Left-propaganda website The Quint recently published a report wherein burqa proponents quoted Dr BR Ambedkar to denounce the Karnataka HC order on the hijab row.
In a report published on March 16, The Quint cited Muslim students lamenting against the court verdict that upheld hijab ban in class, stating that it was not essential to Islam. However, this verdict has sit well with the supporters of burqa, including fundamentalists, who have been decrying the sentence as unconstitutional and in violation of the fundamental rights of Muslims.
In this effort, some Muslim students interviewed by The Quint cited Dr BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, to allege that he would be weeping at the verdict given out by the Karnataka High Court.
“Dr BR Ambedkar once said that the constitution is the best, but it will depend on the persons who run it. We were expecting so much from our constitution and country. If today Dr BR Ambedkar were alive, he will literally cry,” a Muslim student and a supporter of veil in educational institutes was quoted as saying by The Quint.
While the advocates of burqa are referring to Dr BR Ambedkar as a part of psychological attempt, besides being dishonest too, to establish validity of their demands, it is worth mentioning what India’s first law minister thought about the Islamic practice of purdah.
“Burqa women walking in the streets one of the most hideous sites witnessed in India”: Dr BR Ambedkar
Contrary to what the Left and rabid supporters of veil would have us believe, Dr BR Ambedkar was a staunch opponent of burqa. He extensively wrote against the practice of purdah that afflicts the Muslim society, sharply noting that watching Muslim women wearing burqas is one of the hideous sights one can witness in India.
“As a consequence of the purdah system a segregation of the Muslim women is brought about…These burka women walking in the streets is one of the most hideous sights one can witness in India,” Ambedkar wrote in his seminal treatise ‘Pakistan or Partition of India’.
Asserting that the Muslim community bears more social evils than the Hindu society, Ambedkar said, “There can thus be no manner of doubt that the Muslim Society in India is afflicted by the same social evils as afflict the Hindu Society. Indeed, the Muslims have all the social evils of the Hindus and something more. That something more is the compulsory system of purdah for Muslim women.
Ambedkar was also critical of how the purdah system had a deleterious impact on Muslim women, contributing greatly towards many diseases ailing them.
“Such seclusion(purdah system) cannot but have its deteriorating effects upon the physical constitution of Muslim women. They are usually victims to anaemia, tuberculosis and pyorrhoea. Their bodies are deformed, with their backs bent, bones protruded, hands and feet crooked. Ribs, joints and nearly all their bones ache. Heart palpitation is very often present in them. The result of this pelvic deformity is untimely death at the time of delivery,” Ambedkar wrote.
‘The evil system of purdah causes moral degeneration to set in among Muslim women’: Ambedkar
Mentally and morally too, Ambedkar postulated, Muslim women suffered due to the purdah system. He warned that sequestration of Muslim women, brought upon by purdah, inevitably caused moral degeneration to set in, which he said not only deprived them of mental peace but also restricted their overall outlook.
“Purdah deprives Muslim women of mental and moral nourishment. Being deprived of healthy social life, the process of moral degeneration must and does set in. Being completely secluded from the outer world, they engage their minds in petty family quarrels with the result that they become narrow and restricted in their outlook,” Ambedkar had written in his book.
Perhaps, the students who are citing Ambedkar to score political brownie points and justify their demand to wear burqas in classrooms, are ignorant of the withering contempt that Ambedkar harboured for the practice of veil. Far from breaking in tears, had Ambedkar been alive, he would have been smugly smiling and demanding an even stricter ban on the veil.
Preying upon the vulnerable has always been the standard modus operandi of the evangelist missionaries. A disaster, man-made or natural, is the time when they look to convert people. Whether it is a tsunami or an earthquake, the evangelists are always there. When someone is broken in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy, that is when they are most susceptible to the promises made by these evangelists and sensing despair, they descend to benefit from human misery.
This very same strategy is back in action, this time in Ukraine, as millions fleeing the war are being targeted by American missionaries for conversion. As the refugees look to cross over to Poland and relative safety, they are being pestered by American preachers asking them to “love Jesus”.
At the Ukraine/Poland border. Tired women and children leaving their country. They’re being pestered by American preachers telling them they all need to accept Jesus as their saviour and their lives will be better. Receiving a lot of eye rolls in response. pic.twitter.com/Fjyc8ppKVe
In the name of helping war-torn refugees, evangelists are busy trying to spread the gospel, and convert as many people as they can on the ground. Franklin Graham’s fundamentalist Christian evangelical organisation Samaritan’s Purse was among the first to reach the ground once the war broke out in Ukraine.
“We are deploying life-saving medical care to aid people who are suffering. We want to meet the needs of these families in their darkest moments while pointing them to the light and hope of Jesus Christ”, said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. So while they are setting up temporary hospitals and treatment centres, the ultimate aim is to guide people towards Jesus Christ.
Unlike Samaritan’s Purse, some other evangelists aren’t even bothering with any treatment before trying to convert the displaced people suffering due to war. Awakening Europe, an evangelical organization with the goal to “save” Europe by preaching the gospel, is treating people just with prayers. In this post on their Facebook page, one missionary posted how he managed to ‘heal’ the bruised, swollen feet of a Ukrainian girl with a prayer.
Missionaries are targeting refugees fleeing for their lives in trains, or those living in refugee camps.
There are several such evangelists active in the war-torn regions of Ukraine as they seek to harvest the souls of those who don’t share their religious beliefs.
My team rented a house in Ukraine to be with the refugees who are lining up day & night.
Here we are sharing some uplifting praise songs with them as they queue for safety to cross over into Poland. We shared the Gospel after and many received Christ pic.twitter.com/hgeByTisPG
Those who couldn’t be there in person, are still praying for the spread of the gospel, and for the success of the missionaries on the ground, who are trying to cash in on the human suffering in Ukraine.
Pray for Ukraine with us today. Many are hurting, have been displaced, and continue to face danger. Pray for peace, safety, and that the Gospel will flourish in the midst of conflict. pic.twitter.com/mqNU9fO4rz
Lord, we lift up the people in the Ukraine. Protect them. May preachers boldly proclaim the gospel. Save multitudes of souls. In the midst of of war, may many be brought to peace with God through faith in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be exalted, in Jesus name Amen.
The majority of the Ukrainian population already believes in Christianity, with over 80% believing in one strand of Christianity or the other. However, this war has given the missionaries a chance to target the few who don’t believe in it, with millions of people feeling from their homes and families divided, vulnerable people have become prime targets for religious conversion.
In an interview with Gulf News, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan spoke on the idea of India and the Indian version of secularism. He was interviewed by senior journalist Sheela Bhatt. The major points of discussion included secularism, communalism, minority status, and the question of Muslim insecurity.
India as a secular nation
When asked about India’s image as a secular nation being questioned for the last few years, Khan responded that those who question the secular image of India have no idea of what India is all about. “Do not forget that world over, societies started becoming plural and accepting diversity only in the last 150 years. This phenomenon of tolerance of pluralism and diversity isn’t new for India,” he stated.
“…Our civilizational journey started with acknowledgment of diversity and pluralism — as the law of nature. India has been pluralistic since the inception of Indian civilization…Indians practiced pluralism much before Jews came to India and much before Christians came to India…So in Indian society, even if you try very hard, acceptance of diversity and pluralism is so deeply embedded that nobody can dilute it,” he added.
Insecure minorities
On the question of insecurity in a section of minorities in India, he firstly repudiated the word “minority”. “I won’t like to use term minority because the British introduced it. The constitutional arrangement was such that these terms were coined — majority and minority,” he stated.
“Britishers refused to recognize India as a nation, they always said that you can only speak only on behalf of your community. Nobody, they felt, had a right to speak on behalf of the country…But as far as the constitution of India is concerned, the building block, the unit is ‘citizen’. It is not community,” he added. Arif Mohammad Khan clarified that community is not an entity in the constitution and it recognizes the right of the individual to have freedom of conscience only.
The Hindu Muslim relationship since 2014
Afterward, Sheela Bhatt questioned whether he believes a substantial shift in the Hindu-Muslim communal relationship has occurred since 2014. Khan reacted to this query adding, “point out a time in history when this particular section did not feel suspicious, did not feel insecure, give me any time in history. Why was this country partitioned?”
Arif Mohammad Khan said that since insecurity was at the heart of the country’s separation, how can this be a new question? And how come these people who have been expressing fear or worry since 2014 have not expressed the same concern regarding Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru?
“There is a certain section who thrives in the sense of victimhood. This mentality continues and sows the seeds of division. I am not making this statement in order to blame the Britishers for our problems because somebody can exploit you only if you are exploitable,” he added.
Future of India
On the question of his worry about the future of India, he stated that he is not at all worried about the future of India. “Nothing worries me about India’s future. India is marching very effectively to emerge as a world power. And the whole world is going to recognize India’s potential,” he said.
“…I am not saying that we have already reached that stage but everybody is recognizing, acknowledging India’s potential. Indians are at the helm in major multinationals in the world today. People trust Indians,” he concluded.
The British media outlet BBC Hindi took to Twitter to celebrate the festival of Holi on Friday. In a tweet, BBC Hindi said that the President and the Prime Minister wished the country as the nation celebrates the auspicious Holi festival.
Interestingly, the BBC Hindi used a featured image of a Muslim couple, especially a burqa-clad Muslim lady, playing with colours with non-Muslims on the occasion of Holi.
Even though the BBC used the image with some ‘noble’ intentions to depict the colour festival of Holi, the representational image used by the media outlet triggered the usual suspects, who took to Twitter to cry ‘Islamophobia’.
Several Muslim social media users jumped on the left-wing media outlet’s Twitter timeline to abuse the media house and accused them of promoting hatred against Muslims.
One user Umrulayyar lashed out at the BBC, saying that the image used in the tweet was utterly disgusting and shameful. The user claimed that the BBC normalised what the ‘Sanghi goons’ shared with hate and filth. Stating that Holi was a Hindu festival, the social media user demanded the BBC to remove the featured image.
Tweets by trolls
Another user Mohammad Vakil Khan asked the BBC how can the media outlet celebrate ‘brotherhood’ when an unknown non-Muslim man touches the cheeks of a Muslim woman.
Tweets by trolls
Shahbaz Imam slammed the BBC for posting Muslim celebrating Holi festival images and asked if the BBC had gone mad. He said that the Brahmins working in the BBC posted photos of putting colours on the Muslim woman. He also asked what would happen if the same happened with the Hindu women.
Tweets by trolls
Arshad Khan commented on the audacity of the BBC to use images of Muslims to depict the Holi festival.
Tweets by trolls
Arsal said that the BBC Hindi’s featured image only showed their obsession with Muslims.
Tweets by trolls
Another Muslim user abused the British media outlet by calling them ‘BC’.
Tweets by trolls
The Muslim social media users have been intensely bullying the BBC and are demanding that the British media outlet delete the tweet showing Muslim women playing with the colours on the occasion of Holi. Some users also demanded that the BBC should change the featured image and apologise for their ‘Islamophobic’ tweet.
Well, this is not the first time that the Islamists have taken offence to the featured images that the media put out on social media platforms. Last year, the Islamists had bullied NDTV into deleting a tweet that had a representational image of a Muslim man getting tested for coronavirus.
The Islamists, who cry themselves hoarse over “lack of representation”, were upset with the representational image of a Muslim man to depict coronavirus cases. They lashed out at NDTV, accusing them of promoting ‘Islamophobia’ and bullying them to delete the photo.
Gaus Mustafa Syed, a 22-year-old infamous goon of Latur in Maharashtra who is booked for 18 different crimes in different police stations of Latur was arrested on 17th March 2022 for beating a minor girl on 14th March 2022 over a minor dispute. Women police officer arrested him and paraded him on the roads of Latur city while taking him to the Vivekanand police station in Latur.
According to a report by ABP Majha, on 14th March 2022, a minor girl had gone into the area near the Dnyaneshwar Vidyalaya in Latur city to buy some eatable. Gaus Mustafa Syed pushed the girl as he was passing by talking on his mobile phone. The girl asked him why did he assault her. In response, the goon Gaus Mustafa Syed punched the girl in her face with a fighter in his hand. The girl was injured. She later filed a complaint to the Vivekanand police station.
The staff of the Vivekananda police station was on the lookout for the accused. A police team rushed there as soon as they came to know that Gaus Mustafa Sayyed had come to the Dnyaneshwar Nagar area. He was taken into custody. But the goon was taken to the police station by parading through the road instead of taking him in a police van. This parading action was initiated by a woman employee of the Vivekananda police station at this time.
As soon as the accused Gaus Mustafa Syed was dragged into the police action, he started pleading for mercy. He was pleading to the police in the same area where he once used to threaten people. Many people in the area saw the police parading him through the streets. The woman police staff was constantly hitting the culprit with a cane as he was paraded to the police station. Gaus Mustafa Syed has most of the cases against him in the Vivekananda police station.
API Bhausaheb Khandare has informed that the accused is booked under section 324 of IPC and the next legal action is under process.
Just a couple of days after Congress party’s leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, attacked Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the Parliament, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has said in an interview that the party is willing to be the junior partner of TMC in Bengal. Chidambaram also expressed a willingness to be Aam Aadmi Party’s junior partner in Delhi and Punjab.
Speaking to Nidhi Razdan on the ironically named NDTV show ‘No Spin’, Chidambaram said that in order to mount a fight against BJP in 2024, Congress will have to cede leadership position to TMC in Bengal, and AAP in Delhi and Punjab. While most of the interview was aimed at defending the leadership of the Gandhi family, Chidambaram did give these hints towards party strategy in 2024.
He said that the way DMK is the leader of the alliance in Tamil Nadu, a similar model can be used in other states. Congress is already the junior partner of RJD in Bihar and is the junior-most partner in the Mahavikas Agadi alliance in Maharashtra. They have also been junior partners of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh in the past.
This statement from a senior Congress leader comes just 2 days after the party was raising the issue of state-backed violence in Bengal. During the zero-hours in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had blamed TMC and local Bengal police for the murder of Congress councillor Tapan Kandu in West Bengal.
Chowdhury also demanded a CBI probe in the murder of Congress councillor expressing his lack of faith in the local West Bengal Police.
During his interview with Nidhi Razdan, Chidambaram also addressed the issue of the vacant Congress President post. He said that they will not advance the election for the post of Party President, as Sonia Gandhi approaches 3 years in the position of ‘interim President’.
In a case involving terrorist and separatist activities that disrupted Jammu & Kashmir in 2017, a Delhi court has framed charges against Yasin Malik, a leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. The court has framed charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on 15 people including Yasin Malik.
According to the court, it was an “orchestrated conspiracy,” and their strategy was directly out of Adolf Hitler’s playbook. According to Special Judge Parveen Singh, the charge was held by people sitting across the border in Pakistan such as the ISI, and each of the masterminds, knowing every other conspirator, was playing his own role as per the mastermind’s directions in order to create a symphony of “bloodshed, violence, mayhem, and destruction” with the ultimate goal of separation of Jammu & Kashmir.
The court stated that it was prima facie established that there existed a criminal conspiracy through which large-scale protests were coordinated, culminating in widespread violence and destruction. The court also stated that a criminal conspiracy was hatched with the ultimate goal of secession of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India, and within that conspiracy, another conspiracy was concocted to stage certain acts of violence in order to achieve the original goal. The court observed that the secondary conspiracy involved terror-related acts and hence invited UAPA charges on people involved including Yasin Malik.
“It has been argued that these were intended to be peaceful protests following the Gandhian path. However, the evidence prima facie speaks otherwise. Not only were the protests violent, they were intended to be violent… Thus, prima facie their plan was straight from the playbook of the likes of Hitler and the march of the Brownshirts. The object was to overawe the government by the sheer scale of violence and was nothing less than a plan for insurrection,” the court observed.
The court also ascertained Hurriyat to have plotted with terrorist organizations for the same goal. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Md Yusuf Shah, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shabir Ahmad Shah, MasaratAlam, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, and Naval Kishore Kapoor are among those indicted.
Yasin Malik
Yasin Malik was an active participant in the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir. He is the former president of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and a pro-Pakistan separatist politician. He is charged with supporting terrorism in Kashmir. He was detained in connection with terrorism funding and perpetration on Indian soil. In addition, he is accused of kidnapping former Chief Minister and then Home Minister Mufti Sayeed’s daughter Rubaiya Saeed.
Yasin Malik is also charged with the assassination of four Air Force officers in January 1990. Yasin Mallik and other JKLF terrorists murdered Sqn Ldr Ravi Khanna, one of four Indian Air Force men.
Despite his terrorist connections and role in the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley, former governments and the media elite have frequently attempted to depict Yasin Malik as a ray of hope and savior of the Kashmiris.
Amid the massive success of ‘The Kashmir Files‘, the movie based on the true stories of the Kashmiri Hindu Genocide, the censor board of New Zealand has decided to re-evaluate the film and its release in the country. This is after some communal groups in the country pressurized the New Zealand Censor board to ban the film.
On Friday, Director Vivek Ranjan Agnohotri called for urgent attention of the Indians in the country and asked them to stand united against the radicals. “Some communal groups are trying to put pressure on New Zealand Censor to ban The Kashmir Files. I request all Indians to be united and oppose this undemocratic tactic by radicals with utmost humility and release this film about HUMANITY and HUMAN RIGHTS”, he tweeted.
IMPORTANT & URGENT: Some communal groups are trying to put pressure on New Zealand Censor to ban #TheKashmirFiles. I request all Indians to be united and oppose this undemocratic tactic by radicals with utmost humility and release this film about HUMANITY and HUMAN RIGHTS. #FOEpic.twitter.com/FiFBBH9dQE
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) March 18, 2022
The statement shared by Agnihotri read that the Muslim communities in New Zealand had a problem with the film and that they were planning to protest against its release. “We have a problem releasing this film in New Zealand. The Muslims have taken the issue to censor board officials and also the External Affairs Ministry”, the authorities in New Zealand said.
It also stated that the Muslim communities had issued threats to the board saying that they would protest in front of the theatres if released. The Director also shared a screenshot of the email which read that ‘the film had raised concerns with the public, the NZ Police, Department of Internal Affairs and many others. Reportedly, the advertisements for the film have also been requested removal.
Vivek Agnihotri’s gut-wrenching movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ has become one of the biggest blockbuster movies of recent times. The movie starring Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Pallavi Joshi, Mithun Chakraborty, Mrunal Kulkarni, and others has managed to earn Rs 106 crores in seven days. Agnihotri shared the tweet and expressed his happiness over entering the 100 crore club.
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) March 18, 2022
The movie had impressed the box office by making the business of around Rs 4.25 crores on the very first day of its public screening. Interestingly, the movie which was initially released across just 650-700 screens has also seen an increase in screens and shows to accommodate the audience’s demand.
The film is inspired by the true stories of Kashmiri Pandits. It takes viewers back to 1989, when conflict erupted in Kashmir due to rising Islamic Jihad, forcing the great majority of Hindus to flee the valley. According to estimates, roughly 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated between February and March 1990. More of them fled in the years that followed until just about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011. The movie based on video interviews with first-generation Kashmiri Pandit victims of the Kashmir Genocide was released in India on March 11 and is open to watch in theatres.
On Thursday (March 17) night, a frenzied Muslim mob attacked an ISKCON temple, located on Lalmohan Saha Street in Wari in Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. The development was confirmed to Opindia by the administration of the Sri Sri Radhakanta Jiu Mandir.
According to the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the dastardly attack was orchestrated by one 62-year-old Haji Shafiullah. Under his direction, an Islamist mob of 150-200 people laid siege on the ISKCON temple. They desecrated the murtis (idol), vandalised the temple premises, looted money and other valuable items.
As per a report published by India Today, three devotees namely Sumantra Chandra Shravan, Nihar Haldar, and Rajiv Bhadra were injured during the attack. Popular Twitter handle Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus shared disturbing visuals that showcase the extent of damange caused to the Sri Sri Radhakanta Jiu Mandir.
— Voice Of Bangladeshi Hindus ?? (@VoiceOfHindu71) March 17, 2022
“The attack on the Radhakanta ISKCON temple in Dhaka is ongoing. The Devotees informed the police but the police are not taking any action,” the Twitter handle posted.
The attack on the Radhakanta ISKCON temple in Dhaka is ongoing. The Devotees informed the police but the police are not taking any action. (17-03-22)#savebangladeshihinduspic.twitter.com/QGOuoygmGs
— Voice Of Bangladeshi Hindus ?? (@VoiceOfHindu71) March 17, 2022
The violent mob was heard raising slogans of ‘Allah hu Akbar’.
— Voice Of Bangladeshi Hindus ?? (@VoiceOfHindu71) March 17, 2022
A video was shared on Twitter by Hindu activist Pandit Pradip Chandra, wherein an injured ISKCON devotee was heard narrating the details of the attack.
“They (Islamists) forcibly took Nihar (name of the victim) away. I notified the police but they were not ready to believe me. After pleading with the cops several times, they agreed to look out for Nihar. Earlier, the cops denied that anyone was even abducted. We were, however, able to find Nihar in the end,” he recounted.
“While returning, they caught hold of me and snatched my phone. They threw blows at me and injured my back (He went on to show the scar on his elbow), ” the victim further added.
A ISKCON devotee is brutally injured and describing how religious fanatics attacke the ISKCON Temple at Wari Old Dhaka Bangladesh. Today at night another ISKCON temple come under attacked and destoryed the boundary wall at Wari, Old Dhaka, bangladesh. pic.twitter.com/yvAimRIrao
Opindia reached out to ISKCON temple in bangladesh
Opindia reached out to the administration of Sri Sri Radhakanta Jiu Mandir in Bangladesh to learn more about the story. A copy of the audio recording is available with Opindia.
“We are indebted to you for covering our story. If we don’t get your support (referring to the media), then, it will be impossible for Hindus in Bangladesh to even survive,” a temple official (who refused to be identified) said.
He informed that the Islamists were eyeing the temple property for a long time and have tried to encroach upon it in the past. The official said that the temple administartion had previously filed a case against them.
“Yesterday evening, they destroyed the temple wall, and ransacked our property and stole valuable items,” he informed. The temple official then handed over the phone to one of the victims of the attack, Nihar Haldar.
After a brief conversation with Haldar about the temple attack, he forwarded a complaint letter filed by another victim named Sumantra Chandra with the Wari police.
As per the police complaint, the violence was orchestrated by Mohammed Israf Sufi (31), and Haji Shafiullah (62). The attack took place on Thursday (March 17) evening.
Armed with sticks, rods, sickles and hammers, the frenzied Muslim mob destroyed the southern wall of the temple as well as the old structures. They also raised provocative, Islamists slogans with an intention to riot.
The ISKCON devotees initially thwarted the attack by closing the main gates of the temple and calling the police. When the cops reached the scene, victim Nihar Haldar went to confront the mob. His phone was snatched and brutally attacked by the mob, with an intent to murder him.
The police complaint emphasised that the mob stole ₹5 lacs worth of valuable items from the temple. Complainant Sumantra Chandra pointed out that the miscreants also pelted stones at the ISKCON temple and threatened to bury the devotees alive.
Screengrab of the police complaint by Sumantra Chandra to Wari police
While speaking about the development, HAF Directior Deepali Kulkarni said, “The week before Hindus all over the world are commemorating the 51st anniversary of those who were killed, displaced, and raped during the Bengali Hindu Genocide in Bangladesh, extremists remind us that the genocide has ramifications even today.”
In a tweet, the official handle of ISKCON had written, “ISKCON temple & devotees were violently attacked today by a mob in Noakhali, Bangladesh. Temple suffered significant damage & the condition of a devotee remains critical. We call on the Govt of Bangladesh to ensure the safety of all Hindus & bring the perpetrators to justice.”
ISKCON temple & devotees were violently attacked today by a mob in Noakhali, Bangladesh. Temple suffered significant damage & the condition of a devotee remains critical.
We call on the Govt of Bangladesh to ensure the safety of all Hindus & bring the perpetrators to justice. pic.twitter.com/ZpHtB48lZi
The Bangladesh unit of ISKCON had lamented that the sculpture of its founder, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, was burnt down during the arson attack on the temple. A Twitter account (@HinduVoice_in) had shared disturbing visuals of arson by radical Islamists. In the video clip, flames and smoke were seen rising from the burnt ISKCON temple.
Spokesman Radharamn Das had shared visuals of a Hindu monk, who was critically injured after sustaining a dagger attack to his head. He also shared a video wherein radical Islamists were seen desecrating the ISKCON temple.
Just few hours back today, around 500 Muslim mob gathered outside @iskcon Temple in Naokhali and they broke Deities inside ISKCON temple and set temple on fire. They also destroyed Durga Devi in front of ISKCON Temple. Our devotees fought: many r critical pic.twitter.com/R8Rfs8H6kX
Just see how they have attacked our ISKCON monks. This devotee was attacked with dagger on his head. He fought bravely before attacked from behind. These devotees don’t fear for their life but worried about women & children’s of neighborhood. Will world wake up tonight? @PMOIndiapic.twitter.com/s2He9nKJct
In a video that had surfaced on social media, a Hindu monk at ISKCON narrated, “Hare Krishna! Today, Jamaat attacked the ISKCON temple and other temples in Choumani in Noakhali. They have executed it as part of a vicious plan. ISKCON Mandir has been desecrated. They have killed one devotee outright and stabbed another, leading to his critical state.
On the 15th of March 2022, The Karnataka High Court pronounced its verdict in the hijab case filed by Muslim girl students. The court, as per its order, stated that the hijab is not an essential practice of Islam, and therefore, all the petitions filed by Muslim girl students seeking permission to wear the hijab in educational institutions stands dismissed.
The global media and Indian liberals almost immediately termed the verdict as a “hijab ban”. There were several individuals who went into a complete breakdown. A case in point is TheWire’s founding editor, Siddharth Varadarajan, who compared the Hijab verdict to Muslims being treated as jews and alleging that India was one step away from pushing Muslims to death camps as the Nazis did in Germany.
Outlandish claims aside, the core of the judgement in the Hijab case was that educational institutions have the right to decide their uniform and since Hijab is not an essential religious practice, schools cannot be enforced to allow it. The court found that wearing of hijab is not an essential religious practice and the prescription of a uniform is a reasonable restriction on fundamental rights. The court further stated in the order that no case is made out for invalidating the Government Order of February 5.
While the verdict has its own pros and cons, pro being that the Court stepped in before a ridiculous issue snowballed further and con being the slippery slope that the “essential to religious practice” argument is, one has to take a moment of pause and wonder how the Hijab row became an issue where even the USCIRF tweeted against the verdict. Who were the people involved in making this non-existent issue a relevant rallying point for Islamists and their sympathisers?
It is important to bear in mind that not just PFI, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, another radical Islamist outfit accused of receiving funds from abroad to promote Islam in the country, played an influential role in the Hijab controversy. But apart from the obvious Islamist outfits, there were other players who were actively pushing the Hijab row – not the usual Liberals, but platforms that one least suspects due to the veneer of neutrality.
There are two major legal platforms in India that most people rely on for legal news – LiveLaw and Bar&Bench. On Twitter and elsewhere, these two platforms are looked upon as the go-to destinations for legal developments, verdicts and commentary on the law.
Interestingly, both these platforms are now actively involved in pushing the pro-hijab agenda.
How was LiveLaw involved in pushing the pro-Hijab agenda
LiveLaw on their Twitter profile claim to be the “World’s No. 1 legal news website in terms of traffic and content”. The managing editor of the platform is Manu Sebastian, who is also very active on Twitter.
LiveLaw on Twitter
The platform, which claims to be #1 in the world, has to be cognisant of the stands they take, or, at the very least declare their own bias so the readers know where they come from.
However, that is not the case.
Manu Sebastian, who is the Managing Editor of LiveLaw has been pushing the pro-Hijab agenda rather aggressively from his personal Twitter handle and that stand reflects in the kind of content LiveLaw is publishing as well.
Manu himself penned an article in LiveLaw where he contended that “preconceived notions” had trumped “Judicial reasoning” in the Karnataka hijab order.
In the article, Sebastian was deeply troubled by the fact that the court made a universal declaration in the judgement that Hijab is not an essential practice in Islam. He does not consider the fact that many Islamic countries have themselves banned Hijab. Perhaps Manu wanted the court to consider how ISIS and Taliban practice Islam before delivering their verdict.
He further added that the court did not consider the petitioner’s “indirect discrimination” argument, where the petitioners had argued that the uniform rule is discriminating specifically against Muslim girls. The petitioner had asked why bangles, bindis etc are not banned either. To this, the court had said that the uniform rule is the same for everyone. Sebastian takes umbrage to the “one-line dismissal” of the argument without realising that the argument itself was so asinine that the court did not have to comment further on it. It is indeed true that uniform rules are the same for everyone and there is no discrimination against Muslim students alone.
Interestingly, right after talking about Hindu students, he takes umbrage to the court supporting homogeneity in the classroom instead of diversity. The court in its verdict had said that homogeneous uniform in the classroom supports secularism.
Most of all, Manu Sebastian was upset that the court thought banning Hijab was an “emancipation of Muslim women”. He wrote that the court did not depend on any material to claim that the wearing of the hijab was limiting the rights of Muslim women. He further drags in Sabarimala just to make his point – Defending Islam and deriding Hinduism.
What Manu Sebastian wrote in LiveLaw
In this para, Manu’s agenda shines through as bright as the sun. He forgets to add that it was mostly non-Hindu women who had created a ruckus about Sabarimala while devotee women stood for the practises and against the court’s interference. In the Hijab case, however, it was not about the practice being banned across the board. It was specific to educational institutions which aren’t places of worship like that of Sabarimala but are meant to be secular institutions with autonomy. The court in its verdict has not said that Muslim women cannot wear the Hijab in the mosques. Therefore, for the managing editor to compare a hijab ban in educational institutions that have a uniform to the practice of a religious place shows his nefarious agenda.
LiveLaw, in its coverage, tried to discredit the Karnataka HC verdict and push the Hijab agenda rather aggressively, even apart from this shameful article penned by Sebastian.
The article cited by HC to opine that #hijab at best was a cultural practice was written by a US college student as a term assignment paper https://t.co/VCxXbCWTpD
Sebastian also endorsed foreign interference in internal matters.
US House Committee of Foreign Affairs makes a comment on Karnataka High Court’s verdict upholding restraint on wearing Hijab in classrooms. https://t.co/2XHtOi4xjr
Manu went on to retweet several tweets and articles that peddled the mythical Muslim victimhood as well.
“.. we can only see the failure to provide for a reasonable accommodation for the hijab as deliberate discrimination wrought on Muslim women” – brilliant analysis by @suhrithhttps://t.co/c2SmtjBBd9
Why was the LiveLaw managing editor bringing in Sabarimala argument while defending regressive Hijab
As mentioned above, Manu Sebastian made a facetious argument trying to connect the Sabarimala issue with the Hijab issue. It is pertinent to note that in 2018, an application was filed in the Supreme Court that argued against the traditions of Sabarimala. It was filed as an intervention application against the review petition filed by Nair Service Society.
The intervention application against the tradition of Sabarimala was filed by one TP Sidhu.
The application filed by TP Sindhu alleges that the NSS’s review petition, which contends that women aged between 10 and 50 should not be allowed inside Sabarimala temple since the presiding deity Lord Ayyappa is a ‘naishtika brahmachari’ (perpetual bachelor), is an insult to Ayyappa as well as anti-women.
“The contention that a ten-year-old girl’s presence will affect the celibacy of the ‘Lord Ayyappa’ is a derogatory and offensive remark not only against ‘Lord Ayyappa’ but more so on children of such tender age,” the application said.
TP Sindhu is none other than one of the Directors of LiveLaw.
LiveLaw Directors
With such antecedents, it is no surprise that LiveLaw has been campaigning for a regressive practice like Hijab in Educational Institutions and rallying against the religious practice in one temple.
How was Bar&Bench involved in pushing the pro-Hijab agenda
On the 15th of March, one Anas Tanwir, advocate on record in Supreme Court, tweeted that he, along with others, has filed an SLP against the Karnataka hijab verdict.
Have filed SLP against the Hijab Judgment. took monumental team effort to file on same day . While Me, @munshi_nova broke down the judgment, @iamasif98, @EbadR101, @Areebuddin14 did all the drafting under guidance of Shahrukh and @jrcounsel. Thank you all. Sorry for all screaming https://t.co/VwO1cFySlY
One of the people mentioned was one Areeb Uddin. Upon closer examination, his close association with Bar&Bench reveals itself.
Areeb Uddin Ahmad was working with Bar&Bench and reported for them extensively. One has to wonder what an employee with a legal firm was doing filing SLPs to force women to wear Hijab in educational institutions.
Once he was called out for his association with Bar&Bench, Areeb tweeted that his association with the legal portal had ended on the 11th of March 2022.
This update came on the 16th of March, 1 day after he had filed the SLP along with others and after he was called out for it.
Personal update: I'd like to clarify that I'm not a reporter or employed at @barandbench (Last day was March 11th)
I'd be continuing writing on legal issues as a columnist like other advocates.
Legal Reporting was an amazing experience. Learnt a lot from the team at Bar & Bench
While Areeb said that he was no longer a reporter at Bar&Bench and his last date of March 11th, one of the reports by him on the platform was on the 14th of March 2022.
Abetment of suicide case: Allahabad High Court grants bail to former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur
Till March 14th, Areeb was posting legal updates tagging Bar&Bench. This method is followed by reporters who report an incident on Twitter but want to tell readers that they are reporting for a certain platform. One sees several journalists from various newspapers and platforms following t his format on Twitter. It serves as an identification of sorts that the reporter is reporting for a particular platform.
Advocate Suraj Singh, who is visually-impaired has been sitting on a dharna (sit-in protest) against the alleged failure of the government to implement disability laws in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.@barandbenchpic.twitter.com/TZhLMKxhFQ
His Twitter account is littered with stories of fake Muslim victimhood and fervent support for women wearing Hijab.
"In a country like ours, we are denying education, we are shutting gates on these girls’ faces because they are wearing something that they believe is a religious code for them."
Not just Areeb, there are other reporters from Bar&Bench who have been pushing the pro-Hijab agenda.
Zeb Hassan, a reporter with the Bar&Bench peddled the same agenda. Even though she reports on the law, she misrepresented the case as a “hijab ban” and not about hijab in schools with a uniform.
It would certainly appear that LiveLaw and Bar&Bench have a problem of either bad recruiting or slant towards Islamists and Leftists rather categorically and as an editorial policy.
