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As Congress plunges deeper into crisis, the old guard wakes up from the dead to give gyaan yet again

Nirwa Mehta
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As Congress plunges deeper into crisis, the old guard wakes up from the dead to give gyaan yet again

The Indian National Congress is evolving into a case study on how an enterprise built over the years can be ruined if the reins are given in incompetent hands. Not that anyone’s complaining. But now even ‘zero loss‘ Kapil Sibal has spoken up and again called for reforms within party which means it is no longer ‘zero loss’ for Congress.

Past ten days we saw how the Gandhi siblings, in their attempt to get Punjab Congress leaders, ex-CM Captain Amarinder Singh and state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, resolve their differences, ended up pushing the election-bound border state into a major crisis.

As a wise man once said, aap chronology samajhiye:

18th September, 2021: Captain Amarinder Singh resigns as Punjab CM. He says he has never felt more humiliated.

Speculations are rife on who would be the new CM. Capt Singh categorically says Sidhu cannot be the CM of a border state, especially because of his close friendship with none other than Pakistan Army chief General Bajwa.

20th September, 2021: Charanjit Singh Channi is made Punjab CM. Suddenly it was all about Congress’ masterstroke on getting a ‘Dalit’ Chief Minister. Do note, usually ‘liberals’ would rise above and beyond the caste politics, but not when it is Congress.

Same day, the Gandhis go to Shimla for a vacation.

As the saying goes, ‘aag lage basti mein, main apni masti mein‘.

Sidhu takes chartered flights, goes to Gurudwaras and does all the thang with the new Punjab CM in tow. Everything seems like one big happy family.

28th September, 2021: 10 days after Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as Punjab CM, Sidhu resigns as party chief. This when Capt Singh was on his way to Delhi amid speculations he might meet BJP leaders. Along with Sidhu, many Punjab Congress leaders also ‘resign’ in solidarity with him.

Same day, the Gandhis conclude their Shimla vacation and return to Delhi.

In ten days, Punjab went from a stable government to ‘we have no clue what is happening’ government.

As this report is being published, Capt Amarinder Singh has just reached Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence to meet him.

Punjab not the only mess, unfortunately for Congress

Recently, a very seasoned Congress leader Sushmita Dev quit the party and joined Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. Former Goa Chief Minister and another senior Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro too joined the TMC today. Even Rahul Gandhi fan Saket Gokhale ended up joining the TMC formally instead of Congress. No one really wants to be associated with a sinking ship. Except some whom perhaps even TMC won’t take.

Gujarat’s MLA Jignesh Mewani joined Congress, but only ‘in principle’ because if he officially joins the political party he ceases to be an ‘Independent MLA’ and well, he still has one more year left in his 5 year term. Another person to join the Congress yesterday was Kanhaiya Kumar from the CPI(M). Soon Congress will end up being more left than even the left parties and only person with any semblance of sanity might be the Congress mouthpiece journalist and Rahul Gandhi fan Sanjukta Basu. Because even when Congress’ future appears darker than my sense of humour sometimes, Basu is still of the belief the Punjab crisis might be part of a bigger plan.

Maybe it’s all planned.

Ship of Theseus

This makes one wonder, if all the Congress leaders leave the party and form other parties, like how Sharad Pawar made Nationalist Congress Party and Mamata Banerjee made Trinamool Congress, does the original Congress still remain ‘Congress’? And does that mean other parties which are created out of former Congress leaders, do they end up being Congress themselves? And then if for some reason, all these former Congress leaders merge with Congress, will it still remain Congress or turn into NCP/TMC?

What next for Congress?

One never knows. But the G-23, the old guard of Congress has again appealed for change in leadership. Their soft-nudge to get The Gandhis to think beyond self and find a more competent party president. But the young’uns are still rooting for Rahul Gandhi and every few weeks pass resolutions to get him to become party president immediately. Of course he is best thing ever to hit the party since Indira Gandhi’s faction Congress (I), created in 1978, was declared rightful heir to the original party that was created in 1885.

But as things stand now, all we can do is grab our popcorns and see how Congress fast-tracks its way into oblivion.

Captain Amarinder Singh meets home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, fuels speculations of joining the BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Captain Amarinder Singh meets home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, fuels speculations of joining the BJP

Amid the political crisis in Punjab Congress even after the appointment of a new CM, former chief minister and Congress leader Captain Amarinder reached the residence of union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi today. This meeting has led to the rise in speculations that Amarinder Singh is going to join the BJP ahead of assembly polls next year.

Reportedly, Amarinder Singh has said that he has kept all his options, which means he has not ruled out joining BJP. After he was sidelined by the party, it is being speculated that he may join either BJP or AAP, or he may form a new party. But as assembly elections in Punjab are just months away, the possibility of forming a new party is remote.

If Amarinder Singh decides to join the BJP, it will have an impact on the ongoing protests against the farm laws. It is known that he was one of the main architects of the anti-Modi protests in disguise as farmer protests, and if he joins the BJP, this matter will be one of the agendas of discussions with the BJP top leadership.

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.

Earlier, the party had snubbed him by appointing Navjot Singh Sidhu as the president of Punjab Congress in July despite opposition from Amarinder Singh. However, unhappy with the selection of ministers in the new Charanjit Singh Channi government, Sidhu had resigned from the post of Pradesh Congress chief yesterday, which the party high command has not accepted yet.

Captured Pakistani terrorist sips Indian tea, says he was paid by ISI and trained by LeT to infiltrate into India

OpIndia Staff
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Captured Pakistani terrorist sips Indian tea, says he was paid by ISI and trained by LeT to infiltrate into India

On September 26, the Indian Army arrested a LeT terrorist identified as Ali Babar Patra. He was part of the group of six terrorists who attempted to infiltrate on the intervening night of September 18 and September 19 in the Uri Sector along the LoC. In its statement, Army said that the LeT had attempted to push six terrorists from the Jabri post near the LoC inside India.

As per the statement, four of the terrorists ran back, and two terrorists managed to enter the Indian side. Multiple search operations were launched in the suspected areas to find the terrorists. Gateway routes were blocked. On September 25, a patrol team established contact with the terrorists approx 800 meters inside the LoC.

On September 26 afternoon, 33-year-old Pakistani terrorist Atiq ur Rehman alias Qari Anas, from Punjab (Pakistan), was killed. The second terrorist, identified as Ali Babar Patra from Okara, Punjab (Pakistan), appealed to surrender. He was captured alive.

India TV reported that terrorist Babar exposed Pakistan in front of the camera. In his confession, he said that he was sent to India for a Uri-like attack. He further said that he was trained by the Pakistani Army. He was one of the nine terrorists who got training for three months in Pakistan.

Ali Babar added that Pakistani agency ISI gave him PKR 20,000 to join Lashkar-e-Taiba. He had met ISI and Laskar terrorists while working in a factory. He further added that Lashkar prepares the poor and orphans for Jihad. He was told during the training that everyone in Kashmir was oppressed, but he found everyone happy here.

He said, “I request the Pakistan Army and ISI to call me back. Indian Army treated me well. No offence was committed against me.” He also praised the tea that Army had provided him.

Statement by Indian Army

Major General Virendra Vats said that the Army had arrested a 19-year-old Lashkar terrorist Ali Babar Patra. Ali Babar was trained by Lashkar for 3 months to become a terrorist. The purpose of infiltration was to initiate an attack like Uri. Major Vats further added that the terrorist pleaded to surrender.

The Army official added, “The operation against the terrorists went on for nine days. It started when they tried to infiltrate on September 18. There were six terrorists, out of which four ran back, but two managed to enter. One terrorist was killed on September 26, but the second started pleading for surrender.”

He further added that the captured terrorist told that he was here to supply some items in Patan, but it was not true. The main aim was to initiate a terror attack just like the Uri attack of 2016. The Army officer stated that infiltration inside LoC is not possible without the help of the Pakistani Army. There has been a lot of activity on the Terror Launch Pads recently. In the last week, four terrorists have been killed while one has been captured, the statement by the Army added.

RTI query filed to get details of ‘namaz spots’ at public places decided by ‘Hindu Muslim mutual understanding’ as claimed by Gurugram Police

OpIndia Staff
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RTI query filed to get details of ‘namaz spots’ at public places decided by ‘Hindu Muslim mutual understanding’ as claimed by Gurugram Police

An RTI query has been filer after Gurugram Police in a Twitter reply had claimed that Muslims were allowed to offer Namaz at public places on a mutual discussion between Hindus and Muslims. The police had dismissed the allegations of encroachment by calling the land a ‘mutually agreeable Namaz spot’ after residents in Gurugram raised their objection to Namaz being offered in public places causing inconvenience to locals.

Speaking with OpIndia, Akshit singh, Founding member of Hindu IT cell said that as per the rulings of Madras High Court in 2018 had banned the prayers in public places. Following this, Advocate Abhishek Sharma of Gurugram district Court and also a member of the Hindu IT Cell has now filed an RTI seeking details of these namaz spots and the representatives of communities who were part of the ‘mutual agreements’. In his letter to the Public Information Officer, Sharma has also sought information on action taken against the encroachers.

RTI filed by Advocate Abhishek Sharma

Advocate Abhishek Sharma has sought the list of the alleged ‘namaz spots’ as claimed by Gurugram Police and details of representatives from both Hindu and Muslim communities who permitted the use of the land in question for namaz. He has also sought information on when these ‘namaz spots’ at public places were decided.

RTI filed by Advocate Abhishek Sharma

BJP leader writes to Gurugram administration

In the meanwhile, BJP leader Raman Malik has also written to the DC of Gurugram seeking the details sought in the RTI query. In a letter written to Gurugram DC Dr. Yash Garg, he has requested details like organisations and people representing Hindus who had attended the meetings, name and addresses of people who had consented to namaz on public places in their area, details of approved namaz and departments which had given the authority to designate public places as namaz spots.

Raman Malik also asked the administration whether public land can be given for perpetual religious activities. He wanted to know under which law this has been allowed, and which department gave the consent and when. He also requested to furnish details of the total area allowed as namaz spots, dimensions and a list of such namaz spots.

He further asked, if Namaz is to performed at public places, what is the need of Mosque, Madrasa and Waqf-Board lands. He also informed that as per the Islamic holy book, offering Namaz on the road and parking spaces is not allowed.

At last, the BJP leader asked if Namaz spots can be allowed on Fridays, whether Hindus, Buddhists and Jains can use public places to offer prayers on various days of the week.

The controversy

In a video that went viral on social media recently, the residents of Gurugram had raised objections to Namaz being offered in public places causing inconvenience to locals. 

A man protesting against the encroachment was heard saying, “We pray Hanuman Chalisa at the temples but these people gather around here like this, misbehaving with our daughters and sisters, we are scared of them.”

“Ever since this namaz on the roads has started, incidents of chain snatching, eve-teasing have increased. This illegal namaz on roads should be stopped,” a local resident said. “We will not let illegal masjid or mazar come up here,” informed another resident.

What flared the controversy was the arrest of a man who raised his voice against the encroachment for namaz.  

To justify their action, Gurugram Police in a reply to a Twitter user who had shared the video had said, “The Namaz spots at public places have been decided by both Hindu and Muslim communities after mutual understanding and this place is one among them. Maintaining communal harmony and peace is our utmost responsibility and we will ensure that.”

Several users took objection to Gurugram Police’s reply. Netizens questioned as to who were the representatives who decided to allot a public place to Muslims for their namaz, and who chose them to represent all Hindus and Muslims. 

However, the reply by Gurugram Police’s Twitter handle has been pulled down now. 

Deleted Tweet by Gurugram Police

The only reply visible says, “The above incident is already in cognisance of Gurugram police and suitable preventative action has already been taken by us. We request the people to pay no heed to any ill intentioned rumour.”

This is not the first instance of Namaz being offered at a public spot despite the presence of a mosque in the vicinity. In May 2018, too, namaz was read in public space at as many as 76 locations in Gurugram under heavy police arrangement amid protests by people against the same.

‘We have come to civilize you,’ said the colonisers who were roasting men and women alive on stakes over accusations of witchcraft

Akshita Bhadauria
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‘We have come to civilize you,’ said the colonisers who were roasting men and women alive on stakes over accusations of witchcraft

“The Indian agriculturalist is poor, woefully poor..Indian village life, as I see it, is labouring under two major handicaps: poverty and ignorance…”

“India, as every informed man is aware, is preponderantly a land of villages, and the major portion of Indian mission work is in the village. It follows, then, that if our missionary work is to be effective, it must make a definite contribution to village life,” read an excerpt from The Journal of Religion published in the late 1890s and written by Clifford Manshardt (1897-1989) an American sociologist and author. 

India was looked down upon as the land of poverty, snake charmers and cows. The millennials can understand this from the famous Bollywood dialogue below. 

Dialogue from Bollywood movie ‘Lagaan’

For an average Indian, the Brits got English education, railways and iconic buildings and “Christianity” to India. The suave, silent and suited looters are often credited with ‘civilizing’ the otherwise ‘uncivilized’ society. At least that’s what the popular narrative, often written in the West’s version, says. Here’s an example of a troll belittling Hindus.

Image Source: Mission Kaali Twitter

What we are not taught, however, is the history of these very sophisticated looters who stepped on the land wearing different facades to imperialize and annihilate it from its roots. 

In this article, we deal with only the ones who came here to ‘spread the word of God.’

‘An incomplete mission’ 

Author Pankaj Saxena in his presentation on ‘Christianity and the Dark Ages’ on The Uncrossing revealed, “The Christians believe that Jesus will come again, but not until everyone is either dead or a Christian.” 

I am sure many readers will scoff at this, dismissing it as some ancient local folklore. 

“Half a million Indian communities still lack any witnessing body of believers, meaning four out of five Indians will go their entire lives without knowing a single Christian. Why India? Because God loves this nation. And He has called us to bring His light to India,” reads the landing page of an evangelical organization Mission India’s website. 

Mission India Website

Pretty sure the website cannot be considered a part of any traditional folklore. 

Saxena further revealed that the conversions will not stop until everyone is a Christian. 

“Our Lord commands us to, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ “All peoples”—tribes, castes, and ethnic groups,” reads a paragraph of another missionary organization named India Gospel Outreach. 

But how did the ‘word of God’ spread before websites? 

The author in his presentation further spoke about Emperor Constantine. Without diving much into the details, let us just say that Constantine to retain his power made Christianity the main religion of Rome, and created Constantinople, which became the most powerful city in the world.

With the rise of Christianity, began the decline of civilization. No, this is no typing mistake but a leaf from the past.

Soon, practicing Pagan religion in public or private was banned. Greek and Roman temples were turned to dust. Libraries and any other place that dispensed knowledge were destroyed. 

Roman Temples & Libraries in ruins. Image Source: Ancient History Lists

As a side note, here is what a pastor has to say about Hindus and Hindu temples. “If I was a dictator, I would do what the Portuguese did, that is, convert everyone to Christianity. People say Hinduism is a peaceful religion but it is not. I would destroy all their temples and idols..”

Bathing was considered a sin and women were looked at as beings working on the orders of satan. Even the practice of medicine was banned and suffering was said to be a ‘gift from God.’ 

This is how France, Italy, Greece, Spain, England, Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania and others were Christianized. 

A lost battle?

As per Saxena, the rise of Islam left Christians scratching their head as ‘how could God’s own army lose?’ What followed was not a pretty sight. 

The Christians then believed that their fellow Christians, especially the new converts are not ‘Christian’ enough. Thus began the gory period of inquisitions and genocides. 

Heretics, Jews and learned women were persecuted for the crimes they did not commit. Thomas Aquinas, an Italian philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church justified the persecution by saying, “If ordinary criminals are justly doomed to death, much more may heretics be justly slain.”

The bad actions were justified with the support of verses from the Bible. For example, 

“Blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death,” reads Leviticus 24:16.

With this, inquisitors began to gather townspeople for interrogation. People were asked to confess their crimes and denounce others. Informing the inquisitors of crimes committed by others in the town was the only hope to reduce torture. 

In a bid to escape torture and punishment, the townsmen came up with fictitious and bizarre imaginary crimes. They charged Jews with abducting Christian children, ritually sacrificing them and drinking their blood. 

They were banished, made to wear a yellow badge (reminded of Hitler?) and tortured till death. Some of the torture methods and devices include slow roasting on a stake in full public view, burning feet and using tools such as skin crusher, head crusher, iron mask with a funnel to pour hot oil from the mouth, breaking wheel and quartering machine. 

Torture Tools. Image Source: Reddit

‘Women are the work of devil’

After visiting the history of the Christian world especially from the middle ages, it becomes very difficult to take sermons from the West on feminism or women’s equality. 

Here’s what some Church scholars said about women. St. Clement of Alexandria said, “Every woman should be filled with shame by the thought that she is a woman,” while St Peter called them the “weaker vessel.” 

The scholars simply furthered what the Bible preached. For example, 1 Corinthians 7:1 of the New Testament says, “It is good for a man not to have relations with a woman.”

Timothy 2:12 says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”

This is how the inquisitors, in a bid to persecute women produced a women’s pact with a devil, thereby, declaring her a ‘witch-doctor’ or ‘servant of the devil.’ 

Depiction of ‘witch-trials.’ Image Source: Edinburgh Live

There were special torture tools invented for women such as breast rippers, impalement, hanging, pushing off a bridge and more. The targets of these ‘witch hunts’ were women who practised rural medicine, used herbs and local remedies to ease birthing pain and other ailments, midwives and any woman who did not ‘fall in line’ as per the Church’s command.

Experts say that between the 15th and 18th century, around 60,000 persons were systematically executed in Europe for being witches. The favourite targets of the Church were single women, widows and marginalised members of the society.

Why should one care about it now? 

“Over 45 years ago, a preacher named Prasada Rao had the vision to share the love of God with the people of Andhra Pradesh, India. Now there are more than 10,000 believers in more than 400 villages within 200 miles of Repalle, where the story began in the heart of one man,” reads the website page of another missionary organization. 

Landing page of missionary organization IREF

Makes one wonder about this love! A former practising Christian Maria Wirth in a Facebook post narrating an anecdote wrote, “….I also told the students that I lost faith in Christianity already as a teenager because I could no longer believe that God is so cruel and will send the majority of human beings into eternal hellfire only because they don’t accept Jesus as their saviour.”

Time and again members of the non-Abrahamic sects asserted that the issue is not conversion but what happens after conversion or the objective of conversions. In our previous report, we mentioned how a hamlet was never at peace after the villagers were made to convert on the pretext of healing or education. 

Here’s a case where a woman was held captive for two months and forced to eat beef by Christian missionaries in Bhipura village in Supaul district, Bihar. 

Now the question is, why would the “civilized” consider a woman to be beneath a man, destroy the beliefs of others or roast someone to death? 

Watch ‘The Uncrossing’ for more discussions around Christian Fundamentalism.

Declare India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and terminate nationality of Muslims & Christians, else I will take Jal Samadhi: Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya Maharaj

OpIndia Staff
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Declare India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and terminate nationality of Muslims & Christians, else I will take Jal Samadhi: Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya Maharaj

On September 29, seer Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya Maharaj of Tapasvi Chavani in Ayodhya demanded that India should be declared a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ by October 2. He added if the central government did not fulfil his demand, he would take ‘Jal Samadhi’ in the Sarayu river at 12 PM on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. He also urged the Centre to terminate the nationality of Muslims and Christians. He said, “I demand that India should be declared a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ by October 2 or else I’ll take Jal Samadhi in river Sarayu.”

In the statement, he said, “If India is not declared a Hindu Rashtra, constitution, courts, humanity and Indian culture will end in the same way it has ended in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh etc.” He further added that India is the only nation left for Hindus, and if India is not declared a Hindu Rashtra, Hindus will cease to exist. “With Hindus, Sanatan Dharma will cease to exist too,” he added.

He said the central government should amend the constitution under Section 368 and take away the right to vote from Muslims and Christians. The government should declare India a Hindu Rashtra. “BJP has the power to use Section 368 to amend the constitution and make India a Hindu Rashtra. Otherwise, Hindus will be killed just like they are being killed in West Bengal,” he said.

“If India is not declared a Hindu Rashtra, those who are keeping four wives and birthing 40 children will repeat what had happened in Kashmir. Where would Hindus go? I have completed Kafan Poojan. If the government does not declare India a Hindu Rashtra, I will do Jal Samadhi in this Kafan,” Paramhans Acharya said. He said Hindu organizations are holding Hindu Sanatan Dharm Sansad on October 1 in Ayodhya. “The government has to declare India a Hindu Rashtra. It may happen while I am alive, or it will happen after my death, but it is going to happen,” he added.

Earlier, Paramhans Acharya had gone on a 15-day long fast-unto-death over the same issue. He broke the fast only after Home Minister Amit Shah met him. The saint community of Ayodhya has announced that they would hold a ‘Hindu Sanatan Dharma Sansad’ to support Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya Maharaj’s demand.

Congress spokespersons routinely indulge in abusive behaviour on live TV debates but when an anchor slips up all hell breaks loose

Jinit Jain
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Congress spokespersons routinely indulge in abusive behaviour on live TV debates but when an anchor slips up all hell breaks loose

Times Now journalist Navika Kumar found herself at the centre of a raging storm after Congress leaders and functionaries launched a coordinated attack on her over an on-air slip up while commenting on Rahul Gandhi over the Punjab imbroglio.

While discussing the Punjab political crisis that got deepened by the resignation of PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu yesterday, Kumar insinuated that the root cause of the problem could be the apathy of its leader Rahul Gandhi. “….want my vacation and I will go for vacation. And the day he returns, bl**dy…I’m sorry, sorry, on the day he returns Punjab is in the headlines…” she said while referring to Gandhi’s decision of going for a vacation even though Punjab was roiling with a political and leadership crisis.

Soon after her slip-up, for which she earnestly apologised instantly, Congress leaders and supporters went up in arms against the journalist. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel issued a not-so-veiled threat against media persons for using an ‘abusive’ term to describe senior Congress leader and former party president.

Inveterate fake news peddler and Congress leader Gaurav Pandhi took to Twitter to name-call Navika Kumar and threatened her and Times Now with dire consequences in a “Gandhian way” if they don’t publicly apologise. Pandhi did not elaborate on what the “Gandhian Way” means and one is left to wonder if it is the same that led to the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984.

Other Congress functionaries also jumped in the fray to express their criticism of the journalist and to demonstrate their deference to the Gandhi family. Hasiba Amin, National Convenor of Congress Social Media, called Navika a fake journalist and raised questions on her integrity. She asserted that Navika is a BJP-RSS puppet and upset at the BJP rapidly losing support.

The Congress ecosystem was instantly activated and many of their online supporters took to social media platforms to condemn Navika Kumar for her slip-up, for which she had already and profusely apologised, firstly on the show she was anchoring and then on her social media page.

But Congress supporters and leaders went on criticising her, perhaps to deflect the criticism and embarrassment Gandhis attracted after Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from the post of Pradesh Congress Committee chief on Tuesday. The Gandhi siblings were reportedly responsible for managing the party affairs in Punjab and so a discussion on Sidhu’s resignation would have inevitably lead to questions on Gandhi’s political acumen and leadership qualities.

Therefore, the Congress supporters and loyalists took refuge in clucking over Navika Kumar’s slip up and paint Rahul Gandhi as a victim of abuse so that apprehensions and doubts on his leadership skills could be sidelined temporarily. However, while they dished out threats and pontificated on how news anchors should behave in TV debates, it is worth noting that Congress spokespersons have shown often resorted to abusive, ugly, and boorish behaviour during TV debates, presumably in their attempt to sidestep protruding questions.

The incorrigible bullies of the Congress party: Instances when Congress spokespersons have unabashedly resorted to abusive and boorish behaviour on Live TV

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate had once called BJP MP Sambit Patra “Naali ka Keeda” in a live TV debate on Aaj Tak. However, this was not the first incident that Shrinate had resorted to such obnoxious behaviour on live television.

If her previous debates are anything to go by, she is a repeat offender and had displayed little tolerance to hearing out opposing views. When spokespersons of other parties try to contradict her statements and call out Congress’ treachery, she heckles them with insulting remarks such as “non-sensical” and “shut up”.

Besides Shrinate, there are several other Congress spokespersons, who use unparliamentary language to counter their opponents in a TV debate. Ragini Nayak is one of them, who is particularly shrill in her attack against the opposition spokespersons.

In a TV debate on Aaj Tak, Nayak called BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia “sadakchaap”, “totle aadmi”, “thali ke baigan”, “badtameez aadmi” and other insults because he dared to counter the Congress spokesperson. It must be noted that Nayak had once served as the DUSU president.

Nayak is used to losing her cool while debating on television. In 2018, Nayak had called Gaurav Bhatia “Tera Baap Chor hai(Your father is a thief)” on his face during a news show on India TV.

Another Congress leader who is known for being uncivilised in her discourse on TV debates is Alka Lamba. Alka, who was earlier a member of AAP party, had insulted BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia by making unwarranted remarks on his parents. “badtameez inka baap hoga, badtameez inki maa hongi(His father must be ill-mannered, his mother must be ill-mannered),” said Alka on an India TV debate earlier this year.

When she finds no logical rebuttal to her opponents, Alka tries to mock her opponents by poking fun at their names, possibly in a bid to rile them up. During a debate on News 18, Lamba mocked BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan by calling him: “Guru Prakash me nahin, Guru Andhkar me hain(Guru is not enlightened, he is in the dark).”

Some of the Congress spokespeople were so exasperated by the questions asked of them during debates that they did not hesitate from reviling the anchor of the show. Late Rajiv Tyagi of the Congress party had in 2018 called journalist Ameesh Devgan a “bhadwa” and a “dalaal” during a TV debate.

Hypocrisy of Congress in celebrating abusive spokespersons while threatening a journalist for her inadvertent goof-up

Instead of punishing their spokespersons for using patently inappropriate and abusive language against news anchors and opposition spokespersons, Congress leadership seems to encourage such behaviour, egging on their spokespersons to continue using such acerbic and derogatory remarks against their political opponents.

Congress supporters are often seen sharing their clips on social media and encouraging abusive Congress representatives for their disparaging and insulting comments.

When a Congress spokesperson indulges in abusive behaviour, it is completely acceptable, in fact, it is even worth emulating for others. But when a news anchor responds in the same language, all hell breaks loose? Either both of them are wrong or neither of them is. This selective application of morals for just news anchors while ill-mannered Congress spokespersons to continue with their disparaging conduct with impunity exposes the duplicity of the Congress party.

It is the same party where senior leaders refer to the sitting Prime Minister of the country as ‘chor’ ‘neech’ and with multiple such derogatory remarks. Congress leader Raj Babbar had once used derogatory remarks against PM Modi’s old mother.

Navika Kumar had already issued a prompt apology, both on her show and later personally on her social media page. To avoid discussions around the political debacle in Punjab, for which the Gandhi siblings are reportedly responsible, Congress leaders and functionaries appear determined to continue peddling propaganda so that Rahul Gandhi can be branded as a victim and questions about his political capabilities can be avoided.

ED summons Shiv Sena MP Bhavana Gawali for questioning in money laundering case after arresting close aide Saeed Khan

OpIndia Staff
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ED summons Shiv Sena MP Bhavana Gawali for questioning in money laundering case after arresting close aide Saeed Khan

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Shiv Sena MP from Yavatmal-Washim, Bhavana Gawali, for her questioning in the Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan money laundering case. The ED has directed her to appear at the South Mumbai office of the agency on October 4.

The summon was issued hours after the ED arrested her close aide Saeed Khan during the probe. Subsequently, ED secured his police remand till October 1 to question his alleged involvement in the scam.

Saeed Khan is accused of converting the trust Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan into a company in 2019. Bhavana Gawali and her mother Shalinitai Gawali were members of this trust.

Saeed Khan became the director of this company along with Shalinitai Gawali. ED has accused that financial irregularities were committed on the name of Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan and booked Saeed Khan for money laundering and embezzlement worth Rs 17 crore.

Enforcement Directorate suspects the trust was converted into a company to launder unaccounted money. It also suspects that forgery was committed to change the trust into a company. The Shiv Sena MP and her associate have been facing allegations of misuse and appropriation of loans worth Rs 43.35 crores awarded by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

According to media reports, Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan as well as other concerns of the MP like Balaji Sahkari Particle Board Karkhana Limited and Bhavana Agro Products & Services Ltd are under scanner for alleged money laundering and duping banks on the name of loans. 

Notably, the first official complaint against the MP and her family was made by a former Shiv Sena leader Harish Chandra Sarda. He had filed a petition before the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court for an inquiry by the CBI and ED into misappropriation of funds at Balaji Sahkari Particle Board Karkhana Limited. Harish Sharda had claimed that Pundlikrao Gawali, father of Bhavana Gawali was made patron of this cooperative factory Balaji Sahkari Particle Board Karkhana Limited when it was opened in 1998.

Sarda alleged that Pundlikrao Gawali transferred 14.90 hectares of factory land to Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan 2001 in a fraudulent manner.  He also made other serious charges of financial embezzlement against the Gawli family.

No longer ‘hope of India’? Kanhaiya Kumar’s communist fans to change Facebook fan page name after he joins Congress

OpIndia Staff
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No longer ‘hope of India’? Kanhaiya Kumar’s communist fans to change Facebook fan page name after he joins Congress

After walking away with an air conditioner from the CPI office to join Congress, Kanhaiya Kumar seems to be losing his fanbase among communist supporters. Recently, communists fans have announced changing the name of his Facebook fan page.

The profile picture of the Facebook page has also been changed to that of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

Image Source: Facebook

In a Facebook post, the fan page named “Dr Kanhaiya Kumar, The Hope of India” said, “This page didn’t belongs to Mr Kanhaiya Kumar any more. We will keep the page for revolutionary youth of India. The page name will be changed soon.” We request readers not to judge them for the grammatical errors in the statement.

Image Source: Facebook

The move was supported by some fans, one of whom said, “We have shown over affection and love to Dr Kanhaiya Kumar. He developed lot of head weight. Remove his name from this page immediately.”

Image Source: Facebook

While another user calling Kumar an opportunist and the Gandhis a 3G trap posted, “Thank you Admin. As (a) mark of protest please rename the page as Dr Kanhaiya Kumar, The Hopeless of India. I know that grammatically doesn’t sound correct but now he has fallen into the 3G trap Priyanka G, Rahul G and Smt. Sonia G. Ultimately the young revolutionary leader turned out to be an opportunist!”

Image Source: Facebook

In a post before that, the dejected fan page tried reminding Kumar of his commitment. They posted an old video of Kanhaiya Kumar where he can be heard saying that “one Congress party is enough to ruin India.”

Image Source: Facebook

The page currently has more than 4 lakh followers. However, upset with the page for abandoning the communist leader some supporters declared unfollowing the page. The true blue Kanhaiya Kumar fans loyally informed that they will continue to support the leader irrespective of which party he works for. 

“U made this so awkward and embarrassing… If kanhaiya goes to any party it doesn’t mean he has quit his ideology and belief, just wait and see what he is serving with his leadership after that we can judge him…” commented a user. 

Image Source: Facebook

The fan page created in the year 2016 is being run by 7 administrators, out of which three belong to Saudi Arabia while the others belong to Oman, the United Arab Emirates and India. 

Image Source: Facebook

‘Supporting communism led to divorces’

Thanking the communist party for opportunities and narrating alleged struggles, Kumar while addressing the media after joining the Congress Party said that his ‘movement’ caused divorces and fights at dinner tables.

“..I want to thank the crores of people who fought with their friends in school WhatsApp groups when unfounded allegations were made against us. In support of our movement, they fought at dinner tables and fell out with friends. It even led to divorces. Only Congress party can provide the leadership in this ideological struggle that is going on in the country,” he said. 

Rahul Gandhi celebrates the joining of Kanhaiya Kumar

The Congress party on Tuesday shared a video on Twitter where senior leader Rahul Gandhi was seen celebrating with former JNU ‘student leader’ Kanhaiya Kumar and independent MLA Jignesh Mevani at Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh Park, ITO, Delhi.

They shared another still from the venue with the caption, “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai (The desire for revolution is in our hearts).’

Aarey “forest”: How the rich woke few snatched the future of millions of Mumbaikars

Abhishek Banerjee
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Aarey “forest”: How the rich woke few snatched the future of millions of Mumbaikars

This is a cartoon from about two years ago.

Satish Acharya’s cartoon on Aarey forest

It should have been a simple matter really. Citizens in India’s financial capital of Mumbai deserve a metro system that is fast, efficient and easily accessible. All major metropolitan cities around the world have such networks in place already.

Of course, such major public infrastructure works will come at the expense of cutting down bits of forest here and there, which is sad. That’s why we make up by planting even more trees elsewhere. As it is, public transportation emits far less CO2 per person than private vehicles. So in the long run, whenever we build a good public transportation system, we always come out ahead.

But in India since 2014, things are not so simple. Because the vicious, hateful anti-Modi lobby will stand in the way of everything. Even the most obvious, practical decisions. They see sinister designs behind routine government work. They twist things in absurd ways. Everything is “fascism.”

So how do you oppose something as practical as building public transport? You humanize individual trees. You go and hug them and you cry that your tree friend is being cut down. Great for a child’s bedtime story, but makes no sense in real life. And as you can see in the cartoon above, you then imagine all sorts of horrible things about to happen to real people in Modi’s India and relate this to your sick imagination. Everything is fascism. Everything is genocide.

And so they did. A frenzied campaign by certain channels, social media influencers, activists and NGOs got hundreds of woke zombies to pour out on the streets to save “Aarey forest.” Most social media influencers had probably never heard of so called “Aarey forest” until the day before. But now, they wanted to save it like their lives depended on it. Because it was getting likes and retweets. The activist class pitched in with street plays and ‘revolutionary’ poetry. If BJP is doing it, it must be wrong. In fact, it has to be genocide. Don’t you want to speak up against genocide?

The madness has subsided now. The influencers have collected their likes and retweets and moved on. The woke people have finished their college courses in “social work” and probably joined some Soros funded NGO by now. They don’t care any more. Guess who is stuck with the bill?

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Metro progress derailed

The liberal MVA government has decided to move the metro car shed from the area. It has been two years since this decision, but they have not finalized an alternative location. And no car shed means no metro. Seems common Mumbaikars will get their underground metro in another 4 years, if they are lucky!

The list of losers is long here. At the top of it are the Mumbaikars. They will have to suffer countless hours in traffic jams for at least another 4 years. Lakhs of people travel long distances within the city each day earn a living. They must now spend half their day sweating in overcrowded streets, and less time with their families. Somebody has to pay the cost of wokeness.

Then, of course, there is the direct cost. The project will now see a cost escalation of thousands of crores, for which the good people of Maharashtra will be on the hook. So when you are stuck in a traffic jam in the city, be grateful to Instagram influencers for a higher tax bill, or because the government now has less money to spend on education and health. Take a deep breath of polluted air and be grateful.

This reminds me. The biggest cost will be to the environment itself. Those two wheelers and four wheelers emit lots and lots of carbon dioxide, along with other toxic fumes. Even if people tried their best, they could not possibly maintain them at the highest emission standards. It costs money, and time. Your time is consumed by traffic jams. Your money goes in taxes. Everyone loses.

Except the woke people, who are likely richer than you are. They care about opposing Modi, even at the cost of the planet and your personal health. Do you?

In many ways, the protest over “Aarey forest” was a microcosm. It was a precursor to more widespread, even more ridiculous movements against anything and everything done by BJP governments. The anti-CAA protests/riots, for instance. And the still ongoing “farmer” protests. Everywhere the pattern is the same. Just label everything as “genocide” and protest against it. Facts barely matter.

And once they declare that they are opposing “genocide,” they have given themselves the license to say and do almost anything. They can go and take over the Red Fort in Delhi. They can block any road or railway that they want. Most ironically, they can raise genocidal slogans themselves. That is how slogans like “Hindutva ki kabar khudegi” and “sab but uthwaye jayenge” came to be seen as peaceful, even progressive.

The protest against building Mumbai Metro was the ultimate exercise in liberal privilege. What if woke folks cannot win an election? They can overrule the will of the people by rhetoric. All means are justified because they have labeled the democratically elected legitimate government as “Nazis.” So if they want to raise slogans of ” …. ki kabar khudegi,” that’s actually super liberal.

Here is the good news. We the common people have the power to withdraw liberal privilege. Stop letting the liberal class walk all over us. Just because they have friends at the New York Times does not mean they are better than us. Just because they speak the language of human rights does not mean they are better human beings than we are. In fact, go check the history of the New York Times. When it actually mattered, the New York Times was a mouthpiece for dictators, whether Stalin looking to cover up the genocide in Ukraine, or Hitler looking to hide his treatment of Jews.

So stop looking up to liberals. No, they don’t represent “students” or “farmers” or “workers” or “women” or “minorities.” We already have representatives, and those were elected by the people. The wokes don’t work. They contribute nothing to society. They only take.

We saw the perfect example of this yesterday. Now, Kanhaiya Kumar is free to join any party he likes. In fact, he enjoys this freedom precisely because India is not a Communist state. But how ironic that after all those years “studying” on taxpayer subsidies, his real conclusion was Rahul Gandhi zindabad. He spent all this time lecturing us on free speech and free thought. And ultimately his conclusion was that … Raja ka beta hi raja banta hai…

That’s wokeness. That’s liberalism. That is the conclusion that lies at the core of those who say they are challenging power structures, from patriarchy to casteism. All the revolutionary sloganeering is just window dressing. The wokes are agents of feudalism. Cancel them.

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