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Attack on Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra in Jahangirpuri was planned a week in advance by mastermind Ansar Sheikh: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Attack on Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra in Jahangirpuri was planned a week in advance by mastermind Ansar Sheikh: Reports

On Friday, April 22, sources in the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch, investigating the attack on Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra in Jahangirpuri, Delhi on April 16, revealed that the attack was pre-planned by the prime accused Mohammed Ansar Sheikh. As per a report in Live Hindustan, Ansar had allegedly organised a meeting seven days before Hanuman Jayanti to execute the attack on the Shobha Yatra that would be held on that day.

Ansar, residing in Jahangirpuri’s C block, is allegedly the area’s Muslim leader. When the procession arrived near the Masjid, he is said to have started an argument, and when the discourse turned heated, the procession came under a violent attack.

According to privy to the probe, Ansar had convened a meeting with 30 people, including a few juveniles, at Kushal Chowk in Jahangirpuri a week before the attack where it was decided how they would block the procession. The accused were communicating through WhatsApp call to avoid being recorded.

“Red colour stones were assembled by the accused on the rooftop of several houses. It was all pre-planned. The accused later washed the whole roof. It was done in a bid to destroy the evidence,” an India TV report stated citing sources in the Delhi Police crime branch.

Meanwhile, one Suresh, who was pulling the procession chariot when it was attacked by a mob of fanatics, also claimed that Ansar was leading the demonstration and inciting the mob to attack them. He said Ansar pushed him and demanded that the procession be stopped.

Furthermore, following the incident, various videos surfaced online wherein the victims of the Jahangirpuri violence are heard saying that the attack was indeed a pre-planned one. They described how lathis and arms were amassed by the rioters.

In fact, the Delhi Police had also obtained CCTV footage from the Jahangirpuri area, where a Hanuman Jayanti procession was attacked on April 16. Some people could be seen gathering sticks in the clip the day before the incident.

The CCTV video was recorded somewhere around 2 AM on the 15th of April in Jahangirpuri. In the video, 4-5 young men can be seen gathering sticks from the streets in the neighbourhood. There appears to be opposition as well from the locals, which subsequently escalated into a minor skirmish.

Jahangipuri violence mastermind Ansar Sheikh has close links with TMC

Earlier in the day, OpIndia reported how West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had said that Ansar Sheikh is close to the Trinamool Congress party, and is actively involved in the acts of political violence by the TMC goons. Prior to this, both BJP and AAP alleged that Jahangirpuri violence masterminding Ansar Sheikh is a member of the other party.

The BJP leader said on Thursday that Ansar regularly visits Haldia in West Bengal, and alleged that Ansar was involved in the attack on his car after the assembly elections last year. 

West Bengal BJP leaders have said that Ansar Sheikh has close links with Sheikh Ajijul Rahman, TMC councillor from Ward No 15 in Haldia municipality. Photographs have also emerged showing them together, one of them showing Ansar placing his hand on Ajijul’s shoulder.

However, TMC has denied any links with Ansar Sheikh. Ajijul Rahman also said that he knows Ansar as a local resident, but denied any political links.

It is notable that Ansar Sheikh owns a luxurious mansion in Haldia, the industrial town in East Midnapore district, and he frequently visits the place as alleged by the state BJP. Reportedly, Delhi Police have already started to probe his Bengal links in the case.

Uttar Pradesh: Bulandshahr man Zakir Ali booked after 3 of his 9 daughters file complaint accusing him of sexual assault

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Bulandshahr man Zakir Ali booked after 3 of his 9 daughters file complaint accusing him of sexual assault

In Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, a complaint has been registered against a man named Zakir Ali, who has been accused of molestation and torture by his own daughters. One of his daughters appealed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Twitter, requesting that his father and his friends be punished for sexually exploiting them and threatening to murder them. She also tweeted a video showing the illegal weapon her father uses to threaten them.

Journalist Sachin Gupta tweeted, “45-year-old Zakir Ali has 9 daughters in Bulandshahr district of UP. Today 3 daughters have complained to SSP. It is alleged that the father molests all the daughters, touches their private parts, and forces them to sleep with him. Police started investigation.”

Responding to the tweet, the Bulandshahr Police stated, ‘On the basis of the complaint by the daughters levelling charges against the father, prompt legal action is being assured by registering the case at the police station.’

On Thursday, a young woman from the Siyana area in Bulandshahr tweeted that her father had assaulted her and her sisters. She said that her father abuses her and her siblings after consuming alcohol and that when the sisters object, he beats them and threatens to sell, rape, and murder them.

Following the tweet made by the victim, the district police swung into action. SSP Santosh Kumar Singh met the victim girl, listened to her plight, and directed the police to take action. Following this, the local police station has launched an inquiry. The accused has also been brought into custody for questioning. SSP Santosh Kumar Singh stated that action will be taken following an inquiry in the case. The letter of complaint by the victim has gone viral all over the internet.

Kerala: SDPI workers Muhammad Bilal, Rizwan, Riyassuddin, Sahad arrested for brutal murder of RSS leader in Palakkad

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: SDPI workers Muhammad Bilal, Rizwan, Riyassuddin, Sahad arrested for brutal murder of RSS leader in Palakkad

On Friday, the Kerala Police arrested four members of the Islamist organization Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) for murdering an RSS leader in Kerala’s Palakkad district last week. The accused have been identified as Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Rizwan, Riyassuddin, and Sahad.

SDPI is the political wing of the radical Islamist organisation PFI.

The murder victim SK Sreenivasan was a former Physical Education instructor of the RSS. He was murdered by a group of 6 assailants who arrived on three bikes. They hacked him to death inside his shop in the Melamuri area of Palakkad with sharp weapons. According to eyewitnesses, the attackers were armed with machetes and attacked him several times, inflicting multiple fatal injuries.

BJP state leader Krishnakumar had stated that the radical Islamic organization Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) was behind the attack. SDPI is the political wing of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) which is banned in several parts of India. The BJP leader had further said that they had received threat calls after the murder of SDPI activist Subair. The Police also suspected that the death of the RSS worker was a retaliatory attack. Reportedly, the RSS leader was murdered within 24 hours of SDPI worker Subair’s death.

According to the reports, the Kerala Police had initiated a massive manhunt to nab the culprits who had fled after brutally murdering SK Sreenivasan on April 16. The police had also warned that stern action would be taken against those who try to incite communal tension through social media in the backdrop of the Palakkad murders.

Accordingly, the state police chief had issued instructions to monitor social media activity in the state to control the spread of fake news that might have incited communal tensions. However, this is not the first time that SDPI workers have targeted the BJP leaders or RSS leaders.

Earlier in December last year, the SDPI workers had reportedly murdered BJP leader Ranjith Sreenivasan in the Alappuzha district of Kerala. The perpetrators had broken into Sreenivasan’s house in the wee hours on December 19 and hacked him to death. Also, on November 15, a 26-year-old RSS worker A. Sanjith was hacked to death, reportedly by the SDPI goons. Sanjith, a native of Elappully was killed while he was going to work on his motorcycle with his wife.

The Police on Friday arrested four out of six murderers in the recent case and have assured to arrest of the other two members of the group. The Police have charged the culprits under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

SC verdict helps Firoz escape harsher punishment for rape and murder of 4-year-old girl: Read what post-mortem report of his victim said

OpIndia Staff
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SC verdict helps Firoz escape harsher punishment for rape and murder of 4-year-old girl: Read what post-mortem report of his victim said

In a verdict that sparked outrage across the country, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Mohd Firoz who was convicted of rape and murder of a 4-year-old minor girl saying that “every sinner has a future”. The Court also refused to sentence the convict to life imprisonment and instead awarded him 20 years of jail punishment.

Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh HC had convicted Mohd Firoz of raping and murdering a minor girl and awarded him with capital punishment. Challenging the legality of the judgment that was passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur in 2014, the apex court cited the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde stating that “the only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.”

A bench of Justices U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and Bela M Trivedi maintained that the basic principle of restorative justice as developed by the court over the years was to allow the offender to repair the damage caused and to become a socially useful individual after his release from the jail. “To allow the offender to repair the damage caused, and to become a socially useful individual when he is released from the jail -The maximum punishment prescribed may not always be the determinative factor for repairing the crippled psyche of the offender”, para 43 of the judgment read.

In its judgement further, the Court stated that the Judge presiding over the criminal trial has not only to see that an innocent man is not punished but also has to see that the guilty man does not escape. “Right to a fair and speedy trial applies as much to the victim as the accused”, the judgement noted.

Para 43 of the judgement (Image source- Screenshot from the original judgement)

The bench reconsidered the ruling of the sessions court and the High court and said that the evidence on record was forming a chain of circumstances and that any other hypothesis except the guilt of the accused could be possible. The Sessions Court in 2014 had framed offences under various sections of the IPC against two accused Rakesh Chaudhary and Mohd Firoz and had directed them to undergo life imprisonment. The Madhya Pradesh High Court however dismissed the appeal of accused Firoz and confirmed the death sentence for him, acquitting Chaudhary in the case.

Upon the death sentence, the SC panel held that it deems proper to commute the sentence of death for the sentence of imprisonment for life under Section 302 of the IPC. The panel asserted that owing to Section 376A of the IPC, the sentence of imprisonment would have been appropriate considering the gravity and seriousness of the offence.

The post-mortem report of the victim

The Supreme Court ruled its decision after it considered the witnesses including the victim’s family, fruit seller, Police, and the Doctors who had identified Firoz. The Doctors had medically examined Firoz and collected his sample proving that he was capable of committing sexual intercourse. The Doctors also examined the victim girl and declared that she was raped. However, they denied confirming the actual cause of death antemortem.

Post mortem findings of the case (Image source- Screenshot from the original judgement)

The post-mortem of the victim was conducted by Dr Pradeep Gangadhar Dixit, Professor and HOD in Forensic Medicine Department, Medical College, Nagpur, on April 30, 2013, along with his colleagues. He had recorded that the victim had injuries on her upper lip, lower lip, neck, and in the area below the neck and above the chest.

Post mortem findings of the case (Image source- Screenshot from the original judgement)

“Dr Pradeep Gangadhar Dixit, a professor and H.O.D. in Forensic Medicine Department, Medical College, Nagpur, along with his colleagues conducted the postmortem of the dead body of the victim at about 10:35 AM on 30 April 2013 and noted the external and internal injuries on the body of the victim. The final cause of death was stated to be “brochopeneumonia and cerebral hypoxia, which was caused by smothering the nose and mouth, the SC order read.

The post-mortem report also mentioned that the victim had multiple linear abrasions on the right thigh and there were marks of pressure on her elbow, right wrist, and in between the legs. The doctors had further made a hole in the right side of the heart to assess the central venous pressure. The report confirmed the blood clots over the internal muscles and noted that all the organs of the deceased were congested. Also, the vaginal canal of the deceased was partially torn.

What had happened to a 4-year old victim in the year 2013

The case dates back to the year 2013 when the 4-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and murdered by Mohd Firoz. At about 06:30 pm, Rakesh Choudhary visited the house of the victim along with Mohd Firoz and requested her mother to provide accommodation for Firoz for a day. However, her mother refused to provide such accommodation. Thereafter, Rakesh Choudhary left and Firoz sat for a while in the courtyard of the house. He saw a minor girl aged about 4 years playing with her brother and other cousins.

After some time, the mother found that her daughter was missing and even Firoz had left the house. She along with her other family members tried to search for her daughter at the nearby places, however, she was not found. A few hours later a man came with some bananas and told the victim’s mother that Bhaijaan (Firoz) had taken the girl with him. The mother got scared and went to the police station in Ghansaur to lodge a missing report.

On the next morning, some villagers found the minor girl lying unconscious in one of the fields. The girl was identified by the brother of victim’s mother. The victim was lying unconscious and blood was oozing from her mouth and nostrils. He immediately took her first to the Police Station and then to the Government Hospital at Ghansaur. The condition of the victim was deteriorating so she was shifted to the hospital at Jabalpur. The Doctors who examined and treated her confirmed that a rape was committed on the victim.

In their medical report, doctors stated that the victim’s hymen was found ruptured due to sexual intercourse and that a rape was committed against her. Dr Hemant, a private medical practitioner at Jabalpur Hospital, examined the victim and carried out C.T Scan. He had found swelling in her brain. The victim was kept on the ventilator, but her condition was deteriorating and, therefore, she was shifted to Nagpur. 

Gujarat: Christian family booked for forcibly converting Hindu girls in the Tapi district

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Christian family booked for forcibly converting Hindu girls in the Tapi district

A complaint has been filed against a Christian family living in the Tapi district of Gujarat for forcibly converting Hindu girls to Christianity. An FIR was registered in the Vyara police station of the Tapi district on 21st April 2022 against five members of the Vasava family living in the Ambika Nagar area of Vyara in the Tapi district. Complainant Mansiben Dilipbhai Gamit said in her complaint that the five accused members of the Vasava family are involved in forcibly converting her and another girl into Christianity.

The complainant was in love with the accused Christian boy

In her complaint, Mansiben Gamit said, “When I was earlier studying at the taluka school Vyara, Yohan Rakeshbhai Vasava was also studying there. I had an affair with Yohan. We have been talking to each other on mobile phones. As Yohan was also my brother’s friend, sometimes he used to live in our house. Since Yohan’s parents were aware of our love affair, I used to go to his house, their family practices Christianity.”

The accused trapped them for converting

She further said, “On 20th April 2022, while I was present at my house, at about eight o’clock in the morning, Yohan called me on my mobile phone and said that his father had called me to their house. when I went to Yohan’s house, his parents Rakeshbhai Vasava and Rekhaben Vasava, and two brothers Rasin Vasava and Yakub Vasava were already present there. His father cut off the holy threads of the temple tied to my hand, and his mother oiled my forehead and feet. Yohan took my mobile phone and switched it off as instructed by his father. At the same time, Mital Dhirubhai Choudhari arrived there, she is the girlfriend of Yohan’s brother Rasin Vasava. Yohan’s father Rakeshbhai Vasava oiled her feet and forehead and told us that we were unclean and we were called there only to make us pious. He told us that we should not go to our home for four days and stay there only.”

‘Jesus has put one lakh rupees to my account’

Mansiben Gamit added in her complaint, “Yohan’s father told me that the Jesus has put one lakh rupees into his account and one lakh rupees in his wife’s account and told him to discard all the old mobile phones and the old car and buy new ones. After this, he lit up candles and performed some Christian rituals. On 21st April 2022, the conversion rituals took place that lasted till 5 o’clock in the evening. It was only after the rituals that our mobile phones were switched on. I informed my parents about the whole thing. Subsequently, they reached the spot and brought me back home.”

Furthermore, she said, “Yohan Rakeshbhai Vasava, Rakeshbhai Kathudiabhai Vasava, Rekhaben Rakeshbhai Vasava, Rasin Rakeshbhai Vasava, and Yaqub Rakeshbhai Vasava are all residents of Ambika Nagar Vyara who cheated me under a criminal conspiracy and called me home. They tied my hair with a veil and switched off my mobile, illegally detained me against my will to get me married, and forcibly converted me to Christianity against my will.”

The police have booked all the five accused under section 4 of the Gujarat Religious Freedom Act and sections 342, 417, and 120B of the Indian Penal code act. The accused were arrested on 21st April 2022 late in the night.

Irfan Pathan vs Amit Mishra, with clown journalists in between: How Mishra gave a befitting response to Pathan

OpIndia Staff
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Irfan Pathan vs Amit Mishra, with clown journalists in between: How Mishra gave a befitting response to Pathan

Earlier today cricketer Irfan Pathan had shared a tweet. Lamenting over India’s future. In a tweet, Pathan wrote, “my country, my beautiful country, has the potential to be the greatest country on earth. BUT…..”

Irfan Pathan’s tweet

Though Irfan Pathan did not elaborate on the context, it was evident that he was commenting on the current socio-political events. A number of instances of communal violence have occurred recently, where Islamic mobs had attacked Hindu religious processions on the occasion of festivals.

In Karnataka’s Hubbali, a large Muslim mob had resorted to arson and had attacked a police station and a temple over a young boy’s social media post that allegedly ‘Insulted Islam’.

A few hours after Irfan Pathan’s tweet, Delhi Capitals player Amit Mishra tweeted in a similar format. Though Amit did not reply to or quoted Irfan’s tweet, it was clear that Mishra’s tweet was a response to Irfan Pathan’s earlier tweet about India’s ‘potential’.

Mishra wrote, “My country, my beautiful country has the potential to be the greatest country on earth…..only if some people realise that our constitution is the first book to be followed.”

Mishra’s tweet appeared to be sly at a certain group of people who believe that a religious book is over and above India’s constitution.

Interestingly, many “liberal” journalists took to Twitter to respond to Mishra’s tweet, hailing him for keeping the Constitution above everything, without realising that his tweet may just be a sly towards their favourite community and their propensity to keep their Holy book above the law of the land.

TheWire journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who is a self-proclaimed “Muslim journalist” and often spreads lies to peddle the Muslim victimhood narrative and whitewash Islamists, quote tweeted Mishra and tweeted, “respect”.

Perhaps Arfa did not realise that the tweet could be aimed towards the same community that she regularly protects and ends up putting the Quran over the Constitution of India.

While Arfa has not deleted her tweet yet, another journalist, who quoted the tweet by Amit Mishra and hailed him, has.

Sakshi Joshi, who also regularly shields Islamists, quote tweeted the tweet by Mishra and said, “respect”.

Tweet by Sakshi Joshi

After realising that the tweet could be aimed towards the community that keeps the Quran over the Constitution, the journalist promptly deleted the tweet.

AAP govt in Punjab reveals that it formed SIT against Tajinder Singh Bagga for ‘harming and causing hurt’ to Arvind Kejriwal by his tweets

OpIndia Staff
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AAP govt in Punjab reveals that it formed SIT against Tajinder Singh Bagga for ‘harming and causing hurt’ to Arvind Kejriwal by his tweets

The Aam Aadmi Party-led government in Punjab has disclosed that a Special Investigation Team was formed to look into the ‘provocative’ statements made by BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga.

On Wednesday, the Punjab police filed its response in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the notice issued by the court in connection with the plea to quash the FIR against Tajinder Pal Bagga. The AAP-led Punjab government has disclosed that a Special Investigation Team was formed to look into the ‘provocative’ statements put out by the BJP leader against the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.

On April 6, Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the investigation against Bagga and had issued notice to Punjab Police. In its response, the Punjab government stated that the FIR against Bagga was not registered solely on his one statement targeting Delhi Chief Minister but also on several such tweets that were allegedly “provocative, false, inflammatory, and communally divisive, besides causing harm and criminally intimidate” Arvind Kejriwal.

The Punjab government also claimed that the FIR against Bagga was registered for carrying out well-planned and orchestrated offences by issuing such statements. The AAP-led government also submitted before the High Court that they had found more offensive remarks made by Tajinder Pal Bagga.

The Punjab government counsel also argued that two more complaints had been registered against Bagga for posting posters supporting Kashmiri Hindus in the Muslim-dominated Malerkotla district and Saneta, which read, “Hindus, whose blood is not boiled is not blood at all”. The Punjab government argued that the posters were in response to the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus in the Kashmir valley in the 1990s. They argued that the complainants had alleged that such posters were divisive and created communal tensions in the area.

In the response petition, the Punjab government also disclosed that an SIT was formed to look into the statements put out by Tajinder Bagga, which found objectionable statements and posts on his Twitter handle to promote disharmony, especially against Arvind Kejriwal.

The Punjab government has filed a response petition in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, saying the BJP leader Tajinder Singh Bagga was a habitual offender and had several cases against him. The Punjab government has also urged the court to dismiss his petition seeking quashing of the FIR filed against him by the Punjab government.

In the petition, Bagga had sought quashing of the FIR filed against him by Mohali Police on April 1 on charges of making provocative statements, criminal intimidation and promoting enmity between different groups. The petition was filed by senior advocates RS Rai and Chetan Mittal on behalf of Bagga in the Court of Justice HS Sidhu.

Complaint filed against Tajinder Pal Bagga

On April 2, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga said in a statement that while he was in Lucknow, Punjab Police arrived at his home in Delhi, presumably to arrest him.

The BJP leader had alleged that Punjab Police failed to inform Delhi Police about their arrival in the state, which is against the law. Bagga had challenged Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to register 100 FIRs against him, saying that he would not stop until Kejriwal apologised for his statement against Kashmiri Hindus.

Punjab Police had registered a complaint against Bagga based on a complaint filed at Cyber Crime Police Station, Mohali. The complaint was filed by Dr Sunny Singh Ahluwalia, Lok Sabha Incharge & Spokesperson, Aam Adami Party. In his complaint, Ahluwalia alleged that Bagga and other unknown persons gave a statement on March 30 in which he instigated his followers to cause violence, use force and cause hurt to Delhi CM Kejriwal and other AAP leaders.

With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli woefully out of form, should India look beyond them for the T20 World Cup?

OpIndia Staff
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With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli woefully out of form, should India look beyond them for the T20 World Cup?

Even though this season of the IPL may not be getting high TRPs like some of its predecessors, thanks to fan favorites Mumbai and Chennai hogging the bottom 2 places of the table, this has been one of the most intriguing and open seasons of the IPL so far. Newcomers Gujarat and Lucknow have smashed their way into the top 4 at the halfway stage, while everyone else is also still in the running for the playoff spots, except Mumbai realistically.

However, while the tournament looks alive and well with this stiff competition for the playoff spots, the performances so far must be very worrying for the Indian selectors, especially from their 2 stalwarts Captain Rohit Sharma and ex-Captain Virat Kohli. With half of the IPL gone, Rohit Sharma has managed to score 114 runs at an average of 16, while Kohli has done marginally better scoring 119 runs at an average approaching 20.

While Kohli has been bailed out by his teammates, especially the new Royal Challengers captain Faf du Plessis and their finisher Dinesh Karthik, Rohit’s struggles at the top of the order have been the major contributor to Mumbai Indians starting the season with 7 defeats in a row. To make matters worse, Rohit’s opening partner and another Indian international, Ishan Kishan has managed just 110 runs in his last 6 innings at a strike rate below run a ball. Even though Kishan started the tournament positively with an excellent 81*, it has been all downhill since then.

To compare these numbers to the rest of the regular Indian international contingent in IPL, we have KL Rahul being absolutely brilliant once again in the tournament with a century and a half-century already in this edition averaging 44 with a healthy strike rate. Newly appointed Kolkata skipper Shreyas Iyer has also been mighty impressive for his new franchise scoring at an average of nearly 40 with a strike rate pushing 150.

Surya Kumar Yadav, despite missing the first 2 matches of the IPL, is already among the top scorers for the season and he is scoring those runs at a strike rate well above 150. Perennial injury concern Hardik Pandya has also reacted well to his captaincy responsibilities at Gujarat and has been impressive with both bat and ball.

Dinesh Karthik has also taken the opportunity during this IPL to announce that his career is far from over and has made a very strong case to be a part of the Indian side as a finisher during the T20 World Cup. Several other batsmen on the fringes of Indian T20 selection, like Prithvi Shaw, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, and even old warhorse Shikhar Dhawan are performing much better than the veteran Rohit-Kohli duo.

If these 2 great servants of Indian cricket don’t manage to turn their form around during the second half of the IPL, should India pick a side for T20 internationals on the basis of reputation alone, or should they look towards in-form players who are scoring runs for fun during the IPL against international level bowlers?

The point to remember here is that the only time India did win the T20 World Cup, in 2007, India won when all the senior players like Tendulkar, Dravid, and Ganguly stayed at home and India took a very young side under a new captain to the tournament. Maybe returning to that formula won’t be the worse thing for India with their seniormost players being woefully out of form.

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his MLA brother in trouble as Election Commission seeks details in quarry lease case, High Court to hear PIL

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his MLA brother in trouble as Election Commission seeks details in quarry lease case, High Court to hear PIL

Hemant Soren, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, has stirred outrage after the mines department in the state gave him a lease for a stone quarry near Ranchi. The issue was brought to the attention of the Raj Bhavan when a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by former Chief Minister Raghubar Das filed a memorandum on February 10.

Soren had violated Section 9A of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1951 by misusing his office’s power, according to the memorandum. Because Soren acquired the mining concession despite being the chief minister, the BJP said it was an example of profiteering from his position.

The BJP has also demanded that Soren be ousted as chief minister for violating the 1951 Representation of the Peoples Act. According to reports, the Election Commission has also called the chief secretary, requesting that the government validate the papers relating to mining lease issuance.

The case concerns a stone quarry mining lease awarded by the District Mining Department to Hemant Soren in June 2021 for 0.88 acres of land in Ranchi’s Angara block.

A PIL has also been filed in the Jharkhand High Court by Shiv Shankar Sharma, who sought the disqualification of the current CM’s membership for fraud. The PIL was filed to request an investigation into the assets earned by the Soren family members, Hemant Soren and his brother Basant Soren, other than their recognised source of income.

On Friday, April 22, the Jharkhand High Court will hear the petition filed against the Soren family. The case has been scheduled for hearing by a bench consisting of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad. The petition requests that the court conduct an investigation. There has been a demand in the petition for investigation of the entire property by the CBI, ED and Income Tax Department.

In this matter, CM Hemant Soren, the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, and Basant Soren, among others, have been named as respondents.

India lashes out at Ilhan Omar, Biden official says her PoK visit was ‘unofficial, personal’, does not represent US government policy: Details

OpIndia Staff
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India lashes out at Ilhan Omar, Biden official says her PoK visit was ‘unofficial, personal’, does not represent US government policy: Details

A day after the US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar visited the part of Kashmir illegally occupied by Pakistan and met former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, the United States has affirmed that Omar’s visit to Pakistan occupied Kashmir was unofficial and personal.

Derek Chollet, Counselor to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Omar’s visit is unofficial and personal and it does not represent any policy change on behalf of the United States Government. Omar yesterday visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and met its President Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry and Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbad Sharif. She discussed the alleged violation of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir with Chaudhry and assured him about discussing the issue in the United States.

The Indian Ministry of External affairs however had condemned Omar’s visit to PoK and had said that she should practice ‘narrow-minded politics’ at home. “She visited a part of J&K currently illegally occupied by Pak. If such a politician wishes to practice her narrow-minded politics at home that may be her business, but violating our territorial integrity in its pursuit makes this ours. Condemnable”, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said.

Omar also met PTI chairman Imran Khan earlier yesterday at his residence in Islamabad and praised him for his position and his work against ‘Islamophobia’ globally. Khan also meanwhile appreciated her ‘courageous and principled position on issues. The US Congresswoman further noted that Pakistan and United States had huge potential to improve and strengthen bilateral relations.

It is important to note that Pakistan has made several attempts to internationalize the issue of Kashmir though India has repeatedly affirmed that ‘Kashmir is an integral part of India and that Pakistan should not interfere in its internal matters. Chollet’s statement issued on April 22 is of significance as Omar’s unofficial visit to Pakistan occupied Kashmir could have fueled the country to pull the issue of Jammu and Kashmir again at the global level.

Omar is first member of US Congress to visit Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir after a new coalition government came into power in Islamabad last week. Apart from meetings with the political leadership in Islamabad, she has plans to visit Lahore for four-days till April 24.

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