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Congress vs Congress: Manish Tewari and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury lock horns over the former’s comments about 26/11

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Congress vs Congress: Manish Tewari and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury lock horns over the former’s comments about 26/11

On Sunday (November 28), ex-Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari hit back at fellow Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury after the latter questioned his criticism of the UPA government over the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Tewari in his book ’10 Flashpoints; 20 years’, which is set to release on December 1, had talked about Congress-led UPA govt’s inaction in wake of the Mumbai terror attacks on 26 November 2008. When his comments drew the ire of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Tewari pointed out how he was equally critical of the Modi government’s policy on Chinese aggression. He had shared screenshots of his tweets directed at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

“I would urge you to read my book if you seriously think surgical strikes or Balakot bombings have brought about any substantiative change in behaviour of Pakistan,” Tewari had earlier tweeted to Rajnath Singh. Citing his criticism of the BJP, he told Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as to how he had addressed his concerns. “The continued incursions by China and the response of NDA/BJP government to them do form a substantial part of my book,” Manish Tewari defended his loyalty for the grand-old party.

Screengran of the tweet by Manish Tewari

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury pulls up Manish Tewari for questioning UPA govt

While speaking to Press Trust of India (PTI), Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had remarked, “Tewari is a man of letters and he could have written a book on the contribution of the Congress party to the nation. But raising it (26/11 terror attacks) now is strange. He did not raise the issue even after being a part and parcel of the UPA government.”

“He should have raised the issue when he was a minister in the UPA government. It is strange that Manish Tewari has woken up now on 26/11 attacks. He should, instead, focus his criticism on China and what it is doing in the Indian territory,” Chowdhury added. The Congress leader pointed out that Tewari did not specify as to what should have been the course of action of the UPA, post 26/11 attacks.

“Sometimes, a book with controversies sells more. Today, when a controversy is raised, the book will be sold more and the BJP will become the salesman,” Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury recommended Manish Tewari to focus on Modi government’s policy on Chinese aggression.

Tewari slammed Manmohan Singh led UPA govt in his book

The former Information and Broadcasting Minister, in his book ‘10 Flashpoints; 20 Years,’ had accused Congress-led UPA government dithered in responding to Pakistan-sponsored 2008 Mumbai terror attack. He had said that the then UPA government, headed by Manmohan Singh, did not act strongly against Pakistan. Tewari emphasised that such a restraint against Islamabad was perceived as a symbol of weakness.

“For a state that has no compunctions in brutally slaughtering hundreds of innocent people, restraint is not a sign of strength; it is perceived as a symbol of weakness…There comes a time when actions must speak louder than words. 26/11 was one such time when it just should have been done. It, therefore, is my considered opinion that India should have actioned a kinetic response in the days following India’s 9/11,” he wrote in his upcoming book.

‘You are on our hit list’: Kashmiri Pandit journalist receives another threat from ISIS Kashmir, second time in a week

OpIndia Staff
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‘You are on our hit list’: Kashmiri Pandit journalist receives another threat from ISIS Kashmir, second time in a week

Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul has received another threat from a group that calls itself ‘ISIS Kashmir. Less than a week ago, Kaul and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir had received death threats from the outfit.

On Sunday, Aditya Raj Kaul said on Twitter, “At midnight I received a fresh email from ‘ISIS Kashmir’ email account taking responsibility for Pathankot blast outside the Indian Army camp and again issuing threat against me.”

Screenshot shared by Aditya Raj Kaul on Twitter

Apart from claiming responsibility for the Pathankot blast, the group also claimed that they will attack politicians and journalists in Kashmir. The ‘Pathankot blast’ referred to in the email presumably refers to the hand-grenade blast near the Army cantonment. No casualty was reported in that incident. In another mail, the group also threatened Kaul that he could not “hide” in Delhi for long.

Screenshot shared by Aditya Raj Kaul on Twitter

Kaul rued the fact that an FIR has not been lodged in the matter despite his complaint. He said, “Sadly because I am not a Member of Parliament or a politician, this threat doesn’t get the same attention as Gautam Gambhir. Police is yet to file FIR in my case even after 5 days of cowardly threats. Not sure if they are waiting for me to get attacked.”

Earlier, Kaul had received death threats from the same group. The group had threatened to behead him, following which he had alerted the Uttar Pradesh Police and the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. Former cricketer and now Member of Parliament from the BJP, Gautam Gambhir, too, had received threats against himself and his family. Security was increased outside his residence following the threat.

Radical Islam apologist denies genocide of Kashmiri Pandits, claims there was no ethnic cleansing

OpIndia Staff
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Radical Islam apologist denies genocide of Kashmiri Pandits, claims there was no ethnic cleansing

In yet another attempt to whitewash the atrocities against Kashmiri Pandits, CJ Werleman, radical Islamist apologist and ‘independent’ journalist, re-shared his 2019 article in a tweet on November 27. In the tweet, he denied the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley and said, “There was no ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir! Even the Indian govt acknowledges that, saying only a sum total of 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed during a 15 year period spanning 1989 to 2004. Compared with 100,000 Muslims killed in this same time.”

CJ Welerman spread fake news on Twitter alleging Kashmiri pandit genocide never happened. Source: Twitter

Werleman conveniently ignored the fact that there were announcements from the mosques threatening Hindus (Kashmiri Pandits) to leave the valley. As a result, thousands of Hindus left the valley overnight, fearing for their lives, and those who could not leave were brutally murdered by the Islamists. Werleman was quoting a tweet by Asha Jadeja Motwani, who shared the information of the upcoming film by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri titled “The Kashmir Files”. In her tweet, Asha had written, “Decades after the invasion of Maharaja Hari Singh’s Kashmir on Oct  1, 1947, by Pakistan, has someone spoken about the “ethnic cleansing” of Hindus in Kashmir.”

What does Werleman’s article claim?

Published in 2019 on estranewsfeed.com titled “The Myth of Hindu Genocide in Kashmir Continues to Stalk Muslims”, Werleman had claimed in his article that Hindu genocide never happened in Kashmir. He pushed the propaganda against the Indian Army, stating, “Indian military has raped, tortured, murdered, and forcibly disappeared tens of thousands of Muslims in Kashmir in the past three decades alone.”

Werleman further claimed that RSS-BJP workers spread “fake” information about the Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus and genocide on social media platforms. He added, “In short, Kashmir’s Muslims did not carry out genocide against the Hindu minority. All in all, a sum total of 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed during a 15 year period spanning 1989 to 2004, according to an investigation carried out by the Indian government’s Ministry of Home Affairs in 2005.” According to him, the killing of 219 Hindus on record was a negligible number and should not be a reason to target Islamists who carried out the attack on Hindus in the valley.

He alleged that those Kashmiri Pandits who were killed in the valley were ‘spies’ working for the Indian Army. He said, “Violence against Kashmiri Pandits in 1989–90 took place within the context of a sustained rebellion against Indian rule in Kashmir, with Islamic militants selectively assassinating spies and Indian military collaborators,” and that led to the fear in Kashmiri Hindus.

The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits

On January 19, 1990, mosques in Kashmir issued a warning to Kashmiri Pandits while terming them as Kafirs. They had three options, leave Kashmir, convert to Islam or be killed. It has been over 30 years, but the pain, agony and tears of tens of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits still echo the valley. As per records, around 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed at the hands of Islamists. While some studies suggest around 100,000 Kashmiri Pandits left the valley during the 1990s, the number may be as high as 300,000, according to a survey by the Hindu American Foundation.

During that period, not only Hindus were forced out of Kashmir, but temples were destroyed, houses were burnt to ruins, and millions became homeless. The repeated whitewashing of the atrocities against the Hindus by the likes of Werleman has created a perception that Muslims and not Hindus were the victims. In reality, even after the abrogation of Article 370 and continuous efforts of the Government of India to resettle the Kashmiri Pandits in the valley, only a handful of families have been relocated.

Since October 2021, several Hindus have been murdered by the Islamists in the valley that implanted fear among the Hindus that the valley was going back to the days of the 1990s. As per reports, in the first week of October itself, around 1,400 Hindus left the valley after the murders of Hindus by terrorists.

Welerman – A habitual fake-news peddler

So-called journalist CJ Welerman has repeatedly been attacking the Government of India and spreading misinformation and fake news on social media platforms. Recently, he called for boycotting Indian products allegedly to “save Indian Muslims”. In a tweet, he wrote, “Save Muslims in India and Kashmir: Boycott Indian products.”

Earlier on October 21, he had tweeted a video of Pramod Muthalik, the chief of the Hindu activist group Shri Rama Sene, to allege that he called for violence against Muslims and the demolition of a mosque in Karnataka. “Leader of Hindutva group Sri Ram Sena calls for violence against Muslims and the demolition of Jumma Mosque in Karnataka,” he had said in the tweet.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova had echoed his voice and spread the fake news. OpIndia had earlier reported how left-liberal news websites had falsely claimed that Pramod Muthalik called for a “Babri-like” demolition of the Jamia Masjid in Gadag in Karnataka. However, in reality, he had made no such claims.

Werleman is a habitual fake news peddler who spends time spewing anti-India venom while inventing incidents out of thin air. Earlier in September, he had called for ‘regime decapitation‘ strikes against India.

“Govt cannot be the owner of temples”: VHP urges centre to free Hindu Temples from govt control, starts discussions to evolve alternate control structure

OpIndia Staff
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“Govt cannot be the owner of temples”: VHP urges centre to free Hindu Temples from govt control, starts discussions to evolve alternate control structure

The Hindu organization Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has written to the Centre and sought the enactment of a law to free Hindu temples and religious institutions from government control. VHP has also appealed to the centre to pass anti-conversion law. A press release issued by the organisation on November 27 said that Vishwa Hindu Parishad has taken an initiative to free Hindu temples and religious institutions from the Government’s Control, on this endeavour, VHP Central Leadership is meeting seers and saints of Hindu Dharma to seek their guidance to evolve an alternate control structure, where the temples will be administered by the Hindu samaj.

VHP has said that as part of the guidance seeking program, a team consisting of the central working president Alok Kumar, joint general secretary Sthanumalayan and organising secretary from South India P M Nagarajan with VHP workers from Tamil Nadu would seek guidance and blessings from the Hindu saints and sadhus in the pursuit of their attempt to solve the long-standing issue.

In July 2021, VHP had passed a resolution to Enact Central Law to free Hindu temples and religious institutions from Governments Control. The press release said, “The Board of Trustees of Vishva Hindu Parishad is of definite view that the Hindu temples and religious institutions should be freed from the Govt control. The Temples in Bharat have been the nuclei of social, religious, and cultural activities of the. Hindu society and the secret of the enduring nature of Hindu Nation and immortality of Mrityunjay Bharat Hindu devotees visit temples to internalise the sanctity and serenity of the place and contribute their offerings so that the educational institutions, health services, festivals, religious and social projects/activities run by the temples could be run in an apt manner. Therefore, besides conducting the daily sacraments and related activities, the temples have remained in vanguard supporting the society in times of crisis and emergency.”

It further added, “the irony is that the state governments get their hands on many such rich temples of the country and spend the contributions of devotees illogically and arbitrarily. Even the money of temples is appeasingly used to serve the non-Hindu causes. The Hindu religious institutions have been controlled by Governments since the British times. For this purpose, Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act. 1926 was enacted. As a consequence of this law. the management and administration of our religious institutions was taken over by the British Government. Our temples are still being acquired under the cover of this black law, whereas in the Chidambaram Natraj Temple case, the Madras High Court has clearly said that the governments should free the Hindu temples from government control.”

VHP has said that now the time has come for a comprehensive discussion regarding the management of Hindu temples and other religious institutions. The organisation said that transparency and accountability should be ensured in the new framework of temple management. “While deciding on the new frameworks, temple traditions, hereditary arrangements, the role of Archaks and sections dependent on the temples’ income and participation of devotees will have to be taken into account,” the press release said.

The VHP further said that the government cannot be the owner of the temples. The governments and the courts of law can have some minimal necessary role, when required. What and how much would be that role, must be considered by all stakeholders, the press release issued by VHP added.

The organisation also added that given the diversity of the Hindu society, there can be no uniform framework in the management of all temples. It said that different approaches must be explored keeping in mind different traditions, customs, and ways of worship. It is now urgent to take necessary steps in this regard at a fast pace.

“Vishva Hindu Parishad appeals to the Central Government to make a central law to handover Hindu Temples and religious institutions to the Hindu society, so that saints and devotees could refurbish and do up their religious and administrative systems and their traditions oriented towards ensuring the spirituo-socio-cultural dynamism of Mrityunjayi Bharat,” the press release demanded.

VHP’s International Working President Alok Kumar said, “Hindu devotees visit temples to internalise the sanctity and serenity of the place and contribute their offerings so that the educational institutions, health services, festivals, religious and social projects/activities offered by the temples can run in an apt manner. However, the irony is how state governments get their hands on many such rich temples of the country and spend the contributions of devotees illogically and arbitrarily.”

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad also called upon The Tamil Nadu government to drop the plans to monetize the Temple ornaments by melting the ornaments into gold bars, which were donated by millions of devotees to the temples over the years. It said that the devotees have donated to the temple for a specific reason and belief, and VHP states that Government do not have any rights to melt the ornaments into gold bars and deposit them in the banks as it is a matter of faith and belief. VHP also asked the Tamil Nadu govt to enact an anti-conversion law.

Bengaluru show of Munawar Faruqui cancelled, hints at quitting comedy for the second time

OpIndia Staff
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Bengaluru show of Munawar Faruqui cancelled, hints at quitting comedy for the second time

‘Comedian’ Munawar Faruqui on Sunday took to Twitter to say that this was his time as comedian and thanked the audience and hinted that this may be the end of his ‘comedy’ career.

Faruqui, in a statement, said that today 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.

In February 2021, too, he had given hint to quit comedy after his arrest over a joke that was allegedly offensive.

However, back then he had then mocked those who had threatened disruption and went on to continuing doing ‘comedy shows’.

On Saturday (November 27), the Ashoknagar police station in Bengaluru had asked the organisers to cancel the comedy show of Munawar Faruqui in light of the criminal cases registered against the comedian in other States of the country, reported The Times of India. Faruqui was scheduled to perform his ‘Dongri to Nowhere-Comedy Special’ at the Good Shepherd Auditorium in Bengaluru on Sunday (November 28).

In a letter written by the Inspector (Ashoknagar Police) to Vishesh Dhuria of Curtain Call events, he said, “It is learned that Munawar Faruqui is a controversial figure for his controversial statements on other religions and gods. Many states have banned his comedy shows. It is learned that a case has been registered against him in the Tukoganj police station, Indore of Madhya Pradesh (Mainly under IPC 295A- Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).”

“Similar cases have been registered against him in many states. There is credible information that several organisations are opposing this stand-up comedy show performed by Faruqui. This could create chaos and could disturb public peace and harmony which may further lead to law and order problems. Therefore, it is suggested that you should cancel Faruqui’s comedy show,” the letter concluded. According to a senior police official, no permission had been granted for Munawar Faruqi’s show and that action would be taken if the organisers did not comply with the police directive.

Chandigarh show of Munawar Faruqi cancelled after VHP intervened

The Chandigarh unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had earlier called for the cancellation of Faruqui’s show, which was scheduled to be held at the Jungle Bar on Saturday (November 27).

While speaking to OpIndia, Suresh Rana of VHP had confirmed that the show was cancelled by the organisers.

Opposition to comedy tour and aftermath

Earlier, the organisers had cancelled Faruqui’s show in Panaji in Goa, following the opposition of the Hindu Janjagriti Samiti. The comedian was set to perform at a mall in Panaji on November 15. But, the organisers ‘LVF Comedy’ pulled the plug on the show citing the law and order problem. The decision was taken following a meeting at the Panjaji police station. The Hindu Jagriti Samiti had urged the State to not allow Faruqui to perform in Panaji, owing to his past record of making ‘vulgar jokes about Hindu Gods.’

Faruqui was scheduled to perform on November 14 in Raipur In Chattisgarh. However, his shows were cancelled following the opposition of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. VHP leader Santosh Chaudhary had informed that the two groups had submitted a written application to Raipur Collector and Superintendent of Police in this matter. Similarly, his shows in  Gujarat and Mumbai were also cancelled. However, on November 20, he performed his 1 hour and 30-minute long ‘Dongri to Nowhere’ comedy special in the city of Kolkata. This happened to be the only show that was not cancelled by the organisers.

Following backlash from all corners, the ticket sales on ‘Book my show’ for his comedy special was halted.

Three suspected Pakistani spies arrested from Rajasthan

OpIndia Staff
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Three suspected Pakistani spies arrested from Rajasthan

In two separate incidents, Rajasthan Police arrested three youths from Pali and Jaisalmer respectively for allegedly spying for Pakistan.

Suspect arrested from Pali was identified as Azharuddin Mewat. Nibab Khan and his associate Fatan Khan were arrested from Jaisalmer. Police are said to have recovered some incriminating documents from their possession.

On November 26, Army Intelligence caught Azharuddin Mewat while suspiciously roaming in the army cantonment area under Ras police station in Pali district. When questioned he said that wanted to meet General Manoj Mukund Naravane. While he was handed over to the police his house was also searched. Police confiscated his mobile phone. It was found that Azharuddin was regularly searching anti-national contents on his mobile phone.

Rajasthan police are learnt to have recovered some coded documents, maps, and diary from his house at Kishanjganj locality in Beawar. On the last page of the diary, he has written mission accomplished, besides there is information related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

During questioning, he identified himself as a native of Jaora in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. For the last six years, he is settled in Beawar and sells vegetables.

Nibab Khan arrested from Jaisalmer is a suspected sleeper cell of ISI

In Jaisalmer police arrested Nibab Khan for allegedly spying for Pakistan. The suspect who runs a shop to sell mobile SIM cards, photocopy on Chandhan road was long spying for the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.

DG (Intelligence) of Rajasthan police Umesh Mishra informed that Khan had visited Pakistan in 2015. Here he came in contact with an ISI handler who Rs 10,000 cash and 15 days of training.

Khan was passing on information related to movements and activities of the Indian Army to his ISI handler through media.

According to media reports, some of his relatives live in Rahimyar Khan locality of Pakistan. The suspect runs a shop at Chandhan in Jaisalmer of Rajasthan where the field range firing of the Indian Army is located. For the last year, he was under the constant watch of intelligence agencies.

Now on the basis of his disclosure Rajasthan police is learnt to have arrested one of his associates Fatan Khan of Barmer district. The suspect runs tyre tube repairing shop at Phalsund locality of Pokharan. Investigation disclosed that he too had visited Pakistan along with Nibab Khan. He used to get money from ISI for spying.

Sanjith murder case: Family of deceased RSS worker demands NIA probe, six accused still on the run

OpIndia Staff
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Sanjith murder case: Family of deceased RSS worker demands NIA probe, six accused still on the run

Days after the Kerala Police arrested an office-bearer of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection to the brutal murder of RSS worker A Sanjith, another accused was nabbed by the cops, reported Times Now. The development came even as the family members of the deceased had expressed their unhappiness over the slow pace of the investigation.

According to the kin of Sanjith, a total of 8 people were involved in the brutal murder while the police had arrested only two of them. As per Times Now, the second accused is also an office-bearer of the Islamist outfit PFI. The remaining 6 accused are still on the run from the law enforcement authorities. While a total of 3 people were directly involved in the crime, the other 5 provided financial support and access to weapons.

Sarath, the brother of Sanjith, lamented, “From our side what we can say is the police investigation is not proper. They are targeting only the people who are involved in that incident. They are not enquiring other people in this place. Be it any incident, it will never happen without the knowledge of the people who live here…”

He further added, “It is outsiders or anyone else, we don’t know the details. 2 people have been arrested other than that there is no update on the family side. 1.5 years ago in front of Sanjith, an incident happened to him. And also 2-3 times, Sanjith was attacked. 1.5 years ago, he had an injury in his hand.”

The Brutal murder of RSS worker, A Sanjith

On November 15, A Sanjith, an RSS worker from Elappully, Kerala, was hacked to death by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) goons. The incident occurred at Ellapully in Palakkad district at 9:30 in the morning. He was travelling with his wife on a motorbike when he was brutally attacked by the SDPI members. Reports suggest that the assailants came in a car.

They stopped his bike and attacked him in broad daylight in front of many people, including his wife. Sanjith was rushed to the hospital in serious condition. He later succumbed to his injuries. On November 18, Police had recovered blood-stained swords suspected to have been used in the murder of the RSS worker. On November 22, Kerala Police arrested an office-bearer of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection. The cops, however, did not disclose his identity.

Allahabad High Court grants bail to Sharjeel Imam in sedition case

OpIndia Staff
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Allahabad High Court grants bail to Sharjeel Imam in sedition case

On November 27, Allahabad High Court granted bail to Sharjeel Imam in the case of provocative speech against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Aligarh Muslim University in December 2019. Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh granted the bail. Detailed order of the bail is still awaited.

Imam was arrested in 2020 from Jehanabad, Bihar. He is a former Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and one of the key members of the group that organized Shaheen Bagh protests against CAA. Multiple FIRs were filed against Imam for a speech in which he allegedly asked the protestors to cut off Assam from India. FIRs were filed at Police stations in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. He also got bail in the cases filed at Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Imam was accused of making provocative speeches outside Jamia Milia Islamia University in December 2019 that led to violence outside the campus. In April 2020, he was charged with sedition by Delhi Police. According to the FIR, his speech promoted enmity between communities that led to the riots at the area where University is located.

Another FIR in the Jamia case was registered against Imam in the Aligarh district. Both FIRs were registered in January 2020 under Sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever), 153B (making statements provoking breach of peace) and 505(2) (statements made which are alarming, false intention to create disharmony) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Delhi Court had denied bail

In October 2021, a Delhi Court had denied bail to Imam in the sedition case. Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agarwal has opined that Imam’s speech at Jamia on December 13, 2019, was communal and divisive that could affect the peace and harmony in the society. The court said, “A cursory and plain reading of the speech dated 13.12.2019 reveals that same is clearly on communal/divisive lines. In my view, the tone and tenor of the incendiary speech tend to have a debilitating effect upon public tranquillity, peace and harmony of the society.”

Sharjeel to remain in jail

Currently, Imam is lodged in Tihar Jail, Delhi. He has also been accused in the case linked to the larger conspiracy in the anti-CAA Delhi Riots of February 2020. Though he has been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in connection to the FIR lodged in the Aligarh district, he was unable to secure bail from the Delhi court last month.

Mumbai court grants bail to Hyderabad Techie accused of rape threat against Virat Kohli’s daughter

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai court grants bail to Hyderabad Techie accused of rape threat against Virat Kohli’s daughter

A Mumbai Court in a detailed order has recently granted bail to the 23-year-old Hyderabad techie Ramnagesh Akubathini who was accused of giving rape threats to Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s daughter on social media, according to reports. The court has noted that the rape threats were not directly addressed to Virat Kohli or his family.

Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Sing Rajput had said, “It is alleged that after the defeat of a cricket match by India against Pakistan, there was public outcry and people across India responded aggressively and criticized team members. The accused while responding crossed limits and made some sexually coloured remarks against the child of one of the members of the Indian Cricket Team.” He added, “If we perused the record and considered the remarks posted and phraseology used in its natural course, it appears that it is made in context of some other posts and may not be directly addressed to the cricketer or his family, even though as social media accounts are inter connected, it might have read/received by them.”

The Magistrate further noted that most of the charges against Ramnagesh Akubathini were of bailable offences and that “just because the matter was connected with a respectable Indian Cricket Team member,” the bail could not be rejected.

Notably, Akubathini was booked under Section 354 (A), 506, 500 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and under Sections 67 and 67-B of Information Technology Act, 2000.

Akubathini’s Advocate Abhijeet Desai had said that the statements of his client were taken out of context and were made while responding to other posts on social media. Desai said that there was no direct reference made by Akubathini to Kohli or his family.

The judge had also mentioned the non-applicability of section 67B of the IT Act pertaining to electronic circulation of child pornography. The statement said, “The contents of the First Information Report and the whole record show that in response to certain social media post accused allegedly mentioned and posted message that he is in search of photos of a child for assaulting her. He has not either transmitted or published any material showing a child involving in sexually explicit act. Therefore, there is doubt whether of these offences made out or not? At least for the limited purpose of in vie grounds assigned this aspect cannot be ignored.”

Earlier, the Mumbai police had arrested Ramnagesh Akubathini for giving rape threat to Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s daughter on social media and was taken into custody on Wednesday, November 10 by the cyber cell of Mumbai Police.

“Delhi govt sends teachers abroad while Punjab govt sends them to top of water tanks”: Arvind Kejriwal joins contractual teachers protest in Mohali

OpIndia Staff
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“Delhi govt sends teachers abroad while Punjab govt sends them to top of water tanks”: Arvind Kejriwal joins contractual teachers protest in Mohali

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.

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.

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