Priyanka Gandhi in a press conference in Lucknow announced Congress party’s decision to give 40% tickets to women in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. It was the party’s attempt to court the women vote-bank in the state ahead of polls.
She said, ‘We have decided that in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, we would give 40% tickets to women. It is our promise that women would be a part of Uttar Pradesh politics.’ She also spoke about the alleged discrimination against women in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad University and that the decision is based to empower women in Uttar Pradesh.
However, a journalist raised questions about the absconding Karan Morwal, the son of Congress’ Badnagar MLA Murli Morwal who has been on the run for the past seven months in an alleged rape case where the victim is a functionary of Youth Congress.
In the video, it could be seen that the journalist was left disappointed with no answer from Priyanka Gandhi.
Earlier this year, on International Women’s Day, Haryana Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda led a protest march called ‘tractor march’, where women Congress leaders were seen manually pulling the tractors.
Just recently, Rajasthan’s Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra sparked a controversy with his demeaning remarks against female employees at a women empowerment event. He had said, “As the chief of my department, I must say whichever school has more women staffers, squabbles are bound to happen for various reasons.”
Fabindia, after removing its ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ collection, has claimed that it was not their Diwali collection. The claim comes after the brand made a reference to the ‘festival of love and light’ in one of their deleted tweets.
Our current capsule of products under name Jashn-e-Riwaaz is celebration of Indian traditions. The phrase means that, literally. Capsule is not our Diwali collection of products. Our Diwali collection 'Jhilmil si Diwali' is yet to be launched. Please keep a look out:Fabindia Spox
The Fabindia spokesperson said, “Our current capsule of products under name Jashn-e-Riwaaz is celebration of Indian traditions. The phrase means that, literally. Capsule is not our Diwali collection of products. Our Diwali collection ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’ is yet to be launched. Please keep a look out.”
Jashn-e-Riwaaz can no longer be found in the collection list on their website at all. In one of their deleted tweets regarding the Jashn-e-Riwaaz collection, they mentioned the ‘festival of love and light’, a phrase used to describe Diwali often.
Deleted tweet by Fabindia
Fabindia received severe backlash over the collection, following which they removed their tweets and attempted to remove it from their post on other social media platforms. They were accused of appropriating a Hindu festival by users on social media, who were incensed over the name that was chosen for the collection.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya had said, “Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out. And brands like Fab India must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures.”
Following the controversy, the brand has come up with a collection titled ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’, which is much more in sync with the Hindu ethos of the festival. However, it appears that the brand wants its customers to forget that the Jashn-e-Riwaaz fiasco ever happened at all.
A video clip from a Samajwadi Party protest has emerged on social media where a Samajwadi Party worker could be seen campaigning for the BJP inadvertently. The worker seemed to be convinced when he said that a win for BJP is not just a win for BJP but also a win for the Samajwadi Party.
He said ‘..when there was no road, and I want to tell all my brothers that Bharatiya Janata Party’s win is not just the win of Bharatiya Janata party, this is also a win for us. And if we strongly vote for Bharatiya Janata Party, the stronger we get..’
Amusingly, all the people and the party workers present there were listening attentively to the speech. Before long, however, they realized their folly and quickly began to chant Samajwadi Party.
SP leaders and workers have been committing plenty of goof ups in recent times. Recently, Samajwadi Party State President Naresh Uttam Patel was caught sleeping at the stage while other leaders gave speeches during a political rally in Jalaun. Naresh Patel also inadvertently ended up blaming Akhilesh Yadav for destroying farmers.
Naresh Patel had said “There is no difference between Congress and BJP. Congress is BJP and BJP is Congress. The Congress Party ruled for 45 years. They destroyed the farmers. Now they are shedding crocodile tears. Farmers have been destroyed by our leader Akhilesh Yadav.”
AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi speaking at the Jalsa-e-Rehmat Ul lil Alameen at Darussalam, Hyderabad advised couples to refrain from affairs outside of marriage and get married instead if they liked each other.
— Pramod Chaturvedi (ANI) ?? (@PramodChturvedi) October 19, 2021
Owaisi in his speech said, ‘Stay away from extramarital affairs, if the boy likes the girl and the girl likes the boy, and the boy is decent and says he can take care of the girl then do it. Get married. What is wrong in that?’
Owaisi also quoted the popular Bollywood dialogue ‘Jabh pyar kiya toh darna kya’ (Why fear when you are in love?).
The AIMIM president told the Muslim youth that taking care of their wives is their responsibility. He said, ‘Stay away from women. If you like a girl, or if the girl likes a boy and if the guy is decent, then do it. Get married. What is wrong in that? But taking care of your family is your job.’
Asaduddin Owaisi has been making such statements. Recently, he had refused to talk about Aryan Khan’s case during a rally in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh saying, “You are talking about a superstar’s son. At least 27 per cent of undertrial prisoners in UP jails are Muslims. Who will speak for them? I will fight for those who are voiceless and weak, not for those whose fathers are powerful.”
The decision to form a new political party came weeks after he tendered his resignation as Punjab CM. Amarinder Singh had resigned from the post of chief minister on September 18 saying that he can’t continue with the humiliation he was facing in the party. He had taken the decision after the party had called for a meeting of the Congress legislative party in Punjab without informing the CM, who is also the leader of the legislative party.
The political drama in Punjab started with the appointment of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the president of the Punjab Congress in July despite opposition from Amarinder Singh. The drama reached a crescendo when Singh refused to take the humiliation lying down and decided to call it quits. 12 days later, on September 30, Captain announced that he is quitting the Congress party as well.
In an interview with Shekhar Gupta at ThePrint, Amarinder Singh said that he would look to ally with the BJP and breakaway factions of the Shiromani Akali Dal. On being questioned, he said that he does not believe the BJP is a communal anti-Muslim party. Whether he will partner with the BJP depends on the resolution of the farmer protests, which he hinted could be headed towards a resolution soon.
On the murder of the Dalit Sikh man at the farmer protest site, Singh said, “I don’t believe that he was doing be-adbi or sacrilege because there were too many people. The person who did it (killed him) was in a frame of mind he could not control. He could have been intoxicated. Nihangs are known to take ‘sukha’ (a form of intoxication).”
After Captain’s exit from Congress, speculations were rife of him floating a new political party
Soon after his acrimonious exit from the post of Punjab CM, speculations of Captain Amarinder Singh’s future political steps started doing the rounds. His meeting with Amit Shah also added to the rumours of him joining the BJP. However, Singh dispelled those rumours as unfounded, stating that he did not intend to join the saffron party. After Singh’s denial, media was replete with speculations that Singh will float a new political party.
News18 had quoted sources as saying that a dozen Congress leaders and MLAs are also likely to join him, the report had said. According to sources, not only legislators are on board, but also certain prominent figures who are disgruntled with the Akalis.
After he quit Congress, India Today had reported that Amarinder Singh would form a new party, whose primary focus would be on security issues for which he had likely met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at his residence in New Delhi on September 30.
In 2015, Union Minister Smriti Irani claimed to have found a camera pointing towards the trial room of a FabIndia outlet located in Candolim, Goa. Four people were booked in the case. Nevertheless, it is not the only controversy that revolves around the ethnic-wear chain, FabIndia. It flaunts being one of the top ethnic wear stores in India. With over 300+ outlets across the country and over-priced clothes and accessories, the store has made its way into the upper-middle and higher-income groups with its sparkling advertisements. In its 60-year long run, the company has found itself in more controversies in recent years than ever.
The 2015 hidden camera case
On April 3, 2015, Union Minister Smriti Irani spotted a CCTV camera positioned towards the changing room in a way that it could record illicit videos. Reports suggest that she immediately informed her husband about the camera and then called the local BJP legislator Micheal Lobo. He later filed a complaint at the local police station based on which FIR was registered against four Paresh Bhagat, Raju Payanche, Prashant Naik and Karim Lakhani.
The four were arrested and later granted bail by the court. They were booked under IPC sections 354C (voyeurism), 509 (intrusion into privacy) and IT Act’s section 66E (capturing, publishing image of the private area of any person without his/her consent). On April 12, it was reported that the Police had zeroed down to Bhagat as the main accused as he had the password for the DVR. Then Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Kartik Kashyap has told the media that Bhagat was caught changing the direction of the camera soon after the Minister had raised the alarm.
FabIndia issued a statement in which they apologized to the Minister for the incident but claimed there were no hidden cameras in the shopping area. They said, “The camera in question at Candolim-Goa store was a part of the surveillance system at the store and was installed in the shopping area. There were no hidden cameras anywhere in the store, including the trial rooms. These cameras are in full public view, and the fact that surveillance cameras are installed prominently displayed in all the stores.”
The case continued till 2017 when a charge sheet was filed against the four accused. Since then, no update has been available in the case. OpIndia tried to reach out to Micheal Lobo over the phone as he had filed the complaint. We could not connect to him. Once we have a word with him about the case, we will update the story.
Another case of ‘secret filming’ was caught in Kohlapur outlet
A similar incident was reported on March 31, 2015, where a salesman at Kohlapur outlet was arrested by the Police for secretly filming a female customer. 25-years-old Prakash Ananda Ispurle was arrested on April 1 after the complaint of a female customer. In her complaint, she alleged that when she was trying on clothes, Ispurle had placed his mobile phone in video recording mode in the gaps between the trial room door and the floor.
When she noticed the phone, she immediately raised the alarm, after which Ispurle pulled the phone out and deleted the videos. During the investigation, Police found that Ispurle was caught on CCTV filming the woman. He was arrested, and a case was filed against him under Section 354C of the IPC.
Illegal use of the word ‘Khadi’
In February 2018, the Khadi Commission or Khadi & Village Industries Commission, Govt. of India had sued FabIndia for using the Khadi brand without permission. KVIC had demanded Rs. 525 crores in damages from the ethnic wear retail outlet for illegally using the trademark Charkha and selling apparel under the khadi tag. When the company was first sued by KVIC, they said the claims made against them were baseless, and they would fight them in court.
In a statement FabIndia said, “We are in receipt of the notice from lawyers instructed by KVIC, and are surprised at its contents. We have made it clear to the KVIC through extensive correspondence and in multiple meetings over the last two years that Fabindia is not in violation of any of the provisions of the KVIC Act or regulations framed thereunder. The claims made in the notice are baseless. The notice has been entrusted to our lawyers, and any action taken in pursuance of the notice will be defended by us vigorously.”
However, later in the month of June, KVIC moved to the court, and things started to fall apart for FabIndia. In August 2018, FabIndia said it would not use the word Khadi or any trademark related to Khadi in any of its collections and would inform KVIC in advance if it would want to use it. As of now, the case is still pending in the Bombay High Court.
The feud between KVIC and FabIndia started in 2015 when KVIC sent a legal notice to the company warning against the use of Khadi trademarks. FabIndia replied that it had stopped the use of the word Khadi and its trademarks in the advertisements. However, in 2017, KVIC learned that FabIndia kept using the trademark and name despite the undertaking. A fresh legal notice was sent that further led to the court case.
It is noteworthy that the government body KVIC has acted against over 1000 private firms, including FabIndia, for misusing the brand name “Khadi” and taking unethical advantage of the brand’s goodwill.
The recent controversy of ad campaign ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’
Recently in October 2021, FabIndia launched a campaign to promote its Jashn-e-Riwaaz collection for the festival season that revolves around the Hindu festival Diwali. Interestingly, FabIndia did not use the word “Diwali” or “Deepavali” or mention the Hindu festival at all in the campaign. The trick to possibly secularize the Hindu festival did not go well with the netizen, and a fierce campaign was launched by Netizens collectively against the brand. Seeing the campaign backfiring, the company decided to drop the phrase ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ and changed the collection’s name to ‘Jhilmil Si Diwali’.
About FabIndia
FabIndia was founded by John Bissell in 1960, an American businessman who also worked for Ford Foundation in New Delhi. It started as a company exporting home furnishing. The company expanded its roots to garments by the 1980s and further to non-textile range in 2000, personal care products in 2006 and jewellery in 2008. Currently, John’s son William Bissell is the chairman of the company.
Amidst the recent spate of targeted attacks against non-native people in Jammu and Kashmir, the Aadmi Aadmi Party on Tuesday weighed in on the situation, stating that India should not be playing their upcoming world cup match against Pakistan when it is a victim of state-sponsored terrorism by Islamabad.
AAP MLA Atishi Marlena asserted that India should not be playing its match against Pakistan at a time when Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is again rearing its head in Jammu and Kashmir.
So, I am sure that not only AAP but even BJP and its leadership along with the PM will agree that unless such attacks in India and targeted attacks on Indians stop, it will not be right to play matches like this: AAP MLA Atishi
“We see people being attacked in Kashmir. I’m sure that even PM agrees with the stand of not conducting the match (IND v PAK) as when in opposition he used to question that when state sponsored terrorism is taking place in India why should we play cricket with them?” Atishi questioned while addressing the media.
She further added: “So, I am sure that not only AAP but even BJP and its leadership along with the PM will agree that unless such attacks in India and targeted attacks on Indians stop, it will not be right to play matches like this.”
Atishi was referring to the first group stage match India is set to play against Pakistan in the ongoing T20 world cup in the United Arab Emirates. The match is slated to take place on Sunday, October 24, 2021.
Atishi’s reservations regarding the Indo-Pak match in the T20 world cup appears to have their roots not in the recent incidents of targeted attacks against non-natives in Kashmir but on PM Modi and BJP’s opposition in the past on having bilateral cricketing ties with Pakistan.
Bilateral cricket series Vs ICC tournaments
However, the T20 world cup is not a bilateral series where BCCI can take the decision of cancelling its match against Pakistan. It is organised by the International Cricket Council(ICC), of which India is one of the members like several other cricket-playing nations, including Pakistan. It is not under the purview of the BCCI or any other individual board to cancel or rearrange the schedule of the matches decided by the ICC.
The ICC is the apex cricketing body that governs cricket tournaments around the world. It is binding on all members of the ICC to abide by the decisions taken by the council. Defiance of ICC’s authority might lead to the imposition of penalties and other disciplinary action against the BCCI.
Besides, if India chooses to forfeit its match against Pakistan, the match won’t be disqualified by the ICC. It would still be considered as an international match and India’s refusal to play against Pakistan would be akin to giving a walkaway to the opposition. Pakistan will be adjudicated as the winner of the match and India’s chances of qualifying further in the tournament will diminish.
By suggesting India not play its match against Pakistan in the T20 cricket world cup, Atishi is effectively doing Islamabad’s bidding, for the Indian cricket team is a force to be reckon with and is widely regarded as the favourites to lift the world cup. If Pakistan could avert a loss against India, their chances of progressing in the tournament will increase dramatically. This, in turn, will undoubtedly help Pakistan Cricket Board, which is battling isolation and is struggling to revive cricket tours by foreign nations since 2009.
Furthermore, if India chooses not to play against Pakistan, as Atishi suggests, it will deprive itself of the precious points it could have scored after defeating Pakistan, which would inevitably help the Indian team to advance in the subsequent phase of the tournament.
Perhaps, Atishi and AAP do not want the Indian Cricket Team to win the World Cup and instead want Pakistan to qualify for the later stages of the tournament.
AAP’s perennial love for Pakistan
As such, this is not the first time that AAP leaders have acted in favour of Pakistan. Earlier in 2016, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal raised aspersions on the authenticity of the Surgical Strikes conducted by the Indian Armed Forces in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and asked for its proof.
In the aftermath of the Surgical Strikes when the nationalist sentiments were high, Kejriwal released a rare video congratulating the Modi government and the Indian Army for avenging the deaths of martyrs in the Uri attack. However, towards the end of his video, Kejriwal sought a piece of evidence to establish that Surgical Strikes indeed happened, cunningly claiming that he is asking for evidence to bust the Pakistani propaganda that refuted the occurrence of any Surgical Strikes in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Delhi CM’s demand for proof was instantly lapped up by Pakistani propagandists to reinforce their narrative that the Surgical Strikes as claimed by India was nothing but a sham. During that time, Pakistan had vigorously denied the occurrence of any surgical strikes in its controlled territory to cover up its shame.
Pakistan’s denial of the incursion was on expected lines, given that the acceptance of the attack would have been tantamount to a tacit admission of the presence of terrorists at those launch pads and more importantly admission that the Indian forces carried out the attack right under the nose of its Army.
Even after the gruesome Pulwama attack in 2019, when 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in a suicide attack by a terrorist backed by Pakistan, Kejriwal tried to use the dastardly attack to peddle preposterous conspiracy theories. A couple of months after the attack, Kejriwal took to Twitter to insinuate that the Pulwama attack was carried out by Pakistan at the behest of the Modi government to help PM Modi in the forthcoming General elections in May 2019.
“Pakistan and Imran Khan are openly supporting Modi Ji. It is clear now that Modi Ji has some secret pact wid them. Everyone is asking – did Pakistan kill 40 of our brave soldiers in Pulwama on 14 Feb just before elections to help Modi Ji?” Kejriwal had tweeted.
Kejriwal’s tweet
Today, as desperate terrorists try to sow fear and panic in Jammu and Kashmir, instead of issuing an unconditional condemnation against Pakistan and calling out its support to spreading Islamic terrorism in India, Atishi is asking the Indian Cricket Team to forfeit its match against Pakistan so that India’s chances of winning the world cup becomes tougher and Pakistan can emerge victorious without actually playing the match.
The central government has come out to strongly defend the validity of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 (Act) in the Supreme Court today. The reply by the centre clearly stated that any attempt by the Supreme Court to overturn the new statute on tribunal laws would be a violation of the constitutionally mandated division of powers between the state’s several organs.
The Union of India’s statement came in response to a slew of petitions filed by the Madras Bar Association, Jairam Ramesh, and others questioning the Act’s validity.
The petitions had contended that Section 3(1) along with Sections 3(7), 5 and 7(1) of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 violated Articles 14, 21 and 50 of the Constitution.
Strongly defending the Tribunal Reforms Act the central government wrote in its reply that even if there is a violation of the basic structure doctrine, it is not a basis for challenging a statute’s legitimacy.
The Centre has told the apex court that a violation of the Constitution’s fundamental structure principle can be used to invalidate a constitutional amendment but not a statute.
“It has been held in a series of cases including by two Constitutional Bench decisions and by a 7 judges bench of this Hon’ble Court that basic structure in the Constitution can only be used to test the validity of a Constitutional amendment but has no relevance when it comes to the validity of a statue,” the Centre said in its reply.
The Centre went on to say that judicial independence isn’t a valid basis for putting statutes to the test.
“If for any reason independence of the judiciary is treated as the basis, one could not phrase a provision by declaring that independence is removed which would ex facie sound antithetical. What is more, independence of the judiciary is not a ground which can be used for testing statutes,” the reply added.
The Union government argued that it is distressing that laws and statutory rules made by Parliament and the Executive in areas of pure policy are being declared void by invoking the judiciary’s independence, even though such laws and rules do not violate fundamental rights or any provision of the Constitution and are entirely within the competence of Parliament and the Executive.
“Government equally believes that the Court striking down these pure matters of policy violates the separation of powers by the judicial wing of the State,” read the reply.
The central government’s response comes after a bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had in September criticised the central government for passing the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, with provisions that are contrary to a previous Supreme Court judgement. The bench was hearing a petition by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh that challenges the Tribunals Reforms Act.
The tribunal laws 2021
The Tribunal Reforms Act of 2021 replaces an ordinance that was passed in April of that year. The bill was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha, and it was passed on August 3 amid ruckus by the Opposition.
Chairpersons and members of the tribunal that is being disbanded will cease to hold office, and they will be entitled to compensation equal to three months’ pay and allowances for their premature termination, according to the Act. It also suggests modifications to the way certain other tribunals are appointed.
The Act not only establishes uniform pay and rules for search and selection committees across tribunals, but also allows for the removal of tribunal members who have been adjudged as insolvent, convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or who have become physically or mentally incapable of serving as Chairperson or Member. Former judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court serve as chairpersons and judicial members of tribunals.
Here is what happened. On Monday evening, one Twitter user ‘Vikash’ with zero tweets till then raised a grievance with food delivery platform Zomato.
Vikash’s tweet
Vikash was upset that as a person consuming Zomato services in Tamil Nadu, one customer care executive casually mentioned that a Tamil Nadu restaurant owner might know a bit of a Hindi. You see, Zomato executive was unable to resolve the grievance as per Vikash’s liking mainly due to language barrier and ‘Vikash’ was triggered.
So triggered that he logs in to an account he created in May 2021, where he had zero tweets and decides to lash out on Zomato. In subsequent tweet he tags all DMK leaders (ruling party in Tamil Nadu), chief minister’s office, some media houses and a few other DMK leaders. Clearly, Vikash wanted the politicians to get involved because he didn’t get his pepper chicken.
Zomato then responded and apologised and asked him to get in touch over a private message.
Vikash
But Vikash would not be bogged down. Vikash insisted that he get public apology from the customer care executive who ‘accused him a liar’ and ‘asked him to learn Hindi’. Now, if you look at the angry exchange between ‘Vikash’ and the Zomato executive, one can see ‘Vikash’ was informed by the agent that the restaurant has not conveyed it to them that they will waive off the money for missing pepper chicken.
The Zomato executive explains that she tried but could not get through with the restaurant owner because of language barriers. This triggered ‘Vikash’ who was upset that a non-Tamil speaking executive was handling Tamil Nadu region. After seemingly misplaced entitlement, perhaps the executive lost her cool and mentioned how Hindi is a national language and one expects people in India to understand at least little bit of Hindi. Hindi being national language is a debate and topic for another time. However, this response made ‘Vikash’ so so so furious that he immediately took screenshots and decided to take out his anger on Twitter.
Going by his account, he had made no prior tweets, but he knew exactly how and whom to tag in his grievance. As per the screenshots shared by him, the agent didn’t really call him a liar and didn’t really ask him to learn Hindi. I would have given him benefit of doubt of language barrier that he did not understand English that well, but then since he didn’t give one to the agent, he perhaps doesn’t deserve one either.
Eventually, over the alleged ‘Hindi imposition’, people started boycotting Zomato. So Zomato swooped in and said they have fired the executive.
Vikash at it
But Vikash was not satisfied. He demanded clarification from Zomato on the company’s stand about their executive’s statement on Hindi. So was ‘Vikash’ really that upset over missing pepper chicken or was it the ‘Hindi imposition’ that got his goat.
Still angry, he demanded yet another clarification.
Vikash still upset
“Hindi is not our national language,” Vikash continued to demand. Just to reiterate, the agent, from the screenshots shared by ‘Vikash’, did not really disrespect Tamil. But it really seems like language barrier (or prejudice) that got the better of ‘Vikash’.
Vikash’s demands
And then, a couple of hours after the agent was terminated, ‘Vikash’ again tweeted how along with the ‘clarification’ that ‘Hindi is not our national language’ and that perhaps Zomato should also publicly make ‘Vikash’ happy by announcing the same.
Is ‘Vikash’ really Vikash?
‘Vikash’ is not that common a name in Tamil Nadu. In fact, at the risk of stereotyping, it is more of a ‘North Indian’ name. I know at least two ‘Vikash’ from UP-Bihar who spell their name with an extra ‘h’. Vikas is to UP-Bihar as Senthil is to Tamil Nadu. So, is it possible that this ‘Vikash’ is someone’s fake account which they used to stir up the storm? Because tweeting these things from their original account, with their real name, might be bad optics?
Amusingly, the account got so many retweets in such short span of time, it is likely some popular account retweeted. One may wonder if this ‘Vikash’ is an alt account of such popular Twitter user who was too coward to use his/her real name?
There are a lot of times when some Twitter users want to hide behind the cloak of anonymity and say unpleasant things to other people or hurl abuses because they are too coward to face consequences and use their real name. In fact, there were times during COVID pandemic obscure Twitter accounts with hardly any followers tweeted unverified information asking for help, offering for help. When authorities traced these accounts, they were found to be fake accounts. So when some people can create chaos amid pandemic for their own idea of fun or for their political gains, who is to say ‘Vikash’ is just one such account propped up to stir up the ‘Hindi imposition’ controversy in the time of instant social media gratification.
Meanwhile, Zomato has reinstated the agent who was fired over the controversy saying that this kind of mistake did not deserve such a harsh punishment and that it can be a learning experience for her.
Another case of brutality against Hindus in Raibag Karnataka has come to light where a mob attacked a Hindu man for travelling with a Muslim woman in an auto. According to reports, the mob arrived after the auto driver objected to the woman for travelling with a Hindu man. The mob also looted Rs.50,000 worth of cash including mobile phones, Aadhaar and ATM cards.
“A hindu man beaten with wooden logs and sharp weapons for travelling with a muslim woman. Auto driver had objection with muslim woman for being with a hindu man, he called 25 others and beaten hindu man. They also snatched his phone, Aadhaar, ATM card and ₹50000 cash” pic.twitter.com/nV1Ko9yT6n
Police have arrested the main accused, the auto driver, for assaulting the Hindu man in the case and booked 25 other people involved in the attack. Most of the accused were also auto drivers.
The woman in her complaint to the Malamaruti police said, “We hired an autorickshaw to reach a park to discuss the loan. The auto driver objected to her being with a man from a different faith. He drove us to a secluded place at Amannagar. On the way, four others boarded the auto. A while later 10 to 15 people arrived on bikes. They assaulted my friend with wooden logs and sharp weapons. They also snatched his mobile phone, Rs 50,000 cash, Aadhaar and ATM cards,”
