The Aam Aadmi Party is leaving no stone unturned to win the upcoming Punjab elections. As part of the campaigning for the polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal joined a teachers’ protest at Mohali and promised to regularise their jobs if his party comes to power in next year’s Punjab Assembly polls. During his visit to Mohali, Kejriwal backed the ongoing protests of the contractual teachers against the Punjab government. Arvind Kejriwal visited the protest site outside the Punjab School Education Board building, where temporary teachers have been protesting against for several months demanding regularisation of their jobs.
During the protests, Arvind Kejriwal was seen urging some teachers who have climbed to the top of a water tanker to climb down. He commented that while his govt is sending teachers to foreign countries for training, Punjab govt is sending teachers to the top of water tanks.
#WATCH | Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal urges a group of protesting contractual teachers, who climbed atop a water tanker, to climb down in Mohali, Punjab pic.twitter.com/IGc8Dcvlct
Kejriwal said, ‘I have come here to say that I am ashamed of the whole society and the system that today our teachers should sit at the top of water tanks in protest.’ He then asked the contractual teachers who were at the top of water tanks, ‘For how many days have you been protesting?’. To which the teachers replied that they were protesting for 47 days.
Then Kejriwal continued, ‘…I have come here to request you that you climb down because you have fever…come down and I promise you that after our government is formed, like how we solved the problems of all the teachers in Delhi, you have heard about Delhi right?…good education is happening in Delhi, which was not done by us but the teachers. We have put our trust in the teachers, we provided all the facilities to the teachers in the Schools…’
The Delhi CM further added that the Delhi government has sent teachers abroad for training and said, ‘In Delhi, we have sent teachers to England, Sweden and New Zealand and it is sad to know that here, the Punjab government sends teachers to the top of water tanks.’ He asked the protesting teachers to give one chance to the Aam Aadmi Party to form the government in Punjab. “You give one chance. If we do not do it, then you can throw us out next time,” he said.
“I came here today and I promise you that when our government comes, we will regularise you. But I want to assure you on this that I addressed issues of teachers in Delhi. Therefore, we will resolve issues in Punjab as well,” Arvind Kejriwal further added said.
The contractual teachers have claimed that the Punjab government have not listened to them for a long time and that they have been suffering from unemployment for the last 11 years. They want their services regularised as some of them have been working on contract since 2003.
A married Sikh woman who had traveled to Pakistan on the occasion of Gurupurab has gotten married to a Pakistani man after converting to Islam. However, the woman was sent back to India as she did not have a valid Visa. According to a report by Zee News, the Sikh woman was in touch with Lahore-based Muhammad Imran via social media.
As per the report, the Sikh couple is deaf and mute and so is Muhammad Imran. However, despite the marriage after conversion to Islam, the Kolkata based woman had to return to India with the Sikh Jatha. As per Zee News, the woman got married to Imran in the presence of her husband and her husband was aware that she was in touch with the man through social media.
The Sikh woman is reported to have divorced her Indian husband in a Pakistani Court before her nikah. Reportedly, the couple was the last to return at the Wagah-Attari border.
Intelligence sources were quoted as saying, “However, they didn’t tell anything to us but our sources have confirmed that she embraced Islam and married a Muslim man but Pak officials didn’t allow her to stay back in Lahore since she was traveling on a pilgrim Visa which had also expired, she is back with her Indian husband and she might apply for Pakistan visa again.”
SAD(D) president Paramjit Singh Sarna, former president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said that “in wake of a Bengali Sikh pilgrim converging and remarrying in Pakistan, we have appealed to jatha members traveling across the border to restrict their activities to ‘darshan and didar’ on holy Gurdwara’s”.
“Such acts can even lead to a ban on Sikh pilgrimage to Pakistan,” he added, saying that the matter had caused a huge embarrassment.
Days after PM Modi announced the withdrawal of three farm laws, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday said the Centre has also agreed to the demand of farmers’ organisations to decriminalise stubble burning or Jashn-e-Parali as it being mockingly referred to on social media.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Narendra Singh Tomar said, “Farmer organisations had demanded to decriminalise stubble burning by farmers. The Government of India has accepted this demand as well.”
Farmer organizations had demanded to decriminalize stubble burning by farmers. Govt of India has accepted this demand as well: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar pic.twitter.com/qE8sAY6WJ4
It is notable that during negotiations with the farmer organisations during the protests, the central govt had already agreed to decriminalise stubble burning in December last year, along with agreeing to take back the Electricity Amendment Act. The govt had agreed to these compromises hoping that farmer organisations will relent in the three farm laws in return.
The minister also said that the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, will be tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday, the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament. “With the constitution of this committee, farmers’ demand on MSP stands fulfilled,” Tomar told media.
With regards to the withdrawal of cases against farmers during the agitation, Tomar said it is in the domain of the state government and not the Centre.
“Looking at the severity of the cases, the state governments have to take a call and the issue of compensation is also to be decided by them,” he said, adding that every state will decide as per their state legislations.
The spate of announcements came more than a week after PM Modi announced that the Centre would be repealing the three farm laws it had legislated last September.
PM Modi takes cognisance of contuing farmer protests, announce withdrawal of three farm laws
On the 19th of November, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi addressed the nation at 9 AM. Addressing the nation, PM Modi thanked the millions of farmers who appreciated the farm laws, which were introduced after due deliberation and with honest intentions. PM Modi made a startling announcement saying that the government had decided to, however, repeal the 3 farm laws that were passed for the benefit of the farmers.
PM Modi, addressing the nation said that by the end of this month, the Modi government would complete the process of repealing the three farm laws. He then appealed to the protesting farmers and middlemen to return to their homes on this Gurupurab and stop their protest. He further said that the government will form a committee to formulate laws for the benefit of the farmers.
He further said that the government had introduced the laws after due deliberation but perhaps it was the shortcoming of the government that they could not convince all farmers that the laws were indeed in their benefit. Further, he said that the past governments had deliberated on these laws as well but it was the Modi government that had implemented them.
Since last November, a section of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and some parts of western Uttar Pradesh, had been protesting against the enactment of the reform laws that granted farmers with more opportunities to sell their produce, greater transparency and eliminating the need for middlemen.
The government insisted that the previous mechanism will continue to remain in place, but this did not generate enough confidence among the protesters, who steadfastly squatted on public roads leading to the national capital, demanding the rollback of the three farm laws. With the protest continuing for about 12 months, PM Modi and the Centre gave in to the obstinacy of the protesters, who were arguably headed by a bunch of self-serving opportunists trying to remain relevant in the changing political landscape.
The primary bone of contention for the last 12 months had been the three farm laws. The farmers and the Centre were both ready to strike compromises on other fronts but on the issue of farm laws, either of them had remained resolute on their stand. Nevertheless, the government took cognisance of the continuing stalemate between the authorities and the protesters and grasped the nettle of withdrawing the farm laws after failing to convince the farmers of its benefits.
The invalidation of the three farm laws opened a pandora’s box, emboldening the detractors to pursue the policy of pressurising the government to accept their other demands. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait came up with another set of demands, including a guarantee on MSP, withdrawal of cases against protesters, inter alia and announced that the protests will continue so long as all their demands are not met.
After repealing farm laws, Centre accedes to farmers’ demands of decriminalising stubble burning
On Saturday, two days before the Parliamentary session is to begin, the Agriculture Minister said some of the demands made by the farmers are met. Among them, the most pernicious one is the decriminalisation of stubble burning or Jashn-e-Parali as it is pejoratively referred to as on social media.
With the farm laws repealed, the Centre demonstrated its willingness to go back on its reforms in order to accommodate the demands of a section of protesting citizens. The onus was now on the farmers to prove that they will hold up to their side of the bargain and end the anarchy and chaos that had characterised their protests ever since they began. Instead, emboldened by the Centre’s decision to repeal the three laws, the farmers pressed hard for others demands to be fulfilled as well.
And surprisingly, the government once again succumbed to the pressure. It agreed to decriminalise stubble burning, notwithstanding the fact that stubble burning by farmers in north India has been cited as one of the primary reasons for the unbreathable air in the Delhi-NCR region. Even the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to hold talks with farmers on stubble burning. Yet, the government agreed to farmers’ demand and decriminalised stubble burning. Imposing penalty or punishment for stubble burning was the only bargaining chip the Centre had in their discussions with the farmers that defied the government’s directives and continued burning stubble.
Until now, the criminalisation had served as a subduing effect to a certain extent in dissuading farmers from taking to stubble burning. However, now there is practically no incentive or legal precepts to stop the farmers from indulging in burning stubble or having talks over it with the Centre. They can continue their defiant actions and have a deleterious impact on northern India’s air quality without having to face any legal repercussions.
The need for the Centre to change the rules of engagement
This is certainly not how the government should be presiding over negotiations with a side that has shown utter disregard of the rule of law and has demonstrated no moral scruples to use coercion and intimidatory tactics to pressurise its opponents. The union govt had agreed to decriminalise stubble burning and withdrew Electricity Amendment hoping that farmer organisations will agree to the three farm laws. But that didn’t happen, and the central govt is in a lossing position now. It took back important legislations to convince protestors on the farm laws, but now have withdrawn the farm laws too.
Now that the government has taken back farm laws, should it not also take back all the concessions it had granted to the farmers in their efforts to win their support on the agriculture laws? Should it not revert to the pre-farm bills stage on all laws pertaining to farmers? Ideally, the govt should again criminalise stubble burning, and bring back the electricity amendment, as the farmers didn’t agree to any of the decisions of the central govt.
Negotiations are tough balancing acts, which are won when done from the position of strength. If the Centre thinks they are going to placate farmers by acceding to all their demands, they are in for a rude awakening. Their demands will continue to swell, regardless of the Centre’s generosity in humouring them. If the government is committed to abolishing hidebound agricultural practices and ushering the sector in an era of reforms, it needs to take tough decisions. And the first step towards it would be changing the rules of engagement with implacable holdouts, and not caving in to the pressure imposed by them.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is unlikely to attend the opposition parties’ meeting called by the Congress on November 29, as the party is learnt to be disinterested in coordinating with the Congress. The Congress party has called the meeting to plan a joint strategy against the BJP led ruling NDA during the Winter Session of the parliament, especially on the issue of farmers’ protest.
But there is nothing unusual in such a refusal since barely a few days back Mamata Banerjee had given a blunt reply when asked why she did not meet Congress national president Sonia Gandhi.
TMC has announced to hold its national coordination committee meeting on November 29 at the residence of Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. TMC will coordinate with other opposition parties against the government during the winter session but not under the leadership and instruction of the Congress.
The TMC is likely to raise the issue of repealing farm laws, Maximum Support Price for agricultural products, the extension of tenures of ED and CBI directors, BSF’s increased jurisdiction, the alleged weakening of the federal structure, fuel prices and others.
The Bengal-based party headed by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been trying to replace the Congress to lead the opposition against the BJP.
The PTI has quoted TMC leaders saying that Mamata Banerjee will maintain distance with the Congress party. TMC has asked the Congress leadership to resolve issues within their party and then think of coordinating with other opposition parties.
“We are disinterested in coordinating with the Congress during the winter session. Congress leaders should first coordinate among themselves. They should set their own house in order and then think about coordinating with other camps,” a TMC leader was quoted saying.
However, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Congress will try to bring all opposition parties together in Parliament.
The Bengal victory has fueled the prime ministerial ambition of Mamata Banerjee and she has been trying to expand the footprints of her party beyond Bengal. She has poached on several Congress leaders.
In Meghalaya, former Congress chief minister Mukul Sangma and 11 other Congress MLAs joined the TMC. In Assam, Sushmita Dev deserted the Congress to join TMC. In Goa, Mamata Banerjee managed former Goa Chief Minister and Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro to join her party. President of Haryana Congress committee Ashok Tanwar recently joined the TMC along with Kirti Azad. All these have inflicted a heavy loss to the Congress party.
Snub to Sonia Gandhi and Congress
This is a clear indication that Mamata Banerjee is not going to accept the Congress and Sonia Gandhi as the face of opposition. Very recently TMC mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’ had said that not Sonia Gandhi but Mamata Banerjee is the face of the opposition parties.
When the Congress faced massive desertion in Meghalaya, the Jago Bangla called the Congress ‘incompetent and ‘incapable’ of keeping its flock together. TMC has kept attacking the Congress and termed it a party indulged in armchair politics having no interest to hit the street against the BJP. It further said that the Congress party has limited itself to Twitter space and was not bothered about building strong opposition alliances.
On November 25, Mamata Banerjee visited Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But she did not meet Sonia Gandhi and when asked she didn’t meet the Congress president, she said that meeting Sonia Gandhi was not constitutionally mandated. “Why should we meet Sonia every time? It is not constitutionally mandated,” she had said.
Karnataka Police have busted a loan racket run by two Chinese Nationals who were involved in fraudulent money transactions and gave loans to people at exorbitant processing fees and unreasonably high interest rates. The accused involved in the loan racket also harassed the customers after giving out large amounts of loans for violating ‘laws’. The cops have arrested two Indian employees of the firm in the matter.
#Karnataka police have busted a racket allegedly run by #Chinese nationals, who gave loans at exorbitant rates and harassed and humiliated the customers for ‘violation’ of laws, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Sandeep Patil said. pic.twitter.com/WQRPbBt4AO
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Sandeep Patil informed on Friday that the Chinese Nationals were running a firm that gave out loans at high rates to people. The customers who took the loans from the Chinese Nationals were then harassed and told that they had broken ‘laws’.
Patil said that the investigation revealed that the Chinese Nationals running the racket had opened bank accounts using the names of their Indian staff. He said that the accused used these bank accounts with Indian names to make fraudulent transactions and transfer crores of rupees to China. The racket was run under the name of Licorice Technology Private Limited in Marathalli, Bengaluru. According to Zaubacorp, the two directors of the company are Shaik Abdul Rasheed and Ankita Karamchand Loya.
As per reports, Central Crime Branch (CCB) Economic Offences Wing had carried out a raid at the offices of Licorise Technology Pvt. Ltd. in Munnekolala and busted a network consisting of around 52 companies registered in benami names run by the Chinese Nationals. The two accused arrested were identified as HR executive Kamaraj More (25) and team leader Darshan Chouhan (21).
The firm used applications like Cash Master and Crazy Rupees to provide short-term loans and demanded large amounts as processing fees of the loans which were almost half the amount of loans being granted.
Further, the investigation revealed that the names of the employees working for the firm Licorise Technology Pvt. Ltd. were used to open bank accounts and then companies were registered in the name of those employees. The Chinese nationals had collected documents such as Aadhaar and PAN cards from the staff and had registered 5-6 companies in their names. As many as 52 companies were registered in the names of the staff and accounts were opened in private banks. The interest paid by the borrowers was credited to these accounts. Police said that as per preliminary investigation, crores of rupees have been sent to China through online transfers from these accounts.
A senior police official said, “The employees were given incentives to open an ‘account’ in their name, to which many willingly volunteered. But unknown to them, companies were registered in their names which in turn were indulging in illegal loan grant and recovery. A maze of firms registered in various benami names have been created to ensure the real owner, Chinese nationals, are hidden.”
Reportedly, the companies acted as middlemen in securing those loans and had ties with RBI registered Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). The official said, “The companies do not even offer loans. They are only a middleman. They get loans granted from NBFCs, cheat the customers charging almost 50% as processing fee and later charge hefty weekly interest, barred by law. Thus on the loan principal provided by Indian NBFCs, the debtors are also cheated, harassed for recovery and the windfall is transferred out of the country to China.”
Police said that while two persons have been arrested and 83 computers seized, efforts are on to nab the absconding Chinese nationals.
CCB will seek the help of the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department, Department of Goods and Services Tax, Reserve Bank of India and Register of Companies for further investigation of the case.
Caravan Editor Hartosh Singh Bal, speaking at the Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum’s event on Saturday, declared that the incumbent NDA Government is “unconstitutional”. While Hartosh Singh Bal did not elaborate on the reasons in any significant manner, the verdict appears to be largely based on ’emotions’ and ‘feelings’.
According to the Caravan Editor, the Government is “unconstitutional” even though it was elected democratically. Apparently, the Government is “outside the spirit of the constitution.”
Hartosh Singh Bal: Just because a government happens to be democratically elected, doesn’t make it constitutional. I frankly consider this government virtually unconstitutional, lying outside the spirit of the constitution. #Constitution
Such declarations obviously carry dangerous implications. If a Government is unconstitutional and illegitimate, then the use of violence to remove it is justified. It is the logic that is regularly used by liberals to justify political violence. For instance, in the United States of America, liberals attempted to normalise ‘punching a Nazi’. A ‘Nazi’ was obviously any supporter of Donald Trump, which effectively meant any Republican.
Bal uses a similar tactic here, attempting to brand the NDA Government unconstitutional so that more and more drastic measures can be used to remove it from power. Such a mentality is also why Trinamool Congress has been able to persecute its political opponents with impunity without any condemnation from the mainstream media.
Social media did not receive his comments too kindly either. They slammed Hartosh Singh Bal for undermining the legitimacy of a government elected by the citizens of the country.
Who cares what you consider as constitutional and unconstitutional? If 303 seats can’t convince you constitutionality, nothing can. https://t.co/AhL1u5hAQz
Bal’s bigotry is well documented. A few years ago, in 2017, Hartosh Singh Bal had said that Article 35A should be removed but ‘Twitter Brahmins’ should be left there without state security. Since then, Article 370 has been removed and this year, we have seen targeted attacks against the civilian population in Kashmir, something that Bal appears to have hoped for in 2017.
Bal also spoke on the role of the media. He said, “As a nation becomes surer of itself, the role of the media must become of questioning the government.” Unsurprisingly, the digital platform he is associated with has a history of spreading malicious fake news.
The Caravab had claimed that Republic Day rioter Navreet Singh had died due a bullet fired by the Delhi Police but it was later confirmed by a panel of doctors that he did not die due to a bullet. The rioter had died after a tractor had overturned, killing him in the process.
Another Caravan editor Vinod K Jose had falsely claimed that Coronavirus tests are not free in India. Thus, quite clearly, the digital platform Bal is associated with has a terrible relationship with truth. Frustrated with the electoral dominance of the BJP, he appears to have tasted blood with the repeal of the farm laws. Continuing in his trajectory, he has decided to declare the government itself as unconstitutional.
The Malaysian government has expressed concerns over the increasing migration of Bangladeshi workers to the country, reportedThe Free Malaysia Today. According to Human Resources Minister M Saravanan, Malaysia might turn into a ‘dumping ground’ if the influx of Bangladeshi citizens remained unchecked. The development came at the backdrop of the request by the Bangladeshi government to increase the number of permitted labour recruitment agencies from Bangladesh to 2000 from 10. He informed that both the nations have been discussing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for over a year, pertaining to labour recruitment.
While raising his objections against the proposed approval of 2000 labour recruitment agencies, M Saravanan emphasised, “If so many agencies (from there) want to send their foreign workers here, Malaysia could become a dumping ground…Before this, 10 companies could bring in foreign labour from Bangladesh. (While) I do believe it has to be expanded to more than 10, the situation has to be controlled.”
The Malaysian HRD Minister informed that a final decision on the proposed MoU will be taken within 2 weeks, after necessary deliberations in the Cabinet. He informed that he has received a final draft of the MoU and he will bring it up to the Cabinet.
In September 2018, the Malaysian government had suspended the Foreign Employee Application System (SPPA) for Bangladeshi workers, which only allowed the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers by 10 selected agencies. After that, negotiations between the two countries had started on the subject of an increase in the number of agencies, which lasted around two years. Bangladesh has proposed to increase the number of recruitment agencies to 2000, which the Malaysian Human Resources Minister is objecting to.
Under the previous system, Bangladeshi workers reportedly had to fork out up to RM20,000 (Rs 3.54 lakh) per person to pay agents to facilitate work permit approvals and other arrangements to work in Malaysia. This system is also being reformed now.
M Saravanan added that his government was focused on preventing forced labour, withholding of wages, excessive overtime and abusive working conditions. He said that an online platform named the Working for Workers (WFW) app was launched to register the grievances of workers. He concluded that action had been taken in 95% of the total 12000 complaints.
The minister also informed that the Malaysian government has agreed to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Protocol 29, the protocol to the Forced Labour Convention. “The government has also endorsed Malaysia’s participation as a Pathfinder country under the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Alliance 8.7,” he said.
Kerala has long preened itself for being India’s most literate state. According to the 2011 census, almost 96.11 per cent of males and 92.07 per cent of females were literate in the state. But that was 10 years ago.
Over the years, India’s most literate state has also endowed the world with several Islamic clerics, whose proclamations, sometimes absurd but most of the times bigoted, have belied the spectacular literacy rates that the state and its residents have often bragged about. This is, of course, not to say that the emergence of these Islamic preachers in Kerala is a recent phenomenon. In all probability, they and others like them might have been active in Kerala for decades. But the advent of social media has undoubtedly played a huge role in bringing them into prominence, and in the process, also shedding light on where the country’s most literate state is heading towards.
Here’s a list of Muslim clerics from Kerala who have risen to prominence on account of their absurd and sometimes highly bigoted comments. The only consistency that lies in their distinctly preposterous and irrational utterances is their tendency to attribute the remarks to their holy scriptures.
‘Those who don’t chant “Bismi” while having sex run the risk of transmitting the devil through penis’: Islamic preacher in Kerala in a viral video
Recently, a three-year-old video of a Muslim cleric from Kerala had swept the internet by storm. In the video, the cleric says it is important for men to chant “Bismi” while having sex, otherwise they stand the risk of transmitting “Satan” into the female’s body through their penis.
Imam from Kerala: “Husband should recite #Bismi before having sex with his wife otherwise the Satan hiding in his sexual organ will enter his Wife”!!pic.twitter.com/UeQLkhRNHQ
The cleric says those who fail to chant “Bismi” while having sex pose the danger of transferring Satan(Devil) from his body to his partner’s body. He also said that babies born from such encounters would resemble Satan.
‘Shopping malls are haram because women might visit beauty parlours and look at other men‘: Islamic “scholar” Hussain Salafi
There is no dearth of Islamic “scholars” in Kerala who would make senseless remarks citing their religious scriptures. Hussain Salafi, an Islamic “scholar” from Kerala recently stated that Muslims should stay away from malls because Allah does not like malls. As per a report by Janam TV, Hussain Salafi said that men and women roam together in malls and Allah dislikes malls.
The Islamic scholar added that Muslims should boycott malls. He asserted that Allah’s favourite places are mosques.
Salafi further added that women who visit malls also visit beauty parlours. Malls see visitors and shoppers from different cultures who wear all different kinds of dresses. “These are the children of the devil”, Salafi added, Muslims who visit malls are tarnishing the image of the whole community.
Woman with big breasts available in Paradise’, ‘Hoors do not urinate or defecate’:Kerala Maulana’s X-rated vision of paradise stirs controversy
Another Muslim cleric in Kerala gave a titillating description of what constitutes Paradise. Maulana EP Abubakar Qasmi, in one of his speeches, had recounted the advantages of being a Muslim and revealed what Muslims get in ‘Jannat’ or paradise. According to EP Abubakar Qasmi, who gave Islamic speeches in Malayalam, ‘women with big breasts’ are found in paradise. Protests ensued after the offensive language was used by Maulana Qasmi on women as his speeches are popular with Muslims on social media.
Maulana Qasmi further claimed that rivers of wine flow in paradise along with gardens and big bungalows. He went on and said that the women who were in Allah’s paradise neither urinated nor defecated. He also added that Muslims going to Paradise get the privilege of sitting in the lap of the ‘Hoors’ there.
According to reports, the Maulana said, “If a Muslim going to Paradise needs women with big breasts, then Allah gives them the ‘hoor’ of their choice. In Paradise, Allah has made a river of wine, and those who live there have full permission to swim. There is no restriction on drinking wine because it is Allah who has created the river of wine.” However, in general, alcohol is considered haram in Islam and consuming it is prohibited.
‘Universal Red cross symbol and the Rod of Asclepius symbol are un-Islamic’: Kerala’s Salafi preacher Abdul Muhsin Aydeed
Back in 2017, another Islamic cleric from Kerala had cooked up a bit of a storm after he has declared that the universal Red cross symbol and the Rod of Asclepius symbol used extensively in the medical field are un-Islamic.
As per a TOI report, a controversial Salafi preacher named Abdul Muhsin Aydeed, in a write-up titled, “Some Islamic Advice to Doctors”, has suggested that Muslim doctors should not use such symbols as they are against the monotheism in Islam.
This write-up was reportedly carried by a Facebook page named Alaswala, Aydeed has claimed that the red cross signifies the concept of trinity in Christians. This as per Aydeed is the worst form of polytheism and is the most detested sin in Islam.
Coming to the Rod of Asclepius (serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius), he called it a belief which destroys Thouheed (monotheism), Islam’s cardinal principle and hence should be kept at arm’s length. He then urged Muslim doctors to avoid all the signs and slogans which are against Islam
‘Women who go out after 9 pm are prostitutes, they deserve to be raped’: Islamic cleric Swalih Bathery
Absurdity is not the only forte of the Islamic clerics in Kerala. Some of them indulge in blatant religious bigotry and misogyny to boot. In a video that had gone viral in July this year, Maulana Swalih Bathery, a famous cleric in Kerala, was heard saying that those women going out at night after 9 PM are nothing but prostitutes, and they should be killed.
In the controversial video, Salih reportedly justified rapist Govindachamy who had raped and killed a girl named Soumya in 2011. The cleric criticised the judgement and the judge who heard the Soumya case. According to Swalih, Govindachamy had said that he raped Soumya because she was travelling at night, and according to him, every girl travelling at night was a prostitute.
Soumya, who worked at a mall in Ernakulam, was attacked and robbed when she was returning home by train by serial offender Govindachamy. Govindachamy jumped off the train after her, hit her with a stone and raped her. The victim had died five days later.
Muslim preacher in Kerala asks Class 12 students to kill those who leave Islam
In June 2021, an undated video of a Muslim cleric advocating murders of apostates had gone viral on the internet. In the viral video, Shafi Saadi Kumaramputtur, a teacher of the Samastha Kerala Sunni education board preached that anyone who leaves the religion of Islam should be killed.
While taking an online session of class 12 students, Shafi Saadi can be heard saying, “If someone quits Islam/religion then what is his fate? Islam asks him to repent, still, if he does not repent then he needs to be killed by the ruler or who is responsible.”
“Is that violence? No. But it is to remind the followers of Islam that what is the consequence of leaving the religion and how he will be treated after death. He will go to hell,” Shafi Saadi preached further.
Controversial Islamic preacher Mujahid Balussery asks people to turn Kerala into an Islamic Caliphate
Last year, controversial Islamic preacher Mujahid Balussery had attracted the wrath of the public after he made a clarion call for Muslims to turn Kerala into an Islamic state in the next 10 years.
In one of his provocative videos that had gone viral on the Internet, Balussery was allegedly heard calling out “Mujahid”(Arabic term for Jihadis) to turn Kerala into a caliphate. He had said in the video of sending all the Muslims of Kerala to Mujahid mosques just on Fridays to turn Kerala into an Islamic State in 10 years.
He had further added, “We have a duty to perform here. If we close down some of the other Muslim religious branches in Kerala and bring them under Mujahids, we can turn Kerala into Islamic State within 10 years. A man can be morally perfect in every way but will be denied heaven if he worships other gods. Because saying ‘Guruvayurappa save me’ is shirk and is a bigger sin than adultery, homosexuality or lending money for interest and the person will go to hell.”
Earlier too, the controversial leader had made disparaging remarks against Hinduism and Hindu festivals and made an abominable comparison of Hindu temples with brothels.
“If you donate money to a Hindu temple or festival, you’re encouraging shirk, which is the gravest sin. You wouldn’t donate money to a brothel or a pub,” the preacher had said in a video that surfaced in 2017 and which had triggered angry reactions from Hindus.
Movie production was hit hard by the pandemic. Theatres and multiplexes were closed for months, and several movies were released on OTT platforms. However, hoping that the dropping COVID-19 cases and the festival season would bring back movie buffs to the theatres, Bollywood producers started returning to India’s big screens.
Akshay Kumar starter Sooryavanshi (Descendants of the Sun) became the first Bollywood film to premiere in theatres since March 2020. Ever since its release, the police drama is rocking the box office. The film continues to earn money even in the third week of its release. As of 25 November 2021, the film grossed Rs 220.13 crores in India and Rs 59.13 crores overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of Rs 279.26 crores. Inching steadily towards becoming a blockbuster, ‘Suryavanshi’ is soon going to join the 300 crore club. The movie is slated to release on Netflix in the first week of December.
Having said that, Salman Khan and his brother-in-law Aayush Sharma’s film ‘Antim: The Final Truth’ is clearly lacking at the box office on its first day itself.
While drawing a comparison between the box office collections of the two movies, film trade analyst Manobala Vijaybalan Tweeted that Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar’s high-octane drama had earned 190.06 crores in the first week. In the next two weeks, the film did a business of 66.66 crores and 281.62 crores respectively.
The spectacular performances of Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Ajay Devgan, and Katrina Kaif drew audiences to the theatres like magnets. Despite being termed Islamobophic by the usual set of liberals, the technique, the acting, backed by its powerful storyline has kept the audiences enthralled. This is the reason why the film’s box office success continues even as the movie completes its third week. Seeing the trend, it will be safe to assume that Akshay Kumar’s film, the fourth film in director Rohit Shetty’s cop franchise, will be successful in pulling the crowd even in the fourth week.
Meanwhile, according to the Boxofficeindia website, Salman Khan’s ‘Antim: The Final Truth,’ which was released on November 26, has so far only crossed a meagre figure of Rs 4.25- 4.50 crores. Though it is hoped that the box office collection will rise during the coming weekend, the film is unlikely to reach the levels attained by Sooryavanshi due to its poor start.
Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, ‘Antim: The Final Truth’ is a remake of the Marathi film ‘Mulshi Pattern’, in which Salman Khan plays a Sikh cop. Given the film’s sluggish start at the box office, it really isn’t surprising if it follows in the footsteps of Salman Khan’s previous film, Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, which was released on the OTT platform Zee Cineplex in May of this year, and was considered a flop. Prior to this, Salman Khan starrer, ‘Bharat,’ which was released on the occasion of Eid on June 5, 2019, had also failed to impress the audience.
On Thursday, November 25, a member of the Hindu Raksha Dal was brutally attacked in Vijaynagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Deepak Kumar Tewatia, a resident of Pratap Vihar, was getting his scooty fixed at a shop near the Jeevan Jyoti hospital in the city when a group of Muslim youths led by one Faheem launched an attack on him in broad daylight.
The video of the alleged assault was widely shared on social media. Responding to one such video, the Ghaziabad police in a Tweet on November 26 informed that the police had taken cognisance of the case and a case under relevant sections of the IPC had been registered at the Vijayanagar police station. Thye said that the main accused had been arrested on the basis of the video and legal proceedings are underway.
उक्त प्रकरण के संबंध में थाना विजयनगर पर सुसंगत धाराओं में अभियोग पंजीकृत कर वैधानिक कार्यवाही करते हुए मुख्य अभियुक्त को गिरफ्तार किया गया है तथा वीडियो के आधार पर अन्य अभियुक्तगण की पहचान करते हुए वैधानिक कार्यवाही प्रचलित है ।
According to a media report, the assault was motivated by a long-standing animosity between the main accused Faheem and victim Deepak Kumar. The report quoted a police officer as saying that according to one Yogendra Mallik, Faheem had gotten into a battle with some Hindu youth two to three years ago. Deepak Kumar had intervened and advocated on behalf of the Hindu youth at the time. This enraged Faheem, who ultimately avenged that insult on November 25.
As per the report, not only did the miscreants assault the Hindu Raksha Dal member but they also damaged his scooty and broke his phone.
Following the incident, Hindu Raksha Dal members gheraoed the Vijaynagar police station. They demonstrated for more than two hours, demanding that the criminals be apprehended. It was reported that the members of the organisation only stopped protesting when three persons were detained by the Vijaynagar police.
Media report on the incident
In a video statement, the Hindu Raksha Dal stated that the main accused- Faheem is an anti-Hindu and already has 7-8 similar cases registered against him. The organization’s Vijaynagar branch spokesperson further stated that Deepak Kumar Tewatia had previously spoken out against Faheem’s misdeeds, as a result of which the latter orchestrated this well-planned attack against Deepak. He thanked the authorities for their timely intervention as a result of which three accused have been arrested and sent to jail. He assured that the other assailants seen in the video have also been identified and efforts are on to nab them.
The video of the incident was obtained by OpIndia in which the Hindu Raksha Dal Mahanagar president Deepak Kumar Tewatia is seen being waylaid by a group of assailants who push him off his bike before launching the attack on him. They blow punches at him and kick him as he falls on the road. Deepak Kumar mourns in pain, while the assaulters continue to kick him.
The bystanders are seen recording the act but none come forward to save the Hindu Raksha Dal member.
OpIndia is also in possession of the copy of the FIR registered in the case, according to which the incident occurred at around 4 pm on Wednesday, November 25, when the victim went to a shop to get his scooty repaired. The assailants who have been named in the FIR are Faheem, Shahrukh, Saddam, Zeeshan, Arshad alias JP, Sahil and a few others who are yet to be unidentified. The FIR has been registered under IPC Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 307 (attempt to murder) and 427 (mischief causing damage).
A copy of the FIR filed at Vijaynagar police station A copy of the FIR filed at Vijaynagar police station A copy of the FIR filed at Vijaynagar police station
The victim said in the FIR that the accused approached him while he was getting his scooter repaired at a mechanic shop. The accused began beating him and even before he could realise what was happening with him, they pinned him to the ground and were trying to strangulate him when the gathered crowd started shouting. His father Ranveer Singh and Pallav Chouhan reached the spot. Seeing the crowd swell, the accused fled. They told Deepak as they were leaving that if it hadn’t been for the public, they would have murdered him.
The Hindu Raksha Dal Mahanagar president was fighting causes like ‘love jihad’ which irked the Muslims in the area
On the condition of anonymity, one of the Hindu Raksha Dal’s members told OpIndia that the Hindu Raksha Dal has always been steadfast in its fight against issues like love jihad and likewise, Deepak Kumar Tewatia, being the organisation’s district President was also lawfully fighting against such issues in his locality. Many concerned Hindus used to visit Deepak and he would solicit the support of the police to help these victims get justice. Due to some similar incidents in the past, these Muslim youths were displeased and planned an attack on him.
The perpetrators had come prepared to kill Deepak Kumar, according to the source, but because the incident occurred in the middle of a crowded street and there were so many people present at the time of the assault, the assailants were compelled to leave him and run.
He said that the organisation was satisfied with how the Uttar Pradesh police handled the case and quickly nabbed three accused. He expressed confidence that the other accused would also be arrested soon.
