Bollywood entertainer Siddharth has written a ‘letter’ to ace badminton player Saina Nehwal over his crass ‘subtle cock’ joke after she tweeted over PM Modi’s security breach in Punjab last week. In a letter, he said that he would like to apologise for the ‘rude joke’ and claimed he had more grace in him than that tweet.
Siddharth, in his letter, insisted that his ‘subtle cock’ tweet was a joke and his ‘word play and humour’ had none of the malicious intent that so many people from all quarters have attributed to it. He further claimed he is a ‘staunch feminist ally’ and claimed there was no gender implied in his tweet. Siddharth further claimed he had no intention to attack Saina ‘as a woman’. Saina Nehwal had joined the BJP in January 2020.
Siddharth’s tweet on Saina
On January 6, 2022, Siddharth had responded to Saina’s tweet on PM Modi’s security breach and referred to former world no. 1 badminton player as ‘subtle cock’.
However, the ‘feminist ally’ Siddharth does have a history of crass tweets and comments on women he does not politically agree with. Just minutes after his distasteful ‘subtle cock’ tweet on Nehwal, Siddharth had made similar crass comments on Times Now journalist Navika Kumar and called her ‘stoolkit’.
Siddharth’s tweet on Navika
After Siddharth’s crass tweet on Nehwal went viral, he was pulled up by the NCW which wrote to Tamil Nadu DGP seeking action against Actor Siddharth seeking intervention and appropriate action against him.
Saina Nehwal’s achievements vs Siddharth’s achievements
Nehwal has won 24 international titles in her 16-year-long career. Out of 640 games she has played in her career, Saina has won 440 and lost 200. Here are some of her achievements.
In the 2012 London Olympics, Saina won the Bronze medal.
In 2015 and 2017, she won Silver and Bronze respectively in BWF World Championships.
In 2010 and 2018, Saina won Gold in Commonwealth Games.
In 2018, she won the Bronze in Asian Games.
In BWF World Tour 2018, she was runner-up in three events and in 2019, she was the winner.
In BWF Superseries, she has won 10 titles (one in 2009, three in 2010, two in 2012, two in 2014, one in 2015 and one in 2016).
In BWF Grand Prix, she has won ten titles from 2006 to 2017.
Filmmaker Manish Mundra provided financial help to the family of Salil Tripathi, a restaurant manager who also worked as a Zomato delivery executive, following his unfortunate death after an SUV driven by a police constable rammed into him on Saturday night last week. Manish Mundra donated Rs 4 lakhs to the bereaved family after the demise of the sole bread-earner of the Tripathi family.
“Just felt sad about the whole series of events. And wanted to do something for the family. It can happen to anyone of us. As humans, we need to help and contribute as much as we can in such times. Though anything we do will not bring Salil back to his family,” Manish told OpIndia when asked why he felt like donating to the Tripathi family.
Mundra took to Twitter to inform about the donation he made and shared bank details of the decedent’s wife, Suchitra Tripathi.
One of the Twitter users said he has saved money for celebrating Makar Sakranti with his children, but in the light of unfortunate tragedy befallen Salil Tripathi’s family, he has donated the amount to them.
मकरसंक्रांति पर पतंग उड़ाने, अपने बच्चे के लिए इकट्ठा किए थे पर यह उससे भी अधिक महत्वपूर्ण है। छोटा सा योगदान ? pic.twitter.com/qjKd9QiOqw
Salil Tripathi killed after being rammed into by an SUV driven Delhi Police constable
In a way, Salil Tripathi symbolised the worse the nation’s workforce had had to endure to the relentless and repeated bouts of coronavirus outbreaks.
A native of Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, Tripathi was a hotel management graduate and had worked his way up to become a restaurant manager in the national capital. He was living a comfortable life with his parents, wife, and their only son when the first wave of tragedy struck them.
During the first half of 2021, as the first coronavirus-induced lockdown kicked in, Tripathi lost the job that he had worked so hard to gain. Then a year later, a second tragedy struck the family as he lost his father in the second wave of the pandemic. The compulsions of feeding his family turned this hotel management graduate into a Zomato delivery executive.
The family was having financial difficulties. Salil worked as a manager at Ricos in Hudson Lane but after the pandemic struck, he was removed from the job. So to make ends meet, he took up the job of Zomato delivery executive.
As per Salil’s family, he used to earn Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per month when he was employed as a restaurant manager. However, after COVID-19, he had to take up the job of a delivery executive, working 7 to 8 hours every day delivering food and earning Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 a month.
Then on Saturday, January 8, 2022, the last straw came in the form of Salil’s death after he was hit by a drunken police constable. As per police, constable Zile Singh rammed his car into Salil’s bike near Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital before going on to hit a DTC bus. Salil was hurled into the air and crashed into the divider. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
Social media are awash with videos of the incident where locals were seen taking photos of the damaged car. The videos reportedly show the constable sitting inside the police car and surrounded by bystanders, who seize him. As per locals, the constable was speeding and driving rashly.
Singh has been arrested and a case under sections of rash driving and death due to negligence has been registered against him, DCP Pranav Tayal informed. Police have also tested the constable for blood alcohol levels.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Salil Tripathi’s wife expressed the ordeal she is facing after her husband’s death. “What do I do now? I have lost him forever. My son keeps asking questions,” she said, adding that they might soon relocate to Ayodhya.
Revealing how bad an institutional quarantine experience can be, IIT Professor from Mumbai on Monday shared some disturbing visuals of the Jumbo COVID Care Centre in NESCO, Goregaon. IIT faculty member, Amit Sethi who had been forcibly confined by the BMC to opt for an institutional quarantine, said that he had to go through the prisoner like experience.
In a series of tweets, he states that there were many complaints lodged against the BMC for maintaining no hygiene and providing poor facilities to patients who have been isolated at the COVID care centre run by the corporation. “I am a guest/prisoner of the BMC for the next few days. Exposed to a cocktail of pathogens”, he said posting a few images of unclean toilets, stray dogs roaming and excreating openly in the corridors of the Centre.
Dear friends, I am a guest/prisoner of the @mybmc for the next few days. Pl. pardon if I am unreachable. May not be able to do my duties well for @iitbombay either. Exposed to a cocktail of pathogens. Yes, that is human and dog excreta.
Sethi also said that the patients are not able to sleep with heavy bright lights kept on in the ward even at the night. “The area has no way for sun or fresh air to come in and help people recover faster. No sense of day or night. It has dogs running around and pooping in corridors. Its public toilets are filthy with malfunction and squalor”, he added also attaching images of human excreta on the floor.
No sense of day or night. There are no windows or skylight, and the bright artificial lights stay on all the time, without even dimming. It’s like living in a perpetual day but underground. @mybmc@CMOMaharashtra , please help clean this facility and make it livable. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/3SxXPBaiCS
Taking cognizance of the report, the BMC today shifted Sethi to a better facility and thanked him for informing him about the nuisance. The BMC also has ordered the Ward-PS of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to take immediate action in the case.
Thank you for informing us, we have informed @mybmcWardPS for immediate action.
One of the COVID warriors, Dr Muffi who is a bariatric, laparoscopic robotic surgeon at the Digestive Health Institute, Mumbai, also extended help asking the professor if he is comfortable being shifted to another facility where he will be satisfied with the arrangements. “It’s a pandemic and we are trying our best to help out”, he tweeted.
@amit_sethi I dunno the reasons for you to be shifted to a Covid facility but I guess it’s in your best health interests . We currently do have room @nsci just in case you are ok to being shifted to another facility It’s a pandemic and we are trying our best to help out
Amit Sethi had been to the United States to see an ailing relative of him on December 27. On his return, on developing a mild fever from COVID, he volunteered to get tested on January 7. Further, he was forcibly confined by the BMC after his mild COVID symptoms subsided and was given no option to stay in home quarantine or pay for a better facility. He was also denied from availing of on-campus isolation in a guest room offered by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. “I was fine with home quarantine. I was taken out of home quarantine”, he noted.
I was fine with home quarantine. I was taken out of home quarantine.
BMC didn’t take my samples for Omicron, reveals Professor
The IIT Professor further revealed that his quarantine period was supposed to end by January 13 but the BMC officials have asked him to stay quarantined for more than seven days. “My home quarantine was supposed to end on Jan 13 as per protocol, but here I have been told that I have to stay for a minimum of seven days, and possibly longer”, he said.
Sethi also has accused the BMC of taking the Omicron variant lightly. “The dates and mild symptoms strongly imply a locally gained Omicron infection. I would have understood if they wanted to collect my sample for sequencing of new variants potentially coming from abroad, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. They aren’t taking my sample for sequencing at all,” he said.
The sufferer noted that the BMC has made no different arrangements for patients with mild and severe COVID symptoms. “All of them are put under the same roof that seems to be like a Faraday cage of a metal warehouse structure”, he added. Though he has been shifted to a better facility, he has called for attention to the COVID care Centre anyhow, on behalf of thousands of patients in there. “Not all can be vocal. This place needs to be cleaned for the most voiceless people it houses”, he said.
The Supreme Court has come hard on the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the suspension of 12 BJP MLAs for one year in July last year, calling the move “worse than expulsion”. The apex court bench of Justices Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Ravikumar on Tuesday called the suspension of the MLAs unconstitutional, according to Article 190(4) of the Constitution.
“If for a period of 60 days a member of a House of the Legislature of a State is without permission of the House absent from all meetings thereof, the House may declare his seat vacant,” noted the SC bench adding that had the Speaker then resolved the dispute, this crisis could have been avoided.
‘Today it is 12, tomorrow it can be 120’, SC slams Maharashtra government for the arbitrary decision
The SC bench further reminded the state that 12 constituencies could not be kept unrepresented for such a long time and that the constituents had a right to representation. Judges Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Ravikumar rebuked the Maharashtra state government by adding that allowing such a precedent would put democracy in jeopardy.
“Today it is 12, tomorrow it can be 120,” Justice Khanwilkar exclaimed.
Saying so, the bench refused to accept Senior Advocate C Aryama Sundaram’s argument for the State of Maharashtra and stated that it cannot examine the quantum of punishment imposed by a legislative assembly.
Sundaram requested time to receive directions from the State after the bench voiced these views. As a result, the hearing has been postponed until next Tuesday.
While Senior Advocate C Aryama Sundaram represented the state government, senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, Mukul Rohatgi, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, and Siddharth Bhatnagar had led the arguments for the suspended BJP MLAs.
Maha Vikas Aghadi govt suspends 12 BJP MLAs from Maharashtra Assembly for one year
It may be recalled that on July 5, 2021, just as the two-day Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Assembly commenced, 12 BJP MLAs had been suspended for one year for allegedly heckling and using unparliamentary language against speaker in-chair Bhaskar Jadhav.
According to reports, BJP MLAs Parag Alvani, Ram Satpute, Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Shirish Pimple, Jayakumar Rawal, Yogesh Sagar, Narayan Kuche and Kirti Kumar Bagdia had been suspended from the House.
Reacting to the suspension, Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in an address to the media claimed that they had suspected his move by the MVA to reduce the numbers in the House. Denying all the accusations, “The government has created a story out of the incident and suspended 12 of our MLAs. Our MLAs didn’t abuse the Speaker. There were some heated arguments but our senior member Ashish Shelar on behalf of all MLAs apologised to the Speaker in-Chair Bhaskar Jadhav. Later, the government came up with this plan to suspend our MLAs. We will continue our fight,” informed Fadnavis to the media.
As per reports, the opposition created an uproar at the Maharashtra assembly over the OBC issue when the Speaker in-chair Bhaskar Jadhav didn’t give them enough time to speak on the issue.
The BJP sought to bring an adjournment motion to conduct a detailed discussion over the issue of pending public service commission exams and appointments of eligible candidates, but the request was turned down by the Council chairman.
Swami Prasad Maurya, cabinet minister and backward caste leader in the Yogi Adityanath government, resigned from the ministry. As per reports, he has already joined the Samajwadi Party but it is not clear whether he had resigned from the BJP or not.
He had deserted the BSP and joined the BJP before the 2017 legislative elections. He has been a 5-time MLA. At present, he is the MLA from the Padrauna seat. A 4-time MLA from BSP, he was considered to be very close to Mayawati till he joined BJP.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “Hearty welcome and greetings to the popular leader Swami Prasad Maurya ji and all the other leaders, workers, and supporters who came with him to SP! There will be a social justice revolution — there will be a transformation in twenty-two.” Akhilesh wrote on Twitter alongside a photo of Swami Prasad Maurya.
सामाजिक न्याय और समता-समानता की लड़ाई लड़ने वाले लोकप्रिय नेता श्री स्वामी प्रसाद मौर्या जी एवं उनके साथ आने वाले अन्य सभी नेताओं, कार्यकर्ताओं और समर्थकों का सपा में ससम्मान हार्दिक स्वागत एवं अभिनंदन!
In his letter of resignation, Maurya accused the Yogi Adityanath government of neglecting Dalits, farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and jobless youngsters.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had urged Swami Prasad Maurya to have a dialogue before taking hasty decisions.
आदरणीय स्वामी प्रसाद मौर्य जी ने किन कारणों से इस्तीफा दिया है मैं नहीं जानता हूँ उनसे अपील है कि बैठकर बात करें जल्दबाजी में लिये हुये फैसले अक्सर गलत साबित होते हैं
As per some reports, he was dissatisfied because his son, Utkrusht Maurya, had not been “suitably accommodated” in the Yogi Adityanath government. Reports stated that Maurya wanted an MLA ticket for his son from Raebareli’s Unchahar, but BJP was reluctant. Sanghmitra Maurya, his daughter, is a BJP MP from Badaun. According to sources close to Swami Prasad Maurya, Sanghmitra Maurya will remain in the BJP “for the time being.”
According to reports, four MLAs, including AYUSH Minister Dharam Singh Saini, may also follow suit after Swami Prasad Maurya’s exit. Dara Singh Chauhan, a minister, may also depart the BJP. Not only that, but Kanpur BJP MLA Dehat Bhagwati Prasad Sagar was also sighted visiting Swami Prasad Maurya’s house. Roshan Lal Verma, a BJP MLA from Tilhar, is also expected to join the SP.
Experts consider such trends before of assembly elections to be significant. Elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to take place in seven phases beginning February 7, with the counting of ballots taking place on March 10.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to exit the partnership with Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) once and for all and instead collaborate with one of India’s largest business conglomerates, the Tata Group. The decision was taken during a meeting held by the event’s governing council on Tuesday, January 11. The league will now be called Tata IPL.
TATA to replace VIVO as IPL title sponsor next year: IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel to ANI pic.twitter.com/n0NVLTqjjG
Speaking about the decision of replacing the Chinese mobile company Vivo with Tatas as the title sponsor for the upcoming edition of the tournament, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel told Cricbuzz: “Vivo has exited and the Tatas will be title sponsors.”
“This is indeed a momentous occasion for the BCCI IPL as the Tata Group is the epitome of global Indian enterprise with an over 100-year-old legacy and operations in more than 100 countries across six continents. The BCCI like the TATA Group is keen to promote the spirit of cricket across international borders, and the growing popularity of the IPL as a global sporting franchise bears testimony to the BCCI’s efforts. We are truly happy that India’s largest and most trusted business groups have believed in the IPL growth story and together with the Tata Group, we will look to take Indian cricket and the IPL forward to greater heights,” Jay Shah, honorary secretary, BCCI, was quoted by TOI as saying.
According to reports, though the money associated with the deal is yet to be known, a Tata spokesperson also confirmed the development with a ‘Yes”. He did not divulge any further details regarding the deal.
Reportedly, the Chinese mobile brand, Vivo, had bagged the title sponsorship of the event in 2018 for ₹2,199 crores for a period of five years, which ended in the year 2022. They had agreed to pay the league around Rs 440 crore per season in the five-year arrangement. Vivo had earlier replaced the American carbonated behemoth PepsiCo to enter the title sponsorship space, after the latter backed out of a Rs 396-crore agreement in 2016. The IPL had then collected a 450 per cent premium from the entire arrangement.
BCCI and VIVO India cancel IPL partnership amidst violent standoff at Ladakh
Following the violent standoff at Ladakh which started in May 2019, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and VIVO Mobile India Pvt Ltd had suspended their partnership for the 2020 IPL tournament. The decision came days after Indians across called for a boycott of Chinese brands and products after the aggression at Galwan Valley in Ladakh from the Chinese Army and the violent faceoff wherein Indian soldiers were martyred.
Despite rumours that they were looking to sell the rights to a potential bidder, Vivo had returned as IPL title sponsor in 2021.
On Monday, the Tamil Nadu Government demolished Sri Narasimha Anjaneyar Swamy temple in Chennai citing the reason for illegal temple construction by encroaching the Adyar riverbed in Varadharajapuram. The revenue officials along with the police force headed by the Tambaram Assistant Commissioner visited the spot and started to demolish the temple.
This is after the authorities had sent three encroachment notices to the Temple trust. The enraged Hindu devotees had also staged protests and objected to the demolition of the temple. According to the reports, around 20 people who protested and argued with the police yesterday were arrested and are detained at a nearby community hall.
It is worth noting that the temple of Sri Rama, the Sri Narasimha Anjaneyar Swamy had been built in the area located near Mudichur for the past 25 years and was constructed on 55 cents of land. A few years ago, the revenue officials found that the temple was constructed on the encroached waterbody and issued notices to the temple representatives. The idols of the Narasimha Anjaneyar temple in Tambaram were handed over to the trustees during the demolition.
The matter cropped up when videos of the destruction went viral over the internet distressing the Hindu community. Many of the enraged Hindu netizens have raised questions against the ruling DMK government. “How did an ancient temple encroach?”, asked one of the users holding responsible the MK Stalin govt for hurting the sentiments of Hindu people.
How did an ancient temple encroach?
Stalin shows his h@tred from H!nduism like his father Dakshinamoorthy who mocked Prabhu Sri Ram & wanted to know from which college he got his engineering degree ??
Another concerned user meanwhile happened to share the disturbing video and asked that how long were Hindus supposed to witness such more acts in Tamil Nadu. One of them even shared the temple demolition statistics in Tamil Nadu and said that there was no hope left for Hindus in the state under the DMK regime.
Info for the folks from other states: More than 160 temples were demolished by DMK in past seven months. All Tamilnadu media collided with DMK, no coverage on these news. No hope for Hindus in TN. Even if genocide happens under DMK, media will hide it.
‘Temples built on the banks cannot be claimed as encroachment’- Kamatchipuram Mutt
It is reported that though the temple has been there for 25 years, it had been pulled down in 2015 and was rebuilt again at the same place. Kancheepuram Collector M Arathi said that encroachments on water bodies in Varadhrajapuram, Iyyapanthangal, Mangadu, Kolapakkam and Gerugambakkam had been identified by a joint committee comprising officials from the Public Works Department and the Revenue Department. “We are first removing commercial structures and places of worship. Time is being provided to those who have constructed houses. Some kind of rehabilitation is being planned for those who are poor,” Arathi added.
Further, reports suggest that the temple authorities had sought time till Hanuman Jayanthi ie. April 16, 2022, which was granted. The devotees yesterday also argued and protested as the government authorities demolished the temple before the time limit they had given to the devotees to shift the idols.
Earlier in the month of July 2021, the Tamil Nadu government had demolished a 125-year-old temple on the banks of Muthanankulam, a pond, in the name of removing encroachments under the Smart City project. The Kamatchipuram Mutt had then pointed out that the majority of the Hindu temples were built either on the banks of the river or lakes so that the devotees can take baths or wash their legs and hands before entering the temples, which cannot be claimed as encroachment.
They had also alleged that there are hundreds of places of worship of other religions in many areas where the state claims to encroach, but only Hindu temples were being targeted. The administration last year, during the same period, had demolished Amman Kovil, Bannari Amman Kovil, Angala Parameswari, Karupparayan Kovil, Muneeswaran Kovil and 2 more temples citing that the land had been taken up for rejuvenation and development under the Smart Cities Mission.
Rising cases of temple demolition in Tamil Nadu and the anti-Hindu bigotry of DMK
There has been a rising number of cases of temple demolition after MK Stalin took over as the state CM in Tamil Nadu. Besides temple demolitions, Hindu beliefs and customs have also come under attack of late.
As reported extensively by Opindia, MK Stalin had become the centre of controversy when Kalaiarasi Natarajan, a preacher had declared that there is no religion such as Hinduism and claimed that ‘we are all Shaivites’. In a Christmas event organised by the DMK, she had further said that one should never use the word ‘Hindu’. “There is no such thing as ‘Hindu’ religion. I feel disgusted to listen to Hindu religious stories”, she had said in the presence of DMK president MK Stalin. Recently, the DMK govt also happened to ban the events ahead of the Hindu festival of Pongal citing the surge in COVID cases.
The DMK has been accused by many of promoting anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin bigotry. The anti-Hindu stance became amply clear from the statements made by late DMK President M Karunanidhi. He had said that Lord Rama was a drunkard. The late president had also remarked that the term ‘Hindu’ meant ‘thief’. He stated, “Who is a Hindu? You must ask Periyar EVR. A good man would say the word Hindu means a thief.”
It is pertinent to note that Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin is all set to chair the State-level advisory committee for all major Hindu temples under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department. The appointment of MK Stalin is in line with section 7 of the HR&CE Act. With this the fate of thousands of temples and hundreds of religious trusts, mutts are in the hands of someone who doesn’t believe in God.
An article in the Indian Express from 8th January, 2022 caught my attention. It was titled “Your silence emboldens hate voices: Faculty, students of IIMs to PM”.
16 Professors and 167 students of IIM Ahmedabad and Bangalore had signed a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office. It urged PM Modi to steer the country away from “forces that seek to divide us”, and rued, “Your silence, Honourable Prime Minister, emboldens the hate-filled voices and threatens the unity and integrity of our country.”
Almost two years ago, I had also written a letter to the Prime Minister and had attached a draft for a petition to the United Nations with a similar request. I had focused on the contempt and resultant hatred which is inbuilt in the doctrines of Christianity and Islam for Hindus, which I know firsthand since I grew up in one of these religions. Hindus are seen as unbelievers, even though most Hindus are great believers in the Divine, because for those religions, ‘unbelievers’ means those who don’t believe in Christianity or Islam respectively.
Both these religions are divisive because they divide humanity into those who are right and saved by the Almighty, and those who are wrong and will be punished by the Almighty. And they claim that Hindus belong to the second category. For them, Hindus are despicable, sinful idol-worshippers who will suffer for all eternity in hell.
I had argued in my draft that teaching children these claims creates hatred and can lead to hate crimes if not genocide. This is not far-fetched. Genocide was committed in India by Muslim and Christian invaders over the last 1000 years and millions of Hindus were brutally killed for being Hindus.
My latter, of course, would not be talked about because it was not demonising Hindus.
‘The unrelenting, unjust vilification of Hindus and Hindutva (Hindu-ness) by the leftist media in support of these two religions puts Hindus in a dangerous position. Hate speech against a group precedes hate crimes and genocide. It needs to be stopped urgently.’
So when I saw this article in the Indian Express, I was happy that professors and students of the prestigious IIMs may finally have taken up the cause of the unacceptable discrimination of and hatred for Hindus, since there is no doubt that the two exclusive religions, each one of which claims that it alone is true, are divisive forces.
However, while reading the article, I soon realized that those professors and students seem to live in another world. A world that is upside down. Where the victims are the perpetrators and the perpetrators are the victims.
In short, the professors, who drafted the letter believe that Hindus are hate-filled and attack Muslims and Christians. They point to speeches by Sadhus, certain murders and lynching of Muslims by Hindus. Yes, these happened. For example, when Muslims steal cows and villagers go after them. The speech by Sadhus at the Dharma Sabha in Haridwar can be seen as a concerned reaction to equally or more terrible speeches which were made by Muslims and Christians in plenty and which show their intent to wipe out Hindus, but which strangely are not flagged by these professors and students as hateful.
Don’t those signatories of the letter remember for example the Muslim women at the CAA protest in Delhi saying on video that when they are in the majority, they will kill Hindus one by one? Or Waris Pathan, the spokesman for Owaisi, openly challenging Hindus that if the 15 crore Muslims take to the streets, it would be enough to bring the 100 crores of the country down to their knees? Don’t they know that it’s the duty of good Muslims to do Jihad and leave only Muslims on earth and that it’s the duty of good Christians to wipe out belief in “false gods”?
There are umpteen hate-filled speeches against Hindus on the net, not only by Muslims but also by Christians. For example, a priest of the Pentecostal Church in TN asked all members to convert Hindus, so that in 3 years the whole of TN is converted. In the Blessings Magazine of the Baptist Church, the youth is exhorted “India must be converted in this generation.”
Have the signatories forgotten the lynching of the sadhus and their driver in Palghar? Or the many pujaris murdered and their temples desecrated? The many rapes and murders of Hindu girls? Or Ramalingam, a youth from Tamil Nadu, who objected to conversion and many like him for example from RSS?
Do those signatories not know about the history of the last 1000 years? I can’t even attempt to detail the cruelties by Muslims and Christians, as it would need the length of a book. Even in the last 100 years the list is terrible – the Hindu genocide by Moplahs, the ‘Direct Action Day, the partition, the brutalities against Hindus in 1971 in Bangladesh, or in 1990 in Kashmir.
Now, dear students and professors of IIMs, please compare with what Hindus did to Muslims and Christians and have some integrity and honesty. Think of your ancestors who greatly suffered for holding on to their Dharma, and who may have had to open their mouth and humbly receive the spittle of Muslims who rode on horses (I read this and other terrible incidents in ‘Legacy of Jihad’, by Andrew Bostom). Thanks to your ancestors Hindu civilisation still survived, though it has shrunk a lot. In fact, most Muslims in the world had Hindu ancestors, not only in Pakistan and Bangladesh but also in Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan…
It’s really sad that you support those who attack Hindu Dharma and thereby risk making Indian Hindus and possibly yourself in a few decades suffer in similar depraved circumstances, as the unfortunate Hindus in Pakistan or Bangladesh do.
Your letter says “Our Constitution gives us the right to practice our religion with dignity – without fear, without shame. There is a sense of fear in our country now – places of worship, including churches in recent days, are being vandalised, and there have been calls to take arms against our Muslim brothers and sisters. All of this is carried out with impunity and without any fear of the due process.”
Please introspect. You surely consider yourself highly educated, but there are gaps in your education. Read about the history and about the fundamentals of Hindu Dharma and the fundamentals of those religions which claim that they alone are true and all must follow them. And also read and listen to media with the required discernment.
Then you may come to a more realistic understanding.
Pakistan is facing an economic crisis. The current value of the Pakistani Rupee against the US Dollar is over PKR 175. Everything in the country is expensive, and people are struggling to meet their daily needs. Amidst all the economic mess, Saudi Arabia, the top leader of the Islamic world, is getting hate from the Patriotic Pakistanis. Though Saudi Arabia has extended the repayment date for the previous Loan and provided an additional Loan to Pakistan, it is essential to understand why the patriots of a country that is in economic crisis are hating the nation that is providing the financial support.
Since Imran Khan came to power, the already under-crisis Pakistan went further into deeper financial troubles. The breakpoint came in Pakistan when India announced the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The announcement irked the neighbouring country to the extent that irrespective of the fact that a lot of business happened between the two countries, Pakistan put a stop to the trade. It further deepened the financial crisis.
The 2018 loan from Saudi Arabia and the drama that followed
In 2018, Pakistan secured a $6.2 billion loan from Saudi Arabia. The package was announced following Imran Khan’s visit to Riyadh. Pakistan received $3 Billion to support its balance of payments crisis, and a further $3 Billion were extended in the form of oil imports. Everything was going fairly smooth between the two nations, but after the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K, Pakistan started to build pressure on Saudi Arabia to speak up against India’s actions.
In 2020, while continuing its pressure on Riyadh, Pakistan moved a step further and threatened to form another Islamic bloc with Iraq, Turkey and Malaysia. There was a limit to Riyadh’s patience, and it was crossed with the decision of forming another Islamic bloc. Saudi Arabia immediately asked Pakistan to repay part of the Loan that rounded up to $1 Billion. Saudi has a history of using its Loan to Pakistan to arm-twist its way into the decision-making process of the neighbouring country.
Pakistan tried its level best to convince Saudi to repeal its demand for a loan payback, but it did not work. Then came the all-weather friend of Pakistan, China, to the rescue. Pakistan got a loan of $1 Billion from China that was used to repay Saudi Arabia. Here what is notable is that China’s biggest investment (worth $60 Billion) in Pakistan, i.e. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is getting delayed for numerous reasons, including several disputes and security concerns. It is also noteworthy that loans from China come with a huge price. Several countries, including Sri Lanka, have lost properties on their own land to China due to the inability to repay the loan. But it is a story for another day.
The $10 billion investment that never happened
In 2019, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed interest in setting up a Saudi Aramco refinery in the Pakistani port of Gwadar. The project was worth $10 Billion, and it came at the point when cash-strapped Pakistan was running from pillar to post for foreign investment. At the same time, the Crown Prince had announced investments worth $100 Billion in India.
While the investments in India were on track, in 2020, the Pakistan government was informed that Saudi Arabia was not going to invest in Pakistan, owning to global economic slowdown due to Pandemic and poor commercial potential of the project.
Saudi Arabia’s decision was linked to Pakistan’s support to Turkey
It is essential to mention here that Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been at loggerheads over the Muslim’s world’s leadership for a long. The relationship between the two nations went sour after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia sees Turkey as a threat to its leadership.
Pakistan’s decision to side with Turkey to form a new Muslim bloc angered Saudi Arabia. Turkey does not lead any Muslim bloc like Saudi Arabia, but it has projected itself as a leader of the Muslim world by raising concerns over “problems Muslims and Muslim countries are facing”.
Imran Khan’s Turkey love
The newfound love for Turkey reached such a level that Pakistanis went crazy over the Turkish drama Ertugrul and even Imran Khan started hailing it. The Pakistani PM asked his fellow countrymen to watch Ertugrul multiple times.
Prime Minister Imran Khan meets with the founder of Turkish drama serial Ertugrul, led by Kamal Tekdin pic.twitter.com/rfCa38gLsr
The patriotic Pakistanis’ anger towards Saudi Arabia and ‘world class’ solutions: Nukes and opium
Pakistanis often direct hate towards Saudi Arabia over different issues on social media networks. One Twitter user who goes by the handle CestMoiz scrolled through a Pakistani forum and found some worth-reading gems. The cash-strapped country has some ‘smoked-up’ patriots who not only have ‘best-selling’ ideas to end the economic crisis in Pakistan but are also willing to nuke Saudi Arabia for asking back the money they gave to Pakistan as Loan.
One of the posts that CestMoiz shared has a ‘solution’ provided by a Pakistani patriot in which he urged the government to issue more licenses to grow opium. He called it a good idea because the market value of opium is much higher than regular crops. He said as Islam allows consumption of opium used for medical purposes, allowing more farmers to grow opium and produce medical-grade products would help Pakistan in ending the economic crisis.
So I went there again today! And guess what I found – people smoking some of the best stuff that there is to be found! And not just smoke, but grow it as well so that Bhikharistan can stop begging for alms ASAP! Yup, this member wants to grow opium for the good of the world! pic.twitter.com/Vs0LwIv5oD
In another post, a Pakistani called Saudi Arabia ostriches just because they asked for their own money parked in Pakistani banks. The user said Saudis would kiss Pakistani’s feet once they were out of the economic crisis. He also suggested Pakistan should come out of the crisis without Saudi Arabia’s help.
Let me just spread the joy of seeing the ‘non drug-induced’ outrage by your fellow countrymen here, for the sake of happiness all across ? It began with this! Yup, Saudis were called ostriches by an ‘Elite Member’ for demanding their own money back! HOW DARE THEY, HAINJI? ? pic.twitter.com/DG8hjrcwoi
Another user who goes by the handle Smoke said that as Pakistan has nukes, it has the power to threaten Saudi Arabia. He said, “Scare them, tell them you have three days to approve a new oil deal, condemn and take action against India for Kashmir. If you do not comply, we will nuke you off the face of this planet. Good luck selling your oil then.”
Of course, this was one of the first posts on that particular thread, insisting upon a nuke option! For a while I thought this ‘Full Member’ was being sarcastic, instead of being .. well .. a full ‘member’. But NO!! And u ask what I smoke! Love your confidence. NEVER lose it!! ? pic.twitter.com/ACtLoW2dcM
One user on the forum claimed that Pakistan threw the “money on Saudi Arabia’s face” because it was using the Loan to meddle with Pakistan’s foreign policy.
Lo Ji, it wasn’t Saudis taking back their money. Instead it was Pakistan throwing it back in their face! The angst of a wronged ‘lover’ shows quite brilliantly in here, btw. And then you ask ME what I smoke! ? Like I said before, NEVER lose this confidence. It makes you special! pic.twitter.com/rybSp90kyc
Earlier, Pakistanis had declared hatred for UAE too
The Pakistani love for Turkey was so deep that when Turkey and UAE had a diplomatic fallout over the Libyan crisis in 2020, patriotic Pakistanis had started a trend to ‘boycott UAE’. They claimed that UAE is India’s friend and because UAE is also doing things that Turkey doesn’t like, UAE deserves to be boycotted by Pakistanis in a show of true friendship.
Saudi Arabia has sanctioned a new loan to Pakistan on November 29 last year, under which Riyadh would provide $4.2 Billion to Pakistan for one year. $3 Billion would be provided in the form of safe deposits, while $1.2 billion would be provided in the form of oil supplies.
The regulations, however, are strict this time. Saudi Arabia has the right to ask Pakistan to repay the Loan on a 72-hour notice without giving any reason for the recall. There is no rollover option, and Pakistan has to repay the loan after one year.
Riyadh now has a lot of advantages over Pakistan. It can use the loan conditions to arm-twist Pakistan if it tries to do something that is against the interest of Saudi Arabia. Also, it will put a stop to increasing romance between Turkey and Pakistan.
Actor Siddharth was at the centre of a raging furore yesterday for his crass sexual remarks for ace badminton player Saina Nehwal over her tweet expressing concern over the lax security measures undertaken by the Punjab government during his travel to the state last week.
In her tweet, Saina had condemned the security lapse in Punjab during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ferozepur.
But this did not sit well with Siddharth, who otherwise fashions himself as a champion of women empowerment but has no qualms in stooping down to the level of reprehensible trolls that use sexual innuendos against women whose opinions are at variance with them.
He responded to Saina’s tweet with a crass, sexually derogatory comment. “Subtle cock champion of the world… Thank God we have protectors of India. Shame on you #Rihanna,” Siddharth tweeted.
Source: Twitter
Cock’ is a slang used for the male sexual organ. By twisting the badminton term ‘shuttlecock’, Siddharth was trying to insult Saina in a crass, sexual manner.
Siddharth’s condemnable tweet triggered a massive controversy on social media, with netizens slamming the actor for resorting to sexual jibes in order to ridicule a woman whose political ideology did not jibe with his own. As outrage over his comment swelled and NCW took cognisance of his tweets, Siddharth brazened out his remarks, stating that his “cock” reference was not meant to disrespect anyone and there was no insinuation in it.
In an ideal world, the issue of using derogatory innuendos against women would have led to unequivocal condemnation cutting across political parties and ideological persuasions. But not in India, where the moral decay among the Left is so pervasive and ingrained that saving one’s own takes precedence over their commitment to the cause of women empowerment.
None of the virtue-signalling proponents of feminists from the Left cared to issue an open condemnation against Siddharth, because for them he continues to remain a “useful idiot” that they can use later when the controversy subsides, seemingly to reinforce their longstanding propaganda against Hindus, and by extension against the Modi government.
Even before the appalling treachery of the Left in Siddharth’s case came to the fore, another incident laid bare the unabashed duplicity of the liberal ecosystem. In a recent interview, Kanhaiya Kumar, a former CPI leader turned Congress member, made innuendos against Sonia Gandhi saying his ‘choice is young’ when asked about meeting the Congress president.
When asked about his “Khwaahish” (Desire) to meet Sonia Gandhi, Kanhaiya responded, “Iss tarah ke sawal aap humari umar dekh ke puchiye .Humari khwaahish bhi utni hi jawan hai jitni ek ordinary naujawan ki iss desh mein hai (You must ask such questions considering my age. My desire is as young as that of an ordinary youth in this country),” he said.
But since Kanhaiya belongs to the Congress fold now, he was immune to attacks and denunciations from the liberals, who are otherwise always eager to launch vicious campaigns against those who are found making innuendos against Sonia Gandhi. However, in this case, they uncharacteristically remained silent as ’eminent’ left-liberals turned a blind eye to Kanhaiya’s presumptuous remarks.
The Left refuses to condemn Siddharth and Kanhaiya Kumar for their innuendos against women
This is the classic liberal hypocrisy. They have a habit of holding others to higher standards of ideals and principles but when one of them is caught erring on those exalted standards, they bury their heads in the sand thinking that the issue will die its own death or would be supplanted by another controversy, saving them the trouble of calling out one of their own ideological brethren.
It also betrays that for the left “feminism” and “women empowerment” are nothing more than political tools that can be weaponised when deemed useful and necessary depending on its use. For instance, when a female liberal ideologue is called out for sharing fake news on social media, the Left cabal instantly portrays it as an “online misogynist attack” instead of acknowledging the fact that misleading information was being peddled by that person. But when one of the left-liberal members are caught in the brazen act of insulting a woman with vile remarks, the entire ecosystem becomes silent as the dead.
All the bombast of having unwavering adherence to “liberal values” is reserved only for the members belonging to the non-left. Being a part of the Left ecosystem grants offenders sufficient latitude to continue with their deplorable behaviour, lest condemning them would undermine their cause and weaken their fraternal unity. This is why people like Siddharth, Kanhaiya Kumar and many others get away with patently unacceptable conduct as liberals look the other way.
Compared to their silence on Siddharth’s crass sexual comments or Kanhaiya Kumar’s innuendos, the left ecosystem shows unmatched alacrity to attack and condemn people from the non-left, even when offences against them are unproven and phoney. This is the shameless duplicity that liberals have come to be associated with, and also one of the reasons for their undoing.
How handwringing over alleged hate speech but stoic silence over hate crime exposes hypocrisy of liberals
For instance, the liberals continue hyperventilating over the issue of alleged hate speech made at ‘Dharma Sansad’ in Haridwar last month. They have accused Yati and others who attended the Haridwar Conclave of making hate speech designed to whip up genocide against Muslims. Calls for police action have also been made against the attendees. An FIR was also filed in connection with the case and now they are making noises for the court to hear on the matter.
However, the same kind of spirited initiative was markedly missing when it to came to the death threats levelled against Yati Narsighanand Saraswati for his comments on Prophet Muhammad. Calls for ‘sar tan se juda’ or his ‘decapitation’ was raised, with even elected MLAs such as AAP leader Amanatullah Khan making clarion calls for his beheading. But none of the liberals who are making a beeline to demand action against attendees of ‘Dharma Sansad’ cared to unequivocally denounce the death threats braved by the Dasna Devi Temple head priest.
Just like the liberals have been muted against the death threats faced by Yati Narsighanand Saraswati, they were also silent about the calls for the decapitation of Hindu Samaj leader Kamlesh Tiwari. No credible effort was taken by the Left intelligentsia to address the hate that was marshalled towards Tiwari, who years later was murdered in cold blood by followers of the murderous Islamist ideology that justified and called for his beheading.
Another instance where the hypocrisy of liberals has been stark is the Punjab lynchings related to sacrilege cases. The country was recently roiled with two horrifying cases of mob lynching that took place in Punjab over allegations of sacrilege. Angry mobs took law into their own hands and lynched two individuals to death on the suspicion of sacrilege, underscoring the abject state of law and order situation in Punjab.
Unabashed hypocrisy, a distinct feature of the liberal ecosystem
These incidents should have shaken the liberal conscience to the core, prompting an unreserved condemnation of the ghastly murders committed in the name of sacrilege. However, as warped as it has become, the moral compass of the liberals did not push them towards condemning the sacrilege incident, instead, they remained tight-lipped about the deaths while openly denouncing incidents of sacrilege.
As liberals lose their sleep over alleged hate speech but remain unbothered by hate crimes committed by their supporters, similarly, they make a great fuss over supporting feminism but refrain from holding to account their own members who are accused of denigrating women. This shameless hypocrisy has become a hallmark of the left ecosystem, where empty rhetorics prevails over meaningful actions.
