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‘Muslims shut shops just before Karauli violence started’: Another Hindu exodus looms large. Here is what the victims said

OpIndia Staff
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‘Muslims shut shops just before Karauli violence started’: Another Hindu exodus looms large. Here is what the victims said

Days after a Muslim mob attacked the residents of Karauli, Rajasthan, on the auspicious day of the Hindu new year, the looming threat of exodus of Hindus from the area has arrived. After they were attacked and their shops were looted, the Hindus residing in the area do not want to stay in the Muslim-dominated locality anymore as they fear for their life.

Speaking to Republic Bharat, the victims of the recent Karauli communal clashes, where the mob mercilessly attacked Hindus on the day of the Hindu new year, said they do not feel safe in Karauli and planning to move to other secure location with their families.

Chandrashekhar Garg, a resident of Hatwara Bazar in the city, said his family ran a departmental store for the last six decades in the locality. On that fateful day of April 2, Garg narrated, he was sitting in his shop running his business as usual. He added that at around 15:30 hours, Muslim shop owners closed their shops entirely and left the locality.

“We run around eight shops, all close to the shops run by Muslims. At around 15:30, they suspiciously closed the shops and left the area. They were assembling at a place. But, we did not worry much as we all know them very well. However, they took out a rally and at around 19:00 hours, they forcefully removed us from stores. My father and brother were thrown by the angry mob out of the stores forcefully, who then looted the entire shop.” said Garg.

As Garg tried to stop them, the mob attacked them and vandalised their shop. My father was attacked, said Garg, as he cried helplessly. He also added that the Muslim mob set fire after robbing everything from the shop.

Garg, who has now lost his three shops in the attacks, said they tried to contact the fire brigade. Shockingly, the fire brigade did not respond to their calls, instead, they deployed three to four teams to help Muslims and not Hindus.

“All the shops owned by them are safe. The mob specifically targetted the Hindu shops and set them on fire,” added Garg, accusing the Muslim mob of meticulously planning the attacks on Hindus in advance.

Now, fearful of another round of attacks from the Muslim mob, Garg and his family have decided to move out Hatwara Bazar area.

“The Hindus want to quit Karuali and leave the town. They will push us outside, we are very fearful. We are being attacked. We are leaving this locality, said Chandrashekhar Garg.

Karauli attack was pre-planned, there will be more attacks on us, says a resident

Another elderly victim, Ramesh, who is in his 60s, also corroborated the claims made by his neighbour Garg. Ramesh said he owned two shops, one a provisions store and a milk vending booth, which was explicitly targeted by the Muslim mob.

“My shops and house were all burnt down by the mob. I have been running this business for the last 35 years, now they have burnt it down,” said Ramesh, who is perturbed after the April 2 attacks.

The resident of Hatwara Bazar, Ramesh, also said that the Muslim mob took out a rally on Saturday noon and later in the evening, they assembled and attacked, looted and set fire to shops owned by Hindus.

“They thrashed us, forced us to run away from the shop. We were not allowed even to save our shops. It was a pre-planned attack on us. They looted my dairy and vandalised our scooters. Our workers had to run for life. We saved our lives as we hid inside the closed doors. Half an hour later, the mob attacked us again. We are shocked and do not want to open the shops. This is a very troubling time for us,” said Ramesh speaking to Republic Bharat.

Interestingly, the residents all confirmed that they knew the attackers very well as they had been neighbours for many years. “We lived like brothers, but they attacked us. The Muslims closed their shops just before the attacks,” noted Ramesh, who is too now afraid to stay in the locality after the violence.

They looted our shops in front of our eyes, Rajasthan government will not help us: Hindu resident

Similar attacks were unleashed on Hemant Agarwal, who runs a provisions store in the Bazar area. According to Agarwal, the mob looted goods worth Rs. 20 lakhs. We have suffered a lot, said Hemant, narrating that they had opened shops as usual.

“At around 17:00 hours, the mob attacked us. We started closing the shops, but the mob attacked and looted us. The enraged mob looted us, we cried and begged them. But, they did not listen to us. They attacked and looted our shops and set them on fire,” said Hemant Agarwal, who runs the biggest shop in the area.

“We are so helpless now, said Hemant, adding added that the Ashok Gehlot-led government is not helping them in any manner. “The people who looted us were our neighbours, if the government wants to take action, they can do it, but they are reluctant,” he added.

“We do not have anything to eat, we do not know what to do. We do not want to stay here as we fear our lives. So our family is thinking to leave this place for good,” Agarwal said, adding that they will return to Karauli again.

Karauli attacks

On April 2, communal violence broke down in the Hatwara Bazaar area of Karauli when miscreants pelted stones at a Hindu bike rally while more than a dozen shops and three bikes were set on fire.

Reportedly, 43 people, including policemen, were injured in the mob attack while the rally was celebrating ‘Nav Samvatsar’ passed through a Muslim-dominated area. All were admitted to the district hospital. The condition of a person named Pushpendra is said to be serious. He has been referred to Jaipur.

Four policemen accompanying the rally were also injured in the stone-pelting on the bike rally. The reports said that there were knife marks on the body of the injured who reached the hospital.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Police have imposed a curfew, and internet services have been shut down in Karauli.

Uttar Pradesh: Sabir Mirza arrested for abduction, forced conversion and ‘nikah’ of an 18-year-old girl, Maulvi’s role being probed too

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Sabir Mirza arrested for abduction, forced conversion and ‘nikah’ of an 18-year-old girl, Maulvi’s role being probed too

An 18-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur area has been forcefully married off following her kidnapping and conversion. The victim had already filed a kidnapping case, and on the girl’s father’s complaint, a case of forceful conversion and marriage was also filed at the police station. The police have arrested the accused Sabir Mirza. Further investigation into the case is underway.

Sabir Mirza, according to reports, kidnapped the girl and carried her to a mosque in Banda. He ‘married’ her after converting her to Islam. The girl has been rescued, and the perpetrator has been apprehended. The Maulvi’s role in the crime is also being scrutinised.

The case is of a village under the jurisdiction of the Ghazipur police station in the Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Sabir Mirza, 24, is accused of abducting an 18-year-old Jukar village resident, in broad daylight on March 31.

According to her father, the victim left home on March 31, 2022, to attend an examination. He filed an official report after she failed to come home. The police opened an inquiry and began looking for the girl after the victim’s father filed a complaint.

As per reports, the victim was rescued by police help and she narrated that Sabir had tried to forcefully convert her to Islam and perform ‘nikah’ with the help of a Maulvi in a mosque in Banda.

“A man had submitted a complaint with the police station Ghazipur about his daughter being taken away by someone,” stated the DSP of Jafarganj. ” An FIR was filed at the police station in this matter, and the victim was rescued. Following her return, it was discovered that efforts were being made to convert her. She was being threatened at the same time. In this context, 24-year-old Sabir Mirza was arrested and further investigation is underway,” he added.

According to media sources, the accused, Sabir Mirza, took the victim to a mosque in the adjoining Banda district. During this time, a Maulvi converted and facilitated the marriage of the victim. The accused Mirza has been charged under IPC sections 366, 386, 420, 506, and 3/5 of the Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2020. Other suspects’ roles in this crime are also being probed.

Founding editor of TheWire, Siddharth Varadarajan, his fictitious tales and agenda journalism: How he spun a yarn yet again

Alok Bhatt
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Founding editor of TheWire, Siddharth Varadarajan, his fictitious tales and agenda journalism: How he spun a yarn yet again

“I’m not easily given to pessimism” declared Siddharth Varadarajan alias Thambi this morning while doing, what he does best – manufacture an imagined story to pursue his agenda journalism. 

Thambi’s latest has two side characters – a Hindu husband and his Muslim wife – and the protagonist, Thambi himself. To me, Thambi’s decision to allocate faiths ‘wrongly’ to fictional characters in a mixed marriage points to how irreparably his psyche has suffered damage, ever since Narendra Modi assumed power. Seemingly, the fear of being booked by the BJP supporters for propaganda pushed him to tread with caution. After all, the clairvoyant Thambi saw it coming 22 years ago and he even warned of the IT act being used as a policing tool. Coincidentally the man was booked under this very act 20 years later. 

Come next tweet and the self-proclaimed fighter in Thambi decided to give in to pessimism and declare – “picture is gloomy.” Poor Thambi is losing again. Too bad, as the last time, when he had won against Hindu chauvinists was as a boy; after he prevailed over Muthusamy and Usha and successfully resisted doing his sacred thread ceremony, unlike Tunku Anna. Coming events cast their shadows before said someone long ago!

Back to Thambi’s latest creation. I wonder if his interaction with a mixed couple of the ‘imagined’ story was a ‘one on one’ or if it took place in a crowded conference hall. Knowing this is important because, in his own words, he found ‘one on ones’ as something of a mixed blessing, which if the chemistry is right, risks being charmed into making commitments that may not be in their best interest. Borrowing from his own, it seems that the commitment – “we can’t let them decide what India will be” made by him to his imagined couple seems to be a charmed one resembling the virgin Thambi on Viagra; who, while in Perugia, Italy, don’t know what to do with his new-found fleeting power in a foreign land, thus making him susceptible to indiscretions.

I am convinced that Thambi will be fine as soon as the 40-degree heat of Delhi’s blistering sun will hit his bearded face and bring him back to the reality of the new India of Narendra Modi- who he once called Newton Modi!

And if the ‘imagined’ meeting was not a ‘one on one’ then it must have taken place in some crowded conference hall and the virgin Thambi on Viagra, with his penchant for posing before the camera, must have clicked some pictures. Come on Thambi, be a sport and share it!

Next, he mentioned his friend Aakar Patel. Well, I am not in a mood to go into the details of the fraud committed by an inconsequential Aakar Patel but I do agree with him that his friend, who could dodge foreign exchange regulations with such ingenuity, indeed possesses a sharp mind.

Moving on to the next few tweets and to see Thambi talk of hate, I want to remind him of his April 2004 hate ridden Geetaben item in the Times of India and how the press council found him guilty of shamelessly manufacturing lies and presenting it as news instead of opinion. Truth be told, even opinion doesn’t seem to be his forte as evident from his Jan 2000 declaration- Nothing Islamic about terrorism. He wrote this within days of Rachna losing her husband of a few weeks to Islamic terrorists.

But then such is the tragedy of Indian media that this man remains relevant even after being found guilty of false narrative building several times in the past. Irrespective of how hard Thambi – the creator of Geetaben of 2002 and an imaginary couple of faraway Italy- tries, Newton Modi’s reign is here to stay. 

Thanks to Chidambaram, I am reminded of a befitting Tamil proverb- one cannot straighten a dog’s tail – to best describe Thambi alias Siddharth Varadarajan!

He better not quit doing what he does- the agenda journalism!

Karauli anti-Hindu violence: Rajasthan Police books BJP leader Somya Gurjar’s husband, Gurjar community protests, demands CBI inquiry

OpIndia Staff
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Karauli anti-Hindu violence: Rajasthan Police books BJP leader Somya Gurjar’s husband, Gurjar community protests, demands CBI inquiry

Days after communal violence flared up in the Hatwara Bazaar area of Karauli, the Police on Thursday registered an FIR against 37 people for instigating the violence. While the police have identified Congress Councillor Matloob Ahmed as the main conspirator in the stone-pelting incident, it has booked BJP leader and Jaipur mayor Somya Gurjar’s husband Rajaram Gurjar for his alleged involvement in violence.

The Gurjar community on April 7 condemned the Police action against Rajaram Gurjar and demanded his release from the FIR. According to the reports, the Mahapanchayat consisting of 13 village Sarpanchs noted that Gurjar and 5 other people from the Gurjar community were unnecessarily booked by the Police under political influence. They also demanded a CBI inquiry in the case and said that they would stage protests if the names of Rajaram Gurjar and the other 5 from the community were not removed from the complaint.

On April 2, Karauli witnessed heavy violence after stones were pelted on a religious procession of Hindus when it was passing through a Muslim-dominated area. Following the incident, a clash broke out leading to arson and vandalism in which at least 42 people got injured. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Hawa Singh Ghumariya had informed that over 30 people had been detained by the police.

Meanwhile, after the communal clashes, the BJP alleged Congress local leaders’ involvement in the incident. It also alleged that the radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) had a role in the communal clashes on Saturday. Calling the incident a ‘pre-planned conspiracy, the BJP further accused the Congress-led government in Rajasthan of shielding its people.

As reported earlier, PFI had written a letter to the Rajasthan government 2 days before the incident, warning of such violence in the district during the Hindu new year rally, but the Ashok Gehlot government turned a deaf ear. The PFI had also alerted the local administration and the police against the Hindu community’s wish to take out a new year procession through the “Muslim-dominated” locality.

Later the Police confirmed that Congress Councillor Matloob Ahmed had incited violence and organized a mob to attack the bike rally celebrating Hindu New Year in the city. However, the Police also booked convenor Neeraj Sharma who had applied for permission for the rally, Sahab Singh Gurjar, state president of the Hindu Sena, and Rajaram Gurjar, former Chairman of the Municipal Council, Karauli.

According to the Mahapanchayat, Gurjar on April 2 was serving the injured people who were taken to the SMS hospital in Jaipur after the violence. “If this is how police and politicians treat a social worker, humanity will soon end”, the Mahapanchayat noted. It has given 5 days of ultimatum to the authorities to look into the matter and release Rajaram Gurjar from the case. Reiterating its demand for a CBI inquiry, the Mahapanchayat said that if the state fails to fulfill the demands of the Gurjar community, they along with people from other communities will stage protest rallies and hold the state responsible for the after-effects.

To avoid clashes, 600 policemen including 50 deputy superintendents of police have been deployed in the city. The Police have also imposed a curfew and shut down the internet services in Karauli as a consequence of the violence.

Ex-Amnesty chief Aakar Patel claims he was stopped at airport again, CBI to challenge the court order that set aside the Look Out Circular

OpIndia Staff
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Ex-Amnesty chief Aakar Patel claims he was stopped at airport again, CBI to challenge the court order that set aside the Look Out Circular

Hours after the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi allowed Aakar Patel to travel abroad, the former Amnesty International India Head on Thursday (April 7) night alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not remove the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him.

In a tweet, Patel claimed, “Have been stopped at immigration again. CBI has not taken me off their lookout circular.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Aakar Patel

He further alleged, “Immigration at Bangalore airport says nobody at CBI answering their calls. Will move court again if I have to…”

Screengrab of the tweer by Aakar Patel

Later at 1:45 am on Friday (April 8) night, Aakar Patel uploaded a cryptic tweet while tagging Union Home Minister Amit Shah. While posing with his dog, the ex-Amnesty International (India) chief wrote, “Imma bounce (I am leaving) Amit Shah, see you soon. Sooner than I had expected it seems.

Screengrab of the tweet by Aakar Patel

It is notable here that the Central Bureau of Investigation will act on the court order, only on receipt of a written copy. Given that the Rouse Avenue Court issued its directives only on April 7, it is quite possible that the CBI did not receive the written copy of the court order by the time Patel tweeted about being stopped at Bengaluru airport.

Citing sources in the CBI, NDTV had reported that the central investigation agency will challenge the court order and file an appeal on Friday (April 8) morning.

Aakar Patel stopped from leaving the country

On Wednesday (April 6), Aakar Patel was stopped from boarding a flight to the USA at the Bengaluru airport. The former Amnesty India chief had tweeted that he was put on an exit control list. Patel claimed that he had obtained his passport through a court order.

He added that a CBI officer informed him that he is on a Look Out Circular because of the case against Amnesty International India regarding the FCRA violations. He was later granted temporary relief by the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi yesterday. And the CBI has stated that they would challenge the court order.

In February last year, the Enforcement Directorate had attached movable properties of Amnesty International India worth Rs 17.66 crore in a money laundering case.

ED had found that after the cancellation of the FCRA license by the Indian government, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust and other Amnesty entities adopted ‘new methods’ to receive money from abroad. 

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal recounts how a drunk Mumbai Indians player had him dangling outside a balcony on the 15th floor of a hotel: What he said

OpIndia Staff
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Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal recounts how a drunk Mumbai Indians player had him dangling outside a balcony on the 15th floor of a hotel: What he said

Yuzvendra Chahal, an Indian leg-spinner who currently plays for Rajasthan Royals after a seven-year stint with the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has spoken out about a terrifying incident that occurred in 2013 while he was playing for Mumbai Indians in the sixth edition of the IPL.

Chahal revealed how a drunk MI player had him dangling outside of a balcony on the 15th floor of their hotel building, in a talk with new companions Ravichandran Ashwin and Karun Nair.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Karun Nair, and Yuzvendra Chahal were discussing some hitherto unheard anecdotes from their respective cricketing careers. When Chahal’s turn came, he recounted the incident. Chahal, however, declined to divulge the player’s identity in order to avoid causing a stir.

“I never told this story, from today everyone will know. I never shared this. This dates back to 2013 when I was with Mumbai Indians we had a match in Bangalore. There was a get-together after that. So there was a player who was very drunk, I won’t say his name,” Chahal said. “He was very drunk, he was looking at me for a long time and he just called me and he took me outside and he hung me on the balcony,” he added.

“Had I lost my grip, I was on the 15th floor… Suddenly many people who were there came and handled the situation. I kind of fainted, they gave me water. Then I realized how responsible we need to be when we go anywhere. So this was one incident where I felt I had a narrow escape. Had there been the slightest of memories, I would’ve fallen down,” he further recounted.

Chahal claimed that few people knew about the incident since he had kept it to himself until now. He admitted that things could have gone tragically wrong if his hands had slipped. However, a few more people entered the room and took charge of the situation.

Gorakhnath Temple attack: Terrorist Ahmad Murtuza Abbasi, with connections to ISIS, confesses he was angry over ‘CAA, NRC, atrocities against Muslims’

OpIndia Staff
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Gorakhnath Temple attack: Terrorist Ahmad Murtuza Abbasi, with connections to ISIS, confesses he was angry over ‘CAA, NRC, atrocities against Muslims’

Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi, accused in the attack on security personnel outside Gorakhpur’s Gorakhnath temple, has said that his attack was a response to the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

According to reports, the accused Ahmad Murtuza Abbasi confessed to the police that his hatred spawned from alleged atrocities committed against Muslims. The attacker said he was not happy with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) as he deemed them as an act of “injustice to Muslims”.

“I thought about the act from various angles before committing the crime. They [government] were implementing CAA and NRC against Muslims. Even in Karnataka, Muslims were being wronged. No one was doing anything about the issue. Someone had to do something. This is how I justified the act in my mind,” he said.

Abbasi confessed that he decided to attack Gorakhnath temple as there was a constant police presence at the premises, and it was easy for him to escape after attacking the cops.

“I was depressed and wasn’t being able to sleep,” Abbasi reportedly confessed to the police.

The police said that the confession indicated that Abbasi had been radicalised to the extent that he was even willing to die committing such crimes.

Abbasi, who is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), had attempted to break in to the Gorakhnath temple premises on April 3 while shouting Allahu Akbar. The 30-year-old chemical engineering graduate attacked the security personnel with a sickle when they tried to stop him, injuring two Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) constables.

He was later captured by other security staff and arrested.

The attack had come a day before UP CM Yogi Adityanath was scheduled to visit the temple. Following the attacks, Abbasi’s family claimed he was mentally unstable, however, the claims were refuted by police and doctors who treated him after the attack.

Abbasi, Gorakhnath Temple attack accused, had connections to ISIS

During the interrogation, it was revealed that Abbasi had sent lakhs of rupees to bank accounts linked to ISIS. The investigating agencies are now looking into its financial dealings with Abbasi.

He has accounts in ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Platinum Federal Bank, among others. He had transferred money from a bank account in Nepal to Syria.

During the interrogation, it was revealed that Abbasi’s mentor was an American identified as Imam Anwar al-Halaki, who originally hails from Yemen. Abbasi was highly influenced by banned Islamic preacher Zakir Naik as well.

Some documents recovered from Abbasi revealed a link to Jamnagar. Gujarat ATS would be interrogating him as well in Lucknow.

TMC leader Babul Supriyo equates Indian and Pakistani Muslims to wash away the “communal stamp” that was supposedly put on him: What he said

OpIndia Staff
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TMC leader Babul Supriyo equates Indian and Pakistani Muslims to wash away the “communal stamp” that was supposedly put on him: What he said

Singer Babul Supriyo, who had jumped ship from BJP to TMC amidst the post-poll violence unleashed by TMC goons against BJP workers, is now trying his best to wash away the “communal stamp” that was put on him.

Babul Supriyo was attending an Iftar party with Kolkata mayor and TMC minister Firhad Hakim. The candidate from Ballygunge was attending the Iftar party after campaigning alongside Abhishek Banerjee, TMC leader and the nephew of CM Mamata Banerjee.

After the campaign was over, speaking to the media, Babul Supriyo proceeded to equate Indian and Pakistan Muslims.

Sporting the Islamic skull cap, Babul Supriyo said, “A fake communal stamp was imposed over my image. But it is not true. Earlier I could only meet 70% population, now I am free to meet 100% population. I am among those few singers who performed shows in Pakistan”.

Reportedly, after saying this, Babul Supriyo told the media that whoever wishes to create a controversy over his statements can do so and he will have nothing to say to them in this regard.

Babul Supriyo’s statement comes ahead of the April 12th bypolls, where he is set to fight the BJP’s Keya Ghosh, also a singer and politican.

It is interesting to note that while attending Iftar in Kolkata, where presumably only Indian Muslims were present, Babul Supriyo felt the need to bandy his “secular” credentials by claiming that he had performed in Pakistan. By doing so, Surpriyo essentially equated Indian and Pakistani Muslims by saying that one can only work for Indian Muslims if they have no problem with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Muslims of Pakistan, who regularly infiltrate India and carry out terrorist attacks, killing security personnel and civilians.

Essentially, by saying this, Babul Supriyo was also trying to justify his move from BJP to TMC, which had come under criticism from several quarters. In 2021, after the Assembly Elections in West Bengal, Babul Supriyo had switched parties and joined TMC. When TMC goons were murdering, raping and burning the houses of BJP workers, Supriyo had haplessly abandoned his cadre saying that he was scared to venture into the areas where violence was taking place because he would come under attack.

Soon after abandoning his party workers, who were under attack from TMC goons, Supriyo had changed parties and joined TMC. At the time, he was criticised not only for abandoning his party cadre, but also compromising with the ideals he had claimed to espouse to save his life because he was scared of what TMC might do to him.

Now, it seems that Babul Supriyo had decided to criticise his former party, BJP, by claiming that when he was a part of it, he could meet and greet only 70% of the population, insinuating that earlier he was allowed to meet only Hindus and that the BJP was communal. However, now that he is a part of TMC, he is also free to meet the Muslim population of India.

To appease the Muslims further and toe the party line, Supriyo not only said this but also went ahead and equated Indian Muslims with Pakistani Muslims, virtually claiming that one had to be pro-Pakistan to appease the Indian Muslim population.

Days before Ram Navami and other Hindu festivals, Rajasthan govt bans religious flags on public properties

OpIndia Staff
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Days before Ram Navami and other Hindu festivals, Rajasthan govt bans religious flags on public properties

Days before Ram Navami and other major Hindu festivals like Durga Ashtami, Hanuman Jayanti, and Mahaveer Jayanti take place, the Rajasthan government has banned raising religious flags on public properties and places. Corresponding orders are issued by collectors of various districts including Kota, Ajmer, Jodhpur, and Bikaner.

Deputy mayor of the Ajmer municipal corporation Neeraj Jain tweeted, “Gehlot Saab’s Nadirshahi decree in Kota, Bikaner, Jodhpur and now in Ajmer and other cities. It is a crime to put up flags of a religious symbol, to play the DJ! It is notable that these orders have come just before the procession and Shobha yatra of Mahavir Jayanti, Durga Ashtami, Ambedkar Jayanti, Ram Navami, and Hanuman Jayanti.”

Neeraj Jain also attached the order signed by Ansh Deep – district collector of Ajmer – that said, “During religious purposes to be held in Ajmer district the individual or group of person attempt to disturb the communal harmony by affecting the law and order situation in the Ajmer district by raising the flags with religious symbols on public property such as Government Buildings, Government Undertakings, Board Corporation building, public community building/ Rest houses, public parks, circle electric and telephone poles, etc. constructed at intersections/tirahas or property of another person without any valid sanction. This may lead to apprehensions of breach of public peace and adversely disrupting law and order and social harmony. In such a situation, preventive action is necessary immediately to maintain social harmony and public peace.”

It further says, “Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, I, Ansh Deep, District Magistrate, Ajmer, in the exercise of the powers conferred under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, impose prohibitory orders prohibiting the installation of flags with religious insignia on public property in the entire urban and rural area of Ajmer district without any competent sanction. I direct all citizens to comply with this order and not to ignore it. If a person violates the above prohibitory orders, he may be prosecuted under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.”

Ansh Deep further said in his order, “The order will be effective in the entire urban and rural area of Ajmer district from 10 am on 7th April 2022 to the next one month.”

It is notable that on 2nd April 2022, in Karauli of Rajasthan, tension prevailed in the city after a bike rally taken out on the occasion of Hindu New Year was attacked while passing through the Muslim-dominated area of Hatwara Bazar in the city. Stones were pelted at the rally, and the miscreants set on fire more than a dozen shops and three bikes. The rally was organized to celebrate ‘Nav Samvatsar’, the first day of the Hindu New Year. Curfew have been imposed in the area since then to contain communal tension.

United Nations General Assembly votes to suspend Russia from Human Rights Council, India abstains from voting

OpIndia Staff
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United Nations General Assembly votes to suspend Russia from Human Rights Council, India abstains from voting

The United Nations General Assembly today voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the massacre in Bucha.

In the voting on the resolution to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council headquartered in Geneva, 93 countries voted in favour of the resolution, while 24 member countries voted against it. 58 countries abstained from the voting, including India.

The UNGA needed two-thirds of the votes to remove Russia from the UNHRC, which was comfortably achieved, as abstentions are not counted.

India has been abstaining from all resolutions on the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the UNm and this was also no exception. Apart from India, some major member states to abstain the voting include Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa etc. Nations that sided with Russia include Belarus, China, North Korea, Iran, Kazakhstan etc.

The draft of the resolution had said that the General Assembly may “suspend the rights of membership in the Human Rights Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights.”

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, had requested the member states to support the resolution suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council. “Now the world has come to a crucial juncture. We witness that our liner is going through treacherous fog towards deadly icebergs. It might seem that we should have named it the Titanic instead of the Human Rights Council. … We need to take an action today to save the council from sinking,” Kyslytsya had said.

On the other hand, deputy Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Gennady Kuzmin, had asked the member states to reject the resolution, saying it would set a “dangerous precedent.”

“Today is not the time nor the place for theatrics, or these kinds of extremely theatrical performances like the one presented by Ukraine. In fact the draft resolution we are considering today has no relationship to the actual human rights situation on the ground,” Kuzmin had said.

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