“We have contesting historical interpretations which have not allowed us to get to unified history writing in this country,” argued the new JNU VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit in an old speech that has resurfaced now. Pandit was talking at the 17th Asian Security Conference while batting for the position of India as a ‘norm-builder’ held in February 2015.
While making a case for rewriting our history to accommodate multiple narratives, Santishree Pandit made some glaring and unapologetic assertions in her speech. “Everybody begins (talking about) India at 1947. I think India is a Civilization. And as a civilizational state, are we saying that we had no norms earlier?” she asked. She contested the position that India hardly played any role in securing its strategic autonomy while arguing that it has been building norms for a large course of world history.
Throwing light on the history of India beyond its foreign invasions, she said we’ve had a history of rupture, denial and ignorance while identifying who we really are. “There’s a dichotomy among Indian scholars – some who believe that the Indian tradition communal and if it is touched, that would make India a sectarian state. But at the same time, we applaud China doing it on its Confucian tradition and bringing a lot of texts on strategic thought,” the JNU VC elaborated.
Pandit argued that when we talk about India as a norm builder, we have to go far behind. She said that because of the break we’ve done in recognizing south-east Asian countries as trading proto-states of our civilization, it has been turned into a China-centric organisation. “When Rajendra Chola completed 1000 years of his rule (in 2014), no one celebrated it. So we are a marginalised history of India.” she highlighted. While pointing out the need to make way for more Indic narratives in Indian history, she stated fiercely, “Indian history is not Mughal history and not and the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. I think we should go beyond that.”
“We have been builders of norms when it comes to statecraft, individual freedom, tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and (although) not soft power but sublime power and spiritual universalism,” Pandit further added.
The JNU VC also highlighted that the values of Indian democracy come from its civilisational history and are not entirely a gift of British colonialism. “The soil in which you transplant institutions has to be equally fertile and acceptive as the institutions themselves,” said Pandit while arguing that the Indian civilization has a long tradition of democracy and cultural pluralism.
On Tuesday, the Haryana assembly passed the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022 amid opposition by Congress and walkout from the assembly. The bill that was introduced during the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha on March 4, prohibits religious conversions which are effected ‘through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage’, making it an offense.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, while speaking on the bill, said that the bill is not aimed at discriminating against any religion and that it talks only about ‘forcible conversions’. “The bill is aimed at instilling fear among those who commit crimes. A person can change religion as per his own free will, but it will not be allowed to happen to anyone forcibly. Action will be taken against such people if they convert religion by deceit or by giving any kind of greed”, he said.
हरियाणा में जबरदस्ती धर्म परिवर्तन बिल्कुल नहीं होने दिया जाएगा।
इसी उद्देश्य से आज सदन में ‘हरियाणा विधिविरुद्ध धर्म परिवर्तन निवारण विधेयक, 2022’ पास कर दिया गया है। pic.twitter.com/p2sH0HXQjw
Criticizing the bill, the Leader of the Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda stated that there was no requirement for a fresh law as the existing laws already have a provision of punishment for forcible conversions. He added that the implementation of new law might increase dispute among the families where inter-religion marriages have taken place. “If dispute takes place between the husband and wife after two years of marriage and a complaint is lodged against him for forcible conversion of religion, then the man would be behind the bars”, Hooda said suggesting addition of a provision in which no such complaint is lodged after a month of marriage.
Senior Congress leader Kiran Choudhary also called the new law a ‘black chapter’ in Haryana’s history and opined that the bill would deepen the communal divide and could have grave consequences in the future. Also, another senior Congress leader, Raghuvir Singh Kadian, said that there was no urgency for passing the bill and that it was a sharp slap of divisive politics, which he termed as ‘not good. He also said that inter-caste marriage should instead be encouraged by the government.
Provisions of the anti-conversion law in Haryana-
The Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022, provides for imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh, if the conversion is practiced by ‘allurement, use of force, fraudulent means or coercion’. According to the law, the onus of proof lies with the accused. It, however, provides an exemption in the case of a person who reconverts to his immediate previous religion as the same shall not be deemed to be a conversion under this Act.
Further the law says, whoever converts or attempts to convert a minor, a woman or a person belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than four years and may extend to 10 years and liable to a fine not less than Rs 3 lakh. The bill also provides for declaring marriages, which were done solely for the purpose of conversion from one religion to another religion, null and void.
The draft of the Bill was approved by the state Cabinet chaired by CM Khattar in February. The government had then said to have noticed several instances of conversion with an agenda to increase the strength of one’s religion. “People marry persons of other religion by either misrepresentation or concealment of their religion and after getting married they force such other person to convert to their religion. Such incidents not only infringe the freedom of religion of the persons so converted but also militate against the secular fabric of our society”, the govt had said.
As noted by the Haryana Chief Minister, the new law solely aims at instilling fear in the minds of those who forcefully practice conversion in society with a vested interest. The bill is not aimed at discriminating against any religion.
Similar Bill passed by several Indian states-
It is important to note that similar anti-conversion bills have recently been passed in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka with the opposition parties sharply criticizing the law. In the state of Karnataka, Congress and the members of the Christian community protested against the anti-conversion bill. Siddaramaiah, leader of the Opposition of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly also affirmed that the anti-conversion law would be rescinded when Congress would come to power. In the statement, he had said, “The Congress will scrap the anti-conversion bill within a week of the party coming to power”.
In November 2020, the state of Uttar Pradesh had also approved the bill titled Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Virudhh Dharm Samparivartan Pratisdhedh Adhyadesh, 2020 or UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance 2020, criminalizing Love Jihad and other forms of illegal conversion. The law has provisions that can land offenders in jail for up to 1 to 5 years and attract a fine of Rs 15,000. The bill also has provisions for 10 years’ jail for mass conversion.
Other states like Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttarakhand have also passed anti-conversion bills.
Intending to explore massive investment opportunities in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a delegation of around 30 CEOs from India and Gulf countries visited the Kashmir valley on Tuesday and looked for business and partnership ventures there. This is a month after India signed a significant and expansive free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bringing both economies closer towards realizing $100 billion in trade over the next five years.
Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha tweeted the event and said that the visit of the CEOs of top companies, entrepreneurs, start-up representatives, exporters in Jammu and Kashmir was an expression of confidence of the industry leaders in the potential for business cooperation between the UT and the Gulf countries. “India’s relationship with Gulf countries is being translated into a vibrant, revitalized economic partnership with Jammu and Kashmir that will not only diversify our export basket but will also create a conducive environment for the expansion of the existing trade”, Sinha’s office tweeted.
India’s relationship with Gulf countries is being translated into a vibrant, revitalized economic partnership with J&K that will not only diversify our export basket but will also create a conducive environment for expansion of the existing trade.
Lt Governor further added that the UT had worked with a coherent framework in the past two years to harness the immense natural resources and economic potential of Jammu and Kashmir. He stated that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Jammu and Kashmir had also considered unlocking investment flows from compliance and restrictions. In the wake of economic and business development, the Lt Governor also promised to provide global standard end-to-end facilities for the businesses, skilled workforce, transparent and hassle-free regulatory mechanism, and creation of necessary infrastructure wherever required.
PM Modi meanwhile lauded the UT’s efforts and said that the business interest of the Gulf countries in the valley would ensure greater opportunities for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “Exemplary efforts to draw more investment to Jammu and Kashmir, and ensure greater opportunities for the people”, he tweeted.
Exemplary efforts to draw more investment to Jammu and Kashmir, and ensure greater opportunities for the people. https://t.co/ooxWDsD79M
According to the reports, the visit of the CEOs from several Gulf countries comes two months after the UT of Jammu and Kashmir signed six agreements with the global investors at the Dubai Expo 2020. The agreements have been signed to attract investments in the Indian Union Territory’s real estate, infrastructure, tourism, healthcare, and manpower employment sectors, among others.
Several UAE-based businesses signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Jammu and Kashmir, which includes, Al Maya Group, MATU Investments LLC, GL Employment Brokerage LLC, Century Financial, and Noon E-commerce. One letter of intent (LOI) was also signed with Magna Waves Pvt. Ltd, Emaar Group, and Lulu International.
According to Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, the UT has transitioned from a dormant commercial destination to a region of opportunity and investment. He stated that the government is hopeful to bring an investment of over Rs 70,000 crores in the next six months. In 2021, the Union Territory had got $2.5 billion (approximately Rs 18,568 crore) in investments, demonstrating the region’s vast opportunities and business potential. “By now, we have cleared investment proposals of around Rs 27000 crores. If and when the investments take place on the ground, it will generate a minimum of six to seven lakh jobs in Jammu and Kashmir”, he was quoted.
It is important to note that, on February 19, India and the UAE signed a significant and expansive trade agreement to bring both economies closer towards realizing $100 billion in trade over the next five years. PM Modi and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi met virtually to inaugurate the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), an economic cooperation deal made on the coattails of the rapidly expanding strategic partnership between Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. The agreement is expected to come into effect in the first week of May.
The visit of the 30 Gulf CEOs to Jammu and Kashmir on March 22 was coordinated by Bal Kishan, CEO of Century Finance and a resident of Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda. The delegates from the real estate, hospitality, development, food processing, and agriculture sector met the top officials of Jammu and Kashmir including Lt Governor Sinha, and discussed their issues and concerns.
On Tuesday, Pushkar Singh Dhami, who is all set to swear-in as the 12th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, assured that the newly elected BJP government would implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the hill state, as promised before the election.
According to the reports, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister-designate Pushkar Singh Dhami said soon after cabinet formation, his government would set up a committee of experts to draft a framework for implementing the UCC.
The CM-designate said that the committee would include judicial experts, retired personnel, intellectuals from various fields and other stakeholders. The committee will hold a wide range of consultations before preparing the draft, he said, adding, “UCC is a promise made by me to the people of Uttarakhand, and we will soon introduce it in the state.
On February 12, the BJP had announced that if voted to power, the government would bring in UCC to provide equal rights to everyone in the state.
Chief Minister Dhami had said the UCC would provide a legal framework for marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens irrespective of their faith, adding that the reform would bring social harmony, end gender-based discrimination and strengthen women empowerment.
Uttarakhand will be the second state in India to have Uniform Civil Code after Goa. Presently, Goa is the only state with UCC, which goes back to the times of annexation of Goa. India had retained the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 that applied to all state residents, irrespective of their religion. All marriages in the state are registered under the Goan Civil Code.
The CM-designate also added that his government would fulfil other promises made in the manifesto to take development to the last village of the state.
“We want people in remote and far-flung areas to benefit from our government’s schemes. By electing BJP with a two-thirds majority, the people of the hill state have already hinted towards the outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” the Chief Minister said.
The BJP had won 47 of the 70 seats in the recently held assembly elections, the results of which were announced on March 10.
The long-standing demand for Uniform Civil Code
The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has been a long-standing demand of the BJP. UCC overrides personal laws and calls for similar rules for adherents of different religions in civil matters, including marriage, divorce, adoption, succession, and maintenance. The Supreme Court of India even recommended UCC during the infamous Shah Bano case of 1985.
Currently, the Hindu Personal law applies to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists, while the non-codified Muslim personal rules are based on the Shariat Law of 1937. Similarly, marriages and divorces in the Christian community are governed by the Indian Divorce Act of 1869 and the Indian Christian Marriages Act of 1872. Zoroastrians are governed by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act of 1936.
The provision to set up Uniform Civil Code has been laid down in Article 44 (Part IV) of the Indian Constitution. UCC has been included in the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) and can be implemented by the State governments. They are not enforceable by courts.
In its order, the Court said as per the witness statements, Khan was one of the organizers of the Chand Bagh protest site where inflammatory speeches were given. The Court added they conspired to disrupt the traffic and planned protests at 23 sites in Delhi.
After examining the contents of the chargesheet, the Court has held that “There was a premeditated conspiracy of the disruptive chakka jam and a pre-planned protest at 23 sites in Delhi..”#DelhiRiots
The Court said their intention was to disrupt the movement of the traffic that would result in disruption of essential services to the people living in North-East Delhi. They conspired to cause violence with various means that further led to the Delhi Riots of February 2020. The Court added that the plan was to encircle the area completely to completely halt the entry and exit of the people from the region.
The Court said, “The target was to…encircle the entire area completely stopping the entry and exit of citizens…and then creating panic to attack police personnel by women protesters in front only followed by other ordinary people and engulfing the area into a riot.” The series of events, as per the Court, would fall within the definition of a “terrorist act”.
It held that, “The target was to…encircle the entire area completely stopping the entry and exit of citizens…and then creating panic to attack on police personnel by women protesters in front only followed by other ordinary people and engulfing the area into a riot…”
Notably, the Court also mentioned the use of weapons and the manner in which the attacks happened, it was clear that it was a pre-planned conspiracy. It said, “Acts which threaten the unity and integrity of India and causes friction in communal harmony and creates terror in any section of the people, by making them feel surrounded resulting in violence, is also a terrorist act.”
Mentioning the CCTV footage, the Court said, “The footage filed by the prosecution does show a concerted and premeditated effort of mobilization of rioters who are armed and who ultimately blocked the Main Wazirabad road and attacked police personnel in the most brutal manner.”
Saleem Khan was part of the mob in the Delhi Riots
While talking about Saleem Khan’s role in the series of events that led to the Delhi Riots, the Delhi Court mentioned that Khan was found to be part of the mob. The Court mentioned he was present in the mob on February 24, 2020. The mob had stones, dandas, swords and rods with them.
Khan was found to be in the mob on Feb 24, 2020, which had stones, dandas, swords and rods with them.
The Court quoted a witness who lived near the Chand Bagh protest site. He said in his statement that Saleem Khan was one of the organizers of the protests that began around January 15, 2020, in Chand Bagh. He also saw Tahir Hussain, ex-Councilor Aam Aadmi Party, visiting the site of protest and handing out money. Hussain allegedly told the protesters, “This money will come to the help of our kaum,” the Court added.
Citing another witness, the Court said the conspirators provoked people against the government based on religion. The witness said in the statement, “The content of speeches would inter alia be that government will have to be compelled to withdraw CAA/NRC and for this, Kl violence and chakkajam has to be used.”
Perusing CCTV footages, the Court held, “The footages filed by the prosecution does show a concerted and premeditated effort of mobilization of rioters who are armed and who ultimately blocked the Main Wazirabad road and attacked police personnel in the most brutal manner.”
Furthermore, on the Main Wazirabad Road, Head Constable Rattan Lal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara), and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Gokul Puri was attacked by the protesters. While ACP and DSP sustained serious injuries, HC Rattan Lal was brutally killed. The Court noted Saleem Khan was present among the rioters and was identified subsequently.
Saleem Khan was identified as one among those present there for violence and where violence was used on policemen and common people. #DelhiRiots
In one of the speeches Khan gave, he said, “[the] Central Govt is a govt if Hindus and against Muslims. Till the time Govt Officers and Kaafirs are not killed, this govt will not take back CAA/NRC.”
Palakkad District Judge Kalam Pasha stoked a massive controversy after forcing renowned Mohiniyattam dancer Dr Neena Prasad to stop performing at an event organised at Government Moyan LP School, Palakkad, on Saturday evening.
According to the reports, Pasha, who resides near Government Moyan Lower Primary School in Palakkad town, claimed that Neena Prasad’s Mohiniyattam show, which was scheduled to be held around 08:30 PM on Saturday was a nuisance to him and forced the organisers to stop the show.
The police stormed the venue based on the orders of the judge and stopped the hour-long performance titled ‘Sakhyam’ that portrayed the strains in the relations between Krishna and Arjuna midway. The senior artist and her team were humiliated on the stage and were left in tears.
Following the incident, Dr Prasad said, “This was the bitterest experience of my dance career. It was a humiliating experience not only for me but also for the fellow artistes who mounted the stage with high hopes after more than two years of hibernation”.
The show was organised by the Sekharipuram Grandhasala, where the book Ithihasangale Thedi authored by Sreechitran MJ, was also released.
The noted artist alleged that it was the high-handedness of a judicial officer. Dr Prasad said she had come to Palakkad after spending hours preparing for the dance choreography.
“It was an intricate solo performance for which I dedicated a lot of my time. It was performed with sober instruments such as violin, mridangam and edakka. It wasn’t certainly a cacophony,” she said.
Reacting to the incident, Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham accused the judge of displaying cultural intolerance. In a statement on Monday, Sangham president Shaji N Karun and general secretary Ashokan Charuvil called upon the people to resist attempts to silence artists and cultural leaders. The Sahitya Sangham said the state should not stifle its art and culture.
“The people of Kerala always give more respect and importance to artists than bureaucrats and judges. It is time we remembered that we had a Prime Minister who gave a higher position to an artiste (M.S. Subbulakshmi),” they said.
Meanwhile, the police said they had no choice but to follow the orders of the judge.
Judge Pasha accused by wife of Triple Talaq
It is not the first time Judge Pasha has been embroiled in controversies. Last year, Pasha, a senior judge from Pallakad, was accused by his wife of illegally divorcing his wife by issuing “Triple Talaq”.
The wife of B Kalam Pasha, a session court Judge in Kerala’s Palakkad district, had approached the Kerala High Court to register a complaint seeking action against him. In her complaint, the woman said judge Kalam Pasha had issued Triple Talaq against her through a letter on March 1, 2018.
Later, he sent her another letter claiming that there was a typing error in the letter. The letter said that the original date of issuing Triple Talaq was March 1, 2017. The judge’s wife also accused Justice B Kalam Pasha and his brother of threatening her with dire consequences if she refused the divorce. Interestingly, the brother of the accused judge Kalam Pasha is B Kemal Pasha, a retired judge of the High Court of Kerala.
On March 22, multiple complaints were raised on Twitter by prominent personalities that their Wikipedia pages were either vandalised or deleted. They alleged the reason behind the deleted or vandalising of Wikipedia pages was they praised Vivek Agnihotri’s recent film ‘The Kashmir Files’. OpIndia investigated the matter and found reasons to believe that the allegations were, in fact, true.
Allegations and findings against Wikipedia
First, let’s talk about the allegations made by Tuhin A Sinha, National Media Panelist, BJP. On March 22, Sinha tweeted that Wikipedia had deleted his page that had existed since 2007. He said, “The only thing that may have irked them in last few days is my support four #KashmirFiles n me calling out Cong supported Jihad network.”
It has been revealed to me that a wiki editor by the user name Shirt58 has removed my page . @Wikipedia must reveal his real identity and motive . This is the creep – https://t.co/XeEzK9fUe3
In a follow-up tweet, Sinha mentioned that a Wikipedia user Shirt58 was behind the page’s removal. Upon investigation, we found that a newly created page existed on Wikipedia under his name, which was scheduled for deletion as per the Wikipedia regulations that suggested a deleted page cannot be recreated.
History of recently created page on Tuhin Sinha on Wikipedia. Source: Wikipedia
For this page, Shirt58 had applied for speedy deletion. However, later the tag was removed as the page was edited. However, it was again nominated for deletion by Star Mississippi. As there were no captures on Archive.org for the talk section or history available on Wikipedia for the old page, it is unclear who submitted it for deletion in the first place. The discussion on its deletion can be read here.
The next step was to check if there were any achieved records for the page. We found multiple captures on Archive.org for Sinha’s Wikipedia page. The last capture was from March 11, 2022. It showed a detailed page on Sinha. Unfortunately, the history and talk sections of the page were not achieved.
Last capture of the old page of Tuhin Sinha on Wikipedia. Source: Archive.org
Speaking to OpIndia, Sinha said, “My Wikipedia page existed since 2006-2007 when I wrote my first book. So I was very shocked yesterday night to find that the page does not exist after somebody informed me he could not go to the page. Initially, I thought it could be a technical error. In the morning today, I again discovered that the page was not functional.”
He added, “I approached a couple of people who had edited Wikipedia pages in the past. I was actually informed that the page had been deleted. Now I am absolutely appalled that there is clearly somebody from the left ecosystem which is keeping a watch on everybody who is speaking in favour of The Kashmir Files and who is calling out the left-liberal ecosystem on the issue. Because I have been very proactive in speaking in favour of The Kashmir Files as a panel representative and spokesperson of the BJP and also I have spoken a lot on the Kashmir issue in the last several years including having written a book on the issue.”
Adding that he was taking up the issue with authorities, he said, “So I am sure somebody is keeping a watch. Somebody does not want the truth of the Kashmir massacre to be out. It is very surprising that in India today, the big tech companies somewhere employ sleeper cells within the country to curb the freedom of speech of right-wing nationals, and I am taking up the issue. Let’s see where it goes.”
In a follow-up tweet, Tuhin sought if Wikipedia has an office in India as other tech companies have to follow the laws of the land, and Wikipedia should be forced to comply as well.
A few hours before Tuhin’s tweet, Chaiti Narula had also pointed out that her Wikipedia page was heavily vandalised. She said, “The same guy who wiped out my review of #KashmirFiles from Wikipedia completely vandalised my wiki profile. If I knew who made mine, I would have taken it up. But I have no clue. Heads up – the profile is hacked, vandalised by this chap.”
The same guy who wiped out my review of #KashmirFiles from @Wikipedia completely vandalized my wiki profile. If I knew who made mine, would have taken it up. But I have no clue. Heads up – the profile is hacked, vandalized by this chap.
She further added in a follow-up tweet that someone in his circle found that the person who vandalised her profile was the same person who vandalised The Kashmir Files page, and both edits were being done at the same time.
My tech genius friend even found a digital footprint of vandalism by this guy that led to vandalising my profile, several others and the Kashmir files page at the same time. This is so not cool of whoever this person is.@Wikipedia needs to intervene. @vivekagnihotrihttps://t.co/oLHAxcIJzX
Upon investigation, we noticed that her Wikipedia page had been deleted.
Screenshot of deleted page of Chaiti Narula on Wikipedia
When checked for archived snapshots of her Wiki page, we found that it was captured once on March 18, 2022. When we checked the archived page, it was evident that TrangaBellam, the same person who was continuously vandalising The Kashmir Files page on Wikipedia, was behind the request to delete the page. As no one countered the request, the page was deleted on March 20, 2022. The date can be noticed on the Deletion Request Notice available on the archived page.
Screenshot of the archived page of Chaiti Narula. Source: Archive.org
We also found that the page was created by a user, Gocrazy69, in October 2019.
Gocrazy69 had created Chaiti’s profile on Wikipedia in 2019. Source: Wikipedia.
When he found that the page was deleted by TrangaBellam, he had requested him to restore it, but by the time we published the report, TrangaBellam had not replied. In the reason for the proposed deletion, TrangaBellam had mentioned that the page needed some edits as proposed, and if no action was taken, the page could be deleted.
Gocrazy69 requested TrangaBellam to restore Chaiti’s page. Source: Wikipedia
A few things that must be known about Wikipedia
First of all, Wikipedia is an open-source encyclopedia that started with the aim to provide the latest updates about everything, including people, countries, things and events etc. However, as time passed by, the left-leaning elements took over the powers, which was confirmed by the founder himself in an interview with OpIndia.
Because Wikipedia can be edited and on multiple occasions, it has been pointed out that the editors are often biased towards political and religious sides of their choice, the website must not be considered as a genuine source of information. Now, let’s come to the interesting part of the discussion. Do you know what Wikipedia itself says about being a source of reliable information? Well, as per Wikipedia, and we are not changing the words, “Wikipedia is not a reliable source for academic writing or research. Nevertheless, Wikipedia is increasingly used by people in the academic community, from first-year students to distinguished professors, as an easily accessible tertiary source for information about anything and everything and as a quick “ready reference” to get a sense of a concept or idea.”
Screenshot taken from Wikipedia on March 23, 2022, at 20:46. We are mentioning the date and time as it can be edited by anyone without any notice.
It further reads, “However, citation of Wikipedia in research papers may be considered unacceptable because Wikipedia is not a reliable source. Many colleges and universities, as well as public and private secondary schools, have policies that prohibit students from using Wikipedia as their source for doing research papers, essays, or equivalent assignments. This is because anyone can edit Wikipedia at any moment. When an error is recognised, it is usually fixed. However, because Wikipedia cannot monitor thousands of edits made every day, some of those edits could contain vandalism or could be simply wrong and left unnoticed for days, weeks, months, or even years.”
When we looked at the links cited by Wikipedia itself about it is genuine or not as a reliable source, we noticed several links dated back to decades demanding its ban in the academic circle. In a 2006 article by Andrew Orlowski at The Register, it was discussed how using Wikipedia could harm the grades of the students. In 2007, in an article in The Guardian, it was mentioned that the students had been warned not to cite Wikipedia.
It is noteworthy that anyone, literally anyone, can create, edit, vandalise and delete content on Wikipedia. It is up to senior editors of the website to allow or revert the change. In many cases, the editors or high-ranking contributors themselves make decisions that could be otherwise deemed unethical in the field of academia. With the recent chain of events revolving around The Kashmir Files and the deletion of profiles of celebrated journalists and authors, it is clear that Wikipedia holds no authentication when it comes to unbiased and genuine content.
The Mahalingeshwara Temple in the Puttur district of Karnataka has restricted the auction of temporary stalls to the Hindu community for the annual Jatra festival to be held in the city. The Annual Jatra festival which will be held in the temple precinct between April 10 to 20 will only Hindus to set up their shops during the ten days.
Notice issued on behalf of the Temple management. Source: varthabharti.in
The Temple administration put out a notice dated March 19, 2022, in the English daily The Hindu to announce the same. In a similar tone, the organising committee of the Kote Marikamba Jatra in Shivamogga had decided to allow only Hindu shopkeepers to set up their shops during the five-day festival beginning on March 22. This move came after Hindu organisations requested the committee to take the decision in the light of the murder of Hindu activist Harsha who was killed by radical Islamists in Shivamogga.
Earlier, the Hosa Marigudi Temple in Karnataka’s Udupi had also decided to allocate shops to only Hindu vendors in its annual fair. The committee had decided to allow stalls for the festival only by Hindus during the annual ‘Suggi Mari Pooja’ after Muslims in the coastal region shut down their shops on March 17 to protest against the Karnataka High Court’s decision on the hijab controversy.
After the temples in Shivamogga and Udupi, The Mahalingeshwara Temple in Puttur has followed the suit. The notice by the temple administration stated that only Hindu vendors will be allowed to participate in the Jothravati festival, which is due in April this year. The pooja in front of the temple during the Jatra will be held on the 29th of May and the temporary shopkeepers to be allotted the space identified by the temple office, the notice read.
New Delhi has featured on the top of a list of 107 regional capital cities with the highest average annual PM2.5 concentration in 2021. Besides, India as a nation ranked 5th out of 117 countries with the highest PM2.5 levels.
The revelation was made in the 2021 World Air Quality Report published by IQAir. The Swiss air quality technology company collected data from 6,745 cities, spread across 117 countries to prepare the report.
“India’s annual average PM2.5 levels reached 58.1 in 2021, ending a three-year trend of improving air quality. India’s annual PM2.5 averages have now returned to pre-quarantine concentrations measured in 2019,” the report emphasised.
Screengrab of the 2021 World Air Quality Report on India, graphic via IQAir
The air quality report pointed out that in 2021, India was home to 11 out of 15 most polluted cities in South and Central Asia. During that period, PM2.5 levels in Delhi increased from 84 μg/m to 96.4 μg/m3.
As per the IQAir report, no Indian city was able to meet the World Health Organisation’s air quality guideline of 5 μg/m3 in 2021. Reportedly, more than 50% of Indian cities had 10 times more PM2.5 levels than the WHO guideline.
Screengrab of the 2021 World Air Quality Report on Delhi, graphic via IQAir
In 2021, Delhi continued to feature at the top in air pollution levels as compared to other metropolitan cities such as Kolkata (59 μg/m3), Mumbai (46.4 μg/m3), Hyderabad (39.4 μg/m3), Bengaluru (29 μg/m3) and Chennai (25.2 μg/m3).
“Air pollution has a massive impact on human health in India. It is the second biggest risk factor for disease, and the economic cost of air pollution is estimated to exceed $150 billion dollars annually,” the report said.
Screengrab of the 2021 World Air Quality Report on Indian metro cities, graphic via IQAir
It emphasised, “Major sources of air pollution in India include vehicular emissions, power generation, industrial waste, biomass combustion for cooking, the construction sector, and episodic events like crop burning.”
While pointing out that internal combustion engines in motor vehicles contribute about 20-30% of PM2.5 concentration, IQAir lauded the Indian government’s new BS-VI emission standard (currently equivalent to Euro 6-1 standard).
“Emissions testing methodologies capable of measuring emissions under real-world driving conditions, rather than more simple laboratory drive cycles, are in development at the International Centre for Automotive Technology in India with an anticipated release of 2023,” it concluded.
Misplaced priorities and Delhi’s deteriorating air quality
The average annual PM2.5 level in the National Capital of India was 96.4 μg/m3 in 2021, which is about 19 times higher than the WHO’s recommended air quality guideline. Despite this, air pollution in Delhi is a non-issue in both public and political discourse until the festival of Diwali in late September-October each year.
Politicians and the left-liberal ecosystem channelise their energy into shaming Hindus for burning firecrackers while remaining indifferent to the major contributors of air pollution. A 2017 IIT-Kanpur report had revealed that construction dust was the biggest culprit for deteriorating air quality in Delhi, followed by vehicular pollution and bad infrastructure.
Experts had observed that the air quality of the NCR deteriorated despite no firecracker being burnt at the time of the study. The air, in fact, was the cleanest in the week of Diwali suggesting that the rise in pollutant values was observed during the peak of the winter season.
According to the Fire Information for Resource Management System of NASA, incidents of stubble burning go up steadily in Punjab and Haryana during the month of October each year. This often coincides with the festival of Diwali, thereby giving opportunity to the usual suspects to malign the Hindu community instead of taking steps to prevent stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab.
In November 2020 alone, the contribution of stubble burning to the pollution in Delhi reached a whopping 40%. There is also an indication that the farmers’ time stubble burning with Diwali so that the pollution caused by them is blamed on firecrackers.
Although the 2021 World Air Quality Report by IQAir has left bare the claims of improving air quality in the National Capital, past record suggests that the political machinery is unlikely to act on it anytime soon.
The University Grants Commission on Monday directed that admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered in Central Universities should be strictly done on the basis of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). The new decision does away with the criteria for considering Class 12 marks for UG admissions from the session 2022-23.
The Common University Entrance Test or the CUET will be conducted in the first week of July by the National Test Agency (NTA). UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar while announcing the exam said that the computer-based exam will be conducted in 13 regional languages including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The test will be mandatory for seeking admission into 45 central universities in the country.
Talking to the Press, M Jagadesh Kumar said, “Admissions to all undergraduate programmes in all the centrally funded universities and their affiliated colleges will be done solely on the basis of the CUET score from the 2022-23 session. For postgraduate programmes, many universities are also willing to use the CUET score. We hope that all central universities will ultimately use CUET for their postgraduate admissions also.” The Delhi University earlier had already announced that admissions for the 2022-23 session will be solely based on CUET scores.
The Universities have been given the liberty to set up their individual minimum eligibility criteria in terms of class 12 marks for undergraduate admissions. The decision does not affect the individual admission criteria of some universities including their reservation policies. “For instance, if any university reserves a certain percentage for local students or internal students, it will continue to do that. The only difference is that these students will also have to come through CUET like students to be admitted to general seats. The reservation policies and ordinances of the universities will remain unchanged,” the UGC chairperson said.
Universities with minority grants such as the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), the Jamia Millia Islamia and St Stephan’s College are allowed to continue to reserve 50% of the seats for students belonging to the respective minority communities. The CUET does not entail the admissions of international students while they will be admitted on a supernumerary basis to Indian Universities, added M Jagadesh Kumar. The Universities are also allowed to reserve a certain weightage for practical exams alongside CUET scores for admissions into courses like music, painting, sculpture and theatre.
How will CUET be conducted?
M Jagadesh Kumar detailed that the three-and-a-half hour-long exam will be conducted in two phases based on the Class 12 NCERT syllabus. CUET will be a computer-based exam with multiple-choice questions. “Candidates can decide the number of domain subjects they want to attempt during the exam. They can appear for up to six domain subjects out of the basket of 27 subjects such as accountancy, biology, business studies, chemistry, geography history, economics, mathematics, among others,” he added.
Guidelines for the conduction of the CUET will be released soon by the University Grants Commission.
