Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took to Koo app on Friday to state that Twitter denied him access to his account for almost an hour on the alleged grounds that there was a “violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA”.
His posts made on Indian social media app Koo came after social media giant Twitter blocked the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on the pretext of violating the copyright act of the United States of America.
“Friends! Something highly peculiar happened today. Twitter denied access to my account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA and subsequently they allowed me to access the account,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said on the Koo app.
Friends! Something highly peculiar happened today. Twitter denied access to my account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA and subsequently they allowed me to access the account.(1/7)
Suggesting that Twitter took action against him for asking the micro-blogging site to comply the new IT rules, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “No matter what any platform does they will have to abide by the new IT Rules fully and there shall be no compromise on that.”
“It is apparent that my statements calling out the high-handedness and arbitrary actions of Twitter, particularly sharing the clips of my interviews to TV channels and its powerful impact, have clearly ruffled its feathers,” the Union minister said.
It is apparent that my statements calling out the high handedness and arbitrary actions of Twitter, particularly sharing the clips of my interviews to TV channels and its powerful impact, have clearly ruffled its feathers.(3/7)
Ravi Shankar Prasad also said that Twitter’s actions were in gross violation of Rule 4(8) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 as they failed to provide him any prior notice before denying him access to his own account.
The Union Minister further said that Twitter’s actions “indicate that they are not the harbinger of free speech that they claim to be but are only interested in running their own agenda, with the threat that if you do not tow the line they draw, they will arbitrarily remove you from their platform”.
Twitter’s actions indicate that they are not the harbinger of free speech that they claim to be but are only interested in running their own agenda, with the threat that if you do not tow the line they draw, they will arbitrarily remove you from their platform.(6/7)
Micro-blogging site Twitter is yet again under the scanner for blocking the account of a Union Minister of the Indian government. Though the Twitter account of the Union Minister was visible for public viewing, Twitter did not allow anyone authorised to access this particular account to log in or make any post.
After almost an hour after blocking the Twitter account of the Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Twitter allowed him to access to his account with a warning message saying additional notices against his account may result in the account being locked again and potentially suspended.
Twitter unblocks Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s Twitter account with a stern warning/ Image Source: Ravi Shankar Prasad
Reportedly, the Indian government is unhappy with the brazenness of the social media company, which has been continuously enforcing its own rules while disrespecting Indian laws.
For years now, media organisations, both Indian and international, have diligently peddled propaganda against Hindu festivals and employed novel ways to disabuse Hindus of celebrating their festivals.
Be it the pollution bogey that they routinely pull out to guilt trip Hindus celebrating Diwali or maligning Holi as a festival that promotes molestation of women or cries of milk wastage of the occasion of Maha Shivratri, the media organisations have displayed single-minded zeal to cast a shadow on Hindu festivals and discourage Hindus from celebrating them.
Many media organisations who claim to religiously follow the principle of ‘secularism’ are often found indulging in blatant Hinduphobia and bashing of Hindu festivals while gushing over the festivals of other religions. The modus operandi espoused by such media outlets entails pontificating Hindus about the vices purportedly associated with their festivals and holding the festivals responsible for the perpetuation of those vices.
This was the tone and tenor with which media covered the 2020 festive season. People were made to feel guilty for celebrating festivals with propaganda that it will lead to a spike. Of course, now we know that not only did the spike never come, cases actually went down. pic.twitter.com/0H15XQwb9q
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) June 23, 2021
However, this procedure is exclusive only for the Hindu festivals while for the non-Hindu festivals, lofty ideals of brotherhood, peace, inclusiveness etc. are highlighted and glaring vices are intentionally swept under the rug.
With the advent of coronavirus outbreak, the media organisations got yet another avenue to mount their propaganda against Hindu festivals and dissuade Hindus from celebrating them.
Last year, just before the start of the festive season in October 2020, a slew of media organisations made a beeline to publish articles based on unfounded assertions to purvey frightening and ominous rumours about festivals sparking the second wave of coronavirus outbreak.
Source: Worldometer
Now we know that, both, daily new cases of Covid-19 and active cases continued to drop throughout the festive season in 2020.
Livemint
Published in October 2020, when the cases were steadily subsiding, an article in Livemint said India’s festive season had spawned fears of renewed coronavirus surge.
Source: Livemint
Deccan Herald
Then there was Deccan Herald, which scare-mongered about a possible spike in the wake of India’s festive season. Of course, the spike which Deccan Herald assiduously talked about, never came. Yet, no apology to vilify India’s festivals was issued.
Source: Deccan Herald
Hindustan Times
Similarly, The Hindustan Times also ran articles, compounding the fear among people who were looking at the festive season to compensate for the losses incurred due to coronavirus-induced lockdown earlier in the year. One article published by the HT wrongly claimed that loss of income and fear of spike in COVID-19 cases mark the arrival of India’s festive season.
Source: Hindustan Times
News 18
A report published in News 18 went so far as to claim that India’s festive season would result in such a tremendous surge in COVID-19 cases that it would surpass the United States in terms of total coronavirus cases. In reality, even after the disastrous second wave of coronavirus, India’s cases are much lower than that of the United States.
Source: News 18
Times of India
An article published in the Times of India appeared to provide an in-depth analysis on “why the festive season poses a big challenge for India now”. Far from posing a challenge to India, the cases dropped dramatically during the said time duration.
Source: Times of India
New Indian Express
The New Indian Express also published an article that said as the festive season is around the corner, the fear of a surge in COVID-19 cases in Karnataka has gone up.
Source: New Indian Express
India Today
India Today also ran a similar story linking the COVID-19 surge to India’s festival season even though there was no scientific basis to do so.
Source: India Today
The Hindu
The Hindu came up with woke terminology to predict a rebound in the COVID-19 outbreak amidst the festive celebrations. It said COVID-19 cases will spike if ‘SMS’ is not followed. SMS here meant Social Distancing, Masks and Sanitisation.
Source: The Hindu
IANS and Congress mouthpiece National Herald
IANS ran a story to make Hindus feel guilty for celebrating the festival of Diwali. It cited misleading figures to allege that there was a 30 per cent rise in the case following Diwali as if the only reason behind the purported spike was the festival. Many other media organisations, including Congress mouthpiece National Herald, reproduced the unadulterated version of the IANS reportage to slander Diwali as a possible reason for the rise in coronavirus cases.
Source: National Herald
ThePrint
A list of media organisations that issued false alarm over the resurgent wave of coronavirus outbreak cannot be complete with the inclusion of Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint. Ahead of the festive season around October 2020, ThePrint published an article issuing early warnings of a massive COVID-19 surge.
Source: ThePrint
The Quint
Another online portal, The Quint, jumped the gun and confidently predicted that the second wave of coronavirus outbreak is guaranteed because of the festive celebrations. Through an article, it suggested what should India do in case the COVID-19 caseloads increase dramatically during the festive season. Of course, this analysis was not required later as the COVID-19 cases continued to sink.
Source: The Quint
The festive season Covid-19 spike prediction failed spectacularly
Even experts got it all wrong when they predicted that the second wave of coronavirus would hit India in winter in the aftermath of the festive season.
Source: Times of India
New York Times
The Western media outlets, always on the prowl to belittle and defame India, jumped the bandwagon to guilt trip Hindus from celebrating their festivals. As the cases in India plummeted, the New York Times published a cautionary article, warning of a resurgent wave of coronavirus sparked by the festive season that never came.
Source: New York Times
Gulf News
Likewise, The Gulf News also partook in spreading rumours and inducing fear among people about the period of festivities about to begin in India around October 2020. An article published on its website said the COVID-19 outbreak in India might intensify on the heels of the festive season and elections.
Source: Gulf News
Associated Press
The Associated Press too forewarned that India’s COVID crisis might deepen following the festive season. Soon thereafter, many western media outlets carried the AP report to amplify groundless fear-mongering regarding the festival celebrations in India leading to a possible COVID-19 surge.
Source: Euro News
CNN
CNN cited “experts” to claim Diwali celebrations would usher in a new wave of coronavirus outbreak in India.
Source: CNN
The deep-seated Hinduphobia among the media organisations
Of course, all the above warnings proved out to be profoundly wrong and incredibly exaggerated. Not only did the second wave of coronavirus did not arrive until April 2021, the cases actually plunged during the country’s festive season. But this did not stop the media organisations from scare-mongering about a possible second wave of coronavirus due to festivals being celebrated in India.
There was no accountability whatsoever for the unsubstantiated claims made by the media organisations. Even after it was fairly evident that festivals played no role in powering another wave of coronavirus outbreak, the media organisations carried on with their business, unruffled by the fact that they had wrongly demonised the festive season and guilt-tripped Hindus into not celebrating their cherished festivals. In fact, after wrongly linking the second wave of coronavirus outbreak with the festive season, the media organisations had the gall of associating Kumbh Mela celebrations with the resurgent COVID-19 outbreak.
The unfounded claims over the 2020 festive season also demonstrates that the media was on the lookout for ways to blame Hindu festivals for Covid-19 surge. Their dreams did not come true in 2020 but when the second wave did arrive, it conveniently coincided with the Kumbh Mela for them and thus gave them the opportunity to fulfill their fantasies.
Normally, media organisations are supposed to issue an apology even for the minutest of errors. But, Hindu bashing and vilifying Hindu festivals have become par for the course for the media organisations that they did not even bother to issue an apology or remove the articles from their websites after it became manifestly clear that the festivals did not spark any subsequent wave of the coronavirus outbreak. These instances signify the Hinduphobic prejudice harboured and institutionalised by the media organisations across the world, including India.
Hours after a report by the Supreme Court-appointed oxygen audit team exposed how the Delhi government exaggerated the claims of oxygen shortage, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tried to trivialise the report’s findings with an emotional appeal.
In a tweet on Friday (June 25) afternoon, Kejriwal claimed, “My mistake is that I fought for the lives of 2 crore people.” He alleged that he was busy arranging for oxygen supply for Coronavirus patients when the other political parties (referring to BJP) were engaged in election campaigning. “I have fought and begged to ensure that people have access to oxygen supply.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Arvind Kejriwal
“People have lost their loved ones due to lack of oxygen supply. Don’t prove them liars. I am feeling bad right now,” the Delhi CM alleged. It must be mentioned that the audit team found that the Delhi government exaggerated the oxygen requirement in the national capital by more than four times during the April 25-May 10 peak period of the Covid-19 second wave. The audit committee also informed the Supreme Court that the supply of excess oxygen to the national capital could have caused supply constraints shortage for at least 12 states who needed it.
Manish Sisodia tries to discredit the veracity of the Supreme Court report, Opindia debunks propaganda
After allegations surfaced against the current political dispensation in Delhi, the State government defended itself by claiming that no such report existed. In a press conference, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia claimed that the Delhi govt had talked to the members of the Supreme Court-appointed audit committee, and they had said that they did not signec or approved any report. He alleged that the report was made in BJP headquarters, and it was being termed as oxygen audit committee report.
OpIndia exposed how the AAP government was lying and the Interim Report was covered by almost all media houses. It was revealed 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.
OpIndia had accessed the report, and it could be confirmed that the report existed, contrary to the claims of the Deputy CM. However, as it was only an interim report, it was not been signed by anyone. But the entire report was 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 were signed by Dr. Vijaydeep Siddharth, Hospital Administration, AIIMS Delhi.
It also has been revealed that the Principal Secretary (Home) of the Delhi govt, who is a member of the committee, was sent a copy of the report on 4th June itself.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Friends! Something highly peculiar happened today. Twitter denied access to my account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA and subsequently they allowed me to access the account. pic.twitter.com/WspPmor9Su
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.
Twitter’s actions 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 me any prior notice before denying me access to my own account: IT Minister RS Prasad (File pic) pic.twitter.com/EEsiK2qbX7
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.
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.
Today’s meeting with political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir is an important step in the ongoing efforts towards a developed and progressive J&K, where all-round growth is furthered. pic.twitter.com/SjwvSv3HIp
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.
माननीय श्री मनोज सिन्हा के पुत्र अभिनव और पुत्रवधू दीपाली के विवाह समारोह में शामिल हुआ, नवविवाहित जोड़े को शुभकामनाएं। pic.twitter.com/Z1a3iaAP3H
— Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) June 24, 2021
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.
So it was the wedding day of LG of J&K Manoj Sinha ji’s son & whole a day he was busy in PM’s meetings with J&K delegation..
Imagine someone staying away from family/home on such a special day.. Full respect to him for his diligence..??
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.
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.
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.”
