Askar Ali, who renounced Islam recently, has alleged that he was being harassed by his relatives. Speaking to The New Indian Express, he said on May 1, before he addressed the conference of Essence Global, his kin tried to kidnap him. He said, “Two relatives came to me on the pretext of discussing family matters and took me to the beach in the morning. Later, with the help of others who arrived in a car, they forcibly tried to put me in the vehicle. One person smashed my mobile phone. I screamed, and people who rushed to the spot called the police.”
Askar is currently living at a friend’s place and had to appear before the magistrate as his family members had lodged a missing person complaint. He added, “I left Islam after I studied it in detail. When I was doing the [Hudawi] course, there was very little opportunity to read materials other than those related to Islam. During the lockdowns, I got to read other disciplines, which opened my eyes.” Askar said those who leave the religion are seen as despicable creatures by their family members.
On May 4, it was reported that 24-year-old Askar was attacked by a Muslim mob for leaving Islam. He filed an attempt to murder case with the Kollam police. In his complaint, Ali alleged that the mob attacked him after he quit Islam and added that he was facing threats from within the community for doing so.
Askar Ali, who hails from Malappuram, has completed a 12-year Hudawi religious programme from a prominent religious academy in Malappuram. On Sunday, he was in Kollam to deliver a talk on his experience as a student of Islamic studies at an event organised by Essense Global, an organisation promoting “scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform in society”.
In his complaint, Ali said that a group of people from Malappuram tried to abduct him to ensure that he did not address the event.
Apostasy punishable by death in Islam
Apostasy in Islam is punishable by death. In 2014, in eight Muslim majority countries, apostasy, abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, was punishable by death. In thirteen countries there were either penal or civil penalties like jail time, fine or even losing child’s custody. Just a few decades back, majority of Shia and Sunni jurists believed that leaving Islam was crime as well as sin.
On May 5, after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) objected as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen attending the wedding of his Nepali friend and former CNN correspondent Sumnima Udas, Congress tried to pass off an 11-year-old photograph of him with Bhutanese Kings as a recent one. Uttarakhand Youth Congress, AICC member Ashok Basoya and others shared the photograph.
The Nepal trip had come under controversy after Rahul Gandhi was seen partying with an unknown woman in Nepal. Since then, Congress has gone out of its way to prove that he was really in Nepal attending the wedding of Sumnima Udas and it was not one of his clandestine trips.
Basoya wrote, “One more for Bhakts.”
Source: Twitter
Uttarakhand Youth Congress wrote, “Take the photograph of the king as well.”
Source: Twitter
Madhya Pradesh Congress Sevadal said, “Shri Rahul Gandhi at her friend’s wedding in Nepal.”
Source: Twitter
Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee member Shailendra Singh Bhadoria said, “No one is able to meet eyes with him.”
Source: Twitter
Rahul Gandhi’s photograph is 11 years old
The photograph, however, turned out to be 11 years old. It was shared by several media houses in 2011. Similar photographs from the same day are available on the stock image website since October 2011.
In a report from October 15, 2011, Hindustan Times used the photograph and described it as “AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and MoS Jyotiraditya Scindia with former King of Bhutan Jigme Dorji Wangchuck during the wedding reception of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and Queen Jetsun Pema at the Chang Lime Thang Stadium at Thimpu.” Rahul Gandhi was in Bhutan to attend the wedding reception.
Hindustan Times report from 2011
As one can see, Jyotiraditya Scindia is also in the photograph. Scindia left Congress in March 2020 and joined BJP. He is currently serving as Minister of Civil Aviation. The photograph was clicked by Adrees Latif for Reuters.
The same image has been available on the stock image website Alamy since October 2011. The website described the image as “The fourth, and former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck (R) watches his son King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and his Queen Jetsun Pema (not in picture) take part in their wedding celebrations at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu October 15, 2011. Standing with King Wangchuck are his wives, India’s Rahul Gandhi (C), Jyotiraditya Scindia, India’s Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce and Industry and his wife Priyadarshini Scindia (L).”
Source: Alamy
Netizens pointed out the blunder
Several netizens pointed out that the image was old. Twitter user Hawk-Eye said, “They are amazing! Aren’t they? After Tehseen Poonahwala and ilk said Nepali Singer is LOD lady, now another fake post by Ashok basoya INC sharing 11yrs old pic of Bhutan royal wedding whr Jyotiraditya Scindia can also be seen as Nepal wedding pic.”
They are amazing! Aren’t they? After @tehseenp & ilk said Nepali Singer is LOD lady, now another fake post by @ashokbasoya INC sharing 11yrs old pic of Bhutan royal wedding whr Jyotiraditya Scindia can also be seen as Nepal wedding pic?
Earlier, Congress party supporter and Robert Vadra’s brother in law Tehseen Poonahwala had lied about the woman who was seen with Rahul Gandhi in the party. In a tweet, he shared two images of a Nepali woman appearing with both Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Modi. He claimed that the woman seen in two separate photographs with the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi is the same woman who was also seen with Rahul Gandhi in the pub. Despite differences between the woman in the photographs and the woman in the pub with Rahul Gandhi, Poonawalla blatantly lied that it was the same woman.
However, the lady seen in the image shared by Tehseen Poonawalla is Nepali singer Saraswoti Khatri. The pictures which Tehseen Poonawalla shared claiming to be the same woman seen with Rahul Gandhi on Monday night in a pub were actually lifted from Saraswoti’s tweet. She herself had shared the photographs.
One of the reasons many Indians love PM Modi is that he comes from a humble background, without any royal bloodline. That he has made it to where he is now on his own, without any ‘surname’ attached to his name. Which is also one of the many reasons the ‘liberals’ of India hate him.
You see, most of the ‘liberals’ in India are the elites who have always been rich, roam around in privileged circles and are ‘journalists’ and ‘columnists’ mostly because their influential parents, spouses were either politicians, owner of media houses or just very rich.
A Twitter handle by the name ‘Rupa Gulab’ who identifies itself as ‘writer’ mocked PM Modi when he met the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II. You see, towards the end of the video, there is a frame where PM Modi and Queen of Denmark sit on a table and fine cutlery is placed in front of them for a meal. Gulab quips, ‘does he even know which cutlery to use?’
Keeping aside the fact that the Prime Minister of India would have a team to help him navigate through the courtesies, in India, where most people use their hands to eat, it will be quite normal to not know the ‘cutlery etiquettes’.
How many of us would find comfort in daal-chawal-ghee when we are feeling low? And how many of us will be eating the daal chawal with our hands? You see, most of us. Even if you don’t, you’d still know how to eat daal chawal with hands. Unlike the elites. Here is how they eat their daal chawal:
At around 10 minute 48 second mark, you can see senior Congress leader and Wayaand MP Rahul Gandhi mix a morsel of rice and daal with his hands and puts it in his mouth, only to have the grains of rice fly all over. Compare that with the way the two men sitting next to him are eating. Those men eat like that every day and know you’ve to bend forward and put food in the mouth so it does not fall, spoil clothes. But Rahul Gandhi doesn’t.
No one questioned if Rahul Gandhi knows how to eat with his hands.
Instead, everyone is in awe of Rahul Gandhi as the prince has decided to grace commoners in a village by his presence and ate with them. See how the camera focuses on him mixing his food with his bare hands. They want to show you how despite all the money and power he has, despite the ‘Gandhi’ family tag and even if his ancestors have been elite politicians of India, 3 of which were Prime Ministers of this great nation, ‘Rahul Baba’ is ‘down to earth’.
This is how the ‘liberals’ in India react to two different powerful politicians.
Modi, who rose the ranks in the party as an ordinary man from an ordinary background who sold tea on railway platform, gets mocked at, ridiculed because ‘he may not not know how to use cutlery’ but Rahul Gandhi, who had power, money, politics served to him on a platinum platter, whose father, grandmother and great grandfather were prime ministers (and came from illustrious families themselves) gets everyone mushing.
But even then they hate Modi. It is because barring the 1% elites in India, the rest of us are hustling. We are working hard to pay our bills. For most of us, pizza was once in a while treat. We’d find it intimidating waltzing into star hotels in Lutyens’ Delhi ordering pasta worth 2,000 rupees. Weekend brunches on The Claridges lawn is not something we’re used to. To be honest, I have never even been to one. The Khan Market elite crowd is likely aspirational for many.
But for ‘liberals’ that is the everyday thing. These very ‘journalists’ hang out at the fancy places and then gush over Rahul Gandhi’s ‘simplicity’ while mocking Modi’s humble roots.
Modi is relatable to most Indians because he is ‘one of us’, who’d happily eat khichdi-kadhi-bataka nu shaak-bhakhri as meal at end of tiring day. And not like a certain someone who goes to undisclosed foreign locations in secrecy at slightest discomfort in India.
Modi is relatable. Modi is aspirational. He gives everyone a hope that if one makes up their mind, a person selling tea on railway platform can become Prime Minister of world’s largest democracy. Not once, but twice.
Ganesh Pol, the father of the seven-year-old Indian-origin boy who was praised for singing a patriotic Hindi song on PM Modi’s arrival in Berlin in Germany, called out alleged comedian Kunal Kamra for ridiculing his son by morphing a video of him singing in front of Prime Minister Modi.
On Wednesday, left-wing ‘comedian’ Kunal Kamra took to Twitter to post a morphed video of the seven-year-old singing a song in front of Prime Minister Modi. Indulging in cheap theatrics, Kamra used the boy’s singing video to take potshots at PM Modi.
His tweet had come in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier tweet praising the young Indian-origin boy for singing the patriotic Hindi song on his arrival in Berlin in Germany. PM Modi reached Berlin early morning on Monday during his three-day tour to European countries of Germany, France and Denmark.
The young boy was originally seen singing the patriotic Hindi song, “Hey Janma Bhoomi Bharat Hey Karma Bhumi Bharat”. However, Kamra edited out the video to add background songs that were defamatory in nature.
Responding to Kamra’s vile tweet targeting the young boy, Ganesh Pol – the father of the boy, slammed the alleged ‘comedian’ for his insensitivity and schooled him for using a young boy to further his politics. The father of the seven-year-old boy said that his son wanted to sing the song for his beloved motherland and added that though he was still young, he loved the country more than Kamra did.
“He is my 7 year old son, who wanted to sing this song for his beloved Motherland. Though he is still very young but certainly he loves his country more than you Mr. Kamra or Kachra watever u are Keep the poor boy out of your filthy politics & try to work on your poor jokes,” Ganesh Pol said.
He is my 7 year old son, who wanted to sing this song for his beloved Motherland . Though he is still very young but certainly he loves his country more than you Mr. Kamra or Kachra watever u are
Keep the poor boy out of your filthy politics & try to work on your poor jokes https://t.co/ECnBFSIWkI
It is pertinent to note that alleged comedian Kunal Kamra is facing contempt of charges for making disparaging remarks regarding the Supreme Court in his recently released YouTube video ‘Be Like’. In the video, Kumra had commented on his previous contempt of court case by saying, “Dear SC, kal ki baat bhul ja, l**da pakad ke jhul ja (forget yesterday’s issues, come swing on p*nis).”
In the same video, Kamra added that he respected the food court in the shopping mall more than the Supreme Court and that the SC is a ‘Brahmin Baniya’ affair that does not represent other people.
Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) Press Freedom report for the year 2021-22 has come with the usual biases with its horrific indices, hilarious methodology and uncanny grading system. The recent report downgrades India from a 142 rank last year to 150th even below regimes like that of UAE, Hong Kong and Mexico where advances against members of the press are a given. On the World Press Freedom Day, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and nine other human rights organisations did not forget to ask ‘Indian authorities to stop targeting journalists and online critics’ for their work. However, it was found that their own work was laced with euro-centric biases, uncalled demotion of India in the ranking systems given in the report.
Apart from RSF’s Press Freedom Index, its website has published a ‘Fact File‘ for each country, including India, that explains its rankings. While its flawed methodology and appliance of unequal standards have been exposed already, the Fact File document on India paints a picture of a blurred, rhetorical understanding of the country ‘Reporters beyond Boundaries’ has. Devoid of academic fundamentals and professional layerings, the India fact file has trapped itself in its own assumptions, whereas its own data – if considered to be true is enough to challenge its conclusions in the report.
Thus in our multi-report series doing a threadbare dissection of RSF’s claims on Press Freedom in India, this article premises itself only on the information included in the RSF 2022 index and assumptions made by the analysts in the report. Even if we consider what the reporters’ organization is deemed to be the truth, its claims do not seem to reiterate what its data reflects on many fronts.
Press Freedom declined after Modi came to Power?
Screengrab of a claim from RSF’s India Fact File
RSF has claimed that press freedom is in crisis in “the world’s largest democracy” since 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi – “the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the embodiment of the Hindu nationalist right” came to power. If only India’s erstwhile rankings in the index provided by RSF since 2002 are considered, its claims of Narendra Modi being responsible for curbing press freedom do not hold much water. Let us look at RSF rankings for India for each year from 2004 to 2022 which cover a span of 10 years of the Congress-led UPA rule from 2004 to May 2014 and 8 years of BJP-led NDA rule from 2014 to 2022.
India’s Freedom Press Index over the years 2004 to 2013 published by RSF
As evident from the above chart, The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which came to power in 2004 started off with an RSF Press Freedom ranking of 120 in 2004 and ended up with a 140th rank for India in 2013. Press Freedom, as credited by RSF was the ideal at 105th rank for the years 2006 and 2009, whereas it could be seen continuously dipping since 2010. Contrary to the claims of Press Freedom being purged in India after Modi came to power in 2014, its own data claims that Freedom for Journalists in the country has been drastically decreasing since 2010. From 105th rank in 2009, it decreased to whooping 17 places down at 122nd in 2010, then subsequently 9 places down at 131st in 2011-12 and 140th in 2013.
This also shows that the Press Freedom rankings for India during the Congress-Left regime have dwindled from 105 to 140 with a decrease in the difference of 35 positions.
India’s Freedom Press Index over the years 2014 to 2022 published by RSF
In 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led BJP government with its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of Right-wing and Right-of-Centre parties came to power, the Press Freedom rankings produced by RSF for India remained at the same 140th position as last year. From 2014 to 2021, the RSF Press Freedom Rankings for India continued to remain more or less at the same position from 140th in 2014 to 142nd in 2021. It is only in 2021-2022 that one could see a sharp dip of 8 places to 150th for India. However, while Press Freedom did not necessarily improve during the Modi Years according to RSF, as their own rankings have shown, its conclusion that “Press Freedom has come under threat in India after Modi came to Power” completely falls flat.
When both – the UPA and NDA scenarios are compared, we witness a drastic decline in Press Freedom during the UPA years from 105th (best) to 140th (worst) position which is 35 negative places; whereas ranking data during the Narendra Modi regime continues to revolve around the same figures 133rd (best) to 150th position (worst) i.e. overall decrease in 17 places. Hence, RSF’s data points when connected with its narrative conclusions do not match each other.
We have to keep in mind that RSF’s methodology itself is flawed, so none of these numbers are to be taken seriously. However, it becomes necessary to point out that according to their own data (however flawed), their claims tailor-made to target PM Modi don’t hold water.
Mainstreaming of the ‘Bhakt’ slur
With RSF’s India Fact-File, its claim of being an independent non-profit organization has come under scrutiny. In the ‘Political context’ segment of its methodology, RSF casually writes about Indian journalists who are too critical of the government being ‘harassed’ by ‘Modi devotees’ known as ‘Bhakts’. While neither the draft writer nor the editor seems to have given a thought about the (non-existent) academic credentials of the report, the mainstreaming of slurs like ‘Bhakts’ can only be credited to the ‘Left-liberal’ journalists in India who are hell-bent upon categorising everyone who either voted for PM Modi or does not subscribe to the Left-Liberal narrative of PM Modi or Hindus at large, as ‘devotees’ of Modi.
Screengrab of a writeup on RSF’s India Fact File
With no substantial basis, Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani has been referred to as a ‘personal friend’ of Narendra Modi. The report also mentions the rise of “Godi Media” that mixes ‘pro-BJP propaganda with populism’ to suit its purpose. One cannot be excused of sweeping assumptions and unparliamentary language used while reading the ‘fact file’ for India which RSF and its Indian footsoldiers have asked us to take seriously.
Screengrab of a writeup on RSF’s India Fact File
RSF claims to have press freedom that it is “accepting” of politically divergent views, going as far as to say that even acceptance of “political affiliated” views is also a prerequisite. However, here they specifically demonise media houses like Republic TV and Times Now, that choose to not toe the Left’s line.
On Mukesh Ambani and Government’s so-called hegemony over the narratives
The RSF report on India claimed, “…In the mid-2010s when Narendra Modi became prime minister, (he) engineered a spectacular rapprochement between his party, the BJP, and the big families dominating the media. The prime example is undoubtedly the Reliance Industries group led by Mukesh Ambani, now a personal friend of Modi’s, who owns more than 70 media outlets that are followed by at least 800 million Indians.” Last we checked when Mukesh Ambani acquired a 75% stake in the News 18 group that owns and operates its various national and regional news channels, it also runs joint ventures with other media companies to run a number of channels in the News 18 universe.
For example, News 18 has partnered with CNN, a media company which runs a progressive left American news Channel CNN International. Plus, News 18 has had a long venture with Marathi news media group Lokmat and jointly runs a Marathi news channel ‘News18 Lokmat’. The Lokmat Group is owned by Vijay Darda, a senior Congress politician from Maharashtra. While RSF thinks it’s straight-jacketing of News18 ventures as right-wing hegemonies in the media space, it is only after Reliance’s takeover of the company from 2011 to 2014 that its ventures have allowed a multiplicity of views from the non-left ideological space as well.
Talking about the influence of powerful families in the media, India has had a history of politicians funding or directly owning news channels or media groups with Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Singh Badal owning PTC News and Sun TV Network owned by Kalanithi Maran – grand nephew of erstwhile DMK supremo M Karunanidhi. The political affiliation of channels often reflects their broadcasting biases including the quintessential Left-sympathetic NDTV owned by Pranoy Roy whose wife Radhika Roy is the sister of Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Such examples find no consideration by RSF in its report.
If individual personalities are concerned, the journalists often employed in these news channels pre-2014 were close to the Congress establishment and formed an ideological ecosystem with support from the state to monopolize the political narrative. Now with the internet boom and gravitation of masses towards the right, the need to accommodate multiple viewpoints has emerged, which in turn has opened the floodgates of expression. Youtube videos, news websites, tweets, newsletters, etc have become tentacles of independent media used by the right and the left equally.
News diversity in India, a suggestive yet debatable infographic by India in Pixels.
Had there been purging of dissenting voices against the state or its actors, there would have been no successful attempts of having potshots at India through International media and its generously well-funded lapdogs in India. If RSF blames the Republic and Times Now for parroting BJP propaganda, there are enough variables on the other side including The Print, The Wire, Scroll, and Newslaundry (funded by the global Omidyar Network), MOJO, The Quint and others on the Left.
We found that RSF’s own data points are not in tune with its tall claims of Modi hegemonizing the whole media canvas. While according to its own standards, the press freedom in India fell dramatically during the Congress years, putting the onus of the same on Modi is a contradiction in itself. Furthermore, RSF’s data collection and methodology and layered with its bias towards the Left, as evident with the usage of Hinduphobic derogations like ‘Bhakts’ in its conclusive document. Its mired understanding of Indian peculiarities with comparisons drawn with the western-normative context hence does not justify its abysmally low ranking of India.
It is India’s zeal for diversity and the will of an average Indian to listen to all the sides that keep the future of press freedom in the country shining. Perhaps, organizations like the RSF should interview common Indians as well, going well beyond the versions of its local lapdogs.
An FIR has been filed against a school principal in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, for instructing small children to make a video wearing Islamic dress on the occasion of Eid. The instructions were issued by school principal Bushra Mustafa at Nyaya Nagar Public School in Jhunsi, and now a case has been filed against her after parents of the toddlers and Hindu groups filed complaints against her.
In the name of an activity, she asked nursery and UKG students to make a 20-second video and say Eid Mubarak to everyone wearing Islamic dress. It was clearly stated in the order that while saying Eid Mubarak, it is mandatory for boys to wear Eid caps with salwar kurtas and girls to take dupatta with salwar kurtas. The instructions said that the marks allotted to the activity will also be added to the annual examination.
The activity was given to the students by the school.
According to the order, the activity was scheduled for 2nd May 2022. But when the parents came to know about it, they objected to it. On the other hand, when Hindu organizations came to know about it, the protest against the school and the school principal started. Organizations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti complained about the matter. He called it a violation of religious freedom. The organizations said that it is a kind of mental conversion to give such instructions that if the student does not become a part of this activity, then he will not get marks in the final exam.
An FIR has been lodged by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad against school principal Bushra Mustafa under sections 295-A, 153-A, and 67 of the IPC at The Keedganj police station in Prayagraj. It is alleged that the school principal misused her position and under a well-thought-out conspiracy that emerged out of her communal thinking, she did hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus, spoiled the atmosphere of educational institutions, created religious discrimination among children, and poisoned communalism in the minds of young children. The complaint also said that on 3rd May 2022, apart from Eid, Parshuram Jayanti and Akshaya Tritiya were also celebrated, but no activity related to these festivals was given to the children.
However, Bushra Mustafa has defended her decision, saying similar activities are already done during other festivals. Referring to the activities carried out during Hindu festivals and national holidays, she said, “These activities take place on festivals such as Dussehra, Diwali, August 15, January 26. Similarly, children were asked to do the same on Eid. It is not mandatory. Parents who do not agree with this can enrol their children in other schools. These activities are carried out to increase the confidence of the students.”
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia’s former member Journalist Pankaj Yadav has revealed the names of journalists in the club who were responsible for cancelling Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s press conference on May 5 in Delhi. On Tuesday, the Foreign Correspondents Club in New Delhi had cancelled the press conference of the ‘The Kashmir Files’ director, who was in the city to discuss the truth about the Kashmiri Hindu Genocide and his film ‘the Kashmir Files’.
IMPORTANT: ALL MEDIA
1. Foreign Correspondents Club, New Delhi has cancelled my PC on 5th May in an undemocratic manner as part of a hate-campaign against #TheKashmirFiles.
2. I am holding an open-house PC at the Press Club of India on the 5th at 4 PM. All media are invited. pic.twitter.com/aDFbS9FteB
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 3, 2022
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has become a victim of a hate campaign since it has been revealed that journalist-members of the FCC associated with foreign media houses had threatened to pull down Agnihotri’s scheduled press conference. He took to Twitter yesterday to allege that some powerful media persons had objected to the event while threatening that they would resign en masse if the conference is held. On Wednesday, Journalist Pankaj Yadav revealed on Twitter that PCC President Munish Gupta was threatened by its governing board members to cancel Vivek Agnihotri’s Press Conference.
Screengrab of Tweet from @pkjscribe
Yadav who claimed to have an ‘insider’s view’ wrote on Twitter, “(I) am in the governing committee of PCC New Delhi. President Munish Gupta cancelled Vivek Agnihotri’s May 5 Press conference at the Club after office bearers Emily Schmall, Sebastian Farcis, Tawqeer Hussian and Kumkum Chadha threatened to resign from Governing Committee if it was allowed.”
Screengrab of Tweet from @pkjscribe
He further noted that Emily Schmall is India Correspondent for the New York Times. is Correspondent for Radio France Internationale and Libération in India and South Asia. Tawqeer Hussain is the Correspondent of Yomiuri Shimbun, a conservative Japanese newspaper and Kumkum Chadha is the Correspondent of Independent Television from Bangladesh. It may be noted that Pankaj Yadav, contrary to his claims of currently being a member, was expelled from the Governing Committee and membership of the Club in November 2021 for allegedly carrying out ‘continuous acts of misconduct’.
Talking about the incident, Agnihotri in his video had added that the Foreign Correspondents Club had made unusual demands for food and cocktails at the press conference and at their request, the team of Zee Studios had made all the arrangements for the logistics.
On May 4, after the Foreign Correspondents Club, New Delhi cancelled Agnihotri’s Press Conference scheduled for May 5, The Press Club of India did the same claiming that no bookings for the event were done. However, the filmmaker posted proofs of the same on his Twitter profile, following the accusation. Agnihotri and his team now plans to host an independent press conference for journalists at Hotel Le Meridian on May 5 at 3:30 PM.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury made a bizarre statement today in which he claimed that there is a swimming pool in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s airplane. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also claimed that PM Modi bathes in the swimming pool while he is on the flight, going on his foreign tours. The Congress leader made these remarks when, in a press conference at Murshidabad on 4th May 2022, he was asked about Rahul Gandhi’s video from his Nepal tour that went viral.
In the video, Rahul Gandhi was seen in a pub with a woman, and several social media users had claimed that the woman is Chinese ambassador to Nepal. Rahul Gandhi visited Nepal to attend the wedding of a girl. After BJP started questioning Rahul Gandhi over his pub visit in Nepal, the Congress leaders and Gandhi family loyalists have gone on an overdrive to defend him, spreading lies and making bizarre claims. As part of that, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that there is a swimming abroad the VVIP aircraft that the PM and the President use for official travels.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is afraid of Rahul Gandhi, that’s why it targets him. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bought two planes worth Rs 13,000 crore, which have a swimming pool and he (Modi) goes abroad while bathing in it and comes back after giving a speech there.”
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury further said, “Rahul Gandhi had gone to Nepal to attend his friend’s wedding and spent money from his own pocket for it. Nepal is not a country where one can’t go; rather it is our neighbouring country. The way the BJP has attacked Rahul Gandhi, in this case, shows that the BJP is afraid of him.”
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury added, “The BJP does not have an answer to any of Rahul Gandhi’s questions and the Prime Minister has not answered any of Rahul Gandhi’s questions so far.”
The claim by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is bizarre because it is almost impossible to have a swimming pool inside a plane. There are several reasons why it is possible to have a pool inside a passenger plane, that too a VVIP plane.
First, water is heavy, and the quantity of water needed to fill even a small size pool will weight a lot. Weight is a very important factor in aeroplanes, and such a heavy load will mean that the plane won’t be able carry much of other items. Second, an aircraft does not always remain stable, its nose climbs up by several degrees during take off and landing, and it is common for aeroplanes to face turbulence. This will mean that water will not remain in the pool during the flight, it will splash everywhere inside the plane, and everything inside will be drenched in water, including critical communication and defence equipment the VVIP aircraft have.
An open pool on a moving plane will cause it to violently move forward and backward, sideways, and move up if the aircraft suddenly drops in altitude due to some reason. When it happens, apart from covering everything in water and destroying sensitive equipment, it will shift the centre of gravity of the plane, which may cause it to become unstable.
To put it simply, it is not possible to have a swimming pool inside a aircraft from safety point of view and other reasons. While liquids like fuel are transported by transport planes, they are not transported in open pools. They are always transported inside tankers. Transport planes also use giant rubber bladders to temporarily convert to air tankers, which means the liquid is contained in tanks or blabbers, not kept open like a swimming pool.
It is notable that on 3rd May 2022, videos of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went viral where he was seen attending a party in Nepal. It was reported by Nepali media that Gandhi has gone to attend the wedding of former CNN journalist Sumnima Udas.
Udas has a controversial past when it comes to reporting about India. She had also shared a report by propagandist author Arundhati Roy in which she had called PM Modi a dangerous man and alleged that the Indian government failed to manage the Covid pandemic. As is usual with Arundhati Roy, the write-up was low on facts and high on rants.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray addressed a press conference in Mumbai on 4th May 2022 regarding his demand to ban illegal loudspeakers from religious places. On Wednesday morning, Hanuman Chalisa was played on a loudspeaker during Namaz in an area of Mumbai. The matter has gained further momentum after an open letter written by Raj Thackeray. In his statement, Thackeray had alleged that restrictions are imposed on Hindu festivals through silence zones in the name of schools or hospitals, but mosques are exempt from such restrictions.
Raj Thackeray said that according to the information he received, there are 1140 mosques in Mumbai out of which 135 mosques used loudspeakers till 6 am today. Raj Thackeray asked what steps is the government taking against these mosques acting against the Supreme Court’s decision.
In Mumbai there are a total of 1,140 Mosques of whom as many as 135 used loudspeakers before 6am today. Appropriate action should be taken against these 135 mosques that went against the orders of the Supreme Court of India: Maharashtra Home Department
Raj Thackeray has said that the agitation will continue till loudspeakers come down from mosques across the country. He further warned that it is not a religious but a social issue. Raj Thackeray said, if the government and the Muslims do not listen to the requests, MNS will also respond to them in a language they understand.
We will continue playing Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques at the time of Azaan until all illegal loudspeakers will be removed. I have to see what Supreme Court is doing if govt is not following its order: MNS chief Raj Thackeray
Earlier in his letter, Raj Thackeray had written, “If a loudspeaker is heard from any mosque from Wednesday, we will recite Hanuman Chalisa in a volume double than that of the loudspeaker.”
Angered by the arrest of the MNS activists, Raj Thackeray said, “Around 250 MNS workers have been detained by the police at different places across Maharashtra for carrying out the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers. In Pune, police have also detained MNS General Secretary Ajay Shinde along with six others for performing Maha Aarti.”
Maharashtra: Police detains Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Secretary Ajay Shinde along with six others after they perform Maha Aarti in Khalkar Hanuman Mandir in Pune pic.twitter.com/ydWGER2p4R
Maharashtra | Navi Mumbai’s Sanpada Police detained the city head of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Yogesh Shete, amid the loudspeaker row pic.twitter.com/QGUApiY0lA
Raj Thackeray further said, “I want peace in Maharashtra and not any kind of violence. If, after 4th May, the loudspeakers on the mosques are heard in the same way they used to be till now, we will play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers, right in front of those mosques. Out of 1400 to 1500 mosques here in Mumbai, about 135 mosques broke the Supreme Court’s guidelines and used the loudspeakers. I am asking the Police of Maharashtra and the Government of Maharashtra what action are they taking on these 135 mosques. This is not a one-day movement, it will continue. If the volume of the loudspeakers exceeds the limits fixed by the Supreme Court, then proper action should be taken. Unless these loudspeakers are switched off and come down from the mosques, our agitation will continue. We will recite Hanuman Chalisa on the loudspeaker.”
Pune Commissioner Amitabh Gupta said that the situation is completely under control. Most of the mosques have not given the azaan from loudspeakers and the Supreme Court guidelines have been fully followed. 2500 police personnel have been deployed to maintain peace and order in the city.
Reacting to Raj Thackeray’s statement, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that there is no illegal loudspeaker in the state. He alleged that Raj Thackeray is trying to vitiate the atmosphere. Sanjay Raut said, “There is a law on loudspeakers all over the country, which is being followed in Maharashtra also. Shiv Sena is the real Hindutva. It was Bal Thackeray and Veer Savarkar who taught the country the lesson of Hindutva. There is no protest anywhere in the state.”
There is peace in Maharashtra and no protest is happening in the state. No illegal loudspeakers running in the state… Bal Thackeray & Veer Savarkar are the ones who taught Hindutva to the country. Shiv Sena’s school of Hindutva is original: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/LTFfewECEG
Raj Thackeray’s troubles were compounded when the Aurangabad police registered a case against him two days ago for his speech over loudspeakers used in mosques. The Director-General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra said that appropriate legal action will be taken against him on the issue. A court in Western Maharashtra’s Sangli district has issued a non-bailable warrant against Raj Thackeray in a 14-year-old case. A court in Western Maharashtra’s Sangli district has issued a non-bailable warrant against Raj Thackeray in a 14-year-old case. The Mumbai Police has issued a notice to Raj Thackeray under a section of the CrPC pertaining to the prevention of cognizable offenses.
For years, there have been stories circulating around on social media platforms that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had an affair with an Italian footballer identified as Franco Luison. It all started after Italian magazine Gente reportedly published an interview of the late footballer in 2004.
Luison talked about his alleged 4-year affair with Sonia (then-Antonia Maino) before she met former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. As the affair happened before Sonia Gandhi adopted the name, we will refer to her as Antonia Maino.
The footballer recalled that both the families were happy with the relationship, and her parents often hosted him at their home in Orbassano near Turin. Franco and Antonia had met for the first time at the seashore of Jesolo in the 1960s. At that time, she was only 14 years old, and Franco was 26. He said, “I used to go to Orbasano to meet her. Her family always received me with great pleasure and courtesy. Would remain with her until Tuesday before return for the practice.”
Antonia was not interested in Football and rarely went to the stadium to see Franco in action, the footballer had claimed. They used to go to Vicenza for weekends. Franco said she wanted him to promise her marriage, but he postponed it every time. Later, Antonia was sent to England by her parents for her studies. Franco was not happy with the decision.
In England, she met Rajiv Gandhi. Though she used to tell Franco about everything she was doing, by the interview, it seems she never mentioned Rajiv in the letters. It was only after coming for a vacation that she told Franco about Rajiv and informed him that she was invited to India to meet his mother, Indira Gandhi, who later became Prime Minister of India. When Antonio went back to Italy, she was convinced that she would marry Rajiv, said Franco.
He added it was hurtful, but they departed in a gentle manner. Franco stayed in touch with Antonia’s family. Nora, wife of Franco, said, “I was jealous of Sonia, for all his friends used to speak about her when I started our relationship in late 1964. I was afraid one day Sonia would come back, and I will lose Franco!”
Speculations around the authentication of the story
OpIndia tried to dig more about the alleged affair between Sonia Gandhi and the Italian footballer before she met Rajiv Gandhi. There were only a few blog posts that talked about the story claiming it was a translation of the interview Franco gave to the Italian magazine. Other than that, there was not much information available either about the affair or the footballer. There were only blog posts here, here, here and here that were copied from a single source that narrated the story.
We found only one reference similar to the interview. In 2013, Egidio Zampese, a freelance journalist, had told Ilsussidiario.net about an incident when he saw Sonia Gandhi (then-Antonia Maino) with the footballer. Zampese lived close to Sonia Gandhi’s parent’s residence in Lusiana. He had said, “I remember meeting her one afternoon in the 1970s: she was with her friend Franco Luison, a former Vicenza goalkeeper, while they had an aperitif in a bar. I wanted to photograph them, but she didn’t want to. So I only photographed him, who also gave me his autograph. But we also stopped to talk, she told me where she was born, and then we chatted about this and that, we are almost the same age, we only have three years of difference.”
It is true that there was a footballer by the name of Franco Luison. However, neither an archive nor any online version of the story was found during research. Congress and Gandhi’s family have always maintained silence when it comes to Sonia’s family and life before meeting and marrying Rajiv Gandhi.
OpIndia has sent an email to Hearst publication that publishes the magazine Gente in which the interview allegedly got published. If and when we get a reply from them, we will update the story. As of now, OpIndia can neither confirm nor deny the claims that Sonia Gandhi had dated an Italian Footballer before meeting Rajiv Gandhi.
