A massive political row has erupted in Andhra Pradesh over the installation of a statue of tyrant ruler Tipu Sultan in Proddatur town in Kadapa district.
According to the reports, the Andhra Pradesh government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy has arrested several BJP leaders for protesting against the state government over the installation of the Tipu Sultan statue. On Friday, police arrested BJP state general secretary Vishnuvardhan Reddy and other party leaders for protesting against the government’s decision.
BJP leader and Andhra Pradesh in-charge Sunil Deodhar took to Twitter to condemn the arrest of BJP leaders by the Andhra Pradesh government. The Islamic tyrant Tipu Sultan, projected by certain political parties as a ‘secular’ leader, is accused of killing thousands of Hindus and demolishing Hindu temples.
I condemn the arrest of @SVishnuReddy & other @BJP4Andhra Leaders by CM @ysjagan for protesting against the illegal installation of devilish Islamic tyrant #TipuSultan‘s statue,Who killed thousands of Hindus & demolished hundreds of Temples. https://t.co/PmFvWfSZtS
Reportedly, the YSRCP MLA Rachamallu Siva Prasad Reddy had promised to install the statue of Tipu Sultan in Proddatur after several members of the Muslim community demanded him for the installation of such a statue.
However, the decision of YSRCP MLA has met with strong opposition as BJP leaders have warned against such installation and have said that they would demolish the structure if built. Meanwhile, the YSRCP has ignored the protests and has continued with the installation of the statue of the 18th-century tyrant of Mysore in Proddatur.
Why is Karnataka govt pulling down statues? asks YSRCP MLA
Speaking to the media, YSRCP MLA Rachamallu has defended the decision, asking if Tipu Sultan was really the tyrant and Hindu oppressor, why has the BJP government in Karnataka has not pulled down Tipu’s statues installed in the state.
“If it can be proved that Tipu committed such religious atrocities, I will express regret and disassociate from the project,” the YSRCP MLA said, who attended the foundation ceremony earlier this week.
BJP leader Vishnuvardhan has accused the YSRCP of indulging in vote bank politics at the cost of communal harmony. The BJP has said Tipu’s image could cause communal tensions in the state and added that the government should instead instal the statue of former president APJ Abdul Kalam statue in the town centre.
Not just BJP, even traders and civil society are against the installation of the Tipu Sultan. Busetty Rammohan, vice-president of AP gold and diamonds merchants association, said that they were not favouring a statue of Tipu, who has reportedly butchered Hindus. We will raise our objections if the work advances, he added.
Village Kasar in Bahadurgarh of Jhajjar district of Haryana is Brahmin dominated hamlet. Mukesh, 42, was a resident of this village. He had succumbed to burn injuries after fellow farmer protestors allegedly set him ablaze at the Tikri border protest site on Wednesday. Villagers say that this was a conspiracy to make him appear a ‘martyr’ against the farm laws.
Kasar village is on Delhi-Hisar road. When one moves towards Hisar from Delhi, one side of the road at the Tikri border is squatted by farmer protesters. They have built tents on roads and are currently residing there. Kasar village is on a road adjacent to this highway, known as bypass.
A road separates from the bypass which leads to Kasar village. There are fields on both sides of this road. A township project of Omaxe is underway nearby. There is a gymnasium at the start of the village. There are ponds, and a large field too. After this begins the settlement, in which one of the streets is the house of 70-year-old Jagdish Chandra. Jagdish Chandra is Mukesh’s father. When OpIndia reached this village on Friday (18 June 2021), a blanket of eerie silence swept the place. The villagers were still in shock over the horrifying fate of Mukesh.
When we tried to talk to grieving father, Jagdish Chandra, regarding the unfortunate incident, he refused to face the camera. Weeping bitterly, he painfully wondered about the future of Mukesh’s family. Mukesh is survived by his wife Renu and 9-year-old son Rahul. Mukesh was the eldest of three brothers. Jagdish Chandra is not as fortunate as the ones who are sitting on protests around the Delhi borders. His family does not have a piece of land to be put to use for agriculture. Chandra’s sons did odd works to feed their family. Mukesh worked as a driver. Because of the lockdown, Mukesh was idle and had no work. Thinking about his son who was burnt alive, Chandra says, “All I want is that those guilty should be punished and the government should take care of Mukesh’s family.”
‘Agitators burnt my son’: Mukesh’s mother
OpIndia talked to the bereaved mother, who is still finding it hard to come to grips with the reality that her son was allegedly killed by agitators pretending to be fighting for the rights of farmers. Shakuntala, Mukesh’ mother remembers her son left the house on Wednesday evening for a walk to the nearby field. When we asked her who killed her beloved son, Shakuntala says the protesters killed him. Mukesh had that evening gone for a walk to the nearby field, where farmers protesting against the three farm laws had put up their tents.
‘Sprayed petrol on my husband and set him on fire’: Mukesh’s widow Renu
Mukesh’s widow Renu said she was informed about the godawful incident by her brother-in-law. She says her husband was in good spirits when he left the house on Wednesday evening at around 5 pm. Renu says her husband even told her to prepare food as he would be back soon. She had asked him to take his mobile phone along with him, but he refused, saying he is going to return soon.
Surmising about the sequence of events that led up to her husband’s brutal murder, Renu says, “He might have gone there. Those people would have offered him alcohol and when he was in an intoxicated state, they sprayed petrol on him and set him on fire. He has sustained severe burn injuries. With whom shall I live now? We have a small child, who will support him now?”
When we asked Renu if Mukesh was a frequent drinker of alcohol, she said, “He used to drink but so much as to harm himself. These Sardar folks are lying, they have done this thing. These people are not farmers. These people are criminals. They are perpetually drunk and always under the influence of alcohol. It’s been a year, these people are not going from here. They have created chaos over here.”
On being asked if there was any dispute with the protesters before, Renu denied saying she was not aware of any disagreement with them. “I expect the government to punish the criminals. Whoever has done this to me should be punished. If the culprits are not brought to justice, I will go there and immolate myself. I will not come under anyone’s control. I will not forget this incident. Today, it has happened with my husband, tomorrow it will happen to someone else. For how long will anyone tolerate them?” Renu asked.
Mukesh’s younger brother Manjeet says a man from his village works at a petrol pump. He was the first to inform them about the incident at around 9 pm on Wednesday night. Manjeet says when they rushed to the spot, they found Mukesh with severe burn injuries. They took him to Civil Hospital Bahadurgarh and then to PGI Rohtak, where Mukesh died. Manjeet says, “At the civil hospital, we asked who was responsible for his condition. He told us there were three or four men. They had stopped him and warned him that they will “collectively” send him home.
Farmers put up tent near the highway close to Kasar village
‘The administration should remove this disease which is lying on the road’
For Manjeet, who lost his brother, those protesting at the Delhi borders are not farmers. He says farmers don’t wield sword and kill others, they plough their fields and feed the nation. According to Manjeet, Mukesh might have been murdered in the name of ‘martyrdom’ against the farm laws. He says the incident has left deep scars on the people of the village and everyone is angry with the so-called protesters. He further added that a one-week ultimatum has been given to the administration. Manjeet warns that if the perpetrators are not brought to justice then there will be a one-to-one fight with the protesters.
Manjeet, however, says his family is satisfied with the role of the administration in this matter so far. At the same time, he says they do not want to link this matter to caste and religion. All they want is that the guilty should be punished. “This is a disease which is lying on the road. If the administration does not remove it, many innocent lives will be lost,” Manjeet said while referring to the protesting farmers.
Speaking to OpIndia, the sarpanch of the village, Tony Kumar, said he received information about the incident at around 9 pm on Wednesday. He says, “Mukesh was badly burnt when I reached the spot. When we were taking him to Civil Hospital Bahadurgarh, he told us that a farmer sprinkled petrol on him and another one lit a matchstick. He also told their names. Krishna, Pradeep, Sandeep.”
Sarpanch says Rakesh Tikait responsible for triggering caste violence
The sarpanch further explains, “After taking Mukesh to the hospital, I came to the farmers’ tent and called after Krishna. A man came out who was in an inebriated state. When I told him Mukesh named him for setting him on fire, Krishna responded back with a casteist slur.” After this incident, Tony Kumar took to Facebook and claimed that Mukesh was targeted for being a ‘Brahmin’.
When OpIndia asked him why he believes that Mukesh was attacked because of his caste, the sarpanch said that he has a video of Krishna admitting that Mukesh was targeted because he was a Brahmin. Kumar also claims that BKU leader Rakesh Tikait is the mastermind of the entire conspiracy. Kumar cites Tikait’s anti-Brahmin remarks he had made in December 2020. “When their leaders spew venom, those below them are expected to do the same thing. I strongly suspect a conspiracy behind the death of Mukesh, orchestrated by the protesters to defame the government,” Tony said.
‘These are butchers, not farmers’: Village head Tony Kumar
Following the incident, Tony Kumar said that he does not want any farmer leader to come to their village. “These are butchers, not farmers. The administration is fully cooperating with us. We have given a week’s time for the removal of the tents put up by the farmers. If they are not removed in a week, we will take law into our own hands,” Kumar said.
The road from the bypass that leads to Kasar village
Kasar village’s contribution to ‘farmers’ protest
When inquired about how the Kasar village is supporting the alleged farmers’ agitation, Tony responded that they fulfil the responsibility entrusted to them by the village khap. The main task, he says, is to collect donations from the village and give it to the ‘agitators’. Mukesh’s brother Sanjeet admitted to pooling money in the village for the ‘protesters’. However, the people in the village have refused to actively participate in the protests.
As per Tony, despite provocative statements made by Rakesh Tikait, the villagers have donated to the cause of the farmers. He says, “We don’t want to spoil the atmosphere. We want to maintain brotherhood. But they are trying to vitiate the atmosphere. Complaints of agitators harassing the people after getting drunk in the evening have become fairly common here.”
Villagers accuse protesters of molesting women
In the complaint given to the administration (copy of which is with OpIndia), the villagers have said, “For the last 6-7 months, the alleged farmers have created a ruckus on the road adjoining village Kasar. They come to the village and create chaos after drinking alcohol. They ride on tractors, molest women, and bully others. They should be removed from the periphery of village Kasar with immediate effect.”
Did Mukesh commit suicide?
Kisan Ekta Morcha has released a vague video claiming that Mukesh was troubled by homelessness and committed suicide. Mukesh’s family and the people of Kasar have rubbished this claim. Everyone has only one question: when the incident happened on Wednesday night, why was the video released after so long? The family says they have the last-minute video statement of Mukesh, which clarifies what happened to him.
Sarpanch Tony Kumar asks if Mukesh was not troubled when he left his house, then why did he go and set his own tent on fire? When he left the house, he had no money to buy liquor or petrol. Mukesh’s brother Sanjeet also says that he has a video of his brother’s statement, while the video released by farmers’ organizations is not genuine. Mukesh’s wife Renu claims that the voice in the video released by the Kisan Morcha is not of her husband. She says, “We were together for ten years. Won’t I recognize his voice?” Shakuntala also claims that the voice in the video released by farmer organizations is not that of her son.
Besides a horrifying tragedy that befell Mukesh, it is worth noting that farmer protests have also come under criticism for instances of rape and molestation being reported from the protest sites. On Republic Day this year, the entire country witnessed how the so-called protesters stormed the national capital and ran riot under the pretext of carrying out a peaceful tractor rally. It is not just Mukesh or his relatives that have suffered from the farmers’ protests. This pain is shared by people living in the villages close to the protest sites. Perhaps, villagers are persistently worried as to becomes the next victim of this conspiracy.
The Central Government has told the AAP Government in Delhi that it is in violation of section 12 of the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Central Government has said that the Delhi Government has not operationalized the Electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices at the fair price shops.
The Union Government said in its communication, “By not operationalising ePos devices at the FPSs (for transparent distribution of foodgrains), GNCTD is in violation of Section-12 of the Act. Reforms under TPDS are mandated under the Act to promote transparency and rightful targeting.”
Source: Suresh Nakhua. BJP Mumbai spokesperson
The letter continued, “In this connection, this Department has been continuously pursuing the implementation of ePoS distribution of foodgrains from all FPSs of Delhi for the last three years. More than 12 letters/DOs have been written to GNCTD from all levels in this department. However, the distribution of foodgrains in Delhi is still being done using old/manual register-based mechanisms.”
The letter by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs also mentioned that the non-compliance of the same is still blocking the implementation of the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) policy.
One week previously, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back at Arvind Kejriwal, calling his scheme of doorstep delivery of ration nothing but a “jumla”. In a press conference previous Friday, Ravi Shankar Prasad tore into Arvind Kejriwal accusing his government in Delhi of being under the control of the ‘ration mafia’ and claimed that the proposal to deliver subsidised ration to people’s homes is nothing more than a publicity stunt to promote a “scam”.
He asked that if Kejriwal is actually concerned about his people then why hasn’t he implemented Centre’s ‘One nation, One ration card’ scheme in Delhi. Prasad slammed the Delhi CM saying that until now, 34 state and Union territories have implemented the scheme.
As the conflict between the government of India and Twitter continues over the new Information Technology rules, the Indian officials of the microblogging site were questioned by the Parliamentary Panel on Information Technology on various issues. Not surprisingly, Twitter officials told the panel that its own policies were more important than the laws of India. However, the committee made it clear that the laws of the land are supreme, and the company will have to follow them.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had summoned the company officials to question them on “Safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space.” Accordingly, Twitter India’s Public Policy Manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor appeared before the panel on Friday.
According to reports, when the committee asked what the company follows, Indian law or its own policies, the Twitter officials replied that they follow their own policies, as they are equally important. By this, they implied that they won’t follow Indian laws if they conflict with Twitter policies.
At the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information & Technology, in response to the question — if Twitter India follows the law or the land, a Twitter representative said, "We follow our own policies": Sources
However, the committee members took a strong objection to it, and made it clear that the law of the land is supreme, not their policies.
The committee further asked the company why it should not be fined for violating the rule of the land. To this, the Twitter officials replied that it is following rules and had appointed an interim chief compliance officer. However, that is not as per rules, as the company has appointed an interim officer, while the rules clearly state that the officials must be employees of the company.
Twitter has consistently refused to comply with the IT rules, and due to its failure to appoint statutory officers according to the rules, it has already lost the intermediary status in India. Which means, it has lost the safe harbour given to social media companies, which shields them from any liability arising out of content published on their platforms.
The committee also asked about the position of Twitter India in the company and how much authority the Indian officials have in regard to important policy decisions. This is a very important matter, as the Twitter India officials have been insisting that they have no relations with Twitter Inc, and they are not responsible for actions like censoring content, blocking users etc.
Talking about the meeting with the committee, a spokesperson of Twitter said, “We appreciate opportunity to share our views before Standing Committee on IT. Twitter stands prepared to work with the Committee on important work of safeguarding citizens’ rights online in line with our principles of transparency, freedom of expression, and privacy. We will also continue working alongside the Indian Government as part of our shared commitment to serve and protect the public conversation”.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently granted anticipatory bail to a man who was booked by police for downloading and transmitting child pornographic content last year. The Court upheld that ‘even watching child pornography constitutes an offence’ but granted the bail because the accused was a one-time offender.
Madurai Bench of Madras HC grants anticipatory bail to a man, who was booked by police for downloading & transmitting child pornographic content last year
Court says ‘even viewing child pornography constitutes an offence’ but grants bail on grounds that he was one-time offender
Considering the factors that the incident was a one-off incident and the accused had fully cooperated with the police, the judge said that the custodial interrogation of the petitioner was unwarranted. The judge also cited the ongoing COVID-19 situation, stating that arrest is unnecessary and should be avoided. The court granted him bail but asked him to appear before the police as and when asked for interrogation.
The court was hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by P.G Sam Infant Jones of Madurai. The prosecution had filed a case against him, accusing him of browsing, downloading and sharing child pornographic content with his friend.
While granting anticipatory bail to the youth, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that the menace of child pornography could only be tackled if inculcate right values to their offspring.
Moral education and Bharatiya Culture could help in tackling the menace of child pornography: Madras HC
The Bench headed by Justice G.R Swaminathan cited Section 43 of the POCSO Act, 2012, which states that the Central and the State governments must take measures to spread public awareness about the provisions of the statute. However, he said this might not be sufficient in getting rid of the scourge plaguing society.
Justice Swaminathan said, “The ‘Big Brother’ watching us may not deter those who are determined to indulge in such acts of perversity. The system also may not be able to prosecute every offender. Therefore, it is only through moral education there can be a way out. It is only the ‘Bharatiya’ (Indian) culture that can act as a bulwark.”
The judge observed that viewing pornography in private does not constitute an offence. However, he added that child pornography falls outside the ambit of this liberty and amounts to criminal prosecution. Section 67-B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, penalises every kind of action about child pornography, the judge said.
The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested four Rohingya illegal immigrants from Meerut for running a sophisticated international human trafficking syndicate from inside the country. According to the Uttar Pradesh police, four Rohingyas – Hafiz Shamiullah, Azizul Rahman, Mohammad Ismail and Mufizur Rahman were nabbed by the Uttar Pradesh ATS on Friday. The four Rohingya Muslims, illegal staying in India, were caught running a notorious human trafficking syndicate and helped other illegal Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar infiltrate India.
Following the arrest of Rohingyas from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police revealed that these four arrested accused indulged in human trafficking of fellow Rohingyas, especially young girls, on the pretext of bringing them to India. The police said that the accused helped Rohingyas settled in Bangladesh to cross over to India with the help of forged documents such as Voter Id, Aadhar card, passports etc.
The four arrested Rohingya Muslims from Meerut, who are accused of running an international human trafficking syndicate/ Image Source: Uttar Pradesh police
The police said that the four accused charged money from fellow Rohingyas to bring them into India. In addition, the accused also got them employment in various parts of the country and took half of their salary as their share. The arrested Rohingya Muslim also helped innocent Rohingya women from Myanmar infiltrate inside India and later trafficked them to different parts of the world.
In addition, these accused also helped Rohingya Muslims to get Indian citizenship documents, said Uttar Pradesh police. They used cards given by UNHCR to apply for a work permit in the country and forged other documents sometimes to establish themselves as the legal citizens of the country, the Uttar Pradesh police added.
Based on credible electronic information, the Uttar Pradesh ATS raided their residence on Friday to nab the human traffickers. During the raid, the police officials seized illegal voter ID cards, fake Aadhar cards, duplicate passports and equipment from the accused residence in Meerut. The Uttar Pradesh ATS has unearthed a massive Rohingya syndicate, which could have potentially been a massive national security threat to the country in the coming days.
Uttar Pradesh arrests two more Rohingya Muslims from Aligarh
In a similar operation, the Uttar Pradesh police have arrested two more Rohingya Muslims from Aligarh on Thursday for living in India illegally for the past several years on forged documents.
According to reports, the two Rohingya Muslims were also allegedly involved in gold smuggling. The accused were identified as Mohammad Rafiq and Mohammad Aameen.
The police have seized a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card, Rs 770 cash, a mobile phone and six gold biscuits weighing 137 grams from the accused. The police suspect that the accused forged documents and supplied Indian residency documents to bring more Rohingya Muslims into India. However, they are yet to recover the fake Aadhaar cards used by them.
The two men have been booked under IPC sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) and the Foreigners Act.
Babloo Kumar, SSP ATS, said that the two Rohingya Muslims would be produced in the court and ask for police remand to uncover their nexus.
Two more arrested from Ghaziabad
A few days back, the Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested two Rohingyas named Noor Alam and Amir Husain living in Ghaziabad with forged papers last week. The duo was sent to a five-day remand to Lucknow where they made startling revelations during the interrogation.
It has come to light that a vendor operating from the Khajuri Khas area in Delhi had facilitated the illegal immigration of Rohingyas and settled them in Uttar Pradesh, as per the reports.
Following the arrests, ADG Law and Order Prashant Kumar had revealed that the Rohingyas have begun to settle in various parts of Uttar Pradesh with forged ration cards, PAN cards and voter ID cards. The illegal migrants are being used as vote banks for which they are receiving financial aid too.
DGP Kumar added that the Rohingyas have settled in every assembly constituency. With them having Aadhar cards, voter ID and other identity cards, it is difficult to differentiate them from the local population, he added.
Rohingyas caught in 2021
Reportedly Noor Alam was the brother-in-law of Azizul Haq, also a Rohingya, who was arrested by the ATS in January this year from Sant Kabir Nagar district. Haq had been living in India for 20 years on forged documents.
On February 28, Mohammad Farooq and Hasan were arrested from Aligarh following which Farooq’s brother was also nabbed from Unnao on March 01. Shahid was caught with fake Indian identity documents and 5 lakhs.
It is during this interrogation it was revealed that the Rohingyas have settled in thousands all across the state with the help of their relatives.
Most Rohingyas have been employed at slaughterhouses in Aligarh, Agra and Unnao as per the reports.
The Maharashtra police unleashed a brutal lathi charge against Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers for stopping the car of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar during a protest at Osamanabad district on Friday.
According to the reports, the ASHA workers continued their protests for the fourth day against the state government, demanding an increase in the monthly honorarium. Around 70,000 Asha workers in Maharashtra had launched an indefinite strike from June 15 against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state, demanding a pay hike.
In one such protest in Osmanabad, the ASHA workers confronted the convoy of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and managed to stop the car to submit their grievances. In the below video, it can be seen how the ASHA workers had jumped onto the street to stop Ajit Pawar’s car.
However, Ajit Pawar did not even stop his car to hear the grievances of the ASHA workers. Instead, the Maharashtra police attempted to pull the ASHA workers away from his car, as evident in the video.
As more ASHA workers circled Ajit Pawar’s car, the Maharashtra police unleashed the lathi charge against women ASHA workers to disperse the crowd and allow the Deputy Chief Minister to move away from the spot with ease. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope was also present at the spot during the incident.
Here is the video of the incident in which Maharashtra police can be seen beating up woman health workers on the streets of Osmanabad for confronting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister over his government’s failure to implement their promise.
Last year, during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government had promised these Covid warriors to pay Rs 4000 per month. However, the government failed to keep up their promise and paid them a meagre Rs 1,650 per month.
Hence, the ASHA workers hit the street in Maharashtra, demanding the government to fulfil its promises. During their protest, ASHA workers claimed that the state government has refused to hike their honorarium, claiming that they are facing a financial crunch.
A dissertation paper by a student at TISS-Hyderabad has come under the scanner for calling Kashmir “India occupied Kashmir”. The paper, written by one Ananya Kundu, was titled, “Engendering Conflict: Understanding the impact of Militarization, Conflict and Pandemic-Induced Lockdown on Domestic Violence in India occupied Kashmir”.
MA Project report has ‘Indian occupied Kashmir’ in the title itself. Respected @DrRPNishank kindly tell us why is TISS Hyderabad not defunded & de-recognized with IMMEDIATE EFFECT? @AmitShah ji why is this still continuing? This is being normalized in state funded institutions! pic.twitter.com/bHVsmiCiSF
The paper was supervised by Dr. Nilanjana Ray. The paper contains several other extremely problematic comments. The paper says, “Indigenous Kashmiri researchers have shied away from working on domestic violence since recognition of domestic violence as a serious gender-based concern in the valley will contribute to the larger Indian state rhetoric of vilifying Kashmiri men which will then validate the Indian state’s imperialist intentions on the pretext of “protecting” and “rescuing” Kashmiri women.”
The controversial paper (Source: Abhinav Prakash/Twitter)
In other screenshot shared by Abhinav Prakash, the paper argues that the invasion of Jammu & Kashmir right after independence was a ‘freedom movement’. “These freedom fighters took help from Pakistan to overthrow the rule of the Dogras. Hari Singh’s army was being defeated and the King who had now been overthrown sought assistance from India. What history terms as invasion was the freedom struggle of Kashmiris from foreign rule, just like India’s movement against the British,” the paper said.
It continued, “The area they were successful in freeing is referred to as Pakistan Administered Kashmir. India calls it POK or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir but the people living there refer to it as Azad Kashmir, a name which stands testimony to their fight for freedom against foreign rule and its partial success.”
The controversial paper (Source: Abhinav Prakash/Twitter)
In the end, the paper blames India for the domestic violence in Kashmir. The paper says, “All issues of gender-based violence in Kashmir are impacted by the on-going conflict and militarization. So in order to resolve the issue of gender-based violence, the conflict and militarization needs to be brought to an end. This will require the government to address the political aspirations of Kashmiris for self determination an autonomy.”
Thus, what the author effectively says is that domestic violence is caused by India’s “occupation” of Kashmir and to brought it to an end, Kashmir must me made independent. Thus, once again, the objective appears to be absolve the actual culprits of their guilt and lay the blame at the feet of the Indian Army and the Government. And such pearls of wisdom comes from the School of gender Studies at TISS.
The Ghaziabad police investigating the Loni fake ‘hate crime’ case, has sent a legal notice to Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari on Thursday, asking him to join the investigation. Accusing Twitter India of “provoking communal unrest”, the UP police directed Maheshwari to report to a police station at Loni Border near Delhi and record his statement within the coming 7 days. The notices were sent via mail.
Ghaziabad Police sent legal notice to Managing Director of Twitter India over viral video of an elderly man in Loni being assaulted with the intent of “provoking communal unrest”
The MD has been asked to come to the Police Station Loni Border & record the statement within 7 days pic.twitter.com/u5Ct8Omq6l
“Some people used their Twitter handles as a tool to spread hatred in the society and Twitter Communication India and Twitter Inc did not take any action against them. They let the anti-social messages go viral,” the notice sent to Mr Maheshwari read.
The UP police had filed three FIRs against Twitter India on June 15 for failing to flag the video with unverified claims and allowing their platform to be used to fake news that was being used to spread communal hatred. Alt News co-founder Zubair, Rana Ayyub, The Wire, Salman Nizami, Maksoor Usmani, Sama Mohammad and Saba Naqvi have also been booked for spreading misleading and fake news.
The UP police have written to Twitter India seeking details of accounts who first shared the misleading video. It asked the microblogging site to provide the name, user ID and the IP addresses of those handles which shared the video.
Speaking further on the matter, Ghaziabad SP Iraz Raja told Mirror Now that the 7 others who were named in the FIR would be served legal notices shortly. “That is under process. We are first taking it up with Twitter, then the other 7 Twitter users would be served notices”, said the Ghaziabad SP.
Speaking on the discrepancies in the case, the Ghaziabad SP said that the victim hid particular details from them. He also revealed that investigations are on to recover the video and mobile phones.
Uttar Pradesh police file FIR against The Wire, Alt News cofounder Zubair, Rana Ayyub, Twitter India and others for fake ‘hate crime’
OpIndia reported on June 16, that the UP police had registered an FIR against Alt News cofounder Muhammed Zubair, The Wire, Rana Ayyub, Twitter and others for trying to stoke communal tension by making false claims that an elderly Muslim man was beaten up and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. While Zubair, Rana Ayyub, The Wire, Salman Nizami, Maksoor Usmani, Sama Mohammad and Saba Naqvi have been booked for spreading misleading and fake news, Twitter was booked for the lack of action against these seven and allowing usage of its platform to spread fake news.
The police action against Twitter was initiated just as the social media giant lost its intermediary status in India for failing to comply with Indian laws under the new IT rules under the extended time that was granted to it.
The FIR has been booked under Sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion etc.), 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approval rating is highest among the list of popular global leaders, a survey conducted by American data intelligence firm ‘Morning Consult’ revealed. PM Modi’s approval ratings stood at 66 per cent, which is better than world leaders of 13 countries including the US, UK, Russia, Australia, Canada, Brazil, France and Germany.
The ‘Morning Consult’, which regularly tracks approval ratings of world leaders, recently tweeted results of its latest survey. PM Modi outperformed all other political leaders around the world with a 66 per cent approval rating. The second position was bagged by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (65%), followed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (63%), Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (54%), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (53%), US President Joe Biden (53%), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (48%), UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (44%), South Korean President Moon Jae-In (37%), Spanish Spain Pedro Sánchez (36%), Brazilian President Jaire Bolsonaro (35%), French President Emmanuel Macron (35%) and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (29%).
With a sample size of 2,126 adults in India, the Morning Consult Global Leader Approval Rating Tracker that was updated on June 17 showed 66 per cent approval for PM Modi while 28 per cent of the respondents disapproved of him.
The current rating, even though better than other world leaders, is 16 percentage points lower than the approval PM Modi enjoyed in August 2019, days after his government annulled the archaic Article 370 and paved the way for greater integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the union of India. PM Modi had then polled 82 per cent of approval ratings in a survey conducted by Morning Consult.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar took to Twitter to announce that PM Modi continues to remain at the numero uno position among the list of democratic leaders with the highest approval rating.
“People and the world have faith in PM Shri @narendramodi’s leadership. The approval rating of Shri Narendra Modi is the highest among all top democratic world leaders. PM Modi the leader of #NewIndia,” Javadekar tweeted.
People and the world have faith in PM Shri @narendramodi’s leadership. The approval rating of Shri Narendra Modi is the highest among all top democratic world leaders.
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 18, 2021
Methodology adopted by Morning Consult to arrive at the approval ratings
Political Intelligence is Morning Consult’s proprietary platform that provides real-time polling data on elections, elected officials and voting issues. Morning Consult conducts more than 11,000 daily interviews globally about leadership approval and 5,000 daily interviews with registered voters in the United States, about the presidential and congressional election.
Revealing its methodology to arrive at the ratings, the American data intelligence firm said the daily global survey data is based on a “seven-day moving average of all adults in a particular country with a margin of error of between +/- 1-3 per cent.” “All interviews are conducted online, among nationally representative samples of adults. (In India, the sample is representative of the literate population),” it said on its website.
It further added that the surveys are weighted in each country by age, gender, region, and education breakdowns in certain countries based on official government sources. “In the United States, surveys are also weighted by race and ethnicity. Respondents complete these surveys in languages appropriate for their countries,” it added.
