A 14-year-old girl of class 8th was raped in the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. The victim’s father who was trying to resist the crime was also brutally assaulted by the accused. This crime took place in a village that falls under Chandinagar police station of Baghpat. The victim’s parents have filed a complaint in the SP office after which a case was registered.
The victim’s father has said that he was sleeping in a room along with his two daughters. He has alleged that the accused entered the house, dragged the elder daughter out of the house, and raped her. As the girl started to scream, her father rushed to the spot and tried to restrain the 45-year-old accused. In this fight, the accused assaulted the father of the girl. The accused hit him with the butt of a country-made pistol. The girl’s father got injured by this. The accused then threatened the father and managed to escape from that place.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped in the Baghpat #UttarPradesh
Father brutally assaulted for resisting crime. Accused also hit the father with the butt of a country-made pistol
family did not file the complaint, fearing social stigma, but father registered complaint later.
The station house officer Omprakash has said that a case has been registered in this regard and efforts are being made to arrest the accused as soon as possible.
It is notable that the victim girl’s mother had died a few years back. The accused was stalking the girl for a long time. But the family did not file any case owing to social stigma. Now as the girl faced this unfortunate incident and her father is also assaulted, they had met with the SP, and then the case is registered.
There have been repeated rape incidents in the Baghpat area, especially in the last few months. It has rather become a matter of concern for the girls of minor age in this area. Earlier, similar incidents have happened and were reported here in November 2021 and in July 2021 before that. In some cases, the accused rapist had also forcefully converted the victim girl into Islam.
Under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat health plan, the first free open-heart surgery was successfully performed in Tripura’s Agartala Government Medical College and GB Pant Hospital on Statehood Day on Friday (January 21).
Madhabi Rani Das, 46, of Udaipur underwent open-heart surgery on January 21 at GBP hospital, according to reports. The whole operation was done free of cost as the patient is a beneficiary of the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
The medical college’s Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgery and Interventional Radiology (CTVS and IR) facilities were installed two years ago, but there was no surgeon or competent surgery team, as said by Dr Sanjib Debbarma, Medical Superintendent of Agartala Govt Medical College (AGMC) and GBP Hospital.
Under Centre’s Ayushman Bharat health scheme, first open-heart surgery successfully performed free of cost at Tripura’s GB Pant Hospital
Dr Kanak Narayan Bhattacharjee, Consultant of the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department at the GB Pant Hospital, stated to ANI, “This is the first time such a surgery has been performed under my observation. In this complicated surgery, all of the technicians, anesthesiologists, and staff nurses performed a critical role.”
Manjushri Roy, the Principal of Agartala Medical College, addressed the reporters, “We are pleased to inform you that a complex operation like open-heart surgery was successfully performed at the GBP hospital in Agartala. This would allow people from all over the state to receive tertiary care right at their doorstep.”
When asked if more of these surgeries will be carried out in the future, Roy remarked, “These operations are extremely critical and need much planning on the part of both the patients and the surgeons. We can’t conduct two surgeries a day due to limited resources, but this is a continuous process.”
The successful operation took 5 gruelling hours. The patient is currently in a stable state. Dr Kanak Narayan Bhattacharjee, consultant and In-charge, CTVS & IR department, Dr Anindya Sundar Trivedi, and Dr Surjit Pal headed a team of 15 specialists that performed the operation.
On Friday, India recalled the dastardly terrorist attack on Mumbai in year 2011 and said that global threat of terrorism required unambiguous and collective response. India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla at a conference on the ‘Potential for Indo-European/German cooperation in Indo-Pacific’ also condemned the recent terrorist attack in Texas and affirmed that the active international terror network has long-lasting implications.
Recent incident in Texas once again demonstrates that int’l network of terror, with its epicenter in India’s neighbourhood, is very much active & has long-lasting implications. This is a global threat that requires an unambiguous, undivided, effective & collective response: FS pic.twitter.com/jHSAm1YJGH
Welcoming the growing interest of European countries including Germany, to intensify their engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, Shringla said that the key area of cooperation between the strategic partners would be action on countering terrorism. “Failure to cooperate can only embolden terrorists towards more audacity”, he was quoted.
He recalled the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack in which Indians, Germans and many people of other nationalities had lost their lives and noted that the global threat of terrorism requires an undivided and effective response. The Foreign Secretary also drew the panel’s attention to the recent attack by British Islamists in Texas, United States. “It demonstrates the international network of terror, with its epicentre in Pakistan, is very much active and has long-lasting implications”, he said.
According to the official statement, Shringla reiterated India’s position by quoting EAM S Jaishankar who had said that there cannot be any exception or any justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of motivations behind such acts. Two days ago, India had condemned the terrorist attack in Texas act and had said, “any attack on innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure was completely unacceptable; would be in blatant violation of international law, and against all civilized norms”.
Deepening cooperation with Germany on matters of national security, Shringla appreciated its proposed strategies on the Indo-Pacific, particularly strengthening multilateralism, the rule of law and democracy, climate protection, trade and digitization and said that Germany’s interests closely match with that of India.
He also invited Germany to participate in the third ‘No Money for Terror’ Conference to be held in 2022.
The mother of M Lavanya, a student of standard 12th in Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Thirukattupali in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, who had committed suicide on January 20 has slammed the media for questioning the dying declaration of her daughter. In a video acquired by OpIndia, the deceased student’s mother has opened up about the torture perpetrated on her daughter by the missionary school authorities to convert to Christianity, that compelled her to take her life.
She is heard stating unequivocally that her daughter killed herself as a result of the treatment she was put to by the missionary school for refusing to convert to Christianity.
Miffed by the media trying to grill her over the ‘conversion angle’, the mother remarked angrily, “Do you want to say what she said in her dying declaration is false”. Her strong reaction came after the journalist told her that the police have maintained that the allegation that Lavanya was facing pressure to convert to Christianity from the school authorities was false.
Further explaining her deceased daughter’s plight which compelled her to end her life, the aggrieved mother said that they have lost their daughter today due to the torture and pressure exerted on her to convert by the authorities of the govt-aided Christian missionary school. “She was compelled and tortured and now she is no more…We want Justice, lamented the mother, as she revealed that her daughter was being pressured and coerced to take up Christianity for the last two years.
“She was asked to wash bathrooms and do other chores and was tortured…”, said the mother as she demanded the arrest and capital punishment for the two school wardens, identified as Sahay Mary and Rocklyn Mary who she said were responsible for the death of her daughter.
“We have lost our daughter but we do not want the same to happen with anyone else’s child…she should be the first and last to go through this torture”, said the mother demanding strict action against the school.
‘If she becomes like us she will get the respect and stature she deserves’, mother reveals how the TN missionary school was after her to let her daughter convert
M Lavanya’s mother recalled how the school had directly asked her to let the child convert to Christianity. “How are you going to make your daughter study, let her become like us. If she becomes like us she will get the respect and stature she deserves,” they had said. She added that she had a fight with the wardens regarding this but to no avail. “They continued to harass my daughter. They used to tell her that she is a bright girl and even threatened her that if she revealed these things to us they will spread rumours about her character. Probably that’s the reason why she did not reveal anything to us”, revealed M Lavanya’s mother.
She further added that they asked the school for a Transfer Certificate (TC) but the school was shut due to Covid. “We were waiting for the school to reopen and give us the TC so that we could apply to some other school. We approached the school after the Pongal holidays and asked for the TC which they denied. Our daughter was an excellent student. She placed first in the class. We wanted her to continue her studies. If something like this can happen to a student who use to come first in class imagine what would happen to the lesser bright students of the school”, remarked the irked mother.
Mother refutes police claims of no conversion angle
When the journalist tried to badger her with the police claims of no conversion angle being present in the suicide case, she lambasted, “Do you want to say what she said in her dying declaration is false”.
Massive row erupts after a minor,who was allegedly forced to convert,dies by suicide. BJP demands action,holds protest in Tamil Nadu
Victim’s family, in an exclusive conversation with @AnchorAnandN says, ‘Our daughter was harassed, tortured.’
Notably, while speaking to News18, M Lavanya’s disgruntled mother reiterated their demands. “We demand that they be jailed and the school must be sealed immediately. We have three more children, we want them to study well. I hope that somebody helps us get justice for our daughter”.
Answering the same question posed to her regarding the police claims, she said, “we are ordinary daily labourers, so the police did not take our complaints seriously. Officials did not believe anything we said regarding the case.”
In an appeal to PM Narendra Modi, the aggrieved mother said: “We want to extend a request to PM Modi as well and say that please don’t let this happen to any other girl. All we want is justice for our daughter.”
Meanwhile, a massive row has erupted in Tamil Nadu following the death of the class 12 student. Many BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu has hit the streets demanding justice for the deceased class 12 student M Lavanya and her family and demanded stringent action against the missionary school which compelled the student to end her life.
Tamil Nadu police to probe suicide of student based on her dying declaration alleging ‘forced to convert’ by missionary school
It may be noted that only yesterday, the Tamil Nadu police had agreed to register the girl’s dying declaration in the case, where she alleged that the govt-aided Christian missionary school she went to had been pressuring her to convert to Christianity, and base the probe on it.
Prior to this, the initial FIR filed by the TN police had simply mentioned that the student was residing at the hostel and that on January 9, the warden reportedly compelled her to undertake household tasks. She apparently attempted suicide because she couldn’t stand the brutality any longer.
Speaking about this development, Thanjavur Superintendent of Police Ravali Priya Gandhapuneni had said that the girl’s parents’ initial statement was bereft of the conversion angle. She added that a new petition has been filed, in which the angle will be investigated as well.
It may be recalled that a video of Lavanya’s call for help was published on social media where she was seen talking about her torture. The video, originally in Tamil (translated by The Commune) says, “My name is Lavanya. They (school) had asked my parents in my presence if they can convert me to Christianity and help her for further studies. Since I didn’t accept, they kept scolding me.” She also named one Rachael Mary who had allegedly tortured her.
On January 19, Times of India did a web photo story on cricketers who married their cousins for its entertainment section. While the story contained cricketers from Pakistan and Bangladesh who have married their cousins, for some mysterious reason, TOI included Virender Sehwag and his wife Aarti Ahlawat in the story, who are actually not cousins. Not just that, they also used the photo of the couple as the cover photo for the story, completely misrepresenting facts.
The story titled ‘5 Cricketers Who Married Their Cousins’ includes 5 such couples, but actually, only 4 of them are true as per the title. The story mentioned the marriages of Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi with his maternal uncle’s daughter Nadia, Saeed Anwar’s marriage with his cousin sister Lubna, Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman’s marriage with his maternal cousin Samia Parvin, and Pakistani player Barba Azam’s upcoming wedding with his cousin.
As all the cricketers who married their cousins are from Pakistan and Bangladesh, and all of them belong to ‘a particular community’, Times of India felt the need to ‘secularise’ the story. But as they couldn’t find a suitable example of a similar wedding to ‘balance’ the report, they decided that being politically correct is more important than being factually correct.
Therefore, they included Virender Sehwag, even though his wife is not his cousin, mentioning that they are ‘distantly related’. The story itself mentioned that Sehwag’s Cousin had married his wife Aarti Ahlawat’s aunt, which means there are no blood relations between them, and no way they can be called be cousins, not event distant cousins.
The story also correctly mentions Viru had married his childhood love in 2004, as he had met her first when he was seven and she was five. In fact, they had met each other in the abovementioned wedding between their respective relatives. As Sehwag’s cousin had married Aarti’s aunt, it is evident that Aarti is not Sehwga’s cousin, and even if they are ‘distantly related’, it is completely wrong to include them in a story on cricketers who married their cousins. More importantly, there is no blood relation between the two like cousins, as the two became ‘distantly related’ only after the marriage between their relatives.
But not only did Times of India include them in the story, they even went to the extent of using their photo as the cover photo, making them the main focus of the story.
It is not that Times of India ran out of cricketers marrying cousins, and were forced to include the wedding of ‘distant relatives’. They could have included the examples of other cricketers, like Mosaddek Hossain from Bangladesh who had married his cousin Sharmin Samira Usha. But then, perhaps that would not be a ‘secular’ thing to do, hence TOI dropped Hossain to include Sehwag.
Popular video streaming and production company, Netflix, has recently witnessed a massive slump in the growth of its subscriber base. This has led to a slow start at the onset of the year and a fall of 21.79% in share value to $397.50 as of January 21, 2022.
As per reports, the investors have lost a whopping $45 billion in market value due to the aspersion that the company was going to enter a period of slow growth. Netflix is expected to add about 2.5 million subscribers to its user base in the first quarter of the year. In 2021, the company could add only 18.2 million customers, which was 50% less than that of 2020.
The current decline in Netflix’s growth is likely to continue for another quarter. The company is trying to identify key issues that have contributed to the slump. Although Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has been of the view that competition from rival streaming services is not a problem, company management has now conceded the impact of competitors, besides fall out of the pandemic and a tough economy in South America.
Stock performance of Netflix
On Thursday (January 20), Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings expressed his ‘frustration’ during an investor call over the slow growth of the video streaming company in the Indian market. He said, “In our experience in Brazil, it was brutal for the first couple of years. We thought we’d never break even. I know we’ve got this great business… The great news is that in every single other major market, we’ve got the flywheel spinning.”
“The thing that frustrates us is why haven’t we been more successful in India,” he also added. According to CFO Spencer Neumann, it was tough for the streaming platform to pinpoint the specific reasons as to why the subscriber acquisition did not recover to pre-Covid levels.
While speaking about the slash in Netflix’s pricing in India in December last year, COO Greg Peters noted, “We have been operating there and learning more about Indian consumers’ tastes, et cetera, and that’s broadening the offering of the service across many, many different dimensions. We felt it was the right time to decrease our prices there, to increase accessibility to all… we’re doing this through the lens of what’s the long-term sort of revenue maximisation.”
Annual subscriber acquisition by Netflix between 2015 and 2021, graphic via Bloomberg
Bloomberg reported that Netflix had achieved over 6000% growth in stock value between 2011 and 2021. During that period, the streaming platform acquired over 200 million subscribers. Given that markets in North America and Europe have become saturated, the company has shifted its focus to the Asia Pacific and Africa. Owing to the appreciation of the US dollar, it has become difficult for Netflix to break even in international markets. It is expected to lose $1 billion in sales in 2022.
Netizens pinpoint slump in Netflix’s growth to its ‘woke culture’
After CEO Reed Hastings expressed frustration over Netflix’s slow growth in the Indian market, netizens were quick to show the mirror to the streaming platform. “Meanwhile Netflix’s shows in India: Leila shows a Dystopian Hindu society, ‘Krishna & his Leela’, Vir Das keeps taking unfunny dumps on India. List goes on,” tweeted TFI senior Editor Shubhangi Sharma.
She added, “Maybe the Netflix India team needs a little reshuffling. It’s ridiculous how out-of-touch their content is with the Indian people. They keep facing boycott calls as well. Indians are already keeping alternatives. It’s not an easy market to woo while also peddling a woke agenda.”
Maybe the Netflix India team needs a little reshuffling. It’s ridiculous how out-of-touch their content is with the Indian people. They keep facing boycott calls as well. Indians are already keeping alternatives. It’s not an easy market to woo while also peddling a woke agenda.
Former Infosys Director, Mohandas Pai, blamed the slump in Netflix’s growth story in India on ‘anti-Hindu’ content of the company. “You insult the majority of Indians, hope to grow? Listen to your viewers,” he emphasised.
Netflix’s Lack Of Success In India Has Been ‘frustrating’: Cofounder Reed Hastings @netflix One big reason is anti Hindu tripe your group here peddles as https://t.co/rAxEn3NjaM insult the majority of Indians,hope to grow?listen to your viewers. https://t.co/pJzqNnwAT7
A Twitter user accused the streaming platform of being Delhi and Mumbai centric and thus failing to understand the pulse of the rest of the nation. “If you cast a Malhotra and a Dassani in a movie about Tamilians based out of Madurai, how will it pick up?” he added.
This is what happens when you give too much power to a bunch of people from South Mumbai and South Delhi, ask them to think what India will like.
For them India is where there is a Starbucks on every street, everyone eats a Bic Mac, shops at H&M and drives a BMW.
Another Twitter user stated, “This is because, India is still much sane for woke content which Netflix tries to serve. Even your non-woke content was for elites. The woke-heads at Netflix never promoted culturally relatable content.”
This is because, India is still much sane for woke content which Netflix tries to serve. Even your non-woke content was for elites. The woke-heads at Netflix never promoted culturally relatable content.https://t.co/OpozWGKK8j
Netflix has been under the scanner in India for peddling inappropriate content to users. In March 2021, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights took cognizance of online outrage after several Twitter users called out the OTT platform for wrongfully depicting children in the web series “Bombay Begums”. The apex child rights body had asked Netflix to stop streaming the web series, citing an inappropriate portrayal of children.
On Friday, a massive uproar erupted over NCP MP Amol Kolhe’s portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi’s killer, Nathuram Godse, in his new film ‘Why I Killed Gandhi.’ Kolhe’s party colleague and Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad has openly objected to Kolhe taking such roles, indicating the depth of the dispute. Awhad, angered by the trailer of the movie, has accused Amol Kolhe of ‘supporting’ Godse.
Amol Kolhe, a Lok Sabha MP from Shirur, is seen recreating Godse in the film’s trailer, which depicts Godse’s trial following Gandhi’s assassination, justifying his actions.
NCP Minister Awhad took to Twitter to say, “It is apparent from the trailer of Amol Kolhe’s film that Amol Kolhe has played Nathuram Godse. Nathuram Godse is endorsed his work, despite the fact that it is done as an artist. In the garb of an artist, you cannot applaud Gandhi’s killing “. He pointed out that actors Vinay Apte and Sharad Ponkshe had also received backlash for their portrayals of assassins, and hence he would reject the film.
डॉ. अमोल कोल्हे यांच्या चित्रपटाचा ट्रेलर पाहून हे स्पष्ट होते की अमोल कोल्हे यांनी नथुराम गोडसे ची भूमिका केलेली आहे. त्यांनी केलेली कृती जरी कलाकार म्हणून केली असली, तरी त्यामध्ये नथुराम गोडसेचे समर्थन आलेच आहे. कलाकाराचा वेष घेऊन तुम्ही गांधी हत्येचे समर्थन करू शकत नाही
The film ‘Why I Killed Gandhi’ will premiere on Limelight OTT on January 30th, Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.
Kolhe, the film’s main character, has been acting since 2008 and has worked in a number of historical-themed films and TV shows. In past TV programs, the actor has played roles like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his son Chhatrapati Sambhaji. Later in life, he became active in politics and was a prominent Shiv Sena campaigner in 2014. The film was made in 2017, but it is just now being released. Kolhe played Godse in the movie while being a Shiv Sena member. In February 2019, he joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and beat Shivajirao Adhalarao Patil of the Sena in the Shirur Lok Sabha constituency.
Kolhe issued a video statement on Friday in which he clarified the position. ‘It appears that many individuals have been hurt as a result of my part as Godse in the Hindi film ‘Why I Killed Gandhi,” Kolhe stated. I never agreed with Godse’s acts or his anti-Mahatma Gandhi ideas. I never even promoted the movie. As an actor in 2017, I hoped to acquire a role in a film,’ he added, saying that it must be understood and viewed in that light.
Given the fact that the NCP leader has clarified its position following the protest, party head Sharad Pawar has stated that Amol Kolhe has taken the role as an artist. “Even Gandhi film has become quite famous,” he remarked. The actor who played Godse in the film was also a talented artist.”
On Friday, Ukraine received its first shipment of 2 lakh pounds of lethal assistance recently directed by US President Biden amid soaring fears of a Russian invasion. The shipment also included ammunition for the front line defenders of Ukraine and US commitment to bolster the defence.
The American Embassy in Kyiv in its tweet said that ‘the shipment – and $2.7 billion USD since 2014 – demonstrates US commitment to helping Ukraine bolster its defences in the face of growing ‘Russian aggression’.
The first shipment of assistance recently directed by President Biden to Ukraine arrived in Ukraine tonight. This shipment includes close to 200,000 pounds of lethal aid, including ammunition for the front line defenders of Ukraine. [1/2] pic.twitter.com/YeYanK0Px6
This comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ukraine this week and approved military assistance of $200 million as part of American efforts to help Ukraine protect itself. Committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the official had said that the US would continue to provide Ukraine with the support it needs.
On January 19, Russia deployed more than 1,27,000 servicemen at the border with Ukraine with intentions to expand aggression towards Ukraine. The assessment by Ukraine had defined the situation in the region as ‘difficult’ and had said that Russia was trying to split and weaken the European Union and NATO.
The US also in its assessment report had mentioned that Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine at any point in time now. As reported earlier, the Russian troops have made their permanent camps in the Central and Eastern parts of the country and support around 35,000 rebels in eastern Ukraine.
According to the reports, Blinken yesterday met its Russian counterpart and tested Russia’s willingness to resolve the crisis diplomatically. Russia had has denied withdrawing its troops from the border and said that it has a right to deploy its forces wherever it likes on its own territory.
Reports mention Ukraine’s fear of being attacked with medium-range missile weapons named Iskander as 36 of them have made their base already by the border. Ukraine’s assessment comes as it attempts to get the whole world united against Putin seeking to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 2014, NATO unanimously decided to suspend all practical co-operation with the Russian Federation, in response to the Ukraine crisis, but the NATO-Russia Council still remains intact.
A video has surfaced in which the former Punjab DG Police Mohammad Mustafa, who is also the principal strategic adviser to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, is heard blatantly threatening Hindus of dire repercussions if they dare to hold their events near his event during a public meeting on January 20, Thursday.
Sharing the purported video, BJP’s national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi accused Sidhu’s aide of trying to incite violence and disturb communal harmony by giving provocative statements ahead of the Punjab assembly polls.
The video of the hate speech was first shared by Chiranshu Rattan, the spokesperson of the BJP Punjab youth wing. Soon it started doing rounds on social media. Ilmi captioned the video with a section of the Congress leader’s inflammatory statement made during an event held in the Baghwala Mohalla in Malerkotla district late on Thursday evening.
She Tweeted in Hindi which roughly translated to: “Swear to Allah, I am a soldier of my community, I want to tell the district administration, that it will not be good if Hindus are given a place next to my” PS of Malerkotla @sherryontopp while campaigning for his wife.”
‘I swear on Allah I will enter their houses and beat them up’, Punjab Congress leader blatantly threatens Hindus
In the video, Congress’ Mohammad Mustafa is heard threatening of creating a situation that cannot be controlled if Hindus were allowed to hold events near his event. Amidst loud cheers and claps, the Congress leader said: “Allah ki kasam kha ke kheta hoon inka koi jalsa nahi hone denge. Main quami fauji hoon, main quami sipahi hoon, mein RSS ka agent nahi hoon jo dar ke ghar mein ghus jaonga (I swear by Allah that I would not allow them to organise any event. I am a warrior and soldier of my community, I am not an RSS agent who will hide in fear.)
He added: “Agar dobara inhone aaisi harkat ki, khuda ki kasam inke ghar mein ghus kar marunga. Aaj mein sirf warning de raha hoon. Mein voto ke liye nahi lad raha…mein kaum ke liye lad raha hoon. Main zila police aur zila prashasan ko bhi batana chahata hoon…agar dobara aisi harkat hui…mere jalse ke barabar mein agar Hinduon ko ijaazat di gayi, toh mein aaise halat paida kar doonga ke sambhalne mushkil jo jayega” (If they again try to do something like this, I swear on Allah I will enter their houses and beat them up. I am not fighting for votes but for my community. I warn the district administration and police that if in future they allow Hindus to hold gatherings next to ours, I will create such an environment that it will be difficult for them to control.)
What transpired
The former Punjab DG Police Mohammad Mustafa’s hate speech came in the wake of a verbal spat between supporters of Congress candidate Razia Sultana and AAP candidate Jamil-ur-Rehman. Tension started when stages of AAP and Congress were set up in the same lane within 20-25 feet in Baghwala Mohalla, which is near Sirhindi Gate and both programmes were scheduled to be held simultaneously on January 20 (Thursday) evening.
Reportedly the AAP workers raised slogans against police and even Navjot Singh Sidhu’s aide Mohd Mustafa.
Speaking about the incident Waseem Sheikh, the secretary of Muslim Sikh federation Punjab said: “DJ of Congress was causing disturbance to AAP’s function and speakers of AAP were also not audible. AAP supporters raised slogans from their venue and didn’t go near Congress’s stage.” When the tensions between the Congress and the AAP erupted, Waseem Sheikh was present at the venue.
BJP’s national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi asks EC to take cognisance of the Punjab Congress leader’s hateful speech
Responding to the same, BJP’s national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi said: “Our team and Chiranshu got video and it was a speech given by Mustafa while campaigning during the election in Malerkotla, which is a Muslim-dominated area. This is a hate speech and he is trying to incite violence and disturb communal harmony by giving such provocative statements ahead of the Punjab election.”
“The Election Commission should take cognisance of this video and should not allow Razia, who is an MLA from Malerkotla, to contest the election,” Ilmi added.
Who is Mohammad Mustafa
Notably, Mohammad Mustafa is the husband of Razia Sultana, the Congress candidate representing the Malerkotla constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He is also the former Punjab DG Police, In August last year, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had appointed former IPS officer Mohammad Mustafa as his principal strategic adviser.
The development followed a day after Mustafa, the husband of Punjab Cabinet Minister Razia Sultana, had turned down Sidhu’s invitation to designate him as one of his four advisers.
“Mohd Mustafa is hereby appointed as the principal strategic advisor to the PPCC president, the undersigned, Navjot Singh Sidhu with immediate effect,” a statement issued by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee said.
“He would act as a PCC coordinator with the AICC on issues pertaining to his domain and any other matters that the president may deem fit,” it added.
“Love to be associated with Razia Ji and Mustafa sahib,” Sidhu said in a tweet.
Malerkotla is an assembly constituency in Punjab. The Muslim-dominated district has 3.24 lakh voters. In 2017, this constituency was won by Razia Sultana of the Indian National Congress. She had defeated Mohammad Owais from Shiromani Akali Dal with a margin of 12702 votes.
The 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections will be held in Punjab in a single phase on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab Legislative Assembly and the results will be announced on March 10.
On Friday, the Delhi Police arrested a notorious arms supplier named Hazi Shamim from Muzzafarnagar, Uttar Pradesh in a conspiracy to kill a prominent Kashmiri Pandit Social Activist in New Delhi. The Police has also exposed the Khalistani and Pakistan links in the case and recovered 5 pistols, 20 live cartridges from Shamim.
55-year-old Hazi Shamim, popularly known as Shamim pistol was involved in an assassination plot on a human rights activist Sushil Pandit last year. He was arrested by the Police on Friday after they confirmed Shamim’s role as the supplier of weapons, that emerged during an investigation.
According to the Delhi Police Special Cell DCP Pramod Kushwah, two contract killers Sukhvinder Singh and Lakhan Rajput were arrested in February last year for planning to kill Pandit. During the investigation, the two disclosed that they were hired by Prince Kumar alias Tooti and were promised Rs 10 lakh each. The police had then registered a case against Tooti and arrested two more accused, Jagdeep alias Kaka and Rohit Chaudhary.
#BREAKING: Delhi Police Special Cell arrests notorious arms supplier Shamim pistol who was wanted in a conspiracy to kill a prominent Kashmiri Pandit Social Activist in New Delhi. Five pistols and 20 live cartridges recovered. Khalistani and Pakistan links uncovered. Probe on. pic.twitter.com/Xw0Hp6K2OH
The investigation further revealed that Chaudhary’s brother Rahul who is an expert in drone handling was arrested by the Punjab Police for his alleged role in smuggling narcotic drugs into India from Pakistan using drones. “When Rahul was in jail, Chaudhary was contacted by some persons from Pakistan through one Randeep alias Romi, a member of banned terrorist outfit Khalistan Zindabad Force”, DCP Kushwah said.
Reports further mention that Romi assigned the task of killing the Kashmiri social activist to Chaudhary, who asked his associate Jagdeep alias Kaka to arrange someone to do so, and offered him ₹50 lakh. Kaka had already murdered someone in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Chaudhary’s instructions.
Kaka wanted to execute the operation but agreed to Chaudhary who suggested the murder be committed by someone else so that they are not linked to the killing. Kaka sought Tooti’s help, who hired Sukhvinder and Rajput. The two came to Delhi and were provided with firearms and ammunition and a photo of the target. “The two were arrested before they could finish the job”, the police said.
The Delhi Police confirmed that the weapons and bullets were supplied by Hazi Shamim and had attempted anticipatory bail after learning about the arrest of Chaudhary. The bail was however rejected. “Shamim went on the run and a non-bailable warrant was issued against him. He was arrested on January 19,” added the DCP.
Pertinently, Hazi Shamim has been supplying illegal arms for more than 15 years and deals in sophisticated arms including foreign make arms. He has been arrested several times in several cases for operating an illegal venture.
Kushwah said that Police had recovered 30 pistols, one rifle from Shamim in 2014 and also 84 pistols in 2018. It is reported that Shamim procured raw material from Munger in Bihar and assembled the weapons in Muzzafarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
