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USA: Month after ‘de-Hinduised’ bill to end Yoga ban was cleared in Alabama, State Senate stalls bill after Christian conservatives object

OpIndia Staff
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USA: Month after ‘de-Hinduised’ bill to end Yoga ban was cleared in Alabama, State Senate stalls bill after Christian conservatives object

The Alabama Senate, wary of the Hindu roots of Yoga, has stalled even a de-Hinduised bill that would have reversed a 28-year ban on practising yoga in public schools in the southeastern US state. During a hearing by the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, two conservative Christian groups objected to the bill, citing concerns about yoga’s roots in Hinduism.

The Bill was put forth before the Senate by Democratic Rep. Jeremy Gray of Opelika, in February, in hopes of overturning the age-long ban on the practice of Yoga in Alabama schools, which has been in place since 1993. Lawmakers in Alabama’s state Senate voted on the proposal and decided against it.

According to reports, the bill came to a split, with 4 votes going in favour of the bill while 4 going against it. However, Senator Tom Whatley, chairman of the committee, decided to carry the bill over so it wouldn’t die in the committee. Responding to the Senate’s decision, Gray said he was disappointed but hopes the bill will pass the next time it comes before the committee.

Meanwhile, the constitutional lawyer Eric Johnston, who works with Christian advocacy groups that have spoken out against the measure said: “If you pass a law that says you can do stretches and sit in positions and so forth, that’s fine. But to say you can teach yoga is an entirely different thing because yoga is an exercise of the Hindu religion.”

Johnston said that they don’t object to adults participating in yoga but they feel children are impressionable.

Meanwhile, arguing in favour of introducing Yoga in public schools, Jeremy Gray said the bill is about exercise and not religion. “I can give you a ton of reasons why yoga is beneficial and those reasons are backed by studies and data,” he continued. “There is no study to my knowledge that says doing yoga exercise converts people to Hinduism.” He said if the bill is not passed, it would do a disservice to the children who really need it.

For the uninitiated, Alabama is the only state with such a rule. The text of the ban says “school personnel shall be prohibited from using any techniques that involve the induction of hypnotic states, guided imagery, meditation or yoga” and additionally banned the use of the word “namaste.”

Last month, the Alabama House of Representatives had approved the bill that would have enables K-12 school systems to teach Yoga if they so desire. The bill was passed by the Alabama House of Representatives with a vote of 73-25.

It is pertinent to note here that even the bill that reversed the ban on Yoga was de-Hinduised. This is to say that it asserted teaching Yoga could not include chanting of Mantras and even, the teaching of ‘Namaste’.

Though the bill cleared the Alabama House of Representatives it has again reached a deadlock as it could not get through the Alabama Senate.

Ujjain: Mahid becomes Mohit to befriend a minor and gang-rapes her with friends, threatens with acid attack

OpIndia Staff
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Ujjain: Mahid becomes Mohit to befriend a minor and gang-rapes her with friends, threatens with acid attack

A 15-year-old minor Hindu girl, residing in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, has fallen prey to an incident of alleged ‘Grooming Jihad‘. One person named Mahid had allegedly befriended her posing as a Hindu and thereafter gang-raped her. Mahid who had introduced himself as Mohit to woo the girl, took her to Delhi, Pune and Uttar Pradesh, where he got his friends to also physically assault her. When the minor became pregnant, Mahid had sent her to her sister’s place.

As the news of the incident spread, the activists of Hindu Jagran Manch approached the victim’s family and extended help. As per reports, they contacted the accused over the phone and asked him to come to Ujjain, where he was accosted, beaten up and handed over to the Ujjain police.

The Ujjain police, in turn, have registered a case against the accused and are investigating the case with the help of the police in all 3 states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

Mahid had assaulted, threatened the minor girl with acid attack

The victim is a resident of Barwani in Madhya Pradesh. She was working in Malegaon, Maharashtra, where she met Mahid, a resident of Auraiya district in the state of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, the Hindu girl fell into the trap laid by Mahid, who changed his name to Mohit to lure the girl.

Majid had allegedly taken her with him to Pune, Delhi and Auraiya, where he along with his friends raped her multiple times. According to the victim, when she resisted, Mahid had assaulted her and warned her with dire consequences. He reportedly threatened to kill her by pouring acid on her.

When the victim got pregnant, Mahid had made her sit in a bus and sent her back to Ujjain to her sister’s place. Here, the victim gave birth to a child who had birth complications. The child soon died.

The incident came to the fore when the victim narrated her ordeal to a member of the Hindu Jagran Manch, whose one acquaintance was also hospitalised in the same room where the victim was recouping after giving birth to her child. When the Hindu outfit activist went to meet his acquaintance, the victim narrated her ordeal to him. Thereafter, the members of the outfit called up Mahid and had convinced him to come to Ujjain. When the accused arrived in Ujjain, he was accosted and handed over to the police.

According to a report by Patrika, Mahid was running a racket where he along with his friends, trapped young girls by concealing their real identity. Once the girl fell into their trap, they raped and assaulted them and pushed them into prostitution.

Speaking about the case to the media, ASI Rashid Khan said that the matter is being investigated.

Antilia bomb scare: ‘Mystery woman’ seen with Sachin Vaze detained, was used to whitewash Vaze’s black money, says NIA

OpIndia Staff
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Antilia bomb scare: ‘Mystery woman’ seen with Sachin Vaze detained, was used to whitewash Vaze’s black money, says NIA

Days after it surfaced that the tainted cop Sachin Vaze had met a mystery woman during his stay at Mumbai’s Trident Nariman Point, the National Investigation Team (NIA) has detained the woman on Thursday evening. Vaze is an accused in the Antilia bomb scare case and is under the custody of the central agency till April 3.

As per reports, the NIA has carried out searches at the residence of the mystery woman and interrogated her in connection to the case. Her home remained locked for over 2 weeks. According to the investigative agency, the woman (whose name has not yet been disclosed) was an aide of ex-assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze. She would ‘whitewash’ his black money using two IDs. The woman also had a note-counting machine in her possession, which was seized from Vaze’s Mercedes car in March this year.

Furthermore, the NIA conducted searches at a hotel/club in Babulnath and seized documents, pertaining to the eight SIM cards, that were found on the tainted cop and used in the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren. Reportedly, the hotel searched by the central agency had also employed a co-accused named Naresh Gor on the instructions of Sachin Vaze. Gor had bought the SIM cards from Gujarat on the behest of Sachin Vaze and passed it on to him through another accused named Vinayak Shinde (constable). Interestingly, one of the SIM cards were used to call deceased Manuskh Hiren, one day prior to his death on March 4.

Sachin Vaze, mystery woman and the bomb scare

Sachin Vaze met a mystery woman during his stay at Mumbai’s luxury 5-star hotel Trident, Republic TV reported on March 23. As per its sources, the woman carried a cash counting machine with her. NIA also examined the CCTV footage from Trident hotel to search for the woman who visited Vaze from Gujarat.Sachin Vaze had checked into Trident Nariman Point at 7:30 pm on February 16 as ‘Sushant Sadashiv Khamkar’ and produced a fake Aadhaar card as ID proof.

The picture on the Aadhaar card produced by Vaze is from his younger days and mentioned ‘June 15, 1972’ as the date of birth whereas Sachin Vaze’s original date of birth is February 22, 1972. It was also reported that Vaze carried five bags with him at the time of check-in with one containing a jelly-like substance suspected to be gelatin, while the other bags were full of currency. The x-ray images of the bags retrieved from the hotel confirm the presence of currency, Times Now has reported.

Nandigram or nothing: TMC says Mamata won’t file a second nomination, will fight against PM in 2024 from Varanasi

OpIndia Staff
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Nandigram or nothing: TMC says Mamata won’t file a second nomination, will fight against PM in 2024 from Varanasi

Amidst the 2nd phase of elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party announced on Thursday that the incumbent CM Mamata Banerjee will definitely win her seat from the Nandigram Vidhan Sabha constituency and is not considering filing nomination from another seat.

In a tweet, the party said, “Didi is winning Nandigram. The question of her fighting from another seat doesn’t arise. Narendra Modi Ji, retract your efforts to mislead people before they see your lies with the end of nomination in WB.” Furthermore, Trinamool Congress warned the Indian Prime Minister to look for a ‘safer seat’ in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“Look for a safer seat in 2024, as you will be challenged in Varanasi,” TMC cautioned of a direct contest between Mamata Banerjee and PM Modi.The statement came at the backdrop of PM Modi’s jibe at the TMC supremo during an election rally in Uluberia on Wednesday.

He had asked, “Didi, is there any truth in the rumour that you are going to file nomination from another constituency? First, you went there (Nandigram), and the people gave you an answer. If you go somewhere else, the people of Bengal are ready.” He also took potshots at Mamata Banerjee for ‘realising’ her mistake of leaving the Bhawanipore Vidhan Sabha constituency.

PM Modi emphasised, “Didi must go. The people of Nandigram have fulfilled this dream today. They can’t wait any longer to save their future and identity. They are not just voting, they are paving the way for a renaissance in Bengal…The mood of polling says Nandigram is doing what the whole state wants to do.”

It is notable here that there are a few days left for filing nomination for some seats in Bengal that will see elections in the ending phases. The BJP has been assertive that Mamata will lose Nandigram and has been challenging her to file a second nomination. But if Mamata actually does that, it will show that she fears losing, that will be politically equal to conceding defeat and will impact the TMC’s performance in upcoming phases.

TMC denied the possibility of Mamata Banerjee contesting from a 2nd seat

Amid the speculations that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee will contest from a second constituency as she faces a tough challenge in Nandigram, Trinamool Congress has denied any such possibility. “The question of CM fighting from any second seat doesn’t arise. She is winning Nandigram comfortably,” said sources in TMC earlier, according to reports. The party claimed that they would win 90% of the votes in Nandigram, which is a traditional stronghold of BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC minister.

TMC resorts to violence, pressure tactics in Nandigram amidst Mamata Banerjee’s slim chances

Amidst the ongoing polls, the convoy of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers in Nandigram. Videos emerged on social media showing unidentified men pelting stones on Adhikari’s car. The windshield of his vehicle was damaged. Adhikari, however, escaped unhurt.

In a separate incident, the supporters of the Bhartiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress party clashed with each other after Mamata Banerjee reached a polling booth at Gokul Nagar in Nandigram. Hundreds of people came out shouting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ after Banerjee reached the booth in Nandigram. They were miffed about the fact that Banerjee was sitting near the polling booth in Gokul Nagar and also refused to leave.

Mamata’s phone conversation seeking help in Nandigram had gone viral

It must be mentioned that an audio clip of a phone conversation between TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Pralay Pal had earlier gone viral online. She was heard pleading with the rival leader to assist in her campaign in Nandigram, fearing an impending defeat. Later in a video statement, Pal snubbed Banerjee for asking him to betray BJP heavyweight leader Suvendu Adhikari and the party.

“And this time Suvendu Adhikari is a candidate of the BJP. And I will have to stay loyal to him. I have told Didi (Mamata Banerjee) that her party did not give me a resident certificate, despite being a party member. We don’t betray and will refrain from doing so, even in the future. Irrespective of what she says, we are fighting for Suvendu Adhikari. I have taken the responsibility of sending him to Nabanna from the Nandigram constituency. And I will ensure that it happens,” Pralay Pal concluded.

EC says ‘polling was not disrupted’ in Nandigram booth where Mamata Banerjee parked herself and hurled allegations: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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EC says ‘polling was not disrupted’ in Nandigram booth where Mamata Banerjee parked herself and hurled allegations: Read details

In a report, the Election Commission (EC) has observed that polling was not disrupted in Booth No. 7 in Nandigram where Mamata Banerjee had camped herself for hours making wild allegations against BJP and EC. In Boyal, Nandigram, Mamata Banerjee had alleged that people were being stopped from polling by BJP.

It is pertinent to note that while Mamata Banerjee had parked herself in the area while on her wheelchair, there were slogans of Jai Shree Ram raised by the people of Nandigram.

While sitting in the Boyal polling booth, Mamata Banerjee, for whom the Nandigram contest has become more of a battle of prestige, accused ‘goons from other states’ for the poll violence in Nandigram. She also called Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar to complain against the violence urging him to control the situation in the state.

Reportedly, EC said while reading out the report by observers, “Polling at PS no 7 ( Boyal Moktab Primary School) is going on smoothly. Hon’ble CM, who is also a contesting candidate, has left the place at about 3.35 pm after staying here for nearly one and half hour. It may kindly be noted that polling was not disrupted at any moment”.

In a video shared by ANI, the TMC supremo speaks to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar over the phone at a polling booth in Nandigram. She says, “…They didn’t allow the local people to cast their vote. From morning I am campaigning…Now I am appealing to you, please see…”

Speaking to the media, the West Bengal CM said that she has complained to the Election Commission and the Home Minister about the ill-treatment being meted out at her and woman journalists at rallies by “BJP goondas”. Accusing EC of working at the behest of HM Amit Shah, Mamata Banerjee said “I have seen so many elections but have not seen such a badly conducted election so far”.

Families of Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj hit back at Udayanidhi Stalin for his distasteful remarks against the late BJP leaders

OpIndia Staff
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Families of Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj hit back at Udayanidhi Stalin for his distasteful remarks against the late BJP leaders

Ahead of Tamil Nadu’s sixteenth legislative assembly election, DMK’s Youth Wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin went on a brazen rant against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking at an election rally, the son of DMK chief MK Stalin, accused the Prime Minister of ‘killing’ the late BJP veteran leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. He said that the two BJP stalwarts died due to “torture” and “pressure” exerted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Showcasing utter political frustration, Udhayanidhi Stalin said during an election campaign rally on Wednesday: “There was a person called Sushma Swaraj. She died due to the pressure exerted by Modi. There was a person called Arun Jaitley. He died due to the torture by Modi.”

Udhayanidhi’s comment came after PM Modi, while campaigning at Dharapuram for BJP state president L Murugan Tuesday, alleged that many senior DMK leaders were sidelined due to the entry of Stalin’s son into the party fold.

Hitting back at the Prime Minister, Udhayanidhi added: “Modi had come here yesterday and accused that I had taken a shortcut route… Who is saying that? Being the Chief Minister of Gujarat, we know that how Modi sidelined many… I have the list”. He then went on to name party veterans LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, late Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. 

The DMK leader furthered that unlike the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, he was not scared of PM Narendra Modi. He dared the prime minisiter to interact with the electorate of the poll-bound state.

These distasteful remarks of MK Stalin’s son have miffed the family of the late BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, who took to social media to slam the DMK leader.

Daughter’s of the late BJP leaders slam DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin

While Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri Swaraj hit back calling Udhayanidhi’s comments “despicable and disrespecting”, Sonali Jaitley Bakhshi, the daughter of the former Finance and Corporate Affairs minister slammed the DMK leader by calling him a “liar”.

“Udhayanidhi Ji please do not use my mother’s memory for your poll propaganda! Your statements are false! PM Narendra Modi Ji bestowed utmost respect and honour on my mother. In our darkest hour PM and party (BJP) stood by us rock solid! Your statement has hurt us,” Bansuri Swaraj wrote tagging MK Stalin and the BJP’s official handle.

Meanwhile, Sonali Jaitley Bakhshi took to Twitter to write: “@Udhaystalin ji, I know there is election pressure – but I won’t stay silent when you lie and disrespect my father’s memory. Dad @arunjaitley and Shri @narendramodi ji shared a special bond that was beyond politics. I pray you are lucky enough to know such friendship,” she tweeted.

The daughters of the BJP stalwarts demanded that Udhayanidhi Stalin must apologise for dragging their late parent’s names in his poll propaganda.

Both, late Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were among the senior-most BJP leaders of their time and held top portfolios in the Narendra Modi government. They were also part of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

In 2016, Sushma Swaraj had a kidney transplant and later opted out of contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls due to health complications. She breathed her last on August 6, 2019.

Arun Jaitley also had opted out of contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections due to his prolonged illness. He died on August 24, 2019, at the age of 66.

‘Chaiya Chaiya’ and a funeral: Derek O’Brien’s strange explanation about why Mamata Banerjee hates Jai Shree Ram chants

Editorial Desk
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‘Chaiya Chaiya’ and a funeral: Derek O’Brien’s strange explanation about why Mamata Banerjee hates Jai Shree Ram chants

The West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 is one of the most hotly contested state elections in recent memory. Mamata Banerjee, who has been in power in the Bengal for the past 10 years faces anti-incumbency and a Hindutva wave that is unprecedented for a state like West Bengal. The elections have been marred with uncouth statements and barbs by the TMC against Prime Minister Modi, but has also seen an attack against the faith of the people after anger against the Jai Shree Ram slogan by Mamata Banerjee and her party cadre. Derek O’ Brian recently in his interview with Barkha Dutt attempted to explain why.

On the 1st of April, Derek O’Brien appeared for an interview where he attempted to explain why Mamata Banerjee gets irked when slogans of Jai Shree Ram are chanted. Barkha Dutt had asked Derek O’Brien why Mamata Banerjee gets visibly irked when Jai Shree Ram is chanted, citing the example of her conduct during Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary celebration. The example of how she huffed and puffed out of her car once was also given.

Derek first says that Mamata Banerjee did not lose her temper during the Subhash Chandra Bose birth anniversary celebration. While stammering through the response, Derek says that there is nothing wrong with the slogan per se, but the problem lies with where it was used and how it was used in an intimidating way.

After this, Derek O’ Brien proceeds to make a rather strange comparison.

He says that there is nothing wrong with the song ‘Chaiya Chaiya Chaiya Chaiya’ with Malaika Arora Khan and Shahrukh Khan but he will have a problem with it if it is played at his friend’s father funeral.

Firstly, it is unclear why Derek O’Brien thought it was appropriate to compare Mamata Banerjee’s convoy to his friend’s father funeral. While her reign might be coming to an end, in all probability, one would imagine that comparing it to a funeral by her own senior party functionary would be an insult that should not be made publicly.

Further, the disdain for Hindus and their sacred chant of Jai Shree Ram is rather evident from the fact that he compares it to something as offensive as singing a Bollywood song at a funeral.

Jai Shree Ram is a slogan that is deeply religious in nature and is a chant that is held dear by Hindus. Essentially, what Derek O’Brien says is that he thinks Jai Shree Ram, the sacred slogan, being raised by Hindus at a political event, is as offensive to him as a titillating Bollywood song being played at a funeral of a dear one. While a titillating song being played at a funeral is certainly offensive, there is, and there ideally should be, no offence taken at Hindus raising their religious slogan anywhere at any given point in time.

Similes are often used to explain and simplify a complex issue, in a manner that is more relatable to people. However, in this case, the simile itself seems to expose the real reason why Mamata Banerjee seems to get irked at chants of Jai Shree Ram being raised at an event or her political rally.

It is understandable that Derek O’Brien meant that every word, phrase, chant or song has a time and place, and when chanted outside of that opportune time, it could become offensive. He is absolutely right. However, it points towards the insidious thought that Jai Shree Ram is ‘un’Bengali to begin with. What TMC and Derek O’Brien are doing is denying political agency to Hindus and dictating how they should or should express their sentiments of a political renaissance.

Further, it also shows that TMC has paltry respect for the Multiplicity of the Divine worshipped by Hindus and the fact that it is not a mere platitude but words Hindus live by every single day. Hindus are polytheists and believe in the plurality of Gods and we worship Them all. To insinuate that Lord Ram is not alien to Bengalis and that His chant should be considered offensive, and a chant that has no place in Bengal, only goes to show the shallow understanding of not just Sanatan but Hindus themselves.

To give further context to the intimate relationship that Bengalis share with Shri Rama, the Krittivasi Ramayana, a rendition of the Ramayana in Bengali, was composed by the famed Bengali poet Krittibas Ojha in the 15th century. Then there is a neighbourhood in Howrah, Ramrajatala, where the residents conduct a three months long worship dedicated to Shri Rama and Sita Mata every year at the local Ram Mandir. The tradition dates back centuries. There are numerous Ram Mandirs in Bengal as well. More significantly, Hanuman has always been immensely popular in Bengal.

Therefore, what Derek O’Brien tries to do with this simile is twist the faith of Hindus, deny Hindus their political and religious agency and whitewash the deep-seated disdain for the Hindu faith that seems to have percolated down to the last TMC man.

While trying to defend Mamata Banerjee and her ire against the slogan, Derek O’Brien seems to have unwittingly exposed Mamata Banerjee and her party’s disdain towards the fact that Hindus in Bengal have finally found their voice and are asserting themselves in this election cycle.

Mamata Banerjee and her unbridled ire towards the chants of Jai Shree Ram

In January 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar came together at Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial on Saturday to honour freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 124th birth anniversary. 

When she was invited on to the stage to speak a few words, some people were chanting slogans of Jai Shree Ram, Bharat Mata ki Jai and Joy Bangla. Getting offended by the slogans of Jai Shree Ram, Mamata Banerjee said that as a mark of protest against this ‘disrespect’, she would not say anything. Sulking, she walked off the stage even though several other dignitaries, including the Prime Minister, were on the stage. She had later said that she got offended at ‘being teased’ in front of the Prime Minister.

In 2019, in a Facebook post, Mamata had said that it is high time action is taken ”to restrain political workers not to indulge in activities of creating unrest, chaos, violence and disruption of normal life by taking recourse to misplaced ideologies in the so called name of religion to create divide among the people.” She had further said that she will continue to oppose the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants to “keep the secular character of the country.”

Her ire against Jai Shree Ram is such that in 2019, West Bengal police had arrested at least 10 people from Barrackpore for chanting slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in North 24 Parganas at Mamata Banerjee’s convoy. Mamata had raised strong objections to the people who were chanting the slogan of Jai Shree Ram as she passed through the area. Visibly irked Mamata was spotted getting down of her car at least twice and losing her cool at the onlookers. She was also heard using defamatory language, calling the people chanting the slogan ‘outsiders’.

Incidentally, a video of hers had also gone viral earlier in which she was seen confronting people Jai Shree Ram in a similar way.

Only recently, as Jai Shree Ram slogans were raised during a Holi celebration, taking inspiration from Mamata, TMC had attacked BJP workers and vandalised their party office after getting irked over the slogans.

It comes as no surprise that Maulana Jarjis, who had spewed venom against Hindus and incited Muslims to take up arms against the Indian government, had lauded Mamata Banerjee for ‘fighting’ slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’.

Muzaffarpur advocate files complaint against Mamata Banerjee in Bihar court for her ‘goons from Bihar and UP’ remark

OpIndia Staff
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Muzaffarpur advocate files complaint against Mamata Banerjee in Bihar court for her ‘goons from Bihar and UP’ remark

Amid the high-stakes political battle ensuing in West Bengal amid the assembly elections, a complaint has been filed against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee before a court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Miffed by the TMC chief’s recent disparaging remark against the Biharis during campaigning for assembly elections, advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha, approached the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Muzaffarpur, to file a complaint against Banerjee.

Ojha, who is known for his habit of dragging multiple celebrities, including foreign heads of state to court over diverse issues, took exception to the TMC supremo speaking about “goons from Bihar and UP” being brought in by the BJP in the state during her poll campaign.

He pleaded before the court that the police is directed to lodge an FIR against Banerjee. Ojha has sought evoking IPC sections 147 and 148 (rioting), 295 and 295(A) (deliberate insult) and 511 (attempt to commit an offence).

The matter is likely to come up for hearing on April 8.

Mamata Banerjee accuses ‘goons from other states’ for the poll violence in Nandigram

Today, while speaking to the media from Nandigram, Banerjee accused that BJP brought ‘goons from other states like UP and Bihar’ for the poll violence in Nandigram. She also called Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar to complain against the violence urging him to control the situation in the state. The West Bengal CM added that she has complained to the Election Commission and the Home Minister about the ill-treatment being meted out at her and woman journalists at rallies by “BJP goondas”. 

While the people of Nandigram were busy exercising their franchise today, a lot happened in the constituency. Mamata Banerjee went and sat inside a polling booth in the Gokul Nagar area in Nandigram. This irked the locals, who came out in huge numbers to protest Mamata Banerjee’s high handedness. Shouting the ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans, hundred of protestors demanded Mamata to leave the premises. It was after this incident, Mamata Banerjee accused BJP of calling their ‘goons from other states’ to create ruckus in West Bengal.

The tale of the Chinese citizen who makes pro-China edits to open-source maps of the Line of Actual Control

OpIndia Staff
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The tale of the Chinese citizen who makes pro-China edits to open-source maps of the Line of Actual Control

OpenStreetMap.org is a project that creates and distributes free geographic data to the world. Major corporations like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, etc. utilize the services of OpenStreetMap (OSM). It is a free and editable map of the world built up by volunteer users from around the world. Naturally, the editable nature of the map has led to some users propagating the strategic territorial interests of their own countries in the form of OSM edits, demarcating any disputed or non-disputed territory in favour of their own particular country.

One such particular volunteer user is a Chinese user who goes by the online identity of “NM$L”. This particular user has a recorded history of over 1,350 edits on the OpenStreetMap (OSM), many of which are located around contentious areas like the LAC with India and the South China Sea, areas where China has a major strategic interest. In his bio for his OSM profile, NM$L describes himself as, “???????????? ???????? ???????????, ????? ??? ??????????? ????????? ?? ?ℎ? ?????? ?????????? ?? ??? ?ℎ????? ??????, ????????? ??????????? ?? ???? ????, ????? ??? ??????.” This bio leaves little doubt as to NM$L’s extremely pro-China ideology. For additional confirmation, it is to be noted that “NMSL” is a Chinese meme/slang, from where the user derives its username from.

The user NM$L routinely performs edits that are directly in favor of China’s strategic interests. NM$L has edited OSM to include changes in disputed South China Sea territories like the Spratly Islands, which do not form a part of China’s possible territorial claims and instead fall under the Philippines’s economic zone according to a landmark 2016 international arbitration. NM$L has also performed dozens of edits along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and also the McMahon line in Arunachal Pradesh. NM$L has gone as far as to try and depict the Siachen Glacier as disputed on OSM.

Long after China’s reported intrusion into Indian territory nearby the Pangong Tso lake region last year, NM$L edited the OSM depicting the Pangong Tso region. Altering OpenStreetMap in this manner in order to advance a particular country’s national, strategic and territorial interests i.e. enforcing territorial claims via maps is called “cartographic warfare” or “cartographic propaganda”.

According to the Director of the Security Studies Program at MIT, M. Taylor Fravel, “In the ’50s and ’60s, China and India were engaged in this and would publish competing maps to bolster the strength of their claims to territory. What we are seeing now in open source I would characterize as the latest manifestation of the ways in which states have sought to advance their claims through maps and mapmaking.”

In a direct exchange with the OSM user NM$L in reference to a particular incident, NM$L told the news outfit that he gets his information on how to edit OSM from a Chinese State News media aggregator website called kunlunce.com. In other words, the user NM$L gets his information from the from the Chinese State media which is run by the Chinese Communist regime, on the basis of which he edits the open-source map. Therefore, it is no surprise that NM$L edits in extremely pro-China information related to disputed regions in the South China Sea and along the LAC and the McMohan line.

NM$L is only one single dedicated user, highly motivated by Chinese state media propaganda, who has managed to edit the OSM at least over 1350 times. If there are multitudes of users like NM$L (and there probably are), it would be easy for the Communist regime of China to impose their territorial ideology upon open-source maps as they are freely editable. Therefore, it is necessary to shine a light on such users, who are in all probability not acting nefariously but are still heavily influenced by propaganda from the Chinese regime in order to perform false pro-China edits on open-source maps.

Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhasker speaks language of Islamic terrorists to mock the BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhasker speaks language of Islamic terrorists to mock the BJP

Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhasker on Thursday used the language of Islamic terrorists to mock the BJP.

Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhasker’s tweet

Bhasker quoted a tweet by one Twitter user ‘Ahana Pathak’ who had mocked the BJP and said that the lotus blooms only in the minds of those who have dung in it. To that, Bhasker claimed that not just that, but “Urine, cow urine specifically’. The lotus is the election symbol of the BJP.

Gaumutra jibe

The ‘Gaumutra’ (cow urine) jibe is often used by Islamic terrorists who carry out terror attack on India with specific intention to kill Hindus. In February 2019 when Adil Ahmed Dar rammed an explosive filled car on CRPF convoy killing India’s soldiers, he had referred to Indians as ‘Gae ka peshab peene wale’. Hindus consider cow holy and some also believe the cow urine contains medicinal value that can cure certain diseases. However, ‘gaumutra’ jibe is often used to mock and hate on all Hindus.

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