Actor Naseeruddin Shah’s ex-army man brother, Zameer Uddin Shah has come under the attack of Islamists for suggesting a dialogue between Hindus and Muslims as the only solution to foster amity between the two communities.
A Twitter user named Muslim Spaces was the first to criticise the veteran actor’s brother, sharing an article he wrote for The Indian Express in August last year, titled: “Why Mohan Bhagat’s appeal for Hindu-Muslim communication is a step in the right path.”
This monkey balancing & playing both-sideism attitude only causes more & more harm to already persecuted Muslim community who are receiving genocidal threats from system backed #Hindutva terrorists.
You can’t find the hard-liners in a community which is on the verge of genocide. https://t.co/CFyErWkWh0
In the article, Zameer Uddin Shah had weighed in on RSS chief Mohan Bhagat’s address at the Mewar Institute in Ghaziabad on July 4 during the Muslim Rashtriya Manch’s launch of Khwaja Iftikhar Ahmed’s book, The Meeting of Minds – A Bridging Initiative. While analysing Bhagat’s speech, he had stated how he, too, is a supporter of Hindu-Muslim dialogue to promote peace between the two communities.
The Indian Express article by Zameer Uddin Shah
This old article by Zameer Uddin Shah did not go down well with several Islamists on Twitter, who brought up the year-old article to attack a respected member of their own community. Probably, talking about peace and reforms within the religion is not being a true Islamist for the Islamists.
Replying to Muslim Spaces, Zameer Uddin Shah Tweeted on Wednesday: “I firmly believe that only continuous dialogue between Hindus and Muslims is the key to amity and progress . There are unfortunately, hard liners on both sides, but more encouraging is the growing tribe of sensible people who abhor bigotry.”
I firmly believe that only continuous dialogue between Hindus and Muslims is the key to amity and progress . There are unfortunately, hard liners on both sides, but more encouraging is the growing tribe of sensible people who abhor bigotry. https://t.co/2Xzrc14QvG
— Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran) (@zoomshah) January 19, 2022
In response to Zameer Uddin Shah’s Tweet, Muslim spaces shared a screenshot of another article of that of the ex-army man published on October 11, 2019, wherein Shah, who is also the former AMU Vice-Chancellor opined that the “Muslims should handover the Ayodhya land to the Hindus for lasting peace.”
Zameer Uddin Shah again took to Twitter to justify his stance. He wrote: “I had good reasons for saying so. I was aware that Judges seldom go against public opinion and was sure what the Ayodhya verdict would be. We would not have regained the mosque but not have been losers. We have,now, not only lost the case but are all round losers.”
I had good reasons for saying so. I was aware that Judges seldom go against public opinion and was sure what the Ayodhya verdict would be. We would not have regained the mosque but not have been losers. We have,now, not only lost the case but are all round losers. https://t.co/XVj5W4PcNC
— Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran) (@zoomshah) January 19, 2022
Islamists take offence against suggestions made by Naseeruddin Shah’s brother, asks him to stop ‘monkey balancing’
Since yesterday, Zameer Uddin Shah has been responding to many such radical Islamists, who in their long-established, deep-seated hate for Hindus, have taken serious offence to his suggestions.
— Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran) (@zoomshah) January 20, 2022
That is not my experience. There are sensible, understanding people in all organisations. What other alternative do you have? Will you withdraw into a sulk? Little can be achieved by that. Engage- even with people who you perceive adversarial, without compromising basic tenets. https://t.co/QcOmUVn02q
— Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran) (@zoomshah) January 19, 2022
Interestingly, the radical Islamists who are today in conjunction bad-mouthing Naseeruddin Shah’s brother for suggesting something that goes against their extremist ideology had not said a word when he had blatantly lied about the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat to rebuke the then Gujarat government, led by Narendra Modi.
Charges by Zameer Uddin Shah on delayed Army deployment during 2002 Gujarat riots don’t hold water
On October 6, 2018, some excerpts from Lt. General (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah’s upcoming book “The Sarkari Mussalman” was published, claiming that when riots erupted in Gujarat in February 2002, following the carnage of the Sabarmati Express train, in which pilgrims returning from Ayodhya were burned alive, the Gujarat government, led by Narendra Modi, failed to provide immediate transport to the Army, which delayed Army deployment in the riot-affected state.
He claimed that had the Modi government would have provided necessary logistical support, the damage and loss to life would have been contained.
Following the publication of this news, it was widely shared by people over social media. The truth, however, seemed far from these claims. OpIndia had then reported how Lt. General (Retd.)’s claims were absolutely baseless and unwarranted.
Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022, Hindus from Kairana, which has been the nest to the communal violence, have said that they will shut their businesses, pack their bags and leave Uttar Pradesh if BJP does not come back to power.
Varun Singhal, whose brother was shot dead by Mohammad Fukran in public amidst the exodus of Hindu families, said that they do not trust any other government and were ready to move out of Kairana again.
As actions shift to Kairana in the first phase of elections scheduled on February 10, a crucial ground report by the New Indian has revealed the true fear of the Hindu families who returned to Kairana after the mass migration during the period of 2014-16. Singhal, recalling the brutal crime against Hindus says that many Hindu families, before 2017 were forced to leave Kairana because of several incidences of extortion and murders.
“Atmosphere at the time was very tense and no trader felt secure. Shops used to shut early in the evening at around 6 pm those days. There was fear among the trader community”, he was quoted by the New Indian. Another person Sajan Kumar agreed and said that situation in Uttar Pradesh can never be as dangerous as it was before the BJP government came to power.
According to the report, Kairana local traders feel safe and secure under the BJP regime and do not want gangsters to overpower again at any cost. Before 2017, the traders say ‘murders and extortion used to happen every now and then. The Samajwadi Party used to support the gangsters to create fear in the minds of Hindu traders. Many of Hindus were killed for raising their voices against the murderers’.
Security of Hindus was reassured only after the Yogi Adityanath government came to power, adds trader Vijay Mittal. Reports mention that the BJP government has set up a permanent unit of UP Police’s Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC) at Kairana’s Chowk Bazar, especially for the safety of Hindu traders and their families.
This report comes after the accused mastermind of the Hindu exodus, Samajwadi Party’s Nahid Hasan was arrested on January 15 under the Gangsters Act. Last week, Akhilesh Yadav had announced Hasan’s name for the Kairana seat but his sister Iqra Hasan has stepped up for the campaign as the Court rejected his bail yesterday. It is worth noting that Hasan and his mother, Tabassum Hasan have two dozens of long-pending cases over the last 20 years, all under the Gangster’s Act.
SP’s Nahid Hasan is converted, he was a Hindu-
BJP’s candidate Mriganka Singh told the New Indian that a century ago, there was only one gotra Kalansh Chauhan in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh. Some started preaching Islam and then forced many others to follow Islam. This is how people got converted. Even Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Nahid Hasan’s family was Hindu, she added.
“Hasan’s gotra was the same as Chaupal family of Kairana. Hasan’s family got converted into Islam, others remained Hindus,” Mriganka said. In 2017, Mriganka had lost to Nahid Hasan and to his mother Tabassum in the 2018 elections.
She also recalled the unfortunate incident of the Hindu exodus and said that it was a fearful situation for Hindu traders and businessmen. They were forced to leave Kairana and were left in fear, she said adding that nobody now wants ‘this MLA Nahid Hasan’ again.
Kairana Mass Migration episode-
In 2014, BJP MP Hukum Singh, who had won the Lok Sabha election from Kairana had claimed that close to 250 Hindus were forced to leave Uttar Pradesh and many of them were left in fear following murders and extortions in the area. The charges were ratified by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) who reported that Muslims in Kairana had tortured Hindu families, their females and were coerced to keep shut their mouth.
“The notorious leader Mukim Kala had committed at least 47 cases of robbery, murder, extortion, etc during the span of just 5 years between 2010 and 2015 in the states of UP, Haryana and Uttarakhand. The Hindu exodus had also forced into major demographic changes in the state”, the fact finding report by NHRC had stated.
Saharanpur MP Raghav Lakhanpal had also in 2016 compared the exodus of the Hindus in the town to that of the Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir. He had alleged that the population of Hindus in Kairana had then gone down to 8 per cent as compared to 52 per cent in 2001.
The primary reason behind the exodus of these Hindu families from Kairana in 2016 was the free reign of gangsters in the town. Most notable of them was Mukim Kala. For years the AK 47 wielding goons of his gang had created an absolute mockery of law and order in Kairana. Mukim Kala even owned a weapons warehouse. The arrest of Mukim Kala had little effect on the situation as he still continued to run his extortion racket from jail.
Things began to change only after Yogi Adityanath took over as the Chief Minister in UP. Under his government, the UP Police started cracking down on criminals like never before and several members of the Mukim Kala’s gang were either shot dead in encounters or arrested in rapid succession.
Kairana currently has about 1.6 million voters, 33 per cent out of which are Muslims, and rest Hindus and other religions.
On January 20, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of the Khalistani terrorist organization Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) released a video urging “Kashmiri Freedom Fighters” to ‘leave valley – reach Delhi’ to sabotage Republic Day. SFJ’s Pannu has called the anti-India separatists and terrorists “freedom fighters” in the video and the statement was on the line of Pakistan’s ISI’s call of ‘now or never’ for Khalistan.
The video began with a statement by a burqa-clad woman saying, “On January 26, we will raise the flags of Kashmir and Khalistan and stop the path of Modi and Tiranga. Reach Delhi on January 26. Free Kashmir and Khalistan.”
Burqa-clad woman urging Kashmiris to reach Delhi. (Screenshot from the SFJ’s video statement)
Following her statement, Pannu said, “The message is for the people of Kashmir and Freedom Fighters (Islamic terrorists) who are facing the Indian Army. This is a message for the people of Kashmir who are being killed by the Indian Constitution and Indian Army under the pretext of false police encounters. Now it is the time of freedom fighters. Now it is the time for the people of Kashmir. You should reach Delhi. Reach Delhi on January 26 and block Modi and Tiranga. Where Sikh community is raising Khalistan flags, you should raise Kashmir flag.”
He further added, “You are getting killed in fake encounters in Baramulla, Anantnag and Shopian every day, and nobody knows in the world. But when you will reach Delhi on January 26, the whole world will see that Kashmir wants freedom. Sikhs want freedom. To reach Delhi on January 26. It’s now or never.” During the video, images of a group of terrorists appeared.
Terrorists’ photo appeared in the video. (Screenshot from the SFJ’s video statement)
After his statement, the complete statement of the burqa-clad woman appeared in the video. She said, “My Kashmiri brothers and sisters. Sikhs For Justice has said correctly that we should raise the flags of Kashmir and Khalistan on January 26 and stop Modi and Tiranga. We have given blood for the freedom of Kashmir. It is now time when we will raise the flags of Kashmir and Khalistan and uproot the Indian Flag to free Kashmir and Punjab while walking side-by-side with Sikh brothers and sisters. My message is for the brothers and sisters from Kashmir. Reach Delhi on January 26. Free Kashmir and Khalistan. Stop Modi and Tiranga.”
Pannu added, “Under the Constitution of India, Sikhs were killed earlier. Now, the people of Kashmir are being killed under the same constitution.” At this point photograph of terrorist Burhan Wani, former commander of terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen appeared on the left side of the frame.
Image of Burhan Wani, a terrorist who was killed by Indian security forces, appeared in the video. (Screenshot from the SFJ’s video statement)
Wani was killed by Indian security forces on July 8, 2016. Pannu further added, “Small children and girls are being raped day and night. The Indian Army, Indian constitution and Modi are responsible. Article 370 was removed, and you were made a part of India. Now you have time, if you want to send a message to the world, then you should not get killed in encounters in Baramulla, Anantnag and Shopian. You should not die while picking up weapons. Reach Delhi so that every power in the world, the world media, and world leaders see that Kashmir wants freedom. It’s now or never. Raise Kashmir flag alongside Khalistan flag.”
SFJ also released a letter urging the secessionists and terrorists to reach Delhi on Republic Day. In the letter, SFJ identified the burqa-clad woman as a Muzaffarabad (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) based female “activist”. The letter read, “Joined by a Muzaffarabad based female activist, secessionist group “Sikhs For Justice” (SFJ) gave a call to the freedom fighters in Kashmir to “Leave Valley — Reach Delhi” on January 26 to “Block Modi-Tiranga” on the upcoming Republic Day of India to internationalize #Khalistan2Kashmir independence movement.”
SFJ’s letter.
It further added, “Declaring that with the abolition of Article 370 and voting in Khalistan Referendum, #Khalistan2Kashmir movement has entered the phase of “Now Or Never”, SFJ General Counsel together with female Muslim activist called upon the Kashmiri Freedom Fights to raise “Kashmir-Khalistan Flags” at India Gate and Red Fort on January 26.”
Pakistan’s ISI’s call of ‘now or never’ for Khalistan
It is noteworthy that as per the recent intelligence inputs, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has activated its terror outfits to derail the election process in Punjab. ISI thinks the current assembly elections are ‘now or never’ for the uprising of Khalistan extremism once again in Punjab. ISI has aimed to increase the Khalistani footprint in Punjab using its terror modules in Punjab and some parts of another poll-bound state Uttar Pradesh.
On January 17, it was reported that SFJ called Supreme Court advocates and threatened them with consequences for filing a case against SFJ. The terrorist organization had stated they would not let PM Modi hoist the Indian Flag on Republic Day. A few days ago, SFJ also took the responsibility of blocking PM Modi’s convoy in Ferozpur Punjab on January 5. Last year, on January 13, it was reported SFJ had announced a cash reward of Rs 1.8 crore for anyone who hoisted the Khalistani flag on Red Fort. On January 26, a group of alleged farmer protesters hoisted two flags with the Sikh Holy Symbol on the Red Fort.
On January 19, Wednesday, the Rawalpindi Court in Pakistan sentenced a young Pakistani woman to death under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code for a ‘blasphemous’ Whatsapp status. Aneeqa Ateeq, 26, had allegedly sent a blasphemous text message and caricatures of Prophet Muhammad via Whatsapp. She was arrested in May 2020 and was left to languish in jail until her death sentence was handed out on Wednesday.
The verdict was handed out in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, with the court ruling that she should be “hanged by her neck till she is dead”. Besides, she was also awarded a 20-year jail sentence along with a total fine of Rs 2,00,000.
The Pakistan court verdict (source: @nailainayat on Twitter)
The Pakistan court verdict (source: @nailainayat on Twitter)
According to reports, she had used the messaging platform to send a ‘blasphemous’ text message and caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.
A summary issued by the court stated that when a friend urged her to change her Whatsapp status, she instead forwarded the material to him.
Pakistan has stringent laws against blasphemy with punishment ranging from jail terms to the death penalty. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, about 80 people have been jailed in Pakistan on blasphemy allegations, with half of them facing the death penalty or life imprisonment.
In January, a sessions court judge in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi district sentenced to death Zafar Bhatti (51), the longest-serving blasphemy convict who has been rotting in Pakistan jail since 2012. Zafar Bhatti who belongs to the Christian community has been sentenced to death under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Unfortunately, such barbarism has become rather common in the Islamic and desperately poor country.
In December last year, a Sri Lankan man Priyantha Kumara was burnt alive by a murderous mob in Pakistan’s Sialkot on allegations of blasphemy. Disturbing visuals of Kumara’s body burning even as the mob gathered around to take selfies and video with the burning man had gone viral on social media.
The mob was heard chanting ‘Gustakh e Nabi ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda, sar tan se juda’ chants. This chant loosely means the only acceptable punishment for ‘insult’ of Prophet Muhammad is beheading.
However, as usual, instead of condemning such barbarity on the pretext of religion, Pakistan PM Imran Khan had gone on to downplay the heinous crime by referring to the attack on Priyantha Kumara as ‘vigilante attack’. Khan had conveniently skipped the part that Kumara was burnt alive on allegations of blasphemy. The Pakistan police had also stood like mute spectators while the mob chanted, called for the beheading of a man and burnt him alive for ‘blasphemy’ because they were ‘helpless’.
Tapir Gao, the MP from Arunachal Pradesh has claimed that China’s People Liberation Army (PLA) abducted a 17-year-old boy from the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
In two back-to-back tweets, Gao said that the boy, Sh Miram Taron, from Zido village of the district was abducted on 18 January from the Lungta Jor area under the Siyungla area (Bishing village) of Upper Siang district.
According to the BJP MP Tapir Gao, the incident came to light when Taron’s friend Johny Yaiying, who was also abducted by PLA, managed to escape and reported the matter to the authorities.
MP said he informed MoS Home N Pramanik about the incident and urged govt agencies to ensure his early release. He also tagged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, union home minister Amit Shah and Indian army for the safe release of the boy.
Both are local hunters who belong to Zido village. According to MP, the incident took place near the place where the Tsangpo river enters India in Arunachal Pradesh. Tsangpo is called Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam.
According to the media report, the deputy commissioner of Upper Siang, Shashvat Saurabh, has confirmed the matter. He said that the youth was among a group of local hunters and he was abducted by PLA from the Indian side. He said that they have informed the Indian army and efforts are underway to rescue the youth.
The news agency ANI has reported Indian Army soldiers having rescued two civilians stuck in thick dense vegetation after they jumped from a moving truck that fell down in a gorge in Tuting, Upper Siang, Arunachal Pradesh on January 18. A group of locals and jawans slithered down the gorge using ropes to rescue them.
Indian Army soldiers rescued two civilians stuck in thick dense vegetation after they jumped from a moving truck that fell down in a gorge in Tuting, Upper Siang, Arunachal Pradesh on Jan 18. A group of locals & jawans slithered down the gorge using ropes to rescue them: Army pic.twitter.com/MFh9PLFCct
The official word is still awaited whether youths rescued by the Indian Army are the same persons who were abducted by the PLA.
In September 2020, the PLA had abducted five Indian youths from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district. They were released after a week following the intervention of the central government.
On Wednesday, the Malvani Police busted a gang that was involved in operating a gay sex racket through the mobile app Grindr. The Police also has arrested three persons for assaulting a 23-year-old person and posting an objectionable video of him on social media.
According to Senior Inspector Hasan Mulani, the three accused Irfan Furkan Khan, Ahmad Farooq Shaikh, and Imran Shafiq Shaikh established contacts with the members of the gay community through the mobile application Grindr and guaranteed them strong young men for sex at affordable rates at their office or home.
Maharashtra | We’ve arrested 3 ppl &busted a gang that was allegedly running a gay sex racket through an app. We’ve received a complaint from a person that 5 people thrashed him, took away cash, cards&posted an objectionable video of him on social media: Hasan Mulani, SI, Malwani pic.twitter.com/fUq7XNFGMa
The matter came to light when the family of the victim lodged an official complaint of theft and physical assault at the MHB Police Station. According to the reports, the victim had expressed his interest on the app to have a gay sex partner at Rs 1000 per hour. After the deal, the victim reached the accused Khan’s office at around 9:30 pm. Khan was reportedly supposed to offer the ‘service’.
However, Khan reached out to another person saying that he was unavailable for the purpose. Three of the accused co-workers also expressed inability to attend to the victim and said that they were busy already. The victim was made to wait at the office near Mohd Rafique Ground, Malvani for a sex partner.
Later, all of them who earlier had declined to be available for the victim arrived at the office and expressed a desire to have sex with him. As the victim refused the service, three accused snatched his mobile, assaulted him physically and took his money. The fourth accused person recorded the entire episode and uploaded it on social media platforms.
The victim, having returned to his home in Borivli, unfolded the incident to his family who then reached out to the Police. SI Malvani raided the location revealed by the victim and nabbed three accused on Monday. While the police are investigating the case, it is reported that more people have become victims of this gang in a similar way.
The arrested accused were produced before the Borivli metropolitan magistrate court on Monday and were remanded to police custody. The Police has charged the victims under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
On January 19, Ashneer Grover, co-founder and Managing Director (MD) of fintech firm BharatPe, went on a “voluntary leave of absence” till the end of March. As per the company’s statement, “Ashneer Grover, our co-founder and MD (managing director), has today informed the Board of his decision to take voluntary of absence from BharatPe till March-end. Ashneer had co-built BharatPe from scratch, and his decision is consistent with his passionate commitment to the future success of the company.”
It is being alleged that his leave of absence is linked to the audio clip of him abusing an employee of Kotak Mahindra Bank that had surfaced on social media platforms a couple of weeks ago, though it has not been officially confirmed.
BharatPe’s Statement. Source: Twitter
Reports suggest his decision to go on voluntary leave was accepted by the board of directors of the company. The board and Ashneer agreed it would be in the best interests of the company, employees and investors. It is notable that since his audio had gone viral, netizens have been discussing the alleged toxic culture at BharatPe and his caustic behaviour on the reality show Shark Tank India.
According to a report in Money Control, the board of directors of BharatPe, investors from Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital, Coatue Management and senior bankers, including ex-SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar and ex-Union Bank Chairman Kewal Handa, had unanimously insisted Grover to go on leave of absence. Money Control quoted an unnamed person familiar with the matter, saying, “The board was not in favour of firing him and wanted the media dust to settle. They wanted to give him time to settle down and get rejuvenated. This is a personal issue and not a professional one to fire him on.”
Ashneer Grover’s statement
In a statement released on Twitter, Ashneer said, “I’ve been relentlessly at work building up BharatPe for almost four years. After much deliberation and introspection, I plan to take a temporary leave of absence from BharatPe till March-end. I will return on or before April 1 2022. I’ll be utilising this period to rejuvenate and refresh myself for our next sprint of value creation.”
He further added he would use the time to think about the next phase of product development. He said, “I expect to spend the time thinking more deeply about our next phase of product development and BharatPe’s path to profitability and IPO. I will also double down on investing in myself personally. I am a builder, and I know my energy is best spent creating value for the millions of Indians we serve each day.”
He said, “We’ve, at BharatPe, delivered 40 months of absolute growth and have an exceptional team of professionals who have built BharatPe, PostPe, 12% Club and PayBack. The team is passionate about solving the financial needs of small merchants and credit-seeking customers, and I am excited about what we plan to build at UNITY SFB with our partner Centrum. I am confident that under the leadership of our existing CEO, Suhail Sameer, the team will continue to deliver.”
The abusive audio call between Ashneer and Kotak employee
On January 5, an anonymous person tweeted a link to a now-deleted audio clip from Soundcloud, an audio hosting platform. In the clip, there was a conversation between a bank employee and two customers over the inability of the bank to finance their application and buy shares of FSN E-commerce Ventures that runs cosmetics platform Nykaa. The bank employee was heard trying to calm down the two customers over the call. The customers could be heard using abusive language. The audio was deleted from SoundCloud but was uploaded by others on different platforms including YouTube.
Source: Twitter
When the audio was made public, it was alleged that the bank employee was from Kotak Mahindra Bank and the customers were Ashneer and his wife, Madhuri. The customers not only used alleged abusive language but also threatened the employee.
The audio went viral on social media platforms, and the next day Grover issued a statement on Twitter alleging it was fake audio. In his statement, he alleged someone tried to extort money, and when he refused to pay, the scamster published fake audio of him. In the now-deleted tweet, he said, “Folks. Chill. It’s a fake audio by some scamster trying to extort funds (US$ 240K in bitcoins). I refused to buckle. I’ve got more character. And Internet has got enough scamsters.”
Source: archive.org
Things turned sideways when on January 9, Kotak Mahindra Bank issued a statement in the matter and said they were pursuing legal action against the couple over the abusive language they used during the conversation with their employee.
Grover, who had worked as the vice president in Kotak Investment Banking for seven years till 2013, had sent a legal notice to the Kotak group on October 30 last year. In his notice, sent via his law firm Regstreet, Grover had alleged that Kotak Wealth Management failed to finance his and Madhuri’s application for Nykaa IPO.
The notice added the Bank’s refused to comply with the assurances on the pretext that the bank did not want to finance the IPO due to ‘erratic FII movements’ and ‘very high lending rates. In the notice, Grover sought compensation from Kotak against its failure to provide IPO finance and allocate shares worth Rs 500 crores before the offer closed on November 1, 2021.
The notice read, “Kotak’s refusal to provide IPO financing to our clients at the eleventh hour has completely crippled our clients’ ability to participate in the Nykaa IPO and deprived them of a business/investment opportunity about which they had informed Kotak more than a month in advance of the launch of the IPO. Had Kotak informed our clients at the very beginning that it would be unable to provide IPO financing for the Nykaa IPO, our clients would have approached other financiers who were ready and willing to provide IPO financing to our clients for this IPO.”
Kotak Mahindra Bank, however, denied any breach of trust in any manner whatsoever in its January 9 statement. The bank said, “This notice was received by us and was replied to appropriately at the time, including placing on record our objections to inappropriate language used by Grover. Appropriate legal action is being pursued.”
. @KotakBankLtd says, ‘This notice was received by us and was replied to appropriately at the time, including placing on record our objections to inappropriate language used by Mr. Grover. Appropriate legal action is being pursued’ pic.twitter.com/Av4W9tkPGs
Suhail Sameer, a consumer goods veteran who joined BharatPe in 2020 and became its CEO, along with co-founder Bhavik Koladiya would continue to manage day-to-day operations at the company. Notably, when Sameer was appointed as CEO, Grover was asked to concentrate on the company’s reputation, oversee fundraising and plan the future of the company. Sameer is also a board member at BharatPe.
Bharuch, on the mouth of river Narmada, is about 200 kms from Ahmedabad. I have very early memories of visiting the place with family. My grandmother was born and brought up in Bharuch and I have grown up hearing stories of how she had seen Gandhiji walk towards the Dandi beach on the historic Salt March in 1930.
Earlier in January, I was in Surat covering the stories of forced religious conversion as well as cases where loopholes of Disturbed Areas Act were exploited. You could read them here, here and here. While in Surat, I borrowed my cousin’s car and drove about 80 kms to Bharuch to learn more about the recently reported mass religious conversion cases.
Amod is a taluka in Bharuch district. It falls on the ‘Dandi heritage route’.
Dandi Path, Amod Taluka
When you take the right turn from the national highway towards Amod Taluka, which has a population of about 1 lakh people (in 2011), you are welcomed with huge masjids which are well constructed with beautiful stonework. Even cities don’t have such huge masjids as this little town with a population of about 32% Muslims had.
Masjids in Amod Taluka
For a small town, the place does have a lot of masjids, as one can see from above map.
Little further, you take a left turn on the main road and drive on a single lane state highway/road which takes you in the interior of the taluka. If you have ever driven on state highways in India you would remember seeing those blue boards which point you to some obscure villages which are further in the interior.
I always wondered how these villages were. As a city girl, I had never been to a ‘village’ and for me they were always a romanticised concept heavily inspired from movies.
In Amod when I took the left turn towards Kankariya village, the roads started getting narrower and there was hardly anyone else on the road. Occasionally one would see a herd of cows and buffaloes walking back home to the villages. I missed the turn towards the village because the signboard was rusted and the text on it had faded. I called up my source for direction to the village.
When I took yet another turn towards the village, the road got even narrower. Babool trees planked both sides of the narrow road and my mobile phone network disappeared.
I was on my own in a strange place where I knew no one.
It was in this village that in the past few years mass religious conversion to Islam had taken place of tribals from the Vasava community.
I spoke to a few people in the village who were lured to convert to Islam on the promise of money, food and job offers. They opened up on how they were lured and what finally got them to speak up and file a police complaint against it. Since there is a threat to their life and there have been attacks on some of them, I am not revealing their real names.
Prakash (name changed) converted to Islam in 2018 and became Salman Patel. In November 2021, he filed a police complaint against 9 people. On November 15, 2021, Amod Police had registered an offence under the Gujarat Freedom for Religion Bill. Following the complaint accused Abdul Aziz Patel (Ajitbhai Chhagan Vasava), Yusuf Jivan Patel (Mahendra Jivan Vasava), Ayub Barkat Patel (Raman Barkat Vasava), Ibrahim Punabhai Patel (Jitubhai Punabhai Vasava) all residents of Kakariya village in Amod taluka were arrested.
On December 16, Bharuch Police arrested six more accused in the case. Yakub Ibrahim Shanker from Patan, Rizwan Mehboob Patel from Palej, Thakorbhai Girdharbhai Vasava, Sajid Mohammed Patel and Yusuf Patel from Amod while Ayub Bashir Patel from Jambusar were arrested.
How poor tribals were lured to convert to Islam
When you enter the Kankariya village, you can see that there is only one house in the village that is a ‘pakka house’, the two-room house of the village sarpanch. “We are very poor people here. We work in the fields here, most of which are owned by Muslim landowners. For us, even Rs 500 is a big deal,” Prakash said.
Thakorbhai Girdharbhai Vasava, one of the accused named in the original FIR, was one of the shop owners. Shabbir and Samaj Bakerywala, also accused named in FIR, were his suppliers. They lured Vasava to convert to Islam first back in 2008-09, Prakash said. Subsequently, he took Ajit Chhagan Vasava (also named as an accused in FIR) and converted him to Islam a few months later. After them, about 5-6 people from the village converted to Islam.
The seventh person to convert to Islam from the village in 2009 was the one who would carry out bhajan and aarti in the village temple. That is when the villagers protested. The villagers asked Thakor and others to either revert to Hinduism or leave the village. All 7 men then left the village. While Thakor left the village for good, the remaining six returned to the village and decided to revert to Hinduism sometime in 2009-10.
Except, Ajit Vasava, who had reverted to Hinduism, has now started to convert people to Islam again. Between 2010 to 2018, 37 tribal families were converted to Islam. This continued till 2021 till the FIR was filed.
“In a village where we live in jhopdis and don’t have permanent structures like homes, Ajit’s house was turned into an ‘Ibadat Ghar’ (prayer house). It was built at the expense of Rs 16 lakh,” Prakash said. He added that the Ibadat Ghar was used for offering namaz and preaching Islam. A maulana, who used to run a madarsa too, would come from Achhod (a nearby village) for preaching,” he said.
Money, insulting Hindu gods and goddesses and brainwashing: How tribals were converted to Islam
“It was a racket they were running. They would call for money, including foreign funds, by claiming that they are giving it to us as they promised us money if we converted to Islam. But if they would ask for Rs 1 lakh per person converted, they would pay us only Rs 500 to Rs 2,000. Crores would come in our name but they never reached us,” Prakash said.
He further said that Ajit would claim entire village has converted to Islam and call in money in their name.
When inquired what were they taught upon conversion to Islam, Prakash said that they were taught how to do the namaz (Islamic prayer). “We were told that there is nothing like Hinduism. Hinduism is not a religion because everyone prays to different gods. ‘How can there be so many gods?’ we were told,” said Prakash.
He further informed that they regularly defamed Hindu gods and goddesses and used derogatory terms for them to ‘prove’ that Hinduism is bad and Islam is the one and true pure religion. “We were told about the story of Parvati and Ganesh. How when once Goddess Parvati was having a bath and Ganesh ji was standing guard. They said that Lord Shiva got angry and beheaded Ganesh ji. ‘What kind of father would not recognise his own son?’ they would ask. They further said that it was cruel to kill an innocent elephant to use the head for Ganesh ji. ‘If Lord Shiva was a real god, he would have brought back his son to life’, they would tell us,” Prakash said.
He further said how derogatory language was also used to defame Lord Ram. “They told us that it is not good to worship Lord Ram. ‘Lord Ram wasn’t god, he was a king, a human and so why should we worship another human? we were told,” he said. They were also told how the prasad offered to gods often have flies on them. “If your (Hindus) god was that powerful, will they let the flies be on food? If that god cannot get rid of flies from prasad, how will he protect you?” they were told.
“We were told that in the Godhra carnage, (PM) Modi and (HM) Shah actually burned alive Muslims inside the train and then claimed that Hindus were killed. They told us that there was no temple at the Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya and that it will always be a mosque,” he said.
Prakash also said that they were told how women must be kept in pardah and not let them go out without burqa. “They also wanted to train us for jihadi attacks. They inspired us for suicide attacks and told us that by dying for the deen (religion/faith) we will get jannat (heaven). We were told that it is not a crime to kill kaafirs (non-Muslims), who do idol worship. These radical things were told after a few years of us being Muslims,” he said.
Funding for forced religious conversions
“Aapka paigam London pahucha diya hai, achha kaam ho raha hai (your message has been conveyed to London. You guys are doing a good job),” One of the prime accused in the conversion racket, Haji Abdullah Fefdawala can be heard saying in a video that had gone viral earlier.
Fefdawala in above video says that he is from London. “I came to know about you guys that you have embraced Islam. I have come to specially meet you. I will pass on your message in London that Allah has accepted you. Now you are our brothers as per Kalma. We will provide all possible help we could,” he said. In the undated video, he could be heard saying that he has passed on the message in London that he is in Kankariya village in Amod where 37 families had turned to Islam. He thanked ‘Ajit bhai’ for the help. He then asks ‘Ajit bhai’ if they need any help with respect to food, houses or any such financial aids.
Currently, an arrest warrant is issued against Haji Fefdawala. Originally from Nabipur near Bharuch, he currently lives in London.
In October last year, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Vadodara city police found that city-based American Federation of Muslims Of Indian Origin (AFMI) had routed hawala funds for activities including construction of 400 flats for ‘displaced’ Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims near Ghaziabad. It was also accused of funding maulvis near the Indo-Nepal border.
Salauddin Sheikh is one of the trustees of AFMI. Sheikh started the trust after getting influenced by Islamic preacher Zakir Naik in Mumbai a few years back. His name had also surfaced in the Uttar Pradesh mass conversion racket where Umar Gautam is one of the prime suspects.
Haji Fefdawala is also accused of giving a provocative speech in Vadodara in 2019 and had invoked the 2002 Gujarat riots which took place in aftermath of the burning down of a train in Godhra where Hindu karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive. He had said that in 2003, he set up the trust in the UK where he contacted about 125 donors and started sending donation money to India. Fefdawala had said that the money was collected to strengthen the community so it can ‘defend itself against attacks from other religions’. For an hour, Fefdawala continued to speak about ‘strengthening community’ in Gujarat.
The said event was also attended by Salahuddin Sheikh and Umar Gautam, who were recently arrested for their involvement in hawala and religious conversion. It is believed Fefdawala has routed ‘donations’ of over Rs 150 crore in the past 18 years to India.
In December 2021, after Vadodara Police sent a report, the Union Home Ministry cancelled the FCRA licence of AFMI trust. Police have also started the process of issuing Red Corner notice for Fefdawala and Mustafa Thanawala, two of the biggest beneficiaries of the Trust.
Hawala and terror funding
According to a report by Indian Express, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Vadodara City, said that the money through the trust was misused for various Islamic activities including illegal religious conversion, construction of mosques and funding individuals for activities in Kashmir and near the India-Nepal border. Fefdawala and Thanawala have reportedly disabled their communication channels and are not responding to the summons. The investigation further revealed that Salauddin Sheikh had arranged for money for two people for carrying out religious conversion to Islam.
In November 2021, a charge sheet filed by the SIT revealed that of the Rs 80 crore received by AFMI which are under probe, Rs 1.65 crore were siphoned off by presenting fake invoices in collusion with one IH Kasuwala Trust. The Police have also accused that the Trust routed foreign funds for fuelling the February 2020 anti-Hindu riots in Delhi as well as the anti-CAA protests which turned violent as well.
Salauddin Sheikh along with Umar Gautam of Indian Dawah Centre are currently booked under various sections of the IPC and are currently in the custody of the Uttar Pradesh ATS.
One of the prominent ways to fund such activities is routing through over-invoicing and GST refunds said a source in the know of the things. “If the government is really serious, they would check these sales of diamonds from Surat. Over invoicing or under-invoicing for diamonds and textiles, two of the main products from Surat, are very prominent ways to route money to India ‘legally’ while hoodwinking the authorities. Most of the money is routed through Dubai from Pakistan,” he said.
Most of the money routed in such a way is used for terror funding, he added. “A person sells diamond worth Rs 10 to person B in say Dubai. He creates an invoice of Rs 1,000 and pays Rs 1,000 in Dubai. Money is then withdrawn immediately in India and taxes are paid on this remittance. This is the new legal way of hawala,” said the source.
He further said that quite often some Trusts bring in money from foreign countries in name of ‘funding madarsas and uplifting of poor people of community’ but then they get diverted to terror funding. Recently, one such Trust based in Surat was in news for their ‘good work’ carried out during the coronavirus pandemic. However, sources in the know of the things say that the Trust has dubious links and charity is a facade.
Other such shady trusts are in Bharuch which run hospitals. Quite prominent hospitals in Bharuch are also centres for religious conversion. “Women are brought from the tribal belt and are trained to be nurses. Eventually, they are promised better life, money and job and converted to Islam,” said a source in Bharuch who helped the tribal families of Kankariya village to file police complaints and revert to Hinduism.
A source in Surat said that some prominent lawyers, businessmen of the Muslim community are also involved in such money laundering but escape the law because of the lackadaisical attitude of the administration.
The face of the Congress party’s ‘ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ campaign, Priyanka Maurya is set to join BJP. Although the party has not yet confirmed her entry, Priyanka Maurya visited the party office on Wednesday 19th January 2022. Priyanka Maurya had earlier alleged Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s associate Sandip Singh of demanding bribes for giving a ticket from the Sarojini Nagar assembly constituency of Uttar Pradesh.
Priyanka Maurya, the Vice President of Mahila Congress in Uttar Pradesh said “A slogan was raised saying ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon. But it remained only a slogan and did not come to reality as a girl was denied a chance to fight the elections. I had worked hard in my assembly constituency. I put in my heart and soul thinking that I would help people. But the Congress party had predecided the candidate and I turned out to be just another pawn for them. Party’s manifesto ‘Shakti Vidhan’ which depicts my picture on the front is where the party used me to attract the votes of women, OBCs.”
She added “They used me to attract voters from castes like Maurya, Kushwaha, Shakya, and Saini. When it came to giving to me what was rightful, they sidelined me. I condemn those who just use faces like me just to attract the votes of the OBCs. Because I had put in my whole energy when I worked in my constituency. And yet I was not given the opportunity, despite the fact that I was named at the top in every place.”
On being asked if she had been in talks with anyone there in the BJP office, she said “Yes, I am in talks with the people here and I am here only to talk further with them.” Priyanka Maurya was preparing for the election from Sarojini Nagar seat of Lucknow. Congress has field Rudra Daman Singh from this seat. On being denied the ticket, Priyanka Maurya had alleged that the Congress party is an anti-women party. She had also called the ‘ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ campaign a sham.
Pakistan has continuously propagated false narratives against India on whichever International forum it gets a chance to speak at. In another such attempt, Pakistan has deployed a law firm to appeal the UK govt to take action against India over alleged war crimes. Stoke White, a Pakistan-backed law firm in the UK, has requested the UK police to arrest Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah over war crimes in Jammu & Kashmir.
The request by this law firm is specially made in concern with Islamic terrorist Zia Mustafa who was killed during a gun battle between security forces and terrorists in Poonch district in October 2021. Zia Mustafa was a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and the mastermind of the Kashmiri Pandit massacre of Nadimarg which took place in 2003. He was arrested in March 2003 and when he was being taken to identify the terrorists’ hideouts in the jungles of Poonch district, an encounter took place between the terrorists and the police forces, in which Zia Mustafa was killed by the terrorists. It is evident that the Pakistan-backed firm has been lobbying for a jailed terrorist who was killed by other Pakistan-sponsored terrorists during an operation
What is there in the complaint
The law firm Stoke White has submitted a 40-page document as evidence to the Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Unit. The law firm has requested the Police to take some action against India’s Chief of Army Staff, Home Minister, and eight other top military officers. It has alleged them of the so-called crimes against activists, journalists, and civilians in the UT.
Stoke White Investigations firm, on its website, has said that “Within the framework of the Global War on Terror and counterterrorism, acts of abuse are directed against those Muslims dissenting against Indian occupation by conducting legitimate protest, seeking legal recourse through the law, and embarking on peaceful civil society advocacy.”
Inside the report, it is mentioned that “There is strong reason to believe that Indian authorities are conducting war crimes and other violence against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.” The report is made by Khalil Dewan. He claims in his report that a Kashmiri was tortured by two Israeli intelligence officials. Testimony of this Kashmiri person is also included in the report which says “The interrogators were not of Indian origin, they were white and had an American sounding accent. They wanted to know about my views on foreign affairs and were disinterested in the Kashmir conflict.”
Legal Forum of Kashmir, a Kashmiri legal activist group, said that it had collaborated in preparing the document submitted to the UK Police. The group tweeted saying, “Our work with Stoke White through people on the ground to help prepare this report and identify the war criminals was fraught with endless difficulties.”
Legal Forum of Kashmir claims that the “report also provides unique evidence of the presence of Israeli intelligence operatives during interrogations and torture of Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir.”
In this report, the law firm has also backed Pakistan’s claim that Pakistan has no control over terrorist groups which operate from Pakistan. In reality, there are so many proofs that have proved this claim wrong time and again. The Stoke White firm has also reported the arrests of the Kashmiri students who were celebrating Pakistan’s victory over India in a cricket match.
About Zia Mustafa
The law firm has said that its report is based on over 2,000 testimonies taken between 2020 and 2021. The request of taking action against the Indian Chief of Army Staff and Home Minister along with top military officers was made to the UK police on behalf of Zia Mustafa. The report has also mentioned the revoking of article 370 and called Zia Mustafa a ‘freedom fighter’.
When Zia Mustafa was arrested in 2003, he was the district commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He had been involved in the killing of 24 Kashmiri Pandits. These Kashmiri Pandits were living with their families in their homes in village Nadimarg in Pulwama district. During his interrogations after arrest, Mustafa had told the police that LeT leadership in Pakistan had asked him to carry out a massacre in Kashmir.
Kashmiri Pandits’ Massacre in Nadimarg in 2003
Most of the Kashmiri Pandit families living in Nadimarg had left the place during the 1990’s Kashmiri Pandit genocide and exodus. A few families had still stayed back till 2003. They were around 50 of them. On March 23rd, terrorists dressed in army fatigues came to the place. They lined up 11 men, 11 women, and 2 children in front of their homes. All of them were shot dead. After this incident, everyone else of the Kashmiri Pandit community left the place never to return. Zia Mustafa had carried out this heinous act. His arrest was declared on 10th April 2003.
DELIBERATE DISTORTION OF FACT: @APNews reporter @sylviahui deliberately puts a misleading headline to confuse readers The fact is that a Pakistan hired law firm called ‘Stoke Firm’ has filed an application with Metropolitan Police based on the complaint filed by parents of.. pic.twitter.com/cP6OdahbaW
— Counter Propaganda Division (@CounterDivision) January 19, 2022
Killing of Zia Mustafa
In October 2021, Jammu and Kashmir police had said in a statement that “Zia Mustafa, a Pakistani LeT terrorist was taken to Bhata Durian for identification of terrorist hideout during the ongoing operation in which 3 army jawans and a JCO were martyred. During the search when the team approached the hideout, terrorists again opened fire on joint team of police & army personnel in which 2 policemen and an army jawan sustained injuries. Mustafa also sustained injuries &he could not be extracted from the site due to heavy fire.”
Zia Mustafa, a Pakistani LeT terrorist was taken to Bhata Durian for identification of terrorist hideout during the ongoing operation in which 3 army jawans and a JCO were martyred: J&K Police
Later police had confirmed his death saying that his body had been retrieved from the encounter site.
The ‘universal jurisdiction’
The London-based and Pakistan-backed law firm has requested the UK police to take action against the Indian Chief of Army Staff, Home Minister, and eight other Army officials by the principle of universal jurisdiction. By this, countries are authorized to prosecute individuals accused of crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.
Hakan Camuz is the director of this firm and he has said “We hope that the report would convince British police to open an investigation and ultimately arrest the officials when they set foot in the U.K. Some of the Indian officials have financial assets and other links to Britain.”
He further added “We are asking the U.K. government to do their duty and investigate and arrest them for what they did base on the evidence we supplied to them. We want them to be held accountable.”
Human rights lawyers across the world are increasingly using the principle of universal jurisdiction. This is done mostly when the cases are not filed in corresponding countries or in the International Criminal Court, located in The Hague. Earlier, a German court had convicted a Syrian police officer for committing a crime against humanity in Damascus. The police officer was allegedly overseeing the abuse of thousands of detainees in the jail of Damascus a decade ago.
