Amitabh Bachchan has withdrawn from a paan masala advertising campaign after facing backlash from his fans over a commercial that aired featuring the star. The actor’s blog post known as “The Office of Mr Amitabh Bachchan” announced that Amitabh Bachchan has terminated his contract with the paan masala brand.
The blogpost said, “A few days after the commercial was aired, Mr Bachchan contacted the brand and stepped out of it last week. Upon checking why this sudden move – it was revealed that when Mr Bachchan became associated with the brand, he wasn’t aware that it falls under surrogate advertising”.
It further added that “Mr Bachchan has terminated the contract with the brand, has written to them his termination and has returned the money received for the promotion”.
Mr Bachchan was also approached by the NGO, National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) last month to not be a part of advertisements that promote paan masala brands.
Shekhar Salkar who is the President of National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) and also a Goa-based oncologist appreciated the actor’s move saying, “NOTE welcomes the decision taken by Amitabh Bachchan to withdraw from all surrogate advertisements related to tobacco products with immediate effect and would like to congratulate the superstar for showing solidarity to the efforts made by the government and non-governmental organisations in the fight against tobacco.”
On October 3, a man identified as Bhupendra Shukla, a resident of the Neechi Mangli area that falls under Ishwar Nagar Police Station under Focal Police Station in Ludhiana, made a video alleging a group of Muslim men were threatening his family to convert. He also alleged that they offered him Rs. 2 lakh for the same. When he refused, the group that is associated with a dargah allegedly attacked him. He further claimed that the group looted his shop and took away valuables.
A migrant from UP living in Punjab for 6 years says Islamic groups lure and bully migrant families into conversion. When he refused, his small shop was looted. I have talked to this man, he made this video last Saturday. He says @Ludhiana_Police didn’t act on his complaint + pic.twitter.com/hvXD03OmeC
Shukla originally hails from district Gonda, Uttar Pradesh. He has been living in Ludhiana for the past six years with his mother, wife and two children. His younger brother and sister also live with him. He works as a security guard and has a small make-shift shop that is run managed by his mother and sister.
The video was recorded by him at his shop. In the video, he was heard saying, “I have filed a complaint to Police as well. Please circulate this video so that someone from Hindu groups can help me.” According to the report published in Swarajya Mag, several activists met Shukla the same week.
‘They offered me money if I convert to Islam’
Shukla said he never faced such an issue while living here, but for the past six months, a group of Muslim men from Sherpur Colony have been visiting the migrant Hindu families in his area. They try to lure Hindu families to convert to Islam and offer money in return. In the video, Shukla said, “I would like to know how much money these people have that they offer money to everyone if they convert.”
According to Shukla, the group tells the Hindu families that everyone is converting to Islam, and they should do the same. They try to convince the families that Hindus do not have a support system, but if they convert and ask others to do so, they will become stronger.
Shukla said a group of eight men first came to him on September 30. They left after Shukla got angry. A day later, on October 2, they came back, but this time they indulged in violence. Shukla said, “They threw our stuff on the ground. They took away the beedi and matchboxes from the shop that amounted to at least 10,000 rupees. They also took Rs 5,000 cash that was kept inside. When I tried to record their video, they snatched my phone and took away that as well.”
One of the accused was identified by Shukla as Sirtaj Ali, who is the nephew of the caretaker of the Mitti Wale Baba Dargah. He said, “I do not recognise others as they all were wearing skull caps and sported long beards.”
‘Police did not act on my complaint’
While talking to Swarajya, Shukla said that the Police did not act on his complaint despite the fact that he had shared the information about the key accused in the case. He said that he had visited Ishwar Colony Police Station in Dhandari Kalan on October 3. They took the verbal complaint and sent him away.
On October 10, replying to Swarajya Mag’s Swati Goel tweet, Commissioner of Police Ludhiana replied that his department had taken cognisance of the matter and asked the concerned Police Station to resolve it at the earliest.
@swati_gs concerned police station has been informed, they had contacted the person in video and this matter will be resolved ASAP.
— Commissioner of Police Ludhiana. (@Ludhiana_Police) October 10, 2021
Shukla informed Swarajya that he got a call from a lady officer who asked her the reason behind taking the complaint to social media. “I replied that I would take the matter to the highest authorities. She told me to calm down and said that the Police would cooperate with him,” Shukla said. He further said that the lady officer promised to apprehend the person he had filed a complaint with soon. She told him he would have to come to Police Station for questioning once the main accused gets detained.
Police denied communal angle or forceful conversion
As per the report published in Hindi Daily Jagran, during the investigation, the Police found that it was not the case of forceful conversion but an old rivalry between the two groups. The report claimed that Shukla had uploaded another video apologising for the earlier statement.
OpIndia contacted Jasbir Kaur, station in-charge, Ishwar Nagar Police Station, to learn more about the case. She said there was a complaint filed by Shukla at the station. During investigation, they found that the case was not about religious conversion but the rivalry between the two groups. Kaur categorically denied that Shukla was threatened or attacked as he refused to convert to Islam.
Shiv Sena workers took to the streets and beat up auto drivers with sticks during a protest march organized by the NCP and Congress in Thane, Mumbai. The bandh called by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was termed as a success by the alliance partners Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP.
As Shiv Sena goons went on a rampage, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who often blindly defends whichever party she belongs to, deleted her old tweet where she had condemned the violence of Shiv Sena goons. In 2015, Priyanka Chaturvedi was with the Congress party and considered Shiv Sena ideological untouchables. In 2015, Shiv Sena was a Hindutva party.
Source: Rosy/Twitter
Interestingly, in 2019, the Shiv Sena MP had said that she was glad that she did not delete any of her earlier tweets. She said, “I am so glad I didn’t delete any of my earlier tweets, it keeps the trolls employable and get their 2 rupees worth of work done. My contribution to failing economy :)”
I am so glad I didn’t delete any of my earlier tweets, it keeps the trolls employable and get their 2 rupees worth of work done.
Shiv Sena goes on a rampage, life disrupted as Maha Vikas Aghadi calls bandh in solidarity with Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri ‘farmers’
Just as the state of Maharashtra was limping back to normalcy after an impending lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government declared a bandh on Monday in solidarity with Lakhimpur Kheri ‘farmers.’
Reports of damage, violence and protests have surfaced in the media. As per Manoj Varade, BEST spokesperson, as many as nine buses have been damaged in Mumbai since morning by unidentified miscreants. The areas from which the damage was reported are Dharavi, Mankhurd, Shivaji Nagar, Charkop, Oshiwara, Deonar, and Inorbit Mall in Malad.
In Thane district, Shiv Sena workers were caught on camera beating auto drivers with sticks. Taxi and auto unions had feared attacks and had warned that they will go off roads if any untoward incident takes place.
Roads have been blocked and tyres put on fire in Mumbai’s Vikhroli area to forcefully impose a bandh, thereby hampering traffic and transportation. Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha Mumbai President Tajinder Singh Tiwana took to Twitter to share a video of the blockade.
Weeks after BJP MLA Gulihatty D Shekhar led a heated discussion in the Karnataka Assembly over the rampant forced conversions going on in rural areas of the state, the former minister started a ‘gharwapsi’ campaign by ensuring his own mother who was lured into embracing Christianity returns to Hinduism.
Shekhar had last month revealed that his own mother was influenced and converted to Christianity by the missionaries. Gulihatti Shekhar had stated that she has been told by the missionaries not to apply Kumkum or Tilak on her forehead. So much is the extent of brainwashing and influence that his mother now does not want to even look at the idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, the MLA had said then.
Shekhar had initiated the campaign to bring those who were converted into Christianity back into the Hindu fold. According to reports, rituals involving reinitiation of people back into Hinduism were conducted in the Halurameshwara temple in Hosadurga taluk of Chitradurga.
The program organised by Shekhar saw four families and a total of nine people returning to their former religion. The families, who belong to the Sudugadu Siddha community of the Ballala Samudra, had reportedly embraced Christianity four years ago in Kerala.
Shekhar spoke to the media on the occasion, stating his mother would soon come out in media about her conversion back to Hinduism and is currently under mental tension and residing at his residence.
“Four families and my mother came to the temple and participated in the rituals for their re-initiation into Hinduism. The change had to and has begun with my mother itself,” Shekhar was quoted as saying by a vernacular media channel.
Shekhar reveals massive conversions underway in rural Karnataka in the name of healing
Shekhar had recently made explosive revelations about the extent of conversions taking place in rural Karnataka. While speaking in the state assembly, G Shekhar said missionaries converted people under false pretences, promising them to relieve them of diseases and disabilities in lieu of conversion. The MLA stated that his mother was first politely invited by Christian missionaries ‘to attend prayers’ near their house. Gradually, their influence worked so much that the lady stopped worshipping Hindu Gods, changed her phone ringtone to Christian prayers and even started objecting to Hindu religious practices inside the house.
The MLA stated that they are facing domestic issues because his mother does not want Hindu Gods worshipped in their house. If they try to object to his mother’s Christian leanings and insist on following Hindu practices in the family, she even threatens to commit suicide, the MLA stated.
As per reports, MLA G Shekhar stated, “Large scale conversions are taking place in the Hosadurga area. Around 20,000 people have been converted to Christianity recently.” He further explained that the missionaries primarily target the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community and if any Hindu group or individuals try to prevent it, they are trapped in false cases of rape and caste atrocity.
Shekhar demands action against converted Christians who are availing benefits reserved for scheduled castes and tribes
Besides, Shekhar also highlighted how converted Christians were still availing the facilities and benefits reserved for scheduled caste communities and nomadic tribes.
In a Facebook post, Shekhar shared a letter written by residents of Marutinagar in his constituency who brought to attention the Sunday conversion activities of the missionaries and details of people who had obtained government jobs and availed benefits under other schemes that are meant for scheduled castes and sought action against them.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have strongly objected to using shoes and slippers for decorating a Durga Puja Pandal in the Dum Dum area of Kolkata. Shubhendu Adhikari, leader of the opposition, has sought the intervention of the Chief Secretary of the State to intervene and get the shoes removed from the Pandal.
On October 9, Adhikari published a tweet with an image of the Pandal on Twitter. He called it an insult to the Hindu faith and demanded immediate action from the authorities. He wrote, “A Durga Puja pandal in Dumdum Park has been decorated with shoes. This heinous act of insulting Maa Durga in the name of ‘Artistic liberty’ won’t be tolerated. I urge the Chief & Home Secretary to intervene & compel the organizers to remove the shoes before Shashti.”
A Durga Puja pandal in Dumdum Park has been decorated with shoes. This heinous act of insulting Maa Durga in the name of “Artistic liberty” won’t be tolerated. I urge the Chief & Home Secretary @egiye_bangla to intervene & compel the organizers to remove the shoes before Shashti. pic.twitter.com/h3uQPbNIpS
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) October 9, 2021
Tathagata Roy, senior BJP leader and former Governor of Meghalaya, also echoed Adhikari’s sentiments. In a statement, he said that in the name of freedom of art, everything could not be tolerated. He further called the decoration an insult to Mata Durga and said that such decorations hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.
VHP has also written a letter to the Home Secretary of Bengal. They demanded the removal of the shoes from the Pandal. The VHP wrote, “We request you to take immediate and appropriate steps to remove the shoes from the Pandal. Unless these objectionable shoes are removed from the place of worship, the religious sentiments of Bengali Hindus will not calm down. I request you to take strong action against these miscreants that are destroying communal harmony and insulting Bengali Hindus.”
Organizers claimed shoes placed from Pandal
Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra Samiti’s official said that the shoes had been placed away from the Pandal. He said, “Our theme this year is Kisan Andolan. Accordingly, shoes have been installed on the way to the Pandal, which symbolizes a scene of police lathi-charge on the agitating farmers.”
The organizers of Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra Club Puja also used farmers’ protests as the theme for this year Pandal. They have placed a replica of a tractor on the way of the Pandal. On one part, they have written the names of the farmers who died during the protests. There is also a poster that reads, “We are farmers. Not terrorist. Farmers are food soldiers.”
Even though the law and order situation in their ruled state is deteriorating, the Congress leaders displayed unmatched alacrity in visiting violence-stricken Lakhimpur Kheri violence, where clashes erupted between ‘protesting’ farmers and BJP workers led to the death of 8 people.
Several Congress leaders, including the Gandhi scions Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, launched a concerted attack against the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, just months ahead of the all-important assembly elections. Uttar Pradesh is all set to go to the polls in early 2022 and Congress leaders did not want to squander this opportunity to corner the Yogi government on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
While the Congress party brazenly politicised the unfortunate tragedy witnessed in Lakhimpur Kheri so as to extract political mileage out of it, it is noteworthy to mention that the situation in Congress-ruled Rajasthan is not inspiring. BJP SM head Amit Malviya shared a few incidents from Rajasthan which reveal the total collapse of law and order in the state. And yet, Congress leaders such as Priyanka and Rahul were more interested in visiting Uttar Pradesh instead of taking stock of the situation in their own backyard.
The law and order situation in Rajasthan is precarious. Women and Dalits are being brutalised with impunity. Ashok Gehlot led Congress government is sleeping on wheels.
But Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, who specialise in photo op politics, are no where to been seen… pic.twitter.com/8IbwiBhuNv
Violence against Dalits, mob lynching, lathicharge of farmers: The abject state of law and order in Rajasthan
Recently, a Dalit boy was brutally attacked by assailants in Rajasthan’s Jalore. The incident was captured on camera and the video of it had instantly gone viral on social media, raising questions on the safety of Dalits in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. This was the third incident in the matter of three days when Dalits had come under attack. Before this incident, a 29-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district over his love affair. In August 2021, a Dalit minor girl was gang-raped in Rajasthan’s Alwar.
An incident of mob lynching also took place in Rajasthan’s Bikaner three days ago. Local Congress leader Megh Singh Bhati was attacked by the armed assailants on Bikaner-Jodhpur Highway in Nokha town on Thursday evening when he was returning from the Karni Mata temple with his family members. According to the reports, over half a dozen assailants armed with sticks attacked the Congress leaders, causing multiple fractures in his leg. The fact that a Congress leader was attacked and severely injured in a Congress-ruled state is a testament to the abject law and order situation in Rajasthan.
Though Congress projects itself to be a party working for the interests of the farmers, the Ashok Gehlot-led government recently baton-charged farmers who were protesting in Hanumagarh. Last week, farmers launched a demonstration outside the Hanumangarh collectorate demanding that the government procure paddy. However, their protest was crushed by a group of policemen who lathicharged them, leaving many of them injured.
Despite a flurry of untoward incidents taking place in Rajasthan, there seems to be no intent from the Congress leadership to visit violence-prone areas and express solidarity with the victims. Neither Rahul Gandhi nor Priyanka Gandhi hightailed it to Jalore, Bikaner or Alwar to express their sympathies with the victims and to hold their government responsible for the lawlessness in the state. Instead, they were interested in playing politics over violence that broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri and using dead bodies to revive the party’s depleting political fortunes.
Three months after the death of Maoist sympathiser Stan Swamy, three other co-accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case have alleged that his death was an act of ‘institutional murder’. The trio, identified as Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe and Surendra Gadling, have made these sensational claims in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The three accused were co-inmates of Stan Swamy at the Taloja Central prison, which is located on the outskirts of Mumbai. In their letter, they alleged, “We are father’s co-accused in the case, and eyewitnesses to the conspiracy against him. It was a well-planned institutional murder. We are disturbed and sad at Father’s death. And we have decided to fast for a day as a mark of protest.” They are reportedly also writing a book called ‘He did not die a natural death”.
The letter, written on July 7 this year, had alleged that the Taloja Central prison Superintendent Kaustubh Kurlekar was responsible for the demise of Stan Swamy. The trio claimed that Kurlekar denied proper treatment to the deceased, kept him in isolation and strip-searched him in front of the prison staff. Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe and Surendra Gadling also accused the prison superintendent of destroying the mental resolve and physical health of Stan Swamy.
“Father already had Parkinson’s and a few other ailments when he was arrested. His health seriously deteriorated in custody because Kurlekar ensured he didn’t get proper treatment in prison,” they claimed. The three accused also alleged that the jail authorities imposed restrictions on the deceased such as denial of necessary medicines, and straw sipper for drinking water. They further claimed, “He desperately needed a helper due to Parkinson’s. To ensure he doesn’t get any help from his co-inmates, he was kept in isolation. It was Kurlekar’s conscious attempt to emasculate him physically and mentally.”
They also said that attempts were made to shift Stan Swamy to Arthur jail from Taloja Central prison. In their letter, the three accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case concluded that the Maoist sympathiser’s death was the result of harassment, deliberate negligence, and improper medical treatment. While pleading for a judicial probe and framing of charges against Kaustubh Kurlekar, they said, “We request you to consider our demands so we and our co-accused don’t meet the same fate as father did.” A copy of the letter has reportedly been sent to the Maharashtra Home Minister, State Human Rights Commissioner and the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
Arrest of Stan Swamy and his role in Bhima Koregaon violence
According to the NIA, Stan Swamy was a key conspirator in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case of 2017, which witnessed violence, stone-pelting, and arson at Shaniwar Wada in Pune. He was arrested on October 8 and produced before the Special Court in Mumbai the following day. Interestingly, he was never put under police custody and was instead remanded to judicial custody at Taloja Central jail. The NIA had informed that all legal formalities, including medical examination, were undertaken.
As per the Central investigative agency, Stan Swamy is a ‘hard-core CPI (Maoist) activist’ who had received funds from other Maoists for furthering the activities of the banned outfit. He is also the convenor of PPSC. “Incriminating documents related to communications for furthering the activities of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoist) were seized from his possession,” the NIA emphasised.
Days after Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB) after a raid on Goa-bound cruise ship, left-leaning ‘liberals’ tried to paint the Bollywood actor as a victim of religious persecution by alleging that his son was arrested by the narcotics Bureau because of his ‘Muslim’ identity.
On Friday last week when a court rejected the bail plea of Khan and seven others arrested in the case, and instead sent them to 14 days of judicial custody, left ‘liberals’ saw an opportunity that could be exploited to reinforce their propaganda of projecting the central government as anti-Muslim.
Scores of ‘liberals’ took to Twitter, extending their support to the ‘Happy New Year’ actor and conjecturing that Aryan Khan has been targeted as a means to ‘get back’ at Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who is a Muslim and had on occasions commented against the central government.
‘Liberals’ cite Muslim identity of SRK for the arrest and denial of bail to his son Aryan Khan
Swati Chaturvedi, a self-proclaimed journalist but who also doubles down as an abusive troll on social media websites, insinuated that Aryan’s arrest and denial of bail was a part of the central government’s ‘campaign’ against Shah Rukh Khan. She also compared SRK’s current predicament with Aamir Khan after the latter sparked outrage with his indiscreet utterances on the leftist trope of rising intolerance.
Source: Twitter
Following Aryan’s arrest, popular ed-tech platform Byju’s had dropped SRK as its brand ambassador, presumably to safeguard itself from the ignominy of being associated with an actor whose own son was arrested in a drug case. After Aryan’s arrest, Khan being continued as the brand ambassador of a platform aimed at children who aspire for academic success was criticised by many users.
But Khan’s dismissal as the brand ambassador did not sit well with some ‘liberals’, including Chaturvedi, who alluded that the company was aiding the government in its campaign against SRK.
That a private company decided to use its authority to end its relationship with its ambassador was used by liberals to accuse the Centre of ensuring ‘economic boycott’ underscores the prejudice harboured by ‘liberals’ against the Modi government.
A decision that was taken to protect the organisation’s image and economic interests was billed as the government’s bidding speaks volumes of the abysmal understanding of business by ‘liberals’. No wonder then that most of the Marxist liberals in India view businessmen as inherently corrupt and dishonest.
Another celebrated ‘liberal’ Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who works for the far-left propaganda website The Wire, took to Twitter to declare that Aryan’s arrest was not related to a drugs case but a clear targeting of the actor Shahrukh Khan. Sherwani even went on to ludicrously claim that securing bail is a “basic right” and Aryan is being deprived of it.
Source: Twitter
“SRK is undoubtedly the biggest Muslim superstar of our times. ‘Process as punishment’ is a message to him to fall in line,” Sherwani said.
A routine judicial process and an impartial narcotics agency are called ‘motivated’, just because the accused is a Muslim. For Arfa and others who dredged up SRK’s religion to peddle the Muslim victimhood narrative, Aryan Khan’s alleged involvement in a drug case is not worth probing because the accused is a Muslim.
For years now, left-leaning “liberals” touted Bollywood as a totem of Hindu-Muslim unity, an industry they claimed transcended the religious boundaries and united people of all hues. But when Shah Rukh Khan’s son was arrested by a narcotics agency, these moralising platitudes about Bollywood being a microcosm of Indian diversity are shunned and swept under the carpet. A Bollywood actor is pigeonholed as a Muslim superstar so as to perpetuate the Muslim victimhood narrative that the left has mastered over the years.
Journalist Rana Ayyub, who was recently mired in controversy related to misappropriation of funds through fundraisers, said Aryan Khan’s arrest was never about his culpability but a message for public dissenters to fall in line.
Source: Twitter
SRK slams Rana Ayyub for using his movie roles to propagate her agenda
This is not the first time that Rana Ayyub has used Shah Rukh Khan as an accessory to her propaganda against the central government. In 2017, Ayyub exploited the mere coincidence of Khan playing a Muslim character in three back to back movies by arguing in an opinion piece published in NDTV that the actor was sending a message to the establishment by wearing his religious identity on his sleeves.
Ayyub’s myopic point of view on SRK’s roles evoked an uncharacteristically sharp response from the actor, who asked writers for reading too much into his choice of roles. The actor said he was not even aware of the name of the character in one of the three movies in which he played the role of a man with Muslim name.
Islamists attack Shah Rukh for installing a Ganesha idol at his home
The religious identity is attached to the actor even though Shah Rukh Khan has time and again slammed the writers and journalists for viewing him from a religious prism. He has often said that he celebrates all festivals, especially Ganesh Chaturthi.
Recently, SRK had shared a picture of a Ganesha idol installed at his home during Ganesh Chaturthi. The move rattled Islamists on Twitter, including the verified ones, who descended upon the actor’s timeline to acquaint him with the teachings of Islam.
Many called him ‘Shirk’ and ‘Kafir’ and many fundamentalists believe that kafirs and ‘non-believers’ deserve to be punished with death. Murtad is apostasy and apostasy is also to be punished with death, as per the Holy Quran, they argued. Several others decried the actor and asked him to convert alleging that idol worshipping is a sin in Islam.
Even though SRK has not been the “ideal” Muslim as asserted by self-described devout Muslims on social media, his religious identity is co-opted every now and then to present a misleading notion of perpetual Muslim victimhood.
That a court found the NCB’s investigation and grounds for arrest valid enough to deny bail to Aryan, that the probe agency has asserted multiple times that all due procedure was followed, that drugs were found on the person of the individuals arrested, does not matter at all for these self-proclaimed ‘secular-liberals’.
Along with Aryan, several other persons have been arrested, but they are ignored, only Aryan’s arrest is highlighted and the so-called anti-government dissenters are peddling a narrative that just because Aryan’s father is a Muslim, he should not have been arrested at all.
Aryan is not the only person who was arrested, but they do not matter for ‘secular-liberals’ because they are not ‘Muslim’
As a part of their strategy, when an accused happens to be a Muslim, the focus is placed on his or her religious identity and not on the alleged criminal activity carried out by him or her. The fact that the person might have committed the crime is irrelevant because the focus is to continue peddling the victimhood narrative.
On the contrary, when an accused is a Hindu, there is no such heightened display of concern by the “liberals” then because for them Hindu lives hardly matter. Contrary to the concern for ‘Muslims’, when the accused happens to be a Hindu and the victim is non-Hindu, he/she is instantly declared as a Hindutva fanatic, even a ‘Hindu terrorist’.
It is worth noting that in both cases the left-leaning intellectual class assumes the role of investigating agencies and the judiciary even before a thorough probe is conducted in the case and findings are out. The liberals fall over themselves to either declare the Muslim accused as innocent and a victim of religious persecution or declare the Hindu accused as a culprit emboldened by the central government.
Additionally, when a group of people belonging to different religions are arrested, the liberals place emphasis only on the identity of the Muslim accused. So when Aryan Khan was arrested and denied bail for his alleged involvement in the cruise drugs case, the liberals highlighted his Muslim identity as a reason for his predicament. Fourteen others were arrested along with him, who are still under custody and denied bail. But the liberals won’t bother pointing out their religion because that would sabotage their Muslim victimhood narrative.
Same Muslim victimhood was peddled in Munawar Faruqui case
This phenomenon of focusing only on the religious identity of Muslims while ignoring the Hindus when multiple accused are involved was also witnessed during the Munawar Faruqui case, when 5 people were arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in a stand-up comedy show.
The ‘liberals’ had then showed unmatched alacrity to call to attention Munawar Faruqui’s Muslim identity, stating that he was hounded and arrested for being a Muslim. They, however, did not mention that not all arrested in the case were Muslims, lest it would have undermined their propaganda of Muslims being specifically targeted on account of their religion.
Munawar and others were arrested for making derogatory remarks against Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Similarly, Aryan Khan is under arrest and denied bail for being a part of a rave party onboard a cruise ship. Not because the Centre held a grudge against his father Shah Rukh Khan for his years-old comment on rising intolerance or because Shah Rukh Khan is a Muslim.
As it was proved in the 2019 General election, the bogey of rising intolerance was just balderdash, raised by the left to discredit the Modi government.
What would be your reaction if you were told that your money grows 5% everyday? Yes, you read that right, 5% upward everyday.
Paras Defence and Space Technology is a company that got listed in the stock market just recently. The IPO was subscribed over 300 times, which in itself was a record in Indian equity market. For the retail investors category, it was subscribed by 113 times. For the non institutional investors, it was subscribed by nearly 928 times, while for institutional investors, it was subscribed 170 times.
The IPO had a relatively moderate issue size of ₹170 crore which included fresh issue of shares worth ₹140 crore and existing 1.7 million shares worth around ₹30 crores.
The fervour and excitement of the investors in the company has strong reason, since the company has a background in defence and space technology, a forte which is pretty new to the conventional businesses listed in the market.
The IPO price band of Paras Defence was ₹165-₹175 for a lot of 85 shares with a face value of ₹10 each. The cut off amount for 1 lot was ₹14,875. The IPO closed accepting applications on 23rd September 2021. The shares were listed on 1st October and the company opened at ₹469 per share on National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 170% premium and immediately reached the upper circuit at ₹492.
The stock (NSE:PARAS) was consistently trading throughout the day today at the high of 659.80 till the time market closed at 3:30 PM. For reference, if any investor received an allotment of 1 lot of 85 shares, they would have invested ₹14,875 on 23rd September 2021. If they are holding on the shares today on 11 October 2021, the value is around ₹56,000 with a bumper profit of ₹41,000.
Major stock market investors and analysts have a neutral to positive outlook on the listing. Their observations vary from partial holding to full profit booking depending on the investor interests.
Ever since PM Narendra Modi was elected in 2014, Government of India has pushed for strengthening of India’s armed forces. Upgrading of equipments, providing better technologies and expanding the buying capacities for defence materials, the positive outlook for a defence company cannot be ignored. That, combined with initiatives of the central government like Make In India gave a fresh boost to India’s internal markets all across the sectors. The central government’s impetus on Aatmanirbhar Bharat has also shown a magnificent interest in this sector.
That’s not all. Earlier in the day today Prime Minister Modi too laid emphasis on bringing in reforms in the sector. He was speaking at the launch of Indian Space Association. PM Modi said that India’s approach to space reforms is based on four pillars: freedom to private sector in innovation, role of government as an enabler, to make youth future-ready and to see the Space sector as a resource for the progress of common man.
He pointed out how while earlier Space sector was largely government owned and control, past few years there has been a paradigm shift by bringing in bringing in innovation in Space sector and gave the mantra of cooperation between government and startups. He said that it is no longer time for linear innovation but an exponential one. Which is why the government need not play role of handler but an enabler. “Today Govt is sharing its expertise and providing launch pads for private sector. Today, the facility of ISRO is being opened for private sector,” PM Modi had said.
Paras Defence shows promise in lots of areas providing solutions for heavy engineering, space optics, defence electronics, niche technologies. The areas of expertise are in rocket/missile programs, space and related programs, naval systems, land and armoured vehicles, electronic warfare and surveillance, electronic pulse protection, etc. The company is now looking to substitute imports under the central government’s Make In India program, and also focus on hot technologies like UAVs that can help the armed forces crucially.
The enthusiasm of investors didn’t go unnoticed. BSE informed that market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has restricted intraday trading in this stock for 10 days. The step is usually taken by both the exchanges and SEBI to protect investor interests from speculative trading and price movement disruptions.
The vigour and frenzy on this stock shows that the investor is ready to scale up and invest more, thus inviting businesses to innovate and generate more wealth, which indirectly pushes the economy ahead.
On October 11, Adani Ports Ltd has issued a statement announcing that starting from November 15, 2021, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) would not handle Export-Import (EXIM) containerised cargo originating from Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The advisory came after almost a month since approx 3,000 KG of heroin was seized from two containers at Mundra port.
Just In: Adani group announces that Mundra Port will not handle EXIM containerised cargo originating from Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan from November 15th. This will apply to all terminals operated by Adani group and those operated by third party. @the_hindu
Signed by Subrat Tripathy, Chief Executive Officer, APSEZ, the advisory stated, “Please be informed that with effect from November 15, 2021, APSEZ will not handle EXIM containerised cargo originating from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This trade advisory will apply to all terminals operated by APSEZ and including third party terminals at any APSEZ port till further notice.”
Notably, APSEZ has been under continuous attack on social media platforms since the drugs were seized on September 16. To counter the attack, the company had to issue a statement on September 21 clarifying that it was only responsible for operating the port and provide services to shipping lines. The company further added that they do not have any policing authority over the containers on Mundra or any of the ports managed by Adani Ports.
It is notable here that after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, there is widespread concern that the Islamic radicals will peddle drugs into Indian and other markets. Most of the Taliban’s income comes from opium drugs.
Mundra Port Drug Haul
Around 3,000 KG worth of heroin was seized on Mundra Port on September 16 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). Since then, Adani Group has been under attack on social media platforms. It was found during investigation that the cargo that had arrived from Afghanistan via Iran’s Bandar Abbas port was under the name of Aashi Trading firm based in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
As per reports, DRI had got a tip-off about the consignment and had been working to seize it. The investigating agencies found that the consignment was declared as “talcum powder” by the Vijayawada based firm. As per sources quoted by news reports, the exporting firm has been identified as Hassan Hussain Ltd., based in Kandahar, Afghanistan. On October 6, the investigation of the drugs seized at Mundra Port was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
