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After toolkit expose, Congress leaders attack ‘Kapda Mantri’ Smriti Irani, here is how her ministry worked during the pandemic

Akshita Bhadauria
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After toolkit expose, Congress leaders attack ‘Kapda Mantri’ Smriti Irani, here is how her ministry worked during the pandemic

The recently disclosed “toolkit” document, listing the Congress party’s alleged plan to exploit the Covid pandemic to launch a multi-pronged political attack on the Modi govt has generated a massive response in social media, putting the grand old party a very problematic corner. The ‘toolkit expose saga’ has kept the INC leaders and even supporters engaged with them trying to deflect every accusation being made against them.

The recommendations of mobilizing tragedy-porn did not go down well with several BJP leaders. Many took to social media to register their protest against this document.

Union Minister Smriti Irani too voiced her concerns regarding the document and well, no prizes for guessing, she came under heavy attack by the Congress leaders for her opinion.

IYC leader BV Srinivas, who was seemingly hailed as messiah in a manner that has uncanny symmetry with the toolkit, responded to Smriti Irani’s tweet with a sly, calling her ‘kapda Mantri’.

Here’s what happened

Highlighting a segment of the toolkit, Smriti Irani expressed her displeasure over “respond to help only if a person tags IYC” point from the toolkit.

To this, Srinivas Tweeted, “Madam kapda mantri, please excuse us for the delayed response, we were busy fulfilling food kits, protection kits, ambulances, oxygen cylinders kits etc. Can you please enlighten Twitter users, As a Union Minister, how many people did you helped on SM whether tagged or untagged?”

BV Srinivas’s Tweet. Image Source: Twitter

Seems like the Indian Youth Congress leader is the one who is in need of a tad bit of enlightenment as the distribution of protection kits he is boasting about was made possible by the textile industry last year.

With the onset of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic last year, there was a sudden surge in demand for PPE kits. India, from facing a shortage of domestic manufacturers of the kits went on to becoming the 2nd largest producer of the protection suits in just two months.

According to the Secretary of Textiles Committee Ajit Chavan, India lacked reputed manufactures of PPE bodysuits at the time of the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. Due to the delay in importing such crucial equipment from China, coupled with increasing prices, the Indian Government decided to procure these bodysuits indigenously.

Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani while addressing an expo informed, “While before the pandemic, there was not a single company in the country producing masks and PPE kits, after the pandemic, around 1,100 such companies became operational. From two, the number of companies manufacturing N-4 masks rose to 250.”

The production of PPE bodysuits had crossed 4.5 lacs per day within two months of the onset of the pandemic.

INC & party supporters go on an incompetency rant

From asking the Union Minister to “shut the f*** up” to mocking her stint with the television industry, the INC leaders and supporters left no stone unturned to get back at the Minister who was voicing her opinion on the toolkit.

Amidst innumerable claims on IYC being the only organization helping on ground, let’s take a look at what the Ministry of Women and Child Development is up to.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has constituted a task force and Samvedna helpline to counsel children affected by the pandemic and resolve their grievances.

The department has initiated several measures to tend to children amidst the pandemic who have lost their parents, families thereby losing the source of income.

Simultaneously, regular review meetings are being conducted at Amethi, Irani’s constituency to keep a check on the Covid situation with daily updates being shared.

Both the ministrries under Smriti Irani have been working relentless during the pandemic, apart from the minister reaching out to people from her own constituency for help.

Anti-viral drug 2-DG is not commercially available yet, do not fall prey to fraudsters: warns Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories

OpIndia Staff
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Anti-viral drug 2-DG is not commercially available yet, do not fall prey to fraudsters: warns Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories

Dr’s Reddy’s Laboratories, which has developed oral anti-Covid-19 drug 2-deoxy-D-Glucose(2-DG) in collaboration with the DRDO, has released key pieces of information regarding its availability and the commercial launch of the drug.

On Thursday, the pharmaceutical company confirmed that it has received Emergency Use Authorisation for the drug’s therapeutic use in the treatment of Covid-19. According to the firm, the oral anti-Covid-19 drug 2-DG can only be administered upon prescription to hospitalised patients who have moderate to severe symptoms, as an add on measure along with existing measures.

Listing out important information regarding the new anti-Covid drug, Dr Reddy’s said that the drug 2-DG has not been launched into the market yet. The pharma company also said that the price per sachet is yet to be decided.

“Please beware of agents selling spurious or illegal products in the name of 2DG and also regarding the unverified messages relating to 2DG circulating on social media and on WhatsApp,” Dr Reddy’s warned.

The commercial launch and supply of 2DG to major government and private hospitals is expected to commence in mid-June, the company said, adding that the price will be determined considering the accessibility and affordability.

Anti-Covid-19 drug ‘2-deoxy-D-Glucose(2-DG)’

2-deoxy-D-glucose or 2-DG is an oral anti-Covid-19 drug developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory. The drug is expected to help hospitalised Covid-19 patients and reduce their supplemental oxygen dependence. 

 The medicine, which is being considered a game-changer in the fight against Covid-19, expected to help hospitalised Covid-19 patients and reduce their supplemental oxygen dependence.

According to DRDO officials, the 2-DG drug, like glucose, spreads through the body and reaches the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and destroying the protein’s energy production. The drug also works on virus infection spread into the lungs which help us to decrease the infected patient’s dependency on oxygen.

Since 2-DG is a generic molecule and analogue of glucose it can be easily manufactured in India and made available in plenty to the citizens.

The first and the second batch of 2-DG will be used in a limited manner. It will be used in AIIMS, Armed Forces Hospitals, DRDO hospitals and any other need which arises. From June 2021 onwards it will be made available to all hospitals.

Mob shouts ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans after Eid celebrations in UP’s Kannauj, Imam and 3 others arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Mob shouts ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans after Eid celebrations in UP’s Kannauj, Imam and 3 others arrested

On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested four accused, including a local Muslim cleric (imam), for raising pro-Pakistan slogans in the Jalalabad area of Kannauj.

According to the reports, a video had gone viral on social media, in which the Muslim cleric (imam) was seen raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans. The Muslim clerics, joined by a few others from the Muslim community, had raised the pro-Pakistan slogans after Eid celebrations.

As the video went viral, the Kannauj police took the video into cognizance and conducted an inquiry. They identified the culprits in the video that was shot on May 15, a day after Eid-ul-Fitr.

The police have now arrested four arrested have been identified as Mohammad Afzal, an imam of a local mosque who hails from Kanpur. The other accused – Salman, Shahid, and Meraj alias Chottu have also been nabbed by the Uttar Pradesh police.

They have been booked under IPC section 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes), among others.

Circle Officer (Kannauj City) Shiv Pratap Singh said that they have registered a case against 15 people for shouting pro-Pakistan slogans, out of which five have been named. The police have also registered a case against 10 unnamed culprits, who are yet to be identified in the video. The police officer said that efforts are on to identify the others culprits in the video.

Propaganda outlet Alt News ties itself up in knots while giving clean chit to Congress over the toolkit

OpIndia Staff
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Propaganda outlet Alt News ties itself up in knots while giving clean chit to Congress over the toolkit

Propaganda website Alt News, which had come up with an alleged ‘fact-check’ on Wednesday to give a clean chit to the Congress party in the latest Covid-19 ‘toolkit’ fiasco, has now ended up exposing themselves and as well as the Congress party.

On Wednesday, the so-called fact-checker Alt News had come up with a ‘fact-check’ to whitewash the allegations against the Congress party in the toolkit controversy. The toolkit document, allegedly linked to the Congress party, had got leaked on social media recently, which entailed a detailed plan of action for the Congress leaders and supporters to exploit the ongoing Covid-19 crisis in the country and target the Modi government.

The instructions issued in the Congress toolkit are all-encompassing and extensive to launch a formidable attack against the Modi government when they are engrossed in defeating the raging pandemic. From maligning the Kumbh Mela as a ‘super spreader’ event to unwarranted attacks against PM Modi for the Central Vista project, to collaborating with ‘friendly’ journalists and international media to defame the Modi government, the toolkit prepared by AICC Research Department had detailed instructions to the Congress leaders and supporters to milk the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and mount an anti-Modi propaganda blitz.

The toolkit expose had created a storm across the country, fuelling massive anger against the Congress party. Several people accused the grand old party of indulging in such cheap politics, especially during a national crisis, to further their political agenda against the Modi government. As accusations against the Congress party grew louder, the party entailed the services of the propaganda website Alt News to give a clean chit for themselves.

Alt News comes up with a flawed ‘fact-check’

Alt News hurriedly came up with a ‘fact-check’ report on Wednesday to call it a forged document and blamed BJP and its supporters for spreading misinformation against the Congress party. However, it seems like Alt News has done a very poor job in whitewashing the allegations against the Congress party as they came up with some dubious analysis and ludicrous arguments to claim that the document allegedly prepared by AICC Research Department is a forged one.

Here is a detailed report exposing how propaganda outlet Alt News came with a flawed and laughable logic to wash the sins of the Congress party. In its so-called fact-check, the Alt News gave a clean chit to the Congress party and blamed the BJP and its supporters for pushing misinformation against the BJP.

The lies of Alt News have now fallen like a house of cards as most of their claims are now being debunked. It is important to note that the documents to verify the authenticity of the toolkit was provided to Alt News by the Congress party, demonstrating a close association between the two entities. In response, the Alt News gave a clean chit to the Congress party and declared the toolkit to be fake, albeit based on flimsy arguments. 

Alt News peddles fake news, edits their report after getting caught

Hours after Alt News published its so-called ‘fact-check’ to give clean chit to the Congress party, several social media users began questioning their irrational theories in support of the Congress party and highlighted how Alt News used facts selectively to save the Congress party from the heat.

Realizing their mistake, Alt News has now silently altered their earlier ‘fact-check’ to put out more selective facts to defend their earlier argument. According to activist Ankur Singh, Alt News initially argued that the toolkit suggested responding to SoS calls for Covid-19 only when the users tagged the official handle of the Youth Congress (IYC) and shared a screenshot of the one user who did not tag the IYC and yet received help. 

However, as it turned, Alt News used a tweet by a person named Sakshi to declare that she was helped despite not tagging the IYC handles. In a hurry to give a clean chit to the Congress party, Alt News deliberately chose only those tweets that did not tag the IYC handle, omitting the ones where the user had tagged the handle.

As Ankur Singh exposed the lies of Alt News, the propaganda website has silently edited their so-called ‘fact check’ to delete the reference to Sakshi’s tweets that were used as evidence to prove that the Congress party had indeed helped people who had not tagged the IYC social media handles.

To substantiate their claim, Alt News replaced Sakshi’s tweets with journalist Aditya Raj Kaul’s tweets in its edited report.

In the edited report, Alt News claimed that IYC had helped Aditya Raj Kaul despite him not tagging the IYC handles or seeking any help from the Congress party. As per Alt News, the toolkit is a forged document as IYC had indeed helped people who had never sought help from the Congress party.

However, by altering their report, Alt News has actually exposed the Congress party further, rather than saving them from the latest accusations. In its report, Alt News shared a screenshot of Aditya Raj Kaul that was put out on 11:00 PM, May 18, to claim that Congress had helped the journalist even though he had not tagged them.

The response by IYC chief Srinivas to Aditya Raj Kaul came hours after the tool kit was exposed/ Image Source: Ankur Singh

Alt News’s correction exposed Congress further, validated the claims that toolkit is genuine

Amusingly, Alt News uses a tweet put out by the journalist hours after the toolkit was exposed. Alt News’s latest blunder only proves that the propaganda website and the Congress party are working in tandem. It seems like the Congress party was trying to cover its tracks by allegedly helping people to prove that they were indeed helping those people who have not asked them for any help during the crisis.

Perhaps, in her hurry to absolve the Congress party from accusations of creating a toolkit, Alt News seems to have failed to read the entire toolkit document. It is clearly mentioned in the Congress toolkit that the party workers must help journalists, media professionals and other influencers on a priority basis.

Congress toolkit

Following the protocol mentioned in the toolkit, the Congress party descended on Aditya Raj Kaul’s timeline to consider his request. It is worth mentioning that the request and help came hours after the toolkit was exposed on Tuesday. It seems like the Congress party was using media influencers to cover its tracks.

The tweet by Aditya Raj Kaul calling for help and the immediate response by the Congress party only proves that the Congress party was religiously following the protocols put out in the ‘toolkit’. To simply put, by adding Aditya Raj Kaul’s tweet, the Alt News has now exposed the modus-operandi of the Congress party, who were eager to help the journalists and media influencers despite no request from them.

‘If friendly media does not publish, send it to Caravan and National Herald’: Congress’ modus operandi as per toolkit

OpIndia Staff
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‘If friendly media does not publish, send it to Caravan and National Herald’: Congress’ modus operandi as per toolkit

As the so-called fact-checkers are busy fact-checking the first four pages of the ‘toolkit’ that has rattled the opposition, the fifth page of the document is now doing the rounds on social media completing the propaganda machinery loop.

The fifth page which is in continuation to point VII of the document recommends using media organizations such as ThePrint, The Wire, Scroll, The Quint and Outlook to highlight and publicize all Covid related stories.

It is interesting to note that the document also suggests passing off stories that cannot be published in these media houses to the likes of “The Caravan” and Congress party mouthpiece “National Herald.”

Page 05 of the alleged ‘toolkit’. Image Source: Twitter

Well here’s a snapshot of the Covid coverage by the aforementioned media publications.

Coverage of India’s Covid situation in some outlets mentioned in the alleged ‘Toolkit’

Moving on, the next point recommends mobilizing like-minded creative people from Bollywood to share tweets, memes, videos, cartoons and other viral posts targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

PIL filed in SC to probe the toolkit

As the debate on the authenticity of the documents continues, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking NIA probe into the “toolkit”, allegedly created by Congress’ research team to defame India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi amidst the ongoing pandemic.

The PIL filed by lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha has made the Indian National Congress a Party to the petition while making the Union of India and Election Commission as respondents before the Apex Court.

The petition also seeks the suspension of the Congress party if the allegations made against them of creating the “toolkit document” are found to be true.

Fact-checking the documents

On the other hand, the fact-checkers have taken it upon themselves to probe the matter. A day after social media was awash with a toolkit document the so-called fact-checker Alt News has descended to declare the toolkit ‘fake’.

An article published on Alt News, notorious for peddling propaganda and fake news, gave a clean chit to the Congress party by declaring that the ‘toolkit’ a forged document, because the Congress said so. According to them, AICC Research Department chairman Rajeev Gowda gave documents and statements to Alt News to proclaim the toolkit to be fake.

Pro-Palestine Islamists march on British streets, call for a united attack on Israel by Muslim nations

OpIndia Staff
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Pro-Palestine Islamists march on British streets, call for a united attack on Israel by Muslim nations

Amidst ongoing tension between Israel and Gaza, pro-Palestine Islamists are holding protests across the world against Israel. Many videos have surfaced recently in which they were seen attacking Jewish people in the US, Canada, and the UK. On May 19 (local time), Jake Wallis Simons, Deputy Editor, Jewish Chronicle, shared a video on his Twitter account in which an Islamist was seen calling for Islamic countries to initiate Jihad against Israel.

In the video, the man said, “The reason why we are here is that we are Muslim. Those brothers in Palestine are our brothers. That’s our blood. Our war is one. Our deen is one. Our Usool is one. The solution is very simple. Jihad. We have armies. We have tanks. We have soldiers. What are they waiting for? This goes out to the Muslim armies. What are you waiting for? Jihad is the responsibility of you. Wipe out that Zionist density. How dare they? How can they occupy [our place]. The Muslim youth here, we the Muslim in the west, we are with you. We will make dua for you. Make Jihad. Remove the Zionist.”

The man further said, “You have these armies and tanks. What for? Remove them. We make dua for you. Inshaallah very soon, very soon, you will see when we remove these dictators, these tyrants, and we replace another Hazrat Umar, and we send you another Salahuddin. And you Zionist entity will be no more. We don’t fear anyone but our Allah. We don’t fear United Nations, British Government. We don’t give a damn. We only fear Allah. Jihad hasbinallah by the armies.”

It is notable here that lakhs of Muslims, and supporters of the Palestinian cause have been taking out protests marches in many countries like The UK, US and several Europian nations. Recently, protest marches in London and Belgium have seen hundreds of thousands of people joining in, calling for assault against Israel and condemning Israel’s action against Hamas rocket attack.

Who was Salahuddin?

The man mentioned sending another “Salahuddin” in his provocative speech. Salahuddin or Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub was a Sunni Muslim Kurd ruler and the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. He was the one who led Muslim military campaigns against the Crusader states. During his time, he ruled regions that are now known as Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, western Arabia, Yemen, Palestine, parts of western North Africa, and Nubia. In 1187, he had captured Jerusalem.

The Israel-Gaza conflict

The long-standing territorial-control issues between Israel and the pro-Palestinian forces have once again escalated, resulting in large-scale violence and attacks. The fresh violence in the region took place after the eviction of Palestinian tenants from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in east Jerusalem. Hamas, the terrorist organization, has fired thousands of rockets on Israel. Most were intercepted by Israel’s state-of-the-art defence system, popularly known as the Iron Dome. In retaliation, Israel has destroyed several buildings, including key Hamas operation sites, and command centres.

UP: Fruit vendor Md Farman caught spitting on cut watermelons, arrested by Muzaffarnagar Police

OpIndia Staff
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UP: Fruit vendor Md Farman caught spitting on cut watermelons, arrested by Muzaffarnagar Police

Several incidents of food vendors and sellers deliberately spitting on the food has come to light in the recent past. Despite arrests, the incidents seem to continue. In yet another incident, a man named Mohammad Farman was caught spitting on watermelons being sold by him in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.

A local resident caught Farman spitting inside the cut made on the watermelons being sold by him on a cart after which he filed a complaint on May 17. The act was also caught on a CCTV camera after which Farman was nabbed by Muzaffarnagar police. A case has been registered against Farman and is currently in police custody.

A series of similar such incidents were reported from Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and UP.

Series of spitting incidents 

Gurugram Police in April had filed a case against a Dhaba owner and cook for spitting on Tandoori rotis. 

In March 2021, a person named Mohsin was arrested in the Ghaziabad district for spitting on rotis. During interrogation, he revealed that he had been spitting in social events of non-Muslims for the last several years.

In the last week of March, another man named Mohammad Khalik was arrested from the national capital after a video of him spitting on the dough while preparing rotis in a tandoor had gone viral on the internet.

In another case of a cook spitting on rotis, Delhi Police had arrested two persons named Mohammad Ibrahim and Anwar after a video of them spitting on rotis had gone viral on the internet. They were working in a hotel in Seelampur. In the video that had gone viral, one of the two men was seen spitting on the rotis before putting them in a tandoor.

On February 20, Meerut Police arrested one Naushad alias Suhail for spitting on the food while working as a cook at a wedding. His video had gone viral on February 18, in which he was seen spitting on uncooked roti before putting it in tandoor.

Another video went viral on the internet that shows a man spitting on the dough as he prepares to make Rotis at Shamli in Uttar Pradesh. Shamli Police said on Twitter that the accused had been taken into custody and appropriate action under the ambit of the law will be taken. The name of the accused was not revealed.

From Gouri Amma to KK Shailaja: The patriarchal Left-wing political parties have no space for women at the top

OpIndia Staff
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From Gouri Amma to KK Shailaja: The patriarchal Left-wing political parties have no space for women at the top

Kerala’s former health minister KK Shailaja, popularly referred to as Shailaja Teacher by her supporters, was dropped from Pinarayi Vijayan’s new Cabinet as the communist party decided to induct new faces including Chief Minister-designate Pinarayi Vijayan’s son-in-law and DYFI national president Mohammed Riyas. The former health minister was instead named as the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s chief whip.

CPI(M)’s decision to not include KK Shailaja in the cabinet despite her popularity and contribution to Kerala’s struggle against Covid and Nipah outbreak has come as a shock to many, who have been criticising the leftist government since the state committee announced its decision.

Many social media users who voiced strong protest against the party’s decision to drop ‘Shailaja teacher’, reminisced how it was the Pinarayi Vijayan’s government that had sung accolades for her during the Kerala assembly elections for leading the state through many crisis situations.

KK Shailaja and her contribution to Kerala’s public health system

KK Shailaja was the health minister in the first term of the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala. In the recently concluded Assembly elections, Shailaja was elected from the Mattannur assembly seat with a margin of around 60,000 votes. During her term as the health minister of the state, Kerala had witnessed an unprecedented growth of the public health system, particularly at the grassroots level. This development has ultimately played a vital role now helping Kerala fight the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, at one time, party circles had even highlighted Shailaja as the successor to Pinarayi Vijayan. And now, surprisingly, she has been denied a cabinet post this term.

Leftist parties anti-women culture

Though this decision by Kerala’s left government has been receiving widespread condemnation, it does not come as a complete surprise for those who are aware of the party’s patriarchal and misogynistic character. Well, this decision is being seen as another example of the anti-women culture of the Left parties.

Despite the Left parties rhetorics of often equating Left-wing politics with feminism, the fact is that women have never been welcomed in their political space.

And while talking about the hypocrisy of the left parties towards women’s participation in politics, it becomes important to remember the legendary Marxist firebrand and former minister KR Gouri, popularly known as Gouri Amma.

Gouri Amma, Kerala’s ‘iron lady’ and ‘architect of land reforms’ died on 11 July 2021, 9 days after the results of the Kerala assembly elections were declared. She was the lone surviving member of the first Kerala legislative assembly headed by legendary Communist leader EMS Namboothiripad in 1957 and the only woman in the first state cabinet.

The woman leader served as a member of various communist governments — 1957, 1967, 1980 and 1987 and was also a member of AK Antony and Oommen Chandy governments from 2001-2006. She was the longest-serving MLA after late K M Mani.

A report by the News Minute states that during the 1987 elections, though she was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate, she was allegedly sidelined by the Marxist party which preferred E K Nayanar for the top post.

Likewise, Susheela Gopalan, a communist leader and minister in LDF Government was also believed to be sidelined by the party because of her gender.

Interestingly, KK Shailaja’s political journey with the leftist party in Kerala has been quite similar to that of Gouri Amma and Susheela Gopalan. Shailaja has also been sidelined at a time when it was being believed that in future she would prove to be the most powerful contender for the post of Chief Minister in the state.

Though the leftist government in Kerala has a history of dumping women politician, this has been a tradition with leftists parties all over India. CPM, the largest of the Left parties in India, which is also the parent party of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), a major force in JNU campus politics formed its highest executive body called the politburo.

In 2005, Brinda Karat became the first woman politician to become a politburo member. It cannot be a coincidence that the same year her husband Prakash Karat was made the party general secretary when Brinda Karat was inducted in the party. Brinda Karat disappeared from the political scene as soon as Prakash Karat too went out of the spotlight.

Similarly, if we look at the CPI(ML), the parent party of AISA, the largest political organisation on the JNU campus, its politburo is a 17-member body, of which only one is female.

In short, there has hardly been any woman controlling these parties. This proves that the decision making power in these leftist parties have always primarily lied with men, with zero or token representation for women.

CPI-M, whose decline from the India political scenerio began in 2009, fielded just two women candidates (out of 42) in West Bengal in the 2009 parliamentary elections. Likewise, in the 2014 parliamentary elections, it fielded only 11 women candidates across the country, of whom only one could secure her seat.

In the last Assembly elections in Kerala, Left Democratic Front (LDF) fielded 17 women candidates in a 140-member assembly. Out of this, 12 were fielded by CPM and four by CPI. Moreover, after forming the government, the LDF government in Kerala allotted only two cabinet seats out of 19 to women.

The leftists have, basically, never considered women capable of running a party or government and taking any decisions on the party’s behalf.

Though the Indian political perspective towards women changed when the country got its first woman Chief Minister in 1963 and the first woman Prime Minister in 1966, the leftist parties attitude towards women’s participation in politics remained unchanged. It should also be noted that women have never been elevated to the position of chief minister or home minister by these leftists parties.

Amidst all this, what is worse is that these shunned women politicians such as the likes of KK Shailaja are expected to ‘welcome’ the decision of their master, however, unfair it may be. According to reports, after the announcement of her exclusion from the cabinet, Shailaja told Malayalam news channels that she will “abide” by the party call.

“Everyone worked hard in their depts. But it doesn’t mean that only I should continue. There are so many other people like me, they can also work hard. It’s very good decision”, Shailaja told media.

The second Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala will be sworn in on May 20, with 21-member cabinet. The ceremony has already sparked a row after Pinarayi Vijayan’s announced 500 participants will attend his oath-taking ceremony.

There was widespread criticism that the government should avoid extravaganza while the capital is under triple lockdown in the wake of a Covid surge.

Brazen Hinduphobia of Unacademy: Online education platform paints Hindus as anti-Muslim bigots, blames third party after outrage

OpIndia Staff
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Brazen Hinduphobia of Unacademy: Online education platform paints Hindus as anti-Muslim bigots, blames third party after outrage

Online education technology platform Unacademy has sparked many controversies. In the past, a video of an Unacademy tutor calling for students to pick up AK-47 had gone viral on the internet. Subsequently, another video of an Unacademy tutor going on a rant against Brahmins had surfaced on social media websites. Today, the online platform courted yet another controversy, reinforcing its Hinduphobic tendencies.

A social media user, Prakhar Bansal, who goes by the handle @PrakharBansal14, recently posted a screenshot that highlighted how the platform was peddling a dangerously anti-Hindu narrative through its online test module.

One of the questions on the platform’s Law Test Module read: “In a city named X, a group of Muslim people were carrying out their rally on the occasion of Eid. They were chanting their slogans and were celebrating their festivals. When they were passing through the streets of a Hindu dominated colony, the Hindus of the area started pelting stones at them and claimed that they outraged the religious feelings of Hindus. Is the claim correct?”

Unacademy toes left-liberal propaganda of demonising Hindus

Even if one assumes that the objective of the question might have been to sensitise the exam takers towards the menace of existing religious intolerance in the society, the explicit mention of the names of the religions in the question, with the negative portrayal of one religion, signified that it was only meant to fan further communal discord in the society, and hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.

The negative portrayal of Hindus as the aggressors and the Muslims as the victims in the question by one of the test modules on Unacademy is unmistakable. In fact, it is in line with the left-liberal propaganda that tries often to demonise Hindus and whitewash the intolerant inclinations exhibited by Muslims.

When the online education platform used a figurative name ‘X’ to denote a town where the supposed incident took place, what stopped it from using abstract names to describe religions? The company could have surely used letters of the alphabet for religions similarly if its real objective was to explore the legitimacy of resentment felt by the members of one of two sparring communities. Instead, the real names of religions were deliberately used to project Hindus as an intolerant lot that harboured irrational hatred against Muslims.

The fact that the entrance exam questions are also inherently Hinduphobic in nature reveals how the entire system is rigged in perpetuating hatred against Hindus. Be it the opposition political parties, or the mainstream media, or the academicians and intellectuals, and now the technology platforms, the Hinduphobia is all too pervasive and systemic. A concerted attempt is being made to depict Hindus as villains while sweeping under the rug the hateful proclivities of the minorities, including Muslims.

Religions reversed to portray Hindus as aggressors and Muslims as victims

Besides, Unacademy shamelessly reversed the religion of the victims and the aggressors from real-world scenario — another trick out of the ‘liberal’ playbook — which entails interchanging the identities of victims and aggressors when the victims are Hindus and aggressors are non-Hindus. This is done to perpetuate the propaganda that Hindus are culprits while non-Hindus, including Muslims, are innocents.

While Unacademy would want us to believe that Hindus attacked Muslim devotees with stone-pelting, in the real-life world, exactly the opposite happens regularly. This has been the leitmotif of various communally charged-up skirmishes in various parts of the country. A mob of violent Muslims attacks Hindus for celebrating their festivals, or for taking out a religious procession in a Muslim majority area, which sometimes leads to clashes between the two communities.

Recently, a case of Muslim intolerance against Hindu festivals came up in the Madras High Court. Some Muslims in the district of Perambalur in Tamil Nadu have been objecting to the conduct of Hindu processions since 2012. They had consistently tried to stop and laid impediments to stop Hindus from carrying out their processions through Muslim-dominated regions. The community had dubbed the Hindu festivals as ‘sins’.

A petitioner had therefore approached the police for providing protection during the conduct of rituals and processions. The same was provided by the law enforcement authorities with restrictions.

When the matter came up for hearing before the Madras High Court, a 2-Judge Bench of N Kirubakarn and P Velmurugan noted that religious intolerance is detrimental to the secular fabric of the country. The Court noted that if such a ‘resistance’ to the conduct of religious festivals is reciprocated by another religious group, it might lead to riots and chaos.

While reading out the affidavit presented by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, the Madras High Court observed that objection to temple processions was raised from 2012 onwards. The Judges observed how no such problem existed prior to 2012. The Court pointed out how objections were raised by the Muslim community despite the Court granting permission to the Hindus to carry out temple processions (in accordance with Section 180A of the District Municipalities Act 1920).

In December 2020, Muslim mob pelted stones at Hindu groups for carrying out yatra near Begumbagh in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. According to the reports, several Hindus had taken out a Ramnidhi Sangrahan rally in Ujjain to collect donations for the Ram Mandir constructions at Ayodhya. The rally was scheduled to start from the tower area and end at Bharat Mata Mandir in Mahakal area.

As the rally reached the Muslim-dominated area of Begumbagh, a mob targeted the rally and pelted stones at them from the rooftops. The Hindu activists saw themselves surrounded in heavy stone pelting and escaped towards safety. However, they left their vehicles on the spot.

In February 2020, four separate incidents of attack on Hindus during the Saraswati Puja celebrations by Muslim mobs were reported from various places in Jharkhand. According to Jagran report, in Jharkhand’s Vidyasagar, Muslim mobs attacked Hindus who were carrying out a procession of Goddess Saraswati ahead of idol immersion. As they crossed locality dominated by Muslims, the local residents objected against Hindus playing religious songs near Karmatar area.

Unacademy apologises, blames third party for the question

After the widespread outrage on social media over the Hinduphobic question, the educational technology company announced that they have taken down the mock IPC examination paper containing the controversial question. They said that any hurt or offence caused is deeply regretted, and said that they unconditionally regret the reference to religions.

Unacademy added that the question paper was prepared by a third-party, and they have started efforts to tighten their internal review and quality process. The company also said that the future test papers will be scrutinised and modified to ensure that they are religion, community, and race agnostic.

Shahenshah Khan poses as Brahmin to marry Hindu woman in Uttar Pradesh, later assaults her after identity is revealed

OpIndia Staff
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Shahenshah Khan poses as Brahmin to marry Hindu woman in Uttar Pradesh, later assaults her after identity is revealed

In another case of alleged Grooming jihad, a Hindu woman in Uttar Pradesh has filed a complaint against her Muslim husband on May 18 (Tuesday), for marrying her posing as a Hindu. She has also accused him of rape and assault. On the basis of the charges, the police have registered a case against Shahenshah Khan, a resident of Sarkahi village, under relevant sections of the anti-conversion law and other sections of the IPC.

The complaint was filed at Visheshwarganj police station, in which the 22-year-old Hindu woman, Sita, said that Shahenshah Khan married her posing as a Brahmin. Later, when his identity was revealed he forced her to have physical relations with him. Two members of his family have been abusing and beating her since then, alleged the woman in her complaint.

The Muslim man drugged and raped her after his identity was revealed, alleges the Uttar Pradesh woman

An investigation is underway and the husband is being questioned in the case, informed Additional Superintendent of Police (City), Kunwar Gyananjaya Singh.

The woman, who is a resident of Maharajganj district in the Visheswarganj area of ​​Bahraich, alleged that Shahenshah Khan lured her into marriage by posing as a Hindu. His identity was only revealed when the victim reached her in-law’s house after her wedding.

When the girl protested, the accused drugged her and forcibly raped her. The victim further alleged that she was administered high doses of drugs and was held hostage for several consecutive days by the accused. She furthered that two members of his family abused and assaulted her when she put up resentment.

During the investigation, it was found that the woman used to talk to Khan on phone and the two got married about three months ago. They used to have frequent fights and often approached the police, who use to sent them home after reconciliation. On Tuesday, however, the woman made these serious allegations against her husband.

Prima facie, the charges under provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance seem suspicious, said the Additional Superintendent of Police (City), Kunwar Gyananjaya Singh, furthering that an investigation is underway and the husband is being questioned.

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