Aishe Ghosh, the JNUSU president and an accused in the JNU riots case, has been nominated as the CPI(M) candidate from the Jamuria constituency ahead of the West Bengal assembly election. The 25-year-old far-left ‘activist’ from Durgapur came into the limelight after allegedly conspiring and leading the attacks on students inside the JNU campus in January 2020.
According to the reports, the Left Front on Wednesday announced its candidate list for 120 seats in West Bengal. The CPI(M) has fielded JNU’s student wing president Aishe Ghosh in the Jamuria Assembly constituency in the West Burdwan district.
Aishe Ghosh, a member of CPI(M)’s student wing SFI, will be the first sitting JNUSU president to contest assembly elections. She had become the president of JNUSU in 2019. Ghosh, who is graduated in political science from Delhi University’s Daulat Ram College, had joined JNU for her masters.
Aishe has replaced incumbent CPI(M) MLA Jahanara Khan, who had won the 2016 elections by securing a 43.29 per cent vote share. She will be contesting as a joint candidate of the Congress-left-ISF coalition to take on the TMC and the BJP.
Ahead of the West Bengal elections, the left parties had announced a coalition with the Congress party and radical Islamist Abbas Siddiqui’s newly-created political party Indian Secular Front (ISF). The eight-phase Assembly polls for the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal will begin on March 27. The results will be announced on May 2.
Aishe Ghosh – an accused in JNU riots case
Aishe rose to fame during the 2020 JNU riots, during which the left-wing ‘students’, joined by outsiders, had unleashed large scale violence against other students inside the university and had forced them to boycott classes in protest against fee hike. As the president of JNUSU, Ghosh had allegedly led the mob that physically attacked students and prevented them from registering for the winter semester to enforce the boycott.
The left-wing mobs, led by Aishe Ghosh, had allegedly also vandalised the university server room and disabled Wi-Fi on the campus, preventing students from registering online. Several students and ABVP leaders were injured in the attack by left-wing groups.
Following a detailed investigation, the Delhi Police had named Aishe Ghosh and 19 others in the FIR for violence inside the JNU campus on 4th January 2020. The Delhi Police had investigated the attacks and had identified masked men who had vandalised property and beaten up students on the JNU campus on January 5.
The Russian embassy in India has issued a statement on Tuesday dismissing a report published by Indian Express that had claimed that Moscow had asked the other interlocutors to keep India out of the Afghan peace process.
In an article published on Tuesday, the Indian Express had reported that the Russian interlocutors had asked for the stakeholders in the Afghan peace process to leave India out of the dialogue amidst the growing proximity between Moscow and Beijing. According to the report, Russians wantedChina, the US, Pakistan and Iran at the table.
“The decision to leave India was apparently done at the behest of Pakistan which has never wanted India to be part of any roadmap for the region,” the report claimed. The Indian Express had quoted unnamed sources to make such claims.
The Indian Express report that suggested that Russian wanted India out in Afghan peace plan
However, the report further claimed that India reached out to all key players in Afghanistan and other countries to make its way to the negotiating table.
“Our interests need to be safeguarded…the next couple of months hold the key to progress,” a top official was quoted as saying.
It was also reported that India could finally enter the peace process along with five other countries to decide on the roadmap for peace in Afghanistan with the backing of the United States after Russians decided to keep India out.
Further, the report said, “By being part of the team, New Delhi hopes to have a role in setting the terms — especially concerning terrorism, violence, women’s rights and democratic values. India’s refrain has been that it wants an Afghan-led, Afghan-controlled and Afghan-owned process but ground realities have been such that other players have dictated terms.”
Russia refutes Indian Express report
A day after Indian Express published its purported claims on the Afghan peace process, Russia expressed its disappointment over half-truths published by the media outlet.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Russian Embassy in Delhi stressed that Russia “always stated that India plays a very important role in Afghanistan, and its eventual deeper involvement in dedicated dialogue formats is natural”. The embassy slammed Indian Express for publishing the report that seemed to be based on “ill-informed sources”.
“Dialogue between Russia and India has always been very close and forward-looking on all global and regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan. It has been intensively maintained in bilateral and multilateral formats, including the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, Moscow consultations, etc.,” a statement from Russian Embassy in response to the report said.
Further, the statement read, “Due to the complexity of the Afghan settlement, moving towards a relevant regional consensus and coordination with other partners, including the US, is critical. We proceed from the importance of the implementation of the US-Taliban agreement signed in Doha in February 2020 and approved by a UN Security Council resolution”.
Afghan peace process
The latest controversy has come amidst the ongoing negotiations between various stakeholders, including the United States, Afghanistan and Islamic terror group Taliban, to achieve sustainable peace in Afghanistan.
Recently, United States Secretary Antony Blinken had written a letter to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah. In the letter, Blinken had sought a peace conference facilitated by the United Nations (UN) with representatives from six nations, including India, to discuss a “unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan”.
In the letter, the US Secretary of State has said Turkey will be approached to host a senior-level meeting of both sides in the upcoming weeks to finalise a peace agreement. The US Secretary of State urged Ghani or his “authoritative designees” to attend the meeting.
Blinken also said that the Geneva-based organisation should convene a meeting with foreign ministers and envoys from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the US to discuss approaches to support peace in the war-torn country, Afghanistan.
It is speculated that thee peace plan may open the possibility that the USA troops, currently deployed in Afghanistan, might stay on for a longer time.
Earlier in February it was revealed that Canada had not yet reached out to India, world’s largest vaccine manufacturer for procurement of the same for its citizens. India has been at the forefront of vaccine diplomacy where it has given vaccines to other countries along with making inoculation of Indians as a priority. However, till February 2nd week, Canada had not yet reached out to India for the same.
It was speculated that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was putting the lives of Canadians at risk while pandering to the pro-Khalistan outfits and MPs in Canada who have been attacking India under the pretext of ‘farm laws’. In fact, Trudeau himself had played by their book and ‘expressed concerns’ over the Punjab farmer protests, which have been supported by pro-Khalistan people from within and outside India.
Just a couple of hours after Mamata Banerjee was injured after an alleged attack on her in Nandigram, a different angle to the incident has occurred. According to locals present at the spot, nobody attacked the West Bengal CM, and she was injured after her car had hit a pole.
Earlier in evening today, Mamata Banerjee had alleged that she was injured after 4-5 people had pushed her inside her car, and slammed the door the car, causing her severe injury to her leg. She had claimed that there were no police personnel around her at the time of the incident, claiming it was part of a planned conspiracy. She and her party members had claimed that the attack was carried out to keep her out of the election campaign.
However, a report by TV9 Bharatvarsh completely denies the allegations. The report quoted statements by several locals, who witnessed the incident. They claimed that the entire account given by Mamata Banerjee is false, and it was an accident. They also said that she was surrounded by police protection at that moment, denying the claim by the CM that there was no police protection around her at the time of the incident.
Describing how the CM suffered injury, the eyewitnesses said that Mamata Banerjee was greeting the crowd with folded hands from her car. The car was moving, and she had kept the door of the car open to greet the people waiting by the roadside. At Birulia Bazar in Nandigram, the open door of the moving car hit a pillar, causing the door to shut forcefully. The door hit the leg of Mamata Banerjee, causing the injury, said the locals who claimed to have witnessed the entire incident. They said the allegation that 4-5 people pushed the CM is completely.
The locals said that as the pillar is short, around 3 feet tall, the driver didn’t see it. And therefore, the open door hit the pillar, which caused the injury. They said that it was a minor accident, and there is no political conspiracy behind it.
The eyewitnesses also said that Mamata Banerjee’s convoy had several police vehicles. They further added that the security personnel brought ice from a nearby sweet shop and applied it on the injured leg of the CM. They informed that the convoy stopped for around 5 minutes, after that it moved forward.
Mamata Banerjee was rushed to Kolkata by road for treatment, where she was admitted at the Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital located in the Lady Hardinge Medical College in Kolkata. A green corridor was created for the entire route so that her convoy can reach Kolkata as soon as possible without any interruptions.
Update: After the TV9 Bhartvarsh report, reporters of several other media houses talked to locals who witnessed the incident, and they narrated the same account of the incident. Three persons who were interviewed by Times Now said that as there were people standing on the road, the driver didn’t see the pillar. As a result, the open door of the car was hit by the pillar and the door slammed on the leg of the CM which she had kept outside the car.
#WATCH | TIMES NOW's Siddhant speaks to locals who claim to be eyewitnesses of the incident where Mamata Banerjee got injured. According to them, Mamata Banerjee's car's door hit a pillar & she was not attacked. | #MamataAttackCharge | @thenewshour AGENDA with Padmaja Joshi. pic.twitter.com/4CBFCAJL4k
The people that Times Now reporter talked to also said that local police and security personnel of Mamata Banerjee were present at the spot when the incident happened.
#WATCH Eyewitness Chitranjan Das who was present at Nandigram's Birulia where WB CM suffered injury says, "I was there, she (CM) was sitting inside her car but the door was open. The door closed after it touched a poster. Nobody pushed or hit…there was no one near the door." pic.twitter.com/2OeVHC0Vmy
An eyewitness account of a person interviewed by ANI also repeated the same incident. However, while the man said the car door had hit a post, ANI transcribed it is as poster.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured today evening Nandigram after she was allegedly pushed by some people. The CM alleged four-five people deliberately pushed her, after which she fell down and suffered an injury on her leg. She said that it was done as part of a conspiracy. Banerjee said that she was in deep pain due to the injury, and also had a fever.
#WATCH West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee shifted to the back seat of her vehicle after she claimed she was pushed by a few people and suffered a leg injury in Nandigram pic.twitter.com/49wTQ5ye5S
Visuals showed security personal lifting her to transfer her from the front seat of the car to the back seat, so that she can lie down on the seat.
The Chief Minister was visibly in pain, while she was describing the situation to journalists. She said that when she was trying to get into her car, suddenly four to five persons pushed her, causing injury to her leg. She also added that her leg was swollen, and was having a chest pain. She claimed that there was no police around her at the time of the incident, claiming it was part of a planned conspiracy.
Mamata Banerjee was in Nandigram today to file her nomination for the assembly elections, as she is contesting from the constituency against BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.
After the incident, the chief minister is being brought to Kolkata for treatment by road. A green corridor has been created for the entire route so that her convoy can reach Kolkata as soon as possible without any interruptions. She will be treated at the Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital located in the Lady Hardinge Medical College in Kolkata.
After Mamata Banerjee, her party also alleged that the incident was a planned attacked on the chief minister. Both the CM and her party workers alleged that it is a conspiracy to keep her out of election campaigns. Although they didn’t name anyone, they tried to blame the BJP for the incident.
However, BJP leaders questioned their claim, saying that Mamata Banerjee is provided security by West Bengal police, which is under the state government. They also noted that the CM also heads the home ministry, and she is responsible for her security. West Bengal BJP vice president Arjun Singh said that it is a drama the CM did for sympathy. He added that four IPS officers her security in charge, and they should be suspended.
Is it Taliban that her convoy was attacked? Huge police force accompanies her. Who can get near her? 4 IPS officers are her security incharge & must be suspended. Attackers don't appear out of nowhere, they've to be nabbed. She did drama for sympathy: WB BJP vice-pres Arjun Singh pic.twitter.com/EnINlTRMej
When BJP raised the issue of security, the TMC spokespersons tried to pin the blame on the Election Commission, saying that police is now under EC’s control. They cited the transfer of West Bengal DGP by EC, implying that now EC is in charge of Mamata Banerjee’s security.
The controversies surrounding the food-delivery app Zomato and its delivery agents seems to have no end. A major controversy has yet again erupted after a Bengaluru-based content creator named Hitesha Chandranee accused a Zomato delivery executive of assaulting her on Tuesday after an argument over delayed delivery of food order.
The social media influencer – Hitesha Chandranee, shared a video on Instagram to allege that the delivery man attacked her after she questioned him about the delay in delivering her order.
Seen with a bloody injury on her nose, Hitesha claimed that a delivery man barged into her house and abused her after she questioned him over late delivery. Further, she said that she place an order around 3:30 pm on March 9, which was supposed to be delivered by 4:30 pm, but she did not receive it on time. Hence, she called Zomato’s customer support and requested them to cancel the order or give her free delivery.
As per Hitesha, she asked the delivery executive, whom she identified as Kamaraj, to wait as she talked to a customer care representative. Hitesha claimed that the delivery guy started abusing her after she refused to collect the order.
“The Zomato delivery guy came, and he was so rude. I don’t usually open the door because of Shushi [her pet dog], and I opened the door a little, and through the small slit, I asked him to wait because I was conversing with Zomato’s customer support,” Hitesha narrated her ordeal on IGTV.
Further, Hitesha said, “I gave him a choice saying I do not need the order so you can take it, I am okay. But he refused to take the order back, and he started screaming at me, saying, ‘Am I a slave or what? You are asking me to wait here’. So, it was really threatening for me, and I tried to shut my door, but he pushed the door, took my order from the table, that is he entered my home and punched me on my face so that I don’t get back to him, and he ran away”.
Although she didn’t make it clear, from what she said if can be concluded that the delivery executive had delivered the food to her, and as it was late, she kept the package on a table, asked him to wait outside the door, and talked to the Zomato customer care asking them to either cancel the order and take the food back, and or convert it to a free delivery. However, the executive got angry, entered her house, and took away the package.
Delivery guy says Hitesha threw chappal at her, Zomato takes note
Meanwhile, according to a report from The News Minute, the delivery executive has refuted the allegations of Hitesha and said that she was the first to hit him with a slipper, to which he responded in self-defence. The act of self-defence by the delivery guy resulted in her getting hurt due to a door, he alleged.
When TNM talked to Hitesha, she told them they she did picked up her slipper in self-defence when the delivery executive forcefully entered the house, and he had punched her. She added that the man ran away after seeing her bleeding from the attack.
Following the incident, Zomato said that it will cooperate in the police investigation as well as the medical assistance that is required.
along with assistance on the medical care required. We can’t emphasise how sorry we are, rest assured we’ll take necessary actions to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. (2/n)
“Hey Hitesha, thank you for speaking to us, we can assure you this is not the experience our delivery universe stands for. Our local representative shall be in touch with you shortly to help you with the police investigation along with assistance on the medical care required. We can’t emphasise how sorry we are, rest assured we’ll take necessary actions to prevent such incidents from happening in the future,” Zomato has said.
News portal The Quint recently published a report on an incident that took place in Delhi University on the eve of International Women’s Day. ‘Activist’ Nodeep Kaur, who was recently released from jail on bail, was one of the speakers at the event organized by Bhagat Singh Chatra Ekta Manch. The report was based on a video interview with Nodeep where she talked about the alleged incident, and am an audio interview with Shivangi Kharwal, Joint Secretary, Delhi University Student Union.
However, now it has been alleged that the Quint added a heavily edited audio clip of the conversation they had with ABVP leader Shivangi Kharwal. In the interview, Nodeep Kaur alleged that ABVP workers had harassed her for talking on Dalit Rapes. She alleged that Kharwal and other ABVP members attacked the attendees of the event in the presence of police.
The Quint, in its report, projected ABVP as the bullies. In the video, Nodeep said the event was organized in solidarity with the victims of Butana and Gurhmandi alleged rape cases. She alleged that ABVP activists interrupted the event and assaulted them in the presence of the police. Nodeep claimed that as ABVP is BJP’s student wing, police did not take any action against them but some of the students present at the event were detained by the police.
The ‘andhbhakt’ jibe
Towards the end of the video, Nodeep referred to people associated with BJP and right-wing as ‘andhbhakt’ and said that whenever Left organizes any event, ‘andhbhakts’ try to interrupt it without understanding anything about the event or the organizers. She further claimed that rich and upper caste communities are behind such attacks. “We are not afraid of andhbhakts,” she said.
In the audio interview with Quint, Shivangi Kharwal said that the people who had attended the event had raised anti-India slogans. She said that they were chanting slogans saying ‘Indian Army rapist’, and had also put up posters saying the same. She also told Quint that she was sexually assaulted by the protestors, she was pushed and her dress was torn. However, Quint published Shivangi’s interview in bits and pieces, therefore it was difficult the get the context of what she was saying.
OpIndia’s conversation with Shivangi Kharwal
To understand the whole incident, OpIndia contacted Shivangi Kharwal and learned her side of the story. Kharwal made some shocking revelations about the ‘event’ and the conversation she had with The Quint. She said that her conversation was heavily edited and added to the video to put ABVP in the bad light. However, the reality was different.
There was no permission for the event – said Shivangi
Shivangi said that when she learned about the event and reached there, it appeared that the students that were present at the Gate Number 4 of the Art Faculty for the event were not from Delhi University. She asked them to show their identity cards of DU, but they refused to do so.
After noticing the posters against the Indian Army and listening to the speech of one of the speakers where she said, “If police or Indian Army rapes you and you approach a court for justice, no one will help as everyone in the judiciary is sold out,” Shivangi immediately called the Proctor to ask if there was any permission for such event. Proctor clearly said that he did not give any permission for such an event at the university.
On #InternationalWomensDay calling our men in uniform as rapist is nothing but an insult to the Mother who had lost her son , a wife who had lost her husband and a daughter who had lost her father on line of duty protecting this motherland & all of us. Will you support this? ? pic.twitter.com/UjydG7Mcem
As there was no permission for the event, Shivangi approached the police officers present at the scene and requested them to tell the organizers to remove the poster and not to raise slogans against the Indian Army. She herself approached them to politely urge them to remove the poster and not to raise the slogans against Army.
‘There was sexual assault on me’ – said Shivangi
The students and organizers did not listen to her. After which, Shivangi stepped forward and removed the poster herself. She alleged that as soon as she removed the poster, around 30-40 goons surrounded her. Shivangi said that she had to face sexual assault as the group allegedly remove her dupatta and torn off her Kurti from the front side. She further said that boys in the group pushed her.
After the incident, Shivangi filed a police complaint against them. In her complaint, she explained the series of events and mentioned how males present at the event assaulted her. She said, “I was molested, grabbed, pushed, and my clothes were torn.” Shivangi said though she was not aware of the identity of the culprits, but she can identify them if she sees them again.
Filed an official complaint with @DelhiPolice regarding anti national programme held in the premises of delhi university defaming our nation & calling indian army rapists ,complaint also includes assault and manhandling of me by unidentified people in programme. pic.twitter.com/L09hQqGJzF
In her complaint, Shivangi said that there must be an investigation on the police officers who were present during the event but did not take any action when slogans against the Army and police were raised.
Casteist and Hinduphobic posts against Shivangi and ABVP
The twisting of the facts and misinformation was not limited to the incident. The posts shared by the left ecosystem on several social media platform targeted Shivangi for being an Upper Caste Hindu. An Instagram handle, coolspiritualguy, wrote, “Shivangi is upper-caste Hindu and is literally flashing her privilege as she attempts to hand over vulnerable individuals to the police where they will be tortured and sexually abused.” It has to be noted that the said handle also made false claims that Indian police sexually assault the detainees.
Ok ! So the eco system now know my CASTE , one more hour and they will tell you my GOTRA and my VARNA. PS:- “They will not let any stone unturned in the process of maligning our hindu roots and dividing us on the basis of caste. That’s how they survive. Parasites.” pic.twitter.com/BvqKHTEmoh
Some ‘bluetick’ handles linked Shivangi’s social media handles in their posts and provoked their followers to attack her on social media. One such account was of one Monica Gill, who is a model by profession and has been posting a lot of provocative posts against India and in favour of ongoing farmer protests.
Post against Shivangi by Monica Gill
After her post, Shivangi’s social media posts and DMs were filled with hate comments. Interestingly, Monica was okay with sending an army of trolls and abusers towards another woman on International Women’s Day just because she tried to raise her voice against anti-India forces.
Comments by trolls and abusers on Shivangi’s social media accounts
Shivangi also posted some screenshots of comments she was getting on her social media accounts. She said, “How sweetly this Gill girl instigated people to fill my DMs & Comments with slurs & abuses & that too on #InternationalWomensDay .Too much for womanhood and rights from these pseudo people. If they are hounding me on SM this way just imagine what they did to me in real yesterday.”
How sweetly this Gill girl instigated people to fill my DMs & Comments with slurs & abuses & that too on #InternationalWomensDay .Too much for womanhood and rights from these pseudo people. If they are hounding me on SM this way just imagine what they did to me in real yesterday pic.twitter.com/dbAAmZFGqA
Quint’s journalist believes calling Indian Army rapist is not anti-national
OpIndia accessed the original recording of the conversation that took place between Shivangi and The Quint’s journalist Asmita Nandy. During the conversation, Nandy asked Shivangi what was anti-national in the slogans raised at the event. When Shivangi repeatedly emphasized the fact that they called Indian Army rapist and that is anti-national, Nandy said in a shocking tone, “to woh anti-national ho gaya? Okay…”
While the conversation between the two ran for over five minutes, The Quint chose to add only a few seconds of it to support their narrative. The Quint’s video was edited by one Md Irshad Alam.
In a gruesome incident, a 14-year-old boy was murdered, and his body was thrown into the Bhima river in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi district late last month for being in friendship with a girl from the Muslim community.
According to the reports, a 14-year-old Hindu youth Kolli Mahesh, a class 9 student studying at a government school in Naribol, was brutally murdered for developing a close friendship with a 14-year-old girl from a neighbouring colony in the village.
The incident was first reported on February 27 after the villagers recovered a dead body in the Bhima river a few kilometres away from the village. The police rushed to the spot and pulled the dead body that was stuffed inside a gunny bag, only to find a decomposed body. The police identified the dead body with the help of his family members. According to the police, the boy’s nose and genitals were chopped off before he was murdered.
According to Swarajya, the deceased boy’s uncle Vishwanath said that Mahesh left home on the evening of 22 February, saying he was going to a temple and would be back in 15 minutes. As he did not return, the family became anxious and inquired about his whereabouts from his friends.
Killed because of close relationship with a Muslim girl, alleges family
The family later learnt that Mahesh had developed a close friendship with a Muslim girl in the village. The friends of the deceased boy also said that Mahesh had gifted a mobile phone to her. Soon, Mahesh’s father and uncle reached the classmate’s house. The girl, who is younger than Mahesh, returned the mobile phone and went inside. Following this, they gave a missing persons’ complaint to the Jewargi police station.
During the police investigation, it was revealed that the girl’s mother had warned the boy not to visit their area and leave the girl alone. The mother also sought the help of a relative to warn the boy.
According to the police, on February 22, the girl’s uncle, identified as Mehboob, had allegedly whisked the boy away from his village on Monday on the pretext of talking to him.
Private parts, Nose chopped-off
Five days later, Mahesh’s dead body was found a few kilometres away from the Naribola village. The villagers were shocked to see that the boy’s private part and nose were chopped off. The police told the same to the media.
Mallikarjun Kolli, the minor boy’s father, said his son was forced to drink and smoke ganja, and the assailants murdered him when he was intoxicated. “Instead of killing my son, they should have spoken to me if he was not on the right path,” the father said.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested Mehboob and two of his accomplices in connection with the case. Kalaburagi SP Simi Mariam George said they were looking into all angles.
A case has been filed against the girl’s mother and her friend Mehboob under IPC sections 363 (kidnapping), 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence) and sections of the SC/ST Prevention of atrocities act. The family said they have received some compensation from the state government under the SC/ST Prevention of atrocities act.
Actors, activists condemn the brutal killing, demand strict action against culprits
Meanwhile, the brutal killing of Mahesh has created a massive uproar in the state. Several citizens, including prominent activists and actors have voiced their protests against the gruesome incident and has demanded strict action against the culprits.
Activist and actor Pranitha Subhash condemned the killing of Mahesh Kolli and said that it was impossible to imagine what Mahesh Koli went through. “I hope the strictest action will be taken against the perpetrators”‘, she added.
Private parts mutilated, body dumped in a river. Impossible to imagine what #MaheshKoli went through. I hope the strictest action will be taken against the perpetrators! @CMofKarnataka@drashwathcn@DgpKarnataka
Activist Shefali Vaidya also took to Twitter to share the details of the shocking incident.
“Do you know what lies in that sack? The mutilated body of a 14 year old Hindu boy Mahesh Kolli, who was abducted, tortured and murdered by cutting off his nose and private parts allegedly for gifting a Muzlim girl a cell phone,” she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on March 12 from Gujarat to celebrate the 75 years of independence of India. The Prime Minister will also flag off a 21-day long commemorative ‘Dandi March’ from a place near Abhay Ghat, the resting place of late PM Morarji Desai near Sabarmati Ashram (where Mahatma Gandhi used to reside).
To commemorate 75 years of Independence, a 75-week long programme will be organised from March 12 at 75 places. PM Modi called upon all the MPs to participate in the programme: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi pic.twitter.com/bVlsGnfhJr
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the 75-week long programme would be organised at 75 places. He said that PM Modi had called upon all the Members of Parliament (MP) in the programme. Last week, the central government had announced the formation of a high-level national committee headed by PM Modi to commemorate 75 years of independence. The Prime Minister on Monday said that the celebrations should reflect the spirit of the country’s freedom movement and showcase its achievements to the world since 1947.
The celebrations will begin 75 weeks prior to Independence Day 2022 and will continue up to Independence Day 2023. The 75 sites for the programme will be decided by the states that will also plan events with active participation of the NCC and other volunteer clubs.
Dandi March was led by Mahatma Gandhi to defy the British monopoly on salt production
During the freedom struggle, Dandi March or Salt March was launched by Mahatma Gandhi as part of his non-violent protest against the British monopoly on production of salt. The March was held from March12, 1930 to April 6, 1930. It was led by Gandhi and around 78 people began the march on March 12 and reached Dandi on April 5, 1930. Gandhi produced salt after reaching Dandi to defy the British diktat on salt. He then moved to Dharasana Salt Works but was arrested on May 5.
Ahead of the assembly elections in Assam, a short video has gone viral on social media where AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal is heard making some very communal and provocative remarks. The video is a short clip, and it’s obvious that it is a compilation of several different remarks made by the controversial politician during a speech.
In the clip, Ajmal is heard saying, “Mughal Badshahs ruled in this country for eight hundred years in this country… This country will be made an Islamic state… Who will form the ministry? Our grand alliance. UPA, grand alliance will come together to form a government there, and in this government, your party AIUDF will also be a part… Not a single Hindu will remain in entire India, everyone will be converted to Muslin”.
These are obviously highly communal remarks, and social media users posted the video on social media platforms accusing the AIUDF chief of delivering a highly communal speech.
However, although Badruddin Ajmal has given provocative and communal speeches in the past, in this speech he didn’t make any such comment. The video of his speech was mischievously edited to retain only selected lines to imply that he threatened to make India an Islamic nation. The speech was delivered at an election rally in Barpeta in Assam during the Lok Sabha elections in April 2019.
The unedited portion of the speech containing the lines in question can be watched in the video below. You can enable the Close Caption option the YouTube by clicking the CC button to read the English subtitles of his speech.
His speech roughly translates as this,
“In this India, Mughal Badshahs ruled for 800 years. They never dreamt, dared, that they will make this country an Islamic nation. If they had thought of doing so, in the 800 years, in entire India, not a single Hindu person would have remained. Everyone would have been converted as Muslim. Did they convert them? Did they do it? They didn’t try it, they didn’t dare it. After that for 200 years, the British ruled this country. Even they didn’t try to make India a Christian nation. After that, after the nation became independent. In the 70 years, Congress ruled for 55 years. From Jawaharlal Nehru, Shashtri to Rajiv Gandhi, till Manmohan Singh, till Narasimha Rao, not a single Congress leader dreamt of making India a Hindu nation. Modi Ji, don’t dream of this, your dream will not come true.
This time, you have to reply Modi Ji, BJP, RSS, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Party by voting on lock and key (AIUDF symbol). Vote such way, that Insa Allah, Modi would not be able to become a prime minister after elections. Who will form government? our grand alliance, UPA, Mahagathbandhan will form the government there, and your party UDF will be an ally in this government.”
The text in italics from the transcript of his speech has been deleted from the video of the speech to create the short clip which has been circulated on social media now.
Therefore, the AIUDF didn’t make the comments that he was accused of making. The video that is being shared on social media is a doctored video. Moreover, the video is from the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, not during the upcoming assembly elections.
