Friends of RSS, a group of RSS members, accused the Delhi Police personnel of beating up their volunteers when they were on their way to deliver medicines to a needy family. The incident took place at Raj Park police station.
Demanding strict action against the concerned police officials, the group shared a video on Twitter alleging institutional harassment meted out to its volunteers in the middle of the pandemic.
The video shows a man narrating his ordeal after police stopped him from delivering masks, sanitisers and vaporisers to a needy family. In the video, the man claims he was slapped thrice by a police officer and alleges police of throwing some of the masks on the road.
Our volunteer was beaten up by some @DelhiPolice personnel for delivering medicines to a needy family. The Incident took place at Raj Park Police Station.
With the coronavirus crisis in Delhi deepening and resources in the national capital being stretched thin, several volunteers have taken it upon themselves to help people in need. These volunteers have been selflessly assisting patients in getting access to beds, oxygen cylinders, masks, sanitisers and other equipment necessary in the fight against COVID-19.
However, amidst this crisis, the Friends of RSS group has alleged the Delhi Police personnel of stopping them from helping those who are in need of assistance.
OpIndia tried contacting Raj Park police station for more information on the incident, but could not get through.
There is an interesting episode in Mahabharata, in Drona Parva. Mighty Drona, the teacher of Kaurava and Pandavas took charge after the great Commander of the Kaurava Army, Bhishma had fallen. There was a huge battle and Krishna predicted complete routing of the Pandava forces if Drona was to fight even for half a day. To circumvent this, Bhima was to make an announcement that Drona’s son Ashwatthama was slain.
This would have led to a dejected Drona surrendering his weapons and thus could be killed, unarmed. As Drona did not believe in Bhima, he called upon Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandava to confirm. Yudhishthira, the righteous one, then famously said that Ashwatthama was dead, not the man but the Elephant. It is then mentioned in before now the Chariot of Yudhishthira had remained at the height of four fingers’ breadth from the Earth’s surface; but after he uttered the lie, his steeds touched the Earth.
There is a certain glory and lightness of spirit in speaking the truth and that glory is lost the moment one speaks even a half-truth. Every half-truth is a lie. What Yudhishthira did in this incidence is not a lie, but he spoke the sentence, in a structure and manner that the latter part of the sentence would never reach Drona, knowing fully well this will result in the death of his Guru. Even when spoken with the blessings of Krishna, no one can escape the result of such a lie. Within a moment, your glory is gone, and rather than walking above the lesser mortals, you shrink in the quagmire into which you continue slipping.
This is what we see around happening in these times of pandemic. The political leadership lies and the media instead of passing on the truth amplifies those lies. The glory associated with the profession of journalism is gone as many journalists are not content with merely swooping onto the dead like a vulture. They instead create more and more deaths, create a lavish dinner for themselves, and then drown the wails of the dying with the clinking of the Champaign glasses, breathe through their upturned, aquiline noses what the playwright Tennessee Williams calls the stench of mendacity.
Little do they notice, lost in their own power, the power to change the narrative, to tell the truth, to hide the truth; that their grand Chariot now rolls in the mud, laced with the blood of their own countrymen. Like Yudhishthir, an unsuspecting Drona trusted them with truth and in return for this trust, they gave him half-truths. They do not want to be the teller of the truth, they want to be the creator of it. Therein lies the problem.
These pygmies, these small Gods are not benevolent and confident in their roles. They want to decide the future of the nation, not by building consensus, but by reducing it to anarchy. Only today there was a discussion in Clubhouse (a voice-only open platform), ostensibly called ‘Fight pandemic and not the opposition’ while the discussion was centred around why cannot we build a sustained outrage out of the pandemic death and misery to change the current Government. I was brought up to the speaker panel and when I raised this point, I was summarily moved back to the listener’s forum.
There is a stench rising, as people queue up in almost all major cities across India in search of Medical Oxygen as the number of dead rises. Devastating scenes emerge all across the country of dying people, patients gasping for breath, wailing relatives. I too have lost a close relative, a young man, a couple of days back. The young guy had his whole life ahead of him. I cannot claim that he suffered from the non-availability of oxygen or medicine. He did not. He died because the disease if too horrible and the worse thing is that it has brought our primal fears out in open.
When the time is too tragic, there is no space for emotional commitments, we stay stuck in our cages of security, however ephemeral it might be. There won’t be anyone except the nearest one to risk the disease and bid the goodbyes. He was cremated by his mother, a solitary woman alone in her grief. After cremation, she did not get a shoulder to cry on, but a quarantine to handle the grief of losing her son, alone. Such is the disease and one has little choice but to suffer in silence. The devastations Covid is leaving across the Globe will take centuries to heal and the scars it will leave on human souls will forever torture us.
In such times, as the families stand stark naked abandoning the pledges of never abandoning one another, the nations, the continents and the worlds are falling apart. We look at others with suspicion, we no longer hold hands even of those we know, we shrink away when someone coughs around us. Every day of the pandemic takes away some pretence of human value that we took pride in across the centuries of our evolution as species. When emotions cause discomfort and pain, it is the truth that is the only healer. It is fact and objectivity that holds us together and as the Hindu thought says, the Dharma at a very fundamental level is nothing but the truth.
Facts always present a counterpoint. For every shrinking human touch are those struggling men and women clad in their PPE kit, afraid but determined to take care of the flood of the sick, day after day. For every scared soul, there are brave men in uniform advising, urging and begging us to help beat the pandemic. For every woke elite lamenting their lost foreign vacations, there are women manning the Petrol pump, driving the trains, connecting the people, working on the vaccines, cleaning the streets and keeping the cash counters clicking, so that the Economic wheels of the world keep rotating. When things are falling apart, it is the job of media and leaders to keep hopes afloat.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi started tweeting at the start of the Pandemic that we are doomed as no action is taken, when Lockdown was declared, he again cried that we will die because of Lockdown. He is a perpetual pessimist. Or maybe not, he is that guy in Hollywood science-fiction movies who stands on a crowded street with a placard proclaiming that the world is going to end. The way he created fake Farmer’s protest makes me believe that he does not think the world is going to end. He merely wants others to believe that and suffer in that constant fear because they did not elect him to rule over India.
Facts will hurt, so does fiction. Facts, however, when confronted will give us perspective and stop hurting. Fiction will continue to hurt us. The political pariah, the touristy politician, Rahul Gandhi, who is a tweet-a-day politician, sends out one doomsday prediction every day and the media channels amplify that, somewhere hiding in those screeching concerns about the misery of common people and their well-shampooed hairs, a cynical hatred and pessimism, not only for the Party in power in India, rather also for the people who chose them as a part of the democratic process. Rahul Gandhi in the last four day ever since the start of the new wave and explosion of Coronavirus cases in India came out with three declarations:
– Government is taking away the insurance of Health Workers (it was clarified by the Government that it was never the case). It was the case of the annual renewal of the Rs 50 Lakh Insurance cover for the Covid warriors, and the same was renewed. This was clarified and corrected two days later by some media houses.
– Another news came from Maharashtra, ruled by Rahul Gandhi’s party in coalition with Shiv Sena claiming that ex-CM of the state was hoarding Remdesivir, a critical medicine in Corona treatment severe shortage of which was reported from Maharashtra. Later documents came out establishing that ex-CM was trying to ensure that the manufacturer does not export the medicine needed in Maharashtra and India and the state officials were totalling in the loop.
– The third thing he came up with was about India having exported medical oxygen and therefore India is suffering an acute shortage of medical shortage. Later the source of the news withdrew it and apologised. Rahul Gandhi did not.
While Industrial and Medical Oxygen are both oxygen, but both cannot be used for medical purposes because the degree of purity in Medical Oxygen is 99.5% as against 99% in the former. The claim of MoneyControl, that the Government exported Oxygen in the pandemic time was not only wrong rather malicious. Like the other two lies propagated by the Congress MP from Wayanad, and amplified by the supportive media was proven wrong but Rahul Gandhi refused to clarify or apologise.
One particularly bright journalist kept on fighting claiming that both are the same. Hope he does not someday jump into some Nuclear Plant to take a dip into the heavy water, after all, that too is water. NDTV still has the news on its portal and will be handy for Congress to create outrage in the 2024 elections.
India exported 9300 MT of Oxygen from April 2020 to January 2021 period. During the period, India had exported 9000 MT of Industrial Oxygen and 12 MT of Medical Oxygen. Is this export a cause of shortage in Oxygen as claimed by the Congress? Well, During the period of export, the Indian requirement of Medical Oxygen was 1418 MT. As of now, India’s daily Oxygen production capacity is more than 7000 MT Per Day. Looking at the per-day capacity vis-a-vis export across the year, we can understand that even if consider the entire export amount it is not more than a day-and-a-half production of Oxygen.
The shortage has come because the demands were not put up to the centre in a timely fashion even by the states like Delhi and Maharashtra who never actually came out of the first wave of Covid before stepping into the second wave because of poor administrative controls. While Maharashtra Government did precious little to ramp up hospitals and place stricter curbs, Delhi simple floated from one political agenda to another as it welcomed the Farmers on the fake agitation to block Delhi borders.
Thousands openly flouted Covid norms of social distancing and violated Pandemic act while Arvind Kejriwal welcomed unrest as he hoped to ride on it to the throne of the full-state of Punjab. The reminders from the Ministry of Health warning him about the impending havoc did nothing to wake him up as apart from rhetoric, much like the case of pollution in the capital, he did precious little. Data came tumbling out about how Delhi Government has not made any new hospital till 2019 in Delhi or even after granted money by the Centre from PM CARE funds for setting up 8 oxygen plants, slept over it. Earlier vilest of the politicians had some love for their people.
People like Kejriwal have hit a new low, when ten days back during a review of the PM in the face of increasing cases, he, as the CM of Delhi, was seen yawning and looking bored, instead of placing a request for Oxygen in Delhi.
Finally, after doing all the drama to gain political benefit out of the deaths of thousands, 20 States had passed on the requirement of 6785 MT of Oxygen per day and were allocated 6822 MT a day by the central Narendra Modi government which is coordinating the supplies now. Both Airforce and Railways have been pressed into action by much-Maligned Modi and Oxygen is being arranged by Tatas, Jindals and Ambanis- the Much-Maligned Industrialists.
Next scarcity was about the critical covid medicine like Remdesivir. This requirement was lying on the head of States like Maharashtra and Delhi for a very long time as cases were spiralling up. Even today, these states lead the Covid numbers and it is truly surprising that the media houses who slept till now, even after waking up the large-scale human tragedy are reaching out to provide ground reports from select states, namely UP, MP and Gujarat- Common theme- All being ruled by the BJP. Is it not logical to expect media to provide ground reports from the state where the situation is the worst.
As of the 23rd of April, 2021, India has total active cases of 22 Lakhs. Maharashtra has the highest number of active cases at 6,97,000 followed by UP with 2,42,000 Active cases, Karnataka with 1,75,000 Cases and Kerala with 1,35,957 Cases. There are two things however, one ought to consider as to why the situation is relatively more serious in which state. The first is population. Maharashtra has a population of 12.22 Crores, Kerala has a population of 3.5 Crores (same as Delhi, think population density), Karnataka at 3.22 Crores and UP is at a mammoth population of 23.5 Crore People. With reference to population, the wave has not yet become as monstrous as other states.
Another important parameter to be considered is the death rate to get things in perspective. While every single life lost is a tragic thing, but when all that you find staring at you from the TV screens, you forget that there is a tender and tenacious life force struggling all the time, refusing to give up. I have only two submissions here, report, but do not try to scare people. Secondly, If your idea is to scare people so that out of shock some positive action happens, then please shake the sections which are wreathing under the most severe attacks of COVID and most apathetic administration. India’s has a total of 22 Lakh or 2 Million Cases and a fatality of 1,84,657 cases. The fatality rate in India is 1.16% (During Swine Flu, it was 6%). I have had my losses, but I have many near and dear ones who have happily survived the Chinese virus as well.
The states which are still sleeping need to be woken up and that is where Ground reporting of TV channels should happen if the intent is not to create outrage against the Governments media does not like rather it is to wake up the Governments which do not act. America has seen 3.2 Crore cases this far and 5,76,000 Deaths, which is five times Corona Deaths in India. One may credit Indian Doctors who have worked in severe limitations and Indian people who refused to give up or who are blessed with a general immunity.
For a nation, which did not have any Ventilator or PPE kit made in India, we have two Indian vaccines, out of which one is developed in India, Covaxin. The US has given the vaccine to around 19 Crore people. The population of the US is 33 Crores and the Indian population is 137 Crores. India has vaccinated 13.23 Crore People. The thing is the rate of vaccination, while good is lesser for the huge population of India. Unfortunately, politicians like Rahul Gandhi created such a concerted campaign to oppose Indian vaccines, that there was a huge amount of Vaccine hesitancy created. When I went for my vaccine last month, there was only one couple in waiting.
It can only think that now with fear of disease lurking in the shadows and reports of Vaccine opponents now secretly taking vaccines after opposing it in public, coming out, this number should pick up. Also reduction of vaccination age to 18 years from 1st of May, 2021, should improve, with states like UP, Bihar and Assam setting aside money to procure and support free vaccinations. The fact is that even with such a widespread pandemic, India is plagued with huge disinterest towards health infrastructure, we have handled this whole thing quite well.
The Government is trying hard. We need to support the governments. Where they have slept over the work like say, in Delhi and Maharashtra, we need to wake them up. We need to urge the centre to work more aggressively on health. However, we must remember that no state can be prepared well enough for such an exponential explosion. You cannot have ventilator beds for half of your city population. Western Commentators like Annie Gowen might find the tragic sights of cremation ‘stunning’, it is not. It is deeply saddening and movingly tragic. This from where, like Phoenix, we shall rise again.
We need to reach smaller areas and standardise healthcare systems. The fact that we do not have enough Oxygen plants do not add up. It also does not add up that the Hospitals that are better equipped to handle Oxygen suppliers are not willing to take up their responsibility. Tatas and Ambanis are organizing Oxygen from industries. Healthcare itself is an industry. Ms Reddy of Apollo who tweeted to the Government seeking help for Oxygen has a net worth of INR 895 Crores or 130 Million Dollars. Could she not have set up Oxygen plants in her Hospitals, at least in Delhi and even supplied to other hospitals? People are cynics and they will use the situation to create outrage, unrest and exploit the situation. The media will continue with their inane debates. Medicines are hugely being black-marketed.
The Government of India has stepped into the distribution of Remdesivir (a couple of days back HC Judge had taken Maharashtra Government to task when they said they cannot do anything about the shortage of medicine as it is a matter between a private company and their distribution chain asking Maharashtra Government (of Shivsena, Congress and NCP) – Are you not ashamed of yourself? If you are not then we are ashamed of living in the same society like yours. For obvious reason, the news was as promptly pushed under the carpet, as was the news of 23 deaths in Nashik the day before and 13 today. GoI under Narendra Modi has allotted One Million doses to be distributed state-wise as per the gravity of the situation. Before a disgruntled Congress supporter hosts another Clubhouse debate with fake data, just to share, Congress-Shivsena ruled Maharashtra gets the highest number of Remdesivir at 2,69,200 doses.
Hold each other’s hand, do not give in to the outrage. We will come out of it stronger. Stay strong my Country and keep calling out those who think if they do not rule over this great land or those they support do not rule, this country must break, burn and cease to exist. Lies. and propaganda in these pandemic times is the worst thing to do. People are dying and the media refuses to bring news from the worst affected areas, refuses to stop lying for political reasons. Their Chariots are in the mud, their half-lies are exposed. When you open the newspapers or turn on the TV, if you smell a stench, you call it out. You know what that strange stench is, to quote from Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof -‘ Didn’t you notice a powerful and obnoxious odour of mendacity in this room? There ain’t nothin’ more powerful than the odour of mendacity. You can smell it. It smells like death.’
We need to breathe freely and drown ourselves in the sweet, salubrious air of Bharat. We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be choked. We need the Chariots to again float and levitate like the vehicles of the Gods. The year hasn’t been kind to us, the Century will be ours.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, has issued a statement to address the controversy created by opposition parties and ‘liberal’ intellectuals alike over the pricing of Covishield, the Covid-19 vaccine. Poonawalla said that the statement was issued in the spirit of transparency.
Adar Poonawalla said, “Government procurement for countrywide immunization programs in all countries including India has been at a far lower price as the volumes are very large. For instance, based on the market conditions, prices of many vaccines in the private market including our pneumococcal vaccine are sold at a higher free-economy price, whereas for the government it is almost 1/3rd of the free market price.”
SII CEO Adar Poonawalla issued statement over Covishield pricing
“COVISHIELD is the most affordable COVID-19 vaccine available in the market today. The initial prices were kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by those countries for at-risk vaccine manufacturing. The initial supply price Of COVISHIELD for all government immunization programme, including India, has been the lowest,” he said.
Adar Poonawalla stated further, “The price Of the vaccine is still lower than a lot Of other medical treatment and essentials required to treat COVID-19 and other life-threatening diseases.”
Opposition parties have been crying foul over the price of vaccines which has been pegged at Rs. 400 per dose for state governments. The price is the same for the central government as well which will be applicable after the initial 110 million doses have been provided.
It has been falsely claimed that there is a difference between the cost of vaccines for state governments and the central government. The price has been fixed at Rs. 600 for private hospitals. They were earlier selling the vaccines at a lower price while incurring losses in the process.
Even as the hospitals in Delhi are facing a severe crisis of oxygen due to the failure of the Arvind Kejriwal govt to lift the oxygen allotted to it from plants in other states, today afternoon fake news was circulated on social media that AIIMS in Delhi closed its emergency ward due to shortage of oxygen. CPIML leader Kavita Krishnan led the spread of the fake news, who posted a thread on Twitter on the imaginary situation at the premier health institution.
Kavita Krishnan, and countless other social media users posted on Twitter that the AIIMS Delhi has closed the emergency ward due to shortage of oxygen. Kid activist Licypriya Kangujam also tweeted the same, but later she deleted the tweet.
But the fake news was busted soon as the director of AIIMS himself informed that there is no shortage of oxygen in the institute. Talking to NDTV, AIIMS Delhi director Dr Randeep Guleria said that there is no shortage of oxygen in all the centres of the institute, including the emergency and trauma centre at the main institute campus.
Dr Guleria said that as the number of patients in the emergency ward has increased, they are having to do some readjustments to accommodate them. The number of oxygen outlet points was being increased at the emergency ward due to the increased number of points, and due to this adjustment, the emergency ward had stopped taking new patients for around one hour, which was resumed after the work was complete. However, this temporary stoppage in was interpreted as closing the entire ward due to lack of oxygen.
It may be noted that if AIIMS was facing shortage of oxygen, they would not have added more outlet points in the emergency ward, as it will increase the consumption of the gas. It means that the institute has sufficient supply of medical oxygen, unlike most private hospitals in the capital city.
But as the AIIMS Director informed, there is no shortage of oxygen in the institute as the left-liberals claiming on social media.
On Monday (April 19), Islamic scholar and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) politician Aamir Liaquat Hussain sparked a massive controversy for doing ‘haram’ Nagin dance on TV during Ramzan transmission.
Unlike India, Pakistan TV hosts special programmes during the month of Ramzan. These are known as ‘Ramzan transmissions’. The shows include non-veg jokes, cheap shayaris and entertaining game shows to help the audience pass time during the month-long period of fast. And Aamir Liaquat has been the face of Ramzan transmission for over a decade.
Aamir Liaquat Hussain, the former Minister of Religious Affairs in Pakistan, was seen imitating Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit and breaking into the iconic ‘Nagin dance’. This took place on Monday during an episode of Ramzan transmission.
The Islamic scholar, who is also a sitting member of the Pakistani Parliament, was seen rolling on the floor and sticking his tongue out in a bid to imitate a hissing snake. Hussain was lost so much into the character that he began crawling on the floor over a snake and ladder board.
Netizens slam Aamir Liaquat for his ‘obnoxious’ Nagin dance
Pakistanis, who usually adore Aamir Liaquat Hussain for his antics on TV, were however not impressed. They slammed him for his theatrics on Tv during the ‘pious’ month of Ramzan. A Twitter user, named IK, wrote, “Ladies and gentlemen…the member of national assembly, named thrice in most influential Muslims, well-known media personality presenting you his ‘Nagin dance’ the one and only bad boy Aamir Liaquat….I will suggest him quit politics and start making memes.”
??? Ladies and gentlemen…the member of national assembly, named thrice in most influential muslims, well known media personality presenting you his ‘Nagin dance’ the one and only bad boy Amir liaquat…. I will suggest him quit politics and start making memes ???
Another Twitter user inquired, “Is Aamir Liaquat Hussain mentally distorted or is he too desperate for the attention?I remember how eagerly I used to watch his Ramadan transmissions but he has lost all the respect. Utterly disgusting!!”
Is Amir Liaquat Hussain mentally distorted or is he too desperate for the attention?I remember how eagerly I used to watch his Ramadan transmissions but he has lost all the respect.Utterly disgusting!! pic.twitter.com/Ib1ytOlXs1
Azka Noor asked, “Kya koi alim-e-Islam shaitan k roop mai ramzan transmission kr skta ha? (Can an Islamic scholar, in the garb of a devil, conduct Ramzan transmission programmes?)”
Kya koi alim-e-Islam shaitan k roop mai ramzan transmission kr skta ha?
Aamir Liaquat was also seen racing alongside athlete Naseem Hameed during the live show. During the 20-metre reace, he had a bad fall but managed to win. A Twitter user, Arham asked, “Rozey ki halat mein khuwateen k sath race lgana jaiz hei? (Is it permissible to race with a woman while fasting?)”
Rozey ki halat mein khuwateen k sath race lgana jaiz hei?
Petrified by what he saw on TV in the name of Ramzan transmission, another Twitter user recounted, “That one video of amir liaquat doing the nagin dance haunts me.”
that one video of amir liaquat doing the nagin dance haunts me
Maleeha Hashmi had shared a meme of a man ‘watering his brains’ to suggest that her mind needs a similar cleanup, after watching Aamir Liaquat Hussain’s Nagin dance.
Following the controversy, Aamir Liaquat said, “Whoever is making memes, please continue. I like it. If that makes you happy and helps sustain your livelihood, then continue… Take money, earned from these memes, home and tell your mother that the income is from a ‘haram’ source. Make memes. It does not affect me. Because whatever I do, I do it with conviction and not by mistake.”
Pakistani lawmaker slammed for anti-Hindu bigotry in the past
In February this year, Aamir Liaquat Husain was forced to apologise for his disrespectful act of using the image of a Hindu deity to mock Maryam Nawaz, the opposition leader in Pakistan. He tweeted an image of a Hindu deity to target Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The derogatory tweet targeting Hindus came as a response to an earlier statement made by Maryam, who had warned the Pakistan government against ‘seeing a different Maryam’ if they attempted to steal the vote in a by-election.
Following his tweet, he faced flak from the Hindu community, civil society, and other Pakistan politicians. “I know the sentiments of the Hindu community were hurt. I respect all faiths, this is what my religion has taught me,” he later clarified in a tweet.
The Delhi Government was rapped in the Delhi High Court on Saturday during the hearing on the supply of medicinal oxygen to hospitals. The Delhi Government was rebuked by advocate Sachin Dutta appearing for Jaipur Golden Hospital, Solicitor General SG Mehta and also by the Court itself.
OSD Health Ashish Verma from the Delhi Government was rebuked by the Court. The Delhi High Court said that there were certain steps due to be undertaken which he had not. The Court said that other states were taking steps to ensure the smooth supply of oxygen, so there is no reason that the Delhi Government could not.
Delhi High Court rebukes Delhi Government
The Court also told advocate Rahul Mehra, representing the Delhi Government, that there was a mechanism in place to facilitate tanker for supplying oxygen but until the Delhi Government takes the initiative themselves, things will not move forward.
The Court told Verma, “Every state is arranging its own tankers, if you’re not having your own tanks, arrange them. You will have to do it, get in touch with the Central govt officers. We are not here to facilitate contact between officers.”
The Court told Mehra, “If allocation was done 3 days back, why didn’t you exercise your option to look for tankers? Your political head has himself been an administrative officer, he knows how it works.”
The Delhi High Court also said that it appeared that Verma was not taking things seriously enough. It said, “The problem is you think allocation is done so everything will be served at your doorstep but that’s not how it works. After allocation have you made any effort for the tankers to collect the oxygen?”
Delhi High Court rebukes Delhi Government
When the Court was told that they were trying, it said, “What is this? You are also taking the situation lightly. Have you contacted the plants?” The Court also told advocate Mehra, when he tried to shirk responsibility, that all states are making provisions for their own supply after the allocation and that the Delhi Government needs to do the same.
Central Government officer Piyush Goyal said that supply was ready from Rourkela but nobody was there to take it. He said, “All other States are collaborating for tankers, railway. For Delhi, it’s like they are to be served on the platter. We are helping States. Delhi officers need to do that.”
Central Govt officer Piyush Goyal says Delhi officers expect everything to be served on a platter
SG Mehta emphasised that there was no mechanism in place in Delhi to ensure that the supply of oxygen was smooth. Mehra replied that they were to put one in place. It was also emphasised that such problems were not faced in any other state and Delhi was an exception.
In his submissions before the Delhi High Court on the oxygen shortage in the national capital, senior counsel Sachin Dutta representing Jaipur Golden Hospital, slammed the Delhi government for its incompetence and apathy in handling the situation. He alleged that officers of the Delhi government were unavailable even as people were dying in the hospitals.
“Whole day yesterday we called your officers, they didn’t do anything,” advocate Sachin Dutta told Mr Mehra, representing the Delhi government.
SG Mehta and Mehra break into a verbal scuffle.
Whole day yesterday we called your officers, they didn’t do anything: Dutta to Mehra
Jaipur Golden Hospitals had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court over the shortages of oxygen supply amidst the surging COVID-19 outbreak in the national capital.
Mounting an attack against the Delhi government, Dutta alleged that hospitals were left in the lurch, and because of it patients lost their lives.
“Yesterday 25 people died because we didn’t have oxygen supply. We are literally gasping for breath,” Dutta, who was representing Jaipur Golden Hospital, said.
When the bench headed by Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli asked the Delhi government what efforts are made to contact the oxygen plants to secure supply, advocate Verman responded saying that they would widen the efforts to address the growing demand of oxygen.
To this, Advocate Dutta interjected: “If their house was in order (Delhi government), I would not have been in this predicament.”
Advocate Dutta also came down hard against the Delhi government order which was issued yesterday and had caused disruption in oxygen supply. “You can keep the Hospitals in confidence so that they can inform the families,” Dutta said.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has disposed of the matter related to the ‘illegal detention’ of activist Nodeep Kaur, reports TOI. The decision came after Nodeep’s counsel told the court that she would avail “other remedy” with regard to the “maltreatment” and “custodial torture”.
While disposing of the petition, Justice Avneesh Jhingan observed that since an FIR dated January 12 registered against Kaur and she was granted bail, the allegation with regard to “illegal confinement” need not be looked at further. It said that if the need arises, the matter can be raised in an appropriate forum.
The matter came up for hearing after the court had taken suo motu cognisance of the anonymous complaints it received on February 6 and 8 about Kaur’s “illegal confinement” and “torture” by Haryana Police.
Leftist gang and media spread fake news about Nodeep Kaur being sexually assaulted in police custody
It becomes imperative to note here that since Kaur’s arrest, the assorted gang of liberals and leftist media have been peddling false claims that Kaur was sexually assaulted in police custody.
Article published by The Scroll on Feb 7, 2021, alleging Nodeep Kaur was sexually assaulted in police custody
American author and niece of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Meena Harris alleged that Nodeep Kaur has been sexually assaulted in police custody. This unverified claim went viral and was on repeat ad nauseum by others, including the actress Chitrangada Singh. However, this claim is not true.
Kaur herself attested that she was not sexually assaulted
Not only Sonepat police, against whom the allegations were meted out, but Nodeep Kaur herself had attested that she was not sexually assaulted in police custody.
In fact, Nodeep Kaur herself gave a written statement refusing the special examination on the grounds that she hadn’t been a victim of sexual assualt. Furthermore, Nodeep Kaur made no allegations of sexual assault when she was presented in front of the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
Nevertheless, it did not stop people like Meena Harris, Bollywood actress Chitrangda Singh and the leftist friendly media from spreading the unverified claim of sexual assault.
Amidst the Haryana government’s push for a love jihad law, a new case of Grooming Jihad has been reported in the state. The victim, a woman and a resident of Tohana town in the Fatehabad district alleged that a Muslim man presented himself as a Hindu and married her, according to a report published on Aaj Tak.
For years, the man was successful in putting up the pretense of being a Hindu. However, it fell apart after the couple had a daughter, and the man started coercing the woman to embrace Islam. When the victim came to know about her husband’s reality, she ran pillar to post, from police stations to local administration offices, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Finally, on Friday, the woman staged a demonstration outside the Mini Secretariat in Fatehabad.
The victim, Rajwinder Kaur, has alleged that seven years ago, she married a man named Ramesh. At the time of her marriage, Ramesh projected himself to be a Hindu, and the duo got married in a temple. About three and a half years ago, the couple gave birth to a girl child, following which Rajwinder urged her husband to take them to her in-laws’ house.
After much denial, Ramesh finally agreed to take Rajwinder to his parent’s home. But little did Rajwinder know that she was in for a rude awakening. When she reached her in-laws’ house, she realised that Ramesh was a Muslim and all these years he has been pretending to be a Hindu.
Since then, her husband and his family are constantly pressuring Rajwinder to give up her religion and accept Islam. When Rajwinder resisted their attempts to convert her into Islam, they threw her out of their house. Rajwinder is currently living in a rented house with her daughter.
Following this incident, she filed a complaint against her husband and his family members for pressurising her into converting her religion. However, no action was taken by the police in this regard. Rajwinder subsequently sat on a dharna against police inaction, after which the police took cognisance of the matter.
The SP of the region called her to his office and assured her that action will be taken against the culprits in 2 to 4 days. The woman has also accused some locals who helped Ramesh in entrapping her. She has demanded action against them as well.
On the matter of Rajwinder’s complaint, Subhash Chandra, Fatehabad DSP said that the police have taken cognisance of the matter and transferred the complaint to the woman cell for investigation. He assured that appropriate action will be taken against the culprits based on the investigation report. At the same time, he has also stated that action will be initiated against police officials who did not act on the woman’s complaint.
In a historic feat on Saturday (April 24), the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) passed a resolution (No. 1451-XX) to adopt a scholarly definition of Hinduphobia. This is the first time that a US university has institutionally recognised Hinduphobia through its student assembly.
#BREAKING: Rutgers University becomes the first U.S university to institutionally recognize Hinduphobia through its student assembly #UnderstandingHinduphobia2021
The scholarly definition of Hinduphobia was developed through the ‘Understanding Hinduphobia’ Conference. Rutgers HSC emphasised that it was important to protect the interests of the Hindu students on the campus of Rutgers University. The accepted definition of Hinduphobia goes as, “a set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviours towards Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Hindus that may manifest as fear or hatred.”
Rutgers HSC informed that RUSA has not only recognised the working definition of Hinduphobia but also the changes made to the definition within 14 days of the conclusion of ‘Understanding Hinduphobia Conference.’ The development comes as a major victory for the Hindu students on the Rutgers University campus, who have been fighting the faculty and administration to recognise the perils of Hinduphobia.
Chain of events leading up to the official recognition of Hinduphobia
In March this year, a petition was initiated by a group of students asking Rutgers-Newark University to take strong action against controversial ‘historian’ and Professor Audrey Truschke for demonising Hinduism. The petition was shared on Twitter by the ‘Hindu on Campus’ group. The students were miffed with Truschke’s continuous vile and bigoted opinions against Hindus.
They said that they were “aghast at the bigotry being peddled against Hindus via continued derision of our religion, our deities, and our sacred texts” in the university, which might be a potential threat to their security, as it might lead to “potential attacks, bullying, and backlash, either on campus or via social media, due to our faith.” The petition specified how the atmosphere in the university was at odds with the Hindu students due to the hateful and vile anti-Hindu remarks made by professor Audrey Truschke on various occasions.
On March 7, ‘Hindu on Campus’ group exposed how Audrey Truschke had made problematic statements against Hinduism and indulged in casual racism against Hindus. At the time of US Capitol riots, Truschke tweeted about the presence of an Indian flag at the scene to imply it to be the handiwork of Hindu Right. In another instance, Truschke had misinterpreted the sacred Hindu religious text of Bhagavad Gita and accused it of rationalising mass slaughter. Truschke had also equated a gangrape case in India to an incident in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata, essentially alluding that Hindu culture endorses “rape culture” and misogyny.
In a statement on March 9, Rutgers -Newark University came out in defence of Audrey Truschke. “Rutgers emphatically supports Professor Truschke’s academic freedom in pursuing her scholarship, abhors the vile messages and threats being directed at her, and calls for an immediate end to them…Scholarship is sometimes controversial, perhaps especially when it is at the interface of history and religion, but the freedom to pursue such scholarship, as Professor Truschke does rigorously, is at the heart of the enterprise,” it stated.
In a letter on March 17, the faculty members of Rutgers University came out in support of Truschke. We insist that a critical examination of Hindutva, a political ideology, is not the same thing as Hinduphobia,” the statement read. It then goes on to a familiar Hinduphobic narrative, accusing Hindus of atrocities against Muslims and other minorities. “Dr. Truschke’s critique of the former rests on its majoritarian expression in India, in ways that threaten the safety, security, and equality of Muslims and other minorities,” they claimed.
The faculty members said that they had confidence in “Truschke’s respect for Hindus and Hinduism and its compatibility with a critique of Hindu nationalism as a social and political enterprise.” The faculty members also applauded the Rutgers management for defending Audrey Truschke. The episode had traumatised both current and prospective Hindu students so much so that they have decided against applying to the University.
On pointing out the testimonials of verified current and prospective Hindu students, the Senior Vice President of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ at Rutgers University blocked the Twitter handle of ‘Hindus on Campus’. As such, the adoption and the official recognition of Hinduphobia on campus by a US university through its student body marks the beginning of a paradigm shift in attitudes towards Hindus.
