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Tracing the events that led to Direct Action Day and genocide: From the late 19th Century to the Partition of Bengal, and beyond

K Bhattacharjee
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Tracing the events that led to Direct Action Day and genocide: From the late 19th Century to the Partition of Bengal, and beyond

There are some moments in history which are etched across memories for all eternity. The moments not only impact those living through the tumultuous times but the lives of generations and generations are affected even after centuries have passed.

Terrible things can last for mere days but their impact continues to reverberate for decades, if not centuries. Such moments become a platform for collective sorrow, guilt and serve as the foundation for national mourning and share memory.

One such tragedy was the Direct Action Day. 75 years have passed since the terrible events of 1946 but still, a day does not go by when it does not impact current events. Indeed, there is simply too much tragedy embedded in those memories for them to be forgotten so lightly.

It was on the 16th of August, 1946 that Mohammed Ali Jinnah gave a call for nationwide protests demanding the creation of Pakistan. It led to the 1946 Calcutta Killings and the genocide of the Bengali Hindu community. Soon, it spread to the rest of the country and culminated with the Partition and the terrible partition riots.

After all these years, the 16th August is to be celebrated as ‘Khela Hobe Divas’ by Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress. One would have expected a Bengali Hindu of all people to be aware of the tragedy that marks the occasion but Mamata Banerjee, clearly, has other plans.

Direct Action Day
Scenes after the Calcutta Killing, Direct Action Day (source: oldindianphotos.in)

The fates of every single Indian has been affected by the events of that era, either directly or indirectly, and it has shaped and continues to shape the destiny of Independent India. Children lost their parents, mothers lost their sons, husbands lost their wives and the sacred land of Bharata was soaked with the blood of the innocent.

Direct Action Day also culminated with the greatest migration of population in modern history. And the impact of that migration on Indian history could not ever be overestimated. For instance, the Naxalbari Movement that began in West Bengal was the consequence of a series of violent protests and riots led primarily by the migrant Bangladeshi Hindu community that had crossed over to India in the aftermath of evidence, who were treated as trash by the then Nehru Government.

Lal Krishna Advani, one of the core figures of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement, has his roots in Sindh. The Northeastern region of the country witnessed a significant influx of Bangladeshi Hindu refugees and with that, the linguistic battles and terrorist movements in the region received a significant boost.

There are other ways in which the events of Direct Action Day has definitively shaped the history of India but most of all, the contribution of the horror that Hindus had to suffer during those dark times still impacts their political inclinations and their social life.

Direct Action Day
Scenes after the Calcutta Killing (source: oldindianphotos.in)

The paternal grandparents of this author himself crossed over to India right after independence. During the last days of my late grandmother, when her cognitive abilities had significantly declined, she would often say that she wants to go home. And we would tell her that she was home. But she would remain adamant and nothing would convince her otherwise.

It was only later that we realised that she was referring to her home in Bangladesh, a home that she was forced to leave and she could never return to. When I shared the particular story on social media, I realised that the phenomenon appeared to be far more common that I previously assumed it to be.

Quite a few others, mostly from the Bengali Hindu community, recounted how they experienced the same with their grandparents. Nevertheless, the point is, there were horrors Hindus experienced during that era and the memory of an ancestral land one could never return to has molded the national conscience.

Under such circumstances, it is especially important to trace the events that led to Direct Action Day. Such events are not borne in a vacuum but are the climactic end to a kinetic force that has been building momentum for years and decades. It is the crescendo of a cacophony of delirious tragedy that sparks endless misery and a horror that does not cease to be. Thus, it is important to trace it to where it all began, the beginning of the series of events that cascades into a genocide.

Direct Action Day: The Two Nation Theory

Unlike what has become the dogma of the Indian Secular State, historical divisions between Muslims and Hindus have existed since the very first encounters between the two communities. There was a very distinct feeling of ‘otherness’ that existed between both sides.

The Islamic invaders could not ever comprehend the Hindu faith in the multiplicity of the divine and Hindus could not ever consent to the other’s predisposition towards iconoclasm, consumption of beef and their way of life. Conflict was inevitable, and not merely a conflict that was limited to land resources. It was a conflict over theological differences, cultural expressions and religious faith. It was a War for the Gods.

However, even after centuries of warfare, and the inclination of Islamic invaders to spread their faith through the edge of their swords, a sentiment that was largely alien to Hindus, Islam could not definitively conquer the heartland of Hindudom. Whatever Hindus lost, they won it back and the damage was largely limited to the peripheries of Hindudom.

The entry of the British in the civilizational warfare between the two communities created a third front and that third front eventually came to dominate the Indian subcontinent. But even that third front was not enough to remove the differences between the two historically divergent communities.

Thus, the independence movement essentially represented three forces going against the British Empire. The Indian Independence Movement was not a ‘secular’ movement against the British regime. There were essentially three forces vying for power over the Indian subcontinent.

There was the Hindu Right, there was the Anglophile senior Congress leadership and then there was the Islamist faction seeking their share of the pie. Unfortunately for the Hindu Right, the most popular Hindu leader of the time, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was securely on the side of the anglophiles and thereby, their position was significantly weakened.

We know this to be true because of the events of the past. The transfer power eventually occurred between the British regime on one hand and the anglophiles and the Islamists on the other, thus leading to the creation of the Indian Secular State and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Syed Ahmad Khan: The founder of Aligarh Muslim University

The origins of the Islamist faction can be traced back to the Islamic Empires that existed before, and it is the accomplishment of the invaders that the Muslims of the late 19th century and early 20th century still relied on for inspiration. Similarly, the Hindu Right can be traced back to the Hindu Empires and Kingdoms of yore, the Marathas and the Rajputs and others.

Of course, the ‘first war of independence’ in 1857 were fought between the descendants of these kingdoms and empires against the British. Thus, the memory of those empires significantly contributed to the vision that these factions harboured for themselves and their position in history that they deemed to occupy.

Direct Action Day: Contribution of Syed Ahmad Khan
Syed Ahmad Khan (source: Cultural India)

Such a worldview, of two different nations, was first articulated by Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. He said as far back as in 1876, “I am convinced now that Hindus and Muslims could never become one nation as their religion and way of life was quite distinct from each other.”

Seven year later, he said again, “Friends, in India, there live two prominent nations which are distinguished by the names of Hindus and Mussalmans…To be a Hindu or a Muslim is a matter of internal faith which has nothing to do with mutual relationships and external conditions…Hence, leave God’s share to God and concern yourself with the share that is yours…India is the home of both of us…By living so long in India, the blood of both have [sic] changed.”

Of course, it has now become fancy among ‘secular’ political circles to deny Syed Ahmad’s proclamation of two nations and attribute it to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar instead, so that the Islamist contribution to the events of Direct Action Day can be whitewashed.

The Partition of Bengal

Prior to the Partition of India along religious lines, one province of British India was already made to undergo such a partition four decades ago. We are obviously referring to the Partition of Bengal, 1905.

While Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India, claimed that it was purely administrative reasons, he soon let the cat out of the bag when he pointed out to the citizens of East Bengal that he saw the newly created province as ‘Muslim’.

Indeed, Bengal was split into two and East Bengal was joined with Assam and West Bengal with Bihar and Odisha. It had a two-fold impact. It created a ‘Muslim’ state, according to the words of Lord Curzon himself, and simultaneously, it made Bengali Hindus a minority in their own land, as they were then outnumbered by Biharis and Odiyas.

The Bengali Hindu elite, or Bhadraloks as they were called, was one of the most influential communities in the political circles of that era. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, one of the most formidable foes the British had to face, was a quintessential ‘Bhadralok’.

Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India during Partition of Bengal

‘Bhadraloks’, although it means ‘Gentlemen’, has traditionally referred to the landed Hindu elites of Bengal. While the term is often misconstrued as a caste-specific term, the fact of the matter is that since the initial days, the term has undergone great changes in its meaning and now it simply means just that, ‘Gentlemen’.

It is the elite class of Bengali Hindu society that every Bengali aspires to, regardless of their caste. And the term is used for everyone who occupies the elite class of Bengali Hindu samaj, regardless of their caste.

The Partition of Bengal, by reducing the Bengali Hindu community to a minority in the Bengal province, was designed to undermine the influence of Bhadraloks. As such, there was great resistance against the same and soon, it turned into a resistance at a national level.

After much resistance, which often employed violence as a tool against oppressors, the British regime had to roll it back six years later. Muslim leaders of the time had enthusiastically supported the partition while Hindus opposed it. And the reversal of the same caused much anguish to the Muslim leaders of yore.

The Success, and Failures, of the Partition of Bengal

After the rollback of the Partition of Bengal, the capital of British India was transferred to Delhi, which was perceived to be more secure than Kolkata. Historians have noted that had the Brits refrained from pushing through the harebrained scheme, then they could have avoided a lot of trouble that came their way.

The move also meant that the Bhadraloks of Bengal adopted a hardline stance towards independence and issues between Hindus and Muslims. On the other hand, Muslims who espoused the two-nation theory, and that was practically every Muslim leader of the time with influence, tasted their first success which would only galvanise them in the future.

Also, the national movement against the Partition of Bengal meant that the Muslim leaders concluded that the Indian National Congress was a vehicle for Hindu interests and that their desire for supremacy will not be accommodated within the Congress fold.

It is only a few years after that we see a clear wedge appearing between the Congress and the Muslim leaders of the time.

The next phase of events that led to Direct Action Day

The next phase of events, which led even the Hindu Right to conclude that the differences between the leadership of two communities could not be reconciled, began with the abolition of the Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate.

The Khilafat Movement, which was launched in India, to demand the restoration of the Ottoman Caliph, gained widespread support of the Indian Muslim community. The movement exacerbated the already existing differences between the two communities and made Hindus intrinsically aware of the threat of Islamic radicalism.

Soon after, there was the Moplah genocide of Hindus as well. Undoubtedly, although the official demand for a separate Islamic state was made much later, there were sufficient indications it was a distinct possibility since the 1920s.

The momentum culminated with the Pakistan resolution of 1940 but there were a lot of events that happened between 1918-1940 that deserve much greater elaboration.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani calls for re-mobilisation of armed forces against the Taliban, speculations of his resignation turn out to be false

OpIndia Staff
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani calls for re-mobilisation of armed forces against the Taliban, speculations of his resignation turn out to be false

On Saturday (August 14), Afghan President Ashraf Ghani made his first public appearance after the Islamist terror outfit, Taliban, intensified its offensive and got hold of key territories. Dozens of border crossings and provinces have fallen into the hands of the Taliban since the US announced to withdraw its troops by August end.

In a pre-recorded message, the Afghan President called for the remobilisation of armed forces, following their crushing defeat at the hands of the Taliban. He emphasised that it was the topmost priority of the Afghan government. Ashraf Ghani said, “Under the current situation, remobilizing of the security and defence forces is our top priority and required measures are underway for this purpose.”

He also informed that the government is in touch with ‘local leaders’ and ‘international partners’ to resolve the ongoing human rights crisis. The Afghan President said, “I know that you are concerned about your present and future but I assure you as your president that my focus is to prevent further instability, violence, and displacement of my people. To do this, I have started widespread consultations within and outside the government, with political leaders and international partners and I will soon share the results with the people.”

The president said that he will not allow the imposed war on Afghans to bring further killings, loss of the gains made in the last 20 years, destruction of public property and continued instability. 

Afghan President refuses to resign as speculated

It was earlier being speculated that the President would tender his resignation today and leave the war-torn country with his family. But, contrary to the assumptions, Ashraf Ghani did not resign from the post of President. It must be mentioned that the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, known to be sympathetic to the Taliban cause, had earlier claimed that the Islamist terror outfit would not negotiate until Ghani left Office.

On Friday, Afghan Vice-President Amrullah Saleh informed about a high-level national security meeting chaired by President Ashraf Ghani. He informed, “It was decided with conviction and resolve that we stand firm against Taliban terrorists and do everything to strengthen the national resistance by all means and ways. Period, We are proud of our ANDSF (Afghan National Defense & Security Forces).”

Afghanistan at the verge of Humanitarian crisis

In Afghanistan, the Taliban offensive has resulted in a massive humanitarian disaster. In the last two months, the resurgent Taliban have gained more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since they were ousted from power in 2001. According to reports, the escalation of the war in the last two months has displaced over 60,000 households across war-torn Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. At least 17,000 families have sought refuge in Kabul, the Afghan capital, which is also under siege by Sunni Pashtun rebels.

The incredible speed at which the Taliban has been grabbing large swaths of land in Afghanistan since the US and NATO forces announced their withdrawal from the war-torn country after 20 years of presence, raises concerns about how long the Afghan government will be able to hold control of the remaining areas of the country. According to reports, nine provincial capitals and three towns have been captured by the terrorist group on Tuesday alone.

According to Reuters, US intelligence analysis says that at this rate, Taliban militants could isolate Afghanistan’s capital in 30 days and possibly take it completely over in the coming 90 days. Islamist groups currently control around two-thirds of Afghanistan, with 11 provincial capitals under their control or on the verge of doing so. As the Taliban capture more areas, imposing Islamic Sharia law and executing opponents, civilians from those areas are rushing to the capital.

‘Fans do not deserve this’: Rwanda President Paul Kagame trashes Arsenal management after defeat against Brentford

OpIndia Staff
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‘Fans do not deserve this’: Rwanda President Paul Kagame trashes Arsenal management after defeat against Brentford

Rwanda President Paul Kagame could not control his emotions after Premier League team Arsenal suffered a humiliating defeat against the newly promoted side Brentford on Friday.

On Friday, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, a die-hard fan of Arsenal FC, took to Twitter to let out his frustration against the club management due to the continuous disappointing performance by the English soccer team. Kagame was left gutted after the Gunners suffered a 2-0 defeat against Brentford on the first day of the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta’s side was defeated by the newly-promoted side Brentford with goals from Sergi Canos in the 22nd minute and Christian Norgaard in the 73rd minute at Brentford Community Stadium.

Following the loss to Brentford, the Rwandan President poured his pain on his social media page by calling out the management, saying that the club’s fans do not deserve that.

“What?? It’s football, it’s a loss for Arsenal against Brentford. Brentford deserved to win and they did. The game itself aside, Arsenal and the fans don’t deserve to kind of get used to this….NO!!! I say this as one of the big fans of Arsenal. The change has taken too long to come,” Paul Kagame wrote.

After another disappointing performance by the English soccer team, Kagame wondered why Arsenal does not have a working plan, especially when it comes to buying new players.

“It’s been a struggle of about decade(s) – ups and downs – more downs until this point. Can’t we have a plan that really works? One part to look at is how we deal in the market – players we buy to execute the plan. The touch & go mentality does not bring change,” he tweeted.

It is worth mentioning that Rwanda is one of the sponsors for Arsenal FC. Rwanda has paid an undisclosed amount as a fee to extend its sponsorship deal with Arsenal FC as the government intends to boost its tourism prospects through partnerships with European football clubs.

The Rwandan head of state also stated that Arsenal fans should not accept mediocrity, insisting those in charge of the club understand the problem and take the burden.

“A team has to be built with a purpose to win win win. So that when we lose…it was not to be expected!” Kagame continued.

“I am sure we all know on whose shoulders the heaviest burden rests. I hope they know too or even accept it,” Kagame said, ending his series of tweets expressing disappointment over Arsenal’s ongoing collapse.

Muslim man thrashed in Kanpur for attempted forced conversion of Dalit woman? What we know so far

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim man thrashed in Kanpur for attempted forced conversion of Dalit woman? What we know so far

Three persons have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police after the residents of Kacchi Basti area in Kanpur allegedly beat up a man in the middle of the road over the allegation that he was forcing a Hindu woman to convert to Islam.

According to reports, a man identified as Afsar Ahmad was allegedly roughed up by the residents of Kanpur and allegedly made him chant “Jai Shri Ram” over suspicion that he was forcing a Hindu woman to convert to Islam. The incident had taken place at the Kacchi Basti locality in the Barra area of Kanpur on Wednesday.

The purported video of the incident had gone viral on the internet, in which some people were seen allegedly beating Afsar Ahmad while his five-year-old daughter pleaded with them to let her father go.

Reportedly, the residents of the Kacchi Basti had thrashed Ahmad, an e-rickshaw driver, accusing him of raising anti-national slogans. The police had rescued Ahmad and taken him and his daughter to a police station.

Following the incident, Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun had said the three men were arrested on Thursday night for allegedly attacking Ahmad. The police added that one of the arrested, Aman Gupta, has affiliation to the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). The police had registered a case based on a complaint filed by the victim.

Kanpur: Dalit Woman accuse Afsar Ahmad of forcefully converting Hindus

However, the residents of the neighbourhood have revealed that the man was beaten up for pressurising Hindus to convert to Islam. A woman, who is a Dalit, has alleged that Afsar Ahmad was pressuring her to convert to Islam. She said that she had approached the police and registered a complaint, however, no action was taken.

As police failed to act against her complaint, she went to the Bajrang Dal and met the outfit’s district organiser Dilip Singh. The Hindu activist also reportedly confirmed that the Bajrang Dal interfered after the woman accused Ahmad of forcefully converting her to Islam.

“Two days ago, we filed a complaint of religious conversion with the police, but they did not take any action on it. Since the police did not take any action, today, we took action,” Dilip Singh said.

Dalit woman had accused Muslims of the area of stalking and harassing her daughter

According to Swarajya journalist Swati Goel Sharma, the residents who thrashed Afsar Ahmad were mostly Dalits. The journalist added that the attack case is connected to another case complaint filed by a Dalit woman accusing some neighbouring Muslim youths of stalking and harassing her minor daughter.

Earlier, the police had said that the assault on Ahmad was linked to a dispute between two families belonging to different communities who live in the slum where the incident took place.

According to the journalist, Afsar Ahmad is said to have had no role in the harassment case, and he happens to be a relative of the Muslim men who were booked in the case filed by the Dalit woman. She added that two of the three men arrested were Dalits.

On Friday, all the three accused were released on bail by police as they were booked under IPC sections which had a jail term of fewer than seven years.

Abandoning Afghanistan: Why should an Indian trust a word that liberals say about human rights concerns?

Abhishek Banerjee
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Abandoning Afghanistan: Why should an Indian trust a word that liberals say about human rights concerns?

Joseph R. Biden Jr. has begun his innings as President of the United States with possibly the worst, most humiliating military defeat for America in history. But you would not know it if you looked at CNN.

Most transformative president since Roosevelt? Yes, as America begs with Taliban to spare its Embassy in Kabul, what better than to compare Biden to the president who defeated the Nazis and liberated the whole of Europe? What should we call America’s retreat from Afghanistan? A Normandy landing in reverse?

Because of their geographical situation, Americans are not used to attacks on their own soil by foreign enemies, at least not since the 20th century. They have Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, both friendly and subservient nations. In the mid-1800s, the US realized that keeping European colonial powers out of the Americas was in their best interest. This resulted in the ‘Monroe doctrine,’ which states any outside intervention on the American continent (whether North America or South America) is essentially an attack on the United States itself. America worked out all its territorial disputes early and always in its favor, such as during the 1846 US-Mexico war, when the short-lived Republic of Texas, along with most of modern day California and New Mexico were absorbed into the union.

From the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, America came to believe that they owned all the land in between. In this stretch, wherever they encountered Native American nations, they destroyed them all. This cultural belief came to be known as ‘manifest destiny.’

So when 9/11 happened, Americans had no frame of reference to describe it. Except for comparisons to Pearl Harbor. After Pearl Harbor, the US sent its troops to every continent. They knocked out the Japanese in Indochina, the Nazis all across North Africa and Western Europe. They ended the Nazi regime, put its leaders on trial for war crimes and had them hanged. Then, they organized a massive reconstruction program (Marshall plan). They reconstituted western Europe with stable democracies throughout.

We are just a few weeks short of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Where does America find itself? Begging with the Taliban. Most transformative president since Roosevelt, you see…

Of course, the author of that article on CNN is one Jeffrey Sachs, who as you can see, is some academic leech at Columbia who knows which side his bread is buttered. His bootlicking is pathetic, but hardly uncharacteristic for CNN, the New York Times, NBC, CBS or the Washington Post. In fact, in America’s privileged liberal circles, bootlicking Biden is now a highly competitive sport. If anything, “Professor” Jeffrey Sachs will have to do a lot better to polish his resume. How about comparing Biden to generals Eisenhower or Patton?

One can compare this to Vietnam, but the Afghanistan defeat is even worse than that. In Vietnam, America managed to achieve a decent interval of about two years between troop withdrawal and the fall of the South Vietnamese regime in Saigon. At least, there was a ceasefire at the moment when US troops were leaving Vietnam. Here, the enemy isn’t even waiting for the Americans to withdraw before rampaging across the country. In Vietnam, Kissinger worried over the shame of losing to what he considered a “third class peasant state.” Here, America has lost to something much worse.

Why did this happen? Failure of strategy? That whole thing about Afghanistan being the ‘graveyard of empires’?

Don’t let the elites at CNN or Columbia fool you with such myths. America failed in Afghanistan because it was a hopelessly corrupt superpower getting eaten up on the inside by its own elites. The official cost of the Afghanistan war is $900 billion over at the Department of Defense. Where did this money go? How come the Afghan military, supposedly trained and supplied by America, is folding before Taliban without even a fight?

I will tell you where the money went. It went into the pockets of defense contractors, who have more lobbyists deployed in Washington than military personnel that the US ever deployed in Afghanistan. In fact, the US military is not even what you might think it is. The official death toll in Afghanistan is 2,442 personnel. But that does not include some 4000 Americans who were fighting for “private security contractors” employed by the US government. Yes, they look like soldiers, they use tanks and everything, but they are not government soldiers. Yes, they in America outsourced the war itself. And, by the way, the Pentagon does not track the deaths of these “private security personnel.”

If you are picturing only the big defense contractors and weapons manufacturers in your head, you are wrong. Even a small supplier who hands out pens, notebooks and literature for mediapersons at Pentagon press conferences hopelessly inflates the cost. The American taxpayer pays up. The gravy train stops at every station, where the driver and the guard open the locks for the chest to be raided.

Who says America lost in Afghanistan? The elites made a killing.

At the peak of World War 2, the US was producing more than one complete ship a day. Seriously, look it up. They called them “Liberty ships.” Try doing that today.

In diplomacy, the most difficult balancing trick is to frame your foreign policy in moral terms. Everyone nation negotiates in their own self interest. That may sound clever, but it is really a trade off. One reason the US has so many allies around the world, while China does not, is that the US has been successful in framing its policy in terms of moral principles. As America leaves Afghanistan in the lurch, what does it do to their credibility? Why should anyone ever trust the US again?

Especially, all the Indian liberals, who shake their fist at Modi government, are you watching? Are you watching as the liberal American government abandons the people of Afghanistan? Where is your Kamala Harris, or even better, the great humanitarian Meena Harris? Remember how Meena couldn’t sleep because police used water cannons in Delhi? What does Meena Harris have to say on Afghanistan now? Perhaps I need to buy a shirt or key chain or some such merchandise from Meena’s online store before she’ll say…

Tell me why, as an Indian, I should trust a single word in the New York Times or Washington Post. Why should I believe your Freedom House and its so called democracy and press freedom index? How do I know you liberal elites feel for me? You are letting the barbaric Taliban carry out mass executions of your allies in Afghanistan.

So when I see India criticized on the front page of the New York Times, I can only wonder about your interest in my country. What do you have in mind for India? Regime change?

Trump was straight with everyone else. He said ‘America first.’ It was literally in his campaign slogan. He saw the Afghan war was not in America’s interest and so he decided to end it. But what do I make of liberal elites, who pretend to be running some international humanitarian regime?

You elites have plundered the ordinary American taxpayer. And you took the sons and daughters of the poorest Americans and sent them to fight halfway around the world, in Afghanistan, in Iraq and everywhere else. You sold contracts for the war and didn’t even keep track of how many of your own died there. Now, when you are through, you leave the Afghan people to the barbaric Taliban and run away. You don’t care about ordinary Americans, nor about Afghan civilians, nor about the prestige of your country. Instead you rub your noses in front of Biden and flatter him with comparisons to Roosevelt. And I am supposed to believe that this corrupt bunch cares for the welfare of my country?

The USA faces a fresh Covid-19 surge powered by Delta variant, hospitals in southern states run out of beds

OpIndia Staff
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The USA faces a fresh Covid-19 surge powered by Delta variant, hospitals in southern states run out of beds

A resurgent wave of coronavirus has the United States in its grip as COVID-19 caseloads have seen a steady uptick, especially in the southern states. 

According to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average number of new Covid-19 cases in the USA has risen to 110,000 per day, about 25,000 more than a week ago. It’s the highest average since early February. The US on August 13, 2021, reported a staggering 1,86,840 COVID-19 cases, taking the 7-day case average to 1,28,537.

The latest coronavirus surge is driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, which has already ravaged India, Australia and many other countries. CDC officials claim 93 per cent of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States are due to the Delta variant.

Overall, 36 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States since the start of the pandemic last year. Deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States have now surpassed 617,000.

The resurgence of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States is powered by the unprecedented number of cases recorded in the southern states, including Alabama, Nevada and Texas.

The US may also witness a spike in COVID-19 related hospitalisations and deaths over the next four weeks, the country’s public health agency CDC has warned.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published ensemble forecasts on Wednesday pegging 9,600 to 33,300 new confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions likely reported on September 6 and 3,300 to 12,600 new deaths likely reported in the week ending September 4.

As per a report published by CNN, eight southern states account for 15 per cent of the total hospitalisations seen in the United States. These states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, Mississippi and Texas. Between them, the combined total makes up 51 per cent of the total patients, despite the region accounts for 24 per cent of the nation’s population.

Southern US states see a sharp rise in COVID-19 related hospitalisation, with Texas being worst-hit

Texas is among the worst-hit states with the recent bout of coronavirus outbreak as the frontline workers are overwhelmed and critical equipment stretched dangerously thin. Apparently, the surge is also driven in the states with relatively low vaccination rates, with Texas ranking in the bottom third of the country for vaccinations.

In Austin, the state’s capital, city and county officials issued an emergency alert system over the weekend to inform residents with the warning that the hospital situation is critical, as the number of available intensive care unit beds in a metro area rapidly dwindled into single digits. Authorities fear that if the current trend persists, Austin might witness a record number of deaths due to COVID-19.

A tent set up at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston, Texas

The situation in Texas has reached such a stage that the hospitals in the state are now preparing tents in anticipation increased number of patients. However, the hospitals still face a shortage of manpower to attend to all the patients, and it will become worse when they start admitting patients in the tents also.

However, COVID-19 cases in Florida swelled despite having vaccinated 71 per cent of its adult population with at least one shot. On Tuesday this week, the state broke the record again for hospitalisations at 15,169. For weeks, the state was significantly below the national average.

CDC revises its infection numbers for Florida after combining cases reported on multiple days into one

Misinformation has also added to the rising panic amidst a new spike in coronavirus cases. On Monday this week case, the CDC misreported the number of infections reported in Florida over the span of three days and portrayed it as cases registered for two days. CDC reported 56,633 infections over two days and divided it into two days for a record 28,317 and 28,316, surpassing the previous mark of 23,903 Friday. However, the numbers were later corrected, with the CDC issuing a clarification that they had mistakenly combined infections reported on multiple days into one.

In the revised count, the CDC said the total cases’ increase is 56,393, including 21,487 Saturday and 19,584 Sunday. On Monday, it said the two-day total was 56,633. Adding to the further confusion, it listed the three-day total as 56,386. The cumulative total is 2,782,060.

Liberals accuse PM Modi of ‘polarising’ Independence Day by remembering horrors of partition: Here’s why they are so angry

K Bhattacharjee
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Liberals accuse PM Modi of ‘polarising’ Independence Day by remembering horrors of partition: Here’s why they are so angry

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that the 14th of August, henceforth, shall be recognized as ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’. It is the first time in the history of Independent India that the horrors of the partition of the country in 1947 has received institutional recognition from the highest seat of government in the country.

Naturally, certain people are not too happy with the development. Atul Khatri, apparently comedian, but terribly unfunny if he is indeed one, questioned who even wanted to remember the horrors of partition, in a tone that mocked the Prime Minister of India.

Source: Twitter

Apart from the comedian, there was also a former journalist who took offense at the recognition of the horrors of partition. She accused Prime Minister Modi of polarising Independence Day through the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.

Source: Twitter

Then there was the Stanley Pignal who claimed that Prime Minister Modi was celebrating “Partition Horrors Celebration Day”. It appears he does not realise that people do not celebrate horrors, they recall them with solemn remembrance as a memory of the tragedy that they were forced to endure.

Source: Twitter

Of course, there are some Pakistanis who are not pleased as well. But that is only to be expected as the date collides with their independence day. Nonetheless, there is good reason why people of a ‘secular’ bent are not happy with the official recognition of the horrors of partition.

The foundation of Indian Secularism is built atop the corpses of Hindus who were raped, massacred and butchered during the Independence Era. Post-independence, we were fed a heady cocktail of Congress propaganda that valourised their struggles against the British, and totally negated the fact that they were utterly incompetent at preventing the atrocities committed against Hindus.

In order for their political careers to succeed, the Congress tried extremely hard to create an ‘alternative history’ for the citizens of India where the horrors of partition were relegated to the dustbins of history.

Instead, Jawaharlal Nehru was presented as Marvel’s Iron Man without the suit and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Even those who had actively participated in the horrors were either pardoned or accommodated into the newly created Indian Union.

But be that as it may, the partition of the country affected every single Indian, whether directly or indirectly. And after 74 years, we have crores of citizens who are descendants of those who had to endure the horrors at the time and of those who had to flee their native land and migrate to India to secure a better future.

A tragedy of that scale could never be washed away. With the passage of time, however, maintaining a silence over the horrors of partition has become a cornerstone of Indian Secularism because, apparently, speaking of the tragedy would ‘spark communal disharmony’ and ‘hurt Muslim sentiments’.

On one hand, it is claimed that Indian Muslims had nothing to do with partition and on the other hand, it is claimed that speaking of the horrors would cause communal disharmony. It just does not make any sense, but then, neither does Indian Secularism.

As a wise man once said, “What began as a tragedy shall end as a farce.” According to Indian liberals, Islamists worldwide are always the victims and never the aggressors and therefore, we must not broach any subject that might portray them in a negative light.

Denial of the tragedy of the Hindu community is, obviously, the cornerstone of the brand of Secularism liberals espouse. They fail to realise that the reason why Indians hate Pakistan is due to the events of the partition era. They fail to realise that the dream of Akhand Bharat is so alluring to so many because a significant section of Indians have their ancestral lands in places that today lie in Bangladesh or Pakistan.

They fail to realise that mere pages of history books cannot silence the cries of millions and millions of people. Prime Minister Modi only paid homage to those who had to endure torture beyond recognition during the partition of the country. And in doing so, he has institutionalised a part of our history that has remained buried for far too long. It was long overdue, indeed, but it is better late than never.

Had to ‘fall at the feet’ of bureaucrats to get permissions: Serum Institute chairman Cyrus Poonawalla says no ‘maska polish’ required under PM Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Had to ‘fall at the feet’ of bureaucrats to get permissions: Serum Institute chairman Cyrus Poonawalla says no ‘maska polish’ required under PM Modi

Serum Institute of India’s chairman Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, father of CEO Adar Poonawalla, has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi while reminiscing how life was not easy for vaccine makers before his regime, as he had to “fall on the feet” of bureaucrats and drug controllers to get required permissions for vaccine launch.

The founder-chairperson of the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) was speaking after receiving the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2021 on August 13 (Friday). He was conferred with the award for his contribution to the health sector as well as the vaccine production in the country.

‘Licence-raj’ curtailed under PM Modi’s regime, no need for ‘maska polish’: Serum Insitutue’s Cyrus Poonawalla

The SII chairman said during the event that unlike earlier, there is no need to do ‘maska polish’, referring to appeasing officers in charge, under PM Modi’s regime. This, he said, is the reason why Serum’s Covishield was launched so quickly.

“Serum Institute was founded in 1966 the morning after my marriage with Villoo, my dear late wife, to whom I dedicate this award. Fifty years ago, the industry faced hardships in getting basic facilities like power, water and getting permission from bureaucrats. It had to face harassment from bureaucrats…I was not supposed to say this,” he said recalling the governmental and bureaucratic hurdles during the UPA regime.

He hailed PM Modi for curtailing the prevalent “licence raj and “red-tapism”. Dr Cyrus Poonawalla added: “Transport and communication were also great problems and challenges that were faced by my staff and fellow directors…It was a long journey and a very painful one, which has now become very rewarding. I had to fall at the feet of bureaucrats and drug controllers, etc, to get permission. But I must stress that difficulties, red tape are much reduced now under the Modi government.”

Appreciating how PM Modi has encouraged the sector and assisted it to grow, the chairman of Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker by the volume of doses it produces every year, further said: “Certainly, one of the major reasons why we could launch our vaccine so quickly was forthcoming grant or permission, encouragement to industries as the licence raj has come down considerably. We have got a drug controller, who responds in the evening even after office hours. There is no need for ‘maska polish’ now”, added Dr Poonawalla.

Cyrus Poonawalla dedicated the award to his late wife Villoo and said that he has received numerous awards in the United States, the United Kingdom, but the Lokmanya Tilak award is very special to him.

Congress created hurdles for Serum Institute and others during the swine flu epidemic

For the uninitiated, Cyrus Poonawalla, who is the father of SII CEO Adar Poonawalla, founded the Serum Institute of India in 1966. Ever since the pandemic broke out necessitating countries to roll out vaccines that prevent COVID-19 on an urgent basis, Cyrus Poonawalla’s Serum Institute has been at the forefront of India’s fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

The world’s largest vaccine maker boosted mass production and helped immunise millions of people around the world with substantial government support under the Modi regime. SII presently produces 6.5 crore Covishield dosages per month (developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca).

However, the situation was entirely different when the country was hit with Swine influenza’s 2009 pandemic. At that time, the UPA government had left Serum Institute of India and other firms in the doldrums, despite its assurance of authorized marketing commitment (AMC) to procure H1N1 vaccines.

Congress, left-liberal lobby at the helm of creating vaccine hesitancy in India

After successfully derailing plans to mass vaccinate the people against swine flu, the Congress party along with its vicious lobby held on to the agenda of hindering India’s vaccination drive against Coronavirus. Fuelled by a collective hatred for PM Modi, they targetted the vaccine manufacturers in a bid to demoralize them.

Goa NCP President instigated Sao Jacinto Island residents not to allow Indian Navy to hoist tricolour, Congress objects to Independence Day event

OpIndia Staff
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Goa NCP President instigated Sao Jacinto Island residents not to allow Indian Navy to hoist tricolour, Congress objects to Independence Day event

Nationalist Congress President in Goa, Jose Phillip D’Souza instigated the residents of the Christian-dominated Sao Jacinto Island residents to not allow the Indian Navy to hoist the tricolour on the Goan island on the occasion of Independence Day. As the politician made a bizarre claim that the Indian Navy was trying to take over the island from the locals, the plan to hoist the tricolour was dropped by the navy to avoid any controversy.

According to the reports, it has been revealed that the Indian Navy had to cancel the Independence Day event at the Sao Jacinto Island after the local NCP leader brainwashed the residents not to allow them to enter the island by claiming that the Navy was trying to “capture the island” and drive them out of Sao Jacinto.

On Friday, the Indian Navy had to abandon its plan to hoist the tricolour on Sao Jacinto island in Goa after the residents objected to the Indian Independence celebrations organised by the forces.

The Indian Navy cancelled the unfurling of the national flag on the Sao Jacinto island, located South of Panaji, after the residents, mainly comprising of Christians, claimed they did not want any authorities from the Central government or the state government to carry out any activities on the island.

Objecting to the entry of the Indian Navy or any government officials, the residents had claimed that they are not opposed to unfurling the tricolour, but they would hoist the flag themselves.

Sao Jacinto Island, which lies south of Panaji, has predominantly Christian residents and houses two churches dedicated to St. Hyacinth of Poland (São Jacinto) and St. Dominic (São Domingo). The residents of the island have put up entry restrictions, and tourists are not allowed to visit.

NCP leader instigated local population against Indian Navy’s entry to Islands

As per the reports, NCP President Jose Philip D’Souza visited the island and made bizarre claims saying that the Indian Navy was planning to capture the island.

In the run-up to the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, a team from the Goa Naval Area had visited Sao Jacinto island to organise events to mark 75 years of independence. In a statement issued by the Indian Navy, it said this initiative was taken nationwide to instil a sense of patriotism and celebrate the run-up to the 75th year of independence. As a result, the Union defence ministry had asked the forces to unfurl the flag at various places, including islands, the Navy said.

A few days after the naval officials visited the island, NCP leader Jose D’Souza visited the island and instigated the local Christian population not to allow the Indian Navy to organise any events on Independence Day. The NCP leader also questioned the need for them to organise a flag-hoisting ceremony.

The Indian Navy has restricted locals from visiting certain islands having strategic importance around Goa, and D’Souza seems to have used this to feed into the fears of the locals.

“This is a plan to try and test our reaction before they capture this island,” said NCP leader D’Souza after mobilising some of the locals.

Communalising the national event, the NCP leader also claimed, “Take for example our religious traditions on Bat island, which the Navy has stopped us, fishermen, from visiting and continuing our traditions. We will not allow the Centre or the Navy to capture this island,” D’Souza said.

D’Souza gathered the residents of the island outside the church square, mostly Christians, to stage a protest against the flag hoisting ceremony planned by the naval authorities. The residents of Sao Jacinto island have claimed that the Indian Navy has sought no formal permission from the local authorities to conduct the flag-hoisting ceremony.

“Navy officers came here, and they said that they would hoist the flag on August 15. I want to say that whether they are from the Navy, government or any private company, we do not give this right to anyone (to hoist a national flag). The villagers are united against this. If the Navy, state and central government try to capture our island, then local villagers will never allow this,” D’Souza said.

Congress objects to Independence Day events at Sao Jacinto Islands

Not just NCP, even the Congress party is opposed to the Indian Navy hoisting the Indian flag on the Goan island on the occasion of Independence Day.

Responding to the controversy, on Friday, Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant had announced that such shenanigans would not be allowed. In a series of two tweets, Sawant announced that he has given the Indian Navy the go-ahead to continue with their original plan of hoisting the Indian flag on the Island.

“It is unfortunate and shameful that some individuals at St Jacinto Island have objected to Hoisting of the National Flag by the Indian Navy on the occasion of India’s Independence Day. I condemn this and want to state on record that my Government will not tolerate such acts”, said the Chief Minister.

CM Sawant further said, “I have requested the Indian Navy to go ahead with their original plan and have assured full cooperation from Goa Police. These attempts of Anti-India activities shall be dealt with an iron fist. It will always be Nation First”.

After Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant condemned the incident, saying that it was unfortunate and shameful that some individuals at Sao Jacinto Island were objected to the hoisting of the national flag, the Congress party took objection to his statements and went on to claim that the Indian Navy has already captured the islands.

Congress leader Shamila Siddiqui made bizarre claims questioning the presence of the Indian Navy on the islands and asked whether they had acquired it. She asked why could not the collector unfurl the flag instead of the Indian Navy hoisting the tricolour on the islands. She attacked the Goa Chief Minister accusing him of creating a confrontation that will have huge repercussions on Goans.

Residents claim Navy will take over the island, hands it over to private parties

Darrell Dsouza, who grew up on the island, said that the island consisting of about 200 families who have been hoisting the national flag every year. However, they are apprehensive about the Navy’s presence on the island in the light of their opposition to the Coastal Zone Management Plan in Goa and the Major Ports Authorities Bill, 2020, passed by the Parliament.

“We are not at all opposed to the hoisting of the flag. In fact, we told the officers of the Navy who came to the island to join us for flag hoisting on August 15,” said Dsouza.

He claimed that islanders, traditional fishermen, are anxious about the political intentions, which according to them, are against the interest of the island. Dsouza said that the islanders fear that the island will be taken over by government authorities and handed over to private parties for development once brought under port limits.

Captain Viriato Fernandes of Goencho Avaaz, an NGO turned political party, also defended the islanders saying that they have strong reasons to oppose the Navy’s presence in the islands. He claims that there is a ‘distrust’ among the residents of the island after the passing of the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) and the Major Port Authority Bill, 2020, in which the island has been included in the jurisdiction of the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).

“Recently, there were protests against the CZMP. They depicted the port limit, and the jurisdiction of Sao Jacinto island has come under the port. We have been opposing these port limits. The island has religious structures dating back to 1731, and we said it could not come under the port limit. Since then, people have become very vigilant, and with this heightened vigilance, the Navy’s presence made them more suspicious. The Bill and CZMP have caused distrust, and the people are suspicious about anyone coming to their island. That is the root cause. Otherwise, there would have them to panic like this,” Fernandes added.

Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

The Government of India is planning to celebrate “Amrut Mahotsav” – the 75th anniversary of India’s independence as a “people’s movement”. The Modi government has already started preparations for the 75th-anniversary celebrations and intends to organise several events to commemorate the historic event. The events will be managed by a national implementation committee which will be headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Navy will also be hoisting the national flag on 75 islands in the run-up to August 15. The Navy hoisted tricolour on various islands on Friday, including Campbell bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kavaratti in Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands, and the Anjadiv island off Karwar. Union defence minister Rajnath Singh virtually attended the flag-hoisting.

Twitter bows down to Congress demand, removes old notice on Rahul Gandhi’s Tweet that violated POCSO: Explainer

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter bows down to Congress demand, removes old notice on Rahul Gandhi’s Tweet that violated POCSO: Explainer

The official Twitter handle of the Congress party today tweeted a cryptic message – Satyamev Jayate. Consequently, a report in Mid-Day indicated that Rahul Gandhi Twitter account has been unlocked days after the tech-giant had locked his account, pending him deleting his tweet where he had compromised the identity of a 9-year-old rape victim.

The Mid-day report, quoting sources, said that several other accounts of Congress party leaders, who had tweeted the same picture that compromised the identity of a minor rape victim have also been restored.

When one checks Rahul Gandhi’s account, one sees that he has not tweeted yet. His last tweet by Rahul Gandhi was on the 6th of August. So how exactly do we know that Rahul Gandhi’s account has been restored and that Twitter has bowed down to Congress’ demands?

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted an image of him meeting the parents of the 9-year-old victim. We have already explained earlier how that is against the Pocso Act and also against the Juvenile Justice Act since it amounts to compromising the identity of the minor victim and the siblings the victim might have. NCPCR had then sent a notice to Twitter, asking the tech-giant to pull the tweet down given that it violated Indian laws. Following that, Twitter in Court had asserted that it had pulled the tweet down and locked Rahul Gandhi’s account.

Here is a screenshot of what the Twitter notice said after pulling down Rahul Gandhi’s tweet and locking his account.

Earlier notice from Twitter when Rahul Gandhi account was locked
Earlier notice from Twitter when Rahul Gandhi account was locked

The notice displayed after Twitter pulled the tweet down by Rahul Gandhi said “this tweet is no longer available”. This notice essentially meant that Twitter, on its own, had pulled the tweet down and made it unavailable to the public. However, Rahul Gandhi’s account had been locked and it would be unlocked if Rahul Gandhi deleted the tweet from his end as well.

When such a notice is served, the user (Rahul Gandhi in this case) would have got a notice on his account that asks him to delete his tweet, after which, his account would be unlocked, facilitating him to tweet again. However, till Rahul Gandhi deletes the tweet from his end, he would not be able to tweet further. In the meantime, Twitter, realising that the tweet was in contravention of Indian laws and also violated its own community standards, made sure that the tweet was not visible to anyone else. In place of the tweet by Rahul Gandhi, Twitter displayed the notice that said that the tweet was no longer available.

Since this notice was put up, no matter where a person tried to view Rahul Gandhi’s account from, that tweet would not be visible.

However, now, that has changed as Twitter has decided to bow-down to Congress.

When one tries accessing Twitter from Brave browser, changing IP settings to Japan, the tweet by Rahul Gandhi, that was earlier pulled down by Twitter, is now visible.

Tweet by Rahul Gandhi visible from other countries, Twitter bows to Congress
Tweet by Rahul Gandhi visible from other countries, Twitter bows to Congress

So how did this change happen?

When one looks at Rahul Gandhi’s account now from India, the notice that Twitter had earlier put up in place of his contentious tweet has changed from “This tweet is not available” to “This tweet by Rahul Gandhi is withheld in India in response to a legal notice”.

The notice visible now when one checks Twitter account of Rahul Gandhi, in place of the contentious tweet
The notice visible now when one checks Twitter account of Rahul Gandhi, in place of the contentious tweet

What does this change?

This means that Twitter has bowed-down to Congress and retracted on its previous notice. Essentially, this means that Twitter has now withheld the tweet in response to Indian laws but, Rahul Gandhi will now not have to delete his tweet to access his account again. Therefore, his contentious tweet compromising the identity of the minor victim will be visible from everywhere else, other than India, and Rahul Gandhi has escaped without any consequences and having to delete his tweet.

Times of India journalist has tweeted the supposed reason for Twitter catapulting to Rahul Gandhi. She says that Twitter has apparently for a consent notice from the parents of the minor victim that they are ok with their identity being revealed, thereby compromising the identity of their minor daughter who was allegedly raped and murdered.

However, Indian laws have no provision for the kin of the minor victim to waive the law off with a consent letter.

What does the law say and how Twitter is imposing its own code over Indian laws

Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 prohibits the disclosure of identity of a child in any form of media and Section 23 of the POCSO Act, 2012 also states that no information/photo of a child should be published in any form of media which could reveal the identity of the child. This information under Section 23 of the POCSO Act, 2012 includes his/her name, address, photograph, family details, school, neighbourhood or any other particulars which may lead to disclosure of identity of the child.

Section 74 of the JJ Act clearly states that no identifying information of the minor victim can be disclosed. It further says that the Board of Committee, as the case may be, which is holding the inquiry may permit such disclosure if it thinks it is in the interest of the victim. In most cases, it is the District Court Judge.

The POCSO Act is also clear with regards to the disclosure of the identity of a minor victim. 

Section 23 of the POCSO Act clearly states that no person shall reveal the identity of the child including his name, address, photograph, family details, school, neighbourhood or any other particulars which may lead to the disclosure of the identity of the child. 

Both laws have the provision for imprisonment and fine for those who break this law. 

In fact, the government had in 2018 clarified that these laws would also apply to victims who were dead. 

G Mohanty, media advisor to the NCPCR had said in 2018, “This is an important clarification made by the government as we have seen in many cases that glaring mistakes are made by police and media houses in many cases when it comes to children involved in sensitive cases. It is now clear that their reputation is to be protected even if they are dead.”

The JJ act also says that the violation of the provision can lead to imprisonment of up to six months or fine which may of up to Rs 2 lakh or both.

Speaking to OpIndia, NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo said that these laws are in place not just to protect the victim but also the siblings and other living relatives of the brutalised child. If the identity is revealed, it is possible that the other children of the house would be stigmatised and the reputation of the victim and the living relatives would be impugned. Therefore, even if the victim is dead, it is illegal to make any identifying details public. He further said that only District Session Judge can decide if the identity of the minor rape victim should be revealed if it thinks it is in the best interest of the victim. Further, he said that the parents too had no right to waive the law and allow the dissemination of such information.

It is therefore evident from the law that only a District Sessions Court Judge can allow the disclosure of the identity of the victim if it thinks it benefits the victim. The victim’s parents or Twitter has no right to determine whether the identity of the victim can be disclosed even if the parents give na consent letter.

Congress seems to be revelling in the fact that they have got the right, given by Twitter, to break the law of the land and get away with it, without even so much as deleting the tweet. Now, the identity of the minor victim can be compromised only by changing IP settings. That Congress and Rahul Gandhi consider this a “victory of the truth” proves how little they care about the victim and how much they care about playing petty politics over her brutal rape and death.

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