BKU Bhanu president Bhanu Pratap Singh on Monday slammed ‘farmer leader’ Rakesh Tikait’s decision to call for a Bharat Bandh and equated it to Talibani activities. Singh said Bharat Bandh does not benefit anyone and instead affects the economy and farmers, adding that by continuing such activities, Rakesh Tikait and his supporters are following in the footsteps of the Taliban.
#WATCH | “…They (Rakesh Tikait) call themselves ‘kisan neta & then announce Bharat Bandh, which affects economy & farmers. How does it even benefit anyone? They want to follow in footsteps of Taliban by continuing similar activities…”: Bhanu Pratap Singh, BKU-BHANU President pic.twitter.com/WQri1UMAH4
Singh has come down hard against the farmer organisations who have extended their support to Tikait’s call for Bharat Bandh, asserting that it would not yield any desired result and would cause more damage to the farmers.
He also urged the office bearers and functionaries of the Bharatiya Kisan Union to not heed Rakesh Tikait’s call for Bharat Bandh and asked the government to crush the organisations involved in “terror activities”.
This is not the first time that the BKU Bhanu chief has trained his guns against Rakesh Tikait and the farmers’ protests. In January this year, he withdrew his support from the protest and took a hostile position against continuing the demonstrations aimed at forcing the government to rescind the newly passed Farm Laws.
The decision was taken in the aftermath of violence unleashed during the tractor rally organised on Republic Day. The tractor rally held by ‘farmers’ on Republic Day had turned violent after scores of protesters broke barricades and ran riot through the national capital, injuring police in the wake. Hundreds of protesters had laid siege to the Red Fort and desecrated the monument by unfurled a religious flag.
Later in March, Singh said the farmers’ unions protesting at the Singhu border, Ghazipur border, Tikri border were acting at the behest of the Congress party.
Congress-backed farmers’ unions call for Bharat Bandh
On Monday (September 27), Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) called for a 10-hour long ‘Bharat bandh’ (nationwide shutdown)in a bid to pressurise the Indian government to withdraw the newly enacted farm laws. The apparent ‘shutdown’ began at 6 am in the morning and will remain in force until 4 pm.
The farmer protestors began their demonstrations in September last year but failed to make any impact in the past 300 days. They had blocked highways, created inconvenience for daily commuters, and engaged in violence and vandalism. In a bid to draw the attention of the Union government, they have decided to enforce a nationwide shutdown. “All the central and state government offices, markets, shops, factories, schools, colleges and other educational institutions will not be allowed to function,” SKM had threatened.
Former Minister of Law and Justice of India Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday called out Hindi news daily Dainik Bhaskar for publishing a report that claimed that his family is receiving benefits in the name of his mother even after her death.
Prasad said the report is baseless and devoid of truth, adding that her mother’s pension account was closed soon after she died in December 2020.
मेरी स्वर्गीय माता जी से सम्बंधित इस झूठी और भ्रामक खबर से मुझे बहुत पीड़ा हुयी है। सम्बंधित अखबार ने खबर चलाने से पहले इस विषय में मुझसे या मेरे परिवार से कोई जानकारी प्राप्त नहीं की थी।@DainikBhaskar
Responding to the story which was posted by Dainik Bhaskar’s official Twitter account, Prasad tweeted, “Dainik Bhaskar has tweeted that my mother’s pension has continued even after her death, which is completely baseless and factually incorrect. My mother died on December 25, 2020, and her pension account was terminated on December 31, 2020. It is impossible to receive a pension in a terminated account.”
The former cabinet minister also said he is deeply pained by the misleading and false news published about his late mother, adding that Dainik Bhaskar did not seek information from him or his family members before publishing a slanderous article against his mother.
‘I am deeply anguished by the false and misleading news published about my late mother. The concerned newspaper did not seek any information from me or my family before running the news,” Prasad said in another tweet.
Besides Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nitin Naveen rubbished the claims made by Dainik Bhaskar, stating that he had sent a mail and asked the concerned authorities to close his mother’s pension amount on May 13, 2021.
Dainik Bhaskar publishes article claiming Bihar secretariat is paying pensions to dead people
Earlier today, Dainik Bhaskar published a report citing large-scale discrepancies witnessed in the disbursement of pensions to former MLAs. Referring to an RTI response, Dainik Bhaskar claimed that, Vimala Devi, mother of former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, was issued a pension of Rs 30 thousand 750 every month while Meera Sinha, mother of Road Construction Minister Nitin Naveen, Government of Bihar, was given Rs 62 thousand as pension amount in the financial year 2021-22. Vimala Devi had died on 25 December 2020 and Meera Sinha breathed her last on 30 March 2021.
Report in Dainik Bhaskar
After the clarification by the former Union Minister, Bhaskar updated its report, adding the reactions by RS Prasad and Nitin Naveen, but the news daily still maintains that RTI replies reveal pensions have been issued in the name of Prasad’s mother and Naveen’s mother in the 2021-22 financial year.
Report by Bhaskar
Bhaskar has claimed that they had initiated an investigation into the beneficiaries of the pension scheme and found names of people on the list who have died years ago. Among the pensioners of the Begusarai district, Bhaskar got the name of Saraswati Devi, wife of former Teghra MLA Rameshwar Singh.
Saraswati Devi had died on January 25, 2018, but an investigation conducted by Bhaskar claimed that Bihar Secretariat is still depositing pension amounts in her account. The Bhaskar report added that the descendants of Saraswati Devi have no idea that pension is being issued in their mother’s name. The family lives in poverty in a straw dwelling in their village. The report cites several other instances where former MLAs and their spouses have expired but the government is still issuing pensions in their names. The report hints at corruption at different levels of the Bihar government.
Trinamool Congress supporters in West Bengal clashed with BJP workers during a recent rally and attacked Dilip Ghosh, National Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to reports, Dilip Ghosh was physically assaulted by TMC supporters during the attack while another BJP worker was seriously wounded.
TMC’s violent politics on the last day of the campaign! TMC goons attacked BJP workers, including BJP’s National Vice President Shri @dilipghoshbjp Why are they so afraid of the BJP? The fear of Nandigram still torments Pishi? #AbaroHarbeMamatapic.twitter.com/BBV0HoRWZr
The incident reportedly took place near Jagubabur Bazar, Bhowanipore during a campaign rally led by Dilip Ghosh. A group of TMC supporters in an auto followed Dilip Ghosh at the rally and soon engaged in a confrontation while distributing TMC leaflets, chanting anti Dilip Ghosh and anti BJP slogans.
When Dilip Ghosh entered a Covid Vaccination Centre to avoid the possible clash, the TMC supporters followed and dragged him out of the vaccination centre and physically assaulted him. Later, ‘Joy Bangla’ slogans were heard from the TMC supporters and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans given by the BJP workers as Ghosh found his way out of the attack.
After that, when Ghosh moved ahead with the rally towards the Harish Mukherjee road, TMC supporters allegedly grabbed hold of a BJP man and injured him, severely spilling blood. The man was later hospitalized.
The incident also happens just before the Bhowanipore by-poll and the Election Commission of India sought report from the West Bengal government over the Bhowanipore incident.
Dilip Ghosh posted a tweet after the incident today and expressed concerns about the safety of public representatives in West Bengal and claimed that the incident was a planned attack organized by the TMC workers.
1.2 The planned attack at Jagubabur Bazaar , Bhawanipore today was a plot to kill me by TMC goons and thugs . This highlights the heinous, horrific nature of the ruling party.
Can healthy elections be conducted after this incident ??
He said, “How safe is the life of the common man in this state when public representative are being attacked in Bhabanipur, the home turf of Madam Chief Minister ?” He added, “The planned attack at Jagubabur Bazaar, Bhawanipore today was a plot to kill me by TMC goons and thugs. This highlights the heinous, horrific nature of the ruling party. Can healthy elections be conducted after this incident ??”
Political violence has been cause for extreme concern in the state with BJP workers being murdered and raped following TMC’s victory in the assembly elections. Multiple cases have been registered by the CBI over the matter and several arrests have been made as well. Despite that, the spate of violence has not stopped.
In Manchester, England, a footballer named Jonathan Diba-Musangu (23) who played for Rochdale AFC as a goalkeeper has been jailed for 24 years for raping and sexually abusing six children. As per Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Diba-Musangu met most of his victims through a Church in Rochdale where he taught Sunday school and music classes.
He has been jailed at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court for 12 offences including raping a child aged seven in the year 2012. He was convicted for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity on two counts and indulging in sexual activities with another child on three occasions.
Two other charges are related to sisters, one aged 11 at the time of the offence and the other a few years younger. Diba-Musangu had allegedly grabbed the elder sister by the hips and had made sexual requests to the younger one.
To another 12-year-old minor, the footballer asked for a leg massage, before forcing himself upon her. Reportedly, he took pictures of the girls and threatened them by putting them out in public if they complained about him.
Inspector Julie Maxwell of GMP said, “Diba-Musangu abused his position of power within the church and may well have had a successful footballing career ahead of him before the work of detectives have led to where he is now – behind bars.”
Ironically, the culprit also worked in focus groups for young adults alongside pursuing a career in football.
“It’s taken immense bravery for these victims to come forward and cooperate with us as we pieced together his gruesome acts,” added the inspector.
The footballer was arrested in 2018 while he was playing for Mossley FC.
A statue of Mohammad Ali Jinnah was completely destroyed in a blast in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan province on Sunday morning. According to a report by Pakistan’s English daily Dawn, the statue, which was installed in June this year at Marine Drive was blown up by placing an explosive device beneath it. The Baloch Liberation Front has reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast.
Gwadar Deputy Commissioner Major (retd) Abdul Kabir Khan said that the BRA fighters had entered the area posing as tourists.
Balochistan’s former home minister and current Senator Sarfraz Bugti tweeted: “The demolition of Quaid-e-Azam’s statue in #Gwadar is an attack on Ideology of Pakistan. I request authorities to punish the perpetrators in the same way as we did with those behind the attack on Quaid-e-Azam residency in Ziarat.”
Baloch people were seen celebrating on social media, asserting that they do not identify Jinnah as their leader.
Additionally, at least 4 Pakistan personnel were killed and two injured in another blast in Balochistan. The blast, whose responsibility was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) was carried out targeting Pakistan’s paramilitary forces in the country’s restive Balochistan province, an official informed on Sunday.
As per reports in the Pakistani media, a vehicle of the Frontier Corps was attacked in the Khosat area of Balochistan’s Harnai district on Sunday.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s most volatile province on the southwestern border, has been demanding political rights, autonomy and control over its territory since 1947.
The Pakistan Army has been committing a series of human rights violations in Balochistan for years. From mass killings to abduction, torture and then eventual murder, the province has witnessed unimaginable brutalities over the years. Pakistan has used weapons supplied to it by the US government to wage war against the Balochs.
Amidst growing concerns of rise in extremism among Muslims in the state of Kerala, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) apprehended several persons in the state over terror-related charges. This also led to a rise in suspicions about the existence of Islamic State sleeper cells operating in the state according to a The Hindu report.
Recently, the NIA also filed a charge sheet against Mohammed Ameen of Malappuram, Mushab Anwar of Kannur and Rahees Rasheed from Kollam. A suo motu case was filed against a group of individuals involved in terrorist activities with Mohammed Ameen. Ameen had been running Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) propaganda channels on a number of social media platforms like Telegram, Hoop and Instagram, to spread violent jihad, radicalization and recruitment of new members.
It is said that Mohammed Ameen visited Kashmir to spread terrorism after ISIS Caliphate activities abated in Syria and Iraq. He worked with Rahees Rasheed and a known accused Wilson Kashmiri to raise funds and cultivate ISIS in India.
NIA also arrested two women, Mizha Siddeeque and Shifa Harris from Kannur for having connections with Ameen and spreading ISIS terrorism using social media platforms. Mizha also went to Tehran in order to join ISIS in Syria and later ran an Instagram page to propagate, motivate and radicalise and recruit Muslim youths for ISIS.
The investigations conducted by the NIA revealed that IS is trying to spread its tentacles in India through extensive online propaganda. According to reports, NIA had investigated 37 cases of terror attacks, conspiracy and funding that were inspired by the IS ideology. 168 accused were arrested in these including 31 charge sheets filed and 27 accused convicted after trial.
Recently, in a leaked internal document, the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala also raised grave concerns about pro-Taliban sentiment among the Muslim community. CPIM Kerala accused the radical Islamist outfit, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) for promoting ‘radicalisation and communalism’ through social media and publications. The party had warned its cadres, “Jamaat-e-Islami, whose goal is to establish an Islamic state, is now trying to spread their ideas in the Muslim community as well in Kerala society. They are using not only their publications but also the social media platforms to spread their ideas.”
The document said, “It is a matter of serious concern that discussion supporting the Taliban is happening in Kerala while it is being condemned by the believers of democracy across the world, including the Muslim community at large.” CPIM has therefore directed its student union and party cadres to reorganise itself and counter the growing radicalisation. It warned of a ‘conscious effort to turn Christians against Muslims in Kerala, who constitute 26% of the population (2011 Census data).’
‘Defund the BBC’ trended on social media after it was reported that chief of the British state media Tim Davie has received a £75,000 salary hike. The pay hike for the Director-General comes days after people over 75 years of age were mandated to pay the BBC license fee for the first time.
The salary hike for Tim Davie is a 16.6% raise, sparking strong criticism from people across the board. “The public’s view could not be clearer — salaries for top executives and stars are too high at the BBC,” Tory MP Nigel Mills said of the matter.
“The idea the person running the BBC earns nearly four times as much as the Prime Minister is baffling. It’s impossible to justify,” he added. On social media, people trended the hashtag ‘Defund the BBC’ to express their anger over the development.
Kelvin MacKenzie, founder of talkSPORT, said that the BBC has gone mad.
The BBC have gone quite mad and given a £75K rise to £525K to Director General Tim Davie. The 16.6% hike comes as the over 75s are having to pay £157.50 licence fee for the first time. He hasn't even got an HGV licence. Davie is not worth the money- our money. #DefundTheBBC
Others attacked the British state media along similar lines while trending ‘Defund the BBC’.
How wonderful. A: The elderly have been forced to pay for a TV licence they can't afford. B: the poorest have faced reduced income and increased household bills. C: the national minimum wage gets raised by what 1.5% yoy.
An absolute disgrace. Nearly four times that of the Prime Ministers salary. How can this be right – paid for by the licence payers. #DefundTheBBChttps://t.co/ejdZmxNGpO
People are also angry over a documentary on Jimmy Savile, a late presenter who raped children as young as nine years old while working for the BBC. Savile is believed to be one of Britain’s most prolific pedophile who raped hundreds of women and children. A report found that 73% of his victims were children. His youngest victim was eight years old.
Retired Justice Dame Janet Smith, in her investigation into the matter, concluded that the BBC had missed ‘five clear opportunities’ to stop the ‘serial sexual predator’. According to the investigative report, dubbed the Dame Janet Smith Review, said that the incidents of sexual abuse occurred “in virtually every one of the BBC premises at which he worked”.
As such, people are not pleased that the BBC will produce a documentary on a pedophile who raped children while hosting a show on the network.
— Brexit Bill Gammon -some recollections may vary✡ (@Bill4Brexit) September 26, 2021
The BBC the irony, making a new drama about the very person they helped to cover up. Plus who on earth would want to watch this anyway! Madness #DefundTheBBC
Comedian Steve Coogan has been approached to play the role of Jimmy Savile in the “new BBC One drama”. Executive Producer Jeff Pope said, “The purpose of this drama is to explore how Savile’s offending went unchecked for so long, and in shining a light on this, to ensure such crimes never happen again. Steve Coogan has a unique ability to inhabit complex characters and will approach this role with the greatest care and integrity.”
Hours after event organisers 2Jokers Entertainment pulled out from organising the ‘comedy’ show by Munawar Faruqui in Surat, his entire Gujarat tour stands cancelled. Bookmyshow, the ticketing platform as delisted Faruqui’s entire Gujarat tour on its app. His shows in Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara were scheduled to take place on October 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.
As one can see in the Bookmyshow app, Munawar Faruqui’s tour to Gujarat, which was a part of his tour named ‘Dongri to Nowhere’, stands closed.
Bookmyshow website
The development came hours after, his show in Surat was cancelled, as the event management company run by one Parth Brahmbhatt pulled out of the show. This comes after organisations such as Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad registered protest against the conducting of the show. They had accused Faruqui of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses and hurting the religious sentiments.
Earlier, Parth Brahmbhatt had refused to cancel the show and urged Bajrang Dal to take the legal route in case they want to get the show cancelled. Brahmbhatt had also said that Faruqui got ‘clean chit’ on the allegations of making anti-Hindu jokes during a comedy show and hence he (Brahmbhatt) would not back off from organising the show.
However, after the Hindu groups insisted that they would buy all the tickets themselves and sit in the audience to have their ‘own show’ by reciting Hanuman Chalisa throughout, Brahmbhatt had probably decided to pull out of organising the show.
Some of the ‘comedy clips’ of Faruqui have been allegedly insulting to the Hindu victims of the Godhra riots of 2002. He had also peddled conspiracy theories of RSS involvement in the Gujarat carnage and mocking Hindu deities in name of comedy at a program conducted in the Monroe Cafe near 56 Dukaan in Indore, Madhya Pradesh in January 2021.
A case of land jihad has come to light in Uttrakhand near Tehri Dam. As per the reports, an illegal mosque was built during the early 2000s at a site in Khand-Khala Koti Colony, which was in close proximity of the dam, and since then, Hindu organizations have tried multiple times to get it removed. Recently, in the first week of September 2021, a group of local Hindus started fresh protests against the mosque and paced up the efforts to get over 150 square meters of land freed from illegal possession.
OpIndia reached out to Akshat Biljwan, the person leading the protests, to know more about the case. On September 6, Akshat and other members of the Hindu community of the Khand-Khala Koti Colony area started protests against the illegal mosque that has been built near the Tehri Dam by encroaching the land allocated to the tourist department.
Notably, several buildings, farmlands and religious structures were removed when the Tehri Dam was built. All legal owners of the properties were displaced to other locations, and the authorities paid them compensation and/or provided alternate land. During the construction, the company (JP) that was building the dam built a temporary mosque for the Muslim workers. After the completion of the project, the company and the workers went away, but the temporary mosque was not removed.
As time passed by, several Hindu organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and even local BJP leaders, tried to get the mosque removed. Still, no concrete action was taken by the administration. Akshat said that just a few meters from the mosque, there is a CISF base that protects the dam from any danger. However, no one took action against the encroachers.
Akshat added, “Every Friday, hundreds of Muslims come here to offer prayers. After offering prayers, most of them sit on the road. There is a college nearby, and women from the locality often pass through this road. There have been countless cases of harassment in the region, especially on Friday, where there are over hundred Muslims sitting on the roadside. We have complained several times, but no one is ready to take any action.”
While talking about the person administering the mosque, Akshat said, “Those who come to the mosque are not locals. It is a small locality, and we can identify people by their faces. It is not hard to identify locals as everyone has IDs. But those who visit this mosque are not locals, and it is almost impossible to track them. The Maulvi (Mohammad Usmaan) who manages the mosque also lives far from the mosque. It is absurd that this illegal structure is still standing though everyone knows that it is illegal.”
Protests of September 6 against illegal mosque
On September 6, Akshat and others sat on the protest and raised slogans to remove the mosque built on illegally encroached land and ensure the security of the dam. In a video shared by Akshat on Facebook, he said, “When the dam was being built, the company gave temporary space to the Muslims to offer prayer. Now the company and the workers have left the area. The land has been transferred to the Tourist Department. Officials from Tourist Department, District administration and Police, were present at the scene. During the inspection, they found that the mosque is illegal.”
While talking to senior officials, Akshat also pointed out that some cases of love jihad also emerged in the region where Muslim men identified themselves by Hindu names and tried to lure Hindu girls. He said if the locals found out anyone was trying to lure the local girls and women or trying to harass them, they would take action themselves. He said, “This is not the first case. We are facing such problems daily. The mountain area we live in is supposed to be a calm place. We cannot tolerate such incidents anymore. We will have to take action if Police and administration fail to do so.”
As per the two documents shared by Akshat with OpIndia, on September 6, a joint survey took place around the mosque in which the administration found out that the mosque was illegal. There were some other structures that included some shops etc., which were also built on encroached land. Maulvi Mohammad Usmaan, who manages the mosque, was present at the spot. He was informed by the administration that the mosque was illegal and it had to be removed. Similar instructions were given to the temporary shops built around the mosque.
Joint survey report. Source: Akshat Bijalwan
While talking about the instructions given by the administration, Akshat said that the administration took stern action against the temporary shops around the mosque and removed them. “They make sure to remove any temporary shop in the area swiftly, which is a good thing. However, when it comes to the mosque, everyone is shifting the blame to someone else, and no one is ready to take any action,” he said.
The administrator of the mosque demanded they should be provided with an alternate land to rebuilt the mosque. Akshat said, “We have a strong objection against the demand. When the structure has been deemed illegal by the administration, why they should get an alternate land, that means to get back the encroached land; the government would give them legal possession of a piece of land. This is unacceptable.”
Seeing the situation going against the mosque, the mosque administrator submitted a plea to the state minority commission. Interestingly, the minority commission took cognizance of the case immediately. It further delayed the process of removing the illegal structure. Akshat said, “I am amazed that the minority commission got involved in the case. They know that the structure is illegal. How can they ask the administration to provide an alternate land for the mosque? This is a mockery of the system.”
The incident of September 25
The administration had given 15-days time to the administrator of the mosque to remove the structure that ended on September 21. However, the mosque still stands on the land. On September 25, Akshat and others decided to revisit the area and hold protests against the administration. The officials from the local administration and police reached the spot. During the discussion, one of the officers got into an argument with Akshat, after which the situation almost went out of hand. The officer asked Akshat to lower down his volume that further irked Akshat.
He said, “The officer was new in the area. We do not know him, and he does not know the problems we are facing. When he asked me to lower down my volume, I did not understand what I said wrong.” He, along with his associates who were protesting at the site, tried to march towards the mosque. Police stopped them and pushed them back. Akshat and his associates kept asking the police present at the scene to call SDM as they wanted to know what action was taken by the administration.
SDM assured the mosque will be removed
Finally, when the SDM Apurva Singh reached the spot, she explained the current situation. Akshat shared the video with OpIndia in which the discussion with SDM can be seen. She said, “At this point, those who were administering the mosque have approached minority commission. As per the law, we have to answer them and take further steps, which is taking time.” She assured everyone present at the scene that for the administration, the mosque was on encroached land, it would be removed. “I cannot promise that it will be removed in a day, a week or a month, but I can assure you that it will be removed,” she said.
While talking about the incidents of harassment of women, SDM asked the locals to bring such incidents to the notice of the Police department. She also instructed Police to increase security on Fridays so that such incidents could be stopped. She said, “I am requesting you not to mix the issue of encroachment and eve-teasing. I have asked the Police to increase the security on Friday so that such incidents can be controlled. We will remove the illegal structure, but we have to follow the law.”
She further said that everyone has the right to approach courts, but that does not mean they would get to stay. There are guidelines in place issued by the Supreme Court to remove encroachments on the roadside. “Administration has the guidelines, and we can remove the structure, but we have to follow the procedure. You have to trust us. I understand there is a problem of mistrust, but I am assuring you that the structure will be removed,” she added.
The issue was raised in January
This is not the first time the issue has been raised. In January 2021, Dhan Singh Negi, BJP MLA Tehri, had raised the issue. While talking to OpIndia Hindi, he said that he had approached Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDC) several times, but no one paid heed to his plea. The mosque that was located in the region was removed during the construction of the dam. However, this illegal structure was raised during the construction on a temporary basis. The company that was constructed the dam moved out, but the mosque stayed, which is causing a lot of trouble for the locals.
Reaction on social media
A part of the clip from Saturday was shared on Twitter by netizen Gopal Goswami who demanded the mosque should be removed. Several netizens echoed the demand.
टिहरी डैम पर अवैध बना दी गयी मस्जिद को हटाने की माँग करते स्थानीय युवा, पुष्कर धामी जी देवभूमि को दानव ग्रसित कर रहा है, अधिकारियों पर दबाव बनाइये। pic.twitter.com/HZGurgWgNw
Journalist Abhijit Majumdar said, “Are your Uttarakhand police defending the illegal masjid near Tehri lake, @pushkardhami, despite locals’ demands to stop demographic takeover?”
Are your Uttarakhand police defending the illegal masjid near Tehri lake, @pushkardhami, despite locals’ demands to stop demographic takeover? https://t.co/xFcZ8KN39y
OpIndia tried reaching out to the SDM but could not talk in detail about the case.
The problem of land jihad
This is not the first case of land jihad that has come to light. Recently, cases from Surat and other cities of Gujarat were detailed in one of our reports. In the shocking incident, the Disturbed Areas Act was circumvented and permission to construct a building was obtained through seemingly deceitful means. In Surat’s Adajan area, permission to construct a building was obtained by one Raihan Heights project, next to a temple by ‘temporarily’ bringing up a Hindu partner in a Muslim owned enterprise in what appears to be a bid to hoodwink the law.
Several incidents of illegal mosques and Mazars also came to light in recent times. In June, the UP government had demolished one illegal mosque in Hardoi. In March, UP Police arrested a Muslim man in Imartpur Udho village of Mainather District, Uttar Pradesh, where he tried to build a Mazar on land that belonged to a Hindu.
Hours after the ‘Bharat Bandh’ announced by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) came into effect, a mob of farmer protestors were seen breaching security protocols and engaging in vandalism.
ANI reported that a large mob of farmer protestors broke the barricades set up by the police, and reached the Noida Authority office in Sector 6. Although the 10-hour long national shutdown was called for repealing the three farm laws that were enacted by the Union government last year, the demonstrators began demanding increased compensation for the land already acquired by the Noida Authority.
Noida: Scores of farmers broke the barricades and reached the Noida Authority office in Sector-6.
Farmers are protesting over their demands including increased compensation for their land acquired by the Noida Authority. pic.twitter.com/wNpCHDhGCx
A video of the incident has also gone viral on social media. A frenzied mob of ‘farmer’ protestors could be seen waving the Indian Tricolour, dawning a green cap and pushing against the barricades set up by the police. Meanwhile, the cops deployed on the ground tried to offer resistance but they were clearly outnumbered.
#BREAKING : अपनी मांगों को लेकर किसान भारी संख्या में इकट्ठा हुए और नोएडा पुलिस के बैरिकेडिंग को तोड़ा, बैरिकेडिंग तोड़कर किसान नोएडा प्राधिकरण दफ्तर के बाहर धरने पर बैठे, पुलिस ने दफ्तर को चारों तरफ से घेरा, हज़ारों किसानों का दफ्तर के बाहर धरना। #FarmersProtest#noidapic.twitter.com/wQJ2CvPtbz
Earlier in the day, farmer protestors were seen sitting on railway tracks at Devidaspura village in Amritsar in Punjab to disrupt commute by passengers through trains. Under the patronage of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, the demonstrators blocked the incoming traffic from Uttar Pradesh towards Ghazipur.
As commuters took alternate routes and because of increased checking to maintain law and order situation, traffic at Delhi-Gurugram border moved at snail’s pace. The bandh also got backing and support of Congress. Senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi extended his support to the bandh.
