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NCPCR takes cognisance of OpIndia’s report on Fatehpur teacher’s revelations of mass conversion racket spearheaded by Umar Gautam

Jhankar Mohta
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NCPCR takes cognisance of OpIndia’s report on Fatehpur teacher’s revelations of mass conversion racket spearheaded by Umar Gautam

On June 24, OpIndia reported how a lady teacher named Kalpana Singh from Nurul Huda English Medium in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, had revealed how Umar Gautam, the prime accused in the Uttar Pradesh mass religious conversion racket, had visited the school she taught in with 20-25 other Maulanas in the year 2020, to brainwash them to adopt Islam. She also revealed how the accused tried to lure them by providing financial support.

Not only this, the teacher revealed how the school under Umar Gautam’s influence began teaching toddlers Urdu and Arabic in class. 

Taking cognisance of the report, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has written to the District Magistrate (DM) and the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Fatehpur district on June 25 (Friday) saying that the statutory body has taken suo motu notice of matter under Section 13(1)(j) in the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.

Letter written by NCPCR
Letter written by NCPCR

NCPCR takes suo motu notice based on OpIndia report

NCPCR said that the lady teacher named Kalpana Singh from Nurul Huda English Medium in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh has claimed that the school is teaching Urdu and Arabic to children of lower and upper kindergarten classes. She had informed that along with the Muslim students, the Hindu children were also being taught Namaz. When she opposed, she was humiliated by the management and later expelled from her job.

Sharing the link of the OpIndia report, NCPCR provided recommendations based on which the DM and SP of Fatehpur have been asked to carry out an enquiry and submit a report to the statutory body within three days.

The 4 recommendations made by NCPCR are as follows:

  • Whether the Hindu children studying in the school are being forced to follow a religion other than their own.
  • Whether the permission of the family members is taken before the Hindu children are included in the worship of other sects.
  • If any child studying in school has been converted, then information regarding it should be gathered.
  • Prima facie this case appears to be in serious violation of Article 28 (3) of the Indian constitution. In view of the seriousness of the matter, the statutory body ordered the DM and the SP of Fatehpur to take immediate action in the case and submit a report regarding the same to the commission within three days.

Fatehpur teacher made startling revelations about the mass conversion racket spearheaded by Umar Gautam

We reported the shocking revelations made by the Fatehpur school teacher Kalpana Singh. She had also revealed that she was thrown out by the school management for raising her voice against the mass conversion racket in which the young students and teachers were being brainwashed to convert to Islam.

Kalpana stated that after being expelled she had filed a complaint in Fatehpur’s Sadar Kotwali against the manager of the school- Sharif Maulana and his son Umar Sharif, under IPC Sections 406, 504 and 506. However, the police took no action against the school management and with time the matter was swept under the carpet.

Kalpana Singh is one of the many who have been victims of this country-wide religious conversion racket spearheaded by Mohammad Umar Gautam. Since the Uttar Pradesh police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad busted a religious country-wide conversion racket this week, more and more victim’s families are coming out to share their plight. 

As more and more revelations by the kin of the victims emerge, few aspects such as promising job and marriage to convert and the involvement of a foreign hand remain common factors. 

According to information available so far, the two prime accused, Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam and their organisation have been booked under Sections 420, 120 B, 153A, 153B, 295 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3/5 the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance-2020.

The rampant racket of converting people into the fold of Islam came to light after a deaf and mute son of a couple in Kalyanpur, Kanpur, was converted and sent to South India. Since then, thousands of cases of forcible conversions to Islam by the two accused have surfaced. The two reportedly made false promises of jobs and money in lieu of conversion.

Old videos surface in which Umar Gautam boasts of converting several people worldwide

Meanwhile, two old videos of Umar Gautam have surfaced before the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), in which he openly boasts about converting several people to Islam. Along with the videos, the ATS is also probing his organisation Islamic Dawah Centre (IDC) and its link with Pakistan’s ISI.

The ATS will be interrogating Umar Gautam and his aide Jahangir Alam, both residents of Jamia Nagar in New Delhi, about their claims in the videos and conversion programmes conducted by them and their links with Pakistan’s ISI during their seven-day custody remand that began on Wednesday (June 23).

The Oxygen Audit Interim Report that AAP claims does not exist was sent to Delhi govt official on 4th June: Details

OpIndia Staff
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The Oxygen Audit Interim Report that AAP claims does not exist was sent to Delhi govt official on 4th June: Details

After the Interim Oxygen Report prepared by a committee appointed by the Supreme Court said that Delhi’s Oxygen demand was four times the actual use, the Delhi govt had claimed that the Interim Report does not even exist. Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia addressed a press conference today after the interim report was reported by the media, and said that BJP leaders are attacking Arvind Kejriwal based on a ‘so-called report’ that does not exist. Sisodia had alleged that the report was prepared at the BJP office.

However, it was revealed that the Interim Report was submitted at the Supreme Court on 22nd June, and on the same day, it was also sent to the Delhi government.

Now, it can be confirmed that the Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi govt had received the report on 4th June itself. On that day, Dr. Randeep Guleria, the Director of AIIMS who heads the Sub-Committee for Delhi for Oxygen Audit, had sent the Interim Report to all other members of the sub-committee. The sub-committee consists of five members as per Supreme Court order forming a national task force on oxygen supply. Accordingly, the committee has representatives of a govt and a private hospital (AIIMS and Max), one official each from central and Delhi govt, and an official from PESO.

Email sent by AIIMS Director to the members with the Interim Report

Bhupinder S Bhalla, the Principal Secretary (Home) of the govt of Delhi, is the member of the committee from the Delhi govt, and the AIIMS director had sent him the Interim Report along with the other members of the committee on 4th June through email. The email had said that Interim Report was prepared after incorporating inputs/ objections/ remarks/ recommendations of all the members. This means, the Delhi govt had already submitted their objections and inputs before the committee, as the Delhi govt was represented by the Principal Secretary (Home) in the committee, and the same has been incorporated in the report.

While the Delhi govt claims that the report is not valid as it does not carry the signature of the members, the email by AIIMS Delhi director confirms that the report had concurrence of all the members, including the Delhi govt representative.

The report does not have signature of the members because it is an interim report, not the final report. But the entire report is based on the minutes of several meetings held by the sub-committee with various officials, and after incorporating objections, suggestions etc from all the concerned sides. The report also includes signed minutes of the meetings, and reports by PESO, based on which the report has been prepared. Therefore, it is unlikely that the final report will be much different from the interim report.

The Wire journalists booked by Barabanki police for spreading communal hate and fake news are Jamia students: Details

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire journalists booked by Barabanki police for spreading communal hate and fake news are Jamia students: Details

Uttar Pradesh Police said on Thursday that they have registered an FIR against leftist portal The Wire and three of its journalists for publishing propaganda regarding the Barabanki Mosque demolition case. The three journalists are Seraj Ali, Mohammad Anees and Mukul S Chauhan.

As it turns out, at least two of them are students of the Jamia Milia Islamia University. Seraj Ali studied at the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at the Jamia Milia Islamia University. The information was available on his Facebook account.

Screengrab of his Facebook profile

Another of the accused, Mukul S Chauhan, studies Bachelor of Journalism at the University as per his Facebook profile.

Screengrab of Mukul’s profile

In recent times, the University has been mired in a host of controversies. During the protests against the Citizenship Amendment, the Jamia Milia Islamia campus became the hub of violence, forcing the Delhi Police to enter its premises to flush out rioters.

Ladeeda Farzana and Aysha Renna, who became the face of the Jamia protests, were found to be Islamist bigots. One of them called India ‘fascist’ for executing Mumbai blast terrorist Yakub Menon and another gave a call for Jihad.

Barabanki Police files FIR against The Wire

The case was filed under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 505 (1) (b) (intent to cause or likely to cause fear or alarm among the public), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

In The Wire video documentary dated 23rd June, the portal had claimed that the district administration had illegally demolished the 100-year-old mosque in the city. The Wire had interviewed a few Muslims, who claimed that they were the members of the mosque’s committee. They had proceeded to claim that the members had proof that the structure was legal.

In its documentary, the Wire had stated that the Muslims in the area had protested against the demolition of the mosque and stated that the police officials had quelled by resorting to a lathi charge. The Wire had claimed that the Barabanki police specifically targeted the Muslim community and had thrown away their religious scriptures into the drain.

Refuting such allegations made by the Wire, the Barabanki police clarified that the claims made by The Wire were false. It further stated that The Wire was trying to stoke communal violence by propagating misinformation about the demolition of the illegal mosque at the site.

Twitter locks Ravi Shankar Prasad’s account amidst tussle with Indian Govt, IT Minister accuses platform of violating more laws: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter locks Ravi Shankar Prasad’s account amidst tussle with Indian Govt, IT Minister accuses platform of violating more laws: Details

Micro-blogging site Twitter is yet again under the scanner for blocking Union Minister of Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad for allegedly violating the copyright act of the United States of America.

On Friday, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad posted a tweet saying something highly peculiar happened to his account. The Minister said that Twitter had denied access to his account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA.

Though the Twitter account of the Minister was visible for public viewing, Twitter did not allow anyone authorised to access this particular account to log in or make any post, according to reports.

When the minister tried to access the Twitter account @rsprasad, Twitter sent them a message saying, “Your account has been locked because Twitter received a compliant Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Notice for content posted to your Twitter account. Under the DMCA copyright owners can notify Twitter claiming that a user has infringed their copyrighted works. Upon receipt of a valid notice, Twitter will remove the identified material. Twitter maintains a repeat copyright infringer policy under repeat infringer accounts will be suspended. Accruing multiple DMCA strikes may lead to suspension of your account.”

Twitter blocks Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s Twitter account/ Image Source: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Strangely, an hour later, according to the Union Minister, Twitter allowed him to access to the account with a warning message to the minister’s account stating, “Your account is now available for use. Please be aware that any additional notices against your account may result in your account being locked again and potentially suspended. In order to avoid this, do not post additional material in violation of our Copyright Policy and immediately remove any material from your account for which you are not authorised to post.”

Twitter unblocks Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s Twitter account/ Image Source: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Reacting to the incident, the Union Minister said that the micro-blogging site subsequently allowed him to access the account. Following the arbitrary action by Twitter, the Union Minister said that the actions by Twitter were in gross violation of Rule 4 (8) of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, where they failed to provide him with any prior notice before denying me access to his own account.

The Indian government is reportedly unhappy with the brazenness of the social media company, which has been continuously enforcing its own rules while disrespecting Indian laws.

Twitter blocks Minister’s account amidst its tussle with Indian government

Interestingly, Twitter blocked the account of Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who holds the portfolio of the Information Technology Ministry, which is in charge of enforcing the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

It is pertinent to note that Twitter Inc. is in the middle of a tussle with the Indian government over the new IT rules. Ever since the Indian government enforced the new rules, the micro-blogging site has failed to comply with the Indian laws and has been delaying the compliance.

As Twitter did not comply with the rules, the Indian government sent a barrage of notices to the tech giant to follow the Indian laws. As usual, Twitter asked for more time to follow the Indian laws. With Twitter failing to follow the rules, the Indian government promptly withdrew its intermediary status for not complying with the new Information Technology Rules, which came into force on May 26.

In addition to the non-compliance, the Uttar Pradesh Government has initiated action against Twitter India for failing to take down tweets that spread misinformation about a crime in the state. An FIR has been lodged against the social media platform in connection with the Loni incident after Twitter failed to flag the fake news put out by alleged fact-checkers.

In addition to the above, Twitter’s interference into India’s domestic affairs has largely increased as the micro-blogging site has taken an active interest in promoting content specific to a particular ideology and censured nationalist contents. In the name of fighting fake news, the micro-blogging site marked tweets put out by nationalist accounts, BJP leaders and even government accounts as ‘manipulated media’, angering the ruling government.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha skipped son’s wedding to attend PM Modi’s all-party meeting

OpIndia Staff
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Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha skipped son’s wedding to attend PM Modi’s all-party meeting

Several netizens took to Twitter to hail Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of Union of Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, for his outstanding commitment towards public service after it was revealed that the Manoj Sinha had skipped his son’s wedding to attend the crucial all-party meeting with Prime Minister to discuss the future of Jammu and Kashmir.

Social media users highlighted that J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was present at the all-party meeting with Prime Minister Modi on Thursday at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi, which was held on the same day as his son’s wedding.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an important with the various stakeholders of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to discuss the future developmental process to be initiated in the state. In the 3-hour meeting with political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi and several other leaders spoke about the way ahead for Jammu and Kashmir.

Manoj Sinha, who is currently the first citizen of the Union Territory, in his official capacity as the Lieutenant Governor of Union of Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, had participated in the all-party meeting held in PM Modi’s official residence in the national capital on Thursday.

However, only a handful of people knew that the Manoj Sinha had come straight out of his son’s wedding to attend the crucial meeting. It is being said that only after the completion of the meeting with PM Modi, Manoj Sinha left the Prime Minister’s residence to reach the wedding venue.

Senior BJP leaders and Union Ministers attended the wedding and posted the images of the event later in the day.

As the news surfaced that Manoj Sinha had not attended his son’s wedding to be at PM Modi’s residence to discuss the issues of Jammu and Kashmir, netizens hailed his commitment towards the development of the union territory and the country.

Several netizens paid their respects to Manoj Sinha for staying away from his family on one of the most important days of his personal life.

Manoj Sinha, who was the Minister of State for Railways in the first Modi government, was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir by President Ram Nath Kovind on August 6, 2020. He replaced former IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu who was appointed as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Manoj Sinha was also in charge of the Telecom ministry under the Modi government. The three-time from Ghazipur had lost the 2019 general elections to BSP’s Afzal Ansari.

Tamil Nadu: Science teacher Habeeb Mohammad arrested for sexually harassing class 9 student

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Science teacher Habeeb Mohammad arrested for sexually harassing class 9 student

A 38-year-old teacher working at a government-aided school in Mudukulathur, Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, has been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a Class 9 student.

According to the reports, the Tamil Nadu police have arrested the teacher, identified as A Habeeb Mohammed, on Tuesday after he was caught sexually harassing a Class 9 girl student during a phone call.

The police have accessed the audio clips of this purported conversation, in which a man allegedly identified as Habeeb Mohammed was heard making sexually inappropriate conversation with the child and inviting her to his house without her parent’s knowledge.

In the clips, the man is heard making vulgar comments about several other girls studying at the school. It is alleged that the teacher Habeeb Mohammed had tried to coerce the child into sexual activity in exchange for good marks. The girl had informed her family about the sexual harassment, who then filed a complaint against the teacher.

Upon receiving a complaint, a team led by Additional Superintendent of Police S Loyola Ignatius and Mudukulathur police investigated the issue. Mudukulathur police arrested Habeeb Mohammed based on the complaint, and an FIR has been registered under Section 11 read with 12 of the POCSO Act and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Following the incident, the Ramanathapuram district police have urged students who may have faced sexual violence from the teacher to come forward and give information about such cases.

Promising anonymity, the district police have urged other students to come forward and report the harassment meted out to them by Habeeb Mohammed. SP E Karthik has warned of stern action under the POCSO Act and Juvenile Justice Act against those involved in such crimes.

Meanwhile, Chief Educational Officer Sathya Moorthy said the accused teacher, who had served the school for nine years, has been suspended.

Twitter operated without committee against sexual harassment as required by the Indian law for more than six years: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter operated without committee against sexual harassment as required by the Indian law for more than six years: Report

For all its pontification on upholding individual rights, fighting for freedom of expression, maintaining propriety and sundry other things, Twitter India operated for over six years without a committee on sexual harassment to address grievances of employees, a report published on Sunday Guardian said.

India passed the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act in 2013. Under the law, organisations were required to set up an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to address allegations of sexual harassment.

However, until the end of March 2019, more than six years after the law came into existence, Twitter Communications India Private Limited had not put in place any anti-sexual harassment policy to tackle the cases of sexual harassment within the organisation. And this, despite two instances of sexual harassment taking place in Twitter India offices, one in Delhi and another in Bangalore, prior to March 2019, as per Twitter’s own submission with the Government of India.

In its filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on 19 September 2019 for the financial year April 2018-March 2019, Twitter mentioned that it had not complied with the anti-sexual harassment law passed over six years ago, in 2013.

The statement issued by the company had then read: “The company is in the process of setting up the Internal Complaints Committee as required under the said act. Similarly, the company is in the process of establishing its anti-sexual harassment policy as per the provision of the said act.”

It is worth noting that Twitter was incorporated in India in February 2013 while the anti-sexual harassment at workplaces law was legislated in December 2013.

Twitter India reported two cases of sexual harassment at workplace in six years of its existence

While Twitter remained noncompliant with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, for over six years, there were at least two reported incidents of sexual harassment in Twitter offices.

“Formal written complaint of sexual harassment raised by a Twitter employee in Delhi, X will be included as an IC member in relation to that complaint”, the filing submitted by Twitter India reads. IC here means Internal Committee. The name of the employee has been redacted and replaced with “X”.

The second complaint about sexual harassment at work place, according to Twitter’s filing, reads: “Formal written complaint of sexual harassment raised by a Twitter employee in Bangalore, A and B will be included as IC members in relation to that complaint.” The names of the employees are replaced by alphabets “A” and “B”.”

In its filing, Twitter mentioned that it constituted a five-member Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) comprising its legal counsel, employees from the human resource department and an external member.

As per the provisions of the law, violation of the Act attracts a penalty, including imposition of a fine up to Rs 50,000 and twice the amount of fine for repetition of the same offence. Furthermore, the law also includes provisions for withdrawal, non-renewal or cancellation of business licences, as the case may be, in case of repeated non-compliance.

Twitter’s response to questions asked over non-compliance of the anti-sexual harassment Act

The Sunday Guardian Live approached Twitter with a set of question over its non-compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013.

In its response, Twitter said: “Twitter does not tolerate sexual harassment at the workplace and has established an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in India to address sexual harassment complaints in accordance with Indian law. To date, the ICC has not received any formal complaints of this nature. We disclose this information in our annual filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, as required by law.”

Arvind Kejriwal govt tries to cover tracks, says Oxygen Audit Interim Report does not exist: Here is how they are lying blatantly

OpIndia Staff
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Arvind Kejriwal govt tries to cover tracks, says Oxygen Audit Interim Report does not exist: Here is how they are lying blatantly

After the Interim Oxygen Report prepared by a committee appointed by the Supreme Court said that Delhi’s Oxygen demand was four times the actual use, the Delhi govt has decided to defend themselves by claiming that no such report exists. Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia addressed a press conference today after the interim report was reported by the media, and said that BJP leaders are attacking Arvind Kejriwal based on a ‘so-called report’.

He claimed that no such report exists that the BJP leaders are referring to, and the BJP leaders are lying. He claimed that the Delhi govt has talked to the members of the Supreme Court appointed audit committee, and they have said that they have not signed and approved any report. He challenged the BJP to show the report that has been signed and approved by the members of the Oxygen Audit Committee.

He alleged that the report was made in BJP headquarters, and it was being termed as oxygen audit committee report. He harshly criticised the BJP leaders for alleged falsehood against the Delhi govt.

However, as always, the AAP govt is lying, as the Interim Report does exist which has been reported by almost all media houses, including the left-liberal ones that keep attacking the Modi govt. While Manish Sisodia only targeted BJP for the report, media houses like NDTV, Times of India, Business Standard, India Today and others had published reports based on the same Interim Report of the audit committee.

Now it has come to light that the Delhi Government was already informed about the interim report of the audit committee three days ago, and a copy of the same was also sent to them. BJP leader Sambit Patra posted a copy of an affidavit filed by the union govt at the Supreme Court, where it was mentioned that the Sub-Committee for Delhi for oxygen audit has submitted an interim report, and a copy of the same had been forwarded to the Delhi govt.

Affidavit confirming that copy of the interim report was sent to Delhi govt

Patra also posted the screenshot of an e-mail send to Delhi govt officials along with the affidavit on 22nd June.

BJP leader Vijender Gupta also informed that the interim report of the audit has already been submitted to the SC and a copy sent to the Delhi govt.

However, Manish Sisodia continued to claim that the report does not exist, and claimed the report that was submitted at the Supreme Court was prepared at the BJP office. He said that he will take up the matter at the SC.

OpIndia has accessed the report, and it can be confirmed that the report does exist, contrary to the claims of the Deputy CM. However, as it is only an interim report, it has not been signed by anyone. But the entire report is based on the minutes of several meetings held by the sub-committee with various officials, and those minutes have been included in the report as Appendix A. All those minutes are signed by Dr. Vijaydeep Siddharth, Hospital Administration, AIIMS Delhi.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14th May show that Committee had found the Delhi hospitals were submitting wrong data, based on which the Delhi govt was making exaggerated demand for oxygen. After correcting the wrong data, the Committee had found that the demand was 4 times the actual consumption. The minutes also mention how tankers had to wait long times as there were not enough storage capacities to store liquid medical oxygen in Delhi.

Therefore, contrary to the claims of the Delhi government, the sub-committee appointed as per Supreme Court order to audit Oxygen demand and consumption in Delhi has submitted its interim report, and a copy of the same has already been sent to the Delhi govt. As it is an interim report, it has not been signed by the committee members. However, it is unlikely that the final report will be much different from the interim report.

The fact will remain that the Delhi govt was demanding much more oxygen than what was required by it, which has been proved by several different aspects. Other states with similar Covid-19 case loads were using far less oxygen compared to Delhi. It was found that despite demanding more oxygen, Delhi govt was unable to store them, and the tankers had to wait for hours as the tanks were already full, which has caused a disruption in the oxygen supply chain in entire north India.

Kerala Women’s Panel chief MC Josephine resigns from post after rude behaviour towards violence victim sparks outrage

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala Women’s Panel chief MC Josephine resigns from post after rude behaviour towards violence victim sparks outrage

Kerala Women’s Panel chairperson MC Josephine has tendered her resignation from her post on Friday following the controversy over her rude and callouse response to a victim of demestic violence.

According to the reports, MC Josephine resigned from her post on the directions of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The CPI(M) reportedly demanded Josephine’s resignation a day after she had sparked a fresh controversy by displaying arrogance in front of an aggrieved woman on live TV.

Earlier this week, during a Malayalam call-in show, Josephine had snapped at a woman for complaining about domestic violence and had asked her to “suffer” for not approaching the police after being assaulted by her husband and mother-in-law. The incident occurred during a live phone-in programme that was held by a Malayalam news channel – Manorama news, where the chairperson was responding to people’s grievances.

The CPI(M) party members were reportedly upset over comments made by Josephine and had decided against defending her in the latest controversy even as she received widespread criticisms arose over rude behaviour. The CPI(M) party had taken up the matter very seriously, and held an elaborative meeting at the secretariat on Thursday. During the meeting, it was decided to demand her resignation from the post.

MC Josephine was serving as women’s panel chief since 2017 and still had 11 months left to her term.

The controversy:

On Thursday, a video went viral on the internet, in which Kerala Women’s Commission MC Josephine had displayed her arrogant behaviour against a domestic violence victim on live TV and asked her to “suffer” for not approaching the police after being assaulted by her husband and mother-in-law.

Josephine, who has a history of overlooking complaints made by victims in Kerala, was seen disinterested in addressing victims’ complaints. During the show, a lady named Libina had telephoned the women’s panel chief to complain against her husband and mother-in-law for domestic violence.

However, Josephine was seen behaving in a rude and angry manner with the victim. As she enquired regarding her complaint, the woman alleged that her husband would beat her up every day. In response, Josephine asked whether Libina had approached the police to complain about the violence.

As the woman responded with a ‘no’, Josephine arrogantly asked her to “suffer” for not going to the police to lodge a formal complaint.

The incident has triggered a storm of negative feedback on social media. Several people had condemned the insensitive behaviour of the women’s commission chairperson towards a victim of violence and her disregard for the victim’s mental state.

This was not the first time that MC Josephine has involved in such controversies. The left leader has a history of displaying her arrogance and insensitivity towards women victims, and there are allegations that she has protected Communist leaders accused of grave crimes against women.

After suicide attempt, Baba Ka Dhaba owner accuses YouTubers of pushing him into depression

OpIndia Staff
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After suicide attempt, Baba Ka Dhaba owner accuses YouTubers of pushing him into depression

On Thursday (June 24), Baba ka Dhaba owner Kanta Prasad accused ‘some Youtubers’ of pushing him to the brink of depression, reported The Indian Express. He made the allegations after being discharged from the Safdarjung hospital following an alleged suicide attempt.

In a statement made before the police, Prasad had claimed that several Youtubers called and coerced him to apologise to Youtuber Gaurav Wasan. He said that he fell into depression due to the alleged Youtubers. Although the police did not register a First Information Report (FIR), they initiated a probe into the role played by the unnamed Youtubers in abetting his suicide attempt.

Earlier, Karan Prasad, the son of the owner of Baba ka Dhaba, had claimed that his father fell unconscious after taking sleeping pills with alcohol. The family said that he was in depression due to the loss incurred to his business. While speaking about the matter, DCP (South District) Atul Kumar Thakur informed that Kanta Prasad’s condition is stable and that he has been discharged from the hospital.

Baba Ka Dhaba story so far: Fame, fund misappropriation, apology, reconciliation, and suicide

On 7th October 2020, a video was shot by YouTube channel Swad official’s Gaurav Wasan featuring Kanta Prasad and his wife. The duo was seen weeping over financial difficulties. The couple ran an eatery in Malviya Nagar, Delhi, and was facing a hard time due to lockdown. The video was shared widely by netizens and celebrities who urged everyone to help the couple. The small eatery was also extensively covered by mainstream media and donations poured in from all corners.

On 26th October, Youtuber Lakshay Choudhary came forward and alleged that Gaurav Wasan of Swad Official, who initially made the video of the elderly couple, has not yet paid them the donation money he collected on their behalf. Choudhary also alleged that several influencers gave their own account details instead of providing Kanta Prasad’s account details that led to a massive ‘scam’.

Wasan then posted a video presenting a cheque worth ₹2.33 lakh to Kanta Prasad. However, some netizens alleged that he had said in a video interview to another YouTuber that he had received over 20 lakh rupees for the cause. Netizens had demanded that Wasan should share images of his bank statement for at least a week from 7th October to show how much money he has collected. He later claimed to have transferred ₹3.78 lakhs to the eatery owner.

Kanta Prasad then filed a case, alleging that he has received a cheque of ₹2.33 lakhs from Wasan and has no idea about the remaining amount. The YouTuber accused the Baba ka Dhaba owner of defamation and said that he had given two cheques to Kanta Prasad, one of Rs 1 lakh and another one of Rs 2.33 lakhs. Besides, an amount of Rs 45,000 was transferred to Prasad via PayTM.

Following the controversy, Baba ka Dhaba owner started his own restaurant in Malviya Nagar, Delhi, where he served Indian and Chinese cuisines. However, he closed that venture and returned to his roadside stall as he was losing money in it. In a recent video, Prasad had tendered his apology to the Youtuber. On June 18, it was reported that Kanta Prasad allegedly attempted suicide and was found overdosed with sleeping tablets. He was then admitted to Safdarjung Hospital and has now been discharged.

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