On Saturday, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya was attacked by the goons backed by Shiv Sena in Pune Municipal Corporation. Somaiya was in Pune to lodge an official complaint against Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s close aide and partner Sujit Patkar in case of Lifeline Hospital Management Services scam worth Rs 100 crores during the COVID19 pandemic. A video of the same has since gone viral.
“I am attacked by Shivsena Gundas inside the premises of Pune Mahapalika”, he tweeted as he said that complaint against Patkar must be registered. The BJP leader stated that Sujit Patkar had obtained the contract of management of Jumbo Covid Center at Shivaji Nagar, Pune on the basis of fraudulent documents. He also said that the Lifeline Hospital Management Services headed by Sujit Patkar did not provide the required facilities to the Centre resulting in massive death of COVID patients.
दुपारी 4 वाजता मी शिवाजी नगर पुणे जंबो कोविड सेंटर घोटाळ्यासाठी संजय राऊत पार्टनर सुजित पाटकर लाइफलाइन हॉस्पिटल मॅनेजमेंट सर्व्हिसेस विरुद्ध शिवाजी नगर पोलिस स्टेशनमध्ये तक्रार करणार
खोटे डॉक्युमेंट्स देवून कॉन्ट्रॅक्ट मिळविला.कोविड रुग्णांचा मृत्यू झाला
This is a day after BJP leader Kirit Somiya released a statement revealing the chaos and corruption in the allotment of COVID centre contracts to entities on paper in Pune and Mumbai. He affirmed that Sujit Patkar’s Lifeline Hospital Management Services was not in existence when it was given the contract by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).
The Lifeline Hospital Management Services had started providing medical staff and actually running the COVID care centres at Dahisar, NSCI Waroli, Mulund and Racecourse Mahalakshmi one year before the contract was entered into. “MCGM did not receive any document, proper application, experience certificate, nothing but blindly allotted the contract to Lifeline Hospital Management Services”, the statement read.
#SanjayRaut Partner got ₹100 Crore Jumbo COVID Centre Scam.
Sujeet Patkar’s Fraud Paper Company Lifeline Hospital Management Services
Somaiya highlighted Sujit Patkar’s relation and partnership with Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and said that the actual contract between the MCGM and Lifeline Hospital Management Services was never signed. “The company did not have any staff, experience, financial capacity and that resulted in a chaos”, he added.
He also mentioned that the partnership agreement submitted after one year of starting the service to COVID centre in Mumbai and that submitted to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMRDA) was totally different. At Pune’s Jumbo COVID Centre, 3 patients died within the first 7 days due to the casual attitude of the Lifeline Hospital Management Services.
The firm which was never registered under the state Partnership Act was then blacklisted and terminated by PMRDA. According to Somaiya, the four contracts by Mumbai Municipal Corporation were granted to Lifeline Hospital Management Services after Pune’s blacklisting episode.
The matter came to light when ED recently raided Sujit Patkar’s properties in connection with the land scam worth Rs 1034 crores. The document by ED reflected that Patkar had signed the agreement with MCGM one year after actually getting the contract and receiving Rs 32 crores in his account.
Sujit Patkar is also a business associate of the daughters of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Purvashi and Vidhita, in their wine company Magpie DFS Pvt. Ltd since the last 16 years. ED suspects that a part of the proceeds from the Rs 1034 crore land scam may have been invested in Magpie DFS.
Former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad on Saturday shared a video of himself singing ‘Saraswati Shloka’, a prayer dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, on the occasion of Basant Panchami.
“Sarasvati Namastubhyam Varade Kaama-Ruupinni, Vidya Aarambham Karissyaami Siddhir-Bhavatu Me Sadaa(O Goddess Saraswathi; salutations to you, the giver of boons, the one who fulfils desires. I shall begin my studies. May there always be an accomplishment for me),” Prasad sang followed by wishing his followers a happy Saraswati Puja and Basant Panchami.
‘Saraswati Shloka’ is a Hindu prayer that is recited before the beginning of a class or beginning of one’s studies to seek blessings of Goddess Saraswati in learning all that one resolves to study. It is an address to the Goddess Saraswati, who represents all forms of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. Knowledge is the most basic pursuit of human life, and a life of learning and study imparts wisdom, discipline among other virtues, and enriches human intellect.
How Venkatesh Prasad unapologetically wears his Hindu roots on his sleeve
It is worth noting that Prasad has been one of the few celebrities who have not shied away from openly expressing their Hindu roots. He joined Twitter on the 8th of April, 2021 and within a matter of a few months, he has posted some interesting content on his Twitter page, affirming his Hindu credentials.
In June 2021, Prasad had shared a video of himself where he was seen singing a few stanzas of ‘Shri Ram Stuti’ written by Goswami Tulsidas in the sixteenth century. He also shared the meaning of the stanzas he sang in the video.
“‘Shri Ram Stuti’ is an aarti, written by Goswami Tulsidas in the sixteenth century. It is a beautiful call to Lord Rama. Tried to share few stanzas with meaning,” Prasad tweeted along with his rendition of the aarti dedicated to Lord Rama.
On International Yoga Day, Venkatesh Prasad demonstrated the Surya Namaskar for his followers, performed in deference to the Sun God. He had also wished people on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra on Sunday as well. Earlier last month, he also sang the Shri Rama Stuti and shared a video of the same on Twitter. He also translated the lyrics for the audience.
Then on the occasion of Mother’s Day, Venkatesh Prasad shared verses from the Skanda Purana to wish people on the day. In another Twitter post, the cricketer also said that Hanuman Chalisa was an important part of his life on Hanuman Janmotsav.
The Chinese Communist Party is infamous for carrying out extensive surveillance on its citizens. China is surging towards becoming the first country in the world to implement a pervasive system of algorithmic and technology-aided supervision to keep a vigil on its entire population. It has now come to light that the country is also spying on citizens in other nations.
In an article in The Spectator, former UK diplomat Charles Patron, who had served 22 years in Communist-ruled China, narrated how he was subjected to surveillance by the Chinese Intelligence machinery. He recounted how an unnamed British Professor at an esteemed UK university set him up to be monitored by the Chinese deep State.
“In 2018, when I was an adviser to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, a British professor suggested that my experience in EU/China relations might earn me some good money giving lectures,” he said. Patron informed that the Professor taught at a University, where members of the Chinese Communist Party are trained.
He got in touch with officials at the Shanghai International Studies University, who in turn connected him to their affiliate think tank named Shanghai Institute for European Studies (SIES). Patron stated that the University offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Shanghai.
“Since I was already due to speak in Shenzhen at a conference, we agreed to meet there to talk more about the offer. As the email said, by ‘lucky coincidence’ two of its people were in nearby Guangzhou for business the week after. It was not hard to spot that this was an intelligence approach,” the author wrote in The Spectator.
Screengrab of the article by Charles Patron in The Spectator
Charles Patron recounted how the two ‘CCP officials’ tried to trick him into believing that they are affiliated with the varsity. “Instead of meeting me in my hotel, they directed me to a discreet café. Of the two men, it was the younger, Mr Shen, who did the talking: unusual in a society where seniority matters,” he said.
“Nor was this because of the older’s lack of English. Mr Shen’s own fluency was not fit for purpose, so we switched to Chinese. They then forgot their story about doing business in Guangzhou. It was also clear that as I shifted ground on what I was competent to lecture about, they shifted too, away from their original professed interests,” Patron added.
He informed that the two men handed a printed ‘project proposal’ to him and was quick to turn to the payment section to test his ‘cupidity.’ After parting ways, he shared emails with his Chinese counterparts. They would often inquire about his plans to return to the Communist country under the pretext of one ‘innocuous’ request or the other.
“I let the correspondence lapse. But I am sure that the moment I set foot in China, Mr Shen will appear before me. Except that I won’t be going back…It wasn’t surprising that my intelligence approach was set up by a British academic: our universities are heavily targeted. Yet they seem remarkably relaxed,” he informed.
Charles Patron pointed out that UK universities did not bother to verify the background of their Professors, who often have connections to the Chinese Communist Party. He concluded, “There has, for example, been no debate as to the appropriateness of employing staff who are CCP members. At the very least, party membership should be declared, given that the oath when you join states that ‘I will fight for communism throughout my life’ and ‘be ready at all times to sacrifice my all for the party.”
Almost 100% of China’s public spaces under watch: Reports
Last year, a report published on OneZero stated that China was on the brink of achieving 100% surveillance of its public spaces with the help of the ‘Sharp Eyes’ surveillance program. The program started in 2013 from a backwater region of Pingyi County, where the local government began installing thousands of security cameras across rural and urban areas.
By 2016, a total of 28,500 cameras were installed. Even the smallest of the villages had at least 6 cameras installed, a state media report said. However, an intriguing facet of this unique surveillance program was that it turned neighbours into agents of the Chinese Communist Party, helping them in their snooping activities.
The footage from the CCTV camera was not only monitored by the law enforcement officials and automated facial recognition algorithms but they were also fed to the residents themselves with the help of special TV boxes installed in their homes.
The residents could watch live security footage coming from the CCTV cameras and summon the police in case they found anything suspicious. Two years later, in 2015, the Chinese government announced that it is going to extrapolate the program to the rest of the country.
The program was dubbed as “Xueliang Project”, or Sharp Eyes, in reference to a quote made by former Chinese ruler Mao Zedong who once wrote that “the people have sharp eyes” when looking out for neighbours that do not uphold communist ideals.
Known for her batting exploits and astute captaincy on the cricket field, Indian woman’s cricket captain Mithali Raj on Saturday sent social media users on Twitter into a tizzy after she responded with Narendra Modi as the one leader she looked up to.
Raj had organised a Question and Answer session on Twitter, asking her followers to ask her any question of their liking. When one of the social media users asked her who is the one leader she looked up to, the prolific cricketer responded with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, this was enough for left-wing supporters to unleash a volley of attack against the cricketer. A bevvy of detractors targeted Raj for expressing her admiration for PM Modi.
Social Media users attack Mithali Raj for holding PM Modi
One of the Twitter users who replied to Raj’s tweets said: “Lost my respect.”
One Twitter user insinuated that cricketers who support PM Modi get paid by Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son, Jay Shah, who holds an important position in BCCI.
I feel pity for these cricketer, but what options do they have when they get paid by jay shah.
Leftists ‘cancel’ celebrated author Ruskin Bond for praising PM Modi in his new book
‘Cancelling’ famous personalities for their support to PM Modi is a common practice that left-leaning supporters indulge on social media in an attempt to discourage others from expressing their admiration for the Prime Minister.
Earlier in January 2022, Ruskin Bond, the celebrated author, was cancelled by leftists for praising PM Modi in his new book. In his recently released book titled- A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 Years of Independence, Bond extolled India as an amalgamation of the “physical and spiritual” attributes of India, along with a few words of praise for the leftists’ bête noire- Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Days after Hindu boys wore saffron shawls in response to the Muslim girl students violating the uniform rules and regulations by wearing hijab, the girl students of the college took to the streets of Kundapur, Udupi by wearing saffron shawls.
The uniform regulations in educational institutions have taken a dangerous turn in Karnataka after a few Muslim students refused to follow the guidelines and insisted that they want to wear hijabs inside educational institutions.
In response, boy students had decided to wear the saffron shawls prompting the authorities to ban both outfits. However, the Muslim students have brazened it out to protest against the authorities outside, risking the future of several other students studying in the school.
On Saturday, in solidarity with their classmates, girl students also hit the streets by wearing saffron shawls to protest against the attempts of Muslim students to vilify the secular atmosphere in the college by deliberately violating the rules and regulations.
Several videos have now gone viral in which girl students adorning saffron shawls took a march to protest against hijabs. In addition, they chanted Jai Shri Ram slogans to show support to their fellow students who were not allowed to enter campus for wearing saffron shawls on Friday.
Hindu girl students today came to college in Kundapura, Karnataka wearing Saffron shawls to show protest against wearing Hijab in schools and colleges pic.twitter.com/NIAV3UFv6R
A Hindu student protesting said that they would also wear Saffron shawls if the authorities allowed Muslim students to wear Islamic attires of hijab or burqa. “There has to be only one rule on the uniform,” said the student.
Not just in Kundapura, Hindu students from various parts of the state have also joined students from coastal Karnataka. Videos have gone viral in which it was seen that many students from across the state are wearing saffron scarves around their necks to protest against Muslim girls continuing to wear Hijab to the college.
In the districts of Belgavi and Hassan, students were seen wearing saffron shawls.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court has agreed to hear a plea arguing that Muslim women wearing Hijab should be permitted to attend classes. A Muslim student has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court, asking for a direction to allow wearing a hijab in college, stating that it is her “Fundamental Right” granted under Article 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and “integral practise of Islam”.
The Karnataka government has stated that religious attires are not allowed inside campus and students will have to obey uniform rules. However, some Muslim students have been protesting outside the gates, demanding the right to wear hijabs. As usual, the so-called ‘secular-liberal’ politicians are supporting the Islamic regressive practice and have been stating that the schools and colleges should relax their rules for Islamic practises.
On 5th February 2022, PM Narendra Modi is inaugurating the Statue of Equality at Muchintal near Hyderabad in Telangana. The 216-feet tall Statue of Equality commemorates the 11th-century Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya, who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living including faith, caste and creed. The Statue is made of ‘panchaloha’, a combination of five metals- gold, silver, copper, brass, and zync, and is among one of the tallest metallic statues in sitting position in the world.
The statue is mounted on a 54-ft high base building named ‘Bhadra Vedi’, which has floors devoted to a Vedic digital library and research centre, ancient Indian texts, a theatre, an educational gallery detailing many works of Sri Ramanujacharya. The statue has been conceptualised by Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami of Sri Ramanujacharya Ashram.
Sri Ramanujacharya worked tirelessly for the upliftment of people with the spirit of every human being equal regardless of nationality, gender, race, caste or creed. The inauguration of the Statue of Equality is a part of the 12-day Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham, the ongoing 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Ramanujacharya. On this occasion, it becomes necessary to remember the saint who transformed the Vaishnav tradition of devotion ten centuries ago.
Ramanujacharya had put a strong foundation of the Bhakti Marga
Ramanujacharya is also known as Bhagvad Ramanuja. He was born in 1017AD in a Tamil Brahmin family in a village Sriperumbudur which is presently in the Tamilnadu state. His mother’s name was Kanthimathi. Keshava was his father. In 120 years of his life, he went on to put the strong foundation of Bhakti Marga, which continued to inspire the devotional movement that spread across the Bharata in centuries to come.
Ramanujacharya is the pioneer of the Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism) doctrine of the Vedanta philosophy. After being initiated by Vidyavrata Sanskara rituals at the age of eight, he joined a local traditional Gurukul to study Vedic scriptures. Ramanujacharya continued his pursuit of knowledge even after his marriage. He moved to Kanchipuram where he studied in the Advaita Vedanta school of thought under the guidance of his master Yadav Prakash.
Ramanujacharya had studied and contributed to Vedanta philosophy
As the name of the school suggests, it was one of the schools following the Advaita philosophy as defined by Adi Shankaracharya. To put it in simpler terms, the basic principle of this Vedanta doctrine is that Brahman (the God or Ishwara) and Atman (oneself, devotee) are one and the same. The physical reality that separates Atman from the notion of this oneness is called ‘Maya’. ‘Maya’ is a Sanskrit word that literally means ‘that which is not.’
Ramanuja frequently had disagreements with his Guru while interpreting Vedic texts especially the Upanishads with this postulate of the Advaita. So he separated from his Guru Yadav Prakash. After this, he continued his journey in the direction of discovering the new meanings of Vedic literature on his own. Departed from his Guru, he started working as a priest in the Varadaraja Perumal Temple of Kanchipuram.
What is Vishishtadvaita as defined by Ramanujacharya?
It was only in the Varadaraja Perumal Temple that Ramanujacharya started teaching that ‘Moksha is not necessarily contemplating the Brahman or getting liberated from the birth-death cycle as understood by many others, but it is an experience of joy that results from devotion, praise, worship, and contemplating the divine perfection.’
Ramanujacharya had put forth that ‘though the God and his devotee have separate existences, the elixir of their cosmic oneness can certainly be experienced and this is a very personal experience for oneself. Therefore, all the differences amongst the humans on the basis of caste or gender should be straightaway discarded and everyone be equally regarded.’ It is this teaching of him due to which his statue being inaugurated by Narendra Modi is named as the statue of equality.
Ramanujacharya was the greatest social reformer of his times
When initiated in the Vaishnava school of thought, Ramanujacharya had received his Deeksha from Kanchipurna Swami, a Shudra disciple of Yamunacharya. Here it is notable that Yamunacharya himself came from a royal family leaving behind his kinglihood and was revered as the one who has given up everything when at the peak of prosperity. Not to forget that all this has happened in Tamilnadu, the home state to Periyar Ramaswami who unfortunately found himself from the other end of the thought process and encouraged and preached caste-based hatred amongst people under the garb of social justice and reforms.
Even while bearing the responsibility as the descendent of his Guru, Ramanujacharya had opened the doors of the Vaishnava doctrine for everyone barring the differences of caste, gender, economic class and social background. Ramanujacharya connected people with a single common thread of Bhakti. This is why attempts were made to kill him.
As mentioned by Vishwanath Mukherji in the thirteenth volume of his series ‘Bharat Ke Mahan Yogi’, Ramanujacharya had taken and completed three vows while being initiated as a Vaishnav devotee. One of them was to bring the ‘Brahmasutra’ scriptures in front of the common masses in a way they would better understand them. This is why he went on to write commentaries on Vedic scriptures.
Ramanujacharya had followed another Saint of his times, Swami Goshthipurna, to receive sacred mantras from him. Ramanujacharya was denied the mantras 18 times as he was always accompanied by at least two of his own disciples. He could receive these mantras only when he met Swami Goshthipurna in solitude and was advised to keep them secret. But as soon as he came out to meet the people, he started chanting those mantras aloud. The reason behind this as told by Ramanujacharya himself was ‘there is no greater salvation than sharing the divine knowing with the ones who are deprived.’
Writings of Ramanujacharya
Through conversations with his disciples, devotees and his colleagues, Ramanujacharya realized that any philosophy cannot be sustained by merely making disciples and preaching to people. For this, it is necessary that the texts of earlier scholars should be rewritten so that the whole philosophy can be accessible to the common masses. To give effect to this idea, Ramanujacharya started writing the commentary of ‘Brahmasutra’. It is known as ‘Sri Bhashya’. Ramanujacharya composed other texts named ‘Vedantadeep’, ‘Vedantasar Sangrah’, ‘Geetabhashya’, ‘Nityaradhana-Vidhi’ and ‘Gadyatraya’. After the writing works of these texts was over, Ramanujacharya left for a tour of Bharat.
Uniting the nation through the Bhakti movement
In his Bharat tour, Ramanujacharya went on to establish Vishnu temples and muths at 108 different places. He had also visited the farthest situated Sharada Peeth of Kashmir for getting references of some scriptures needed for his next writing. Worshipping of Vishnu incarnations Lord Rama and Lord Krishna in north India have a great influence on Ramanujacharya.
During his times, Ramanujacharya had ensured that every single temple and the muth has qualified teachers who teach Vedanta philosophy to everyone who approached with the intent of learning. These schools made sure that the Sanatan (Hindu) faith in the people manifests as a personal bond between the individual and his deity experienced and lived in one’s daily practice rather than becoming a blind cult. Ramanujacharya left the body in 1137 CE only after consecrating his own Prastar Murti (actual live replica) at Sriranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam in Tamilnadu. This life-size murti has been an inspiration for many devotees.
Impact of Ramanujacharya and the Bhakti movement he initiated
The standardization of the rituals in the Bhakti movement has come from the southern part of the nation. Other great philosophers of Bhakti namely Nimbarkacharya, Madhvacharya and Vallabhacharya also hail from the Deccan. They are either contemporary to Ramanujacharya or from the following centuries. Therefore it is well said that भक्ति द्रविडे उपजी, उत्तर लाए रामानन्द, परगट कियो कबीर ने, सात धर्म नौ खंड which means ‘Bhakti first appeared in the southern part of the nation, Ramananda (14th generation of Ramanujacharya’s disciple) expanded it in the north and Kabir revealed the deepest of the secrets of Bhakti to the world.’
From Meerabai and Narsi Mehta in the west to Ramkrishna Paramhans and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the east, the effects of the Bhakti movement on the nation have marked their remarkable and longlasting impression. Warkari movement in Maharashtra which is still alive with annual gatherings of more than 25 lakh pilgrims at Pandharpur has drawn almost all its philosophy from Ramanujacharya’s teaching. Bhakti literature by eminent Marathi Saint poets is the similar philosophy of personal bond between the deity and the devotee as told in the regional language of common masses.
In the Islamic invasions that followed, it was this personal bond of individuals with their deity which made it difficult for the religiously motivated invaders to preach to people and inspire them to convert to their faith, because it is always a tough task to convert every individual separately than to bring a whole lot of people into the religion at once. With people of all castes being covered under the umbrella of the profound Bhakti philosophy, conversion became an uphill task for the Islamic invaders. It, therefore, becomes evident that there were fewer willful conversions and more forced conversions as the Islamic rule spread in the medieval centuries.
Statue of Equality
To honour the great philosopher Ramanujacharya, in 2017 – the year of his 1000th birth anniversary, Vaishnava ascetic Chinna Jeeyar came up with the idea of erecting Ramanujacharya’s 216 feet high statue to commemorate his teachings. It is built on an approximately 35-acre site near Hyderabad in Telangana. The statue is surrounded by 108 small temples called Divyadesam. On the walls and pillars of these temples, the life of Ramanujacharya is inscribed.
The complex also includes a library and research centre. On the upper floor, there is a temple in which a 120kg gold idol of Ramanujacharya is established and consecrated for performing daily rituals. The grand 216 feet statue is made of Panchaloha, which is five metallic elements viz. gold, silver, copper, brass and zync. There are 5 lotus petals, 27 Padma Peetham, 36 elephants, and 108 steps have been made to reach the statue. Along with an Omnimax theatre and Vedic school on the premises, this monument becomes a state of the art ancient knowledge centre in the new India. On 5th February 2022, on the occasion of Basant Panchami, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is inaugurating the statue of equality.
Swapna Suresh, the accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, lambasted senior bureaucrat M Sivasankar on Friday for making false charges against her. Suresh, who was released on bail a few months ago after being imprisoned for her alleged involvement in the smuggling of gold through the diplomatic route, attacked former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar for stating in his book that she had deceived him.
They did not have a close connection, according to Sivasankar. Swapna, on the other hand, stated that they were close and that after taking voluntary retirement, he wanted to settle down in Dubai. “Sivasankar was a very important part of my life and there was personal intimacy between us. We had a very good wavelength” Swapna said in an interview with Republic Bharat.
#RepublicSuperExclusive | “Sivasankar was a very important part of my life and there was personal intimacy between us. We had a very good wavelength”: Kerala gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh to Republic TV
This revelation comes while Sivasankar is releasing his autobiography, ‘Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana’ (Ashwathama is just an elephant).
Swapna has also claimed that Sivasankar was aware of what was inside the diplomatic luggage and that everything she did while on the run from police was on Sivasankar’s orders.
Swapna went on to say that Sivasankar was a daily visitor to her home and that they used to travel across states and to Dubai together. She further said that Sivasankar orchestrated the NIA’s involvement in the gold smuggling case in order to keep Swapna quiet.
Swapna stated that she had given other presents to Sivasankar throughout time and that he was exploiting her to clean up his reputation.
The 2020 gold smuggling case
On July 5, 2020, customs officials at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport found gold weighing over 30 kilograms and valued at almost Rs 15 crore. This gold was concealed in diplomatic baggage and sent to the UAE embassy via air freight.
After getting information that the suitcase was part of a smuggling network aiming to misappropriate the name of a diplomat with diplomatic immunity, customs authorities took action.
In this case, Swapna Suresh is the primary defendant. Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE consulate, has been engaged by a private business to work on a project for the Kerala Information Technology Department, which is led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. M Sivasankar, the CM’s principal secretary, used to be in charge of this department.
Besides being coarse and boorish in her Lok Sabha speech, for which she was rightly called out by Speaker Om Birla and opposition MPs, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra was also presumptuously insulting towards the Jain community when she insinuated that Jains secretly consume non-vegetarian food against the government’s alleged ban on meat in Gujarat.
The deplorable remarks, which were a direct assault on the ethos and principles of Jainism that strictly forbids the consumption of meat, were made by Mahua during her tirade against the Centre on its alleged efforts to curb individual rights and liberties.
Accusing the Modi government of constraining individual liberties, Mahua said, “You fear a future India which is comfortable in its skin and conflicting realities. So you fear a future India where a Jain boy can hide from home and enjoy a Kathi Kabab on a street cart in Ahmedabad. So, you forbid non-vegetarian street food in Gujarat municipalities,” she said.
Jain: Bring up a minority who is yet to be converted to the great minority Kathi Kebab: Remind people of the greatest invention of the great minority Ahmedabad: Add a reference to Gujarat for some reasons unknown
While Mahua aimed to attack the Centre, the unwarranted insinuation against the Jain community, of accusing its adherents of craving for non-vegetarian food and secretly consuming it, sparked outrage amongst Jains who felt attacked by the Trinamool Congress leader’s gratuitous remarks.
A raft of Jains on social media expressed stern objection to Mahua’s remarks in the Lok Sabha, slamming her for insulting the community, that too a minority, in lieu of gaining political mileage. Many others asked Moitra to apologise for her statements that painted the community in a bad light and had hurt the sentiments of its adherents.
Nevertheless, the entire episode exposes the sham of “fighting for the rights of minorities”—a trope that opposition parties, including the TMC, routinely drum up—in their bid to fashion themselves as the saviours of the minority communities while simultaneously accusing the Modi government of championing the majoritarian cause.
Jains form one of the tiniest minorities in India. Close to 4.4 million people or 0.4 per cent of the total population of India are Jains. They are guided by strict principles, including that of non-violence, not just against fellow human beings but all living beings. And this principle of non-violence, which is one of the central tenets of Jainism, extends to the prohibition of meat consumption as Jainism considers it morally repugnant to satiate one’s culinary preferences by killing and eating living beings. Nonviolence is such an important principle of Jainism that Jains abstain from consuming root vegetables like potato, onion and garlic as they contain millions of microorganisms.
And yet, Mahua Moitra felt no compunction in casually defaming Jainism during her speech on the floor of the lower house of the parliament. The minority status and the ethos of Jainism hardly concerned Mahua, who considered it fair-game to malign Jains and Jainism in her larger efforts to paint the government as intolerant and averse to individual rights and liberties.
The constant vilification of Jains and Jainism by opposition, especially after PM Modi came to power in 2014
Perhaps this apathy towards Jain sensitivities stems from their insignificant population and largely peaceful demeanour. Politicians are willing to estrange Jains because they know that their numerical strength isn’t potent enough to negatively impact them in elections. In addition to this, Jains also do not exhibit violent tendencies as displayed by members of other communities. Politicians like Mahua are rest-assured that Jains won’t take to the streets with calls for ‘sar tan se juda’ as is the case with some communities who get inflamed on the slightest of provocations.
However, Jains are used to such constant vilification for some time now, especially after PM Modi’s ascension to power in 2014, a leader who commands a massive following among the Jain community. Back in 2015, Jains were targeted after an assorted group of politicians, journalists and eminent personalities attacked the BJP government in Haryana for appealing slaughterhouses to halt their operations temporarily during Paryushan Parva, the Jain festival of self-purification.
But a humble appeal to abattoirs to cease their operations temporarily was characterised as a diktat by the government to control what is consumed by people. And this led to the demonisation of Jains, with people believing that Jains were asking for such bans. People on social media had then attacked Jains, mocked their faith, customs, and threatened to throw meats loaves at their places of worship. However, scant efforts were undertaken to dispel the rumours as opposition parties and pliant journalists buckled down on the task of targeting the Jain community.
While the opposition parties bend over backwards to humour unreasonable demands made by members of other minority communities, especially Muslims and Christians, the same kind of favourable treatment is not extended to an even smaller minority such as Jains, who are not regarded as equals to their Muslim and Christian counterparts. For instance, the defamatory remarks by Mahua Moitra against Jains have not triggered as bigger an outcry as the Karnataka college issue where hijab-clad students were denied entry into the premises for not complying with the institution’s dress code.
The issue sparked massive outrage among opposition parties and supporters of the Left persuasion, who exaggerated the incident and called it a deliberate attempt to target minority Muslims. The fact that girls were not abiding by the institute’s codes concerning uniform did not bother the detractors, who are constantly on the prowl to pull out the Muslim victimhood card and accuse the BJP of targeting Muslims on account of their religion. This excessive concern for minorities, however, is reserved only for Muslims and to a certain extent for Christians, but not for Jains as witnessed in the reticence of the Left and other opposition parties in calling out Mahua Moitra for her condemnable remarks against Jains in Lok Sabha.
Will Mahua Moitra demonstrate the courage to mention ‘Muslim boys secretly eating pork’ in her Lok Sabha speech?
The attacks that Jains endured in 2015 and the indifference they are witnessing today is emblematic of how they are considered a lesser minority than others. Mahua Moitra, being an opposition leader and belonging to a party that claims to champions the cause of the minority communities, had no qualms making defamatory insinuations against Jains. So did the other opposition leaders and left ‘intellectuals’ who display unmatched alacrity to take up the cudgel for minorities and defend their rights. Perhaps for TMC and other opposition parties, only Muslims and Christians are minorities that are worth fighting for, as their disproportionate concerns for these two communities reflect, while other minorities are considered expendables in their political battles against the Centre.
It has been close to two days since Mahua made the reprehensible remarks against Jains in Lok Sabha, but there has been no apology from the TMC MP, not even a hint of regret for maligning Jains in her bluster against the Centre. Instead, some voices have come in support of the leader, arguing that she was simply pointing out the government curbs on individual rights. If that indeed is the case, would Mahua Moitra dare mention “Muslim boys secretly consuming pork” in her next speech in Lok Sabha?
In Gujarat, a labourer named Junaid Iqbal Chauhan had been arrested for raping and sexually exploiting a minor girl over six months. As per reports, the 16-year-old victim was being sexually exploited by Junaid Iqbal (aged 29) who is almost double her age.
Junaid Iqbal used to call her to a guest house and rape her. Eventually, the victim informed her family members about the crime. After a complaint was lodged by the family members, the police have registered a case and arrested the accused.
According to a report by Zee 24 Kalak, Junaid Iqbal Chauhan, aged 29, a resident of Gabanshah Society in Jasdan, used to stalk the 16-year old victim who used to attend tuition classes in the city. Eventually, he had approached the girl and influenced her to meet him in secret. He got her mobile number and called her to the guest house on the pretext of the meeting.
As per the complaint, Junaid continued sexually exploiting the minor victim for months. Finally, fed up of the harassment, the victim had narrated the ordeal to her family members.
The police have registered a case and arrested the accused and took further action. Accused Junaid Iqbal Chauhan is married and he is a father of two children. He used to work as a labourer. The Police have registered a case against Junaid Iqbal under sections 376(2-n), 354(d) of the IPC, sections 4-6 of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
On Friday, Amruta Fadnavis, wife of former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis hit out at the MVA government for rising unorganized traffic in Mumbai. While speaking to the reporters she said that 3 per cent of divorces in Mumbai take place due to problems arising out of delays due to potholes and traffic while commuting.
She added that people in Mumbai are not able to reach home in time and are further not able to spend time with their families due to the heavy traffic, claiming that this even leads to divorces. “Do you know how many divorces are happening due to the traffic jam? 3 per cent of divorces happen because people cannot give time to their families. When will you address these issues?”, she said.
Further urging people to not play politics on her statement, she said that people should consider her as a common woman, a common citizen and not the wife of Devendra Fadnavis. “Whenever I say anything, I say it as a common citizen. Whenever I go out, I see several issues including potholes and traffic which concern us. I go out as a common woman”, she added.
#WATCH: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis says, “I’m saying this as common citizen. Once I go out I see several issues incl potholes,traffic. Due to traffic,people are unable to give time to their families & 3% divorces in Mumbai are happening due to it.” (04.02) pic.twitter.com/p5Nne5gaV5
Fadnavis also slammed the MVA government and said that it was functioning as a monopoly government that was just busy collecting ‘vasoolis’.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has criticized Amruta Fadnavis for her comment and said, “There can be many reasons for divorce but this is for the first time I have heard”. She said that Amruta Fadnavis has been making some strange statements for the last few months, alleging that BJP was working towards discrediting Mumbai. Kishori Pednekar said that they never claimed that the roads in Mumbai are smooth, but potholes are filled up as soon as they received information about them. However, the statement that people are getting divorced for traffic congestion on the roads is wrong, the mayor added.
According to the family court, the city of Mumbai reports average of 22 divorce petitions per day from over the past decade. From year 2011 to 2020, the numer of divorces filed in Mumbai are on an average between 7500 to 8300. In year 2011, the figure stood at 7515, while in year 2019 it increased to 7727. However, last year, the number was reduced to 5059 due to the COVID lockdown.
Reports mention that ‘divorce petitions in Mumbai are being filed more by men than women and the core issues between spouses are the rising standards of expectations from each other, lack of time for the partner and lack of communication between the couple’.
It is pertinent to note that the decade from 2011 to 2020 has seen 109% rise in vehicles in Mumbai. According to the reports, these vehicles hitting the streets have increased problems like severe traffic congestion, dearth of parking slots and peaked pollution. While the Mumbai Metro can solve the road traffic issue to a great extent, the Uddhav Thackeray government is actively blocking the project due to political reasons.
