In a sensational twist in the Malegaon blast case, a witness has told the Special NIA court that he was coerced to falsely implicate Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was then a BJP MP, as an accused in the case.
2008 Malegaon blast case | A witness tells Special NIA court that he was tortured by ATS, the then probe agency of the case. He also told the court that ATS forced him to falsely name Yogi Adityanath and 4 other people from RSS.
The witness told the Special NIA court that he was threatened, tortured and kept in illegal custody by the Mumbai ATS and forced to take the names of five Rashtriya Swayamseval Sangh (RSS) members including Yogi Adityanath, Indresh Kumar, Deodhar and Kakaji.
He told the court that after the blast he was kept confined in the Mumbai ATS office for 7 days and after that, the ATS threatened to torture and implicate his family members if he did not name the then BJP MP Yogi Adityanath.
When an accused also made similar allegations against Mumbai ATS
It may be recalled that in 2017 also, one of the blast accused named Sudhakar Chaturvedi, had also made similar claims that the Mumbai Anti-terror squad (ATS) had falsely implicated innocent people in the name of “Saffron terror” and had also tried to frame then BJP MP Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Chaturvedi who was released on bail after 9 years, alleged that the then Congress-NCP government had tried to frame Hindu activists in order to appease Muslim voters. As alleged by him, the investigators questioned him about Yogi and his organisation Hindu Yuva Vahini’s profile. He further alleged that the way they questioned him, indicated that Yogi was their main target in trying to frame a prominent “saffron-clad” personality in the case.
Apart from such sensational claims, Chaturvedi has alleged that the accused were subjected to brutal torture. He also alleged that false evidence of a pistol and RDX were also planted against him by the ATS.
2008 Malegaon blast
On September 29, 2008 bomb blasts took place in the Malegaon region of Nashik district of Maharashtra which resulted in 4 deaths and left 80 injured.
Soon, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Purohit were arrested in connection with the blast and as a result terms like “Hindu terror” or “Saffron terror” were popularised by some politicians and Leftist media after their arrests.
They continued languishing in jails till April and August 2017 respectively when Sadhvi Pragya and Col Purohit were given bail. This long incarceration of Sadhvi Pragya was also called into question by her lawyer who claimed that she should have got bail within half an hour.
A few years out of the job seems to have had a deleterious impact on the mental health of TMC leader and the former head of Prasar Bharati Jawhar Sircar. Since his resignation in October 2016, he appears to be progressively losing his mental faculties at a breakneck speed, preoccupying himself with spreading propaganda with little regard for facts and rationality.
Continuing his diatribes against PM Modi, Sircar recently took to Twitter to rant against the Prime Minister. However, this time around, the source of mental distress for Sircar was something as fundamental as the bulletproof car for the head of state.
In his tweet, Sircar fulminated that PM Modi’s car is worth more than Rs 12 crores and the Maybach sunglasses he wears are to the tunes of lakhs of rupees. He further insinuated that PM Modi would never leave the perks even after he is defeated.
“Rs 12 crore plus for PM’s car! Lakhs for Maybach sunglasses for new clothes every day. God! This fakeer will never leave these perks — even when defeated,” Sircar tweeted along with a report of PM Modi getting a Mercedes-Maybach S650 armoured vehicle as a part of his convoy.
Source: Twitter
The report said PM Modi was recently spotted in the new Maybach 650 armoured first at Hyderabad House while welcoming President Putin of Russia. It further added that the car is the face-lifted version of the Mercedes-Maybach S650 Guard that came out in 2019, and gets VR10 protection level, the highest-ever protection provided in a production car. It can withstand bullets thanks to the upgraded windows and body shell and can take an assault from AK-47 rifles.
In addition to this, the car also has the capability to withstand a blast of 15 kg TNT from a distance of just two metres. The windows get polycarbonate coating on the inside, while the under-body has been heavily armoured to protect the occupants from a direct explosion. It has a 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 engine that generates 516 bhp and about 900 Nm of peak torque. The top speed is restricted to 160 kmph. The new upgrade also features the comforts of the Maybach S-Class which include seat massagers and enhanced legroom.
The price of the car, the report said remains undisclosed, but it surmised it to be upwards of Rs 12 crores, citing the price of the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard that was launched in India last year and was priced at Rs 10.5 crores. However, the report also added a disclaimer stating that the final price of the car can be much lower than the Special Protection Group or SPG that takes care of the security of the important people of the country, including the Prime Minister, does not need to pay any import taxes.
Sircar trivialises security of head of state, accuses PM Modi of indulging in vanity
Regardless of the final price of the armoured vehicle, Sircar, through his tweet, tries to insinuate that a state of the art car is not used for fortifying the security of the head of the state but for satisfying the vanity of PM Modi. He conveniently ignores the fact that the armoured vehicle is for the post of India’s Prime Minister and not for the person who is currently occupying the post. The Prime Minister is not going to inherit the car when he retires from public office or when he is replaced by another one.
Contrary to what Sircar would have us believe, a heavily armoured vehicle is an absolutely essential security prerequisite for the head of a nuclear-armed state, especially for a country like India which has two perpetually hostile nuclear neighbours on both its side. The security detail of the leader must include a high-security car that can protect him or her against the eventuality of a conventional, nuclear, biological & chemical attack launched against the leader.
It is astounding to see a former bureaucrat trivialising something as important as security of the country’s Prime Minister. The head of the state represents the country. He or she is not an inconsequential personality whose security can be trifled with. The Prime Minister’s security is paramount, regardless of the political party he or she belongs to, and the country must do everything in its power and means to ensure that the head of the state gets maximum possible protection.
However, for someone like Mr Sircar, for whom hatred for PM Modi has caused him to take leave of his senses, the security of the Prime Minister is a fair game that could be exploited to mount a malicious campaign against his bete noire. Perhaps, Mr Sircar still wants the country to remain backward and be associated with the ‘land of snake charmers’ image, a decades-old construct ossified by the past masters of the former CEO of Prasar Bharati, the Congress party.
Mr Sircar, who switched his loyalty to join the Trinamool Congress party, has not departed from his usual habit of peddling fake news against PM Modi and the Centre. Earlier last week, the TMC leader shared an edited video on Twitter to suggest that PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath were greeted with anti-Modi and anti-Yogi slogans during the inauguration ceremony of the Kashi Viswanath Corridor on December 13, 2021.
Twitter adds ‘manipulative media’ tag after Jawhar Sircar tweets edited video
The bureaucrat turned Modi-hater troll Jawahar Sircar, whom Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee appointed as the member to the Rajya Sabha in July this year, was also quick to use the fake, heavily edited video to further his anti-Narendra Modi stance. He shared the fake video coupled with a Tweet that read: “Wow! Protests during Modi’s midnight Kashi Parikrama. Some guts. The Godi Media will not show this.”
After OpIndia reported that the TMC leaders posted a doctored video, Twitter added the ‘manipulated media’ tag to the tweet posted by Jawahar Sircar.
Past antics of TMC leader Jawhar Sircar
This sort of deplorable behaviour from trolls like Jawhar Sircar, however, no longer comes as a surprise for anyone. The TMC leader has many times in the past, indulged in such petty acts to berate the Modi government. On June 7 this year, Jawhar Sircar shared a heavily edited image of Prime Minister Modi bending forward to greet Reliance Foundation chairperson Neeta Ambani, to insinuate that he goes out of his way to be polite to ‘his friends’.
This was not all, when Twitter users fact-checked Jawhar Sircar’s fake claims and revealed that the original picture was that of PM Modi acknowledging social activist Deepika Mondal, Sircar went on to hide the replies to his tweet. However, after being heavily slammed, Sircar deleted his Tweet.
Continuing his shenanigans, Jawhar Sircar, a chronic Modi-hater, who was then the CEO of Prasar Bharti had removed inconvenient parts of PM candidate Modi’s interview during the 2014 elections to appease the Congress party. Following a public backlash, the then Prasar Bharti CEO Jawhar Sircar had acknowledged that chunks of the interview were edited out.
On Monday (December 27), a large group of protesting resident doctors were reportedly manhandled and detained by the Delhi police during a protest march from the Maulana Azad Medical College to the Supreme Court of India. The demonstration was conducted to protest against the delay in the counselling session for PG NEET admissions for the year 2021.
In a tweet shared by Mirror Now journalist Ayushman Kumar, he said, “Protesting resident Doctors removed forcefully by Delhi Police. Female resident doctors allege manhandling by male policemen. #neetpg2021counselling”
Several videos have now surfaced on social media wherein police officials are seen forcibly removing demonstrators from the protest site. A video shared by Hindustan Times journalist Hemant Rajaura shows cops shoving doctors into a police van.
Resident Doctors of Prestigious Hospitals in Delhi forcefully removed by Delhi Police.
Now Doctors have asked all the resident Doctors of the Different Hospitals to reach Safdarjung.
As per reports, the resident doctors were stopped near ITO and 12 of them were then briefly detained at the Rajinder Nagar police station. They were released soon after.
While speaking about the matter, a police officer told The Hindu, “We had been trying to pacify them since 9:30 a.m. but to no avail. They wanted to go to Supreme Court and that’s when we had to detain them. During detention, they got violent and also broke the windows of our bus.” He had also claimed that no doctors were thrashed.
The reason behind the protests
A second-year post-graduate resident doctor explained, “Our juniors were supposed to come 6 months ago but this could not happen. As such, the third-year students will complete their PG programme in February and exit. We are the only batch overseeing all the work including emergencies, wards and OPDs. We do not have a junior batch. There have already been two Covid-19 waves. And one more is incoming. There is already a shortage of doctors in the country.”
A Police Inspector posted at protest site just asked me Why Doctors are protesting!
Lot of People Don’t know what Is NEET PG counselling issue !
“Under normal circumstances, there is one doctor per 1000 people. At this point, the batch of 45000 doctors (the 1st year students ) is not there. Imagine what would have happened to the doctor-patient ratio? The entire responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of the 2nd year students. Our duties have doubled. Doctors are overworked, overstressed, sometimes they have to work repeated shifts of 48 hours without sleep. Would you want to consult doctors who have been so sleep-deprived, hungry and exhausted? she asked.
Popular Twitter user and surgeon Amit Thandhani added that if a new batch of postgraduate resident doctors does not join in a couple of months’ time, then, the PG programme will only be left with only second-year students. He added, “If there are no fresh PG residents joining and one batch is leaving after completion of the course, we will be down by one-third of the entire strength of doctors at major hospitals within the next couple of months.”
If there are no fresh PG residents joining and one batch is leaving after completion of course, we will be down by one third of the entire strength of doctors at major hospitals within the next couple of months. Hope @mansukhmandviya understands the gravity of the situation.
The resident doctors’ protest initially began earlier in December but was withdrawn on December 9, following an assurance that the schedule for NEET PG counselling will be released in a weeks’ time. When their demand was not met, they resumed their agitation from December 17 onwards. At the heart of the controversy are the delayed timings of the NEET-PG exam due to the Coronavirus outbreak, petitions over the new reservations for the OBC and EWS category, and the pendency of litigation in the Supreme Court.
The registration for NEET-PG 2021 commenced on February 23, 2021, but the exam could not be held for 8 months. It was delayed several times, citing the surge in Coronavirus cases, and was finally held on September 11 this year. The results were declared on September 28 and were the counselling was set to begin from October 25 onwards. However, it could not take place owing to several petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenging the new quota system introduced by the Modi government in undergraduate and postgraduate seats.
Under the new system, 27% of seats were to be reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The reservation was to apply to the seats that were ‘surrendered’ to the Central govt by State medical colleges in the 50% All India Quota. After the reservation policy was questioned in Court, the Central government conceded that the students would be in a serious problem if the counselling began before the matter was resolved. “The counselling process will not begin till the court decides the pending batch of petitions,” the ASG KM Nataraj had submitted in Court.
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), accordingly, postponed the NEET PG 2021 counselling. On October 21, a Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna had asked the Centre to reconsider the cap of ₹8 lac for determining a student’s eligibility under the EWS quota in NEET PG Counseling. 5 days later on October 26, the Centre justified the annual income bar of ₹8 lacs and added that it was based on the ‘National Cost of Living Index’.
Reportedly, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment also stated that the decision was in line with Article 14, Article 15, and Article 16 of the Indian Constitution. As such, until the hearing of the petitions in the reservation quota is over and the Supreme Court gives a green signal, the Central government cannot go ahead with the NEET PG 2021 Counselling. This has become the bone of contention between the Centre, apex Court, and the resident doctors.
Demands made by Resident doctors
On Tuesday (December 28), the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has called for the withdrawal of medical services across India from December 29, 2021 onwards to protest the clampdown on resident doctors by the Delhi police. They have demanded an immediate announcement of the counselling schedule for NEET PG 2021.
“FAIMA strongly condemns the abuse of power by the Delhi Police and demands immediate suspension of all police personnel at whose directions force was used on our doctors. The videos which have surfaced and the stories which have been shared are horrific and make us question whether we have gone back to the barbaric times, or whether the administration feels like they can do whatever they want to suppress dissent?” it said in a statement.
FAIMA further warned, “If the authorities think they can get away with using whatever oppressive means they have at their disposal, they are wrong and it is time for all doctors to show unity and solidarity with our colleagues who have been mercilessly handled, gheraoed, dragged and detained…In solidarity with FORDA and other RDAs already protesting in Delhi, we hereby call for Complete Withdrawal! from All Healthcare Services across the Country from 8 AM on 29/12/2021.”
Screengrab of the press release by FAIMA, image via ANI
Similarly, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) in a press release stated, “A Black Day in the history of Medical fraternity of the nation. Resident Doctors, the so-called ‘Corona Warriors”, protesting peacefully to Expedite NEET-PG Counselling in Delhi were brutally thrashed, dragged and detained by the cops. There will be a complete shutdown of all Healthcare Institutions today onwards. We strongly condemn this brutality & demand immediate release or FORDA Representatives & Resident Doctors.”
It emphasised, “The Medical fraternity of the nation must condemn this act in strongest words & come forward in support. We urge all State RDAs or the nation in agitation. We all stand united in this fight against Injustice!”
Screengrab of the press release by FORDA, image via AN
Coronavirus pandemic, Omicron variant and doctor protests
India is witnessing a surge in Omicron cases, with a total of 653 infected patients as of Tuesday (December 28). Maharashtra has reported 167 such cases while Delhi has reported about 165 Omicron cases. Meanwhile, the country has around 75,456 active cases of Wuhan Coronavirus. In the last 24 hours, there have been 6358 new cases of Covid-19 and 293 deaths. Although the daily positivity rate has been around 0.61%, fear persists about the resurgence of a 3rd wave.
At such a crucial juncture, India is witnessing the dearth of 45000 doctors who were supposed to take admissions in the PG programme this year. In their absence, the doctor-patient ratio has been skewed to an extent that continuing healthcare means underwhelming stress and inhuman working hours for resident doctors. If a third wave hits, the healthcare services will risk collapse. The government cannot overlook their demands for long or risk shutting down healthcare services temporarily. A peaceful resolution is the need of the hour with the Supreme Court intervening for quick grievance redressal.
A country with a population as large as India cannot ignore the necessity for new doctors, especially when we are facing a pandemic.
‘Health journalist’ Vidya Krishnan, who has been known for her political biases and anti-Hindu bigotry, has taken to Twitter to term Indian-Americans, especially the ones in Bay area ‘termites’. Krishnan, who regularly pens articles, mostly critical about the Modi government, for ultra-leftist media houses like The Caravan Magazine and The Atlantic, Tweeted: “My time in the US has only made me detest diaspora even more than I already did. Most (atleast my Bay Area lot) don’t read, don’t vote or volunteer or donate. Termites.”
Vidya Krishnan’s tweet
Vidya Krishnan was responding to a tweet by one Suchitra Vijayan, who identifies herself as an ‘author’, where the latter chastised Hindus living in America, claiming that they “co-opt the language of representation and poc (person of colour) visibility” in the US while simultaneously demanding a Hindu homeland and justifying mistreatment of other communities in India. Basically, Suchitra Vijayan called Hindus in the United States hypocrites, and accused them of wanting recognition and acceptance in the United States while on the other demanding India to become a Hindu majoritarian nation.
Latching on to this lucrative opportunity to build on her propaganda of vilifying Hindus and reinforcing minority victimhood, Vidya Krishnan went on to instantly respond by calling all the Hindus living in the US, ‘termites’.
It may be noted that after the ‘journalist’ started receiving backlash on the microblogging site for her flagrant display of hate towards India and the Hindus in particular, she tweeted tagging Parag Agarwal, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter, “Yikes. Unprotected my a/c for a few hrs & got attacked by NRI/Bay Area trolls who think I mean “Hindus” when I say “Indian-Americans” & went on from there about how I’m commie presstitute etc etc.”
Krishnan added that the US’s diversity rhetoric has aided the rise of NRIs, despite the fact that the Indian diaspora’s expansion has been homogeneous and limited to upper caste immigration. So many of them are self-centered, conservative, and bigoted, and they need to be called out on a regular basis.
She briefly locked her Twitter profile thereafter.
Only to come back and go hysterical again.
Anonymous accounts tagging Caravan & Atlantic flagging this tweet as "hate speech" had no issues when Mananiya Home Minister used this word for immigrants to India!
Also, I don't work at either places so.. I'm not sure what they want to Atlantic or Caravan editors. So dumb. pic.twitter.com/hRdJSeGvbL
Krishnan ranted how Indian diaspora had no problem with Home Minister Amit Shah referring to illegal immigrants as ‘termites’. Shocking to see that Nieman fellow does not know the difference between those who have legally migrated to another country, like the Indian diaspora in US and the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who have crossed the border illegally and living off Indian resources and could pose a threat to national security.
Lastly, anonymous handles… your organized sublime idiocy is only making me write more about the pervasive bigotry funded & sponsored by r/w orgs in the US. pic.twitter.com/HsLEPTGIZ3
She wrote another two hysterical tweets without understanding difference between legal Indians in America (whom she called termites) and illegal Bangladeshis in India. Further, Amit Shah never called illegal immigrants ‘termites’. He had said that illegal infiltrators are like termites and had vowed to throw them out. Termites are pests which feed on dry wood, like furniture, and make them hollow and ruin them.
When Shah used ‘termites’ it was simile for illegal immigrants who are living off our resources in India, while Krishan used metaphor and referred to the entire Indian diaspora in Bay area as ‘termites’. For example, calling someone adamant, like Krishnan being adamant about proving India failed to manage coronavirus would be ‘kutte ki dum’, which is simile. But should someone call her ‘kutti’, it would be metaphor.
Vidya Krishnan spreads mala fide lies about the Modi govt and its response to the Covid pandemic
So-called ‘health journalist’ Vidya Krishnan has spent better part of the coronavirus pandemic losing her mind while trying to peddle anti-Modi agenda through her hysterical tweets and articles. She has also not hidden her strong dislike (to put it mildly) for Hindus in general. She had gone out of her way to propagate misinformation regarding the Indian government’s response to the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak when it first emerged.
Her bias against India, especially under Modi regime, is so strong that in a report penned by Vidya Krishnan and published by The Atlantic, a distorted image of the Indian Flag was used. In the report, India’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus was again denigrated and the hallowed Ashoka Chakra was replaced with an artistic representation of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
She had further mocked Prime Minister Modi’s initiative to raise awareness by wearing homemade masks during his interactions. She claimed that the Prime Minister wearing a mask during a video conference somehow suggested ‘tokenism’ and a lack of ‘common sense’ in India’s response to the Chinese virus.
Furthermore, the ‘health journalist’ had also tried her best to cover for the Tablighi Jamaat and its horrendous conduct that had severely jeopardized India’s efforts to contain the pandemic in the initial days. She compared the contribution of the Tablighi Jamaat to the Coronavirus cases in India to that of the ISKCON in the United Kingdom, even though the two are not even in the same plane.
Vidya Krishnan was also invested in slandering journalists who had written on how significant sections of the Muslim community had disobeyed government instructions aimed at combating the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic.
She had also gone around claiming that the Indian Government obstructed journalist from reporting facts on the issue of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Since there was no such restriction, most of her claims are very likely product of fertile imagination or voices in her head.
On December 27 at around 9 AM, a 22-year-old youth identified as Arshdeep Singh allegedly tried to run away with Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at a newly established Gurudwara Baba Bidhi Chand at Eena Kheda village in Malout division. As per reports, the youth, who is allegedly mentally challenged, allegedly picked up Shri Guru Granth Sahib and ran with it. His father and other volunteers stopped him in the courtyard.
Granthi Gursewak Singh said in a statement that he went to his room at around 9 AM. During that time, Arshdeep Singh, son of Sevadar Santokh Singh, reached the Gurudwara. He first allegedly disrespected the weapons placed in front of the Guru Granth Sahib and then picked up Guru Granth Sahib. He ran towards the courtyard but was overpowered by Granthi and his father. After taking Guru Granth Sahib from him, they placed the holy book at its place.
The accused served at the Gurudwara with his father. The Gurudwara comes under Baba Bidhi Chand Nihang Singh Dal. The accused was taken to the Baba Avtar Singh, chief of Baba Bidhi Chand Nihang Singh Dal. The matter was not reported by the Gurudwara administration. It was only after the villagers came to know about the incident at night, the Police were informed.
When the Police reached the Gurudwara to take stock of the matter, the villagers had already gathered outside. It is noteworthy that the Gurudwara where the incident took place was established recently. Shri Guru Granth Sahib was illuminated at the Gurudwara around 15 days ago. There were no CCTV cameras installed on the premises.
While the father of the accused said that the accused was mentally ill and he tried to kill himself twice, the villagers were not ready to believe him.
Speaking to OpIndia, DSP Jaspal Singh said, “The incident took place at around 9 AM, but the Police were informed at around 8:30 PM. We have detained the accused, but as he is mentally challenged, the Granthi has not recorded any statement yet.”
Sacrilege cases that lead to mob lynching in Punjab
Recently, two back-to-back incidents of alleged sacrilege were reported in Amritsar and Kapurthala, Punjab. In both cases, the accused was beaten to death by the angry mob. On December 18, a young man jumped the railing at Akal Takht in Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara, Amritsar and attempted sacrilege. He was apprehended by the volunteers and devotees. Later, the dead body of the accused was placed outside Gurudwara.
Another case was reported on December 19, where a man was beaten to death for allegedly disrespecting Nishan Sahib at a Gurudwara in Kapurthala. However, the initial investigation revealed that there was no evidence of sacrilege. The man was mentally challeged, and possible went to Gurudwara for free food which is served at langars.
“Farmers” are starting their own political party. I am of course, using the word farmers here casually, because it should be obvious that not all farmers are in this group. Modi could not be PM without support from farmers who we are told make up to 50-60% of our population. So a better way of saying that is some persons that claim to represent the interest of farmers are starting a political outfit.
Be that as it may, it is good news.
Why?
Interest groups
Farmers, at the end of the day, are an interest group. If you cut away all the tearjerker melodrama about “annadata” and such, conveniently forgotten by corrupt media frauds when the same farmers are agitating against dynasty ruled states, what remains is that they are an interest group. 100% legitimate interest group, but still an interest group.
Of course, farmers are of many types. There are landless farmers, or sharecroppers and farm labour, far more in number, whose interests are very different from the landed. They don’t get to see much of state bonanza such as free electricity, subsidised fertilisers, loans that don’t have to be repaid and ever increasing MSPs. Many toil in farms for fixed wages. They are not the ones that can gridlock the streets of Delhi with airconditioned SUVs and tractors and have pizza for lunch.
Even if you are a landed farmer, obviously where that land is and whether it has irrigation make a difference. How much is another big issue – most hold land that’s only about 1-2 acres. Then comes which crop you grow. Not all get MSP protection. So even within the tiny fraction of landed farmers, interests may not always align.
It is of course, 100% legitimate to espouse the cause of farmers, even if you assume the ones claiming the mantle of leadership only represent the landed, already well taken care of minority of farmers that too from one or two states.
But then there are so many interest groups!
You can slice and dice Indian society like a Rubik cube in many ways. Language, region, caste, religion are well known. Then there are youth, students, old age pensioners, urban poor, factory workers, unemployed, middle class, daily wage earners like construction workers or cobblers, small traders, SMEs, weavers and artisans – there’s hundreds if not thousands of such interest groups and classes, most of whom have grievances, most of which are legitimate. Indeed, when a bridge gets inaugurated by Modi, (not SoniaG of course) even boatmen that used to ferry passengers become an interest group for leftist “journalists” to shed tears for!
That’s where the beauty of democracy comes in!
Beauty of democracy
The saying is, death is a great leveler. But so is democracy. Particularly when you are forced to move away from espousing one interest group, however large it is, and find that it is only one of the hundreds or thousands out there.
Getting into electoral politics, with aim to capture power in meaningful quantity (not just a few seats to turn into minister post for the chief or his son) means, accommodating interest groups other than your own, including those that have diametrically opposite interests.
That’s why Mayawaitji changed her “tilak tarazu joota maar” slogans to “baichara” and holds Brahmins sammelan.
That’s why DMK has largely given up its old plank.
That’s why TMC which ran a campaign on vilifying “outsiders” is now becoming exactly that in Goa and other states.
That’s why Congress lurches from anti-Hindu remarks to janeu claims.
That’s also why, I am pretty confident, one day BJP will find a way to accommodate more Muslims in its ranks, at least those that are not fooled by left’s anti-Hindu pogrom and hence locked in perpetual hostility.
In fact, BJP already seems to be getting pally-pally with Christians, where they matter electorally, despite well publicised run-ins with evangelical fringe.
In the unlikely event of these “farmers” capturing Punjab assembly majority, they still have to accommodate non-farmers and their interests. They still have to tax (somewhat) responsibly and use that money at least partially for other purposes. If not they can never get re-elected.
And in the more likely event of them getting a few seats to bargain with, or play king maker, they can still hope to score small wins for their cause along with wins for other causes by other such king makers.
But they will wake up to the reality of how complex India is, especially when you have power. And that can be sobering.
They will know that blocking trains and roads for months or years will mean they have less tax money to play with and more unemployed hitting the streets against them. At least the ones that cannot get Canadian visa.
And the fact that only a few can become leaders or ministers means at least some of these “farmers” will seek their fortunes in other parties, bringing their agendas with them. They cannot be suddenly de-legitimised, although corrupt media will still try if they choose to align with BJP.
So let us say three cheers and welcome farmers to the arena of democracy!
Originally published by the author on substack, republished with permission. You could read the original article here.
2021 is coming to an end. Apart from the depressing second wave of Covid-19, there has been a lot that has happened this year that made to headlines and shocked almost everyone. Here, we would like to draw your attention to the top five bizarre frauds that came to light in 2021 and gained widespread attention on social media. From Nidhi’s Harvard job to Aurangabad teen’s NASA claims, it was definitely an interesting list.
The curious case of Nidhi Razdan’s Harvard job that never existed
Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, when every other person was losing their jobs, NDTV’s journalist Nidhi Razdan got “lucky” as she was invited by Harvard University to join as faculty in the Journalism department. Nidhi, who had over 21 years of experience in journalism, took the opportunity wholeheartedly and announced that she would be starting the “new chapter” of her life very soon as Associate Professor of Journalist at Harvard on June 13 last year.
Waves of messages congratulating her for the achievement poured in through social media, and everything went smooth. She even left her job at NDTV and participated in several talk shows as an expert with the tagline “Associate Professor at Harvard” written next to her name on the screen.
But there was a catch. Things were not as easy as Nidhi expected them to be. On January 15, Nidhi issued a public statement that the job she had been bragging about for seven months was fake. She alleged that she was a victim of a phishing attack. In the statement, she said, “I had been given to believe that I would be joining the University in September 2020. While I was making preparations to take up my new assignment, I was later told that due to the ongoing pandemic, my classes would commence in January 2021. Along with these delays, I began noticing a number of administrative anomalies in the process being described to me.”
Statement by Nidhi where she alleged she was scammed. Source: Twitter
She added, “I did not, in fact, receive an offer by Harvard University to join their faculty as an Associate Professor of Journalism. The perpetrators of this attack used clever forgeries and misrepresentations to obtain access to my personal data and communications and may have also gained access to my devices and my email/social media accounts.” The journalist was allegedly scammed in such a way that she could not ‘spot the scam’ for months. Unbelievable, but true as per her words.
Then sometime during the year, someone sitting at the New York Times decision-making table thought it would be nice if they could investigate the case. On December 16, NYT published their findings and somehow managed to blame ‘Hindutvavadis‘ for the alleged scam. On the other hand, Nidhi also blamed Harvard for not paying attention to her tweets where she tagged them saying they had hired her as an associate professor. They pointed fingers towards the ‘Hindu Nationalist’ forces irrespective of the fact that in their own report, it was clearly mentioned that BJP spokesperson Nighat Abbass was also one of the targets. Interestingly, Abbass had alerted Harvard about the possible scam, unlike Razdan, who thought the job was for real.
Anyway, the “Forensic analysis”, according to NYT, revealed links to Pakistan. Still, NYT thought Hindu Nationalists were behind the attack. It is still unclear why would Hindu Nationalists would target someone like Nidhi with such an elaborated scam anyway. NYT did not give any reason. They just assumed it as all liberal media does.
Shabana Azmi and the amazing ‘daaru delivery dudes’ of Mumbai
Shabana Azmi, the well-known Bollywood actress and wife of lyricist-politician Javed Akhtar, was duped by an alcohol delivery scam in June this year. In a tweet, Azmi said, “BEWARE I have been created by them. #Living Liquidz I paid upfront, and when the ordered item didn’t turn up, they stopped picking up my calls!”
Tweet by Shabana Azmi alleging she was duped by “alcohol delivery shop”. Source: Twitter
In her subsequent Tweet, the actor clarified that she was actually duped by fraudsters, and she didn’t make the payment to the platform. She tweeted, “finally traced the owners of @living_liquidz & it turns out that the people who cheated me are fraudsters who have nothing to do with Living Liquidz!”. Tagging Mumbai police and cybercrime cell in her Tweet, she urged that immediate action should be taken “to stop these crooks from using names of legitimate businesses & scamming us”.
Now comes the interesting part. The number Azmi had mentioned in her tweet showed ‘Liquor fraud’ on Truecaller. It was flagged by many as fraud, and if she had checked it before paying the money, she would have been saved from the fraud.
What happened next was even more interesting. As Azmi is a ‘celebrity’, it seems to have become a top priority case of Mumbai Police. The cyber cell came into action, and around a month later, it was reported that the Maharashtra state police cracked the case and identified the imposter who duped the actor. Sanjay Shintre, Superintendent of Maharashtra Cyber Police, said, “Accused in the Shabana Azmi online fraud case has been identified. We are tracking his movements, and further investigations are on.”
But identifying criminals was not the interesting part. What was interesting was that the Police took the help of over 26 experts, including IIT graduates. An official familiar with the case said the fraudster could be tracked only after the 26 domain experts, including IIT graduates hired by the Maharashtra cyber cell, working at the behest of the Uddhav Thackeray government, helped crack the case. 26 experts worked tirelessly just because Azmi did not check whom she was paying before sending the money! What happened next is unclear. Also, someone somewhere might be still confused about how much alcohol was ordered that 26 experts had to be brought in!
In 2021, we hope that Ms Azmi makes payments through legitimate payment gateways in the apps and websites of actual platforms and not to random people who claim to deliver liquor if she pays them.
‘Child activist’ Licypriya Kangujam’s father turned out to be a scammer
The child activist, fondly called ‘India’s Greta’ by the liberals and intellectuals, Licypriya Kangujam, used to be in the news a lot, for her cheeky tweets written in very grown-up language asking political leaders to do what she says, and for being ready to protest for anything and everything under the sun. But things took a curious turn when her father, Kanarjit Kangujam, was arrested for duping around 100 children.
In June 2021, it was reported that Kanarjit had allegedly duped around 100 children from 12 countries under the grab of environmental activism. The fraud amount is estimated to be approximately $44,685, just from fees collected from students.
The alleged scams committed by Kangujam by preying on earnest activists revealed how he looted children activists across the globe using logos of the UN and UNESCO to legitimise his events.
Through IYC, Kangujam claimed to host international-level seminars for activists from India, Nepal, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Croatia. He even collected fees citing exchange programs and activities, but the contributors never saw any exchange programs, the reports stated.
Sources told OpIndia that he would create fake events with legitimate-looking documents to lure people into paying fees to attend those events. Kangujam claimed to host events in Japan, Europe and Mauritius, for which he collected hefty participation fees, however, the events never took place. When the participants asked for refunds, he declined, threatening elimination from the program, which would make them ineligible for any refunds and passed every complaint to the volunteers to handle.
Documents released by the source showed he duped the children in the name of an exchange program. He duped several Pakistani participants to the tune of $160 each, Bhutanese participants of $300-420 each and Mauritian participants of €1200 each. As per the source, the participation fee varied as per nationality and sometimes individually.
Karanjit was arrested in a joint operation by Manipur Police and Delhi Police on May 31. Kanarjit has been accused of cheating multiple people, with amounts as high as Rs 19 lakh. In 2015 too, he was arrested in Manipur with charges of criminal case number 176 of 2015 under Section 420 (Fraud), 324 (Assault) and 406 (Criminal breach of trust).
Diksha Shinde , the 14-year-old ‘NASA Panelist’. Really?
Coming to August 2021, Diksha Shinde, a young girl from Aurangabad made it to the headlines. The 14-year-old girl from Maharashtra was a subject of discussion for days after ANI reported she was selected as a panellist on the Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Fellowships Virtual Panel of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The class 10 student had claimed that she was selected for the 2021 MSI Fellowships Virtual Panel in June after the International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research accepted her research paper on ‘We Live in Black Hole?’ in May 2021.
Now-deleted tweet by ANI.
Of course, it was time to celebrate for many who thought it was true. But there was a group of people who were not convinced with the claims. ANI tried to save its face and published screenshots of alleged correspondence of NASA and IJSER with Diksha. But these communications also did not clarify the doubts and instead create more questions.
The first sign that the story was bogus was the person who had signed the ‘NASA certificate’ shown by Diksha. It had the signatures of NASA CEO and President James Bridenstine and Department Chair James Frederick. However, the organisational structure of NASA does not have the designation of CEO, and the names of the persons were also doubtful.
NASA is headed by an administrator, and the post is currently occupied by Bill Nelson. While the two current chairs in the advisory groups are General Lester L. Lyles and Dr Patricia Sanders. James Frederick Bridenstine was the administrator in NASA from 2013 to 2018, and some netizens believe this name was split into two to create the ‘certificate’ issued to Diksha Shinde.
On August 26, NASA replied to queries sent by OpIndia and other media portals. NASA stated that Diksha had used fake credentials to be selected as a panellist for the selection of proposals under the MSI program. In their statement, NASA said that Diksha was neither paid nor employed by them. Since her credentials were fake, NASA added that they have never published her ‘research paper’ and have never given her any certificates.
The ‘NASA certificates’ shared all over media and social media turned out to be generic templates available for free on the internet. Also, the ‘research papers’ the girl claimed she had published were found to be bogus too.
NASA’s response to OpIndia
As the girl had used fake credentials for applying to be a panellist, NASA said they have started reviewing their verification process for the selection of panellists. They also added that NASA is not funding her trip to the USA. ANI later withdrew the report.
ANI withdrew the report on Diksha Shinde. Source: Twitter.
10,000 people duped of 25 crores in three years via fake e-commerce sites
Last but not least, in August 2021, it was revealed that around 10,000 people were duped for over Rs 25 crores in three years via fake e-commerce websites. The Delhi Police cyber cell unit arrested five accused linked to the case. As per the reports, the accused created over 60 fake e-commerce websites with products ranging from electronics to clothing. Some of the fake websites included Bookmytab, Dailyposhak and more.
These websites offered heavy discounts and were promoted over social media and via advertising extensively. The victims who fell for the fake websites paid online but never got the products. The Delhi Police’s CyPAD (Cyber Prevention Awareness & Detection Centre) received multiple complaints related to the scam being run by bookmytab.com.
During the technical investigation by the special team of Delhi Police Cyber Cell, the location of the accused was traced. The main accused was identified as Vijay Arora. The Police found incriminating material from his office, and he was subsequently arrested along with four others, including the operations managers and campaign manager in the case.
The incidents mentioned above are meant to make readers awareof the kinds of scams and frauds that widespread internet usage makes us all vulnerable to. Students, youngsters, jobseekers usually fall victim to fraudsters dangling lucrative offers before them. Let us all be more aware and careful before we click.
Former Indian Cricketer and the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly tested positive for coronavirus on Monday after which he was admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure in Kolkata. News agency PTI quoted BCCI sources as saying, “BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19”. Ganguly is recuperating in the hospital and his condition is said to be stable.
BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly admitted to hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, say BCCI sources
According to reports, the former India captain was suffering from mild symptoms. He was rushed to the hospital late on the night of Monday, December 27, as a precautionary measure after his RT-PCR test reports were positive.
“He was taken to Woodlands Nursing Home last night. He has been given medication and is currently stable,” BCCI source was quoted by PTI as saying.
His blood samples will be sent for genome sequencing to ascertain if he has contracted the Omicron variant or not.
On December 24, Sourav Ganguly had attended the premiere of Bangla superstar and TMC MP Dev’s latest film Tonic. He was spotted with celebrities such as Nusrat Jahan, Yash Dasgupta, Babul Supriyo, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and others.
This is the third time Sourav Ganguly has been hospitalised this year. On January 2, the BCCI President was rushed to the Woodlands hospital in Kolkata after he suffered a mild cardiac arrest while working out in the gym at his residence. He was discharged after undergoing a right coronary angioplasty.
Ganguly experienced similar chest pain 20 days later, prompting the second round of angioplasty on January 28. Two stents were inserted in two arteries during the procedure.
In March, Ganguly returned to work and got himself fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Snehasish Ganguly, his brother, had tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this year.
A total of 578 Omicron variant cases have been reported across the country as of December 27, with Delhi leading the way with 142 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 141 cases. India reported 6,531 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of active COVID-19 cases to 75,841.
76 Supreme Court Lawyers have written a letter toCJI NV Ramana concerning the two separate events organised in Delhi (by the Hindu Yuva Vahini) and Haridwar (by Yati Narsinghanand) on 17th and 19th December 2021, asking him to take suo moto cognisance of alleged hate speech made at the two events.
The signatories, which include the likes of Prashant Bhushan, Salman Khurshid, Dushyant Dave, have requested for issuance of directions for taking action against the ‘guilty persons’ under Sections 120B, 121A, 124A, 153A, 153B, 295A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 has also been made.
“The aforementioned events and the speeches delivered during the same are not mere hate speeches but amount to an open call for the murder of an entire community. The said speeches thus, pose a grave threat not just to the unity and integrity of our country but also endanger the lives of millions of Muslim citizens,” the letter read.
It further said, “In view of the seriousness and gravity of the aforementioned events it is most humbly prayed that Your Lordship may take suo-moto cognizance of the same and direct that action be taken against the guilty persons under Sections 120B, 121A, 153A, 153B, 295A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.”
The letter demanding the Chief Justice of India to intervene and take suo moto cognisance of the events and the speeches was written even though swift action was taken by the police in filing an FIR and launching a probe into the matter. Yet, the lawyers felt compelled that the alleged hate speeches made in different events in Delhi and Haridwar deserved Supreme Court’s intercession.
What is staggering is the stunning alacrity with which lawyers have moved the Supreme Court and their discretion in picking and choosing incidents selectively to draw the top court’s attention towards them.
Differential treatment meted out to hate speech at ‘Dharma Sansad’ and hate speech, hate crimes committed against Hindus
Even as videos of speeches made at ‘Dharma Sansad’ started doing the rounds on the internet, social media was also rife with videos of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi making provocative speeches in one of his rallies in Uttar Pradesh.
In the speech, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said, “I want to tell the police. Remember this. Yogi will not be the Chief Minister forever. Modi will not remain the Prime Minister forever. We Muslims are silent because of the times, but remember we will not forget the injustice. We will remember your injustice. Allah, by his powers, will destroy you, Inshallah. We will remember. Times will change. Then who will come to save you? When Yogi will go back to his mutta, when Modi will go to the mountains, then who will come to save you. Remember, we will not forget.”
But the lawyers who displayed missionary zeal in demanding the top court’s involvement in the ‘Dharma Sansad’ case did not sign a letter asking for the Supreme Court to initiate action against Owaisi. Like many other hate speeches and dog whistles made against the majority, this too, was conveniently ignored and considered unworthy of being reported to the country’s apex court.
A week before the ‘Dharma Sansad’ event, Punjab was rocked with two cases of lynching incidents, wherein two persons lost their lives after frenzied mobs thrashed them to death over suspicion of committing sacrilege. It was a brazen assault on the law and order of the state, an unabashed attack on the sanctity of life. Yet, the lawyers did not feel the urgency to ask the Chief Justice of India to step in and take suo moto cognisance of the matter.
Last year, Delhi was convulsed with the horrifying spasm of violence as anti-CAA protesters indulged in anti-Hindu riots under the pretext of carrying out peaceful protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Many Hindus were at the receiving end of the attacks carried out by Muslim mobs, including one Dilbar Negi, who was burnt alive after his limbs were chopped off during the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots in the national capital.
Ankit Sharma, an IB sleuth who was stripped naked by a mob to ascertain his religious identity before being hacked to death, was another Hindu man who had fallen victim to the Delhi riots. But the same lawyers who are demanding CJI’s intervention in the alleged hate speech case in ‘Dharma Sansad’ did not consider hate crimes committed against Hindus scandalising enough to approach Chief Justice.
No letter or request was made to the top court or the CJI then demanding an expedite inquiry into the horrifying hate crimes committed against Hindus in the country’s capital. Similarly, the grotesque killing of Ankit Saxena, a 23-year-old boy from Delhi, was killed by his Muslim girlfriend’s family on account of his religion.
Saxena’s murder was one of the most brazen acts of hate crimes committed by culprits because of the victim’s religious identity. Still, the lawyers did not regard it serious enough to urge the Supreme Court to take suo moto cognisance in the matter. Instead, the matter was allowed to fizzle out as media organisations and Islamists presided over whitewashing the role of his Muslim girlfriend’s family in his murder and peddling a false narrative that his murder was not an act of communal hatred.
Hate speech takes precedence over hate crimes committed against Hindus
Dilbar Negi, Ankit Sharma, Ankit Saxena are but a few cases of hate crimes committed against Hindus. They gained national prominence probably because they took place in the national capital and were, therefore, widely covered by media organisations, even though some of them did so to water down the atrocities committed by the Islamists.
There have been countless cases of hate crimes against Hindus that don’t make national headlines owing to oversight or obscurantism practised by some organisations such IndiaSpend that commissioned a now-defunct ‘hate tracker’ that twisted facts to portray seemingly ordinary crimes with Muslim victims as religiously motivated while pulling a veil over hate crimes against Hindus.
Just as some media organisations and journalists look the other away when hate crimes are committed against Hindus, similarly, the lawyers too, seemed to have left Hindus to fend for themselves as they rush to the Supreme Court demanding suo moto action against alleged hate speech in ‘Dharma Sansad’. Perhaps, for them, the alleged hate speech by Hindus is a much bigger threat facing the country than the rampant hate crimes committed against Hindus.
German Police have arrested Jaswinder Singh Multani, a prominent member of terrorist organization Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), for his involvement in the Ludhiana court blast and conspiracy to target locations in Delhi and Mumbai. Notably, the bomb in Ludhiana court had gone off while being planted, killing the accused who was planting the bomb.
Reportedly, Multani was arrested after the Indian government requested the German authorities for the same. Multani is a close associate of terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu who founded SFJ. Pannu is involved in several anti-India activities and often provoke Sikhs across the world with his speeches.
Multani was arrested from Erfurt in Central Germany by German authorities.
Multani is also closely connected to Khalistani leaders, including Hardeep Singh Nijjer, Paramjit Singh Pamma, Sabi Singh, Kulwant Singh Mothada and others, as per reports. He has been accused of smuggling weapons and ammunition from Pakistan to Punjab.
45-year-old Multani was previously a resident of Hoshiarpur, Punjab. As per an official quoted by Hindustan Times, he came on the radar of the security agencies for arranging and sending weapons including hand grenades, explosives and pistols from Pakistan to Punjab with the help of Pakistani operatives. The official further added that Multani was planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Punjab using the consignment he smuggled from Pakistan.
Modi Govt requested action from German authorities
The official said that the Modi Government had contacted the German authorities at the highest diplomatic levels and informed them about the involvement of Multani in a conspiracy to target cities including Mumbai and Delhi.
Multani has also been named in the blast that occurred on December 23 at the district court in Ludhiana, in which two people lost their lives, and six people were injured. The incident triggered a high-level alert in the state.
Recent arrests of Khalistani operatives
In February 2020, Punjab Police had arrested four people from Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozpur. They recovered eight countrymade pistols along with ammunition from these people. As per the Police’s statement, they had procured illegal arms to carry out terrorist activities in the state.
Later, a man identified as Jeevan Singh was arrested by the Police. As per the reports, Multani had radicalized him through social media. He was recruited to allegedly target Balbir Singh Rajewal, a key farmer leader. Rajewal has recently been announced as the CM face for the political party floated by the farmer unions to contest upcoming Assembly elections.
The official told HT that Multani also sent funds to Jeevan Singh to arrange weapons to target Rajewal. Another man from Tarn Taran was recruited in August by Multani, who was supposed to arrange two hand grenades for terrorist activities in the state.
In November, British Police had carried out raids on SJF’s Hounslow office. Electronic devices and documents related to the ‘referendum 2020’ were recovered by the Police during the raid. In the same month, National Investigation Agency (NIA) had requested Canadian authorities to declare Sikhs For Justice as a terrorist organization.
Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, Punjab director general of Police, had said in a recent statement that a dismissed head constable, Gagandeep Singh who was killed in the Ludhiana blast while trying to plant an explosive device in the court complex, had links with Khalistani terrorist outfits. He further added that Pakistan-based operatives could be involved in the blast in Ludhiana.
