Security forces gunned down two Islamic terrorists including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Umar Mushtaq Khandey at the Pampore area of Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. IGP of Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar confirmed security forces having successfully eliminated two terrorists who were holed up in a three-storey concrete building at Drangbal. The second terrorist was identified as Shahid Khurshid, a resident of Chanapora in Srinagar.
A joint team of police, Army and CRPF successfully neutralised the terrorists after an 8-hour-operation. Arms and ammunition were also recovered from them.
“Umar Mustaq Khandey who martyred our two colleagues SgCT Mohammad Yousf and Ct Suhail Ahmad in Baghat Srinagar while they were having tea has been neutralised in Drangbal. Amongst various other crimes of the terrorists, this stands out as most unforgivable,” Jammu and Kashmir police informed.
LeT #terrorist Umar Mustaq Khandey who martyred our 2 colleagues SgCT Mohammad Yousf and Ct Suhail Ah in Baghat Srinagar while they were having tea, #neutralised in Drangbal, #Pampore. Amongst various other crimes of the terrorists, this stands out as most unforgivable. (1/2)
Suhail Ahmed of Logripora Aishmuqam and Mohammad Yousuf of Zurhama Kupwara were selection grade constables who were killed by Khandey a six-second attack at Barzulla in Srinagar in February this year. A video had also gone viral where this slain terrorist was seen spraying bullets on the back of both unarmed policemen.
Jammu and Kashmir police said that it is committed to hunting down these terrorists who try to create fear among the masses and spread mischief and tumult in the valley. Such elements and their name should be excised from society. According to the police, so far 13 terrorists have been killed in nine different encounters in Jammu and Kashmir. “We have neutralised three out of five terrorists of Srinagar City within less than 24 hours,” the police said.
Khandey’s name figured in the list of top 10 militants who the security forces were targeting since the hit list was released by the police in August this year.
About the operation, the IGP said that a joint team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police Indian army cordoned off the area on getting information about the presence of terrorists. But as security forces zeroed in on the spot, terrorists opened heavy on security forces. Security forces have launched a massive operation following the targeted killings of minority civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.
At the advent of the heinous killing of the Dalit labourer at the Singhu-Kundli border on Friday, October 15, another victim has come forth to reveal similar atrocities meted out at him by the Nihang Sikhs at a farmer protest site.
Recounting how he had also once become victim to the angst of a Nihang Sikh, a 24-year-old Shekhar told India Today that he and a friend were driving to work on April 12 when they got stuck in a big traffic jam near the Delhi-Haryana border in Kundli. He requested a traffic cop on duty to allow him to pass through the barricades because he was receiving continuous calls from his employer at TDI Mall. He also urged the same of a Nihang traffic officer. But, his request somehow enraged the latter, who pulled out his sword and started assaulting Shekhar.
Shekhar was allegedly attacked three times by the Nihang man, resulting in a wound on his left hand that bled profusely. He was quickly rushed to the hospital for treatment, where he received 28-30 stitches in his hand.
An FIR was registered at Kundli police station. The accused was identified as one Manpreet.
Shekhar said that though it has been several months since the incident occurred his left hand still does not function properly. He has lost his job and there is nobody to support his family, rued Shekhar.
This episode has an uncanny resemblance to the brutal lynching of Lakhbir Singh, who was killed on Friday, October 15, where farmers have been camping for months in protest of the three agricultural laws.
Kundli border murder by Nihang Sikhs
Lakhbir Singh’s brutally mutilated body, with his hands and legs severed, was reportedly found suspended from a police barricade. The autopsy report of Lakhbir Singh confirmed that 22 wounds were found on his body, of which ten were very large and deep.
He died due to deep wounds and excessive bleeding, read the report. Marks of being tied with a rope and dragged along the ground were also found on his body. Lakhbir Singh’s arm was completely severed while his leg was partially severed, revealed the post mortem.
Haryana police had arrested Nihang Sarabjit after he surrendered claiming responsibility for killing Lakhbir Singh. Sarabjit belonged to a Nihang group, Nirvair Khalsa-Udna Dal.
Before surrendering to the police, Nihang Sarabjit had appeared before the media and taken full responsibility for the barbaric act. He said that when he had found someone desecrating a Sikh sacred book he did what he deemed fit. When the reporters asked him whether he had any remorse over his action, Sarabjit had answered in the negative.
While it may be difficult to forget the scars of this heinous act, this is only one of several recent incidents in which Nihang Sikhs have ruthlessly mutilated and killed people in recent times.
In April last year, a group of five Nihangs, armed with swords and iron rods, had attacked two policemen and chopped off the hands of ASI Harjeet Singh.
Two weeks after the aforementioned incident, a Nihang Sikh identified as Tej Singh allegedly attacked two locals in Mandayali village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh over a small argument. While one victim’s four fingers were chopped off, the other received severe injuries on the head.
As Bangladesh continues to convulse with a violent spate of attacks against Hindu temples and minority Hindus, Islamists on Twitter recently descended on the timeline of Bangladeshi actor Rafiath Rashid Mithila for posting a tweet wishing Shubho Bijoya.
On the occasion of Vijay Dashami or Shubho Bijoya on October 15, Mithila had shared a picture of herself dressed in traditional Bengali attire. Along with the picture, Mithila wished Shubho Bijoya and said that there will be grand celebrations next year as well.
But this did not sit well with radical Islamists on Twitter, who responded with abuses and insulting remarks for the actor for expressing her greetings on a Hindu festival. Many of the Islamists who could not fathom the fact that the actor had posted a picture wishing Hindus on a Hindu festival, proceeded to character assassinate her. She was called a prostitute by a majority of the radicals who believed in Islamic supremacism and considered greeting extended on festivals belonging to other communities as ‘haram’.
Source: Twitter
A Twitter user responded to the actor’s tweet by calling her a disgrace to Bangladesh and suggested her to stay in India “if she loved Hinduism so much”.
Source: Twitter
Some raised questions on her religiosity, asking her if she was indeed a Muslim.
Source: Twitter
Then there were others who hurled choicest of abuses against the actor for simply wishing on a Hindu festival.
Source: Twitter
Islamists in Bangladesh target Hindu temples, pandals and devotees after troublemongers place Quran at the knee of Goddess Durga
The online attack against actor Rafiath Rashid comes hot on the heels of a slew of attacks against Hindus and Hindu places of worship in Bangladesh. Earlier today, two Hindus were killed in the latest spate of violence that took place in the southern town of Begumganj as more than 200 protesters attacked a temple when Hindu devotees were performing the last rituals on the final day of Durga Puja.
The horrifying bout of attacks against Hindus in the Muslim-majority nation started over the alleged desecration of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. After a video of a copy of the Quran placed on the knee of the goddess Durga’s idol at a puja pandal in Cumilla surfaced, Islamists attacked pandals and temples across the country. From temples in Chandpur’s Hajiganj to Chattogram’s Banshkhali, from Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj to Cox’s Bazar’s Pekua, Islamists ran riot, vandalising pandals and temples, and attacking Hindus devotees.
Shibu Prasad Dutta, the general secretary of Cumilla Mahanagar Puja Udjapon Committee, informed that someone placed a copy of the Quran at a Durga Puja pavilion in Nanua Dighir Par early in the morning when no one was watching, as a deliberate act to create a rumour.
However, it was not the first incidence of violence against the minority Hindus in the country, triggered by some stray social media posts. Similar to Pakistan, Hindus in Bangladesh have also witnessed unbridled attacks from the majority of Muslims. For decades, the Hindu community in Bangladesh have been facing systematic persecution at the hands of the radical Islamists in the country.
In March this year, over 80 houses of Hindus in the village of Sunamganj, Bangladesh were attacked and vandalized by the supporters of Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam. The attack was planned after a young Hindu man criticized Joint-Secretary General Maulana Mufti Mamunul Haque in a Facebook post as reported by Dhaka Tribune.
Following the brutal attack in the northeastern Sylhet division, Bangladesh, OpIndia chronicled as many as 11 more tragic tales of Hindus facing systematic persecution at the hands of the radical Islamists in Bangladesh over the last decade
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait had made yet another controversial statement where he claimed that the Singhu Border lynching case is a conspiracy of the government to defame the farmers’ movement. Tikait also accused the government of provoking the murder of Lakhbir Singh at the main farmer protest site at Singhu Border.
Rakesh Tikait told the ABP news, “This murder is a conspiracy to defame the farmers’ movement. Farmer organizations have nothing to do with this killing. Whatever happened on the Singhu border, it happened because of the provocation of the government.”
On October 15, a dead body was found hanging on the Singhu-Kundli border at the farmer protests site. The man was identified as a 35-years-old Lakhbir Singh resident of Village Cheema Khurd, district Jalandhar. According to reports, the man’s right wrist was chopped off, his legs were cut, and the body was hung to a barricade at the Kundli border farmers’ protest site.
The FIR filed in the case said that a police inspector reached the site with a team and discovered the man’s body with only undergarment on and with mutilated hands and legs. The man was strung to a police barricade. The police were informed by the locals that Nihang Sikhs had chopped off a hand of the man, who was later identified as Lakhbir Singh and hung him to a nearby scaffolding.
The FIR also mentioned that there was a huge crowd of Nihang community members present at the place. However, none of them helped the police in their investigation and instead, protested against the police for removing the body of the decedent from the scaffolding.
According to reports, the incident took place at around 3.30 in the morning. A video of the incident went viral on social media where the severely injured victim was seen lying helpless on the ground with some angry Nihangs surrounding him. The man’s chopped hand was also seen lying next to him.
So far two accused in the case have been arrested, Sarabjit Singh and Narain Singh. Incidentally, Narain Singh was felicitated at the Gurudwara in his village in Punjab today and was presented with a garland of money, after which he was arrested by Punjab Police.
Amidst the ongoing violence against the Hindu community in Bangladesh over false allegations of blasphemy, a secular blogger had narrated how radical Islamists brutally raped an entire Hindu family including a 10-year-old girl. The incident took place in Hajiganj Upazila in Chandpur district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh, it was claimed.
In a Facebook post that has now gone viral on social media, the secular blogger Azam Khan narrated the ordeal suffered by the unnamed Hindu family. He narrated, “The worse rape incident so far happened in Hajiganj, Chandpur. Muslim fanatics raped a whole Hindu family. They raped the mother, her daughter, and her niece, who is just ten years old.”
While expressing disgust at the heinous act of his fellow co-religionists, Khan emphasised, “It does not matter how much you censor or blackout the media. We will document these atrocities to let the world know. I feel ashamed to be born and raised in the Muslim community.”
Screengrab of the Facebook post by Azam Khan
The blogger lamented that the minor Hindu girl succumbed to her injuries while her aunt and grandmother were confined to police custody. Azam Khan added, “The ten-year-old girl who fanatic Muslims raped, died because of extreme blood loss. Nobody can tell how many people raped her. Her aunt and grandmother who were also gang-raped simultaneously, are in police custody.”
Furthermore, he informed, “They are not letting them to talk with journalists, activists, even not to their relatives. After all, if they let them talk, it would hamper beloved country’s prestige and of course, stigmatise their religion and its followers. I demand to let them talk to journalists and activists. Grandmother of the girl is also in critical condition.”
However, community leaders have claimed that no such incident has taken place. Hajiganj Upazila Health Officer Shoaib Ahmed Chishti said that no patient had arrived requiring treatment that fit the description as claimed. Police Station Officer-in-Charge Harunur Rashid also said that no one had filed any complaint of rape and that the news of rape is a rumour.
Babu Ruhidas Banik, another community leader, also described the claims as rumours.
Radical Islamists unleash violence against Hindus under the garb of blasphemy
Brutal attacks, vandalism, looting, and arson had returned to haunt Hindus in Bangladesh’s Noakhali district, as close to 150 households were reportedly attacked and at least three killed in a violent clash on Wednesday (October 13). A day later, a frenzied mob of radical Islamists attacked the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple in the Noakhali district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh unit of ISKCON lamented that the sculpture of its founder, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, was burnt down during the arson attack on the temple.
The violence and vandalism took place after a Facebook rumour claiming ‘insult to Quran’ at a Durga Puja pandal went viral. Videos emerged on social media where a mob of enraged Muslims were seen pelting stones and vandalising makeshift Durga Puja pandals and attacking Hindu families in Bangladesh’s Chandpur area. A social media user from Bangladesh stated that the Islamic mob was calling for the burning of a local ISKCON temple. Bangladeshi social media users had stated that under the guise of attacks, rampant loot and molestation of women have also taken place. 2 persons have been found dead in the Chandpur area.
Following the incident, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered the criminals, behind spreading communal attacks and propaganda, to be identified and punished as an example. Meanwhile, back in New Delhi, the external affairs ministry said that it was in touch with the high commission officials and noted the strict action be taken by the Bangladesh government. Since the incident, the Bangladesh police have made over 100 arrests and the probe is still underway.
Actor Akshay Kumar, who recently unveiled the poster of his upcoming movie Gorkha on Saturday, responded to a tweet that called out the flaw in the representation of Khukri, a curved knife broadening towards the point, used by Gorkhas.
Major Manik Jolly, an ex Gorkha officer, shared the poster of Akshay Kumar’s movie Gorkha along with the reference picture of the Khukri weapon. Major Jolly expressed his gratitude to the actor for making a movie on the Gorkhas but pointed out that the weapon depicted in the poster was not Khukri. He said Khukri is not a sword and it strikes from the inner side of the blade.
The actor responded to the tweet thanking Major Jolly for pointing out the flaw in the poster. He further added that he is proud and honoured to be making Gorkha and would appreciate getting suggestions to keep the details in the movie closest to reality.
“Dear Maj Jolly, thank you so much for pointing this out. We’ll take utmost care while filming. I’m very proud and honoured to be making Gorkha. Any suggestions to get it closest to reality would be most appreciated,” Kumar said.
Dear Maj Jolly, thank you so much for pointing this out. We’ll take utmost care while filming. I’m very proud and honoured to be making Gorkha. Any suggestions to get it closest to reality would be most appreciated. ??
Earlier yesterday, Akshay Kumar had shared the first look poster of his forthcoming movie Gorkha. The actor took to social media platforms to announce that he will be portraying the role of war hero Major General Ian Cardozo in his movie Gorkha.
“Sometimes you come across stories so inspiring that you just want to make them. Gorkha – on the life of legendary war hero, Major General Ian Cardozo is one such film. Honoured to essay the role of an icon and present this special film,” tweeted the 54-year-old actor while sharing two posters of the movie.
Sometimes you come across stories so inspiring that you just want to make them. #Gorkha – on the life of legendary war hero, Major General Ian Cardozo is one such film. Honoured to essay the role of an icon and present this special film.
Gorkha will be directed by Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan and produced by Aanand L Rai and Himanshu Sharma. It is based on the life of Major General Ian Cardozo, who during the 1971 war with Pakistan amputated his own leg to prevent the setting of gangrene.
The police have made the second arrest in connection with the brutal killing of Lakhbir Singh at the Singhu-Kundli border on Friday, October 15. The man, identified as Narain Singh, was detained from Punjab’s Amritsar district. Shockingly, moments before his arrest, he was felicitated by locals at a Gurudwara.
Images that have appeared on social media show that a garland of currency was hanging from his neck, apparently gifted to him as an appreciation for his ‘heroic act’ of punishing Lakhbir Sing for the alleged sacrilege. After his felicitation at the Gurudwara in Amritsar district, he apparently surrendered to Punjab Police.
Breaking : सिंघु बॉर्डर पर दलित लखबीर सिंह के हत्यारोपी निहंग नारायण सिंह का आज अमृतसर के एक प्रमुख धार्मिक स्थल में सम्मान हुआ। नोटों की माला पहनाई गई। अब वह पुलिस के सामने सरेंडर करने जा रहा है। #SinghuBorderpic.twitter.com/URD8jeEykP
Chairman of Congress SC department and Maharashtra minister condemned the felicitation of Narain Singh for murdering Lakhbir Singh. Calling the incident shocking, he said that such felicitation of killers can result in repeat of such incidents in future, and demanded strict punishment for this act.
Amritsar Rural SSP Rakesh Kaushal said that Narain Singh had earlier announced that he will surrender today. He said that after Narain Singh realised that he can’t escape from the Gurudwara in his village, he came out and then the police arrested him. Punjab Police will hand over him to Haryana Police.
The SSP said that Narain Singh has confessed that he killed Lakhbir Singh. He said that when he was told that Lakhbir insulted the Guru Granth Sahib, he got angry and cut off his leg, and as a result, Lakhbir bled to death.
Chairman of Congress SC department and Maharashtra minister condemned the felicitation of Narain Singh for murdering Lakhbir Singh. Calling the incident shocking, he said that such felicitation of killers can result in repeat of such incidents in future, and demanded strict punishment for this act.
एक दलित व्यक्ति के हत्यारे निहंग नारायण सिंह का जिस तरह से अमृतसर में नोटों की माला पहनाकर सम्मान हुआ वह शर्मसार करने वाला है। हत्यारो का ऐसा सम्मान भविष्य में घटनाओं के दोहराव का कारण बन सकता है। मैं सख्त से सख्त सजा की मांग करता हूं। #JusticeForLakhbirSingh#DalitLivesMatterpic.twitter.com/6dk7wFpvUQ
The arrest came after Haryana police arrested the other accused Sarabjit Singh yesterday after he surrendered claiming responsibility for killing Lakhbir Singh. According to reports, Singh had named four others in the case.
The Haryana police will now be taking the accused to Chamkaur and Gurdaspur in Punjab to identify the other accused he had named in the case.
Nihang Sarabjit Singh arrested for killing Lakhbir Singh at Kundli border
Nihang Sarabjit Singh, the first arrested accused in the brutal murder of Dalit labourer Lakhbir Singh at the Kundli border had appeared before the media before he surrendered claiming responsibility for the brutal attack and claimed full responsibility for the barbaric act.
Nihang Sarabjit Singh had said that when he had found someone desecrating a Sikh sacred book he did what he deemed fit. When the reporters asked him whether he had any remorse over his action, Sarabjit is heard answering in the negative.
Sarabjit had further told the media that he was not prompted by anyone to do what he did and that it was his own decision.
Singh was produced at a local court today (October 16). The authorities had sought 14 days’ custody, saying he had information on other suspects and that they had to recover the murder weapons. However, the court sent Singh to seven days’ police custody.
A day after Nihang Sikhs brutally lynched a Dalit labourer named Lakhbir Singh at the farmer protest site at Singhu-Kundli border, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman Vijay Sampla has come out to condemn the heinous crime. The SC panel chief has slammed the ‘farmers’ who have been camping at the border areas protesting against the agricultural laws.
Sampla said that it was not correct of the farmer leaders to wash their hands of the entire incident. “If they (accused) are sitting with them in protest for 10 months and staying with them, then they are part of that protest only”, Sampla was quoted by ANI as saying.
The spot where they hanged him is also near the stage. Whatever incident occurs there they (Farmer) are only responsible for it. Their role is same as that of culprits: Vijay Sampla, Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes pic.twitter.com/8PN4oGFAzZ
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman added that the location where the Dalit labourer was hanged was close to the stage where the farmers had been protesting. In that situation, whatever incident occurs there, the protesting farmers are only responsible for it, added Vijay Sampla.
The angry chief asserted that the farmers are as much the culprits as the Nihang Sikhs. “Their role is same as that of culprits”, said Sampla.
Terming the act of barbarism a “heinous Talibani crime”, the NCSC chief said: “After watching a video that went viral, it seems activists of the farmers’ organisations sitting on the protest have no fear of the law. No matter how big the mistake, no one has the right to kill anybody”.
“Singhu Border is the main hub of the farmers’ protest where the leaders and workers of various organisations have deployed 24-hour security. Even then, the Dalit man was brutally beaten, his had chopped off, brought near the same platform and then tied up with a rope and hung upside down, while the activists of farmer organisations acted as mute spectator,” said Sampla.
He expressed shock that the leaders of SKM, who otherwise issue press statements on trivial issues in a jiffy, took almost 12 hours to hold a press conference on the murder of the Dalit man.
Notably, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the collective farmer union that was formed by multiple farmer unions supporting farmer protests against the Agriculture laws, had washed its hands off the murder of Lakhbir Singh at the Singhu border. SKM claimed the group of Nihangs has no connection to the organization.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has asked the Haryana Police to take strict action against those behind lynching a man at a farmers’ protest venue at Kundli near the Delhi-Haryana border.
The NCSC chairperson also sought a preliminary report from the Haryana Police within 24 hours.
The horrifying murder of Lakhbir Singh, the man who was tortured, mutilated and tied upside down close to the farmer protest site at the Singhu-Kundli border has sent shockwaves around the country. The brutality meted out on him, reportedly by the Nihang Sikhs, has once again brought to fore the violent nature of the farmers’ protests that have been going on around the Delhi borders since last November.
The ruthless murder of Lakhbir Singh, Dalit labour from the Cheema Khurd village, has also inevitably called to attention the latent issue of Hindu-Sikh tensions. Contrary to the popular beliefs and notion, the discord between the Hindus and Sikhs is not a recent phenomenon, triggered by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s audacious move to send in troops inside the Golden Temple to flush out the Khalistani terrorists or her assassination by her Sikh bodyguards that touched off a violent bout of anti-Sikh pogrom in its wake. Instead, the strife between Hindus and Sikhs is more than a century old, long before India had attained independence.
In February 1924, Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru wrote a letter to the Secretary of PCC, Punjab, acknowledging the frosty relations between Hindus and Sikhs in Amritsar. Nehru was so concerned about the animosity that existed between Sikhs and Hindus that he even remarked that it had the potential of spilling into an issue as serious as Hindu-Muslim discord.
Nehru’s letter to Secretary of the PCC, Punjab
In his letter, Nehru suggests PCC Secretary take urgent steps to achieve a detente between the two groups. He even suggested the secretary and Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) nominate a small committee of Hindus and Sikhs to iron out the differences and settle everything.
In another letter to KM Panikkar on 3 March 1924, Nehru reminds him of the “unfriendly relations” between the Hindus and Sikhs. Nehru stresses the need to get the correct facts of the Akali agitation out in the public domain, insinuating that an insidious campaign to foment strife between Hindus and Sikhs was underway.
Nehru had also asked Panikkar to induce Hindu and Sikh newspapers to tamp down on rhetorics and refrain from hurting each other so that an amicable understanding could be achieved between the two communities.
Another letter was written by Nehru to Panikkar in March 1924
“Both of them want to put an end to the present undesirable state of affairs but each is afraid of lowering its prestige by taking the first step. I wish a private and informal conference between a few Sikhs and Hindus could take place. This would be helpful,” Nehru lamented in his letter.
In April 1924, Nehru had penned another letter to Panikkar in which he squarely blamed Sikhs for the undesirable relation between Hindus and them.
Nehru blamed Sikhs for the Hindu-Sikh tensions and said Akalis did not care for the sentiments of Hindus
“The Sikhs have been largely to blame. There have been times when a generous word or gesture from them would have brought over the Hindus to them. But they did not care to make it. Their movement is largely a separatist movement so far as religion is concerned and this has naturally reacted in the social and political sphere,” Nehru said in his letter.
He also blamed the Akalis for their arrogance and indifference towards the sentiments of Hindus. According to Nehru, Sikhs were not bothered enough to settle their differences with Hindus.
“The almost general belief amongst the Hindus that the Akalis are arrogant and in their pride do not care for the feelings and sentiments of the Hindus is not without foundation. Sikhs have not been keen enough to win the Hindus in spite of their professions,” Nehru had said.
Jawaharlal Nehru and Sikhs
The hostility between Sikhs and Hindus did not arise in a vacuum. There were many layers to the issue of rising animosity between the two communities. The Khalistani proponents, the refusal of the two communities to make amends over their past disputes, the growing distrust on each other and the disastrous roles of the politicians, who used the antagonism between the two communities to derive short-term political gains were all responsible for stoking the fire of dissension between the two communities. Indeed, fate provided enough opportunities for the politicians to resolve the crisis but instead of ending the conflict, the discord between Hindus and Sikhs was further exacerbated.
Jawaharlal Nehru himself shares a large portion of the blame for the continuing strife between Hindus and Sikhs after India’s independence. He betrayed Sikhs after assuring them that their identity and culture will be protected and preserved in India. This was one of the reasons why Sikhs did not join hands with Khalistani supporters who were demanding a separate Khalistan for the Sikh minority. They assumed that Nehru’s assurances meant that a Punjabi speaking Sikh majority state will be created. However, Nehru continued to delay the creation of such a state even though he himself favoured the formation of states on linguistic lines.
East Punjab (West Punjab had gone to Pakistan) continued to be how it was under the British and it was technically not a Sikh majority or Punjabi speaking region because it included Haryana and parts of Himachal Pradesh, where Hindus were in majority and they spoke Hindi. Punjab state as we know it today – Sikh majority and Punjabi speaking – came into existence in 1966, 2 years after Nehru’s death and 19 years after independence.
While Nehru was in power, numerous attempts and demands were rejected. On one occasion, Golden Temple was raided too during protests for the creation of the linguistic state of Punjab. This resulted in resentment among many Sikhs quite early. Though not as serious as Operation Bluestar, this was seen as Sikhs not being given their due by Nehru who had promised to do so.
Thus, quite clearly, the Sikh leaders had plenty of reasons to feel betrayed due to the conduct of the Congress party under Jawaharlal Nehru at the time. It is undeniable that Nehru made a promise and then backed away from it for whatever reason, which provided a fertile ground for radicalism to take root and thrive. Nehru had committed a series of follies during his rule but this was arguably his most expensive mistake as far India’s internal security was concerned.
Note: Nehru’s letters have been accessed from the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF). Congress president Sonia Gandhi is currently the chairman of JNMF.
On Friday (October 15), about 2000 radical Islamists clashed with the police during a protest against the alleged blasphemy committed by the minority Hindu population, reported Associated Press. The incident took place in Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka.
As per reports, the frenzied mob of protestors took to the streets after offering the Jumma Namaz (Friday prayers) at the Baitul Mukarram mosque. They began chanting anti-India slogans and accused Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of being hands in gloves with India. The Islamists resorted to stone-pelting and tried to break through the police barricades. In a bid to control the law and order situation, the security forces resorted to lathi-charge and firing tear gas shells.
Visuals of the clash between radical Islamists and the police
Deputy Commissioner (Dhaka Metropolitan Police) Sajjad Hossain informed that the radical Islamists attacked the cops, following which three were detained for interrogation. While speaking to BenarNews, another deputy Commissioner Sazzadur Rahman stated, “Over 2,000 Muslim devotees brought out a procession after Jummah prayers.” He said that a total of 5 people were arrested. As per BenarNews, the Islamists threw sandals and bricks at the police, who then fired rubber bullets and tear gas in return.
150 Hindu families attacked over ‘Quran insult’ rumours, vandalism of Durga Pandals
Brutal attacks, vandalism, looting, and arson had returned to haunt Hindus in Bangladesh’s Noakhali district, as close to 150 households were reportedly attacked and at least three killed in a violent clash on Wednesday (October 13). A day later, a frenzied mob of radical Islamists attacked the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple in the Noakhali district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh unit of ISKCON lamented that the sculpture of its founder, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, was burnt down during the arson attack on the temple.
The violence and vandalism took place after a Facebook rumour claiming ‘insult to Quran’ at a Durga Puja pandal went viral. Videos emerged on social media where a mob of enraged Muslims were seen pelting stones and vandalising makeshift Durga Puja pandals and attacking Hindu families in Bangladesh’s Chandpur area. A social media user from Bangladesh stated that the Islamic mob was calling for the burning of a local ISKCON temple. Bangladeshi social media users had stated that under the guise of attacks, rampant loot and molestation of women have also taken place. 2 persons have been found dead in the Chandpur area.
Following the incident, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered the criminals, behind spreading communal attacks and propaganda, to be identified and punished as an example. Meanwhile, back in New Delhi, the external affairs ministry said that it was in touch with the high commission officials and noted the strict action be taken by the Bangladesh government. Since the incident, the Bangladesh police have made over 100 arrests and the probe is still underway.
