‘Dalit Christians’ in Tamil Nadu have expressed their anger against Vatican church authorities for appointing a non-Dalit Christian as the bishop of a ‘Dalit-majority’ diocese in Salem, Tamil Nadu.
According to reports, the decision of Pope Francis to appoint Father Arulselvam Rayappan of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore as the next bishop of Salem has angered ‘Dalit Christians’ in the city.
On May 31, Pope Francis had appointed 60-year-old Father Rayappan, who is currently the professor and director of the Centre for Canon Law Studies at St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute in Bengaluru, as the new bishop of Salem diocese, where ‘Dalit Christians’ are in the majority.
For decades, ‘Dalit Christians’ have been demanding the appointment of ‘Dalit bishops’ in the vacant dioceses of Tamil Nadu as there is only one bishop from the Dalit community in the city, where the majority of Christians are ‘Dalit Christians’. ‘Dalit Christian’ is referred to as those who have left Hinduism to convert to Christianity in the past and are still categorised as Dalits in Hinduism.
Disappointed with the appointment, Father Z Devasagaya Raj, the former Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), has said that people are disappointed by the appointment of a non-Dalit bishop for the Salem Diocese as they were demanding the appointment of a Dalit to the post.
‘Dalit Christians’ accuse Vatican Church of promoting nepotism
Accusing the Vatican of nepotism in the current appointment, Mathew, the convener of Tamil Nadu’s All Dalit Christian Movements Coalition, said, “It looks like some kind of nepotism is going on because the newly appointed bishop of Salem is the cousin of Bishop Peter Abir Antonysamy of Sultanpet, who is also the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. They both belong to the same caste, parish, and village. It reminds us of the medieval Church. Are we going forward or backward?”
Another ‘Dalit Christian’ activist, M Mary John, head of the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement, stated that the movement demanding ‘Dalit bishops’ in the state for the last three decades has received a setback by the latest appointment to the diocese.
Expressing his disappointment with the latest appointment, John said, “We have full proof of writing letters to the nuncio and other bishops urging them to appoint a Dalit bishop whenever a post is vacant, but unfortunately it was not even considered. It is very surprising and dejecting that after hearing and promising to grant our request, the higher authorities did not even take note of it.”
The community has long claimed to be victims of casteism.
The Guardian on Friday provided platform to ’eminent’ sculptor Anish Kapoor to foment Hinduphobia and peddle propaganda against the incumbent Indian Government. In his article, Kapoor compared the NDA Government at the Center to ‘Hindu Taliban’ and claimed that the Central Vista Project was an effort to ‘de-Islamify India’.
Anish Kapoor claimed, “Unsurprisingly, the Islamic origin of these buildings offends the current regime in Delhi. It is why the tyrant Modi and his henchmen are destroying it.” In reality, not a single heritage building will be demolished for the project.
Also, the language used here is enough indication of the animosity Anish Kapoor bears towards Narendra Modi. Given the animosity, it is only natural that he will reach wildly incorrect conclusions.
The Guardian article
Kapoor further continues, “It is an abomination that Modi’s hate-filled campaign to de-Islamify India is allowed to continue via the destruction of a world-class monument. Astonishingly, the UN heritage forum is silent and world heritage bodies have kept their mouths firmly closed.”
The UN heritage forum is silent because not a single heritage monument is being demolished. Also, the UN does not have any locus standing to comment on Indian internal matters. Given the factual inaccuracies in the article, it is quite astonishing that it passed the editorial muster of The Guardian.
Another matter to be addressed here is the claim that the buildings have ‘Islamic origins’. It is a matter of fact that the buildings to be demolished were built after independence, so how could they have ‘Islamic origins’? Or is it his claim that the Congress rule essentially represented Islamic rule over India?
Also, buildings like the Krishi Bhawan, Shashtri Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan are quite ugly rectangular edifices, not emblematic of great architecture by any measure. Thus, his overbearing fondness for them is quite amusing indeed.
Other gems from the article
Anish Kapoor also proceeded to call architect Bimal Patel a Nazi. He wrote, “Modi has appointed third-rate Bimal Patel as his architect. Patel will design its replacement much in the way that Albert Speer followed his Führer’s lead, but, of course, Patel does not have an iota of Speer’s talent.”
Is this The Guardian’s policy now? To provide platform to the unedited ramblings of a deluded mind to make libelous accusations against a professional? Kapoor did not stop there and compared the Central Vista Project to the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
The claim is so ridiculous that one can only laugh at it in derision. The Central Vista Project has been cleared to proceed by the Indian Judiciary itself. Furthermore, the need for a new Parliament was first highlighted by the Congress party.
Without any evidence, he claims, “The Indian courts have been pressured to acquiesce to this idiotic scheme and journalists and other commentators have been intimidated.” Kapoor also said that Narendra Modi is the “Aurangzeb of our times”.
The Mughal tyrant is infamous for his Jihadist ideology which motivated him to demolish Hindu Temples. He further said, “Modi’s Hindu Taliban needs monuments to itself in order to establish cultural acceptance and domination. Like all fascist-leaning politicians, Modi hopes that by controlling the images at the heart of the nation, he will form a new vision of his India, which places him at the centre alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.”
The rant concluded with, “The destruction of the parliament buildings represents the taking-over of the Indian psyche by a fascist regime. Its ultra-nationalist vision is of Hindu dominion over all Indians at any price, and Modi as its architect will rule India with his right hand raised in salute, palm open, mimicking the Hindu god Vishnu – among others.”
Not the first time Anish Kapoor has ranted against the Central Vista Project
It is not the first time that the ’eminent’ sculptor has ranted against the project. In May, he wrote for The Guardian, “The high court of India has been coerced into giving the go ahead to this hair-brained scheme in the last few weeks without consultation or due process.”
That particular rant included gems such as “Modi and his fascist government have commissioned architect Bimal Patel to redesign this central vista. This without consultation or any understanding or regard to the importance of Lutyens design.” And “Architecture is an effective propagandist tool.”
At least, he was honest enough to admit that his attachment towards the Lutyens architecture is due to its propaganda value.
Not the first time Kapoor has called BJP ‘Hindu Taliban’
The sculptor has been calling the BJP ‘Hindu Taliban’ since at least 2015. It was in 2015 that he said, “A Hindu version of the Taliban is asserting itself.”
He had said in the article for The Guardian, “India is a country of 1.25 billion people, including 965 million Hindus and 170 million Muslims. We have a long tradition of tolerance and, despite differences, have managed to pull our huge country together. But the government’s militant Hinduism risks marginalising other faiths and tearing apart these bonds. Many of us dread what might then happen.”
Anish Kapoor supports Teesta Setalvad
Interestingly, and perhaps not so surprisingly, Anish Kapoor also supports Teesta Setalvad. In the 2015 article, he said that Setalvad was being ‘harassed’ and ‘threatened’ with sedition charges. He described Setalvad as someone who “still seeks justice for the victims of communal violence in the state of Gujarat in 2002”.
Perhaps, he is not aware, or is deliberately feigning ignorance, but Setalvad is accused of siphoning off the funds meant for the Gujarat Riot victims. In 2015, the CBI had conducted searches at her residence and office related to the matter.
Television actor Pearl V Puri, best known for his role in the Hindi television serial Naagin 3, has been arrested last night on June 4 in an alleged rape case. The actor and five others have been taken into custody by the Malad police and are being interrogated.
They have been booked under Sections 376 AB (Punishment for rape on woman under 12 years of age) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 4, 8, 12, 19 and 21 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
The actor was arrested in a 2019 case, where the victim’s father had registered a complaint against six people for allegedly sexually assaulting his then 5-year-old daughter, in the pretext of getting her work in Television. The identity of the accused had not been revealed at the time the investigation began.
“The victim identified the accused recently, and after recording her statement, the accused has been arrested. After the identification of the accused, we have taken him into custody for further investigation,” said Sanjay Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone of Mira Bhayandar, Vasai.
The police said that the victim confirmed that she was initially raped in a car and then repeatedly raped by the accused involved.
He added that the accused would be produced in court later today.
Actors come out in support of TV actor Pearl V Puri
Following his arrest, a slew of celebrities from the television industry have come out in favour of the actor. Anita Hassanandani, Pearl’s former co-star, has come out in support of him. She wrote a post claiming that the charges levelled against Pearl are false and that the truth will be revealed soon.
She took to Instagram and showed support for the actor with a post that read, “Woke up to some nonsensical news bout @pearlvpuriI know him! It is NOT true … canNOT be true…. all lies. I’m sure there is more to it. And the truth will be out soon. Love you @pearlvpuri#ISTANDWITHPEARL“.
Indian television actress, Krystle D’Souza, known for portraying Jeevika Vadhera in ‘Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai’ too took to Instagram to write a post in support of the actor.
Soon #Istandwithpearl started trending on the social media site.
Pearl V Puri rose to fame after appearing in Ekta Kapoor’s films Naagin 3 (2018–19) and Bepanah Pyaar (2019–20).
He made his acting debut in the 2013 TV drama Dil Ki Nazar Se Khoobsurat and has since appeared in films such as Phir Bhi Na Maane…Badtameez Dil, Meri Saasu Maa, and Naagarjuna – Ek Yoddha. In Brahmarakshas 2, he played a pivotal role.
The Modi government has disbursed nearly Rs 76,000 crore directly to the bank accounts of farmers under the Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme (DBT) after procuring wheat from them during the ongoing Rabi marketing season.
According to the reports, the centre has procured wheat at an all-time high MSP value of Rs 81,196 crore during the current Rabi marketing season (RMS). The Centre has said that wheat procurement increased by 5.44 per cent, in comparison to last year’s total purchases.,
Interestingly, for the first time since the country’s independence, farmers from Punjab have received more than Rs 26,000 crore in their accounts directly. Haryana farmers have also received Rs 16,700 crore into their accounts.
It is worth mentioning that some farmers from Punjab, at the behest of the middlemen, have been opposing the three farm laws enacted by the centre to ease the procurement of food grains. In addition to their objection to farm laws, a few sections of farmers from Punjab were also against the direct transfer of the price of the crop to their bank accounts. However, after a herculean task, the centre has succeeded in convincing the Punjab government to initiate DBT in the state.
Punjab and Haryana last states to join DBT, highest procurement from Punjab
Punjab and Haryana are also the last two states to implement direct cash transfer of the minimum support price, and with this now, the online payment system has become universal across the country.
According to the food ministry, about 44.4 lakh farmers have benefitted from the current rabi procurement operations with an MSP value of nearly Rs 81,200 crore.
“It takes two to three days to transfer the amount to farmers’ account since there are so many transactions in a day. The amount released or paid is reconciled within a couple of days,” said an official.
In the current season, the centre has increased procurement of wheat procurement to 433 lakh tonnes, an increase of six lakh tonnes, and almost every state is reporting the highest-ever procurement. Last year the total procurement of wheat during the RMS was 390 lakh tonnes.
Of the total procurement, a major contribution has been made by Punjab 132.27 LMT, i.e, 32.17 per cent of the total procurement, which is also an all-time high. The centre has procured 84.93 LMT (20.65 per cent) from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh 128.08 LMT (31.15 per cent) till June 2.
“Paddy procurement in the ongoing Kharif 2020-21 season is continuing smoothly in the procuring states with purchase of over 799.74 LMTs of paddy up to June 2 against the last year corresponding purchase of 728.49 LMT. About 118.60 lakh farmers have already been benefited from the ongoing KMS procurement operations with an MSP value of Rs 1,50,990.91 crore out of which an amount of Rs 1,38,330.12 crore of MSP have been transferred directly into farmers’ account up to June 2,” the government said.
The Indian Government on Saturday issued a final notice to social media behemoth Twitter for compliance with the new Information Technology (Intermediary guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
In a strongly worded letter, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology warned the social media giant that such non-compliance with India’s new IT rules will lead to unintended consequences, including Twitter losing exemption from liability as intermediary available under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2020. It said despite sending two notices, Twitter has not complied with the new digital rules.
Government of India gives final notice to Twitter for compliance with new IT rules. pic.twitter.com/98S0Pq8g2U
The letter stated that Twitter has so far not provided details of the Chief Compliance Officer as required under the Rules. It also highlighted that the Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact Person nominated is not an employee of Twitter Inc. in India as prescribed in the Rules. The Ministry also took objection to the office address provided by Twitter, stating that the address is that of a law firm, which is also not as per the Rules.
“The refusal to comply demonstrates Twitter’s Lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform. The world’s largest democracy has been among the first countries in the world, outside the parent country of Twiner Ito enthusiastically adopt the Twitter platform,” the letter read.
It further said, “Despite being operational in India for more than a decade, it is beyond belief that Twitter Inc. has doggedly refused to create mechanisms that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources. Leave alone proactively creating such a mechanism, Twiner Inc. is in the inglorious bracket of refusing to do so even when mandated by law.”
The Ministry stated that though the rules have been in effect from 26 May 2021, as a gesture of goodwill, Twitter is given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available under section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 shall stand withdrawn and Twiner shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India.
Twitter had demanded 3 months additional time for compliance with new rules
Twitter had been resolutely opposing the new digital rules notified by the government of India. Even though other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp have complied with the new laws, Twitter had last month asked the government for an additional three months for the same.
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, which came into effect from May 25, mandates the social media intermediaries with more than 5 million users and providing messaging services to identify the first originator of problematic content that may harm the country’s interests. The companies should also appoint an Indian grievance officer to deal with the complaints.
It is notable here that the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 were issued in February this year, and social media companies have already been given 3 months time to comply with the new regulations.
Controversial propagandist Prashant Bhushan continues his subtle agenda against Covid-19 vaccines. For several months now, the activist-lawyer had been trying to establish that ‘vaccines don’t work’ or that they are ‘untested’. In such an attempt, today he shared a news report hinting that people are dying of Covid-19 even after taking vaccines.
The report that he shared on Twitter is on Uttarakhand cops testing positive for Coronavirus, which was published on 3rd June on The Indian Express. The report stated that more than 2000 policemen in the state had tested positive, and 90% of them were vaccinated. Among them, 5 had died, the report said. With sharing this information, Prashant Bhushan ended his tweet with the expression ‘Hmmm’.
More than 2K Uttarakhand cops test positive, 90% of them got both doses. The data, shared on Tuesday,says 2,382 policemen tested positive while they were on duty between April&May. Among them, 2,204 have already recovered while 5 deaths were reported. Hmmmhttps://t.co/ZM2b5f7cOO
Although the left-wing activist didn’t make any comment, the fact that he shared a general news report, with mentioning that the cops were vaccinated and 5 of them had died, makes it clear that he posted this only to further his anti-vaccine propaganda. This can be concluded because he left out a key detail from the report.
The report states that out of the 5 deaths, only 2 of them had taken Covid-19 vaccines. And significantly, both of them had comorbidities. Three of them were not vaccinated, which was deliberately not mentioned by Bhushan. He knows that a large number of people don’t click on links shared on social media. Most people just read the post on Twitter, Facebook or WhatsApp, and scroll away, not bothering to read the shared report.
Therefore, among more than 22.5 lakh followers of Prashant Bhushan, a large number of them will read that five cops in Uttarakhand died from Covid-19, and as 90% of the cops are vaccinated, they will assume that all 5 were vaccinated. Alone this is not a big issue, but this is how subtle propaganda works, by spreading such misleading information bit by bit.
The report states that 2,382 policemen tested positive while they were on duty between April and May. Among them, 2,204 have recovered and 5 have died. It also says 93% of them were fully vaccinated by two doses of vaccines, which means around 2215 cops were fully vaccinated. Among the vaccinated, 2 died, which means the fatality rate among the vaccinated is less than 0.1%. And it needs to be remembered that both of them had other ailments.
All the vaccines that have been approved for Covid-19 till now offer protection in the range of 50%-80%. Therefore, more than 99.9% protection rate is a very encouraging result.
It is also notable from this data is that 3 people died from 167 non-vaccinated cops. Therefore, the fatality rate among non-vaccinated cops were 1.8%. That is more than the all-India fatality rate of 1.1%, and almost similar to the rate for Uttarakhand, which is 1.99%. This also means that fatality rate for non-vaccinated people is 20 times of the fatality rate for vaccinated people.
Although the cops in Uttarakhand are not representative of the general population, the numbers show how the vaccines can make a huge difference in fatality rate of Covid-19. The fatality rate for non-vaccinated cops were 1.8%, while the same rate for vaccinated cops were 0.09%, which is a huge difference.
Despite this, Prashant Bhushan tried to imply that people are dying despite taking vaccines, completely ignoring the fatality rate difference between vaccinated and non-vaccinated people.
A group of 57 leading scientists, doctors&policy experts has released a report calling in to question the safety and efficacy of the current COVID-19 vaccines and are now calling for an immediate end to all vaccine programs. Read& share this damning reporthttps://t.co/pqCHh2nzjA
While Prashant Bhushan directly does not say that vaccines don’t work, he regularly shares articles that claim the same. Just a day ago, he had shared a report saying that 57 scientists had questioned the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines. This is despite the fact all the vaccines currently in use have undergone phase I, II and III trials, where their safety and efficacy are already tested.
Twitter today suspended the ‘bluetick’ verification from Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu’s personal Twitter handle on Friday. Several social media users noted on Saturday morning that Twitter has un-verified Vice President’s account by withdrawing the blue verified badge from his personal account.
Twitter’s arbitrary decision to remove the ‘blue tick’ for the Vice President’s account sparked outrage among social media users. Following the outcry, the American social media company issued an explanation saying that the Vice President’s badge was removed from his account due to a long period of inactivity and restored the same.
Though this random decision to remove the blue verified symbol from Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s personal Twitter handle sparked a lot of criticism, this is not the first time Twitter has acted on its whim.
Today itself, RSS cheif Mohan Bhagwat became the next target of Twitter’s wrath. His verified badge was revoked on Twitter a short while ago.
Friends of RSS took to Twitter to share the information. Drawing attention towards the arbitrary decision taken by the social media giant, Friends of RSS Tweeted: “Twitter removed the blue tick from the personal Twitter handle of RSS SarSanghchalak @DrMohanBhagwat ji today. @TwitterIndia”.
It is notable here that until a few hours ago, the RSS chief’s account displayed the ‘blue tick’.
Sanjay Dixit, a former bureaucrat, is the next to join the ranks of the microblogging site after his verification credential was also revoked today. The archive version of Sanjay Dixit’s Twitter account shows that his account was verified until December last year.
Archived version of Sanjay Dixit’s Twitter account
In March 2021, Twitter arbitrarily removed the verification badge from accounts of 3 RSS functionaries, then too without giving any explanation for their action. The luminaries who lost their ‘blue tick’ were RSS leader Suresh Soni, Arun Kumar, Krishan Gopal.
Before this, these accounts were verified. The archive of Arun Kumar’s Twitter account as of September 1, 2020, shows that his account was verified.
The archive of RSS leader Arun Kumar’s Twitter account
Likewise, the personal Twitter handles of the other 2 RSS functionaries, namely Suresh Soni and Krishan Gopal, which have now lost the ‘blue tick’, were verified when they joined the platform in the year 2019. Twitter user going by the handle @kaushkrahul, had shared the screengrab of all the RSS functionaries who joined Twitter on July 1, 2019, along with RSS chief Mohan Bhagat. The names included all the three RSS leaders who have now lost their blue verified badge. If one looks at the screenshot carefully, one can see ‘blue tick’ in front of the names of these leaders.
Please join me in welcoming Pujaniya Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, @DrMohanBhagwat ji on Twitter. 6 more national level functionaries of the organisation have also joined the platform. pic.twitter.com/ZslKjeDvoM
Though the microblogging site rules specify that it can arbitrarily remove the blue verified badge and verified status of a Twitter account at any time and without notice, Netizens are left to wonder why only the verification badge of these right-wing activists have been revoked, despite there being many leftists who have also remained inactive on the microblogging site for a reasonable amount of time.
Though the American social media company has restored the Vice President’s account, it remains to be seen when the ‘blue tick’ for Sanjay Dixit and these RSS luminaries will be restored.
Update:
Since the report was published, Twitter has restored the verified badge of Mohan Bhagwat and other RSS functionaries.
On Saturday, micro-blogging site Twitter went off the line yet again after it arbitrarily un-verified the Twitter account of Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu and removed the ‘blue tick’ verification attached to his profile.
The incident came to light after several social media users pointed out that Twitter un-verified Vice President Venkaiah Naidu from its platform by not providing any officials reasons for the same. Netizens also outraged against the micro-blogging site over its action against the country’s Vice President demanding immediate restoration of his ‘blue tick’.
As outrage grew louder, Twitter silently restored the ‘blue tick’ of M Venkaiah Naidu’s personal account and re-verified his profile. In the meantime, the official handle of the Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat), which has 9.3 lakh followers, continued to have the blue tick. Venkaiah Naidu’s personal Twitter handle has over 13 lakh followers.
Not just Vice President of India, Twitter has also removed verification of several other nationalist accounts, including RSS leaders, in the past few months without giving any reason. On Saturday, it has also removed the verification status of retired IAS officer Sanjay Dixit and taken away his ‘blue tick’ as well.
Twitter claims the account was in ‘inactive’ status
As social media debated the exact reason behind such arbitrary decision, Twitter sources said that the un-verification of M Venkaiah Naidu was done due to the ‘inactivity’ status of his account.
According to Twitter rules, the micro-blogging site may remove the blue verified badge and verified status of a Twitter account at any time and without notice if an account changes its username (@handle).
Twitter may also un-verify the account if it becomes inactive or incomplete or if the owner of the account is no longer for which position they were initially verified and do not otherwise meet their criteria for verification since leaving such position. According to Twitter, to keep their account active, one has to log in at least every 6 months, failing which Twitter will consider the account as ‘inactive’ and removes the ‘blue tick’.
In addition to these, Twitter may also remove the blue verified badge from accounts that are found to be in severe or repeated violation of the Twitter Rules, including impersonation or intentionally misleading people on Twitter by changing the display name or bio violations that result in immediate account suspension or repeated violations in Tweets. These include hateful conduct policy, abusive behaviour, glorification of violence policy, civic integrity policy, private information policy, platform manipulation and spam policy, and Twitter rules.
If one analysis the Twitter activity of M Venkaiah Naidu on his personal account, there is not a single tweet that is abusive or found to be violative of any rules suggested by Twitter, except ‘inactivity’.
Twitter’s ‘inactivity’ rules are flawed, micro-blogging site enforces such selectively
As per Twitter, the blue verified badge was removed from the Vice President of India’s personal Twitter handle over inactivity. However, the logic to remove the verification status of M Venkaiah Naidu over inactivity is flawed as Twitter has failed to enforce the same ‘inactivity’ rules to several other accounts on the platform.
The last tweet put out by M Venkaiah Naidu from his personal account (@MVenkaiahNaidu) was on January 9, 2020. According to Twitter rules, one will have six months to login into his/her account, failing which his account would be un-verified. As Venkaiah Naidu has not posted any tweet from the particular account for more than a year, Twitter considered that the account had violated their rules and un-verified his account.
M Venkaiah Naidu’s last tweet/ image Source: Twitter
However, Twitter’s enforcement of such ‘inactive’ rules is selective as it has not un-verified or taken away the verified badge from several other celebrity accounts despite violating such rules. It is also important to note that Twitter themselves have not strictly followed the inactivity rules to un-verify other accounts that have not been active on the social media platform for years.
For example, Twitter has still retained the verification status of the account of the left-wing stand-up comedy group ‘All India Backchod’, which is also now defunct over several sexual harassment cases, despite the account being inactive for nearly a year.
The last tweet put out by AIB on Twitter is on June 1, 2020. Since then, the account is inactive. However, Twitter which hurriedly un-verified M Venkaiah Naidu’s profile despite not violating any stated rules has looked the other way when it comes to enforcing rules against AIB.
Not just AIB, Gursimran Khamba, who claimed himself to a ‘comedian’ has not posted a single tweet in six years now. However, Twitter still retains his verified status.
Similarly, Rhea Chakraborty, who is accused in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case, is another account which is still in verified status despite violating Twitter ‘inactivity’ rules. Rhea has not been active on Twitter since July 16, 2020.
As per Twitter rules, the account is inactive and violated the rules of inactivity. Hence, her verified badge should be removed. However, Twitter has not removed her verification status like it did to M Venkaiah Naidu’s Twitter account.
It is rather intriguing to know why exactly Twitter chose to remove the verification status from Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu citing ‘inactivity’ rules even as it continued to grant special privileges to controversial left-wing accounts that are currently in inactive status for more than a year.
On Friday (June 4), Anti-BJP cartoonist Manjul took to Twitter to insinuate that the Modi government has been trying to silence his freedom of expression. He had shared a screenshot of an email received from ‘Twitter Legal’, wherein it pointed out that the microblogging platform had received a request from Indian law enforcement authorities regarding his account. “Jai Ho Modi ji ki sarkar ki (All hail the Narendra Modi-led-government),” he alleged.
Screengrab of the tweet by Manjul
In another tweet, he claimed, “Thanks to the Modi government that it did not ask Twitter to shut down the handle for being anti-religion and atheist and not considering Modi ji as my God.” Manjul further insinuated that the warning from Twitter was received on the behest of the Indian government. He wrote, “It would have been better if the government informed about the tweet that had offended it. I could have re-posted the same tweet. This would have helped the people.”
Screengrab of the tweets by Manjul
Manjul was earlier a cartoonist with the Zee Media owned DNA. After taking up freelance work, he turned virulently anti-BJP and has been drawing cartoons since then to peddle anti-BJP agenda. The cartoonist turned propagandist soon recieved support from the left-liberal lobby, who further gave credence to the allegations of government’s attempt to silence him. While reacting to the development, alleged journalist Swati Chaturvedi claimed that the Modi government is now ‘terrified’ of a cartoonist.
Screengrab of the tweet by Swati Chaturvedi
What is the Truth?
As it turns out, Twitter correspondence is nothing out of ordinary. Popular Twitter user Ankur Singh shared an email sent by Twitter Legal containing the same message. “Twitter has received a request from Indian Law Enforcement regarding your Twitter account,” read the message. Earlier, cartoonist Vikaso too had a fair share of such emails.
Screengrab of the email received by Ankur Singh
Opindia regularly receives such ‘legal warnings’ from Twitter
Even Opindia has received 100s of emails from law enforcement authorities, warning of requests made by the Indian law enforcement authorities.
Screengrab of the emails received by Opindia from Twitter
Here is a screenshot of one such email received from ‘Twitter Legal’ by Opindia on January 24, 2021. This body of the email contains the same exact words as received by Manjul. Opindia regularly receives such notices and legal warnings from Twitter on account of our extensive coverage of the brutal killing of Hindus and BJP workers. It becomes obvious that a vicious lobby does not want our news reports to be published so that the deaths of countless Hindus and BJP workers remain unheard.
Screengrab of the email received by Opindia from Twitter
Irrational and motivated strategy to defame Modi government
While Manjul brazenly tried to portray the hand of the Modi government behind the Twitter correspondence, nothing can be further from the truth. If we apply the rationale of the anti-BJP cartoonist, then, it will imply that the Indian government is out there to destroy Opindia and popular Twitter users such as Vikaso and Ankur Singh.
While it is not unusual for the left-liberal lobby to pin the blame on the Modi government over trivial issues, the hullaballoo created on Twitter by Manjul appears to be a part of a new devious strategy to peddle propaganda against the incumbent government.
Cartoonist Manjul shares fake news, uses image from 2017 to criticise Indian healthcare system. pic.twitter.com/6jMagSzdT3
Manjul was earlier found sharing fake news to target the Modi government. He had shared an image from 2017 of a man carrying a dead body on a rickshaw to criticise the government’s efforts in tackling the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, a Delhi court ordered Indian Medical Association (IMA) President John Rose Austin Jayalal to not use the organisation’s platform to propagate any religion.
According to reports, the Delhi Court cautioned the controversial IMA President Jayalal, who is accused of exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic to convert patients into Christianity, against making any loose comments against the community.
Quoting a poem written by radical Islamist Mohammad Iqbal, the Delhi Court said, “Mazhab nahi sikhata apas mein bair rakhna, Hindi hai hum watan hai Hindustan humara; saare jahan se acha Hindustan humara”.
“The word Hindi in this couplet, written by a Muslim poet, does not refer to Hindus but is referred to all Hindustanis, irrespective of caste, colour and religion, which is the beauty of secularism,” the court noted.
Pulling up the IMA chief for his comments, the district judge said, “Any kind of unguarded or loose comment cannot be expected from someone chairing the responsible post. IMA is a prestigious institution…such a platform cannot be used to propagate an individual’s views on any religion”.
Do not indulge in activity contrary to principles of Constitution of India: Court to IMA Chief
The judge also asked the IMA chief not to indulge in any activity contrary to the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India and maintain the dignity of the position chaired by him.
“He shall not use the platform of IMA for propagating any religion and rather shall concentrate for the welfare of the medical fraternity and progress in the medical field,” the Additional District Judge said.
The court was hearing a plea filed by a petitioner named Rohit Jha against John Rose Austin Jayalal, the controversial president of the equally controversial organisation Indian Medical Association (IMA), for abusing his power and resorting to proselytization during the pandemic.
Petitioner alleged Jayalal using IMA platform to convert patients into Christianity
In his plea, Rohit Jha had stated that Jayalal is taking the umbrage of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), misusing his position and misleading the nation and its citizens in order to convert Hindu to the Christian religion. Citing controversial articles and interviews of the IMA president, Jha sought direction from the court to restrain him from writing, speaking in media, or publishing any content which is defamatory to Hindu religion or Ayurveda.
Rohit Jha added, “Even in the criticism of Ayurveda, the defendant does not lag behind. He alleged that the Modi government believes in Ayurveda because of its cultural values and traditional belief in Hindutva. He claimed that for the last three-four years, efforts are being made to replace Ayurveda with modern medicine.”
Dr Jayalal submitted he was not against ayurveda but against “mixopathy”.
The court noted that the suit was an offshoot of the latest “Allopathy vs Ayurveda” controversy and said that no injunction is required based on the assurance given by the Jayalal that he will not indulge in such kind of activity.
Complaint filed with MHA
Earlier, the legal activist group Legal Rights Protection Forum had filed a complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs against John Rose Austin Jayalal, seeking action against him for abusing his power and resorting to proselytisation during the pandemic.
In its complaint, the LRPF sought revocation of Medical Practitioner’s License of IMA President John Jayalal, alleging that the controversial doctor has openly declared his intention of splitting human beings into Christians and non-Christians and converting the latter to Christianity using every available opportunity.
The legal-activist group asked the government to stop all funds to IMA until John Jayalal is removed from his position as President. Dr Johnrose Austin Jayalal was appointed as the national president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for the year 2020-2021 at its 95th annual national conference held in December 2020.
Filed complaint @NMC_IND and @MoHFW_INDIA seeking revocation of Medical Practitioner’s License of Mr. John Jayalal, President, Indian Medical Association @IMAIndiaOrg as he has openly declared his intention of splitting human beings into Christians and non-Christians. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/P9D5cE9vUP
— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) May 27, 2021
In its complaint, the LRPF has pointed out two interviews given by Jayalal where he had expressed strong views about proselytising Hindus. The complaint mentions Jayalal’s interview with Haggai International, where he says that the “Hindu Nationalist government” wants to destroy modern medicine.
He had also that he is converting Covid-19 patients to Christianity. He had said, “the urgent need of the proclamation of the Gospel to people who are suffering from the virus has allowed us to share the Gospel even in secular institutions.”
In another interview to Christianity Today, Jayalal had said that it was the Church that took care of the poor people, implying that the government did not do anything. He had said that despite the hardships, difficulties, and restrictions that came in the wake of the pandemic, Christianity was growing.
