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NCERT goes Woke, claims separate toilets for boys and girls is a problem, suggests puberty blockers, blames ‘caste patriarchy’ for stigma

K Bhattacharjee
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NCERT goes Woke, claims separate toilets for boys and girls is a problem, suggests puberty blockers, blames ‘caste patriarchy’ for stigma

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has decided to go full ‘Woke’ in a new training manual for teachers that was released recently. The document titled ‘Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap’ was published by the Department of Gender Studies at NCERT.

The objective of the training manual is the “sensitization of teachers and teacher educators regarding aspects of gender diversity keeping gender-nonconforming and transgender children at centre stage.”

In a section of the document that discusses issues related to infrastructure, it says that toilets are used to brainwash children into believing that there are only two sexes, men and women. The document says, “The use of toilet , an infrastructural facility, is used to condition children into binary gender; female children are conditioned to use the toilets labeled ‘girls’ and male children are to use the toilet marked for ‘boys’.”

Source: NCERT Training Manual

The document adds, “Children, who face gender dysphoria, feel conflict/dilemma while choosing the toilet that they feel comfortable. This is mainly because their self-concept and social expectations of their body do not coincide with each other. Therefore, presence of binaries in infrastructure also creates conflicts for gender nonconforming children who find it difficult to make a choice; at such a young age, it is an emotionally charged decision that additionally burdens them.”

In its ‘Introduction’ section, the document blames ‘Caste patriarchy’ for stigma against the transgender community. It is in addition to the unfounded claims that there were multiple genders in the Vedic age. It states, “There is evidence for diverse genders and gender expression being socially accepted in the subcontinent since the Vedic age (Vanita and Kidwai, 2000; Michelraj, 2015). However, the dominant social system of caste patriarchy in India had relegated transgender persons to occupations that are stigmatized.”

Source: NCERT Training Manual

“The fall in status of transgender persons was induced systematically under British rule in the form of punishment and the regulated movement of the transgender groups who lived in India during that time. British colonialism criminalized transgender persons and consolidated this process by categorizing transgender persons as a Criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871,” it adds.

The document also mentions that in February 2020, only 25 transgender students had registered for the Class X and Class XII exams. 19 of 18,89,878 students registered for Class X exams were transgender and that number was 6 from 12,06,893 for Class XII.

The document recommends “Discontinuance of Binary practices in school, classrooms, activities, sports etc.” It says, “Separate rows for boys and girls during assembly, school functions, seating arrangements in classrooms; gender wise separate uniforms, working groups for assignments, excursions, etc., should be discontinued. Mixed groups should be allowed, gender neutral uniforms can be introduced, etc.”

Source: NCERT Training Manual

The document also calls for ‘support mechanisms’ for the ‘correct use of pronouns’.

Source: NCERT Training Manual

The training manual also appears to lend its support for puberty blockers, medication that has gained widespread notoriety in recent times. The medicines are used to block the development of puberty in children which permanently alters their natural course of development.

Source: NCERT Training Manual

Netizens are not pleased with NCERT going ‘Woke’

The NCERT training manual is receiving intense backlash from users on social media. They are not happy with the NCERT importing disastrous American concepts in India.

Other fear that it will have a disastrous impact on Indian education.

Quite clearly, the suggestions and recommendations by the NCERT do not have popular support. There have been intense efforts in the West to indoctrinate children into the gender identity ideology, which is receiving intense pushback. It appears that the same is being imported in India without any due consideration by ideological zealots.

Japan: Man dressed as Batmans’ Joker on Halloween stabs people and starts fire inside train in Tokyo

OpIndia Staff
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Japan: Man dressed as Batmans’ Joker on Halloween stabs people and starts fire inside train in Tokyo

A 24-year-old man in Japan dressed in a Joker costume inspired by the character from the Batman comics, sprayed hydrochloric acid, stabbed several people and set fire to a commuter train in Tokyo on Sunday, October 31.

The incident reportedly left 17 people injured, including at least one person in critical condition battling for life. The attack reportedly took place at around 20:00 local time (11:00 GMT) near Kokuryo station, in Tokyo’s western suburbs.

According to local news, the people were heading for Halloween parties in the city when the attack took place.

Police arrested the youth on spot and are now investigating him for the attempted murder, NHK reports.

Videos of the incident have emerged on social media, which shows petrified people running headlong on the train, stumbling through a connecting door between compartments and leaping through the trains’ windows as it came to an emergency stop.

Speaking about the attack, one eyewitness told the Yomiuri newspaper that at first, he thought it was a Halloween stunt until he saw a man walking towards him slowly waving a long knife.

In a video shared by a news portal News For All, the accused is seen sitting and casually smoking after pulling off the attack.

The accused reportedly told authorities that he admired the Batman character Joker. He said wanted to kill people so he could be sentenced to death, local media reports quoted the authorities as revealing.

Image source: NY Post
Image source: NY Post

Shunsuke Kimura, who filmed one of the videos, told the national NHK broadcaster that the scene was “horrifying”. “Train doors were closed and we had no idea what was happening, and we jumped from the windows,” he said.

The stabbing incident on a train was the second in the Japanese capital this year. In August, one day before the Tokyo Olympic Games’ closing ceremonies, a 36-year-old man attacked ten passengers on another commuter train. Then, the suspect had told police that he wanted to attack women who looked happy.

Suresh Raina ‘likes’ tweet that questioned hypocrisy of silence on casteist attacks against him and Ravindra Jadeja: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Suresh Raina ‘likes’ tweet that questioned hypocrisy of silence on casteist attacks against him and Ravindra Jadeja: Details

Former cricketer for the Indian national team, Suresh Raina, has ‘liked’ a rather intriguing tweet on Twitter. The tweet that Suresh Raina has ‘liked’ questioned the hypocritical silence on the casteist abuse received by Raina himself and Ravindra Jadeja.

The tweet from Abhishek Tripathi, sports editor at Jagran, said, “I just want to ask if the trolls who abused Suresh Raina for calling himself a Brahmin and Ravindra Jadeja for calling himself Rajput should fall under the ambits of criticism. Did anyone say anything against them? Did any journalist ask any question related to that at any press conference?”

Source: @_inevitableV/Twitter

This particular tweet was ‘liked’ by Suresh Raina. The ‘like’ was spotted by certain social media users who showered the cricketer with praises.

However, there were some who criticized him for it.

Suresh Raina had said while providing commentary in a match at the Tamil Nadu Premier League, “I think, I am also Brahmin. I have been playing since 2004 in Chennai, I love the culture… I love my teammates. I have played with Anirudha Srikanth, Badri (Subramaniam Badrinath), Bala Bhai (L Balaji)… I think you need to learn something good from there. We have a good administration, we have the license to explore ourselves. I love the culture there, and I’m lucky to be part of CSK. Hopefully, we will play more matches there.”

However, he was heavily targeted over the comment. Consequently, Ravindra Jadeja was also targeted for asserting his Rajput identity. The targeted attacks against Indian cricketers then had attracted no condemnation and was ignored.

Odisha: Congress workers throw eggs at Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s vehicle, BJP claims Congress doing politics over Lakhimpur Kheri violence

OpIndia Staff
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Odisha: Congress workers throw eggs at Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s vehicle, BJP claims Congress doing politics over Lakhimpur Kheri violence

The members of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress, Sunday, breached Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s fortified convey to hurl eggs at his vehicle in Bhubneshwar, Odisha. The Congress members reportedly poured ink and showed black flags to him outside Biju Patnaik International Airport here.

A police source was quoted as saying that one of the NSUI workers threw eggs at the car in which Mishra was travelling near the airport’s Biju Patnaik Square.“Two eggs hit the windowpane of the car,” said the police source. 

Mishra was on a one-day tour to the state to attend the Central Industrial Security Force’s function at Mundali near Cuttack where he inaugurated two barracks.

“The minister should resign immediately. The way he has been trying to shield the crime of his son Ashis is unfortunate. We are opposed to his visit to the state and will also oppose other Union ministers’ visit to the state,” said the Congress youth wing president Dr Smurti Ranjan Lenka.

‘Congress is doing politics on the issue’, BJP in Odisha slams Congress for politicising the Lakhimpur Kheri incident

According to reports, the incident sparked tensions outside the Bhubneshwar airport Chhak, prompting authorities to detain certain members of Congress in order to avoid any untoward incident.

Condemning the incident, the state BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra said that Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish has already been arrested. Congress is politicising the Lakhipur Kheri incident. “Ashis has already been arrested. Congress is doing politics on the issue,” said Mohapatra.

How the Congress party milked the Lakhimpur Kheri incident

As mentioned by the BJP spokesperson, the Congress party, since the very start, brazenly politicised the unfortunate tragedy witnessed in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, so as to extract political mileage out of it.

Just months before the crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, several Congress leaders, including Gandhi scions Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, launched a concerted onslaught on the Yogi Adityanath government. The state of Uttar Pradesh is set to vote in early 2022, and Congress leaders did not want to lose out on the opportunity to put pressure on the Yogi government over the violence that had erupted in Lakhimpur Village on Sunday, October 3, 2021, where a clash between ‘protesting’ farmers and BJP workers had led to the death of 8 people. ​

On October 6, when the scars of the incident were still fresh, the Congress scion, Rahul Gandhi, convened a press conference and spoke on the violence that erupted in Lakhimpur Village. Going by his penchant, he continued to peddle lies during the press conference to fan unrest. He called the incidence a systematic attack against the farmers.

However, as per Minister of State A K Mishra, the ‘farmers’ pelted stones and attacked the convoy. Because of this, the driver lost control and the car overturned killing two ‘protestors’. Angered, the ‘farmers’ then attacked the BJP workers killing at least four BJP workers.

Irrespective of the facts being in the public domain, Congress continued to milk the situation for political points. They went to the extent of justifying the mob lynching of BJP workers in Lakhimpur Kheri. Congress leader Kamru Choudhary in a debate on Times Now had justified the brutal mob lynching of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) workers, branding them as ‘murderers’ who deserved it. 

Choudhary in a rather appalling statement declared the BJP workers as criminals and said, “They do not deserve any sympathy or compensation.”

Priyanka Gandhi too, in her desperation to prowl for issues that could be exploited to corner the Yogi administration and brighten Congress’ otherwise gloomy prospects in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, decided to politicise the incident after having pulled a similar kind of PR stunt in Hathras, another UP town which was convulsed by the gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in October 2020.

As she tried to enter Lakhimpur Kheri on the night of October 3, the police stopped her. While UP Police was trying to detain the Congress leader, she threatened the officers that she would file cases of molestation and kidnapping against them.

Video of Gandhi went viral on social media platforms where she was seen threatening the Police. Later on, permission was granted and Priyanka Gandhi was released.

But as Priyanka Gandhi was prevented from entering the village and detained by police officials, the Congress ecosystem went into overdrive to turn her into a hero. Before long, social media websites were replete with posts speculating if Priyanka Gandhi’s visit to Lakhimpur Kheri is her “Belchi moment.”

This was not the end of Congress’s efforts to politicize this issue. The party’s friendly media had also worked hard to turn the situation to Congress’ benefit by peddling phoney and misleading news around the incident.

In fact, the situation was such that ‘no to your fake sympathies’ posters had greeted Rahul Gandhi in Lucknow during his much-hyped political tourism to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet families of deceased farmers. The family members of the victims had requested Rahul and the opposition not to politicize the issue.

While Congress continued to play vulture politics, the Uttar Pradesh police, on October 9, arrested Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra in connection to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The minister’s son was charged with murder.

A police official informed that a nine-member investigation committee was constituted that prepared 40 questions for Ashish. Reportedly, Mishra failed to clarify his location at the time of the incident. His driver, Ankit Das, has also been taken into custody. He has provided many videos in a pen drive to the police as evidence that he was not present on the site.

Meanwhile, certain sections of the media had claimed he had fled to Nepal to evade questioning and arrest.

Australia recognises Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for travellers visiting the country

OpIndia Staff
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Australia recognises Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for travellers visiting the country

On November 1, the Australian Government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) under the Department of Health recognized made-in-India Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin by Bharat Biotech to establish a traveller’s vaccination status. The recognition has been approved for anyone of age 12 and above who have been vaccinated with Covaxin. In a statement, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell AO, said, “Australian Government recognises Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for the purpose of establishing a traveller’s vaccination status.”

In the statement issued by TGA, the Australian government also recognized BBIBP-CorV (manufactured by Sinopharm, China) for the purpose of travel for anyone between the ages of 18 and 60. The statement read, “Today, the TGA determined that Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech, India) and BBIBP-CorV (manufactured by Sinopharm, China) vaccines would be ‘recognized’ to establish a traveller’s vaccination status. This recognition is for travellers aged 12 and over who have been vaccinated with Covaxin, and those 18 to 60 who have been vaccinated with BBIBP-CorV.”

International travellers who have received two doses of Covaxin will be considered as fully vaccinated for Covid-19 by Australia
Source: tga.gov.au

It further said that the additional information TGA has received about Covaxin demonstrated that it provides protection and “potentially reduce the likelihood that an incoming traveller would transmit COVID-19 infection to others while in Australia or become acutely unwell due to COVID-19.” It added that the vaccine sponsor or WHO has provided the supporting information.

With the approval of Covaxin and earlier approval of Covishield (manufactured by AstraZeneca, India), citizens of India and other countries who have been vaccinated with these two vaccines can enter Australia. It will benefit students as well as skilled and unskilled workers.

Covaxin has yet to receive approval from WHO

World Health Organization is yet to approve Covaxin, stating it needed more data from the company. It has set November 3 as the date of the next meeting to decide on the approval for the made-in-India vaccine.

Muslim activist from Kuwait shares video of a brutal murder from Bangladesh to claim Muslims are under attack in India: Here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim activist from Kuwait shares video of a brutal murder from Bangladesh to claim Muslims are under attack in India: Here is the truth

On Saturday (October 30), a popular Kuwait-based Muslim activist named Mujeel Alshrika took to Twitter to falsely claim that Muslims are under attack in India. In a tweet, he alleged, “Where is the Arab and Muslim world? Shall we still continue business as usual with the genocidal Hindu regime of India? Shall we allow them to kill our Muslim brothers and sisters with impunity? What’s wrong with the deaf and dumb Ummah.”

Mujeel Alshrika, who boasts of 1.85 lakh followers on the micro-blogging platform, had also shared a disturbing video to substantiate his claims. In the 30-second video clip uploaded by him, two men could be seen brutally assaulting a victim with swords. The victim could be seen lying lifeless on the ground, drenched in a pool of blood. The Muslim activist alleged that the video was from India and the video reflected the ‘genocidal Hindu regime of the country.’

Alshrika is from Kuwait. In his bio, he says that he is the “Director of the Centre for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, member of the training body at the Kuwait Institute for Lawyers and Legal Studies”.

Screengrab of the video

The Truth behind the viral video

However, the video shared by Mujeel Alshrika was neither recent nor from India. The footage was first shared by a Bengali Youtube channel named ‘Bilash TV‘ on May 23 this year. The incident took place on May 16 in Sagufta Housing area of ​​Pallabi in Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. The two accused were identified as Manik and Muhammad Monir while the victim was identified as one businessman named Shahin Uddin. The victim was reportedly killed in front of his 7-year-old son.

Later, Munir was seriously injured in a gunfight with the zonal team of Mirpur Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police. He was rushed to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead by doctors. It was reported that the mastermind of the murder was a former lawmaker named MA Awal. The motive behind the gruesome killing of the 40-year-old Shahin Uddin was a long-standing land disupte with Awal. The cops had arrested the mastermind along with two other accused named Sumon Bepari (33) and Rony Talukder(25).

Mujeel Alshrika and his anti-India stance, hate for RSS and support to Islamists

The Kuwait-based Muslim activist had earlier extended his support for Jamia riot accused Sharjeel Imam, Delhi anti-Hindu riot accused Umar Khalid and the journalist-cum-terrorist sympathiser Siddique Kappan. He had claimed, “The radicalisation of Hindus by the RSS/BJP regime has seeped into the veins India’s institutions.That’s why innocent Muslim activists like #UmarKhalid #SharjilImam & journalists like #SiddiqueKappan are languishing in jails criminally framed by Hindutva officials.”

He was also seen peddling conspiracy theories about the Rashtriya swayamsewwak Sangh (RSS). In a tweet earlier in October, he wrote, “Unspeakable brutality is happening to our Muslim brothers in India at the hands of the Hindu extremist war gang RSS, This criminal terrorist group and its followers in Kuwait and the Gulf seek to destroy Islam. We must stop granting visas to Hindu Indians because they threaten us.”

Mujeel Alshrika had also batted on behalf of journalist-cum-propagandist Rana Ayub, whose credibility was shredded into pieces by the Supreme Court of India. The apex court had trashed Ayyub’s ‘non-fiction’ book and observed, “The Book by Rana Ayyub is of no utility. It is based upon surmises, conjectures, and suppositions and has no evidentiary value. The opinion of a person is not in the realm of the evidence. There is a likelihood of the same being politically motivated, cannot be ruled out.”

Given his innate hatred for Hindus and RSS, open support to radical Islamists and anti-Hindu riot accused, it becomes clear that Mujeel Alshrika deliberately tried to pass of a murder video from Bangladesh as an Indian to create unrest and communal disharmony in the country.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova goes on a rant against India after the India-Pakistan T20 match: Here is why she is wrong

OpIndia Staff
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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova goes on a rant against India after the India-Pakistan T20 match: Here is why she is wrong

After global celebrities like Rihanna and Gal Gadot, it is the 18-time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova who has taken a keen interest in Indian politics and has come out lashing the alleged ‘fascist regime ruling the country. 

After spreading fake news just a week ago, the tennis player has now condemned the Uttar Pradesh police for arresting students who cheered Pakistan’s win against India in the first Super 12 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup. 

Navratilova reacted to a post where a Twitter user named Anjali Mehta (ex-army now a social activist as per her Twitter bio) tagged several sportspersons from across the globe to condemn the arrests being made in India of students who celebrated Pakistan’s win.

To this Navratilova expressed bewilderment. After another social media user shared a BBC report on the news, the tennis player Tweeted, “Didn’t realize cheering for a particular team was against the law?”

Netizens, however, were quick to tell the new social justice warrior on the block to study the context and history before commenting. 

Interestingly, scores of anonymous Twitter handles came out supporting Navratilova’s statement while commenting how lawlessness has taken over India, especially Uttar Pradesh. 

Why Navratilova needs a history lesson

It is not uncommon to find supporters of foreign sportsmen in India, especially when it comes to tennis and football. Indians also cheer for foreign cricket players when they play in a fan’s favourite Indian Premier League (IPL) team. 

However, it is an altogether different equation when it comes to people living in India supporting Pakistan, a country responsible for cross-border terrorism in India.

It is imperative to note that not long before Pakistan defeated India in a cricket match, as many as ten Hindu civilians were gunned down in Kashmir in the month of October by the Islamic terrorists sponsored by Pakistan. 

India lost more than 110 security personnel fighting terrorism in Kashmir from the year 2019 till date. 

Hence, if personalities like Navratilova wish to understand why supporting, cheering and bursting crackers for a country responsible for terrorism in India is a punishable offence, a short history class or flipping through a few reports apart from the likes of BBC and The Print might help. 

Navratilova spreads fake news

On October 21, Navratilova took potshots at the BJP government in India on the basis of fake news peddled by CJ Werleman, Islamism apologist profiled by Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint.

In a tweet, she wrote, “Quite the democracy, eh? Trying to catch up to trump, I see. But then Modi and trump were pretty chummy from what I could see… will Modi speak up against this man and his rhetoric? I doubt it…”

Sadly, her comments were based on a piece of fake news, which was shared by columnist and ‘Islamophobia crusader’ CJ Werleman.

Delhi’s air quality already in ‘very poor’ category, but governments target only Diwali, ignore stubble burning

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi’s air quality already in ‘very poor’ category, but governments target only Diwali, ignore stubble burning

While several state governments across India focus their target against the Hindu festival of Diwali to ‘show’ that they are concerned about the environment and air pollution, the air quality of Delhi is silently demonstrating that blaming Diwali crackers for air pollution is nothing but lazy and irresponsible.

Several days ahead of the festival, the air quality of Delhi is already in ‘very poor’ category, thanks to rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states and zero efforts by the concerned authorities to prevent it.

As per reports, the rampant and unchecked stubble burnings in Delhi’s Northwestern regions has contributed to at least 12% of pollutants in Delhi’s air.

As per a report by ANI, on Monday, November 1, the air quality of Delhi slipped to ‘very poor’ category. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR)’s data placed Delhi’s AQI at 302. The current air quality is expected to stay in the very poor category at least for 2 days. The SAFAR has stated that wind conditions and rainfall may slightly improve air quality in the coming days.

8% of the PM2.5 value comes from crop residue burning emissions.

Stubble burning main reason of Delhi’s poor air quality

Stubble burning in areas around Delhi is a major contributor towards air pollution in the national capital. While the UP and Haryana governments have taken some steps to discourage farmers from burning crop residue, the practice continues unabated in Punjab.

A report in Times Now stated that as many as over 1700 fires have been observed in the northwestern region of Delhi, sending pollutants towards Delhi.

It is notable here that state governments, including that of Haryana and Punjab, have completely failed to prevent the practice of stubble burning in their states. Despite total failure to prevent one of the main causes of poor air quality, several state governments have placed a blanket ban on the sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali.

The Kejriwal government had put a blanket ban on the sale and use of firecrackers. Yesterday, the Haryana government also placed a blanket ban on firecrackers in 14 districts that fall in the National Capital Region. On October 28, the Supreme Court had observed that while the firecrackers issue is temporary, stubble burning is the main culprit behind deteriorating air quality in several areas. However, the SC will hear the matter after the Diwali break.

Firecrackers not even among top main causes of air pollution

Diwali is a once in a year celebration for the Hindu community where people burst firecrackers in the evening to celebrate Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya. While multiple governments, organisations and courts are launching a systematic attack against the Hindu festival, painting it as the evil cause behind air pollution, the claims are not supported by research and are dishonest, to say the least.

It is notable here that in 2016, a research study by IIT Kanpur had found that firecrackers are not the top contributors to Delhi’s poor air quality. The study had pegged construction dust as the top cause, followed by vehicular pollution and bad infrastructure, the next worst cause was stubble burning. However, during a hearing in a plea against the NGT order of ban against firecrackers this July, the Supreme Court had rejected the study, saying they do not need IIT Kanpur to decide that firecrackers cause pollution.

The pollution data of Delhi analysed by IIT Kanpur had suggested that suggest that the pollution caused by Diwali is extremely short-lived (less than 24 hrs), and is no worse than the usual spikes of pollutants that are present in Delhi’s air almost all the year.

Elle comes in defence of FabIndia, targets Hindus for wanting to preserve the sanctity of Diwali, publishes a rant by one Ruman Baig

OpIndia Staff
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Elle comes in defence of FabIndia, targets Hindus for wanting to preserve the sanctity of Diwali, publishes a rant by one Ruman Baig

On October 31, fashion magazine Elle decided to target Hindus for trying to preserve the sanctity of the Hindu festival Diwali. In a post, they shared an illustration of men with Saffron Angvastra or Stole and accused Hindus of attacking brands that have been trying to change the very ethos of the festival. The illustration is designed by one Lord_VoldeMaut, a 19-year-old “artist” who often post anti-Hindu content on Twitter and Instagram. His profile on both social media platforms is currently locked.

Screenshot of the anti-Hindu post by Elle Magazing on Instagram. Source: Instagram

In Elle’s Instagram post, it was mentioned that one should “Head to the link in its Instagram profile’s bio to learn more about the politics of shades and silhouettes – India’s latest fashion trend”. When checked, the link redirects to Elle’s Linkin page that has the same image as the Instagram post. When we clicked the image, it redirected to an article written by Ruman Baig titled “Politics Of Shades & Silhouettes – India’s Latest Fashion Trend” published on Elle’s official website. In the allegedly satirical post, Baig has tried to vent her frustration over Hindus raising voices to save the festival.

The link in Elle’s Instagram Bio redirected us to the Linkin page of Elle where the same Instagram image was linked to the article in Elle magazine by Ruman Baig. Source: https://linkin.bio/elleindia

In the post, Elle and the author tried to defend the brands that tried to “over-secularise” Diwali that is a Hindu festival in every sense. The post read, “it’s the recurring season where Indian fashion labels are schooled on how to creatively incorporate religion while designing their campaigns. Last year, @tanishqjewellery received a non-violent lesson on how to showcase jewellery without meddling with the ancient Hindu-Muslim narrative. Recently, @fabindiaofficial released and pulled down a Diwali campaign titled – Jashn-e-Riwaz. Little did they know that the term means long-live Muslims in Urdu and is a secret ode to the Mughals.” The author completely ignored the fact that Diwali is a Hindu festival. It belongs to Hindus and removing the term Diwali from a collection that celebrates the “Festival of Light” i.e. literally Diwali, is nothing but “over-secularization” of Hindu festivals.

The author seems to have been irked by the fact that the Hindus, who have kept silent for decades, are now raising their voice against the drama that the fashion industry has been trying to impose on them. The post added, “the fashion fraternity must learn how to not let their imaginations run free – a salwar for a Muslim woman is set in stone, and so is a bindi for a Hindu lady.” Interestingly, the author forgot that Salwar-Kameez is also a very common dress among Sikh and Hindu women, especially in North India. It was part of the culture before the “over-zealous” fashion industry entered the Indian market.

The author also pointed out how Hindu groups were not pleased by the usage of the wrong meaning of Kanyadaan when the jewellery brand Manyawar tried to change it to “Kanyamaan” in an ad featuring Alia Bhatt. The actual meaning of Kanyadaan that neither the author nor the jewellery brand is aware of can be read in detail here. As per other texts on ‘kanyadaan’, the mantra, japas and other actions performed at the time of the ritual signify the bride as Laxmi. The symbolic act of the bride’s father giving away his daughter to Narayan (the groom) is considered as him making his daughter the ‘grace’ of somebody else’s house.

The author connected the outrage of the Tata Cliq ad to the colour of dresses, which was green. In reality, it was against the sad faces and not-so-festival looks of the ad. Green colour might be not even the minds of those who had objected to the ad. Elle, on the other hand, handpicked post(s) that target the colour of the dress to make it look as if Hindus want to target the colour green.

Interestingly, Hindus had merely taken to social media to express their displeasure over the distortion of their festival. Elle, however, portrayed Hindus as a violent lot vandalising stores, a classic move to demonise Hindus. The men who were “vandalising” these stories in the cartoon posted by Elle, the men were wearing saffron scarves and one of the men was seen sporting a Kalawa.

Elle has summarily glossed over the fact that any fashion brand would not dare to give Sanskrit names to Muslim festivals or showcase a Muslim woman wearing sindoor and other patently Hindu ‘shringaar’ for Muslim festivals. However, the religious sentiments of Hindus seem to mean paltry little to Elle.

Elle, the fashion magazine, and the author Baig are trying to look progressive. It would be interesting to see if they try similar “gyan-filled” ads with the festivals of other religions and see how they react.

Tikait gives ultimatum to Union govt till Nov 26, says ‘will occupy govt offices if evicted from protest sites’

OpIndia Staff
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Tikait gives ultimatum to Union govt till Nov 26, says ‘will occupy govt offices if evicted from protest sites’

Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait has issued yet another threat to the Government of India. Giving an ultimatum till November 26, Tikait in a Tweet said the protest will only intensify thereafter. 

“The central government has time till November 26, after that from November 27, farmers will reach the border by tractors to occupy the protests sites around Delhi and strengthen the tents,” Tikait Tweeted in Hindi. 

‘Will turn govt offices into mandis’

The so-called farmer leader further threatened to turn government offices into mandis if the government tried to dismantle their protest sites and tents. 

“If there is an attempt to forcibly remove the farmers from the borders, then we will turn government offices across the country into Galla Mandi,” Tikait declared in another Tweet. 

“If the farmers fail to sell their produce in mandis at a fair price, then, what better place to do so than the government offices?” he said additionally, as quoted by DNA. 

In a statement to the Hindustan Times, Tikait claimed, “Protest is a constitutional right. Farmers have been peacefully camping at the borders. If that right is taken away, then we will turn all main offices in districts across the country into grain markets. Our farmers are prepared to do it.”

Set to sell crops at parliament

As the Delhi police on Friday began removing the barricades from the Ghazipur (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh) border, Tikait claimed that it was a move to dislodge the farmers’ protest.

The BKU leader has been issuing threats after threats since then. While speaking to Zee News, Rakesh Tikait had said, “They are removing the walls that they have built. Once the roads open, we will go to the Parliament to sell our crops. We will go once the roads open. We will do what the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) decides. We also wanted to go to Delhi for the past 11 months but they did not allow us to go. Our tractors will reach Delhi first.”

It is imperative to note that the Government of India has held 11 rounds of discussions with various farmer unions, however, the unions have demanded a complete rollback of the three Farm Laws leaving no scope for amendments or negotiations, and without even pointing out which parts of the farm laws are problematic for them. 

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