Amidst the ongoing ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie rage, which has brought the brutally honest account of the Kashmiri Hindu genocide in Kashmir to the big screen, several far-left social media trolls and the Congress party supporters last week took to Twitter to claim that the disgraced cop Sanjiv Bhatt, who is serving prison time, also belonged to the Kashmiri Pandit community.
Several left-wing trolls targetted the Modi government days after the Kashmir Files movie released in the theatres that depicted how Kashmiri Hindus were massacred by the Jihadi Islamists in the Kashmir valley in the early 1990s. The Vivek Agnihotri film that exposes the horrific tales of genocide committed against the Kashmiri Hindus, seems to have angered the left-liberals, who have now started finding excuses to discredit and criticise the movie and the wide public support it is getting.
In doing so, the far-left social media users and the Congress party sympathisers dragged disgraced cop Sanjiv Bhatt to attack the Modi government. As per them, the Modi government should not try to sympathise with the Kashmiri Hindu community and BJP leaders should not promote the movie as they have ‘jailed’ Sanjiv Bhatt.
It is pertinent to note that Sanjiv Bhatt is currently languishing in jail for falsely implicating a lawyer Sumersingh Rajpurohit by planting opium in a hotel room in Palanpur. The tainted cop’s lies were also exposed by the Nanavati Commission in its report wherein it debunked his allegation on the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi that he had called a meeting at his residence post-Godhra riots to allow Hindus to vent out their anger against Muslims.
One troll account claimed that Sanjiv Bhatt is also a Kashmiri Pandit, and he deserves some help.
Dr Ajoy Kumar, the Congress party leader, was one of the first to claim that Sanjiv Bhatt is a ‘Kashmiri Pandit’.
Another troll account also claimed that Sanjiv Bhat, who is currently in jail in connection with a Narcotics drugs case, contended that Bhatt was a Kashmiri Pandit too.
Interestingly, Sanjiv Bhatt’s Twitter account, handled by some anonymous user, had claimed in 2018 that the sacked cop was a Kashmiri Pandit.
A Congress party troll Ravinder Kapur also peddled the same claim that the sacked IPS officer is a Kashmir Pandit and asked Prime Minister Modi whether he would make a movie on him.
The claims made by the far-left social media accounts and the Congress party supporters that the disgraced cop Sanjiv Bhatt is a Kashmir Pandit is not entirely true.
According to the reports, Sanjiv Bhatt is a Gujarati Brahmin. During an interview in 2012, Sanjiv Bhatt had himself claimed that he was a native Gujarati. Sanjiv Bhatt also served as an Indian Police Service officer in his home Gujarat-cadre before being arrested by the Gujarat CID.
The confusion over Sanjiv Bhatt’s Kashmiri Pandit lineage comes from his surname. The surname ‘Bhatt’, which is often used by Gujarati Brahmins just as Sanjiv Bhatt, is often conflated with the Kashmiri surname ‘Bhat’. Based on the above wrong assumption, the social media users sympathetic to Sanjiv Bhat claimed that the disgraced cop was a Kashmiri Hindu.
However, the claims of Bhatt being a Kashmiri Pandit do not seem to be accurate. Also, being a Kashmiri Pandit does not absolve Bhatt of his crimes. He has been found guilty by the courts after years of legal procedure and has been stripped of his rank and position.
It is also quite interesting to see that while the so-called ‘liberals’ keep denying the genocide that killed thousands of Kashmiri Hindus and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homeland, they chose a privileged ex-IPS officer to be their ‘ideal victim’.
India has responded strongly to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s statement on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at a recent session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), asserting that China has no locus standi to comment on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, which is India’s internal matter.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said other countries, including China, should note that India refrains from the public judgement of their internal issues. The MEA’s response came amidst the ongoing contacts between New Delhi and Beijing over a possible visit by Wang to India.
Our response to media queries on reference to Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir made by Chinese Foreign Minister in his speech to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Pakistan:https://t.co/0VrVAR9tOTpic.twitter.com/pxvhD9G3Vm
“We reject the uncalled reference to India by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his speech at the opening ceremony,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, in response to Wang’s reference to Jammu and Kashmir in his speech at the OIC meeting.
“Other countries including China have no locus standi to comment. They should note that India refrains from the public judgement of their internal issues,” he said.
On Tuesday, Wang Yi had raised the Kashmir issue in his speech at the OIC foreign ministers’ meeting held in Islamabad, Pakistan. The Chinese foreign minister had addressed the opening ceremony of the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
“On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope,” Wang said at the OIC meeting in Islamabad.
On March 23, Delhi Police condemned a section of netizens for willfully misrepresenting viral video of a man from Jammu & Kashmir who was denied a room in a Delhi hotel. In a statement released on Twitter, Delhi Police added that attempts to discredit the image of Delhi Police through willful misrepresentation may attract penal action.
A purported video is viral on social media wherein a person is being denied hotel reservation due to his J&K ID. The reason for cancellation is being given as direction from police. It is clarified that no such direction has been given by Delhi Police.(1/3)@ANI@PTI_News
The Delhi Police categorically denied giving any directions to deny hotel reservations to someone holding an ID of Jammu and Kashmir. They said, “A purported video is viral on social media wherein a person is being denied hotel reservation due to his J&K ID. The reason for cancellation is being given as direction from police. It is clarified that no such direction has been given by Delhi Police.”
Some netizens are trying to discredit the image of Delhi Police through willful misrepresentation of the video in circulation which can attract penal action.(3/3)@ANI@PTI_News#DelhiPoliceUpdates
They added that the person who published the video on YouTube said that he stayed in the same area in another hotel, and the hotel that denied the accommodation gave a lame excuse. Delhi Police added, “Some netizens are trying to discredit the image of Delhi Police through willful misrepresentation of the video in circulation, which can attract penal action.”
The viral video blamed Delhi Police and Vivek Agnihotri for hate against Kashmiris
An undated video was shared on Twitter by one Nasir Khuehami alleging that a hotel in Delhi denied accommodation to a person from Jammu & Kashmir. In the video, a man could be heard arguing with the receptionist of The Pleasant Inn, which is an OYO flagship property. A staff member of the hotel told the person that she was directed not to give accommodation to anyone with a J&K ID.
When the man protested, she called the manager, who told her to tell the person that Delhi Police directed for the same. Nasir, despite the fact that there was no mention of Vivek Agnihotri’s latest film, The Kashmir Files, in the viral video, blamed the filmmaker for “inciting people against Kashmiris”. Many netizens targeted Delhi Police for allegedly issuing the said directions.
It is noteworthy that such incidents, though isolated, have happened in the past. Many reports dated back as far as 2016 have been shared since the video went viral. Even in the previous incidents, Delhi Police had categorically denied issuing any directions to deny accommodation to people of J&K.
Severe protests have erupted against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government’s SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project as several people have hit the streets across the state to oppose the Kerala government’s decision to go ahead with the controversial railway project.
On Wednesday, several Congress party workers and locals joined forces to oppose the project at Chottanikkara in Ernakulam district. The protestors removed the survey stones laid down for the project and threw them into a nearby pond.
Earlier, similar protests were held in Kozhikode and Kottayam.
#WATCH | Kerala: Congress workers and locals protest and throw away the survey stones for SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project, in Chottanikkara in Ernakulam district. pic.twitter.com/TJSl9ptQB9
Earlier, the opposition had stepped up the attacks against the Kerala government over the SilverLine project. The opposition parties had disrupted the Budget session of the Kerala Assembly and had staged a boycott in the House.
The K-Rail or SilverLine project
The SilverLine project, an ambitious high-speed railway project of the state government, has given rise to the biggest political turmoil in Kerala.
As per the Kerala government, the K-Rail or SilverLine project is expected to reduce the travel time between Kasargod and Thiruvananthapuram to four hours. The total length of the project is estimated to be 529.45 km. The Pinarayi Vijayan government has claimed that the project will reduce carbon emissions.
However, the high-speed railway project has met with strong opposition in the state as the project is expected to displace nearly 30,000 people and cause severe environmental damage.
The government has defended the project saying that it would benefit the next generation of people and fuel the economic development of the region.
The SilverLine train will stop at Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode, and Kannur on its 530-km journey between Kasargod and Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, the opposition has alleged that the project will put Kerala under a financial burden.
While the Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has assured justice into a gangrape case in Virudhunagar involving two DMK leaders, another gang-rape case from last week in the state has come to the light now. Reportedly, in a case with similarity to Nirbhaya rape case in Delhi, a woman was gangraped in Vellore on 16th March after she along with her male friend was offered lift in an autorickshaw.
The case has started to appear in media after four accused in the case were arrested on Tuesday. The woman was gangraped by five people, including two juvenile, and one accused is still absconding.
According to Zee News journalist Aadhiraa Anand, the matter came to light after the police had detained two persons involved in a street fight on 19th March. While they were fighting over sharing of stolen items, they admited during the interrogation that they had gangraped a woman on 16th March, and they were fighting over distribution of money and goods they had robbed from the victim.
Nirbhaya of TN : Misses to get enough Attention.
Two persons picked up fight on Monday night in streets. Cops took them to police station for Enquiry. The statement they made shook the cops. Initially they were fighting for distribution of stolen items.
The cops were surprised as they had not received any complaint of rape. But later it was found that the victim had indeed filed a complaint by sending an email to the Vellore SP office, without stating her name. After the two men admited to the crime, the cops joined the dots and found out details about the case.
The police said that on 16th, the woman who works in a private hospital and her male boyfriend were returning to the hospital at after watching the night show of a movie. An auto-rickshaw with five men, including the driver, approached them and offered them a ride saying it is a share auto. Although initially hesitant, they boarded the vehicle.
But after some distance, the auto diverted from the course, the couple realized something is wrong and started shouting. But the five men overpowered them, and took them to a secluded place. There, the men in the auto gangraped the woman at knife point.
After the deed, the culprits also took away their mobile phones, and gold jewelry of two sovereigns. They also took the man to an nearby ATM and forced him to withdraw Rs 40,000, which they took away along with the other loots.
The two men caught by cops on 19th were fighting over distribution of the Rs 40,000 they had robbed from the couple, and it the interrogation process they had mentioned “rape”. On further questioning, the two revealed the entire crime to the police.
Based on the confessions of two men in custody, the cops contacted the bank from which the accused had robbed the money. After the accounting holder was contacted, he revealed that he was robbed and his friend was gangraped. After, the police spoke to the victim and convinced her to lodge a formal complaint.
After the complaint was filed on 22nd March, the police registered a case, and formed a special team to probe the case. The police have arrested two more persons, and a hunt is on for the fifth accused. Among the four arrested, two are named Santhosh and Manikandan, while the other two are minors and have been sent to juvenile home. The victim woman is from Bihar while her friend is from Nagpur, and both of them work in the same hospital.
The case has been registered at the Vellore North Police station under IPC sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 368 (wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, kidnapped or abducted person), 376 (D) (gang rape), 376 (E) (punishment for repeat offenders), 395 (punishment for dacoity), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 506 (ii) (punishment for criminal intimidation), along with section 4 (penalty for harassment of woman) of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his grave concern over the violence that broke out in West Bengal’s Birbhum claiming lives of eight civilians on Tuesday. The comments were made while PM Modi was speaking at the Inauguration of Biplobi Bharat gallery at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata through an online address.
#WATCH | I express my condolences over Birbhum violence, WB. Whatever help is needed to book culprits, I assure all possible help from Centre to State. I hope state govt takes strict action against culprits, & those who encourage such criminals should not be forgiven too: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/AEXKAew4JP
In his speech, he commented on the Birbhum burnings while saying, “I express my condolences on the violent incident in Birbhum, West Bengal. I hope that the state government will definitely get those who committed such a heinous sin on the great land of Bengal punished. He further stated, “I would also urge the people of Bengal to never forgive the perpetrators of such incidents, those who encourage such criminals.”
मैं पश्चिम बंगाल के बीरभूम में हुई हिंसक वारदात पर दुख व्यक्त करता हूं, अपनी संवेदना व्यक्त करता हूं।
मैं आशा करता हूं कि राज्य सरकार, बंगाल की महान धरती पर ऐसा जघन्य पाप करने वालों को जरूर सजा दिलवाएगी: PM @narendramodi
He assured that his government at the centre will take all necessary steps to punish the perpetrators at the latest. “On behalf of the central government, I assure the state that whatever help it wants will be provided to the criminals in getting them punished at the earliest,” he stated. In the function, Partha Chatterjee, senior state Minsiter who was present remarked on the PM’s comments saying,”The state government is duty-bound to ensure that the rule of law should take its course. The culprits will be hunted down and punished.”
मैं बंगाल के लोगों से भी आग्रह करूंगा कि ऐसी वारदात को अंजाम देने वालों को, ऐसे अपराधियों का हौसला बढ़ाने वालों को कभी माफ न करें: PM @narendramodi
Birbhum violence: At least 8 dead, houses torched after murder of TMC leader
On the night of March 22, at least twelve houses were reportedly set ablaze by an angered mob in the Rampurhat area in the Birbhum district of West Bengal. According to some reports, the miscreants had locked the victims in their houses and with no scope for rescue primarily eight people died engulfed in fire. Seven bodies were recovered from a single house, including those of innocent women and children.
People have suggested that the event is an aftermath of the alleged murder of Bhadu Sheikh, a local panchayat member from the TMC. Taking cognizance of the violence, the Calcutta High Court heard a suo-moto plea requesting a thorough investigation by central investigation agencies like the CBI or NIA today. The West Bengal Police has arrested eleven people in light of the burnings at Birbhum.
West Bengal, one of the restive states that perpetually remains in the news over the brutal political killings and savagery, was in the limelight once again this week after the bloodcurdling murder of at least eight people in the district of Birbhum, following the murder of TMC panchayat leader Bhadu Sheikh.
As per news reports, the eight dead were forcibly locked up inside a house and burnt to death in what is widely believed to be retributory killings, seemingly to avenge the murder of Bhadu Sheikh. Family members of Fatik Sheikh and Chhota Lalon Sheikh—the two accused of killing Bhadu Sheikh—were charred to death after they were reportedly cooped up inside a house in the Rampurhat area of the Birbhum district and set on fire.
The gruesome incident drew fierce condemnation on social media and political circles, who slammed the ruling Mamata Banerjee-led government for being inefficient and incompetent in maintaining law and order in the state and failing in ensuring the safety of its citizens.
While condemnations and criticism of the government’s inability to curb the violence pour in, it was surprising to see some members of the Left ecosystem falling over themselves to slam the Mamata Banerjee government over the Birbhum incident. Deaths, rapes, massive displacement and human rights crisis in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly election results last year did not seem to have not tugged at the heartstrings of the liberals as much as the unfortunate fate of at least 8 people who died in Birbhum this week, following which the self-described liberals took to social media to flaunt their hollow commitment to human rights and the sanctity of human life.
Self-proclaimed liberals slam Mamata Banerjee over Birbhum incident
A raft of self-described liberals took to Twitter to express their solidarity with the victims of arson witnessed in Birbhum and slam the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government for the total collapse of law and order in the state.
Swati Chaturvedi, an abusive troll masquerading as a journalist, commented on the killings, saying it was “absolutely sickening politics driving these murders”.
Source: Twitter
Sakshi Joshi, another self-proclaimed journalist, took to Twitter to question Mamata Banerjee on the gruesome killings in Birbhum. Uncharacteristically, she declared that such news of violence in West Bengal has become par for the course, asking if the state is averse to maintaining law and order.
Source: Twitter
Similar sentiments were shared by Sakshi’s husband, Vinod Kapri, yet another propagandist who pretends to be a journalist. Kapri proclaimed that Mamata Banerjee does not deserve to be the chief minister of the state even for a single second.
Source: Twitter
Prashant Kumar, a journalist, took a swipe at the “democracy in danger” brigade, asking them to take note of the brutalities taking place in West Bengal under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
Source: Twitter
YouTuber Ajit Anjum, who normally aligns with the non-BJP parties, even at the expense of logic and common sense, could not stop himself from calling out Mamata Banerjee for the Birbhum incident. “Is there rule of law or jungle raj in your state? Such incidents are not only a blot on your authority but also the proof of the failure of your system,” Anjum tweeted.
Source: Twitter
Rohini Singh, yet another self-proclaimed journalist, too joined the bandwagon in criticising Mamata Banerjee for the Birbhum incident. Describing the incident as “unspeakable horror and violence”, Singh tagged Mamata Banerjee on Twitter and questioned her on the state of affairs in West Bengal.
Source: Twitter
Many other ‘liberals’ too shunned their traditional reluctance in calling out a non-BJP chief minister and castigated Mamata Banerjee for the grisly incident that took place in Birbhum. The unequivocal condemnation from the liberals was particularly surprising, given that they have a habit of papering over inadequacies of opposition leaders and exaggerating perceived wrongdoings committed in BJP-ruled states.
However, even as the Left-liberals railed against Mamata Banerjee for the violence in Birbhum, the left-leaning rag Telegraph still did not believe the TMC chief was responsible for the current quagmire. Instead, it passed the buck on the “feud”, conveniently shielding Mamata Banerjee from taking the rap for the violence that swept Birbhum. In its article talking about violence, Telegraph declared it was a ‘feud’ that burned and caused loss of life and not the abdication of duty by the officials of the Mamata Banerjee government.
Source: Telegraph
The callous indifference of the left towards Hindu victims of post-poll violence in West Bengal
Besides the Left, the Birbhum killings provoked widespread outrage on social media websites, with many users harking back to the spate of killings, riotings, incidents of vandalism and arson that followed the assembly poll results in West Bengal last year when BJP workers and Hindus were subjected to unspeakable atrocities after Mamata Banerjee’s resounding victory in the elections.
Hundreds of BJP workers were killed, women sexually assaulted, and properties owned by perceived to be owned by BJP supporters were set ablaze in the violence that ensued in the wake of assembly election results. The spectre of violence was roundly condemned by politicians and social media users belonging to the non-left persuasion, who called on the Centre to take exemplary action against the state government in light of the brutality perpetrated in West Bengal.
However, missing was the unequivocal condemnation from the Left intelligentsia, members of whom accused the Centre of conjuring up stories of alleged atrocities to target the Mamata Banerjee government. They accused the BJP supporters of making exaggerated claims, exploiting incidents of violence and chaos to mount a propaganda blitz against the reelected government. Some of the shameless ones even outrightly refused to acknowledge the deaths of Hindus that accompanied the poll results.
Despite the damning report by the NHRC on post-poll violence in West Bengal, scathing observations made by the Calcutta HC, and gory news reports cataloguing the savagery witnessed in the aftermath of the poll results, liberals expediently looked the other way, maintaining a deafening silence on the barbarity and refusing to hold Mamata Banerjee’s government to account.
Instead, they tried to discredit the reports and accounts that asserted the existence of post-poll violence in West Bengal by casting aspersions on their veracity and insinuating that they were politically motivated to slander the victorious TMC regime.
The discriminatory response of ‘liberals’: Apathy towards Hindu victims, concern for non-Hindu victims
Now months later, as violence swept Birbhum, where 8 people, seven of whom reportedly belonged to the same Muslim family, were charred to death, the ‘liberals’ suddenly woke up from their slumber to realise their duty of holding governments to account, regardless of their political leanings. They condemned the killings and spoke up against the Mamata Banerjee regime for fostering a culture where political murders and revenge killings have, unfortunately, become the order of the day.
But tragically, this realisation did not seem to have sunk among the left-leaning liberals during the post-poll violence in West Bengal, possibly because the victims were overwhelmingly Hindus. For the Left ideologues, Hindus are akin to guinea pigs, who are worth sacrificing for putting up with the charade of secularism. Hindu lives don’t matter to them because, for them, secularism and preserving the pluralistic fabric of the country are more important than issues such as violence, rapes, assaults, arsons carried out against Hindu victims.
The dichotomy between the liberal reaction to the post-poll violence in West Bengal and the Birbhum incident is a testament to the Left’s discrimination against Hindu and non-Hindu victims.
After multiple temple committees in Karnataka announced that they will not lease shops in their temple premises to non-Hindus, the Karnataka government has clarified that the move is legal as the law regarding Hindu temples makes the same provision. The govt informed the Karnataka assembly today that according to the rules under the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act 2002, non-Hindus cannot do business in and around the premises of the Hindu religious institutions.
According to reports, this was informed in the assembly by law minister J C Madhuswamy answering to a question raised during zero hour by Congress MLAs U T Khader and Rizwan Arshad. The Congress MLAs had objected to banners and posters that have come in several temples asking non-Hindu traders having shops in temple premises vacate them.
The law minister said that as per law, non-Hindus are already not supposed to do businesses in and around Hindu temples. “As per rule number 12 under the act, non-Hindus are barred from the premises to do business in and around the premises,” he said, adding that the govt can’t interfere in the decisions of temple committees as it was as per law.
The minister added that if people are asking non-Hindu shopkeepers to vacate the shops beyond the Hindu religious areas, then action will be taken against those distributing the banners and posters. “As per the The Hindu Religious Institutions And Charitable Endowments Act and Rules that were framed in 2002, it is prohibited to lease out the space near a Hindu religious institution to a person of another faith. If these recent incidents of banning Muslim traders have occurred outside the premises of the religious institutions, we will rectify. Otherwise, as per norms, no other community is allowed to set up shop on the premises,” law minister Madhuswamy said.
The minister also pointed out that these rules were made when the Congress party was in power.
The Congress MLAs had claimed that the even the non-Hindu roadside vendors are also being targeted in this campaign. U T Khader said, “Such posters, flyers and banners are creating a discord in our society and destroying communal harmony. We urge the government to ensure such incidents do not occur.”
Responding to the issue, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the law already in place in the matter, and govt will look into it further. Talking about the decision of Marigudi Temple administration to bar non-Hindu traders from the historic Kote Marikamba Jatra, the CM said that, a lot of shops are sub-leased for business to non-Hindus. The lessees who take the shops on rent from temple committees sub-lease them to make money.
The CM said that these are business deals, and the govt is into the law for such cases and also look into the facts of the cases.
The issue of non-Hindus doing business in Hindu temples was raised after some Muslim shopkeepers had joined the protests against the hijab verdict of Karnataka High Court. After several Muslim traders had kept their shops shut as part of the protests, the managing committee of Hosa Marigudi Temple in Kaup in Udupi district, had decided not to allow Muslims to bid for the auction to allocate shops for the annual ‘Suggi Mari Pooje’.
Following that, the organising committee of the historic Kote Marikamba Jatra in Shivamogga had also taken a similar decision. The committee had withdrawn the original tender notice and issued a new one stipulated that only Hindus can bid for doing business at the Hindu festival. After that, reportedly, posters and banners have come up around other Hindu temples asking non-Hindus to vacate their shops in and around the temple premises.
On Wednesday, actor Randeep Hooda announced that he will portray Veer Savarkar in Mahesh Manjrekar’s upcoming directorial Swatantra Veer Savarkar. The film is based on the life of freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who was also a social reformer, writer, poet, historian, political leader, and philosopher.
Announcing the news on the occasion of Shaheed Diwas, Hooda took to Instagram and said, “Kuch kahaniyaan batayi jaati hai aur kuch jee jaati hain (Some stories are to be made and some stories are to be lived)! Grateful, excited, and honored to be part of #SwatantraVeerSavarkar’s biopic”.
Movie critic Taran Adarsh also shared the news on Twitter and said that actor Randeep Hooda would portray the title role in the film ‘Swatantra Veer Savarkar’. Giving further details about the movie, he said that the film will be directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, produced by Anand Pandit and Sandeep Singh, and will be co-produced by Roopa Pandit and Sam Khan.
Randeep Hooda talking to the Indian Express called the title role challenging and said that he was happy to be able to showcase Veer Savarkar’s life story. “There are many heroes that have played their part in getting us our independence. However, not everyone has got their due. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is the most misunderstood, debated, and influential of these unsung heroes and his story must be told.”, he was quoted. Director Mahesh Manjrekar meanwhile said that this was the right time to tell stories from our history that have remained ignored to date.
It is important to note that history has never been kind to Veer Savarkar. Through a concerted attempt, Savarkar was constantly made an object of scorn and contempt by successive governments after India attained freedom in 1947. He was also falsely implicated in the murder of Gandhi Ji but was later exonerated for the lack of evidence against him.
Author Vikram Sampath recently launched his concluding volume on freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, ‘Savarkar: A Contested Legacy’, 1924-1966, which chronicled the final leg of the freedom fighter’s extraordinary life. The book was released in July 2021 and it instantly rekindled the debate surrounding the vigorous attempts made by successive Congress governments and left-liberal intelligentsia to falsely vilify the freedom fighter and besmirch his reputation.
Actor Randeep Hooda was last seen in Salman Khan starrer Radhe, where he played a supporting character. His other important works include Chris Hemsworth starrer Hollywood action film ‘Extraction’ and ‘Sarabjit’ directed by Omang Kumar, also based on a true story.
Touted by critics as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill, the law restricting discussion of sex and gender with school kids was passed in both the chambers of the legislature in the American state of Florida. While Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has supported the bill, employees of Disney are mounting pressure on CEO Bob Chapek for not condemning the ‘homophobic’ bill enough.
Since March 15, a section of workers employed at various offices of Disney has participated in scheduled walkouts during breaks to protest against the company’s official stance regarding the legislation. However, on Tuesday, March 22, the protestors went on a full-day strike at the Burbank Headquarters to show their collective solidarity against the bill. The employees of Disney have painted their company’s policies as anti-LGBTQ since Disney happens to be one of the political donors to senators who have participated in drafting this bill, including Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.
What is the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill?
On March 8, The Florida State Senate passed a bill that restricts sex education on gender for kids during school instructions. The bill prohibits teaching concepts like ‘Sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to school children with an intent to regulate age-inappropriate content in accordance with the state standards. While Republican lawmakers have argued that discussions over such issues could be done spontaneously, formalising them into school curricula is unjust given its impact on young minds.
Ron DeSantis, in a press conference earlier reiterated that the bill will bring more control to the parents in their child’s education. “We are going to make sure parents are able to send their kid to kindergarten without having some of this stuff injected into some of their school curricula,” he added. While the bill has been passed in both the legislations of the Florida state, it is upon Governor DeSantis to sign it, who has shown his green signal to the bill.
LGBTQ activists and Democrats have opposed the bill with a view that it will badly affect the gay community. LGBTQ advocates and sympathizers have dubbed the bill ‘Don’t Say Gay’ as it bars teaching children sexual identities like ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, ‘queer’ and others. Opponents think that the proposition of the bill discriminates against minors who do not identify themselves through gender binaries such as ‘a boy’ or ‘a girl.’
Various advocacy groups, students, democrat lawmakers and activists in the state of Florida have opposed the law through agitations and protests conducted across America. US Secretary for Education Miguel Cardona who serves under the Biden administration has tweeted, “Leaders in Florida have decided that bills based on hate & discrimination take priority over our students’ pandemic recovery. My team & I stand with our LGBTQ+ students in Florida & across the country & urge Florida leaders to protect & support all students.”
“
Leaders in Florida have decided that bills based on hate & discrimination take priority over our students’ pandemic recovery. My team & I stand with our LGBTQ+ students in Florida & across the country & urge Florida leaders to protect & support all students.
— Secretary Miguel Cardona (@SecCardona) March 8, 2022
The political protests at Disney Campuses
However, the politics of gender has grappled Disney with the outrage on a different level. Disney is being bullied by a section of its employees for not taking a definitive stand against the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill which they have termed homophobic. The Disney leadership including CEO Bob Chapek are being criticized severely for not taking a strong stance against the state-legislated bill. Agitators have pointed out that the bill affects them personally as Disney employees since the company funds many of the legislators who have supported the bill.
The outrage increased so much that one fine day in the woke world, Disney wakes up to widespread agitations of its workers demanding it to criticise the bill across its campuses in America. From March 15, The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) workers have organised planned ‘walkouts‘ from the company during breaks from the official schedule. Already on March 9, CEO Chapek had sent out a message to his employees assuring his firm solidarity with LGBTQ issues.
However, the employees who were on a protest spree were not convinced. They thought Bob’s message came very late and failed to condemn the homophobic nature of the bill outrightly. While Bob Chapek of Disney is forced to take a political stance out of workforce pressure, on the other hand, he also has governer DeSantis criticising him for bending over the cancel culture espoused by his ‘woke’ employees.
While Disney officials have confirmed that there was no disruption in their operations, herds of its employees could be seen protesting in front of Orlando’s Walt Disney World and Walt Disney Studios. The company’s ‘LGBTQIA+ community’ and its allies have released their demands over a website whereischapek.com. The website lists that the community of protestors is ‘determined to take a stand against TWDC’s apathy in the face of the bigoted bill.’ “The recent statements and lack of action by TWDC leadership regarding the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill have utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation,” the website states.
In a razor-sharp direction, the workforce has demanded certain steps to be taken by Disney ‘in order to regain the trust of the LGBTQIA+ community and employees.’ The protestors have demanded a commitment from Disney to defund its donations to the politicians listed involved directly or indirectly ‘to clear the passage for the bill’. The list includes names of 22 politicians including Ron DeSantis, Ben Albritton, Dennis Baxley among others.
Wrapped under the cover of gay rights activism, the protests by the employees have turned political secured by their hardwired left agenda. The protesting employees have further demanded Disney stop all its construction and investments in the state of Florida until the resolution is repealed. Another demand is that no employee should be terminated if he opposes his relocation to Florida.
Furthermore, TWDC’s supposed inaction should be made up by making monetary contributions to ‘The Trevor Project’ – an LGBTQ support NGO and other human rights advocacy groups in order to ‘regain the trust’ to its LGBTQ employees. The protestors have also demanded a share in Disney’s content catalogue which will represent stories from the community in form of movies, ads and TV Series.
Forcing a private company for taking a compulsory stand against state-approved legislation has been normalised as activism in today’s America. The demand for the politicization of inert institutions and sexualization of young minds with concepts like gender identity talks about how the global left rules the roost through narrative or by grabbing control over it through sheer street power.
Gender identity and the Critical Race theory
This is not the first time the politicisation of the school syllabus has been a talking point in America – especially Florida. Last year, parents in the state voiced out severe criticism over the left’s assistance on the inclusion of ‘The Critical Race Theory’ in school syllabi. The theory examines through the prism of ‘intersectionality’ the relationship of Race and society, and fundamentally believes that the foundation of Western society is based upon Racism and discrimination against non-whites.
The concepts of Gender Identity and Sexual identity too stem from Intersectionality where the former refers to one’s personal perception of one’s own gender. It argues that while sex and sexual attraction are biological concepts, the identification of it through ‘gender’ is a social construct. Hence, according to one’s own will, one can determine his/her own gender i.e Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian, Trans. Queer among innumerable others which exist today.
While the bill passed in Florida does not discriminate against the LGBTQ community necessarily as a policy, it does threaten the objectives of the hard-left, in a sense, it stops way for its ideological indoctrination influencing young minds.
