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‘Govt funded schools can’t impart religious education’: Gauhati High Court upholds Assam govt’s decision to convert state-run madrassas to regular schools

OpIndia Staff
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‘Govt funded schools can’t impart religious education’: Gauhati High Court upholds Assam govt’s decision to convert state-run madrassas to regular schools

On Friday (February 4), the Gauhati High Court upheld the constitutionality of the law that was used by the Assam government to convert state-run Islamic schools (madrassas) into general schools. Rejecting a petition filed against the Assam govt decision, the High Court said that educational institutions funded by the government can’t impart religious education, even the institution is a minority institution.

The BJP-led Assam government had passed the Assam Repealing Act 2020, which nullified the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act 2018 and Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization) Act, 1995.

Under the new law, religious teaching and instructions in state-funded madrassas were stopped. The religious curriculum was replaced with general education and the teachers were given training for teaching general subjects. The Assam government also dissolved the State Madrassa Education Board and transferred all bank accounts and records to the Assam Board of Secondary Education.

Although the BJP government’s decision affected only the ‘provincialised madrassas’ and not the ‘Qawmi Madrassas/Community Madrassas’, a total of 13 petitioners had filed a writ petition in the Gauhati High Court challenging the constitutionality of the Assam Repealing Act of 2020.

The matter was heard by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Soumitra Saikia. The Gauhati High Court rejected the argument that the government’s order and the Assam Repealing Act of 2020 somehow violated Articles 25, 26, 28 and 30 of the Indian Constitution.

Observations made by the Gauhati High Court

While upholding that secularism is a basic structure of the Constitution, the court ruled, “In a country which has multiple religions, the State has to be neutral while dealing with the matters relating to religion. We live in a democracy and under a Constitution where all citizens are equal before the law.”

The court rejected the argument of the petitioners that the Assam govt decision violated the fundamental rights of the petitioners under Articles 25, 26, 28 and 30 of the Constitution of India, and said that instead, it was govt-funded madrasas that had violated the principles of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The court said, “preference given by the State to any one religion, in a multi-religious society like ours, negates the principle of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India. It is thus the secular nature of the State which mandates that no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds [Article 28(1)1”.

The High Court also said that once a minority-run institution like a Madrasa is provincialised and starts being run completely on public money, it no longer can be run as a minority school. Although minorities have the right to set up and run educational institutions for their community, once such institutions are provincialised and start getting run completely on state funds, then religious instructions cannot be imparted in such institutions. “The educational institutions in question are admittedly provincialised schools, the entire teaching and non-teaching staff of these educational institutions are Government servants, the school being a Government institute cannot be said to be either established or being administered by a minority,” the High Court emphasised.

The Gauhati High Court said, “The venture Madrasas, which were established by a minority community, would cease to be an educational institution established by a minority community once such a school has been provincialised under the 1995 Act or the subsequent Provincialisation Acts. The court made it clear that the madrasas in Assam ceased to be minority institutions once they were ‘provincialised’ by the state govt. The Madrasas under question were “provincialised” in 1995 under Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization) Act, 1995, and the salaries and allowances were paid from the state exchequer.

“The educational institutions in question are admittedly provincialised schools, the entire teaching and non-teaching staff of these educational institutions are Government servants, the school being a Government institute cannot be said to be either established or being administered by a minority”, the Court said. “Consequently, the claim of the petitioners that these Madrasas are minority institutions and were established and administered by the minority is a claim which has no foundation and is hence not acceptable”, the court concluded, rejecting the petition.

The High Court further said that according to Clause (1) of Article 28 of the Constitution, it is clearly stated that no religious instructions shall be imparted in any educational institution which is wholly maintained out of State funds. Clause (3) of the same Article also states that if some institution is aid from the state fund but not fully funded by govt, such institutions can’t force religious instructions or religious worship upon the students.

BJP govt in Assam took the landmark decision in 2017 itself

The state govt had announced the intention to end religious and separate language schools in 2017 itself. As part of that initiative, in 2018, the Assam government had scrapped the two controlling boards — State Madrassa Education Board and Assam Sanskrit Board. The Madrassas were brought under the Secondary Board of Education Assam (SEBA) and the Sanskrit tols were brought under Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University respectively. The move to merge two bodies was to introduce modern education to students and to bring them into the mainstream.

Reportedly, there are more than 600 government-run madrassas in Assam and 900 other private madrassas, which are run by Jamiat Ulama. The Assam government spends nearly Rs 4 crore to run these madrassas in the state and about Rs 1 crore on Sanskrit tols annually.

Chinese official assaults Dutch reporter during live coverage of Beijing Winter Olympics, video shows him being grabbed and pushed away

OpIndia Staff
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Chinese official assaults Dutch reporter during live coverage of Beijing Winter Olympics, video shows him being grabbed and pushed away

During the inaugural session of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, a Chinese official assaulted a Dutch reporter. Sjoerd den Daas, a journalist for the Dutch newspaper NOS Nieuws, was doing live coverage for the Winter Games on Friday when a Chinese security guard moved in front of the camera and began to push him away.

A clip from the Friday program showed Daas being grabbed, shoved, and screamed at by the red armband-wearing guard before the network pulled away from the camera and returned to the studio host.

A Video footage shared on social media concludes with another guard approaching the camera operator and obstructing the camera’s view of the scene. “Our correspondent @sjoerddendaas was pulled away from the camera by security guards at 12.00 pm live in the NOS Journaal. Unfortunately, this is increasingly becoming a daily reality for journalists in China. He is fine and was able to finish his story a few minutes later,” the news channel tweeted.

It’s hard to determine what caused Chinese authorities to halt van Daas’ broadcast in the middle. The 2022 Winter Olympics have been marred by serious allegations of violations of human rights and mistreatment of Chinese athletes. Beijing has told overseas athletes not to discuss China’s hostility, dictatorship, or genocidal deeds during the games. Fans, athletes, and international bystanders were all forbidden from applauding.

Because of China’s well-documented human rights issues, the games have already elicited global censure. The Chinese media is strictly controlled, and public discussion of human rights issues is forbidden. Chinese officials regularly reject claims of human rights breaches, portraying opponents as liars motivated by anti-Chinese animosity.

India boycotts the opening and closing ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics

The Indian envoy has boycotted the opening or closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics. China’s politicization of the Olympics is disappointing, said the Ministry of External Affairs, after China appointed PLA soldier Qi Fabio, who was engaged in the June 2020 Galwan Valley conflict, one of the torchbearers ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The US State Department also agreed with India in condemning the politicization of the Olympics. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “When it comes to broader issue of India-China border situation, we continue to support direct dialogue & a peaceful resolution of the border disputes.”

‘If you prefer hijab-topi over education, go to madarsa, If you prefer Sharia, go to the separate country we gave you in 1947’: BJP MP Pratap Simha

OpIndia Staff
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‘If you prefer hijab-topi over education, go to madarsa, If you prefer Sharia, go to the separate country we gave you in 1947’: BJP MP Pratap Simha

BJP leader Prathap Simha, the firebrand Member of Parliament from Mysuru Lok Sabha, has aggressively defended the Karnataka government’s diktat to enforce uniform regulations in the state, which has now snowballed into a Hijab controversy.

The uniform regulations in educational institutions have now taken a dangerous turn in Karnataka after a few Muslim students refused to follow the guidelines and insisted that they would be wearing Hijab inside educational institutions. In response, Hindu students have also started wearing 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.

Responding to the ongoing controversy, the Mysuru MP said that if students from other communities come to the educational institutions to secure jobs, the Muslim students want to go to college for the sake of the Hijab.

Attacking these sections of students, Pratap Simha said, “You can wear whatever you want, be it Hijab or Burqa or Pyjama or Topi, you can go to madrasa and study there. The education system runs on rules and regulations, be it Private or Public educational institutions. One has to adhere to the rules of uniform. If you want to follow your own rules, then there is a madrasa”.

The Mysuru MP further added, “If you still insist on practising Sharia, we have already given you a separate country in 1947, you could have left the country then itself. If you want to stay here, you got to follow the rules and regulations of this country. The country was separated on religious lines; two out of three regions were given to a single community. You could have gone to those countries then. So why did you stay here?”

Lambasting the secular liberals and Islamists for questioning Hindus over the issue of celebrating Saraswati Pooja and other Hindu festivals in educational institutions, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha asserted that present-day India is not a colony of Britishers, it is Bharat.

“The fundamental idea of Bharat is the Hindu Dharma,” he asserted, asking, “Do Hindus travel to Mecca, Madina, Bethlehem to practise Hindu customs and traditions?” asked Pratap Simha. He added that India represents Hindu values and traditions, and Islam and Christianity came from far lands seeking refuge hence they cannot question the culture and traditions of this land.

“Islam and Christianity are alien to this land. The Islamic invaders have tried to impose Islamic faith on us for over 700 years, however, we stood strong and remained loyal to our faith,” Pratap Simha said in strong words.

“You destroyed the great civilisations like Iran, Iraq, Greeks and the Romans, but you could not touch the Hindu civilisation. You have come here as refugees to this land, you do not have any right to question the Hindu faith. The Constitution has only come in the 1950s, which gives you the same rights as Hindus, but you do not have the right to question the fundamental idea of Hindu being the culture of India. Go to madrasa if you cannot follow the rules and regulations,” he added.

Pratap Simha attacks Siddaramaiah, calls him “Sidda-Raheem-Aiah”

Pratap Simha also attacked former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his hypocrisy in the ongoing Hijab controversy. He said Siddaramaiah does politics for the sake of convenience and for the sake of power, Siddaramaiah might even change his name to “Sidda-Raheem-Aiah”.

The BJP MP asked people not to take Siddaramaih seriously as he speaks for the sake of power, who is willing to stoop to any low.

In reference to the Hijab controversy, Pratap Simha also noted that it was during Siddramaiah’s tenure in 2017-18 that the new regulation on uniforms was enforced.

Kashmir snubs Pakistan, no public speeches, rallies on the eve of Pakistan sponsored ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’

OpIndia Staff
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Kashmir snubs Pakistan, no public speeches, rallies on the eve of Pakistan sponsored ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’

Unlike past years, the Pakistan-sponsored “Kashmir Solidarity Day” on February 5th is unlikely to be observed in Jammu and Kashmir this year. Prior to Saturday, there were no public processions/rallies, special prayers in mosques, or marches on the streets of Kashmir regarding the same.

The situation in the valley has improved as this narrative has failed to elicit any output from the general public or separatist movements, both of which have been considerably weakened since the repeal of Article 370 in August 2019.

Pakistan has designated February 5 as a national holiday in order to “express solidarity” with the Kashmiri separatist movement. Nawaz Sharif, who was the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab state at the time, launched it in 1990. Since its inception, anti-India groups and individuals on both sides of the border have used Kashmir Day to convince the people in J&K and incite violence.

This Friday, the Pakistani Senate passed a resolution urging that India reassess the steps it took on and after August 5, 2019. Also, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to the global community to raise its voice in support of Kashmir, but to no avail.

The depiction was on full show this year, with the Pakistani government hosting a series of events and discussions at its embassies throughout the world beginning last week. However, none of these efforts had any effect in Kashmir, indicating a shift in the narrative since terrorism and separatism raged in the state in the early 1990s.

In the past, the Hurriyat Conference was the most outspoken separatist voice, convincing people to celebrate Kashmir Solidarity Day. However, the death of Hurriyat warmonger Syed Ali Geelani in September last year dampened the Pakistan-backed event to a large extent.

After the repeal of Article 370, the Pak-sponsored agendas have failed consistently in the valley. The situation in Kashmir is rapidly improving, with civilians cooperating with the army and other forces to eradicate terrorism and create a quiet atmosphere.

Rahul Gandhi yet again avoids posting pictures of Hindu Gods on Hindu festival, instead promotes hijab while talking about Saraswati Puja

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Rahul Gandhi yet again avoids posting pictures of Hindu Gods on Hindu festival, instead promotes hijab while talking about Saraswati Puja

Gandhi-scion and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Saturday to share wishes on the occasion of Saraswati Puja. However, even while wishing for a festival, he could not fail to keep his politics out of it. For him, the Saraswati Puja was an occasion to shame ‘Hindus’ because some Muslim women in Karnataka are preferring hijabs over their education.

In his tweet, Rahul Gandhi said, “By letting students’ Hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn’t differentiate.”

As he wished his followers, the Member of Parliament from Wayanad did not shy away from using the opportunity of ridiculing a Hindu festival by turning it into a political spectacle. The Gandhi-scion did not miss any chance to lecture Hindus about morality.

Rahul Gandhi’s tweet had reference to the latest Hijab controversy that is unfolding in Karnataka, where a few Muslim girl students are refusing to follow the existing rules and regulations of school uniform and insisting on wearing Hijab inside secular educational institutions. The educational institutions have denied entry to students from both Hindu and Muslim communities for failing to adhere to existing rules.

However, Rahul Gandhi unnecessarily drags in the Hijab controversy to wish Hindus so that he can guilt-trip the community over recent developments in the state. The insincerity of Rahul Gandhi’s to make half-hearted attempts to wish Hindus on the day of Saraswati Pooja is clear from his tweet.

Also, as evident from Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, the onus of ‘not differentiating’ and being ‘equal for all’ is on the Hindus, not on the Muslims who are unwilling to follow the rules of a secular institution and instead insisting on wearing their religious identity inside the campus.

Ironically, the ladies who are demanding the college allows them to wear hijabs inside the classroom are from an ideology that considers Saraswati Puja ‘haram’ and would gladly destroy the idols of Maa Saraswati.

His other tweet wishing people on Vasant Panchami has the picture of a farmer in a mustard field.

Rahul Gandhi deliberately leaves out Hindu icons and symbols

Well, the tweets are not just about Rahul Gandhi’s brazen attempts to demoralise Hindus but also hints at a broader plan of doing away with Hindu iconography.

If one looks at his tweets, one can notice that Rahul Gandhi avoids sharing any graphics or images of Hindu deities as he wishes Hindus impassively during festivals. Moreover, the tweet has no images of Maa Saraswati, hinting at the conscious attempt of not including any Hindu iconography in his tweets.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi is indulging in such a suspicious act. Every time Rahul Gandhi puts out a tweet wishing Hindus on the festival days, he deliberately misses to put out images of Hindu deities. This strange tweeting pattern has been observed multiple times.

Last year, Rahul Gandhi had wished his followers on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. As he wished his followers, Rahul Gandhi shared a graphic with the inscription “Ganesh Chaturthi ki hardik shubhkamnaye”. However, one crucial element is missing from the tweet. The image of Lord Ganesh himself.

In another instance, Rahul Gandhi had wished Hindus on the occasion of Shri Krishna Janmasthami. However, he had deliberately left the image of Lord Krishna from his tweet.

In June last year, Rahul Gandhi had put out another phoney tweet on the occasion of Jagannath Yatra. However, the images of deities were missing from his tweet.

Again during Maha Shivarathri, Rahul Gandhi put out an image of Kailash mountains instead of directly posting Lord Shiva’s images on his tweet.

Last year, “Janeudhari” Rahul Gandhi had also shared an image of Sumit Antil, a para-athlete who won gold at Tokyo Paralympics, except that he had cropped out the ‘Om’ from the chain Antil was wearing.

Well, the habitual act of Rahul Gandhi to leave out icons and symbols of Hindus in his tweets has created massive outrage on social media platforms. Netizens have time and again accused Rahul Gandhi of mistreating Hindus and Hindu festivals and often hinted at a larger plan of Congress leader’s attempt to secularise Hindu festivals.

It is pertinent to note that Abrahamic beliefs such as Islam and Christianity do not endorse multiple gods and their depiction. In Islam, the depiction of idols and human forms of God are considered ‘haram’. Most of the tweets by Rahul Gandhi in recent times resonates with such beliefs, and the deliberate leaving out of Hindu deities in his tweets does not come as a surprise anymore.

Srinagar: Two Lashkar terrorists killed by police, one was involved in murder of a policeman in Anantnag

OpIndia Staff
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Srinagar: Two Lashkar terrorists killed by police, one was involved in murder of a policeman in Anantnag

The Srinagar Police on Saturday killed two terrorists of the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba in an encounter in the Zakura locality of the city. One of the terrorists killed has been identified as Ikhlaq Hajam who was primarily involved in attacks at Anantnag on January 29.

The Police affirmed head constable Ali Mohammad Ganie was killed by Hajam and his group in Hassanpora in Anantnag earlier. According to the Police, security forces launched a cordon and search operation during the night after being tipped off on specific inputs about the presence of militants in the Zakura locality of the city.

As the forces were conducting searches in the area, the hiding terrorists fired upon them. The forces retaliated and an encounter broke out. Several reports have quoted Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar who confirmed that the Islamic terrorists belonged to The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow of the LeT.

The visuals of the site display a lot of bullets being fired at the door and walls of the property in Zakura locality, the terrorists were hiding in. The police meanwhile is said to have recovered two pistols from the site of the encounter.

Jains express anger over ‘secretly enjoy kathi kabab’ comment by TMC MP Mahua Moitra in Lok Sabha, demand apology

OpIndia Staff
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Jains express anger over ‘secretly enjoy kathi kabab’ comment by TMC MP Mahua Moitra in Lok Sabha, demand apology

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra has yet again courted controversy for insinuating that Jains eat non-vegetarian food secretly on the streets of Ahmedabad. She made the contentious remarks during her speech on Thursday (February 3) in the Lok Sabha.

Moitra had accused the Modi government of curbing individual liberties. “You fear a future India which is comfortable in its own 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.

Jains slam Mahua Moitra for hurting religious sentiments

Although the TMC MP hoped to score political brownies by pitching hypothetical stories about the government curbing individual freedom, the Jain community felt attacked at the deliberate targeting by Mahua Moitra. They took to social media to raise their objection against the speech made by the Parliamentarian.

Twitter user Ankit Jain demanded an apology from Moitra for having insulted the ethos of Jains.

Another user, Maggi wrote, “Being a Jain & a strict vegetarian (don’t even eat potato) I am hurt by her outrageous comment for Jains.”

One Parag Jain pointed out, “I am a Jain, TMC Leader Mahua Moitra has hurt my religious sentiments…Do not drag Jains into your petty classless politics. This is insult of the ethos of Jains. I demand apology from Mahua Moitra on behalf of every Jain of India….. Jainam jayati sashanam #shame”

“#ApologizeMoitra. No Jain would want to eat non-veg. Mahua Moitra please don’t insult a community for your political benefits,” emphasised one Tanvi Jain.

Another member of the Jain community demanded an apology from the TMC MP. “I strongly condemn Mahua Moitra for denigrating the Jain community who practices ahimsa & have compassion for each soul. Mahua has hurted our religious sentiments,” wrote one Saurabh Jain.

“She should know that vegetarianism is second nature of Jains, it’s an unremovable part of our DNA. It’s an insulting accusation without truth. Either she apologizes or gets sued,” tweeted Nisha Jain.

Nonviolence is one of the most important principles of Jainism and they practice vegetarianism. So much that they abstain from consuming root vegetables like potato, onion and garlic as uprooting them would harm the organisms in the soil. A section of Jains even observe mourning on Bakri Eid since Muslims slaughter goats on their festival and Jains are pained by the slaughter of innocent animal.

To insinuate that the Jains in Ahmedabad enjoy non-vegetarian food ‘secretly’ has hurt their religious sentiments.

TMC MP had made Hinduphobic remarks in the past

Mahua Moitra is not new to controversies. She has earlier made Hinduphobic jibes of ‘Gaumutra’ to insult the Hindu community. Ahead of her Lok Sabha speech on February 3, TMC MP Mahua Moitra took to Twitter to make the ‘Gaumutra’ jibe at the Modi government.

Tagging the wrong handle to address the BJP, Mahua Moitra tweeted: “Am speaking this evening in Lok Sabha on President’s Address. Just wanted to give early heads up to @BJP to get heckler team ready & read up on imaginary points of order. Drink some gaumutra shots too.” Last year, she created a new controversy by calling India the ‘Susu Potty Republic’. Then too, she had used the cow urine jibe to attack the central government.

The Kashmir Walla editor Fahad Shah arrested for promoting anti-national content on Facebook, glorifying terrorist activities

OpIndia Staff
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The Kashmir Walla editor Fahad Shah arrested for promoting anti-national content on Facebook, glorifying terrorist activities

The Jammu & Kashmir Police stated that Fahad Shah, editor of the prominent Srinagar-based news portal The Kashmir Walla, was detained on Friday for anti-national activities and sharing provocative content on the social media platform Facebook.

According to Jammu & Kashmir Police, he was arrested on Friday for social media posts that allegedly glorified terrorist activities and caused a “dent to the image of law enforcing agencies besides causing ill-will and disaffection against the country”.

According to a statement released by the Pulwama district police, “some Facebook users and portals have been uploading anti-national content, including photographs, videos, and posts with criminal intention to create fear among the public and the content so uploaded can provoke the public to disturb law & order”.

The cops had already summoned Fahad three times over the magazine’s content. On January 31, he was called by the Pulwama police and released after interrogation.

On February 1, Shah was summoned by the police for interrogation. He was summoned to the Pulwama police station on February 4 to record his statement, after which the police released a statement confirming his detention. Shah was detained and placed in police custody, according to the police, during the course of the inquiry into the case under FIR No. 19/2022.

Fahad is the editor-in-chief of ‘The Kashmir Walla,’ an online news portal. The digital journal debuted in 2011. It claims to cover news and other socio-cultural concerns in J&K. The Kashmir Walla gained has been vocally opposing the Centre’s decision to withdraw J&K’s special status on August 5, 2019.

Last month, Sajad Gul, a trainee reporter with The Kashmir Walla, was also held for allegedly “provoking the people against the government and spreading animosity” through his tweets. Since then, Gul has been arrested under the Public Safety Act’s provisions.

Punjab: Ghulam Nabi Azad dropped from star campaigner list days after Modi govt conferred Padma Bhushan, Manish Tewari snubbed too

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab: Ghulam Nabi Azad dropped from star campaigner list days after Modi govt conferred Padma Bhushan, Manish Tewari snubbed too

The Congress has dropped its prominent members of G-23, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Manish Tewari from the list of star campaigners it issued on February 4 ahead of the Punjab Assembly Elections. This has done anything but indicated the internal rift of the Congress party in India.

The list includes Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and many more Congress leaders from different states but does not include senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Lok Sabha MP from the state Manish Tewari.

Azad and Tewari, the members of Congress G-23 had questioned the leadership in Congress and written to Sonia Gandhi seeking an overhaul in view of the frequent failures of the party. In August 2020, the letter had demanded immediate and active leadership and to rearrange the organisational structure of the party.

Ghulam Nabi Azad has recently been conferred with Padma Bhushan by the Modi government. But the party seems to have taken the stand as Azad continues to defy Congress’ stand on several occasions.

Manish Tewari meanwhile has sarcastically censured the Congress’ decision saying that the reasons of his exclusion are no more secret. “I would have been pleasantly surprised if it would have been the other way around. The reasons are also no state secret”, he said.

The core part of concern forms regarding exclusion of Manish Tewari, the Hindu face who has won from the Anandpur Sahib seat. While there are around 40 per cent of Hindus in the state, earlier another Hindu face of the party Sunil Jakhar, was also sidelined for the post of Chief Minister despite having the support of 42 MLAs.

Jakhar had complained that he was not considered during change of guard after Captain Amarinder Singh stepped down in September last year, only because he was a Hindu. However, Jakhar sees himself in the list of star campaigners for Punjab polls today.

The 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on February 20 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on March 10.

GoFundMe removes online funding campaign for truckers’ Convoy in Canada, withholds over 9 million dollars

OpIndia Staff
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GoFundMe removes online funding campaign for truckers’ Convoy in Canada, withholds over 9 million dollars

Online fundraising platform GoFundMe has announced that the fundraiser for Canada’s trucker convoy has now been ‘removed’ from the platform over violation of ‘terms of service’. The platform is now withholding the over 9 million dollars donated to the protesting truckers in Canada.

The online fundraising platform had earlier paused the fundraiser and announced that they would be reviewing the nearly $10 million funds raised by Canada’s truckers, who are now protesting against the vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions imposed by the Canadian government.

Earlier, the online funding platform had stated it has suspended the funding and was reviewing the campaign after truckers had raised nearly $10 million in support of the protest.

In a statement posted to the website, GoFundMe said it “supports peaceful protests, and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created.

“We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity,” the statement read.

GoFundMe obeys Canada govt and police orders

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson has stated that the government and the police had asked GoFundMe to stop the campaign and prevent the truckers from receiving the money raised for them.

The online fundraising platform added that to ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform, they work with local authorities to ensure they have a detailed, factual understanding of events taking place on the ground.

“Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform,” the statement read.

The fundraiser, which lists Tamara Lich as an organiser and BJ Dichter as a “team member”, has been removed after raising $10,125,100. It was created to support the truckers that have travelled across Canada to Ottawa to participate in a protest against Covid-19 restrictions.

In fact, GoFundMe had released $1 million earlier after protests showed the plans that the money would be used to cover the cost of fuel for participants peacefully protesting.

GoFundMe said that they would work with organisers to send all remaining funds to “credible and established charities” chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organisers and verified by GoFundMe. The fundraising platform has also put out a notice asking donors to submit a request for a full refund until February 19, 2022.

The protests began on January 29 in the nation’s capital, which later engulfed major cities across the country. The protests took a violent form after some of the protestors were caught urinating on the National War Memorial, one even danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The truckers have now driven their truck all the way to Parliament Hill to protest against the vaccine mandates.

Elon Musk calls GoFundMe ‘professional thieves’

GoFundMe’s act is inviting condemnation and widespread outrage. Billionaire Elon Musk has called them ‘professional thieves’ in a tweet.

The ‘liberal’ government in Canada has been vocally condemning the truckers’ protests and has been vilifying it. PM Trudeau has called the truckers ‘disgusting’. The ruling politicians have termed the truckers protest as ‘ the occupation of Ottawa’.

On February 4, the Public Safety Committee had voted to bring Go FundMe to testify about the fundraising for the truckers on their platform. The Removal of the fundraiser has come on the next day.

Facebook removes page promoting the Freedom Convoy that rejects vaccine mandates in USA

On Wednesday, Facebook has removed a page “Convoy to DC” of truck drivers opposing vaccine rules in the USA. The truckers have slammed this step of Facebook as censorship at its finest. The truck drivers’ “Freedom Convoy” was planned from California to Washington DC. This was being done after being inspired by the Canadian truckers who had recently taken their convoy opposing the vaccine mandates.

The group of protesting truckers had made a Facebook page named “Convoy to DC 2022”. Facebook has removed this page on Wednesday for violating policies around QAnon. In October 2020, Facebook had labelled QAnon a “violence-inducing conspiracy network” and announced group pages and admins tied to QAnon will be removed. 

The Facebook account of Jeremy Johnson, who had created this page, has also been removed. He has now contacted a lawyer to figure out his next move. Reacting to this, Johnson said, “They like to silence people that speak the truth.”

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