bhoomi Bharat Hey Karma Bhumi Bharat,” and excitedly counted many a beat with him.

Delighted to hear the song, PM Narendra Modi showed affection to the boy and blessed him for his voice. The heart-warming video is being shared by many on social media. Modi’s visit to Europe comes at a time when the region is facing numerous challenges due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor hints at floating his own political outfit after rejecting Congress’ offer

OpIndia Staff
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Poll strategist Prashant Kishor hints at floating his own political outfit after rejecting Congress’ offer

On May 2, political strategist Prashant Kishor hinted at floating his own political outfit. Kishor wrote on Twitter, “My quest to be a meaningful participant in democracy & help shape pro-people policy led to a 10yr rollercoaster ride! As I turn the page, time to go to the Real Masters, THE PEOPLE, to better understand the issues & the path to “जन सुराज”- Peoples Good Governance. शुरुआत #बिहार से (Starting from Bihar)”.

It has been a year since West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party won the state elections with Kishor as its political strategist. Kishor had then announced that it would be his last gig, but he kept hovering around in Indian Political space for some time.

Notably, on April 26, Kishor rejected Congress’s offer to join the party as part of the EAG and take responsibility for the elections. In a tweet announcing that he rejected the offer, Kishor had said that the party needed a strong leader more than him to fix the “deep-rooted structural problems”.

In the past, Kishor had associations with several political parties. He was with JD-U in the 2015 elections, followed by TMC, DMK and TSR-Congress from time to time. Though the parties he was associated with won the elections, experts skeptical of his capabilities believe that those parties would have anyway won the elections irrespective of Kishor’s association with them.

Punjab and Haryana High Court stays arrest of Kumar Vishwas over statements pointing at Arvind Kejriwal’s Khalistan hopes

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab and Haryana High Court stays arrest of Kumar Vishwas over statements pointing at Arvind Kejriwal’s Khalistan hopes

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has stayed the arrest of former Aam Aadmi Party leader and poet Kumar Vishwas. A case was registered against him in April after he exposed alleged links of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal with Khalistani elements during the Punjab Assembly elections of 2022.

On April 20, the Punjab Police had arrived at the doorsteps of former Aam Aadmi Party leader and poet Dr Kumar Vishwas in Ghaziabad. According to reports, Vishwas attracted an enquiry from Punjab Police regarding the remarks he had made against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal during the Punjab Assembly elections in February.

Following the development, Kumar Vishwas submitted a plea challenging the FIR against him filed by the Punjab Police. In his plea, he sought a stay on any coercive action against him in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara in an order on Monday has stayed the arrest of Vishwas in the case. The plea submitted by him stated that the FIR against him is a result of a malafide intention and an abuse of the process of law. Vishwas stated that the FIR is filed with an ‘oblique motive to set political scores’ after the statements made by him against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Kumar Vishwas’ Plea

Kumar Vishwas was seeking relief from an FIR registered against him on April 12 for giving allegedly provocative statements against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the interviews with the media between February 16 to 19. The complainant, Narinder Singh had complained that Vishwas’ statements could create ‘unrest and communal instability during elections across Punjab’.

Kumar Vishwas in his plea noted that while he gave the concerned statements in February, the complainant mentions the incident allegedly took place on April 12. The police agency got the FIR registered within two hours of the receipt of the complaint and further formed an SIT to investigate the same. Furthermore, he also stated in the plea that the police, without serving the FIR to him, sent a team of Punjab police officers to his residence with the ‘oblique motive to unlawfully violate his fundamental right to liberty.’

Action against Kumar Vishwas

On February 16, in a sensational development amidst the state assembly elections, Kumar Vishwas had highlighted Kejriwal’s compromise for power in Punjab by siding with Khalistani separatists. According to him, Kejriwal at one point had claimed, “Either I will become Chief Minister of the state or I will become first Prime Minister of an independent nation (Khalistan).” Vishwas had alleged that deep-rooted separatism had engulfed Kejriwal’s mind in his quest for power.

After Kumar Vishwas’ expose, AAP leader Raghav Chadha issued a threat to the media saying that AAP would take legal action against the media houses for covering the allegations as posed by Vishwas. The war of words between Dr Kumar Vishwas, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, and AAP leader Raghav Chadha escalated further which led to Punjab police knocking at the doors of Vishwas. Now it is learnt that the case registered against him by the Punjab Police regarding his arrest has been stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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