A Delhi Court has sought an action taken report from the Delhi Police in a plea filed against Sudarshan TV news channel and its Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of people of the Muslim community through his programme named ‘Bindass Bol’ aired in May 2021.
The matter has been rescheduled for a hearing on April 2 before Metropolitan Magistrate Gopal Krishnan of Rohini Courts.
The court said in its order: Let ATR be called from the 10/SHO as to whether any cognizable offence is made out as per the complaint of the complainant and if yes, whether any action has been taken on it or not for NDOH.”
The complaint, filed by Zafir Hussain through Advocate Shakeel Abbas, refers to a news broadcast on Sudarshan TV on May 15, 2021, with the following headlines: आओ इजराइल का साथ दें, कल की लड़ाई का साथी है इजराइल’ (Come support Israel, Israel is the partner of tomorrow’s fight).
The complaint claimed that after witnessing the telecast, his religious sentiments were hurt and that Suresh Chavhanke, through his news channel, intended to create hatred against the community by using insulting and defamatory words against Islam.
Furthermore, the complainant has maintained that, while the transmission in question cannot be approved in any way, such reports or videos clearly demonstrate the accused persons’ professional malfeasance. It is claimed that the accused person’s actions are a “clear blot on the face of freedom of speech and expression by the accused persons.”
It may be recalled that on May 19, 2021, an FIR was registered in Mumbai against Sudarshan News based on the complaint by radical Muslim organization Raza Academy. The FIR was filed pertaining to the aforementioned programme. In the complaint, Raza Academy said that Sudarshan News aired a video that contained visuals showing a missile attack on the dome of the Holy Prophet’s Shrine. The organization also led a social media campaign demanding the arrest of Chavhanke. The FIR was registered under Sections 153(A), 295(A), 505(2) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
Last week, another city Court had asked police to submit an action taken report on a plea filed against Sudarshan News editor-in-chief Suresh Chavhanke for allegedly giving hate speech and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, at an event organized by Hindu Yuva Vahini in December last year.
Maulana Qamar Gani Usmani was arrested by the Gujarat ATS on January 30 in connection to the brutal murder of a Hindu man named Kishan Bharwad in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. Usmani has been accused of aiding and abetting Shabbir, the person who had killed Bharwad over alleged ‘blasphemy’.
Several videos have surfaced on social media where Usmani is seen instigating Muslims for violence and even murder if someone insults Prophet Muhammad.
More videos of the Islamic hardliner Maulana Usmani have surfaced where he is seen openly instigating the Muslim community for violence and armed offensive over alleged ‘oppression’.
Usmani says CDS Bipin Rawat’s death was Allah’s answer to govt’s plans against Muslims
In a video available on Facebook, uploaded on January 3 this year, Usmani is seen addressing a gathering of followers. He is seen saying, “Our main enemy is the RSS. RSS is so powerful that at first glance it would seem it is foolish to face them. But we (Muslims) have the blessings and courage given by Allah. If we have faith in Allah, we can face even 10 such powers like RSS. They put me in jail for 19 days. They can jail one Qamar Usmani and one Salman Azhari. Because the world will see our love for our religion. The media should record this statement. If one faithful Muslim gives a call for Jihad, all your missiles and all your Armies will be powerless to face the force of Islam.”
He further says, “It was our mistake that we kept silent when ISIS, with its terrorist actions, made the world believe that jihad is a bad thing. We should have corrected them. We should have told everyone that Jihad is not terrorism but standing upright and doing justice. The day when a real martyr of Islam stands up to inspire Muslims, no forces, no commander can keep Muslims oppressed any longer. They (the Indian government) had appointed one commander for all the three armed forces (CDS Bipin Rawat). See what Allah did to him. All your efforts will fail before the will of Allah”.
Usmani further says that Muslims should not just sit and keep praying, they should act and fight.
Video 2: Usmani says Muslims should prepare to become either Ghazi or Shaheed, Islam doesn’t need people who are concerned over their personal safety
In another video, Usmani is asking Muslim political leaders and lawmakers to make Islam their priority. He says that all the power and positions are useless if the political leaders do not use that for Islam. He adds that political power should only be used to serve Allah and his cause.
He further says that there are some Muslims who fear police arrests and lathi charges. He adds that the cause of Islam does not need followers who are so calculative about their own safety, but it needs fanatics who forget about themselves for the cause.
Usmani says that during the Delhi protests, he had told Muslims that they should forget about personal safety. “We need people who come to the ground with the mentality of sacrifice. Wapas aye to Ghazi, naa aye toh Shaheed (if we return, we are Ghazi and if we fail to return we are martyrs (of Islam).”
Ghazi is an Islamic word that means a warrior who kills for Islam.
He further instigates his Muslim followers to be prepared to sacrifice themselves for the Islamic cause. In this video, Usmani effectively admits that he had instigated the violence during the anti-CAA protests and Delhi riots.
Maulana Usmani wanted to avenge ‘insults to prophet’, was greeted with ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans
While the central government and most state governments take calls to violence seriously, for some reason, open calls given to behead people over alleged instances of ‘blasphemy’, frequently done by one particular community, are often ignored by the authorities. The open calls to kill anyone who mocks or criticises Muhammad, or even shares a social media cartoon, have resulted in the Bengaluru riots, and several murders over the years.
Maulana Usmani was seen not just instigating Muslims to take law in their hands and indulge in violence, he had been endorsing the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans. In a video from August 2021 that was shared on Twitter by journalist Swati Goel Sharma, the Delhi police personnel were seen desperately trying to stop Maulana Usmani from holding anti-blasphemy protests. “We will go anyhow (to protest) since we have made a call to the public,” he was seen announcing.
In February 2021, Usmani had justified the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. He had said, “There is a conspiracy to ruin the lives of Muslims. There is an attempt to make India just like Spain. To achieve it, they are testing how much Muslims in India love their Prophet. “
Usmani and the murder of Kishan Bharwad
Kishan Bharwad had in the past shared a social media post that was seen as an insult to Prophet Muhammad by some Islamists.
Usmani was earlier arrested for instigating violence over the fake news of mosque vandalism in Tripura. The murderer Shabbir has reportedly told the police that Usmani had told him that it was his right to kill someone whom he sees as anti-Islamic. Usmani is associated with Tahreek Farogh-e-Islami or TFI. Reports say that ATS suspects Usmani’s organisation is associated with Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Labbaik.
In the murder case of Kishan Bharwad, the Gujarat ATS has so far arrested the killers named Shabbir and Imtiyaz, a Maulvi from Ahmedabad named Ayyub, Maulana Uslamni from TFI, and another few suspects for helping the killers.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman presented the Union Budget 2022 on February 1. This year’s budget was Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s fourth successive budget.
In her speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Union Budget sought to lay the foundation and give a blueprint of the economy over ‘Amrit Kal’ of the next 25 years – from India at 75 to India at 100.
The Union Budget 2022-23 emphasises the MSME sector, a critical sector that makes up for about 45% of the country’s total manufacturing output, 40 per cent of exports, almost 30 per cent of the national GDP.
The Finance Minister has announced that the Emergency Credit Line has been extended till March 2023 for the MSME sector. The guarantee cover has been extended by another Rs. 50,000 crores taking the total cover under the scheme to Rs. 5,00,000 crores. Finance Minister Sitharaman said that the union government intends to focus on the hospitality sector.
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) will be extended up to March 2023, the guaranteed cover will be expanded by Rs 50,000 crores to total cover of Rs 5 lakh crores: FM Nirmala Sitharaman #Budget2022pic.twitter.com/zmEpuV5DpN
In her speech, the Finance Minister said that the government has decided to roll out Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP), an initiative to revitalise the MSME sector that has been heavily impacted by the COVID -19 pandemic.
The MSME sector also got a boost for skilling and enhancing entrepreneurship, said Finance Minister, adding that the government intends to focus more on formalisation.
The Finance Minister announced that MSME’s Udyam, e-Shram, NCS and Aseem portals would be interlinked, and their scope widened.
The Modi government tabled Economic Survey 2021-22 in the Parliament earlier on Monday. It is projected that the economy is expected to grow at 8.0-8.5 per cent in 2022-23.
On January 30, a few videos on Pirana, Ahemdabad, went viral on social media platforms in which a person named Nasir Sheikh alleged the Muslims were forced to leave Pirana by RSS and VHP activists. India TV Journalist Nirnay Kapoor debunked the claims and said there was no mass migration of Muslims from Pirana. In a series of tweets and published a video of Nasir in which he admitted to spreading fake news.
1/3 अहमदाबाद के पिराना से मुस्लिमो के पलायन का विडिओ रिकॉर्ड करने वाले नासिर ने आज एक दूसरा विडिओ जारी करके बताया की उसने विडिओ में जिन लोगों को हिजरत करते हुए दिखाया दरअसल वो लोग कलेक्टर ऑफिस आवेदन पत्र देने जा रहे थे..एक ट्रस्ट के विवाद को उसने कौमी रंग दे दिया ये है आज का बयान pic.twitter.com/5AAwm5uOLy
In his tweet, Kapoor said, “Nasir, who had published videos of Muslims leaving Pirana, has uploaded another video. The Muslims who were shown as leaving the village were, in reality, marching towards the Collector’s office to submit a memorandum. It was an attempt to give communal colour to a dispute between the trusts.”
3/3 पिराना के इमाम शाह बावा ट्रस्ट की जमीन पर दरगाह और निष्कलंकी नारायण मंदिर के बीच 13 साल पुरानी फेंसिंग की जगह दिवार बनाने को लेकर विवाद चल रहा था, कलेक्टर के आदेश के बाद हिन्दू ट्रस्टियों ने दिवार बनाना शुरू किया तो मुस्लिम ट्रस्टी ट्रस्टियों ने लोकल लोगों का मार्च निकला था
Kapoor, who himself went to Pirana for ground reporting, said, “There is no dispute between Hindus and Muslims in Pirana. The dispute is related to the trustees of Imam Shah Trust.” He added there was a fence between Nishaklanki Narayan Mandir and Dargah on Imam Shah Baba Trust. There was a dispute between the two trusts to build a wall in place of the fence. After the Collector’s orders, the Hindu trustees started constructing the wall. Muslim trustees marched in protest of the construction.
Nasir alleged he was misinformed
In the new video uploaded by Kapoor, Nasir, a resident of Batwa, Ahmedabad, said, “When I visited Pirana Dargah, I saw people walking on the road in large numbers. Someone told me they were leaving the place, but the reality was different. They are not leaving Pirana but marching towards Collector’s office to submit a memorandum.”
He further added the matter between the Temple trust and Dargah trust was in court. Some people tried to give it a communal colour, but Hindus and Muslims of Pirana live peacefully. He said, “My videos went viral as well. I want to say when I came to know about the reality, I went to the Police Station and submitted my apology.
Nasir had alleged Muslims were leaving Pirana
Three videos of Nasir had gone viral on January 30. In the first video, he introduced himself and alleged Muslims were leaving Pirana. He said, “300-400 goons of RSS have entered in the village. The Muslims are being forced to leave the village. I request Muslims to send help as soon as possible. I urge media to reach Pirana at the earliest.”
In the second video, he said, “You can see Pirana is a Muslim village. RSS goons have forced Muslims to leave the village with the help of the Police. Everyone including elders, children and women are leaving the village.”
In the third video, he showed a large crowd marching on the road and raising slogans.
Though Nasir alleged he was not aware of the case, in another video, he was seen standing at the temple’s gate.
Nasir was not the only one who alleged Muslims were leaving the village. Another video of one Naqeeb Sayed had gone viral on social media platforms in which he had alleged the same. He said, “A wall is being constructed on the Dargah in Pirana. It is a conspiracy to turn dargah into the temple. When we approached Police, they said they could not do anything as Collector had ordered to construct the wall. This is why all the Imams of Pirana have left their homes with families. We all have left our homes. I am requesting everyone to help us. We will not take the law into our hands. You can see behind me the whole community is on the road.”
What exactly happened in Pirana
The tension in Pirana, a village located 20 KM from Ahmedabad, erupted after the construction of a wall was commenced between Dargah and Temple. The Muslims living in the village have been opposing the construction of a concrete wall at the place of 13-year-old fencing.
The protest, whose videos went viral, was carried out by the Saiyed Muslim residents of the village. They had alleged the wall would cut off access to the dargah from the mosque and graveyard on the premises.
The wall’s construction had started after a resolution was passed by the Trust’s committee on January 25 by majority approval of eight out of eleven members. They had decided to construct the wall to replace the fencing as a part of the renovation work.
KB Patel, SDM Daskroi, told Indian Express, “There is a simple work of replacing the wired fence with a wall that is happening, with district collector’s permission…Three of the trustees had opposed the construction of the wall, but the work had majority permission of trustees, and from a safety point of view, the permission of Collector was also taken to proceed with the resolution passed.”
It is noteworthy the Police were deployed as in 2003 law and order issue had happened in the village. A senior officer of Aslali Police Station was quoted by IE saying, “There have been intermittent protests in the village for the past three-four months with Saiyeds opposing the renovation work on the dargah premises, but nothing untoward has happened… The protesters said they would go to the Collector’s office to give a representation, but there were some elements creating a nuisance by making videos and giving live updates.” The Police detailed 133 protesters, including 64 women, but no FIR was registered in the matter.
Sirajhussein Saiyed, one of the trustees who opposed the wall’s construction, had alleged the construction would change the nature of the shrine. He said, “With the wall, an attempt is being made to change the nature of the shrine. The premise includes a graveyard, a mosque, a dargah and a samadhi (tomb). Now, the wall is being erected around the dargah, which they (the eight trustees) want to stake claim over, and cut off our (Saiyed Muslims) access to the dargah from the masjid and graveyard.”
However, Harshad Patel, another trustee who supported the construction, called the allegations baseless. He said, “The work is being undertaken with the approval of majority trustees and with permission from the Collector. It is being done in accordance with the law and ensuring the security of people. All accusations by (three) other trustees are baseless.”
On February 1, the Dharavi Police in Mumbai arrested social media influencer Vikas Fhatak popularly known as ‘Hindustani Bhau’ and others for supporting the students’ protest over the demand for online exams for class 10 and class 12 in view of Covid-19.
Mumbai: Social media influencer Vikas Fhatak, also known as ‘Hindustani Bhau’, arrested by Dharavi Police in connection with students’ protest in Dharavi y’day over their demand for online exams for classes 10th & 12th, in view of #COVID19. FIR registered against Fhatak & others.
The Police has registered FIR under Sections 353, 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 427, 109, 114 (Abettor present when offence committed), 143(unlawful assembly), 145, 146 (rioting), 149, 188, 269, 270 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of Maharashtra Police Act, Disaster Management Act and Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.
#UPDATE |Dharavi Police arrests one more accused, Iqrar Khan Vakhar Khan. FIR under IPC Sec 353, 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 427, 109, 114(Abettor present when offence committed), 143(unlawful assembly), 145, 146 (rioting), 149, 188, 269, 270
Students demanded online exams for classes 10 and 12
The students of classes 10 and 12 in Maharashtra have started protesting against the state government for not accepting their demand for online exams. Notably, schools and colleges are closed amidst Covid-19 spread in Maharashtra, including the capital Mumbai. The classes of classes 10 and 12 were conducted online. Now the students are demanding that the exams should be held in the same format. However, the state government wants to conduct the exams in schools and colleges the regular way.
The state government’s decision to conduct exams offline is being opposed by the students in several cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad. Amidst tug-of-war between the students and the state’s education department, social media influencer Hindustani Bhau had uploaded a video on Instagram and other social media platforms.
Hindustani Bhau urged students to protest on roads
In a video that was uploaded on January 24 on his YouTube channel, he said the current situation is not different from what the students had faced in the last two years. He further alleged the students are under depression because of the decision to conduction the exams offline. He said, “Last time I came to roads alone demanding cancellation of the exams and I am thankful to the government that they had obliged. However, if this time the government does not listen to our demands, I will not be alone. I will protest with lakhs of students from across the state.”
In a recent video, he had urged state education minister Varsha Gaikwad not to play with the lives of the students amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. He also urged the students to come out and protest on the roads. Following his video, thousands of students across cities in Maharashtra came out and started protesting. Hindustani Bhau himself had talked about protesting outside the education minister’s house along with lakhs of students.
During the protests, the crowd allegedly got out of control as a result, the Mumbai Police used batons to disperse the crowd.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: Students protested outside State School Education Minster Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad’s house, against offline exams
Students’ demand is online exams for classes 10th & 12th, in view of #COVID19 crisis. We tried convincing & dispersing them:DCP Pranay Ashok pic.twitter.com/ieqAmhq0rs
DCP Pranay Ashok told ANI that they tried to convince and disperse the students. When ANI questioned if the crowd gathered on the directions of Hindustani Bhau, DCP Ashok said, “An inquiry will be conducted & action will be taken.”
“We’ve been continuously discussing students’ health & safety. I told students to have discussions with me; I’ll decide further. But we also have to keep in mind the two-year loss in school students’ education”: Maharashtra School Education Minster Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad pic.twitter.com/OJbp0PtkLT
Maharashtra School Education Minster Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad said, “We’ve been continuously discussing students’ health & safety. I told students to have discussions with me; I’ll decide further. But we also have to keep in mind the two-year loss in school students’ education.”
Bus workers’ strike adding up to students’ problems
The bus workers in Maharashtra are also on strike. In such a situation, the students said it would be troublesome for them to reach the examination centres. The students who come from rural areas would face more difficulty. In Beed, students took out a large rally. In Nagpur’s main market, the student protestors vandalized some buses as well. Some of the protesting students were detained by the Police.
Communal tension prevailed in Chhota Udepur after a Muslim mob attacked a group of Hindus who had gathered in a temple to pray tributes to Kishan Bharwad, the Dhandhuka youth who was shot dead over allegedly blasphemous post. As per local media report in Gujarati daily Gujarat Samachar, Hindus had gathered in Ramji Mandir in Chhota Udepur on Sunday night. Here a Muslim mob gathered with weapons.
As per the complainant Raju Rathwa, one Anas Makrani hit him with an iron rod on his back. One Maniar Zeeshan allegedly hit one Rahul on his head with an iron pipe. Similarly, one Smit Singh Chauhan was also assaulted.
Some other youths in Chhota Udepur reportedly shared a post on social media which allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of Muslim community. Subsequently, when a police complaint was filed, the social media posts were removed. However, despite that, some Muslim youths allegedly attacked those who had put up the post. A case has been registered against both the groups and some arrests have been made. Police has instructed everyone not to post anything that can hurt someone’s religious sentiments.
According to a Times of India report, two minor boys had shared a post on WhatsApp. This agitated some Muslim youths who claimed their religious sentiments were hurt. They even called and asked the Hindu boys to delete the video. However, matters escalated on Sunday evening. When the Hindu youths had gathered in temple to pay tribute to Kishan, the Muslim mob attacked them with iron rods amongst other things.
Kishan Bharwad, a 27 year old man was killed by Islamists on January 25, days after he had shared a post on social media which showed image of Prophet Muhammad. As per Islam, showing an image of Prophet Muhammad is blasphemy. Further investigation in the case has revealed how maulanas from parts of India were involved in the murder and how his murder was part of a larger conspiracy.
The Lilong Police in Manipur arrested three Muslim youth, namely Abdul Rashid, Nazbul Hussain and Mohammad Arif Khan for slaughtering a cow. They were arrested and booked under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 after social media websites were awash with videos of a cow being slaughtered on the BJP flag by a group of youth.
As per reports, the youth slaughtered a cow on a BJP flag after a candidate whom they were allegedly supporting was denied a BJP ticket.
The video of the gruesome slaughtering of a cow had gone viral on the Internet. In the 29-second video, a group of youth, presumably Muslims and around 10 in number, were seen slitting the throat of the bovine on a BJP flag. The mob also abused the Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh and the President of BJP Manipur Unit, Adhikarimayum Sarda Devi.
And this Mohtarma @khanumarfa says that Muslims live in fear in India and there is a feeling of unease and insecurity among them pic.twitter.com/txsB4Kq0Dt
It is also alleged that the video of the incident that had gone viral on social media sought to promote discord and feelings of enmity between members of different cast and communities. The officials of Lilong Police under Imphal West district confirmed the incident which they believed had the potential of disturbing the law and order in the region and disrupting the communal harmony between different religious groups.
Responding to the incident, the Lilong Police registered a Suo-moto case under FIR no 10(01)2022 Lilong PS, under sections 153A, 429, 504 IPC and Section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, against three individuals Md. Abdul Rashid (28), s/o (L) Md Abdul Rahim of Lilong Chabok Ipham; Nazbul Hussain (38), s/o (L) Akbar of Lilong Tolenkhun and Md. Arif Khan (31), s/o Md. Yakub Ali of Lilong Heinou Makhong.
On Monday, The Kerala High Court ordered a CBI enquiry into certain aspects of the probe regarding the murder of RSS worker Sanjith, who was hacked to death, reportedly by PFI and SDPI members in November 2021. FC Justice K. Haripal pointed out that the case had hideouts outside the jurisdiction of Kerala State Police and thus, notified for an investigation by the CBI.
While making a case for the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the matter, the Court said that the State Police Chief had also raised concerns about the case earlier. The High Court order was in response to a plea filed by Sanjith’s wife Arshika, who had asked the court for a CBI investigation in the matter. Opposing this plea, the state government had notified that the case is almost ready and the final report is likely to be submitted by February 10, 2021. As of now, one of the eighteen accused in the case is left to be arrested. The state has claimed that the last accused will too be arrested soon.
On November 15, 2021, A 26-year-old Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Sanjith was hacked to death in front of his wife in Ellapully, Palakkad. In broad daylight, the assailants who came in a car waylaid Sanjith’s bike and attacked him in front of many people including his wife. As per reports, many of the accused in the case were linked to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the extremist Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
On November 25th last year, Mohammad Haroon, the key conspirator behind the case was arrested by Kerala Police. Haroon was actively involved in planning the murder along with other associates from the SDPI. A few days after the involvement of the political outfit was clear, Sanjith’s family had demanded an NIA probe in the matter. Sarath, Sanjith’s brother had alleged that the ongoing investigation was not being done in a proper way. According to him, Sanjith had faced similar attacks in his lifetime, in one of which he had a hand injury.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has executed two men on Sunday on charges of indulging in homosexuality, a report published in Jerusalem Post said.
The victims, identified as Mehrdad Karimpou and Farid Mohammadi, were executed in the Maragheh prison in northwestern Iran, the report said while quoting information from Human Rights Network in Iran. The duo were languishing in jail for the last six years.
The Human Rights Network in Iran said that the execution of two men was kept under wraps, with the Iranian state-controlled media not reporting it in order to evade international criticism.
“The two Iranian men were executed today after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality,” Iran Human Rights Monitor tweeted.
Though news about the execution was not released in the media, Iranian-American journalist Karmel Melamed tweeted about their killing and raised questions over the lack of outrage from the United States and other LGBT groups that champion the rights of gays and lesbians.
“The Ayatollah regime in Iran just executed two gay men for the crime of sodomy in Iran,” The Iranian-American journalist Karmel Melamed tweeted. He added their pictures and asked, “Where’s the outrage from US Secretary of State Antony Bliken, GLAAD [an NGO that promotes LGBTQ acceptance] & other LGBT groups in the US to this horrific crime?!”
The Ayatollah regime in Iran just executed two gay men for the crime of sodomy in Iran. This is Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi who were executed by hanging. Where's the outrage from @StateDept@SecBlinken@glaad & other LGBT groups in U.S. to this horrific crime?! #No2IRpic.twitter.com/vDXypBvO4g
Peter Tatchell, an LGBTQ+ and human-rights campaigner, told the Jerusalem Post that the execution of two men on anti-gay charges was in accordance with the punishment meted to homosexuals in a dozen of Muslim-majority countries and regions that swear their allegiance to Sharia law and impose death penalty for homosexuality. “The execution of these men follows a long-standing regime policy of the state-sanctioned murder of gay men, often on disputed charges after unfair trials that have been condemned by many Human Rights organisations,” Tatchell was quoted as saying.
Iran, an Islamic country that abides by Sharia Law, routinely uses the charge of sodomy to impose the death penalty on gays and lesbians. Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam and attracts capital punishment. As per a survey conducted by British Wikipedia dispatch in 2008, Iran’s Islamic regime executed as many as 6,000 gays and lesbians since the Islamic revolution swept Iran in 1979.
Kerala based Malayalam News channel namely Mediaone went off the air at 12 noon on Monday, January 31, after the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry suspended its telecast over security concerns. The regional television channel was found to be supporting the radical Islamic organisation Jamaat-e-Islami, according to sources. As a result, the MIB suspended it, citing “security reasons.”
The Kerala High Court, however, on Monday temporarily deferred the order till the next date of hearing. The case will be heard next on Wednesday.
According to reports, the channel’s “security clearance” was revoked by an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on January 31. The injunction was sent to MediaOne’s parent corporation, Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, a group owned by the radical Islamist organisation Jamaat-e-Islami.
It becomes imperative to mention here that in the month of July last year, a Kerala-based journalist had revealed how Islamist organisation Jamaat-e-Islami has been receiving funds from Saudi Arabia universities to ‘Islamise’ India. The outfit was banned on February 28, 2019, by the Government of India following the terror attack in Pulwama as it was suspected of funding the terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen.
Pramod Raman, the Editor of MediaOne confirmed the news of the suspension in a statement that read: “The ministry has said the ban was due to security reasons, but the channel is yet to get the details on it. The Union Government has not made the details about the ban available to MediaOne TV. We have started legal action against the ban. After completing the process, the channel would be back to the audience. We are suspending the broadcasting temporarily with the hope that justice will prevail at last.”
Kerala HC temporarily defers I&B Ministry’s suspension order
According to reports, soon after the I&B ministry suspended the telecasting of MediaOne TV, the Kerala High Court on Monday temporarily deferred the order till the next date of hearing. The case will be heard next on Wednesday.
I&B Ministry suspends Asianet News and MediaOne for biased coverage of anti-Hindu Delhi riots
MediaOne TV has been blocked from broadcasting for the second time in recent years. The channel was previously banned for 48 hours by the Centre in 2020 for breaking the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1998 for its shoddy ‘coverage of the Delhi riot’.
The Ministry had alleged that MediaOne accused the Delhi Police of remaining inactive during the violence, and the channel also blamed police for vandalising shops and fruit carts.
Then, along with MediaOne TV, another Kerala based Malayalam News channel, namely Asianet News was also rewarded with a 48-hour token ban by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for indulging in biased coverage of the Delhi riots, being critical of the RSS and Delhi police and siding with a particular community, showing those who supported Citizenship Amendment Act in poor light.
It alleged that the kind of provocative coverage the two news channels indulged in could further incite communal violence. This kind of loose reporting could have ‘incited violence and posed danger to the maintenance of law and order situation, particularly when the situation is already highly volatile and charged up and riots are taking place in the area’, the order had read.
