The 22 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men who were killed-in-action during Saturday’s encounter with Maoists in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, were the latest in the long and endless list of security personnel and civilians killed in the attacks carried out by the left-wing terrorists. The attack was a grim reminder of the menace of Maoist terrorism afflicting the nation.
The security forces had launched an operation along the Sukma-Bijapur border, where an intense face-off resulted in the martyrdom of 22 jawans. It is being reported that one soldier is still missing. Besides, 31 soldiers were injured in the encounter that ensued between the armed personnel and the Maoists.
A police officer privy to the developments said it was a “U-shaped attack” in which the security personnel were stuck at a lower level, and the Maoists perched atop the two hilltops, fired indiscriminately at the security forces. The police officer also claimed that the Maoist operation was led by Hidma, the same Maoist who was responsible for the catastrophic attack on CRPF personnel in Sukuma in 2017. There was intelligence input that Hidma was present in the area for the last 17 days, the officer said.
The incident has once again brought to fore the challenges of the left-wing extremism facing the country. For decades now, several pockets in the country have become stronghold of the Communist terrorists, who use the local areas to their advantage to perpetuate their reign of terror. Often, the target is the police, security personnel and political leadership. But the Maoists have demonstrated that they won’t shy away from attacking and harming the civil population either.
The Maoists and Naxals have also demonstrated that they possess modern weapons, are adequately trained, and are ruthless in their guerrilla warfare against the security forces. They have used the factor of a surprise to great advantage, stunning their opponents with a surprise attack and inflicting maximum damage.
Against the backdrop of the pernicious attack that took place in Chhattisgarh last week, let’s take a look at some of the major Naxal ambushes in the last few years:-
Jnaneswari Express train derailment
Perhaps, the deadliest of the Maoist attacks in the last couple of decades has to be the Jnaneswari Express train derailment. For the passengers of the train, the disaster struck when they were in deep sleep. The train bound to Mumbai got derailed between Khemashuli and Sardhia stations of South Eastern Railway after midnight May 28, 2010, and toppled on the adjacent tracks.
A goods train coming from the opposite direction within a few minutes ploughed through the bogies, taking the toll of the injured and dead even higher. About 148 passengers lost their lives in the incident and more than 200 passengers were injured.
In the investigation that ensued following the incident, it came to light that the accident was a result of sabotage by activists of frontal organisations of the Maoists, who had damaged the railway tracks that eventually caused the derailment.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was then the Railway Minister of the country. Following the incident, she was reluctant to admit the Maoist connection in the attack even though the incident took place in West Bengal’s Naxal-hit Midnapore district. Banerjee had then called for a CBI inquiry into the incident, alleging that the accident was a conspiracy by the ruling CPM in West Bengal.
The premier investigation agency named Maoist leader Bapi Mahato as the prime accused in the case. Days later he was arrested by the police. In his interrogation, Bapi Mahato confessed that he was a member of Mamata’s Trinamool Congress before he joined the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), a frontal organisation of the Maoists responsible for the derailment of Jnaneswari Express.
However, Banerjee remained adamant that the conspiracy was hatched by the CPM. Only months later, she grudgingly admitted the investigation findings that pointed towards the involvement of Maoists in planning and executing the attack that saw more than 140 deaths.
Dantewada Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh claims lives of 76 security personnel
In April 2010, a month before the Jnaneswari Express derailment, Chhattisgarh was jolted with a major Naxal attack when 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a state police personnel were killed in an ambush in the thick Mukrana forests of the Dantewada district.
The CRPF team was attacked while they were taking a break after a long tiring night of travelling. The team had completed its three-day anti-Maoist operation and was on its way. They took a break at around 6 am after travelling all night, when they were ambushed by up to 1,000 Maoists positioned on the neighbouring hilltop. The Naxals, fully aware of the CRPF troop movement, launched an attack with deadly precision, giving the soldiers no chance to mount a response. They blew up an anti-landmine vehicle and then began firing indiscriminately.
The shell-shocked and worn out jawans were not in a position to follow and abide by the standard operating procedures like checking the road for landmines. They were massacred within minutes of the attack. The Naxals subsequently looted all the weapons that the CRPF party had.
26 CRPF personnel martyred in Naxal ambush in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh
2010 was amongst the worst year with regard to the Maoist insurgency in the country. A month after the Jnaneswari Express derailment that killed over 140 people and two months after the horrendous Dantewada attack in which 76 security personnel lost their lives, Naxals executed another deadly ambush, killing 26 CRPF personnel.
In June 2010, a heavily armed group of Naxals, sitting atop a hill, targeted a 63-member security contingent that was returning on foot from road opening duty. The Maoists opened indiscriminate fire, which has been their modus operandi, to sow confusion and panic among the soldiers and thereby inflict maximum damage.
The attack place at Daurai Road area of Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur, about 300 km from Raipur. 26 CRPF personnel lost their lives in the attack.
The Naxal attack on Congress cadres in Darbha Valley, Chhattisgarh
Another horrifying attack that shook the nation’s conscience and forced the ruling class to reconsider its strategy in dealing with the Naxalites was the Darbha Valley attack in Chhattisgarh in May 2013, in which the entire state Congress leadership was wiped out. At least 27 people were killed in the attack when the Naxalites had ambushed several Chhattisgarh Congress leaders, including state secretary Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, former Union minister VC Shukla and former state minister Mahendra Karma.
The Congress leaders were on their way from Sukma to Jagdalpur after a rally, which was a part of the party’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’, when the deadly attack took place. They had passed through Naxal-affected regions during the march.
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, who was a Congress leader at the time, was also scheduled to travel with the convoy, but had changed his plan at the last minute and decided to travel by helicopter.
The attack was a signature Maoist attack as carried out in the past. The left extremists used the thick cover of the forested area of the Bastar-Sukma border to their advantage and laid an ambush. After ambushing the convoy, the Maoists detonated an IED to create a crater and cut off the convoy’s escape route. Once the vehicles slowed down, the Naxals opened indiscriminate fire on the Congress leaders.
25 CRPF personnel killed in the April 2017 Naxal attack in Sukuma, Chhattisgarh
The Sukuma district of Chhattisgarh is considered one of the most volatile regions plagued by the scourge of left-wing terrorism. The region has witnessed more than half a dozen Maoist attacks in the last decade.
The deadliest of the attacks took place in April 2017, when Maoists attacked a team of around 100 men, belonging to the 74th battalion of the CRPF, based at the Burkapal camp on the Dornapal-Jagargunda road in south Sukma, was out to provide protection for road construction work in the area.
25 CRPF personnel were martyred in the attack and seven others were grievously injured. In retaliation, CRPF opened fire and shot dead 10-12 Maoists.
According to the official information that was released after the encounter ended, the attack was carried out by Hidma, head of PLGA Battalion 1. The battalion is one of the fiercest armed cadres of the Maoists and had carried sophisticated weapons to attack the CRPF team. Besides, the group also included many women cadre.
On April 5, while West Bengal was preparing to vote for 31 seats in the third phase of Assembly elections across districts – South 24 Parganas, Howrah, and Hooghly the next day, ruling party TMC faced criticism as EVMs were found in one of its leaders. Interestingly, India Today tried to pass it off just as an allegation by BJP.
In a video report, India Today said, “BJP alleges that EVMs were found at TMC Neta’s house in Howrah”. In a 2-minute report, the anchor and the reporter kept on repeating that BJP is alleging the EVMs were found in TMC’s leader’s house. The anchor repeated it four times while the reporter used different words as ‘alleged’ and ‘claimed’. Interestingly, the visuals of EVMs and VVPATs played in the background for one minute in the 2-minute report while the anchor kept on saying that BJP is alleging instead of confirming that the EVMs were indeed found in the TMC leader’s house.
India Today claimed BJP is alleging EVMs were found in TMC leader’s house
EC suspended the presiding officer
As per reports, EVM and VVPAT machines were found at TMC leader Gautam Ghosh’s residence at Tulsiberia. The EVMs and VVPATs were brought to the residence of the TMC leader by Tapan Sarkar, a sector officer, in an election duty car. The sector officer who was caught red-handed by the villagers claimed that since it was very late in the night, the central forces had slept off and refused to open the booth, so they had to stay at a relative’s house to sleep who ‘happened to be a TMC leader’.
The Election Commission, in its report, said that the EVMs and VVPATs found at the TMC leader’s house were part of reserve stock, and they will not be used for the voting. The presiding officer was suspended. Reports suggest that when the villagers found out about the EVMs, the tension broke down in the area, and central forces were called to control the situation.
Netizens questioned India Today’s style of reporting
Several netizens raised eyebrows over the way India Today had reported.
Even NDTV reports that EVMs were found inside TMC leader’s house but for @aroonpurie its just an allegation by BJP. They are real Dalal, who pretends to be neutral. pic.twitter.com/eMvo6wT056
The second phase of polling in West Bengal had witnessed several violence cases emerging from Nandigram, East Midnapore and Keshpur. BJP leader and Mamata Banerjee’s opponent, Suvendu Adhikari’s convoy was also attacked by alleged TMC goons in Nandigram.
The prime reason behind crimes against women is obviously the deteriorating law and order condition of that particular country or state. However, Pakistan PM Imran Khan assumes otherwise. According to Khan, “fahashi” (vulgarity) is the main reason behind the rise in rape and sexual violence and not the declining lawlessness in the country.
The Pakistan PM was taking calls on Sunday, 4th April, when a caller asked him what the government plans to do in the light of rising incidents of rape and sexual violence, especially against children. To this Imran Khan opinioned that there are some fights that governments and legislation cannot win alone. He said that the society must join in the fight, adding that it was important for societies to protect themselves against “fahashi” (vulgarity), reported Geo News.
‘Pardah system is there in Islam to keep temptation in check’, claims Imran Khan
Imran Khan then went on to advocate the whole concept of ‘pardah’ in Islam, saying that it is there for a purpose. He said that the pardah system is there in Islam to “keep temptation in check”. It’s interesting that the Pakistan Prime Minister believes that the best way to protect women and children is to keep them behind a veil and not boost the law and order system of the country.
The Pakistan prime minister said there are many people in society who “cannot keep their willpower in check”. “Iska kuch tou effect aana thha na (It had to manifest itself in some way),” he added.
He concluded by reiterating that incidences of rape and sexual violence are “spreading like cancer” in society. Official statistics in Pakistan have revealed that at least 11 rape incidents are reported in the country every day, with over 22,000 cases reported to the police in the last six years.
However, what Imran Khan forgets to mention is that only 77 of the accused have been convicted which comprises 0.3 per cent of the total figure. According to the Geo News report, these statistics were obtained from the Police, Law, and Justice Commission of Pakistan, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Women’s Foundation, and provincial welfare agencies.
As if this was not enough that in February, that the Forensics Department of Khyber Medical College University proposed a plan to charge rape victims Pakistani Rs 25,000 for medical examination and Rs 5,000 for an autopsy for the local residents of Peshawar.
Sexual assaults by men of Pakistani origin common worldwide
Not only in the terror state of Pakistan, where apart from native women and children, minority Hindu women are also kidnapped and raped and an alarming frequency, but sexual assaults by men of Pakistani origin has also increasingly become a common occurrence worldwide.
In the last few months, there have been several cases where Pakistani migrants were found committing unspeakable sexual atrocities against native women and children in Greece. While the victims have been predominantly native women, in some cases, even children have been brutalised by men of Pakistani descent.
Last year we reported how the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Samuel Brownback made certain revelations regarding the situation of Hindu and Christian women in Pakistan. Brownback said that Pakistan has been marketing Hindu and Christian woman as concubines and forced brides to China. He highlighted how religious discrimination makes religious minorities in the country vulnerable.
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind today appointed Justice NV Ramana as the 48th Chief Justice of India, accepting the recommendation made by the outgoing CJI SA Bobde, who is retiring on April 23.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 24th April 2021,” an official notification, due to published in the Gazette of India, and signed by Barun Mitra, Secretary to the Government of India, read.
Justice NV Ramana will serve as the CJI until 26 August 2022. Before his promotion to the Supreme Court in February 2014, Justice NV Ramana had served as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
The decision to anoint Justice NV Ramana came after departing CJI Bobde endorsed him as his successor. CJI Bobde had suggested Justice NV Ramana’s candidature after the law ministry had requested him to recommend his successor in accordance with the memorandum of procedure (MoP) for the appointment of the judges in the Supreme Court.
Born in an agricultural family in Ponnavaram Village, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, Justice NV Ramana enrolled as an advocate on February 10, 1983, and practiced in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Central and Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunals and the Supreme Court of India in Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Labour, Service and Election matters. He has also served as the Additional Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh.
In June 2000, he was appointed as Permanent Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He functioned as Acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court from March 10, 2013, to May 20, 2013.
Justice NV Ramana was recently in the news after the Supreme Court had dismissed a complaint filed by the Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy in which he alleged that Justice NV Ramana was interfering with the State Judiciary in politically sensitive matters. Following a confidential in-house enquiry, the top court dismissed the Andhra Pradesh CM’s complaint.
During the 3rd phase of West Bengal State Legislative polls on Tuesday (April 6), the BJP has alleged that people were stopped from casting their votes by hooligans associated with the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The incident took place in Booth numbers 143, 180 in Dagira village in Basul Danga Gram Panchayat that falls under the Diamond Harbour Vidhan Sabha constituency in South 24 Parganas. BJP candidate Dipak Haldar has now filed a complaint with the Election Commission in this regard.
#WestBengalPolls | TMC goons are not allowing people to cast their votes at booth no. 180, 143 Dagira Baduldanga. I have complained to the Election Commission officials: Dipak Haldar, BJP candidate from Diamond Harbour, South 24 Parganas pic.twitter.com/ZFBGH0BfLa
BJP agents stopped from entering polling booths in Tarakeswar, Baruipur Purba constituencies
A BJP agent was also stopped from entering the booth in the Tarakeswar Vidhan Sabha constituency in Hooghly district. When the candidate from the said constituency Swapan Das Gupta reached the Jamdara Sree Bharati Vidyapeeth school, he found that the BJP agent was not inside the booth. According to News 18 Bangla, the BJP worker confided to Gupta that he was being intimidated for over a week. He also complained about receiving death threats.
(Video Courtesy: Youtube/News 18 Bangla)
Following this, Swapan Das Gupta held the agent’s hand and took him inside the booth. While speaking about the matter, the former Rajya Sabha MP said, “Amader agent ke dhukta dai ni. Amader agent kunu karona dhukta para ni. Setai ami dekhchi (Our agent was stopped from getting inside the booth. Our agent could not reach the booth for some reason. I am looking into it).” BJP candidate from Baruipur Purba constituency, Chandan Mandal, has also levelled serious allegations. He said that the party agents were stopped from entering 8 election booths.
BJP worker’s mother succumbs to injuries
ABP Ananda reported that a clash broke out between the Trinamool Congress and BJP workers on Monday (April 5) night in Goghata in Hoogly district. On receiving information, the police reached the spot and detained two accused. An official complaint was, however, not filed in this matter.
(Video Courtesy: Youtube/ABP Ananda)
Later in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the mother of a BJP worker who was injured in the attack died. The local BJP unit has said that the deceased sustained injuries while trying to save her son from the hands of Trinamool Congress workers. They alleged that she died due to the injuries inflicted during the attack. However, a preliminary investigation has found no external injuries.
TMC accuses ISF workers of hurling bombs, intimidating voters
The Trinamool Congress has accused Indian Secular Front (ISF) workers of hurling bombs at them in Ghumri in Canning Purba Vidhan Sabha constituency. The party has alleged that their workers were also physically assaulted by ISF. Following the incident, a large team of security personnel have been deployed the protect the polling booths to ensure free and fair elections.
While speaking about the matter, TMC leader Saokat Molla said, “The bombing took place early morning in the Ghumri area on the directions of ISF-Congress-Left alliance. Issac Molla, a dreadful anti-social element, is behind the attack. Several of our party members have been injured in the attack. They have now been hospitalised. A total of 12-14 bombs were charged at us.”
(Video Courtesy: Youtube/News 18 Bangla)
“This is a pre-planned attack. The objective is to instil fear into the minds of people so that they do not cast their votes,” he added. Molla emphasised that the Election Commission (EC) has been notified about the incident. He had also accused the ISF workers of hurling bombs at the houses of voters.
The elections for the 3rd phase of West Bengal State Legislative polls are underway. A total of 31 constituencies including Baruipur Purba (SC), Canning Paschim (SC), Canning Purba, Baruipur Paschim, Diamond Harbour, Uluberia Uttar (SC), Uluberia Dakshin, Tarakeswar, Arambag (SC) and Goghat (SC) are up for polls today. There are a total of 10,871 polling stations and 78.52 lac electorates are eligible to cast their votes. The results will be announced on May 2.
The United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in a non-binding order on April 5th, wrote regarding the problem of Big Tech platforms censoring opinions, most famously censoring the then President of the United States Donald Trump himself.
In his order today, Thomas wrote, “If part of the problem is private, concentrated control over online content and platforms available to the public, then part of the solution may be found in doctrines that limit the right of a private company to exclude. Historically, at least two legal doctrines limited a company’s right to exclude.”
Justice Thomas then drew a parallel between Big Tech social media platforms and certain businesses called “common carriers”, writing, “First, our legal system and its British predecessor have long subjected certain businesses, known as common carriers, to special regulations, including a general requirement to serve all comers.”
Justice Thomas also clarified that the Supreme Court believes regulations akin to those placed on “common carriers”, even for companies not historically considered so, maybe justified when, “a business, by circumstances and its nature, . . . rise[s] from private to be of public concern.”
According to Justice Thomas, there is a “clear historical precedent for regulating transportation and communications networks in a similar manner as traditional common carriers.” In the case of Telegraphs, they “resemble[d] railroad companies and other common carriers,” and were “bound to serve all customers alike, without discrimination,” writes Justice Thomas
Justice Thomas further wrote, “Even if digital platforms are not close enough to common carriers, legislatures might still be able to treat digital platforms like places of public accommodation.”
“Once again, a doctrine, such as public accommodation, that reduces the power of a platform to unilaterally remove a government account might strengthen the argument that an account is truly government-controlled and creates a public forum.”, Justice Thomas adds.
Legal journalists believe that this order from Justice Thomas invites the U.S. Congress to ban social media companies from regulating or censoring their own content, and instead be transformed into “common carriers” or “places of public accommodation”, as illustrated by Justice Thomas.
This opinion by Justice Thomas is also seen as an endorsement of the conservative view on Free Speech and the 1st Amendment, that these social media companies violate the spirit of Free Speech and the 1st Amendment through their content regulation, which can often devolve into outright censorship. Recently, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey admitted that censoring the New York Post’s story regarding Hunter Biden by not letting it spread through Twitter and blocking all links to it, was a “mistake”.
Maharashtra currently accounts for more than 55 percent of the new Covid-19 cases in the country. This forced the Maharashtra government to announce the impulsive imposition of weekend lockdown and night curfew which were announced Sunday late night, to curb the rise in cases.
However, as per an Indian Express report, the state kept silent about its plans to introduce a lockdown during a high-level review meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary on Friday. A top government source who was a part of the high-level meeting informed, “The Chief Secretary, Maharashtra, received the largest chunk of time during the Cabinet Secretary meeting. However, no one discussed any imposition of a weekend lockdown.”
This comes after the Centre had made it clear to the Maharashtra government almost two weeks back that weekend lockdowns and night curfews have limited impact on containing and suppressing transmission of the coronavirus.
Union Health Secretary had written to Maha govt asking to focus on containment and not imposing lockdowns
While constantly monitoring the worrisome situation of Maharashtra, the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had written to the Chief Secretary of Government of Maharashtra Sitaram Kunte, on March 15 stating clearly that the state’s focus should be on strict and effective containment and not the imposition of a lockdown, as per the Indian Express report.
Rajesh Bhushan in his letter to the Chief Secretary wrote, “Measures such as night curfews, weekend lockdowns, have very limited impact on containing/ suppressing the transmission. Hence the district administration should focus on strict and effective containment strategy.”
The initial lockdown was to provide a breather to boost health infra, not needed now
The Centre in its meeting on Friday reiterated that the objective of a lockdown was to create and enhance health infrastructure, and not to break the chain of transmission. “Lockdown does not solve any problem. The reason to impose a lockdown in the initial phase was that we needed that time to create that infrastructure. We didn’t have enough domestic PPE capacity, there was a lack of oxygen bed capacity; these capacities were created during the lockdown. Lockdown gives you a breather in which you need to put certain things in place. Those things are now already put in place,” the states were informed.
Interestingly, the Centre had already warned the state on March 15 about the possibility of insufficient health infrastructure when mapped against the daily rise in new Covid-19 cases. The Centre said, “Health infrastructure though adequate as of now, the states should plan for a worst-case scenario with sufficient lead time”.
The Centre also advised the state government to better define its containment zones based on contact listing, digital mapping of cases, and contacts. “A higher number of cases outside the containment zone will mean that the containment zone has to be bigger to ensure total containment of transmission,” Bhushan wrote to the state.
On March 30, the Centre had once again urged all the states, including Maharashtra, to train and retrain the surveillance teams, and asked them to review the formation of containment zones on a daily basis.
Maha says lockdown imposed because ‘people have become indifferent’
Despite multiple directions, advice and warning from the Centre, the state of Maharashtra imposed lockdown-like restrictions on the state causing panic. To justify its decision of a complete lockdown on weekends and partial lockdown on weekdays, a senior official from the Maharashtra government claimed, “The rationale to impose the lockdown was after an assessment made by the public health department. The biggest issue was that the people had become indifferent to the idea of Covid-19 appropriate behavior, despite the increase in the number of daily active cases.”
However, the Centre had already flagged the issue of lack of strict enforcement of Covid-19 appropriate behavior by the state government in the meeting. The state authorities were pulled up after the Centre observed a steep decline in fines collection and imposition despite a constant surge in cases.
The government of Maharashtra released a set of fresh guidelines and restrictions late Sunday night resulting in confusion and uncertainty. The public is forced to rely on information reported by the media in bits and pieces. Multiple statements coming from the state leadership has added to the mess.
Shiv Sena’s youth leader Aditya Thackeray took to Twitter to give clarity on hospital admission and BMC war room after many Mumbaikars complained of being turned down by hospitals for beds and admission.
• In case you test covid positive, please seek hospital admission/ bed only through the @mybmc’s ward helpline numbers shared here and across hoardings in the city. You can also connect with BMC on 1916.
The health infrastructure is crumbling in cities like Pune which has been worse-hit by a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases.
Currently, in an attempt to ‘Break the Chain‘, the Maharashtra state government has imposed a complete lockdown on weekends starting Friday 8 pm to Monday morning 7 am; night curfew on all days, closure of restaurants and eateries other than takeaways, enforcement of ‘work from home’ for private companies which do not fall under essential services and closure of all public spaces such as temples, gardens, malls, gyms, parlors, etc.
The state machinery informed that a way forward will be issued again after reviewing the situation on April 15, 2021.
Amidst ongoing assembly elections in Kerala, a poster controversy has erupted in Kalpathy, Palakkad. UDF-Congress candidate Shafi Parambil’s posters became the centre of the controversy as they featured two Brahmin temple priests. The posters and large flex boards were seen all across the town, indicating that the temple priests supported Parambil. The Congress logo was also prominently visible on the poster which was seen in Kerala. Notably, Bharatiya Janata Party’s E Sreedharan is also contesting from Palakkad.
The two priests of Sree Visalakshi Samedha Viswanatha Swamy temple at Kalpathy in Palakkad have now come forward and stated that UDF’s sitting MLA Shafi Parambil used their photographs without permission. The priests said they were surprised to see the posters and flex boards featuring them across the town.
പാലക്കാട്:
UDF സ്ഥാനാർഥി ഫോട്ടോ ദുരുപയോഗം ചെയ്തതിനെതിരെ കൽപാത്തി ക്ഷേത്ര പൂജാരികൾ. തങ്ങളുടെ അറിവോ സമ്മതമോ കൂടാതെയാണ് പ്രചാരണത്തിന് ഷാഫി പറമ്പിൽ തങ്ങളുടെ ഫോട്ടോ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നത് എന്ന് കാല്പത്തി വിശ്വനാഥ സ്വാമി ക്ഷേത്രത്തിലെ പൂജാരികൾ. #KeralaElections#Kerala#palakkadpic.twitter.com/mY3KtpLuhK
While emphasizing the fact that their photographs were used without their knowledge or content, they said, “We greet all people who come to the temple. We treat the visitors equally as part of our ‘dharma’. As public servants, more so as acharyas, we are supposed to be impartial. Many friends and devotees of Kalpathy had called us over the phone and asked us if we are supporting any party. The callers also indirectly alluded to the fact that such acts were against our dharma,” the priests said.
Interestingly, Parambil was made the Kerala Youth Congress president in 2020. Before that, Parambil had openly voiced his criticism of the LDF government and even the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
The voting for all Kerala assembly seats is happening on April 6. The counting will take place on May 2. Congress has put all its weight behind the state of Kerala and have as good as abandoned campaigning in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. In Kerala, the Congress party seems to believe that they have a better chance of winning. Yesterday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday had appealed to the people of Kerala to vote for the United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance in the assembly elections in the state and “strengthen the Congress nationally”.
It is pertinent to note that the Congress party is also in alliance with Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) for the 2021 Kerala assembly elections. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which claims to be born after Indian Independence in 1948, is actually an off-shoot of Pakistan founder and Islamist Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s All India Muslim League (AIML).
The Indian Union Muslim League has been notoriously known for flaring up communal incidents in the state of Kerala. The party was found involved in the planning as well as the execution of the brutal Marad massacre in Kerala in 2003 as per the report of Justice Thomas P Joseph Commission which was set up to investigate the incident. The report had declared the massacre as “a clear communal conspiracy, with Muslim fundamentalist and terrorist organisations involved”.
Further, in 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a fresh First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the probe and had named Indian Union Muslim League leaders P.P. Moideen Koya and Moyeen Haji as an accused of funding, conspiring and executing the riots.
The victory of Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency is largely attributed to the alliance of the Congress party with the IUML, who consolidated Muslim votes in favour of the Gandhi-scion.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee started her political career with Congress (I) during the early 1970s. Ending the uninterrupted 34-year rule of the Left in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee made history when she was sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of the state. Her political journey has, however, not been easy. Instead, it has been plagued with myriad lies.
With all eyes set on the high-octane 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections, popular Twitter user @BefittingFacts revisited the top 25 lies that the West Bengal CM has peddled in her long political career.
In this article, we elaborate on the 25 lies listed in the video and delve into their details.
1. The bogus PhD degree from a University that never existed
Until 1991 Mamata Banerjee claimed to have obtained a PhD degree from “East Georgia University” in the United States. It was later found that no such university existed and she stopped mentioning this degree subsequently.
According to reports, in the run-up to the 1984 elections, as per the video, Mamata Banerjee prefixed her name with ‘Dr’, claiming that she had completed her doctorate. Reportedly, the walls of Jadavpur, from where Banerjee contested the seat, were painted with “Dr Mamata Banerjee”. After it came to light that the University from which Banerjee had putatively completed her PhD did not exist, she stopped prefixing her name with the ‘Dr’ title.
In 1985, the then Congress MP from Jadavpur Mamata Banerjee stood exposed when the United States Educational Foundation in India proclaimed that there did not exist an institution named ‘The University of East Georgia’ from where she had claimed to have allegedly completed her doctorate.
2. Mamata Banerjee’s ‘coup’ charge at the Indian Army
In 2016, Mamata Banerjee accused the Indian army of staging a ‘coup’ in her state. That year, when the Army was doing a training exercise across the state, the Mamata Banerjee government created a furore.
Mamata Banerjee claimed the Army soldiers being present at the toll plazas in the state was suspicious. She further claimed that the Army was carrying out ‘political vendetta’ and that the Army had sent its officials to her state without her permission.
The matter was blown to such proportions that it even created a ruckus in the parliament. Mamata Banerjee remained at the state secretariat overnight in protest.
Finally, the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar clarified that the presence of the Army cadre at the toll plazas was a part of a routine ‘impressment exercise’ carried out almost every year. The Army released a letter written to the WB CM informing her about the same. It was exposed how the Army had sent 4 documents to the WB Govt which the latter returned, duly signed and stamped, acknowledging the routine exercise.
Mamata and her party leaders had created a furore over a regular Army exercise that was being conducted after due approval from the WB government
The Kolkata police had also written to the Army asking them not to conduct the exercise, which, indeed backed the Army’s claim that the Mamata Banerjee government was informed about the joint exercise.
The article published by India Today on December 2, 2016
3. MEA dismissed Mamata Banerjee’s claims over her Chicago trip
Taking a potshot at the Modi government, the TMC supremo had in 2018 alleged that the central government threatened the Ramakrishna Mission, forcing it to cancel her trip to Chicago to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekanandas historic speech there.
Her own office had, however, exposed her lie after it informed that Ramakrishna Mission itself had cancelled the program due to the sudden death of a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur math.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had also dismissed reports that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was denied permission to visit Chicago to attend the World Hindu conference. MEA Spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar confirmed that the government had not, in fact, received any request for clearance for her visit.
On 2nd October 2014, a powerful bomb accidentally went off on the first floor of a rented house in Khagragarh locality of Burdwan, West Bengal. Incidentally, that building also housed a TMC office on its ground floor. Two terrorists, who were making the bomb succumbed to the injuries. While the case was initially probed by West Bengal police, the same was later taken over by NIA on 10th October 2014.
Then, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of stage-managing the October 2 Burdwan blast with the objective of triggering riots in the state.
Soon after the blast, Mamata Banerjee had blamed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the foreign intelligence agency of India, for being behind the blast. She had alleged that the two terrorists were ‘let in’ by the Modi government which had just come to power few months back and ‘found them a house’ and ‘allowed them to make explosives’. She had alleged that the Central government had done so to start a riot during the Pujo.
Mamata Banerjee was proved wrong when NIA revealed that Bangladesh-based terror groups, Al-Jihad and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were behind the 2014 Burdawan blast and sentenced JMB chief Kausar to 29 years in jail.
5. Park Street gang rape case
An Anglo-Indian woman named Suzette Jordan was raped in a moving car by five men on February 6, 2012, when she was returning home from Park Street in Kolkata.
Soon after the news surfaced, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had absolved the accused of all charges. She had dubbed the incident as ‘shajano ghotona‘ (concocted incident) that was allegedly ‘designed to malign the government.’
While speaking to a news channel, TMC MP Kakoli Ghose Dhastidar had cast aspersions on the character of the victim calling her a ‘sex worker’. She had also ruled out the rape angle.
Later, after public outrage, Mamata Banerjee was seen taking a U-turn. She transferred Kolkata’s joint commissioner of police (Crime) Ms Damayanti Sen, who had cracked the infamous Park Street gang rape case within four days of the accused being arrested.
Moreover, she ousted Sarbani Roy from the post of public prosecutor in the Park Street gang rape case after accusing her of going beyond her jurisdiction and acting without consulting the government.
6. Mamata’s lie over Anna Hazare’s no-show at rally
In a bid to enhance her national significance, WB CM Mamata Banerjee had organised a joint rally with social activist Anna Hazare at the Ramlila Grounds in the National Capital in 2014. The CM was, however, left red-faced after Anna Hazare decided to skip the rally citing ill-health. However, the fact was that Hazare had backed out since the supposed joint rally was sparsely attended.
To save, herself from the embarrassment, Mamata lied that the rally was actually organised at the insistence of the anti-corruption crusader. “It was not our rally. It was organised at the insistence of Annaji. It was not a Trinamool Congress rally,” the West Bengal Chief Minister told a news channel.
Responding to Mamata Banerjee, Hazare then cleared that he had skipped the ‘joint’ rally here with the Trinamool Congress chief because even 4000 people had not come to attend it and he had been misled.
The truth was further revealed when the Delhi Municipal corporation receipt surfaced. It showed that the Ramlila Ground was actually booked by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress party.
The MCD receipt
7. Vidyasagar statue row
In 2019, a political ball-game kickstarted after news started pouring in that status of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at Vidyasagar College in North Kolkata was vandalized by miscreants. Both, TMC and BJP began blaming each other for the incident.
The truth was that in the clashes which ensued following an attack on BJP President Amit Shah’s rally in Kolkata, a statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalized by miscreants in Vidyasagar College in Kolkata.
After the incident, Mamata Banerjee began accusing the BJP of causing violence although it was evidently started by the Trinamool. Mamata Banerjee had then presented a certain individual with his hand wrapped up in bandages in front of the press. She claimed that the BJP karyakarta’s injured Tirtha Pratim Saha, a student leader of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad.
Much to the embarrassment of Mamata Banerjee, Tirtha Pratim Saha, himself admitted that he was actually injured a few days ago. It was soon proven that Mamata Banerjee had created a fake victim to peddle the premeditated regional chauvinism narrative to counter BJP’s rise in the state.
Though over the years, the TMC supremo has enjoyed the overwhelming support of her voters in the state, the fear to lose to the formidable popularity of BJP has probably compelled her to resort to endless lies and deceit. When the West Bengal CM was in her 8th year of power in the state she claimed that in these years, her party has not even captured a single party office belonging to CPI-M.
This was a blatant lie. Until 2011, there were many party offices which belonged to the CPI(M). However, after the loss of the Left Front to the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress, these were taken over by the TMC and its twin flowers were painted on their walls.
Report published by Business Standard in 2019
After the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when BJP made successful inroads in the state, CPI-M recaptured 150 of its offices in West Bengal which, it alleged, had been taken over forcibly by the ruling Trinamool Congress after the Left was ousted from power in the state in 2011.
Party offices in Bankura, Purulia, Coochbihar, Bardhaman, Hoogly, North 24 Parganas and Howrah among others were not only retaken by the CPI(M) cadres, but the party symbol was also painted on them and party flags were seen flying atop the buildings.
9. Mamata Banerjee’s MGNREGA lie
In 2013, two years into office, Mamata Banerjee made big claims of development, especially about providing 100 days of work to unemployed adults under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Her government claimed that the state topped the chart in 2012-13 with the implementation of projects worth Rs 4475.80 crore, which is the highest in the country and generated employment for 57.76 lakh families.
TMC government’s ad in a local newspaper made tall claims of topping the development scale.
TMC’s ad about MNREGA
This also turned out to be nothing but a deception. The national statistics then suggested that West Bengal ranked 24th on the list. The then Union Minister of State for Urban Development Deepa Dasmunsi had said in a statement: “The state has ranked 24th on the list, whereas the (Trinamool) government very boastfully claimed otherwise. It easily nailed the lie of the state administration as they are misleading people with wrong information ahead of the panchayat elections”.
The national statistics also suggested that West Bengal dipped to the 35th position in the list in the year 2019.
So, contrary to the lie peddled by Mamata Banerjee about topping the MGNREGA chart, there has been an unprecedented growth of unemployment under the TMC rule. Between October 2016 to 2020, unemployment in West Bengal has grown by an astounding 217 per cent.
West Bengal also always has the highest percentage of delayed MGNREGA payments and it is plagued by TMC’s cut-money across the state, where workers are forced to pay hefty sums to avail work under the scheme.
10. Mamata Banerjee lies about starvation deaths in Bengal
In 2018, reports of deaths of seven Sabar community members in Lalgarh in West Bengal’s Jhargram district, allegedly due to scarcity of food, had drawn sharp criticism for the Mamata government.
To save her own skin, Mamata refuted these reports saying that no one died due to starvation. The deaths were either due to “age-related ailments” or “excessive liquor consumption”, said the West Bengal CM.
“The reports that people from Sabar community have died due to starvation were absolutely false and fabricated. No one has died in Bengal due to starvation,” she said in the state Assembly.
“People have died in Jungle Mahal due to excessive consumption of liquor or age-related ailments. While two people have died of illness and old age, others have died due to liver problems caused by excessive consumption of liquor,” she added.
However, a survey conducted then had busted the TMC supremo’s claims. The report suggested that there was indeed a “food scarcity in varying degrees” in about 31% of tribal households in the state of West Bengal, which means almost one-third of the tribal population in the state are malnourished and starved.
The report added that amongst the surveyed tribal households in the year, out of the 52 deaths, shockingly, 48 people died a premature death while only 4 died due to old age.
11. The overused fake news about Narendra Modi promising to deliver Rs 15 lakhs in the bank accounts of every citizen
Like every other opposition party, Mamata Banerjee has time and again attacked the BJP government by falsely claiming that the Central Govt promised to deliver Rs. 15 lakhs in the bank accounts of every citizen. In fact, in January 2020, to wriggle out of her predicaments amid the Coronavirus crisis, she attacked the central government by once again raking up the same overused and fatigued fake news.
During her rant, Mamata Banerjee reiterated how that Narendra Modi promised to deliver Rs 15 lakhs in the bank accounts of every citizen. She went a step ahead and claimed that the central government itself had announced that the said amount would be delivered in the back account of every citizen.
In reality, the Prime Minister never made such a promise. While speaking about Black Money stashed abroad, he had only said rhetorically that the amount stashed abroad is so large that if the Indian government could succeed in bringing back all of that, then every citizen would get 15 lakh rupees in their account.
12. Mamata’s lies over the coronavirus vaccines
Ahead of the 2021 state Assembly elections, the West Bengal chief minister accused the Modi government of sitting over her request to vaccinate all. She said that her government was ready to vaccinate the people of the state for free, but the central government was not providing the state with adequate doses of vaccination.
“A month back, before the elections, I had written to the Prime Minister. We want to vaccinate all people in Bengal at our own cost…but they have not allowed us”, said Mamata Banerjee in an evident claimed to impress her voters.
This claim only added to the list of umpteen lies peddled by the Bengal CM over the years. The central government cleared that West Bengal had been supplied with over 52.9 lakh vaccine doses, of which only 30.8 lakh had been used up to that time.
Last year, Mamata Banerjee accused BJP of breaking its Bihar poll manifesto promise. She said that in the run-up to the Bihar Assembly election, BJP had promised to give free COVID vaccines for the state’s people if they came back to power, but it was only a gimmick for political gains, she claimed.
However, it turned out that Mamata Banerjee was lying blatantly again. The Bihar government announced in March 2021, that the state government had decided to bear the entire cost of the coronavirus vaccination even at the private hospitals in the state. Basically, taking its poll promise to provide free vaccine to all, the cabinet approved the proposal of the Bihar government to provide free vaccine to all the people of the state and Mamata Banerjee was once again left red-faced.
14. Mamata Banerjee claims vaccines of Dengue and Malaria are given free in Bengal
The Chief Minister of West Bengal, while addressing a rally in Jhargram ahead of West Bengal elections, misleadingly claimed that vaccines of Dengue and Malaria are given free in West Bengal.
Taking a jibe at PM Narendra Modi Mamata Banerjee said in Jhargram: “I say give COVID injections to common people, but till Central government does not give permission, nothing can happen. I am saying to you (referring to Narendra Modi) that give me the coronavirus vaccine, I will pay for it; so that I can make the coronavirus vaccine available for everyone for free”.
Today, if we can give free vaccines for polio, malaria, and dengue, we can also give Covishield,” she added.
Interestingly, this turned out to be one of Mamata’s major faux pas as no government in the world has by far provided any vaccines for Dengue or Malaria.
According to the National Health Mission, the government of India started the Immunization Programme in 1978, intending to protect the children from preventable life-threatening conditions.
Under this immunization programme, the government presently provides the following vaccines to children and newborns: BCG vaccines, Hepatitis B vaccines, Rotavirus vaccines, oral poliovirus vaccines, inactivated Polio Vaccine, Pentavalent vaccine (which protects from diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type B), Measles vaccine, Vitamin A, DPT Vaccine (which protects against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus), Tetanus Vaccine. However, as claimed by none other than the West Bengal CM, no other vaccines like Dengue and Malaria are provided by any government.
15. You are a citizen only if your name is on the voter’s list
Every time the West Bengal Chief Minister has gone on her mindless rant against the central government she has outdone her self. While addressing a rally in the state, Mamata had claimed that if a person does not cast his or her vote, Modi will strike off their name from the voter’s list and claim that they are not Indian citizens, she said.
“Just ensure your names are there in the voters’ list. The rest will be taken care of by me,” she said, adding, “no one will have to leave the country.”
This was, however, a white lie, promulgated by the TMC supremo to degrade the central leadership and to woo her voters. In reality there is no such rule. Whether a not a person votes, the voter identification card will never get cancelled.
16. Mamata Banerjee spreads misinformation on Centre’s ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme
While pulling out from Centre’s ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme, the West Bengal CM had falsely claimed that 40 percent of the funds for the Ayushman scheme will have to be borne by the patients themselves.
Here too, with a sole aim to berate Modi and his flagship health insurance scheme, Mamata had gone on to trump-up a story which was anything but true.
The fact is that the PradhanMantri Jan ArogyaYojana (AB-PMJAY), deemed the largest in the world, to provide free health insurance to India’s poor and marginalised families, is a centrally sponsored scheme.
Under this scheme, the Modi government seeks to provide 10.74 crore poor households across India a reimbursement of up to ₹5 lakh per year towards the hospitalisation expenses of their family members. Apart from the expenses on in-patient treatment, the scheme also covers pre-and post-hospitalisation costs to some extent
Most importantly, the ratio of contribution towards premium between Centre and State is 60:40 in all States except the North Eastern States and the three Himalayan States, where the ratio is 90:10. This means, that the 40 per cent premium which Mamata claims had to be borne by the patients does not hold grounds. The patient has to only pay Rs 30 for an application form, that too is free for gold cardholders.
Amusingly, soon after Mamata made this bizarre accusation on the central government, she herself was caught in her own web of lies. In January 2019 she announced that she had decided to pull out from Centre’s ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme, accusing PM Modi of taking full credit for the scheme and ignoring State’s contribution. ANI had reported Mamata Banerjee as then saying: “My state will not contribute 40% of the funds for the Ayushman scheme. Centre has to pay the full amount if Centre wants to run the scheme”.
The point here is that if, according to her, the patients have to bear 40% of the premium, why did she say that her state would not contribute 40% of the funds for the Ayushman scheme and asked the Centre to pay the full amount?
17. Politics over the cyclonic storm Fani that wreaked havoc in WB in 2019
The West Bengal CM did not even shy away from using a natural disaster to cast aspersions on the Modi government. In 2019, while the people of Odisha and West Bengal were grappling to cope with the devastation caused by Cyclone Fani, Mamata Banerjee had tried to create a political controversy over the cyclone when she had alleged that the PM, while he visited Odisha, had not called her.
She had hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi instead of talking to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to inquire about the ground situation in the wake of cyclone Fani, and alleged Modi doesn’t respect the federal structure of the country.
However, her claims were soon refuted by the PMO and it was revealed that PM Modi had attempted to speak to Mamata Banerjee twice to access the cyclone situation in the state, but the Bengal CM had not returned his calls.
18. Politics over cyclone Amphan
In May 2020, when cyclone Amphan hit the state of West Bengal, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had attempted to cast the Modi government in an unprepossessing light, apathetic to the plight of victims of the cyclone.
She had claimed that Bengal got no financial assistance from the central leadership. While PM Modi said in clear and lucid terms that the centre will be extending an “advance assistance” of Rs 1000 crore for West Bengal to cope with the devastation caused by the cyclone, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee appeared to deliberately muddle the discourse by claiming that there was no clarity on the announcement made by the Prime Minister.
The fact is that apart from the emergency financial aid of Rs 1,000 crore given in advance to West Bengal to tide over the destruction caused in the state by Cyclone Amphan, the Modi government had also approved additional financial assistance of Rs 2707.77 crores for Cyclone Amphan survivors under the National Disaster Response Fund.
19. Mamata Banerjee spread fake news about Shramik train
The TMC chief, a strident critic of the Modi government, had discredited the Shramik trains service that the government has started to transport migrants back to their home states with lies and conjectures. She had slammed the Railways for sending ‘corona express’ to her state. “We are paying for 235 trains but then why are two to three people being made to sit on one seat? The railways, in the name of Shramik Special trains, are running ‘Corona Express’ trains. The people are calling these trains ‘Corona Express.”
However, the truth was that Indian Railways has issued a set of guidelines for its zones for running the Shramik special trains to ferry stranded people, saying the trains would operate at 90 per cent occupancy. It had also specified that each Shramik Special train would be a non-stop train bound for a single destination. It also said that the train with full length composition with social distancing (not counting the inside middle berths) can carry approximately 1200 passengers each.
20. Mamata lies, says never called ‘Shramik’ trains ‘Corona Express’
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in June last year, denied having called the ‘Shramik Special’ trains, which ferried migrant labourers back home during the lockdown as “Corona Express”, as alleged by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and insisted the name was given by people to crammed-to-capacity trains.
Her comments came a day after Shah, addressing a virtual rally for West Bengal, accused Banerjee of “insulting” migrant workers returning to the state on Shramik Special trains by calling them ‘Corona Express’.
“More than 11 lakh migrants have returned to Bengal. I never called the migrant special trains ‘Corona Express’. The common people gave them that name,” she told reporters.
21. Mamata’s Durga Puja Rs 50,000 bonanza
Mamata announced Rs 50,000 financial grant for puja organisers in 2020. Soon the High Court rapped up the TMC government for providing the Durga Puja bonanza to organisers. Slamming the Mamata govt for spending public money on organizing entertainment events or festivals, the court asked the state if guidelines had been laid down for such expenditures.
The state administration had then told the court that the grant was meant to help increase public awareness about Covid-19 protocols, and purchase of sanitisers and masks.
22. Mamata Banerjee claimed PM Modi endorsed Trump for President
Mamata had attempted to spread lies that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during the mega event held in Houston, Texas, endorsed President Trump for the 2020 US Presidential elections.
Contrary to the claims made by the TMC chief saying that Prime Minister Modi had endorsed Donald Trump for the US Presidential elections, PM Modi had never endorsed or tried to interfere in the 2020 US elections.
At the mega ‘Howdy Modi’ event held in Houston in September last year, Texas, Prime Minister Modi had reminded the audience as to how during the 2016 US Presidential campaigning, Donald Trump had said ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’ while appealing to Indian diaspora in the US.
While addressing the Indian diaspora in the US, Prime Minister Modi had recalled the above campaign slogan by Trump, contrary to the claim that he was endorsing Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 US elections.
23. Mamata Banerjee’s politics over PM Cares Fund
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has time and again accused the Centre of using central agencies to bulldoze the country’s federal structure and sought to know where is the money of Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) fund.
However, the fact is that the PM CARES Fund Trust has allocated Rs 2000 crore for supply of 50000 ‘Made-in-India’ ventilators to government run COVID hospitals in all States/UTs. Further, a sum of Rs. 1000 crore has been allocated for the welfare of migrant labourers. And interestingly, out of this 1000 crores, West Bengal has been allotted Rs 53 crore grant.
24. Mamata claims of not receiving any assistance from central govt to deal with coronavirus in the state
The Trinamool Congress on November 28, 2020 claimed that the Mamata Banerjee administration has so far spent Rs 4,000 crore on COVID-19 management in West Bengal and has not received any assistance from the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to deal with the pandemic situation.
Bengal’s share from SDRF, Centre contributes 75% to the SDRF for general category states
The truth is, however, far from these fake claims made by the TMC supremo. The West Bengal government had received Rs 505 crores in April 2020 under the State Disaster Risk Management Fund (SDRMF) to take measures for the containment of the pandemic. Besides the WB Govt also received 1000 ventilators under the PM Care scheme.
25. Modi govt did nothing for WB in the last six years, claims Mamata Banerjee
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has claimed TMC ushered in a new era of development in West Bengal and accused the BJP government at the Centre of not doing enough for the state in the last six years. But the truth is that Mamata Banerjee has for all this while craftily been rechristening the Center’s welfare schemes with Bengali names to take credit.
For example, the Mamata Government dropped “Pradhan Mantri” from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana scheme. She rechristened the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna scheme to Banglar Awas Yojna. Moreover, she renamed Swacha Bharat Abhiyan to Nirmal Bangla, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana as Anandadhara, Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana as Bangla Griha Prakalpa and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana as Sabar Ghare Alo which translates to lights in everyone’s home.
Speaking about the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna scheme, the cost of unit assistance is shared between Central and State Government in the ratio 60:40. Moreover, if you visit the West Bengal government site all specifications under the Banglar Awas Yojna is the same as the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.
In WB, more than 1 crore BPL holders have got LPG under the central govt’s Ujjwala Yojana. Moreover, funds allotted by the central govt under Swacha Bharat Abhiyan has been utilised by the Mamata govt for its Mission Nirmal Bangla.
The road that leads up to 2nd May 2021, when the results of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections would be declared has been littered with TMC chief, Mamata Banerjee’s, lies. Now, it would be interesting to watch whether these lies peddled by Mamata Banerjee would actually help her achieve her goals or BJP would create history by putting an end to her years of undefeated reign. Only time can tell.
A man by the name of Gabbar alias Mustafa was arrested by the Dwarakapuri police in Indore in Madhya Pradesh in connection to a grooming jihad case. The matter came to light when the accused was asked to produce his identity card at a maternity hospital.
As per reports, the Hindu woman met Mustafa at a birthday party about a year ago. He had identified himself as ‘Gabbar’. After successfully luring her, he married the woman in April last year. Meanwhile, she remained unaware of his true identity. Mustafa worked as a trainer at a gymnasium.
On Sunday (April 4), the complainant paid a visit to a maternity hospital along with the accused to undergo a medical examination (ultrasound test) for her pregnancy.
When the man was asked to produce his identity card (Aadhar in this case) by the doctor after his wife’s pregnancy diagnosis, the woman learnt that his name was not ‘Gabbar’ but Mustafa. On realising that she had been defrauded and lied to about his real identity by the accused, the victim filed a complaint with the Dwarakapuri police. According to Station-in-charge Satish Dwivedi, he has been booked under Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swantantrata Adhiniyam (anti-conversion law).
A high-ranking police official also informed that the accused had assaulted the victim. Reportedly, Mustafa has now been arrested and is being interrogated by the cops. On learning about the matter, several Hindu activists went to the hospital facility and demanded his immediate arrest. They also raised slogans seeking stringent action against the accused.
Grooming jihad in Madhya Pradesh
In December last year, a Hindu woman (35) was allegedly cheated, raped and blackmailed by a Muslim man pretending to be Hindu. The woman, accompanied by few activists belonging to a Hindu outfit approached the Munninagar police station in Ujjain to lodge a complaint against one Wasim Akram, accusing him of rape, torture and blackmail under the pretext of love and marriage.
The woman alleged that Wasim Akram had hidden his identity and portrayed himself as Vikas Rajput to entrap her two years ago. He had pretended to marry her by making her wear the mangalsutra (a black beaded necklace worn by a Hindu woman to signify that she is married) and established physical relationship with her. He also obtained compromising photographs with her which he started using to blackmail her.
The woman said that Wasim’s real identity was discovered two months ago after his Aadhar card fell from his wallet. On learning that he was a Muslim, the woman confronted him. He then showed her the photographs and started blackmailing her, threatening her to make the photographs viral on social media.
