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Why we need not be apologetic about the Munawar saga: Cancel culture is here to stay, non-left just needs to get better at it

Nupur J Sharma
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Why we need not be apologetic about the Munawar saga: Cancel culture is here to stay, non-left just needs to get better at it

The liberal ecosystem has come together, yet again, to slit their wrists digitally after the Hindu fascists have, yet again, done something that they don’t particularly like. The synchronised beating of the chest is quite something to watch from afar – they bitch and they moan and they curse, stomping their feet like petulant children who have just about realised that they are not the only bullies in the schoolyard. The trigger this time was 12 shows of Munawar Faruqui being cancelled in the past 2 months. Sacrilege, they say. How dare Hindus take umbrage to Munawar mocking 58 of them being burnt alive? The left spend decades telling us we heathens deserve to die. How dare the illiterate cow-belt-walas develop a hint of self-respect?

Munawar, back in February, had claimed that he would quit comedy after some of his shows had been cancelled, post his offensive “jokes” going viral. What he did, instead, was release another video mocking those who had threatened to disrupt his shows, made some more unsavoury remarks and continued his “shows”. He played victim, said it was never his intention to “hurt feelings”, that he wants unity and laughs and giggle and those opposing him were “spreading hate”.

To bring some perspective, let us remember what he did – he mocked Bhagwan Ram and Devi Sita. Worse? He mocked the Godhra train burning where Jihadis murdered 58 Hindus – including women and children.

“I apologise to my fans”, he said. “Munawar Faruqui is not LEAVING comedy. Munawar Faruqui is LIVING comedy”, he said.

Fair enough. He re-asserted his right to mock 58 Hindus burnt alive, called those opposing him hate-mongers and vowed to continue doing what he was doing after he had been arrested and released for his “art”.

Hindus, on their part (not the ones laughing at his bile), decided enough was enough.

Long story short, 12 cancelled shows later, Liberals took to Twitter to shame Hindus and claim that “fascists had won” because we stifled Munawar’s “freedom of expression and his right to earn a living”.

Shekhar Gupta’s Print claimed that “hate had won”. Rana Ayyub, who would just as soon piss on the dead skulls of Hindus “apologised to Munawar” (presumable for not being to tarnish and discredit the Hindu society enough in all these years), some NDTV journalist begged Munawar to not quit and asked, emphatically, “What is the condition of freedom when laughter is seen as a threat?” and media khatoon, black tent enthusiast and jihadi sympathiser (I am being legally safe here) Arfa Sherwani of The Wire said that Hindu thugs were trying to “break Munawar” because “he made people laugh”.

In general, apart from the wails of Muslims being persecuted and freedom of expression being suppressed, the narrative that truly made me chuckle was the Left getting together in a probably drug-infused huddle and deciding to whine about “cancel culture”, an art that the left had mastered over the decades.

Modern-day “cancel culture” often starts with calling out individuals for societally problematic behaviour. The call-out then swells to mass action where ideologically aligned individuals actively work towards culturally blocking that person from having a prominent public platform or career.

When did modern society become so obsessed with the phrase cancel culture? Where did it start?

In the digital village, nothing can indicate collective interest in a societal phenomenon better than understanding when Google search for that particular phenomenon peaked, especially, when the phenomenon we are talking about is one that only the Urban elites concern themselves with.

“Cancel Culture” as a phrase gained notoriety in June 2020. We can’t say that is when the the phenomenon started, but that is when, it would seem, the world got interested in it.

Google search trends

So what really happened in June-July 2020? The Cancel Culture debate was peaking in the USA. In July 2020, Former US President Donald Trump criticized cancel culture in a speech July 2020, comparing it to totalitarianism and saying that it is a political weapon used to punish and shame dissenters by driving them from their jobs and demanding submission. He was criticized as being hypocritical for having attempted to “cancel” a number of things in the past himself.

In India too, the search for the term “cancel culture” peaked at the exact same time as the US.

Google search trends

It was in June 2020 that Harry Potter author JK Rowling was “cancelled” by the Woke cabal for her “transphobic” views. What had she said? Rowling tweeted an article whose headline read, ‘Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate.’ She wrote while tweeting the article, “People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” That is it. All hell broke loose and she was cancelled right around the time the search for these keywords peaked.

Yes. Cancel Culture, at least the global interest in this phenomenon, peaked when Wokes of the US decided that it was a cardinal sin to say that only women menstruate. Men can menstruate too. If not, at least let’s not say it. It might hurt the feelings of those men who THINK they can menstruate and in this post-woke world, feelings matter far more than biological facts.

But I digress.

So we have established that modern cancel culture was popularised and weaponised by the Left to ensure that the rest of the world toes their line. In India too, we have seen numerous people lose their jobs, companies lose funding and people being jailed because a digital mob of Leftist zombies decided that the person concerned had hurt their feelings. One recalls how Neeraj Chopra got cancelled after winning gold for India simply because the Left stumbled upon old tweets where he had supported PM Modi, a narrative that the Left does not tolerate. Atul Kochar’s life was ruined simply because he stated a fact – Hindus have been terrorised by Islam. Liberals offered him up to Islamic fundamentalists. Forget cancel culture, they even celebrated the death of Rohit Sardana, used state machinery to get Arnab Goswami arrested (and then celebrated it), celebrated the state govt demolishing Kangana Ranaut’s house and much more.

Why then is the Left’s posterior hurt when the non-Left takes their weapon and runs with it?

Essentially, the Left, after weaponising cancel culture, is now ruing the fact that the non-left is learning to play the game by the rules set by them. Cancel Culture cannot really be successful unless one has institutional support. You need an entire establishment that will back your calls for a boycott. If not, the calls are just that – calls to boycott that often fail because it is done on an individual level.

In India, or anywhere in the world, the government in power and the establishment are completely different. In India, while the Modi government is in power with a brute majority, the academia, the corporate money, the civil society, activists etc belong to the Left. Therefore, often, when the Left wants to cancel someone, they have institutional support to end someone’s career. They will lose their job. They will lose their social capital. They will lose everything.

The non-Left, with no institutional support, mostly displays impotent rage. They whine on Twitter, call for an individual boycott that often fails to work. The non-left rhetoric against cancel culture comes from a place of helplessness. They try and they fail because the institutions are simply not there to coordinate the cancelling of someone. They want “cancel culture” cancelled because they can’t do it as well as the Left.

Essentially, cancel culture is not going anywhere. Since time immemorial, traditional societies have used cancel culture to ensure that societal norms are enforced on the errant. Law enforcement often gets involved after the fact, but before the crime is committed and societal norms are shattered, the society uses the threat of ostracisation to ensure that members of the community stay in check. If there is a rapist in the community, they will simply not get invites to weddings, community events, dinners etc, The entire family becomes persona non grata, thereby giving members of the society to respect the lines drawn by the community collectively.

In the Munawar Faruqui case, the non-Left managed to take one step forward. On the group, the VHP and Bajrang Dal mobilised themselves and ensured that online outrage translates to real-life ramifications. FIRs were filed, the “comedian” spent some time in jail and organisations distanced themselves from Munawar because they simply did not want to the headache of an impending backlash.

The Left today is cribbing about the non-Left, perhaps for the first time in a long time, succeeding in using a method that has been weaponised by the Left itself in the modern-day. Munawar Faruqui committed the sin of mocking the faith of 80% of the Indian population. He further committed the sin of mocking the brutal murder of 58 Hindus, including infants, by Jihadis. Society has every right to ostracise him and impose real-life costs so others learn their lesson and keep themselves in check.

It is entirely possible that Munawar will be now turned into a martyr for the Left cause. He will get shows in the Kennedy Centre and be hailed as the Muslim man who bore the brunt of the Hindu fascists and lived to tell the tale. Should that matter to the non-Left? Should we then cower and let these infractions go? Should we say, “If we react, he will be turned into a hero? Let us simply let this go. He is a nobody right now”?

Absolutely not.

Just because we haven’t mastered the art yet, there is no reason to stop practising, now, is there?

Instead of letting these infractions go, we need to get better at playing the game.. and winning.

We need to make our own heroes instead of ostracising them and ensure that create and use institutions to ensure that elements like Munawar are not turned into heroes by the Left.

It is the strength of the backlash that determines who becomes a hero and who is relegated to pages of history as a cautionary tale. The non-Left needs to create and use institutions, like the Left does, to ensure that elements like Munawar are used as a cautionary tale and not martyrs for the cause.

Website founded by Delhi govt’s Minorities Commission’s ex-chief virtually justifies people being burned alive at Godhra

OpIndia Staff
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Website founded by Delhi govt’s Minorities Commission’s ex-chief virtually justifies people being burned alive at Godhra

The cancellation of ‘comedian’ Munawar Faruqui’s show in Bengaluru has sent the liberal cabal into a tizzy. While the liberals are mourning the ‘freedom of expression’ of Munawar Faruqui, The Milli Gazette was found justifying the 2002 Godhra carnage where 58 Hindus returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive by a Muslim mob. Interestingly, The Milli Gazette is a Delhi based publication founded by the Delhi govt’s Minorities Commission’s ex-chief Zafarul Islam Khan.

The digital news publication in its effort to legitimize the mocking of the Godhra carnage by ‘comedian’ Munawar Faruqui insinuated that the mass murder of the Hindu was justified as they were ‘celebrating’ the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Milli Gazette’s Tweet posted on November 29 read: “Did Munawar comment that even if a puppy comes under his car he gets sad? What can be more dehumanising than this, Anand? Godhra was akin to Auschwitz? Wow, the Jews were attacking vendors/people on the train and on the stations to “celebrate” demolition of a religious building?”

The publication was responding to a Tweet by scientist and columnist Anand Ranganathan who slammed Manawar Faruqui for mocking the mass murder of the Hindus during the 2002 Godhra incident. He lambasted saying that “lampooning the 59 Hindu men, women & infants burnt alive at Godhra is akin to lampooning the gassing of Jews at Auschwitz by the Nazis.”

It may be noted that Milli Gazette which claims that it is there to “help Muslims get a stronger voice,” was founded in the year 2000 by Zafarul Islam Khan.

Zafarul Islam Khan, who had celebrated the hounding of Hindus in UAE, is the ex-chief of the Delhi Minority Commission, led by the Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital. Khan is currently the editor and publisher of The Milli Gazette.

Zafarul Islam had warned Indian Hindus about how ‘powerful’ his Muslim friends in Arab world are

Interestingly, Zafarul Islam Khan, the ex-chief of the Delhi Minority Commission. Khan, on May 1, 2020, was slapped with sedition for social media posts where he had praised the radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is wanted in India in cases involving money laundering and hate-mongering.

In his social media posts, Zafarul Islam had also ‘warned’ Indian Hindus, threatening them that Arab forces will bring ‘avalanche’ against ‘Hindutva bigots’ if Islamists in India complain to their co-religionists in the Arab world. “Mind you, bigots, Indian Muslims have opted until now not to complain to the Arab and Muslim world about your hate campaigns and lynchings and riots. The day they are pushed to do that, bigots will face avalanche,” he had added.

Zafarul Islam’s social media post

Milli Gazette’s open bigotry

Speaking about the Tweet by The Milli Gazette, it is problematic for more than one reason. Firstly, in its quest to support the ‘comedian’, the publication tries to vindicate the Muslim perpetrators by justifying the mass murder of 59 Hindus, including women and children during the 2002 Godhra carnage. More importantly, the publication shamelessly lies that the innocents Hindus, who were burnt alive in a train compartment by the Islamists in Godhra, were “celebrating the demolition of a religious building”.

The fact is that the demolition of Babri Masjid happened in the year 1992 and the Godhra incident happened a decade apart in 2002. So to say that the Hindus were ‘celebrating’ the demolition so the Islamists attacked them is, by far, one of the most ludicrous arguments one has heard in recent years.

This is, however, not surprising, considering this is what the so-called liberals have been doing for quite a while now. Many such ‘intellectuals’ have tried to whitewash the monstrosity of the Islamists by spreading blatant lies. Controversial writer-activist Arundhati Roy had in an event at Northwestern Law School in Chicago in 2013 described the event of Godhra train burning case as: “A train full of pilgrims coming back from the destruction of this Ayodhya mosque which was disputed. The train caught fire; nobody knows who set fire to the train and 57 pilgrims were burnt…”.

Because she was speaking to a foreign audience, she knew that she could get away with the shameless lie as no one would know that the Ayodhya mosque was demolished in 1992 and the Godhra train was burned in 2002.

This was not all. For years, liberals have demonised and accused Narendra Modi, who was the CM of Gujarat when the Godhra carnage happened, of inciting and encouraging riots. In 2010 a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team had given a clean chit to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots cases. Five years later, the report of the commission headed by Justice (retd) GT Nanavati, which probed the incident, had also given a clean chit to Narendra Modi.

Fake News and bigotry: How the Milli Gazette justified the massacre of Hindus in the Godhra train carnage

K Bhattacharjee
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Fake News and bigotry: How the Milli Gazette justified the massacre of Hindus in the Godhra train carnage

The Milli Gazette, which claims to be the leading newspaper for Indian Muslims, made a rather insensitive comment on social media on Monday. In response to a tweet from scientist Anand Ranganathan on Munawar Faruqui, Milli Gazette made bigoted comments against the victims of the Godhra massacre.

Milli Gazette justifies Godhra train massacre
Source: Twitter

The Islamist newspaper said, “Did Munawar comment that even if a puppy comes under his car he gets sad? What can be more dehumanising than this, Anand? Godhra was akin to Auschwitz? Wow, the Jews where attacking vendors/people on the train and on the stations to “celebrate” demolition of a religious building?”

There are multiple aspects of the bigotry exhibited by the Gazette which deserve greater attention.

Fake News about Godhra victims

Milli Gazette implies that the Godhra victims were celebrating the demolition of the Babri Masjid. It is patently untrue as the Babri was demolished in 1992 and the Godhra incident occurred 10 years later. The devotees had traveled to Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya in 2002 to pay their respect to Shri Rama and take part in a ceremony.

While returning, they boarded the Sabarmati Express to Ahmedabad. When the train reached Godhra, it was attacked by a Muslim mob. 59 Hindus had lost their lives in the massacre, including women and children. 31 people from the Muslim community were eventually convicted over the matter and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Thus, the claim that devotees were attacking people and vendors is an outrageous claim that is not backed by any evidence at all. Worse, it appears to be a clear attempt to malign the memory of the innocent men and women who lost their lives in the Islamist carnage.

Milli Gazette justifies massacre of Hindus

What the newspaper essentially did through its tweet is justify the massacre of Hindus in the Godhra incident. According to the Gazette, it appears that the massacre of innocent men, women and children is justified as long as Islamists can find some excuse.

In such a case, when there can be no justification, groups such as the Milli Gazette would go out of the way to invent excuses in their attempt to justify the same. It is a stark reminder of the very mindset that believes in the dehumanization of Hindus and does not consider them human simply due to their religious beliefs.

There were Hindu children who lost their lives in the massacre and yet, Islamists claim that they deserved it. Why? Simply because they were Hindus.

Groups like Milli Gazette normalise Hindu Genocide Denial

Genocide denial is a crime in many European countries. Denying that the Holocaust happened or that Adolf Hitler committed a genocide of Jews can be prosecuted under law. And yet, despite the centuries of persecution of the Hindu community and the mountain of empirical evidence, genocide denial has been the normal course of affairs for India since independence.

Marxist historians have invented a mythical narrative about India’s past where genocidal Mughal tyrants are considered beacons of tolerance who danced to Bhajans during their free time. People who speak up against genocide denial are considered ‘communal bigots’.

The largest opposition party in the country feels emboldened enough to glorify Mughal maniacs and other genocidal tyrants such as Tipu Sultan. What we see the Gazette doing here, justifying the massacre of Hindus, is only the logical consequence of a culture of genocide denial that has been established in the country.

This is why ‘comedians’ such as Munawar Faruqui believe it is perfectly permissible to mock the victims of the Godhra carnage. It is the same reason why Milli Gazette believes the massacre was justified. It is the same reason why liberals will tolerate and encourage such comments against the Hindu community.

There are some issues which are considered beyond the realms of comedy in most civilized societies. Massacre of innocent people is one of them. Not only do liberals defend such comments, they also provide cover to those who justify the massacre itself.

Sweden’s Lund University researcher faces prosecution for study that showed most rapes are committed by immigrants

OpIndia Staff
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Sweden’s Lund University researcher faces prosecution for study that showed most rapes are committed by immigrants

Professor Kristina Sundquist, Lund University, Sweden and two of her colleagues are facing prosecution by the Board of Appeal for ethical review, a body that reports to the Swedish Ministry of Education. The reason behind the investigation initiated by the body is the research paper that was submitted by Sundquist that shows most rapes that happened in Sweden were committed by immigrants.

The body would not investigate whether Sundquist and the co-author of the paper, Professor Ardavan Khoshnood, were given “ethical license” to handle “sensitive data” on the ethnicity of the criminals accused of rape in the country. Interestingly, the aim of the study was not to target any group or community but to find out common denominators like health issues, social and employment status among perpetrators. The results were, according to Khoshnood, surprising for the team as well.

Reports suggest that the ethical authority is aiming to issue some sort of punishment to the authors of the paper. In a statement, the body said, “I don’t see anywhere that ethical permission is sought to test the hypothesis if immigrants are overrepresented in statistics on convicted rapists. The scientists were also criticized for insufficient evaluation as they failed to indicate how their research should “reduce exclusion and improve integration.”

Notably, Sundquist is the most cited professor at the university regarding social research. Sadly, she would face an investigation for publishing an allegedly “unauthorized research report”. She may face prosecution for the conclusion of her study that shows that the majority of the rapes were committed by immigrants to the country.

Details of the study done by Prof Sundquist

The paper titled “Swedish rape offenders – a latent class analysis” [PDF] was published in February 2021. The conclusion of the study was based on 3,039 rape convicts between the period of 2000 and 2015. It is noteworthy that the data does not include the influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa from 2015 till date that increased exponentially due to the unrest in those regions.

The study was conducted because, as per the paper’s introduction, there was an increase in the rates of sexual crimes, including rapes in the country. “Knowledge of who the offenders of these crimes are is therefore of importance for prevention,” it added.

As per the researchers involved in the study, the aim of the study was not to specifically target the ethnic background but to see if they had anything common among them, such as employment, social status, health issues and more. The ethnic profile of the culprits was among the supporting data, but it was not possible to ignore.

Sundquist mentioned in a statement that immigrant status was merely a variable. She said, “Immigrants were just a variable, and it turned out to be quite a remarkable discovery as there were many immigrants and foreign-born people in this group.”

During the data analysis, the researchers found that out of 3,039 offenders included in the study, 59.2 per cent were immigrants. Out of these, 47.7 per cent were born outside Sweden. The researchers recommended further investigating the higher number of immigrants indulging in sexual crimes and taking contextual characteristics of these offenders into account during further studies.

The paper also pointed out the fact that the majority of sexual crimes go unreported. The data taken from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention showed that around 23,200 sexual crimes were reported in 2019. Out of these, 38 per cents were rapes and aggravated rapes. The annual Swedish Crime Survey of 2019 put an estimate that 5.6 per cent of the total population between the ages of 16 and 84 had been victims of sexual crimes.

The study further suggested 9.4 per cent of females and 1.4 per cent of males have reported they were victims of sexual crimes. Notably, between 2008 and 2018, the cases of rape increased by 45.4 per cent. According to the data available, the number of offenders found guilty of sexual offences has been stable since 2008. However, since 2009, the rate of cases solved by the Police has gone down to 31 per cent 2009. In 2016, only 11 per cent of such cases were solved.

Sundquist’s study noted that while 47.7 per cent of offenders were born outside Sweden, 11.5 per cent had at least one parent born outside the country. 40.8 per cent of the offenders were born in Sweden. Among those who were born in Sweden but their parents were born outside, 40.7 per cent had mothers born in Western countries while 33.9 per cent had fathers born in Western countries. 19.8 per cent of the offenders had mothers from the Middle East/North Africa, while the same for fathers stood at 24 per cent.

Of the offenders who were born outside Sweden, 34.5 per cent were from the Middle East/North Africa and 19.1 per cent from Africa. Several studies had been conducted in the past they aligned with the current results. Though such studies were not common, none had been threatened with prosecution in the past.

The intimidation tactics

As the professors face prosecution for merely publishing the results based on the data that is available with Sweden authorities, it is unclear how hiding the information about the social and ethnic background of the offenders would improve the inclusion of the immigrants. Interestingly, one of the authors of the study is himself an immigrant.

Munawar Faruqui show cancelled: Hindus burnt alive by a murderous mob only because of their faith is genocide denial, not a joke

Jinit Jain
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Munawar Faruqui show cancelled: Hindus burnt alive by a murderous mob only because of their faith is genocide denial, not a joke

‘Comedian’ Munawar Faruqui on Sunday lamented that ‘hate’ has won and an artist has lost after his scheduled show in Bengaluru got cancelled. The stand-up ‘comic’, who was earlier this year jailed for his allegedly derogatory remarks against Hindu deities, took to Twitter to hint that this may be the end of his ‘comedy’ career.

“Nafrat jeet hai, artist haar gaya. I’m done! Goodbye! INJUSTICE,” said Munawar Faruqui, along with issuing a statement in which he alleged unfair treatment meted out on him after his show in Bengaluru got cancelled. 

Faruqui, in a statement, said that his show in Bengaluru was cancelled after having sold over 600 tickets over allegations of threats of violence. He claimed it was unfair that he was put in jail for a joke he did not crack and that his show was cancelled when there was nothing problematic in it. He added that in past two months, 12 of his shows were cancelled due to threats to venue and audience. 

He then said that this is perhaps the end and thanked his audience and his goodbye. 

Munawar Faruqui had mocked the Hindu victims of Godhra train burning incident

It is worth noting that Munawar Faruqui drew the ire of the public for his abject mockery of Hindu victims of the Godhra train burning incident, a tragedy in which 59 people were burnt alive when Sabarmati Express carrying karsevaks from Ayodhya, was set on fire allegedly by a Muslim mob near Godhra station. In one of his stand-up gigs from the year 2020, Faruqui was seen downplaying the Godhra tragedy and ridiculing the victims. 

“I was watching The Burning Train on TV. My father came and told me not to watch such nonsense and turned off the channel. I was like, ‘why so?’ He was like this is the video of Godhra kaand. And this is a news channel. I thought it is a movie directed by Amit Shah, produced by RSS… I don’t know…,” he says. Munawar Faruqui then refers to the news about 2002 Godhra carnage as ‘cartoon’.

He also joked that in Godhra kaand, Hindus were burnt alive, “But aren’t they burnt after dying?” he had joked. The 59 karsevaks were burnt alive by a murderous mob because of their religious faith. And that they were returning from Ayodhya after offering seva at Ram Mandir.

Hindus were aghast, and rightly so, for the shameful trivialisation of an incident as grave and tragic as the Godhra train burning incident, which led to the death of innocent people, including women and infants. It showed that Munawar not only felt any compunction in hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus but was also essentially enjoying making fun of a genocide. 

On top of this, Munawar was unapologetic about the jokes he cracked on the Hindu victims of the Godhra train burning incident. In his interview with ‘journalist’ Barkha Dutt, Munawar had said that he was not sorry for the remarks he made on the Godhra train burning tragedy, adding that he did not think he had committed any mistake. 

In addition to this, the outrage against Munawar is also powered by his unsavoury remarks against Hindu deities. Faruqui, in one of his stand-up performance, used lyrics of a popular Bollywood score to mock Lord Rama over his 14 years of exile, and portrayed Sita as an insecure wife suspicious of her husband Lord Rama’s loyalty towards her. 

It is because of his jokes ridiculing the Godhra train burning tragedy and mocking Lord Rama that Hindus are railing against the said comedian. Munawar was also arrested in January 2021 for allegedly passing indecent remarks against Hindu dieties during his stand-up shows. Though he was released later, his unrepentant remarks on a Hindu genocide and his distasteful remarks on Hindu Gods have fuelled protests against his shows. 

Liberals come out in support of the Munawar Faruqui after his shows get cancelled in Bengaluru

Notably, Munawar should have been condemned and admonished by the ‘secular’ quarters for his bigotry and hurting the sentiments of the Hindus, but instead, many journalists, politicians, Islamists and others expressed their support in solidarity with the ‘comedian’ after he took to Twitter and declare that ‘hate’ has won and an artist has lost. 

“This is deplorable. Stifling freedom of expression takes many forms but threatening a stand-up comedian’s venue is petty and shameful,” said Shashi Tharoor, a Congress MP from Thiruvananthpuram. 

Source: Twitter

Journalists, propagandists and Islamists too, extended their support to the controversial comedian after he posted a tweet hinting at leaving comedy altogether. While Munawar refused to apologise for mocking deaths of Godhra train burning incident, some were sorry for him because his shows were getting cancelled for hurting religious sentiments.

Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Munawar Faruqui show cancelled
Source: Twitter

The duplicity of liberals in vilifying Hindus while shielding Islamists

Apparently, Munawar had no qualms in trivialising a tragedy where Hindus were wantonly set on fire but when people raised objection to his brand of comedy, he suddenly feigned victimhood and branded opposition to it as ‘hate’. Hindus and those who protested against Munawar’s shows were implicitly branded as ‘hate-mongers’ for simply opposing a comedian who dehumanised Hindu victims of a tragedy and was blatantly unapologetic about it. 

However, Hindus who talk about partition horrors, threats posed by Islamic terrorism are summarily characterised as bigots and Islamophobic. Even though their aim is to create awareness of the past atrocities inflicted on them and the threats that future holds, the left-leaning liberals waste no time in vilifying Hindus and accuse them of being anti-Muslims. But when ‘comedians’ mock the horrifying tragedy of Godhra train burning incident, where 59 Hindus were killed for being Hindus, none of the liberals and the members of left intelligentsia feel the need to call out the depravity. Instead, they extend their support to such comedians by citing the hackneyed tropes of “artistic freedom”, freedom of expression” and “creative liberty”.

Imagine the outrage by leftists and their foot-soldiers if the religious identities were reversed. What if a comedian had mocked those killed in the Bhagalpur riots or perhaps in the riots that erupted in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning incident? It takes little effort to guess that such a scenario would have prompted the liberals to fall over themselves and call for the ‘cancellation’ of the comedian, besides unleashing vicious attack against him for trivialising the deaths of victims of a tragedy. The reversal of religious identities would have made them realised how Munawar’s deplorable jokes mocking people on their death was in bad taste and deserved to be called out. 

The abject dehumanisation of Hindus by the left-leaning liberals

However, since those died in the Godhra train burning incident were Hindus, liberals were not struck with any realisation as to how pathetic and offensive Munawar’s jokes were for the majority community. The fact that one needs to flip religious identities to prove how the joke made by Munawar was sick and objectionable is a scathing indictment of the kind of society liberals have created and fostered. The liberal discourse has plummeted to such low levels that in order to sensitise people for Hindus, one has to reverse religious identities. 

None of these ‘liberals’ will make fun of the Holocaust. And rightly so. Crimes against humanity are no joke. Genocide denial is not comedy. So why is a joke on burning alive of Hindus in a train ‘creative freedom’? That one has to give an example and replace Hindus with people of other religion to show the gravity of situation and how deplorable the ‘joke’, for which Faruqui and his buddies are not apologetic for, shows how the rot in ‘liberal’ world runs so deep.

It also shows that dehumanising Hindus has become par for the course for the comedians, who feel emboldened by the support they receive from the bigoted left. They can continue to mock Hindus, ridicule their beliefs, make insulting remarks against their Gods and triviliase genocidal deaths and when they are called out for their bigotry, they lean on the Left to amplify their feigned victimhood. 

Contrastingly, when Hindus calls for something as genuine as solemn introspection of hateful texts of other religions, it elicits violent protests, including calls for ‘sar tan se juda’ or decapitation by a section of the country, with the liberals turning a blind eye to such wild reactions and blaming Hindus for the “unwarranted provocation”. Every Hindu who asserts his identity or raises pertinent questions on the bigotry unleashed against them is regarded as a ‘Sanghi’ and therefore considered as a fairgame for being subjected to dehumanisation, ridicule and mockery. This is the great bane that the liberals have bequeathed the Indian society, where Hindus who stand up against the trivialisation of a genocide against them are denigrated as ‘bigots’ and ‘hateful’.  

UK: University grants 80,000 pounds of public money for ‘research’ that will defend China and criticise MPs who spoke against Beijing

OpIndia Staff
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UK: University grants 80,000 pounds of public money for ‘research’ that will defend China and criticise MPs who spoke against Beijing

The Birmingham University in the UK is all set to spend over 80,000 pounds of public money for a pro-China research grant that will focus on MPs who have been critical of China’s activities. As per reports, the focus of the so-called research work is to accuse anti-China MPs of spreading ‘moral panic’.

As per a report in the Daily Mail, the government-sponsored research work is to call out the ‘China Research Group’ or CRG, and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of conservative MPs who have been critical of the blatant human rights abuse happening in China.

The report says that Rong Wei, a researcher from the University of Birmingham is set to receive 20,892 pounds annually plus inflation for the next four years for the so-called research work.

Thesis to focus on how some MPs have campaigned against China

The government-sponsored grant is for a thesis by Rong Wei. The thesis proposal reportedly described the China Research Group as having played ‘a major role in the social and political construction of China as the new international pariah’.

It will also focus on ‘the potential role of the CRG in the construction of a new international political moral panic focused on China’. 

The fact that public money is being used by the University to sponsor research to propagate China’s interests has alarmed many.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a Tory MP and IPAC member has stated that the process of the grant should be investigated.

‘It is unbelievable that a British government can sponsor a research project whose purpose is to denigrate legitimate parliamentary research, in IPAC’s case across 22 countries,’ he has tweeted.

The CRG is headed by Tory MP Tom Tugendhat. The CRG is a group that was established in 2020 after multiple controversies over the Covid pandemic and China’s role in it were reported. Both Tugendhat and Duncan Smith facing sanctions from the Chinese government. A total of 9 British citizens and 4 organisations have been facing sanctions from China over the issue.

In response to sanctions against the MPs, the British government had banned the Chinese ambassador from the Palace of Westminster.

Girls refuse to use unisex toilet at Scottish schools after boys urinate in sanitary bins, play with tampons: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Girls refuse to use unisex toilet at Scottish schools after boys urinate in sanitary bins, play with tampons: Details

Scottish schoolgirls have refused to use gender-neutral toilets after boys indulged in misbehaviour and wreaked havoc in the toilets, waving sanitary pads like flags and urinating in the sanitary bins, according to reports. A councillor admitted that a number of girls have not not used the unisex toilets for days because of the vandalism by the boys and said that the boys had started playing with tampons.

As per reports, gender-neutral toilets were opened in Scottish educational institutes and became a trend following warnings from political parties and activists who had claimed that the schools faced the threat of lawsuits being filed against them if they did not provide the same. Scottish schools have been incorporating these unisex bathrooms in their new constructions or as a part of renovation. Introduction of unisex toilets have also been attributed to minimizing costs, creating more space and diversity and building an inclusive environment.

However, the process of integration of these ‘gender-blind’ ‘gender-neutral’ toilets with regular restrooms in the Scottish schools have faced a backlash from the parents who have opposed such toilets in secondary schools and the fact that this might lead to 12-year-old girls sharing sanitary facilities with 18-year-old boys. 56% of the Scottish people opposed the unisex toilets in schools according to a recent poll while only 21% supported them.

However, 22% percent of Scots said they supported unisex toilets only if they existed separately alongside the regular single sex bathrooms. A feminist campaigner Marion Calder said, “I would like to know who is pressing for gender-neutral toilets because it’s not parents,” adding “I suspect it is coming from LGBTQ guidance award schemes.”

‘Wokelet piece of absolute trash’: Kunal Kamra abuses Twitter user after being criticized over statement on Munawar Faruqui

OpIndia Staff
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‘Wokelet piece of absolute trash’: Kunal Kamra abuses Twitter user after being criticized over statement on Munawar Faruqui

Self-proclaimed comedian Kunal Kamra on Sunday issued a statement which he claimed was his response to any journalists who reached out to him for a comment. The long drawn statement did not say anything much about anything and it was not clear precisely what Kunal Kamra was talking about.

In the statement, Kamra said that he felt that comedians are having to pay more and more for laughter. He also said that for artists to be “so calculative” is a slow death of art.

Source: Kunal Kamra/Twitter

Left-liberals assumed that the statement was about Munawar Faruqui, whose comedy shows have been cancelled recently after a clip had gone viral earlier where he could be heard mocking the Godhra riots. Consequently, they were angry with Kamra for his statement which they believed to be wishy-washy.

They were angry because he had not taken the name of Munawar Faruqui even once.

Others were angry because Kunal Kamra did not speak of ‘systemic discrimination’ against Muslims in India. Like most things about liberalism in India, the term ‘systemic discrimination’ is, too, borrowed from the United States of America, where the use of the phrase ‘systemic racism’ has been normalised to describe discrimination against non-Whites.

Kamra was panned across the board for his statement.

One user who criticised Kamra was ‘Raj Against The Machine’. He urged the ‘comedian’ to “cut the philosophy” and “do something”.

Kunal Kamra sneaks into DMs to vent his frustration at random Twitter users

After Raj criticised Kamra, he messaged the Twitter user to abuse him in private. Kamra called Raj a “wokelet piece of absolute trash”. Kamra sent the user a poster of a show he and Munawar Faruqui were supposed to perform together.

Kamra texted him again later and asked him to “enjoy” his “2 minutes of clout”.

Munawar Faruqui had earlier hinted for the second time that he was leaving comedy after his Bengaluru show was cancelled. Ashoknagar police station in Bengaluru had asked the organisers to cancel the show in light of the cases registered against Faruqui in other states. The Police had asked for his shows to be cancelled fearing that it could cause trouble and disturb public peace.

‘Govt is ready for discussion but maintain the dignity of the house,’ PM Modi said ahead of winter session, watch video

OpIndia Staff
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‘Govt is ready for discussion but maintain the dignity of the house,’ PM Modi said ahead of winter session, watch video

On November 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a statement to the media before the winter session at the Parliament. In his statement, PM Modi said that the government is ready for the discussion and give answer to every query. However, the dignity of the House, the Speaker and the Chair has to be maintained.

PM Modi said, “The country is celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. People from across the country are organizing programs for the betterment of the country. Every citizen is trying best to fulfil the dreams of the freedom fighters. It is a good sign for the future of the country. We saw on the Constitution Day that the people of India took oath to work for a better future.” He added, “In connection to Amrit Mahotsav, we want, the country wants, and every citizen wants that this session and all the sessions of the parliament run smoothly.”

While talking about how the parliament session should be, PM said, “The Parliament should find ways for the progress of the nation. The ideas and efforts should be for the long-term benefits of the country. We should find new ways and give new ideas for the same. The efforts of the members of the Parliament should be rated on the basis of their contributions to the betterment of the country and not on the basis of their efforts to startle the session in the Parliament.”

‘The govt is ready for the discussion’

During his address, PM Modi said that the government is ready for the discussion. He said, “The government is ready for the discussion on every matter. We are ready for the open discussion. We are ready to give answers to every query. We want to have a peaceful and productive discussion in the Parliament Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.” He added, “We want there should be resistance towards the policies of the government to the extent it should be. However, it should be done while keeping the dignity of the house, the speaker and the chair in mind.”

‘Everyone should be vigilant during Covid time’

PM said that even though India was facing challenges during the second wave of Covid, the nation managed to complete 100 crore doses of the Covid vaccine, and now we are moving ahead towards 150 crore doses. “We must be vigilant towards the new variant of Covid-19. I would request every member of the Parliament to stay vigilant. You [reporters and media persons] should stay vigilant as well. The good health of the people of the nation is our top priority,” he said.

Free ration till March-end

PM Modi said that the government had extended the free ration scheme under Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojna to ensure the poor and marginalized people of the country get food on their plates. He added that the government would spend around 2.6 lakh crore on the scheme, and it would benefit around 80 crore people.

The government has over 20 bills scheduled to be tabled during the winter session including a bill on cryptocurrency and a bill to repeal the three agriculture laws.

“In the name of Jesus…”: Nadiad based Christian group accused of religious conversion in Godhra after videos of ‘exorcism’ go viral

Nirwa Mehta
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“In the name of Jesus…”: Nadiad based Christian group accused of religious conversion in Godhra after videos of ‘exorcism’ go viral

A case of suspected forced religious conversion has come to light from Godhra, Panchmahal in Gujarat. According to a source in the know of the things, a man belonging to Sindhi community and living in Bhuravav area of Godhra was not feeling too well and some months back he came in touch with some Christian priests from Nadiad. They had come over from Nadiad and after carrying out some ‘rituals’, the man started ‘feeling better’.

The videos of the rituals had gone viral on social media. Recently, it was believed that while they had not undergone religious conversion, they had carried out pre-conversion rituals.

One such video that has made it to the Internet is this where a man can be seen lying on the floor appearing to be struggling with breathing. People in background are chanting ‘Hallelujah’ while one man is ‘instructing’ an invisible force to ‘not make noise’ and ‘leave him’ in the ‘name of Jesus’ as ‘My Jesus has defeated ‘it’.’ The man then gets up again and vigorously shakes himself while the other man says he is rubbing Jesus’ blood on the shaking man. Everyone around them are chanting ‘Amen’.

In another video, the same man is now sitting on a chair and shaking vigorously before falling down on the floor and other man is again touching the shaking man and ‘instructing’ whatever it is to go back to Jesus in the name of Jesus. And then he concludes it with ‘Hallelujah’.

Another such video has come from the same event when another man is seen spitting in a huge plastic bowl when the same man ‘in the name of Jesus’, asks ‘it’ to come out of his body.

After the videos had gone viral, the neighbours were alert and keeping a tab on suspicious activities in the neighbourhood. Hence, when the same group of Christians came again from Nadiad, the neighbours got suspicious of superstitious activities taking place in the house and alerted the police. Police then took away the group of Christians and further investigation was carried out. However, no case was registered in this regard.

The owner of the house claimed that they had gathered for a birthday party. However, local Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader has alleged that one man Stivan Macwan is involved in forced religious conversion especially through social media. As reported by Nav Gujarat Samay, VHP leader Imesh Parikh had alleged that Christian missionaries had earlier been involved in forced religious conversion of tribals near Dahod road area. However, despite informing the authorities, no action was taken against them, he alleged.

A report by Vadpad Today, a local media house, read members of Sindhi community have submitted a memorandum to police where they say that in Bhuravav area, there is one society Shiv Shakti society. One Pratik Khimani is a resident there. Two years back he allegedly came in touch with ‘Save the Soul Restoration Revival’ in Nadiad whose head is one Stephen Macwan. Macwan is allegedly involved in carrying out missionary work and propagating religious conversion.

In September 2021, Macwan had come to Khimani’s home in Godhra where he conducted various rituals of initiating someone into Christianity. The photographs and videos of the rituals had gone viral on social media which is when prominent members of Sindhi community became aware of the same.

The members went to Khimani’s house to explain to him and discourage him from leaving the Hindu fold. However, Khimani and his family were quite keen on conversion. The report states that members of Sindhi community eventually got to know that the Christian missionary organisation had provided financial help to Khimani. Further, Khimani’s brother Nilesh used to stay unwell and Macwan and other members of the Christian group asked him to pray to Jesus and read the Bible to get rid of his troubles.

The members of Sindhi community in the memorandum said that this way, Macwan was luring members of their community to Christianity and this was hurting their religious sentiments. They appealed to the police to take action against such forced religious conversion.

Meanwhile, according to a source in the know of the things said that while the religious conversion had not taken place, they took the members of Sindhi community to nearby temple and a Puja was conducted and they were assured of community support in difficult times so that they do not have to leave their religion. The members of the community assured support to the family to keep them into the Hindu fold.

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