Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) has responded to the lawsuit filed in the United States of America alleging forced labour for construction of temple as well as human trafficking.
As per a statement, BAPS said, worship through seva is integral part of Bhakti in the sect and volunteers from around the world contribute for the same. The volunteers who take part in such construction activities of the temple regularly interact with people who come to visit. They are also regularly in touch with their family members back home.
BAPS further stated that many of the artisans then went back home while some chose to stay back and perform seva at other temples in the US. “When the artisans have come to the US they have done so on R-1 visa, which the federal government has approved for 20 years. In addition, federal, state and local government agencies have regularly inspected and approved all of the mandir construction projects on which the artisans volunteered,” the statement reads.
BAPS reiterated that major religious facilities maintain adequate security to ensure safety of worshippers, visitors and volunteers and no fences or security guards prevent anyone including the artisans from leaving. The statement further stated that the organisation is handling the legal matter with a team of experts and once again reiterated that the BAPS did not indulge in human trafficking.
Lawsuit against BAPS on allegations of forced labour and human trafficking
In May this year, a group of Indian workers in US had filed a lawsuit alleging human trafficking and forced labour and had claimed they were confined and forced to work for as low as USD 1 on construction of the Swaminarayan temple in New Jersey’s Robbinsville. BAPS was accused of luring labourers from India to work on temples near Atlanta, Chicago Houston and Los Angeles along with New Jersey while paying only USD 450 a month.
However, BAPS has officially denied all the allegations.
A poet has accused Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi of using his poem without his authorisation and asked her to not use his literary property for her political purposes. Uttar Pradesh based poet Pushyamitra Upadhyay posted a tweet today evening responding to a video posted by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Kumar Lallu, where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen reciting Upadhyay’s well-known poem ‘Suno Draupadi Sashtra Utha Lo’.
सुनो द्रोपदी शस्त्र उठा लो अब गोविंद न आएंगे कब तक आस लगाओगी तुम बिके हुए अखबारों से
कैसी रक्षा मांग रही हो दु:शासन दरबारों से सुनो द्रोपदी शस्त्र उठा लो अब गोविंद न आएंगे
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra used the poem to liken the BJP with the Kauravas while speaking to women on the bank of Mandakini river in Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh today. However, the poet has now taken a strong exception to the misuse of his creation for political purposes. He also asked what expectations people can have from a politician who steals even poems written by others.
Responding to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reciting his poet, he wrote, ‘I had written this poem for the women of the country not for your cheap politics. Neither I support your ideology not allow you for political use of my literary property. What the country will expect from those who steal even poetry?’
@priyankagandhi जी ये कविता मैंने देश की स्त्रियों के लिए लिखी थी न कि आपकी घटिया राजनीति के लिए। न तो मैं आपकी विचारधारा का समर्थन करता हूं और न आपको ये अनुमति देता हूं कि आप मेरी साहित्यिक संपत्ति का राजनैतिक उपयोग करें। कविता भी चोरी करने वालों से देश क्या उम्मीद रखेगा? https://t.co/pul4puX9Sr
When the video of the same recitation was later posted by ANI Hindi on Twitter, poet Pushyamitra Upadhyay again posted the same tweet responding to it.
@priyankagandhi जी ये कविता मैंने देश की स्त्रियों के लिए लिखी थी न कि आपकी घटिया राजनीति के लिए। न तो मैं आपकी विचारधारा का समर्थन करता हूं और न आपको ये अनुमति देता हूं कि आप मेरी साहित्यिक संपत्ति का राजनैतिक उपयोग करें। कविता भी चोरी कर लेने वालों से देश क्या उम्मीद रखेगा? https://t.co/EHFvgnUYc7
‘Suno Draupadi Sashtra Utha Lo’ has gone viral on social media several times earlier, which the poet had posted on his blog page in December 2012. The poet had earlier told media that he had written it after getting deeply affected by the horrific Delhi gang-rape case on December 16 that year.
The poem
Using the incidents from Mahabharata, the poet tells the women to pick up arms to protect themselves, because Govinda (Krishna) is not coming to save them.
Pushyamitra Upadhyay said that he had written the poem to describe the pain of women from all sections of society. Apart from the poem becoming popular on social media, it has also earned accolades for the poem. But now Upadhyay says that it has been misused for political benefits repeatedly.
Today, i.e November 17, 2021, is the ninth death anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray, one of the tallest Maharashtrian leaders. However, on his death anniversary, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is normally quite active on social media, has so far, not paid his tributes to the Sena ideologue.
Rahul Gandhi has posted two tweets since morning, but none of them is about remembering Balasaheb Thackeray on his death anniversary.
Source: Twitter/@RahulGandhi
It is worth noting that Congress and Shiv Sena are alliance partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. Yet, the former Congress president has refrained from commemorating the founder of the political party his party is in alliance with. This impertinence even after Shiv Sena had gone overboard in pleasing Congress when their Bhawan was decked up with posters carrying pictures of Bal Thackeray with Indira Gandhi after the two parties decided to form an alliance in November 2019.
Balasaheb Thackeray had once slammed Rahul Gandhi
With Gandhi not paying his obeisance to the ideological fountainhead of Shiv Sena, rumour mills are swirling that Rahul’s unwillingness to tweet on Balasaheb’s death anniversary could be linked to the widening rift between the two political parties or perhaps if he is still smarting from the cutting remarks that Balasaheb Thackeray had once made against him.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi, Balasaheb had said, “He was born yesterday and wants to be prime minister today. Is the PM’s post up for auction?” He had heavily criticized the series of corruption cases during the Congress regime as well. He asserted, “The Yuvraj of Congress (Rahul Gandhi) is very vocal on the corruption by Mayawati. However, he is not saying anything about the corruption by his government.” He also wrote, “His mummy (Sonia Gandhi) is also quiet on the issue. The Prime Minister is also not opening his mouth. The truth is hidden in the silence”.
Widening rift within the members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra?
In addition to this, every once in a while, reports start trickling out of Maharashtra that everything is not hunky-dory between the alliance partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, alleging that the coalition might be on the verge of an imminent collapse. In June this year, state Congress chief Nana Patole had said that Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance is not a permanent fixture, reaffirming his party’s desire of going solo in the future polls.
Patole’s rebuttal elicited sharp responses from the Shiv Sena leaders, most notably by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray himself, who took a dig at ally Congress saying that people would “beat with footwear” to those who only talk about contesting elections alone without offering solutions to problems.
“If a party says that it wants to contest elections on its own without joining hands with others, it should first generate confidence among the public of its ability to provide jobs,” the Chief Minister had said.
Sanjay Raut also took a swipe at the Congress party, saying that Shiv Sena was always ready for an electoral battle at any given time. In a thinly veiled jibe aimed at the Congress party, Raut said parties must first emerge out of their confusion and then decide whether or not to contest polls alone.
The furore only intensified when the embattled Shiv sena leader Pratap Sarnaik suggested the party to reconcile with PM Modi “before it’s too late” and snap their with the NCP and Congress. In a letter addressed to CM Uddhav Thackeray on June 10, Sarnaik urged him to align with the BJP, saying that the Congress and NCP, which are constituents in the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, were weakening the party by fomenting divisions in its ranks and also pointed out that civic polls are due in many cities, including Mumbai, in coming months.
Even though MVA leaders express confidence in completing its term, behind this veneer of normalcy, is an intense tussle underway between the coalition partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, who are perhaps biding their time and waiting for the opportune moment to call off the unholy nexus. While it cannot be said with certainty that the MVA alliance is on the verge of an inevitable split, Rahul’s decision to not pay his homage to Balasaheb Thackeray on his death anniversary only serves to add fuel to such suspicions.
Rahul’s supporters might claim there is not much to be read here and that their leader might have genuinely forgotten to pay tributes to the founder of Shiv Sena, but that only goes to show the priorities of the Congress party and the precarious state of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on November 17 lodged a complaint against Waseem Rizvi, the former chief of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board, for making alleged insulting statements against the Prophet.
In the complaint addressed to the Commissioner of Police of Hyderabad, Owaisi alleged that Rizvi has written a book in Hindi where he vilified Prophet Mohammad and used objectionable language. Owaisi was complaining against the latest book by Rizvi titled ‘Muhammad,’ which was released on November 4 from Dasna Devi temple at Ghaziabad in presence of Narsinghanand Saraswari.
According to The Wire, the book in Hindi “presents prophet Mohammad as a murderer, womaniser and a madman”. Rizvi also claimed in his book that Mohammad wrote falsehoods in the Quran. The Wire further informs that the book’s cover depicts a naked woman in front of a man, presumed to be prophet Mohammad.
“The contents of the book and the objectionable statements have been made with a view to outrage the religious sentiments of those who follow Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and abide by Islamic tenets. His statements are also targeted at creating a feeling of enmity against Muslims of India which is likely to result in a threat to the breach of peace,” the complaint reads.
We met Hyderabad Police Commissioner.Ex-Chairman of UP Shia Waqf Board Wasim Rizvi wrote a book that has objectionable statements on Prophet Mohammed. We requested that he be booked.Commissioner assured us of a criminal case.We hope he’ll be arrested: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi pic.twitter.com/iQPh6J6hGr
Owaisi, later on, told the media that he led a delegation of AIMIM to meet the police chief where we urged to lodge an FIR against Rizvi under relevant sections of the IPC. He said that Rizvi should be booked under section 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 153 B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (1) (C) intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offense against any other class or community, of the IPC.
AIMIM chief Owaisi, who is also MP from Hyderabad, said that the police assured him of action against Rizvi. “We hope that once the criminal case is registered, the Telangana government will arrest him as well. This man only wants to provoke Muslims, and is being used as a tool by the anti-Muslim forces. We appeal to peace-loving people and Muslims across the country to file a criminal case against him,” he said. He alleged that Rizvi was a tool in the hands of the anti-Muslim forces who wanted to provoke Muslims.
Rizvi is a progressive Muslim who has been facing criticism from the Islamic fundamentalist. He had supported the cause of the Ram Temple in Ayodhyaa, and had also scripted and produced a film titled Ram Janmabhoomi.
Earlier this year, Rizvi had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Supreme Court of India, seeking the removal of 26 verses of the Quran, saying that these verses promote terrorism. However, the court had called the petition frivolous, and had imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on him. After failing to get the terror-supporting verses removed from the Quran officially, Waseem Rizvi had created a new Islamic Holy book, after omitting the said 26 verses from the Quran.
Indian Railways, on its journey to provide world-class facilities to its customers, have added another feather to its hat. On November 17, the Ministry of Railways introduced its first-ever Pod retiring rooms at Mumbai Central Railway Station. In a tweet, Darshana Jardosh, Minister of State for Railways & Textiles, said, “Happy to share that Ministry of Railways introduces India’s first-ever POD retiring rooms at Mumbai Central Railway Station. Enjoy the luxury and amenities of a hotel room in compact form at affordable prices with these Pod retiring rooms.”
Happy to share that @RailMinIndia introduces India’s first ever Pod retiring rooms at Mumbai Central Railway Station.
Enjoy the luxury and amenities of a hotel room in compact form at affordable prices with these Pod retiring rooms. pic.twitter.com/hKIQrUzzjZ
The Pod Hotel was virtually inaugurated by Raosaheb Patil Danve, Union Minister of State for Railways. IRCTC, in a tweet, said that this state-of-the-art POD concept would provide a much-needed travel solution to railway passengers.
Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, was also present during the inauguration. Western Railways, in a tweet, said, “Passengers can avail all modern facilities at comparatively cheaper rates at these Pod concept rooms.”
Hon. Minister of State for Railways, Coal & Mines Shri @raosahebdanve inaugurates the state-of-the-art ‘POD’ concept Retiring Room at Mumbai Central station.
The POD hotel covers around 3,000 square feet of space on the first floor of the Mumbai Central Railway Station. It has 48 Capsule Rooms categorized in different categories. 30 PODs are in the classic category, seven are reserved for women, ten have been designated as private PODs, and one is available for differently-abled passengers. While classic and women-only PODs can accommodate one passenger, the private POD has extra room. In the POD for differently-abled passengers, two guests can fit in, and there is space for easy movement of the wheelchair.
PODs can be booked for Rs. 999 for 12 hours and Rs. 1,999 for 24 hours. The private POD is available for Rs. 1,249 for 12 hours and Rs. 2,499 for 24 hours. In the hotel premises, the guests can enjoy free Wi-Fi along with other facilities like washrooms, showers, and a common area. In each air-conditioned POD, there will be a television, mobile charging points, and reading lights.
The POD hotel is equipped with smoke detectors. All PODs have DND indicators to ensure privacy.
What are POD rooms?
POD Rooms or best known as Capsule Rooms were first started in Osaka, Japan, in 1979. In recent times, it has gained popularity across the world. Various countries, including China, Belgium, Hong Kong, Iceland, Poland and India, have such hotels. In India, it was first started by a company named Urbanpod in Mumbai. PODs are basically small rooms in the shape of a pod or a capsule. These PODs are best suited for short duration stay for single guests and are becoming popular as they take lesser space compared to conventional hotel rooms.
Mumbai’s Esplanade court on Wednesday allowed Mumbai Police’s application to declare former police commissioner Param Bir Singh as a proclaimed offender in an extortion case. Following the court order, the police can now designate Singh as a wanted person and initiate a process to declare him an absconder.
The court passed a proclamation to declare former Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh an ‘absconder’ if he does not respond to the summons in 30 days. As per rules, if he is declared an ‘absconder’, Singh’s properties may be seized and subsequently auctioned and he would not be able to avail of legal remedies.
Singh and two other accused, Vinay Singh and Riyaz Bhati, were among those against whom an application was filed in connection with a case registered on a complaint lodged by hotelier Bimal Agarwal. Agrawal had alleged that Singh and suspended cop Waze had extorted cash and valuables worth ₹11 lakh from him.
Following the court order, the Mumbai police will go to the last known addresses of all the three accused to paste notices stating that they are wanted and required to be present before the court.
An FIR was filed based on the complaint under Sections 384, 385 388, 389 (extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
The development came in the wake of the non-bailable warrants that were issued recently against the three accused by a Mumbai court.
The current application says that despite having issued multiple non-bailable warrants, the three accused continued to remain on the run, and their existence concealed. In view of these facts, the police prayed that the three accused be declared “absconding” as per Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Param Bir Singh goes missing, Maharashtra govt initiates procedure to declare him ‘absconder’
Param Bir was removed from his Mumbai Police Commissioner post in March this year, and was appointed as Director General (DG) of Maharashtra Home Guard. Soon after the transfer, he had written a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray where he made serious corruption charges against state home minister Anil Deshmukh. Subsequently, several cases were lodged against him by several businessmen, accusing him of extorting money from them. After that, he had gone on a leave, and then went ‘missing’, with police unable to locate him.
Param Bir Singh missed appearing before the Justice Chandiwal commission constituted to investigate his allegations. During the hearing last month, the Maharashtra government further told the Bombay High Court that since the former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh facing police probe is missing, the Maharashtra police is under no obligation to extend ‘no coercive action’ assurance to him.
The submission of the Maharashtra government that Singh was untraceable came when Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil informed that he may have left the country.
Param Bir Singh is known to be on leave from his post and had sought several extensions of his leave to the state govt. His last communication to the state government was in the second week of August, where he had sought an extension of leave till August 29. After that, there has been no communication from him.
The former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh is wanted in several ongoing cases under investigation including the Antilia Bomb scare, Mansukh Hiren murder case, and the Mumbai police extortion case.
Pakistan has appointed a new ambassador to the United States. The former president of the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Masood Khan, is also the ambassador of Pakistan to China. Khan, whose appointment is raising eyebrows, has a history of sympathising with Islamists and Jihadists.
An article by Sam Westrop in Middle East Forum has highlighted Masood’s open support to terrorist organisations and Jihadist elements.
Masood Khan and his links to Islamists and Jihadists
On several occasions in the past, Khan has shamelessly stood by the Jihadists. He had paid homage to the terrorist Burhan Wani who was neutralized by Indian forces five years ago. In July 2021, Khan was serving as the ‘president’ of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
According to News Agency ANI, at that time, in his special message on the fifth anniversary of Wani’s death, he said, “We grieve today for Burhan Wani. He lives on… in our hearts. He sacrificed his life for a cause.” According to Pakistani media, he further added Wani was a “role model for the freedom fighters across the globe”. He also said, “the liberation of Kashmir and a defeat of India is the writing on the wall.”
In June 2017, when US State Department designated Hizbul Mujahideen a terrorist organization, Khan extended his full support to the organization. He called US sanctions against Sayed Salahuddin, leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, “unjustified”. Khan continued to support Hizbul on several occasions.
According to a report in Geo TV, Masood claimed Hizbul had nothing to do with terrorism. In 2020, after the death of Junaid Sehrai, a top commander of Hizbul, Khan issued an official statement paying homage to Sehrai and his associate, Taria Ahmed, for “offering the supreme sacrifice of their lives for the freedom of their motherland.” Khan further said, “all the martyrs and their sacrifices are an asset for the liberation movement.”
Furthermore, he extended support for other terrorist organizations as well. In 2019, he took part in the All Parties Kashmir Solidarity Conference that was held in Islamabad. According to a report in Catch News, he shared the stage with Fazlur Rehman Khalil, founder of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). Khalil was designated a terrorist by the US State Department in 1997. He was named as Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2014.
Khan is also a vocal supporter of the South Asian Islamist movement Jamaat-e-Islami. The article in meforum.org tells how the killing squads of this organization had worked hand-in-hand with the Pakistani military to carry out the genocide of Bangladeshis in 1971. In 2016, Motiur Rahman Nizami, leader of its Bangladesh chapter was hanged by the Bangladeshi government for his role in cases involving rape and genocide in 1971. On Khan’s official website, experts of his speeches have been published where he gave “paid tributes to Jamaat Islami Pakistan for playing an active role in Pakistan and Azad (sic) Jammu and Kashmir.”
Khan also extended support for Aafia Siddiqui, alias Lady Al-Qaeda.
Masood had extended support for a female terrorist. Source: Twitter
Khan’s name has been linked to IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation that is a Turkish intelligence linked charity. The meforum.org article further states this organization has been accused of supplying weapons to al-Qaeda’s Jihadist groups in Libya and Syria. It is also accused of holding operations in Kashmir. IHH has been designated as a terrorist organization in Germany, Israel and the Netherlands.
Masood has links to IHH, a Turkish intelligence linked charity. Source: Twitter
Another extremist charity organization that Khan has extended support to is Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD). This organization is an American proxy of Jamaat-e-Islami. In 2017, HHRD partnered with the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. HHRD is accused of providing funds to Al-Khidmat Foundation, which is linked to Kashmiri terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen.
In 2019, Pakistani PM Imran Khan called for lobbying against India during a conference organized by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Notably, in 2018, ISNA’s branch was suspended in Canada after the organization transferred CAD 1,36,000 to Kashmir that reportedly went in the hands of Hizbul Mujahideen.
Since Imran Khan’s speech, US-based Pakistani-regime-linked lobbying groups and Islamist organizations have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying against Narendra Modi-led Indian government. Masood Khan has not only extended support for these lobbying groups but also stood by terrorist operatives like Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah and Jihadist leaders like late Syed Ali Geelani.
Masood extended support for terrorists and jihadists operating in India. Source: Twitter
Pakistan’s overt support to Islamic terrorist organisations has been laid bare after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The appointment of Masood as Pakistan’s ambassador to the USA is another blatant display of the Islamic regime’s attempts to mainstream Jihadist ideologies and co-opt terrorist supporters.
Also, Pakistan calls the POK as ‘Azad Kashmir’, but the so-called Prime Ministers and Presidents of this ‘Azad Kashmir’ are nothing but puppets of Pakistan who just follow Islamabad’s orders. Their call for ‘independence’ in Jammu and Kashmir is nothing but an attempt to bring the entire region under Pakistan’s control.
On November 17, Hindi news channel News18 India removed a debate on the issue of spitting on foods and arrests that were made in connection to such cases from its all social media handles and YouTube channel. The channel has not issued any statement why the videos and posts were removed. News18 anchor Aman Chopra, who moderated the debate, also removed the clip of the debate from his Twitter account.
Screenshot from now-deleted debate by News18.
Bizarre claims were made during debate
During the debate telecast on November 16, the panellists Maulana Alimuddin Asadi and Masood Hashmi had made some bizarre claims. While pointing towards a particular clip shown during the debate, Asadi had claimed that people of the Muslim community (in this case Bohra community) respect their elders and gurus so much that they happily eat the leftover food by them. In the video, some young men were seen licking the utensils to allegedly clean the leftover food. He also alleged that in the video of a fruit seller linking the fruit that had gone viral a few years back, the fruit seller was not spitting or licking but cleaning the fruit.
On the other hand, political analyst Masood Hashmi alleged that only Muslims are being targeted and arrested under PM Modi and CM Yogi governments. When Chopra named all the arrested nine people of a particular community in nine months for allegedly spitting on food items and asked if Hashmi found anything common among them, he said they had nothing in common.
Hashmi also alleged that Mosaad, CIA, and RSS are responsible for the unrest in Muslim nations like Iran and Syria. He also claimed if Indian Muslims were not peaceful, India would not have existed the way it exists. Irked by questions raised on Islam, he said, “Those who watch Mahabharat and Ramayana are questioning Islam. Those who have Gods with countless weapons in their hands are questioning Islam. Look at yourself first, then question us.”
The Defence minister Rajnath Singh along with chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat will dedicate to the nation a revamped memorial of the Rezang La battle in Ladakh. 59 years ago, Major Shaitan Singh and 114 of his men from the Charlie company of 13th Kumaon Battalion had defeated many waves of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the 1962 Indio-China war at this place before making the supreme sacrifice.
The inauguration will take place on November 18 which is the anniversary of the legendry battle of Rezang La when a well-equipped PLA had attacked an Indian post. The Indian Army, ill-equipped but full of bravery, led by Shaitan Singh inflicted heavy casualties upon PLA. Nearly 400 intruding PLA troops were neutralised. Charlie Company, 13 Kumaon, had repulsed seven attacks by the Chinese before the entire company was martyred in combat.
The original memorial structure was erected in Chushul in 1963 close to the site of the battle. Now the expanded Rezang La war memorial has an auditorium and a photo gallery to honour soldiers of Charlie Company of 13th Kumaon regiment. In addition to this, the memorial will inscribe the name of the 20 soldiers also who made a supreme sacrifice during the Galwan Valley clash last year.
The auditorium will be named after Major Shaitan Singh whereas the photo gallery will display rare photographs to depict the valour of the Charlie Company. A model of the battlefield area is also being set up to let people know how the Indian Army had fought a difficult battle on a high altitude with minimum resources and crushed the Chinese army.
Successive governments remained reluctant to recognize and celebrate Rezang La
Commemorating war heroes of Rezang La and upgrading the memorial is a significant policy shift made by the Narendra Modi government. Although India had lost the 1962 war, the soldiers of the Indian Army had displayed indomitable courage.
Even after decades of the debacle, an important battle like Rezang La remained absent from the official calendars of the Indian government. The Congress which mostly remained in power after the 1962 battle had ignored the anniversary of 1962. It was only in 2012 that a formal function was held to commemorate the 1962 war at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate.
The Battle of Rezang La
It was a unique and unprecedented battle fought on a Sunday, November 18, 1962, which witnessed unusual cold and light snowfall with the breaking dawn. Despite Chinese invaders having numerical superiority and advanced weapons, Major Shaitan Singh and his company foiled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy.
PLA attack on the isolated post of 1800 feet Rezang La had begun at 4 am with the intention to block the road link between Leh and Chushul via Dungti to cripple the garrison at Chushul.
Major Shaitan Singh and his company fought with three-inch mortars, then rifles, bayonets and then bare hands without having any artillery or air support. Months after the battle, Indian Red Cross recovered their body. There were no bunkers left at the hill and the martyrs were found frozen stiff in the trenches, holding their broken and blown off weapons.
The mortal remains of Major Shaitan Singh were flown to his village Banasar, in Jodhpur and cremated with full military honours. Major Shaitan Singh was conferred with the nation’s highest gallantry award, Param Vir Chakra, posthumously.
A plaque raised in the memory of the bravest of the brave who fought Rezang La battle. Image source Twitter
The “Veer Ahirs” fought till the proverbial “Last Man, Last Round” at the icy peaks of Rezang La and embraced death to surrender. Out of the 123 soldiers of Charlie Company, 114 were martyred and 6 were captured by the Chinese Army and kept as PoWs. They later miraculously escaped. Every man of the company, who fought Rezang La, was a hero and the grateful nation continues to remember each one of them.
Squeezed between the heaps of scrap and drains are the kutcha houses where two hundred families of Hindu refugees from Pakistan have been living in extremely adverse conditions in North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar colony for over eight years now. When an OpIndia team reached the settlement of Pakistani Hindu refugees in the capital, all we saw were heaps of garbage, filth, drain water flowing through the dark and narrow lanes, stinking mud swarming with flies, mosquitoes, maggots and strayed stinky pigs adding to the squalor.
The camp has no electricity and no running water. The only ‘facility’ is a community toilet, but there is no piped water. As such, people have to depend on the everyday water tankers for all their needs. Knowing how these Hindu refugees have to queue up for hours before getting water which probably is not even sufficient to quench their thirst, one shudders to imagine how filthy the community toilets must be due to the unavailability of water.
Meanwhile, adding salt to their injuries, the Centre on October 21 opposed a petition seeking electricity connections for these 200 Hindu migrant families. The Centre in its response said that their demand should be dismissed as they were residing in “illegal camps” in North Delhi.
Destitute Pakistani Hindu refugee of Adarsh Nagar camp
The wretched conditions these Hindu refugees have been living in is appaling. We thus took it upon ourselves to meet them and bring to the fore the despicable situations and the challenges these 2,000 migrants including children as young as five-year-old are having to face in their day to day lives.
Before we met Nehru Lal, the pradhan (head) of the Refugees’ Committee, we thought of meeting some women and children to learn about the hardships they were facing here in the Adarsh Nagar camp and what had brought them to India. Most of these immigrants opined that they came to India from Hyderabad in Pakistan’s Sindh province as a result of religious persecution by Pakistan’s majority Muslims.
Kutcha houses where two hundred families of Hindu migrants from Pakistan have been living in extremely adverse conditions at North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar colony
They said they came with the hope that emigrating to India will provide a bright and safe future for their children. “Where else were we supposed to go? If Muslims only persecute us, which Muslim country would adopt us? India is the only country where Hindus feel safe. If we cannot get a comfortable life here then we prefer to die. Every day we are living in the hope that one day all will be well. We will also get citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act and our children’s future will be secured. There is still hope but…”, the woman speaking to the OpIndia team paused abruptly, her silence, however, speaking volumes about the hopelessness and scepticism that surrounds the North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar refugee camp.
The apprehensions which are visible in the eyes of the poor Hindu immigrants are completely understandable as for the last 8-10 years, the lives of 800 Pakistani Hindu immigrants residing in the Adarsh Nagar neighbourhood of North Delhi have been dismal.
The camp has no electricity, no proper toilet facilities and no running water. Summers become increasingly unbearable making it hard for the immigrants to cope up with heatwave related incidents. During monsoons, while there is some respite from the heat, those in the settlement have to grapple with other issues. The stagnant rainwater combined with garbage leads to the increased presence of mosquitoes, which, in turn, spikes cases of Malaria and Dengue along with some other water-borne diseases. The financial constraints and lack of access to healthcare lead to an increased number of deaths in these camps.
From the risks of living in straw huts which may collapse anytime during the rainy season to the health hazards they face due to lack of proper sanitation and toilets to the diseases that spread due to the dirty stagnant knee-deep water that accumulates during the monsoon season, the hazards are many.
Moolchand, a teacher residing in the camp spoke to us in length about the deplorable conditions in which these Hindu migrant families have been living in the national capital.
He lamented that despite living in such awful conditions, they at least had a roof over their head. Moolchand stated that during monsoons, when the camp is flooded, there have been instances that the refugees have nowhere to go, because they cannot even squat on roadsides because they have no papers.
Meanwhile, Nehru Lal, who was preoccupied with the rebuilding work of a Kali temple here that was damaged due to the rains, told us that in the last 8 years they have met and spoken to many government authorities but all in vain. “We met many AAP MLAs, Union minister Harsh Vardhan also visited our camp, we also met Manoj Tiwari, but nothing happened.
“What are we doing wrong? No one even knows, but plans are in the works to get us out of here. We have lost everything in Pakistan. Where would we go now if we are forced to leave”? rued Nehru Lal.
These families that have been forced to live in the dark for many years, had been hoping for a bright Diwali since last month, however, their dreams shattered as the central govt in its reply to the Delhi HC stated that these migrants have illegally encroached on defence land, hence they could not be provided with electricity. The response from the centre was the final nail in the coffin for these beleaguered Hindu refugees, who, along with other issues, are now fearing eviction.
In such a situation we invited the pradhan (head) of the Refugees’ Committee to talk to us about their concerns all over again. Our team assured him that OpIndia would ensure that their concerns were published in detail. Here’s what Nehru Lal told us:
As is evident from the video, the miseries of these Pakistani Hindu refugees’ have only increased with time. However, the Hindu immigrants residing in the Adarsh Nagar are not the only ones suffering. Even in the camp near Majnu Ka Tila and Signature Bridge in North Delhi, where Hindu refugees from Pakistan live, the lives of these Hindu refugees have come to a standstill due to the lack of basic facilities. What’s more concerning is that the Kejriwal government and the central government have failed to save these Hindu immigrants from their plight.
“We’ve been trying for electricity for the last seven years,” Dharamveer, the head of Majnu Ka Tila Camp, told OpIndia. “Snakes and scorpions keep pouring out every day.” What should we do if life is in danger here and there (Pakistan)? If we receive electricity, we’ll work hard to pay the bill.
Let us remind you that Majnu Ka Tila Camp, on the banks of the Yamuna, is also on Central Government territory and that these refugees have been waiting for rehabilitation for the past seven years.
These immigrants came to India from Pakistan as a result of religious persecution by Pakistan’s majority Muslims. They hope that emigrating to India will provide a bright and safe future for their children, yet without electricity in the slum, their current existence is devastated.
The Hindu residents here work as daily wagers, earning barely enough to feed their families. Yet they are not demanding free facilities. They are ready to pay for the electricity.
Echoing the sentiments of the Adarsh Nagar Hindu immigrants on the issue, Nehru Lal said: “We have never received any notice stating that the land we are staying on belongs to the government and even if it does we are not running away with it. We have not carried these pieces of land on our heads from Pakistan. It definitely belongs to India. We are just living here, not asserting ownership on it. At least provide us with clean water and electricity till the time we are living here. This would help us save the money which we otherwise are compelled to spend on medical treatments. We will gladly go wherever the government relocates us, but we only demand a better standard of living”, rued Lal, the head of the Refugees’ Committee.
Nehru Lal recalled how in the year 2018, they had gotten power from Jahangir Puri by paying some money three or four years ago, but it, too, had been cut off by the Kejriwal government. He added that this was the same year when they learnt that the Delhi Jal Board gave the land, where the Hindu refugees are currently residing in North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar, to the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the former was entrusted with the responsibility to vacate it.
The recent decision of the Central government to oppose the Delhi high court petition seeking electricity connections for 200 Pakistani Hindu migrant families was largely due to this order passed by the Kejriwal government.
When the Delhi government cut off electricity for the Hindu refugees residing in the Adarsh Nagar camp for a few days, there was outrage on social media. Many people only started tweeting and criticising the Kejriwal government in 2018. But even after that, our government machinery did not bother to find any solution to this problem, lamented Nehru Lal.
Nehru Lal added that the local AAP MLA had also met them and had tried to get electricity supply into the settlement, but the connections never came. He added that the children attend the local government school. The refugees add that even some temporary arrangement for electricity will save a lot of lives in the colony.
It may be noted that the Pakistani Hindu refugees residing in Delhi Jal Board Maidan since 2013, in an attempt to get electricity to their slums, had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court. The Delhi high court, in turn, on September 22, 2021, had sought the response of the Centre, Delhi government and Tata Power on the matter.
The central government, in response, opposed the petition on October 22, telling the Delhi HC that the camp built by these refugees at Delhi Jal Board Maidan is an illegal encroachment on defence land.
The Centre told the court that the 70.253-acre plot of land was transferred to the Defence Research and Development Organisation in August 2018 and that it has been following up with the district administration and police on the elimination of “unauthorised occupation/encroachment” on defence territory. According to the Centre, the Ministry of Defence has also taken up the matter of disconnecting the electricity and water supply of the “unauthorised inhabitants” with the Delhi Jal Board and North Delhi Power Limited.
For these Hindu refugees, who have been putting up a tough fight every day to sustain amidst all their problems, Hindu organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Sewa Bharti, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Seva Sangh Japan (HSS Japan) and a few NGOs have been the only hope.
While all these Hindu outfits have continuously tried to help these destitute residents from time to time, Seva Sangh Japan (HSS Japan) has especially provided immense help and support to them. They have provided vocational training like singing and dancing, conducted skill development programs like sewing and beauty parlour training for women.
Having said all of this, it’s essential to know that, while Muslims can choose any one of the 150 Islamic countries in the world to reside in, India is the only country for the Hindus, particularly for those who are persecuted in other Islamic countries. As a result, it is the responsibility of the Indian government, both central and state, to safeguard these beleaguered Hindus and make them feel at home.
