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Harappan-era city Dholavira in Gujarat inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage site list

OpIndia Staff
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Harappan-era city Dholavira in Gujarat inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage site list

The World Heritage Committee has inscribed Gujarat’s Dholavira on UNESCO World Heritage Site List during its 44th session held online. Dholavira, located in Khadir island of the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, represents the ruins of an ancient city of the Harappan civilization.

Taking to its official Twitter handle, UNESCO tweeted, “BREAKING! Dholavira: A Harappan City, in #IndiaFlag of India, just inscribed on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List. Congratulations!”

Earlier, Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana was also inscribed in the UNESCO list. With the inclusion of these two heritage sites, India’s number of World Heritage sites has increased to 40.

Tourism minister G Kishan Reddy has taken to Twitter to share the news. “It gives immense pride to share with my fellow Indians that #Dholavira is now the 40th treasure in India to be given @UNESCO’s World Heritage Inscription. Another feather in India’s cap as we now enter the Super-40 club for World Heritage Site inscriptions”, Tweeted Reddy, thanking PM Modi for his consistent effort to promote Indian culture and heritage.

Since 2014, India has added 10 new World Heritage sites – one-fourth of our total sites”, the Tourism Minister added in his subsequent Tweet.

The City of Dholavira was excavated by R.S Bisht in 1985. It demonstrates a highly organised system of town planning with perfected proportions, street-pattern and an efficient water conservation system that supported life for more than 1200 years.

The three-tier zonation found in the Dholavira city, comprising of a distinct upper (citadel, bailey) and middle (having a distinct street-pattern, large scale enclosure and a ceremonial ground) towns enclosed by a lower town (with narrower streets, smaller enclosures and industrial area), distinguishes it from other metropolises of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Besides Dholavira, there are other three World Heritage Sites in Gujarat.

Historic city of Ahmedabad- first city in India to be inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage site list

Amongst these three, the first is the historic city of Ahmedabad which was the first city in India to be inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage City list of 2017. The historic city was founded in 1411 as the capital of Gujarat. It was formerly known as Ashawal of Asha Bhil; Karnavati of Karanadev, Ahamdabad of Sultan Ahmed Shah, Rajnagar, the capital of Jainism, a politico-cultural city of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel and Amdavad of ‘Amdavadis’.

The city flaunts some heritage Indo-Islamic monuments of the 15th to 17th centuries. Besides, there are potential heritage precincts in the form of the Pols, the traditional residential clusters of the medieval period, which makes Ahmedabad exceptional.

Rani ki Vaav (Queen’s Stepwell)

Rani Ki Vav, a stepwell in the little Gujarat town of Patan was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Rani-ki-Vav is designed like a temple-cum-water storage system. This stepwell was built by the Solanki dynasty’s queen Udayamati in the 11th century as a memorial to her deceased husband Bhimdev I. Over the years, as the Saraswati river changed its course, the massive structure was flooded and lay buried until its excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India in the late 1980s. Siltation has preserved the structure intact over the centuries.

This historic site inscribed as a Worl Heritage property by UNESCO, features on the new Rs 100 note.

Champaner Pavagadh Archaeological Park included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2014

Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Panchmahal district in Gujarat. The Pavagadh hill is constructed of reddish-yellow coloured stone. This formation is one of the oldest rock formations in India. Pavagadh hill was a famous Hindu fortress under the Solanki kings of Gujarat followed by Khichi Chauhans. The Archaeological park had got the status of an archaeological site in 2004.

Bangladesh: Football match turns communal, Hindus attacked in Sheikh Hasina’s constituency on Eid. Here is everything you need to know

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh: Football match turns communal, Hindus attacked in Sheikh Hasina’s constituency on Eid. Here is everything you need to know

On Wednesday (July 21), a mob of radical Islamists in Bangladesh attacked the Hindu community without provocation at around 9 am in the morning. The incident took place at Kalabari Union Parakata Bazar in Kotalipara in the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh. It must be mentioned that Gopalganj is the election constituency of Awami League supremo and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Bangladesh Hindu Unity Council took to Twitter to inform that the attack took place on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha. DD News reported that more than 50 people were injured during the incident, including police officials. The Islamist mob ransacked shops and houses belonging to Hindus and had vowed to ‘sacrifice’ religious minorities on the occasion of Eid. The attack took place in the backdrop of a football match that was conducted in the Parakata village on July 19.During the match at the Janakalyan High school ground, a quarrel broke out between two sides about the outcome of the game.

Two days later on July 21, a heated argument ensued between 18-year-old Sajal Gain and 38-year-old Jamal Mallick. The argument soon assumed a communal turn, leading to a clash between two sides. Reportedly, the accused have been identified as Rustum Mallick, Nannu Mallick, Jasim Mollah, Faizul Mallick, and Babul Mallick (26). They vandalised shops, houses and targeted Hindu men, women, and livestock. They chanted slogans vowing to make the village free of Hindus and demanded human sacrifice on the ocassion of Eid.

A team from the Kotalipara police station and Bahngarhat Naval Investigation Centre rushed to the spot to pacify the situation. More than 50 men, women, and children, including police, were injured in the hour-long clash. Among the seriously injured were Jagdish Folia, Mridul Gain, Shivnath, Gabinda Gain, Ashudev Gain, Tanmoy Gain, Sushant Gain, and Ujjal Gain, Nikhil Gain, Rasmoy Gain, Bidhan Gain, Nimchand, Kaushik Gain, Pradeep Gain, Joy Gain, Animesh Folia, Samrat Gain, Sujit Gain, Vishnu Gain, and others. ASI Masud, Constables Mahasin Gazi, and Mahabubur were also injured due to stabbing. The victims were rushed to medical treatment facilities including the Upazila Health Centre.

Police, administration took the side of attackers: Victims

In a video shared by Bangladeshi Hindu activist Raju Das, an injured Hindu man could be heard as saying, “This is our school and they don’t let us play. Today, a Hindu was thrashed. They (Muslims) came here with sticks and rods. They are ever ready to kill Hindus. They have declared that they would do Qurbani (sacrifice) with Hindus. We all got thrashed and the administration also took their side…. The attack was pre-meditated.”

In another video that has surfaced on social media, a Twitter user alleged that the police personnel were also involved in the stone pelting against Hindus. He claimed that the police took the side of the attackers and thrashed the victims (Hindu community).

Protests and aftermath of the attack

Following the incident, the Hindu Coalition group in the US staged a protest. The demonstration was led by Dinesh Mazumdar, Sitangshu Guha, Govinda Baniya, Sukanta Das, Tutul, and others. They said that it was a matter of shame that the Hindus were targeted in the Prime Minister’s constituency on the ocassion of Eid. The protestors said that rumours were spread by local mosques, which in turn fuelled the attack. They informed that such strategies were used by the Islamists frequently to target the Hindu community.

An arbitration meeting was held between the Hindu and Muslim communities on Saturday (July 24). Public representatives, the district administration have appealed to maintain calm in the area. According to OC (Kotalipara police) Aminul Islam, a contingent of police have been deployed in the area. He informed that no party has registered a formal complaint with the police.

MHA seeks six more months till January 2022 to form rules for CAA

OpIndia Staff
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MHA seeks six more months till January 2022 to form rules for CAA

On July 26, the Ministry of Home Affairs sought six months to frame the rules for Citizen (Amendment) Act, 2019 or CAA. While replying to a question by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, Nityanand Rai, Minister of State, Home Affairs, said that MHA had asked committees on subordinate legislation in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for time till January 9, 2022, to form the rules.

Notably, CAA was notified on December 12, 2019, after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the legislation. It came into force on January 10, 2020. Under CAA, persecuted minorities comprising Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who arrived will be able to avail citizenship in India.

CAA is applicable for the people who arrived in India till December 31, 2014, because of the religious persecution in the mentioned countries. They would be treated as illegal immigrants, and the government would grant them Indian citizenship according to the regulations mentioned in the law. As per the act, if a person from the mentioned faiths from the three countries in the list does not have proof of parents’ birth, they could apply for citizenship after six years of residency in India.

CAA and Delhi Riots

Opposition parties and several groups criticized the amendments in the Citizenship Act. They tried to propagate that CAA, combined with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), aims to target minorities living in India, especially the Muslim community. Since its enactment in December 2019, there were large scale protests across the country. Sit-in protests at Shaheen Bagh attracted a lot of attention, especially because of the anti-India speeches given by the speakers at the site.

In the background of these protests, there was an alleged larger conspiracy to cause unrest in the Indian state that resulted in riots in February 2020. As a result, several arrests were made by investigation agencies, including that of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Tahir Hussain and several others. As per reports, Police registered over 700 cases connected to the riots and detained or arrested 3,400 people by the end of March 2020. A detailed report on the anti-Hindu Delhi Riots by OpIndia can be read here.

Assam-Mizoram dispute: How India’s colonial past rages violent interstate border conflicts

OpIndia Staff
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Assam-Mizoram dispute: How India’s colonial past rages violent interstate border conflicts

On Monday (July 26) evening, a violent clash took place between the locals of Lailapur village (Cachar district) in Assam and Vairengte village (Kolasib district) in Mizoram. The conflict at the inter-state border comes amidst an ongoing dispute over alleged illegal encroachment in each other’s land.

As per reports, the conflict culminated in stone pelting, vandalism, arson, and gunfire. During the clash, around 6 Assam police personnel lost their lives while about 65 people, including civilians, were injured. Around 40 of those injured were admitted to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital for further medical treatment. According to an India Today report, about 2 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were deployed in the area to pacify the situation. Multiple videos have now surfaced on social media which shows the extent of the conflict between the two sides.

Following the violent clashes, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared his condolences for the fallen jawans. “I am deeply pained to inform that six brave jawans of @assampolice have sacrificed their lives while defending the constitutional boundary of our state at the Assam-Mizoram border.My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families,” he tweeted.

In another tweet, Sarma informed, “I have just spoken to Hon’ble Chief Minister Zoramthanga. I have reiterated that Assam will maintain status quo and peace between the borders of our State. I have expressed my willingness to visit Aizawal and discuss these issues if need be.”

While responding to the said tweet, Mizoram Chief Minister confirmed the meeting with Himanta Biswa Sarma and urged the withdrawal of Assam police from Vairengte village for the safety of civilians. In a statement, he emphasised, “The Government of Mizoram deeply regrets the needless injuries on both sides which could have been avoided. The Government of Mizoram desires that the inter-state border issue with Assam be resolved in an atmosphere of peace and understanding. Accordingly, we call upon the state of Assam to create a congenial environment for peaceful resolution of the dispute,”

The background of the Assam-Mizoram conflict

The long-standing territorial dispute began when Mizoram used to be a district of Assam. In the colonial era, Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills and was demarcated from the Cachar plains in accordance with an 1875 notification. Subsequently, another notification was released by the British government in 1933 that drew a boundary between the Lushai Hills and Manipur. Mizoram wants the boundary demarcation to be followed as per the 1875 notification. In their defence, they claim that the Mizo society was not consulted prior to the 1933 notification. However, the Assam government follows the 1993 demarcation, which has become a bone of contention between the two States.

The situation at the interstate border became tense in June after Assam police accused Mizoram of encroaching its property and laid control on ‘Aitlanf hnar’, which is located about 5 km from Vairengte village. The Assamese officials have alleged that the neighbouring State has built structures and planted betel nut and banana saplings inside the Hailakandi district of Assam. In turn, Mizoram accused Assam of encroaching upon the State’s land in Kolasib district. On July 10, the Assam police conducted reportedly an eviction drive that allegedly led to the destruction of crops of a Mizo farmer.

Map courtesy: IndianExpress.com

According to SP (Kolasib district) Valalfaka Ralte, Assam police led by Hailakandi deputy Commissioner and SP entered Mizoram’s territory and began camping there on June 29. Disputing the claims, the Assam government clarified that a team of Divisional Forest Officer Montaj Ali, Border DSP Nirmal Ghosh was stopped by Mizo encroachers which forced them to return. Currently, both the States share a 165 km border and negotiation attempts made since 1995 have yielded no results so far.

Earlier, similar clashes took place between the two sides on October 9 last year when Lailapur (Assam) locals allegedly built temporary huts in no-man’s land in the border area. The Mizos then set the huts on fire in retaliation. Mizoram officials had then claimed that the Assamese side broke the status quo and that the land was by Mizo cultivators since time immemorial.

Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli had then clarified that the land belonged to the Assam government as per records. Similarly, Karimganj DC Anbamuthan MP conceded that the disputed land fell within the Singla Forest Reserve that comes under Krimganj’s jurisdiction. He however conceded that the land was used by Mizo cultivators for a long time. Reportedly, Mizo civil groups often blame illegal Bangladeshi settlers in Assam for the repeated escalations.

COVID-19 vaccine for children to be made available by August: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

OpIndia Staff
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COVID-19 vaccine for children to be made available by August: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said the Covid-19 vaccine for children is likely to be launched in the country by August. Mandaviya shared the information at the BJP Parliamentary party meeting, also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also said that India is soon going to be the largest vaccine-producing country as more companies will get production licenses.

Experts believe vaccinating children and teens will play a big role in developing the herd immunity that a society needs to ward off a contagion like the COVID-19 outbreak. The third wave of COVID-19 is expected to hit the nation in September-October. However, children may not have a severe infection, AIIMS director Randeep Guleria had said.

Earlier last week, Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), also said that the trials of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin on children were underway and the results were expected by September. As of now, Covaxin trials are underway on children aged between 2 to 6 in Delhi AIIMS.

In June this year, the AIIMS started screening children aged 2 to 17 for trials of the COVID-19 vaccine. The move came a month after the DGCI granted permission to Bharat Biotech to carry out phase 2, phase 3 trials of Covaxin on children as young as two.

Along with Covaxin, clinical trials of the vaccine developed by Zydus Cadila is also underway. Dr NK Arora, who heads the National Expert Group on Vaccines, had earlier this month said that vaccination for children will start by September with the Zydus vaccine for 12 to 18-year-olds.

India has so far authorised the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines on citizens above the age of 18.

Pakistan: Muslim man forces Hindu boy to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’, abuse Hindu Gods

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Muslim man forces Hindu boy to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’, abuse Hindu Gods

In a disturbing video that has now surfaced on social media, a Pakistani Muslim man was seen threatening and forcing a Hindu boy to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’. The victim was also coerced into abusing Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

The video was uploaded on social media by a popular Facebook user named Prakash Heerani. The accused, Abdul Salam Abu Dawood, was seen grabbing the victim by the collar and ordering him to chant Allahu Akbar. When the boy complied, the accused asked him to utter expletives directed at Hindu Gods. “Abuse your deities in the name of mother and sister…Say your God is a sister f*cker. You guys have polluted the entire Pakistan,” Dawood was heard as saying.

Abdul Salam Abu Dawood, a native of Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan, had uploaded the video on his Youtube channel with the caption, “Hindu torture by Muslim in Pakistan.” Following public outrage, he was quick to delete the video.

Dawood was also seen threatening Hindus with genocide and complete annihilation. In a video posted in April this year, he warned, “If we start killing Hindus in Pakistan it would only take 30 minutes…We will kill Hindu men and take Hindu women. We will procreate from these women and make them ‘mujahid’ (fighters/Islamic terrorists ). Don’t mess with us we have a lot of people (Muslims) in India that would not take time to kill you (Hindus).”

The particular video has now been deleted from YouTube.

In his Youtube comment section, Dawood was seen using despicable language for Lord Ram and Goddess Sita. He had compared the Hindu deities to homosexuals, pimps, and rape victims.

Screengrab of the Youtube comments by Abdul Salam Abu Dawood

In a video posted in February 2019, he was seen intimidating a Hindu kid named Raju Krishnan. While addressing his subscribers, he said, “This kid is a Hindu. If I want, I can do many things to this kid. If I beat or thrash him, what will be the use?” Dawood then went on to boast about his decision to not assault the child and how it proved that he is a virtuous man.

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/ Abdul Salam Abu Dawood)

As per his Facebook profile, Dawood currently lives in Hyderabad in the Sindh province of Pakistan. He is employed with the Thar-Coal projects. His Twitter profile has been suspended for violating the terms and conditions of the microblogging platform. At the time of writing, his Instagram profile was found to be active.

Screengrab of the suspended Twitter account of Abdul Salam Abu Dawood

60 Hindus mass converted to Islam in Sindh

On July 7, as many as 60 Hindus were mass converted to Islam in the Sindh province of Pakistan. A man, identified as one Abdul Rauf Nizamani, had been the facilitator of the mass conversion process. In a Facebook post, the accused rejoiced, “Alhamdullilah aj meri nigrani me 60 log musalman hui hain inke liye dua karen (Today, 60 people accepted Islam under my watch. Please pray for them.” According to the Facebook profile of Abdul Rauf Nizamani, he is the Chairman of the Municipal Committee in Matli in Sindh of Pakistan. The accused boasts of 4,275 followers on his personal profile.

In a video posted by him, an Islamic cleric could be seen making the 60-odd Hindus chant Kalma (Islamic oath of allegiance) and ensuring their full-fledged conversion. In a subsequent video, the said Islamic cleric could be seen claiming that it was their recitation of the first-ever Namaz. “The only objective in the life of a Muslim is to make Allah happy. Only then, the purpose of your life will be fulfilled. Only the lives of those, approved by Allah, move forward,” the cleric could be seen speaking to the new converts.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announces financial assistance of Rs 50 lakhs to families of cops who died in border clash with Mizoram

OpIndia Staff
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Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announces financial assistance of Rs 50 lakhs to families of cops who died in border clash with Mizoram

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma today laid wreaths to pay homage to the slain police personnel who lost their lives in the Assam-Mizoram border clash on July 26 (Monday) night. He declared a financial support of Rs 50 lakhs each to families of the cops who died in the clash. He also announced that the injured will be given Rs 1 lakh each. OpIndia reported that six police personnel lost their lives in the ongoing Assam-Mizoram border dispute.

According to reports, Himanta Sarma had revealed that civilians were in army fatigues carrying arms, including sniper rifles, therefore the Assam Police has been ordered to conduct an investigation into the matter. “It will be investigated that where did the civilians get the arms from”, said Biswa Sarma.

During his address to the media, Sarma repeatedly asserted that the Assam government is committed to securing the state’s territory. He also informed that his Mizoram counterpart has invited him for talks in Aizawl. 

“This is not a political issue. This is a boundary dispute between two states. This is a long-standing border dispute. There was dispute even at the time when Congres govt was there on both sides. This is a dispute between two states, not between two political parties”, said the CM.

Tensions rose along the Assam-Mizoram border after reports of firing between the police of both states emerged. According to Assam Police, their Mizo counterparts opened fire at them at Lailapur.

Six police personnel lost their lives in the ongoing Assam-Mizoram border dispute, chief minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma informed on Monday evening.

Tamil Nadu: Nurse steals Covishield vaccine doses from the hospital for her relatives, suspended by authorities

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Nurse steals Covishield vaccine doses from the hospital for her relatives, suspended by authorities

A 58-year-old nurse employed at the Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) in Tamil Nadu’s Karur was suspended for stealing Covishield vaccine doses. As per reports, the nurse fled with the vaccines to administer them to relatives and local residents for money.

The nurse, P Dhanalakshmi, who worked as a maternity assistant in Karur is a resident of Vedasandur in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu. As per a report in Times Now, the incident came to light when block medical officer, Dr Maheshwari received information that Dhanalakshmi was administrating Covid-19 vaccines privately at her residence. 

On Sunday, the health department officials raided her residence and the block medical officer informed the deputy director of public health. The Karur Municipality Commissioner informed that eight vials of the Covishield vaccine were recovered from the nurse’s residence.

Commenting on the probe and Dhanalakshmi’s suspension, the official said, “Based on the initial reports, we have suspended her. The investigation is underway, details about how she managed to get vaccines to her home, are there any other persons involved in this needs to be ascertained.”

Karur district deputy director of health services (DDHS) S Santosh while speaking with The Times of India informed, “A report will be submitted by the team after collecting details like the number of people vaccinated by the maternity assistant.”

The official also informed that action has been initiated against the nurse and an official complaint has been lodged. 

Dhanalakshmi’s colleagues at UPHC informed that she had been working there for over 10 years. 

BSP, SP scramble to woo the ‘Brahmin votebank’ ahead of UP elections, bet big on soft Hindutva

OpIndia Staff
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BSP, SP scramble to woo the ‘Brahmin votebank’ ahead of UP elections, bet big on soft Hindutva

As the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections inches closer, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati is attempting to make a paradigm shift in her political strategy. The Dalit leader is all set to woo the Brahmin voters by organising ‘Brahmin Sammelans’ across the state.

As part of her charm offensive to lure Brahmin voters to its fold, Mayawati has announced the second ‘Brahmin Sammelan’ to be held at the holy town Vrindavan, where Hindu deity Lord Krishna is said to have spent his childhood, from August 1. Satish Kumar Mishra, the party’s general secretary and in charge of this drive, will be visiting the famous Banke Bihari temple before taking part in the event.

Earlier on July 23, Satish Kumar Mishra had offered prayers at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya before commencing the party’s first phase of the campaign to woo Brahmin voters.

At each such event, the BSP leaders have strategized to first go for temple darshan in the respective city and then address the gathering. Local Brahmin organisations, BSP Brahmin workers and several intellectuals of the same caste will be invited.

Speaking about what appears as BSP’s stratagem to compete with Yogi Adityanath, the icon of Hindutva, in the upcoming state Assembly elections, Satish Kumar Mishra “Brahmin community constitute 13 per cent of the state population but are still marginalised because Brahmins are not united”. He stressed that the real power will come only when Brahmins and Dalits in UP come together.

Moreover, talking about the party’s sudden Hindu turn, a senior BSP leader said it’s “high time the BSP understands the local sentiments.”

“Many of our Dalit brothers voted for Modi on nationalism and Hinduism. We have to counter this narrative. Somehow a section of Jatavs, especially youngsters, are now turned into Hindu voters. So to keep them with us we have to show them that we agree with their thoughts. We are not different. So these Brahmin Sammelans and religious places connection are correlated,” said the leader.

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. Now, eyeing a comeback in the state, after staying out of power for 9 years, Mayawati’s BSP is all geared to shed its Dalit-only image as it has started talking about fostering unity between Brahmin and Dalit communities. In an attempt to woo Hindus, the party is not only organising these ‘Brahmin Seminars’ but interestingly, has also come up with posters with pictures of Ram Lalla along with the under-construction Ram Temple.

And not just BSP, even Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) is putting it all in to woo the Brahmin voters by playing the soft Hindutva card. Recently, SP announced a statue of Lord Parshuram to be installed inside the party headquarters in Lucknow. Another SP leader had met a few Brahmin leaders and formed a committee to deal with the community’s problems. In fact, SP is also set to hold such ‘Brahmin Sammelans’ in various districts as a part of the outreach programme.

‘Historian’ Irfan Habib gets a lesson in history amid violent clashes over Assam-Mizoram border dispute: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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‘Historian’ Irfan Habib gets a lesson in history amid violent clashes over Assam-Mizoram border dispute: Here is what happened

The founder and editor-in-chief of Earshot, Abhijit Majumder, has schooled Marxist ‘historian’ Irfan Habib for his remark on the recent clashes reported from the Assam-Mizoram border. 6 Assam police personnel have lost their lives in the clashes while about 65 people, including civilians, were injured.

The left-leaning historian, taking a sarcastic jibe at PM Modi’s ‘New India’ vision, wrote that he had “never heard before that the armed forces of two neighbouring states kill each other in a deadly clash”.

Reacting to Irfan Habib’s Tweet, the journalist reminded the ‘historian’ about the Nagaland-Assam clashes in 1985, in which over 41 people in Assam were murdered, including 28 Assam police personnel.

The journalist helped Irfan Habib reminiscence how the 1985 clash had taken place when the Congress party was at the helm of affairs, not only of both the states but also of the nation.

He mocked the ‘historian’, remarking that the 1985 clash had taken place during the days which people like him, considered India’s ‘Golden Age’ under the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty of Congress Party.

In June 1985, a major flare-up at Merapani, also in Golaghat, left 41 persons dead on the Assam side. These included 28 Assam Police personnel. Assam had claimed that the attackers included Nagaland Police personnel.

Assam-Nagaland border issue

The border dispute between Assam and Nagaland had begun right at the inception of Nagaland state in 1963 after a 16-point agreement between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the leaders of the Naga People’s Convention was signed in 1960.

The government of India pledged to return all Naga territories that had been annexed by Britain and made part of Assam, but this did not happen and Nagas allegedly encroached on vast swathes of land in the upper Assam districts of Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat. Over 60,000 hectares of Assam forest land has been reportedly under the occupation of Nagaland, and this stretch has ever since, become the bone of contention for the two states.

Since then, violent clashes along the Assam-Nagaland border have become a regular feature, with major armed conflicts reported in 1968, 1979, 1985, 2007, 2014 and many more.

Assam-Mizoram dispute

Like Assam has had border conflicts with Nagaland, it also has been facing similar conflicts with Mizoram. The recent clash was also a fallout of the altercation that occurred over land encroachment between the people of the two states.

The long-standing territorial dispute began when Mizoram used to be a district of Assam. In the colonial era, Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills and was demarcated from the Cachar plains in accordance with an 1875 notification. Subsequently, another notification was released by the British government in 1933 that drew a boundary between the Lushai Hills and Manipur. Mizoram wants the boundary demarcation to be followed as per the 1875 notification. In their defence, they claim that the Mizo society was not consulted prior to the 1933 notification. However, the Assam government follows the 1993 demarcation, which has become a bone of contention between the two States. Read more about the background of the Assam-Mizoram conflict here.

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