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Rashmi Samant, president-elect of Oxford Student Union resigns after online attacks over her Hindu roots and old social media posts

OpIndia Staff
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Rashmi Samant, president-elect of Oxford Student Union resigns after online attacks over her Hindu roots and old social media posts

Rashmi Samant, the woman from Karnataka who recently became the first female Indian elect of Oxford University Student’s Union, relinquished her post after being abused, bullied and targeted for being a Hindu and over her views against colonisation.

In what appeared like a coordinated attack, Rashmi Samant’s old social media posts were dredged up, accusing her of being racist, anti-semitic, Islamophobic, transphobic and even for her Hindu roots. Samant was elected to the prestigious post on February 11 and within a week, She tendered her resignation after facing a barrage of online criticism and abuse.

The controversy erupted after Cherwell, a weekly student newspaper published by Oxford, reported that Rashmi had commented on an image on Instagram of herself in Malaysia with the words “Ching Chang”, a pun involving the Holocaust. In another caption, Rashmi drew a comparison between Former Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (present-day South Africa) Cecil Rhodes and Adolf Hitler in a Student Union presidential debate. Samant was also accused of separating ‘women’ and ‘transwomen’ in a caption.

In addition, the Oxford Student Union’s Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality (CRAE) and the Oxford SU LGBTQ Campaign also criticised the President-elect on social media for her allegedly callous social media posts and for refusing to take accountability for the same. 

Rashmi Samant attacked for her being a proud practicing Hindu

Besides the aforementioned allegations, Rashmi was also targeted for being a devout Hindu. One of the faculty members in Oxford even penned a post, dragging Rashmi’s parents into the controversy, attacking them for having a Lord Shri Ram display picture on their social media accounts while alleging that Rashmi’s student council elections were funded by Prime Minister Modi.

In a particularly vile post, the member of the Oxford University accused Rashmi of being Islamophobic by alleging that she came from coastal Karnataka, which the faculty member termed as “a bastion of Islamophobic far-right forces”. The professor also attacked Samant for her views on decolonisation and in doing so, also demonstrated the perverted understanding of the Hindu culture and traditions prevalent among many westerners.

“…Far-right Desi forces hate White people and Western modernity because they want to reinstate Sanatan Hindu “culture” with its inherent caste-based tortures and the most violent form of patriarchy. Of course, they are always ready to destroy statues of non-Hindutva people, be it Muslims or Christians or liberal Hindus,” the post read.

Rashmi defends herself, claims being Hindu and chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is not a crime

Rashmi subsequently resigned from her elected position and returned to her home in the Udupi district of Karnataka but not before posting an open letter on her Facebook account after she was subjected to online bullying and cancel culture. In her letter, Rashmi described the privilege of being elected as the President of the Student’s Union at Oxford as one of the greatest honours of her life.

She subsequently also spoke about the cyberbullying she had to face for her Hindu faith and social media posts that she had posted in the distant past. Rashmi was particularly hurt by the unwarranted attack unleashed against her parents by a Faculty member and for insulting their religious sentiments and regional background in the public domain.

Defending her Hindu roots, Rashmi said, “The fact that I am a Hindu no way makes me intolerant or unfit to be the President of the Oxford SU. Contrary to this, I understand the value of diversity in its true sense, though my exposure to the intricacies of the developed world is limited.”

Rashmi then went on to explain her reason for resignation. ” I stepped down because my values taught me to be ‘sensitive’: sensitive to the feelings of the people who reposed their faith in me, sensitive to my convictions that above all we need to respect fellow human beings, and sensitive to the welfare of the student community that deserves a working SU, and at the personal level, sensitive to the effects of cyberbullying that is targeted against me in the name of ‘sensitivity!”

In an interview with India Ahead News, Samant defended herself, stating that the social media posts by her were made 5 years ago, when she was still a teenager and had not formed her convictions about the issues. She also added that the captions made by her, which were touted by many racist and anti-semitic were made in pun and not with a malicious intent to hurt others.

In her post, Rashmi had also asserted that colonisation is perceived differently by colonisers and the victims of colonisation. She wrote that she had run a campaign focusing on the habit of colonisers to impose their perspective on the indigenous people and had called for introspection of the granted notions of colonisation.

When asked about her parents being dragged into the controversy by a faculty member of Oxford University, Samant said that being Hindu and chanting “Jai Shri Ram” is not a crime and she was perturbed that her parent’s religious feelings and manifestations were openly insulted and attacked as a means to pressurise her into resigning from the post.

Don’t fall for propaganda! WhatsApp will not have to breach end-to-end-encryption to follow the new IT guidelines

RS Govind
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Don’t fall for propaganda! WhatsApp will not have to breach end-to-end-encryption to follow the new IT guidelines

We’re all well aware that the Govt of India has recently notified the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, also being dubbed as India’s new Social Media Code. Now that it’s finally out in the public, there have been many debates and discussions surrounding the guidelines issued. A very peculiar concern being hyped by a certain section of people is about ‘Privacy’. So, after protesting against the CAA & Farm Laws, the Aandolanjeevis are now ready to oppose the new IT Act guidelines over ‘Privacy concerns’!

Every time the Modi government tries to formulate a framework to tighten the noose around digital mischief like fake-news, misinformation, etc, the same cabal of ‘activists’, ‘journalists’ and ‘dissenters’ chime in to misguide and mislead the masses into believing that the framework somehow infringes on the rights of free speech and the right to dissent.

The same cabal had done this a while ago as well when the Modi government sought to check the fake-news forwards in 2017-18. The government had only stepped in after many cases, wherein rumours through WhatsApp forwards had led to grave crimes like mob-lynching and mob-attacks, claiming several innocent lives. At the time, WhatsApp was being used to spread rumours about child-lifting, and the fear is created led to several lives being lost.

While the Left and the usual suspects shamed the entire nation after one unfortunate lynching, several other lynchings that were a direct result of fake news being forwarded on WhatsApp, somehow, became a part of ‘freedom of expression’ simply because the Modi government wanted WhatsApp to ensure checks.

This time too, the Aandolanjeevis are back, with their same old narrative – “Modi’s India is turning into a surveillance state”; “The Modi government’s new guidelines will finish your privacy”, “Whatsapp would have to break E2E Encryption” screamed the headlines.

  • scroll.in-SM-codes
    IFF’s article on Scroll.in labelling the new IT guidelines anti-democratic
  • the-wire
    An Article on TheWire stating that E2E encryption will get diluted
  • NDTV’s tech-portal stating the IT guidelines infringe Freedom of Expression

It’s the same old tactic of bluffing around again and again by the same set of people, especially the left-leaning media-portals and their ‘journalists’; probably because they fear getting caught and prosecuted since most of the times they’re the ones found peddling fake-news and misinformation.

Surprisingly, even WhatsApp had tried to hide behind the same narrative, citing baseless technical limitations previously, but had later yielded, by incorporating the ‘Forwarded labels’ and ‘Forward limits’ feature, in an attempt to fight fake news, as was sought by the Govt.

The ‘privacy’ narrative is more of a vile attempt to dilute the mandate of the new guidelines. It’s not impossible to find the originator of a message despite encryption. It’s for sure a challenge, but not unachievable.

So, do these claims have any sound basis? Is it true that your privacy would get stripped off and India would then become a surveillance state?

Short answer – no.

So, what’s the reality? Let’s examine it with an example. How is that WhatsApp is able to distinctly identify messages as ‘forwarded-many-times’ (Double arrows) and ‘forwarded’ (Single Arrow) for its users? How is it that the ‘forwarded-many-times’ messages can’t be forwarded to more than 1 person at a time; while the others can be forwarded to up to 5 members at once? How does WhatsApp distinguish between such messages and operate upon them differently, for a user? Do they read your messages? Are they breaking the End-to-End (E2E) encryption?

Nope. Broadly speaking, the trick here is Metadata. Metadata, in simple terms, is data about the data. Explaining in laymen terms, metadata doesn’t contain the actual message transmitted, but has the technical info about the message being transmitted; like – headers, tokens, identifiers, timestamps, etc. Every message a user sends, has a unique identifier attached to it, which doesn’t read the content of the message but can be used to identify the message.

It’s based on such metadata that the ‘forwards’ and ‘forwarded-many-times’ messages are identified and are operated upon. And it’s on the same lines even the originator of the message can be traced to.

In fact, WhatsApp’s white paper on it’s encryption and security also explains the above mechanism in detail with all of the technical jargon.

WhatsApp already has access to data like your Device details, mobile number, contacts’ numbers, last active status, profile pic, online status, IP Addresses, Network/Connection Information, etc. More details on the same is provided in their Privacy Policy.

A Screenshot from WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy

In fact, in the past, WhatsApp has also assisted the law enforcement agencies, with the metadata they have access to. One such case in an article quotes –

“..For instance, an immediate crackdown was ordered when policemen from a northern state recently approached WhatsApp about a group circulating child porn.

Without access to any user data, Whatsapp used the profile picture, group name and the fact that most members had virtually no interaction outside the group to identify and block the users”

Quote from an article stating as to how WhatsApp helped agencies nab the culprits

With the above capabilities, metadata & related information, WhatsApp like messaging apps can potentially narrow down to the origin of a message & thereby identify the originator of that message, without doing away with the E2E encryption. The integration of such a system will surely need technical brainstorming & some related changes in the app, and therefore it can be labelled as ‘challenging’ but not ‘impossible’.

There have been many studies and reports that discredit the theory that WhatsApp’s E2E encryption will need to be tampered with, in order to comply with the measures required by the Govt.

Mr. Himanshu Gupta, who was associated with Tencent’s WeChat app, published a detailed analysis in the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) debunking the much-hyped claims of diluting the E2E encryption, for tracing the message origin & its originator.

Mr. NA Vijayashankar, a cyber-law & techno-legal info-security consultant, categorically discredits the claims of WhatsApp in an article of his, in a prominent Legal-News Portal.

In 2019, Prof. V. Kamakoti from IIT Madras member had argued on the same lines, while giving a lecture on “5G Technology from Indian Perspective“ at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWR).

It is pertinent to note that the technical approach cited in these studies & reports might differ at an individual level, but on the whole they revolve around a common conclusion, viz. – “Tracing the origin of messages is possible without diluting E2E encryption”.

In the light of the above, it would be grossly inappropriate and utterly ridiculous to believe that WhatsApp and other such messaging apps would need to dilute their security protocols in order to comply with the new guidelines and with the government’s requirements, in tackling fake-news cum misinformation.

Gujarat 2002: The iconic photo(s) that were never taken and the question of ‘victimhood’

Abhishek Banerjee
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Gujarat 2002: The iconic photo(s) that were never taken and the question of ‘victimhood’

Almost everyone who has heard about the Gujarat riots of 2002 has seen the ‘iconic’ photo of the man with his hands folded. His face shrunken with fear, his eyes half watery and half looking away, as if reflecting on the brutality that fellow human beings can be capable of. The photo was taken on this day, nineteen years ago, at a locality in Amdavad.

The man who became the ‘face’ of Gujarat riots

The emotions here are primal. This is a powerful image of a human being quivering with fear. The photo raises all sorts of questions. About our humanity, about our society and the role of media in making it. And above all, questions about how we perceive victimhood. Now, there are some questions about this photograph itself; how it was taken and how the photographer managed such a perfect shot apparently in the middle of raging violence. But we will not go into the relatively small minded questions. We will focus on the big ones.

Let’s face it. In modern societies, there is a lot of power in which group gets to be the victim. We abhor the use of violence by one group to subjugate another. As such, the only way for one group of people to gain an upper hand on another is by presenting themselves as victims. Even China goes around telling the world that they are victims of India is trying to grab their land! How absurd is that?

But what does this tell you? As perverse as it may sound, it proves that in the modern world, victimhood is a very precious commodity. Everyone wants to claim it for themselves. Once you can claim victimhood, you automatically receive a number of privileges. It becomes a moral license to have your way in almost any argument.

This is what makes the media so powerful. With its reports, images and videos, the media decides which group can claim how much victimhood. This is why we need to ask about the photos from Gujarat 2002 that were never taken. Why were they never taken? Untold stories lead to forgotten victimhood. And when one group is unable to reclaim its victimhood, other groups who have proof of their victimhood are able to impose their will on them.

No, this does not mean any particular individual wants to be a victim. Who would want to have their house attacked or get burned alive by a mob? I am talking about what happens in practice. The suffering of individuals is appropriated by a larger group which then uses it to push narratives favorable to them. At one level, this is immoral, almost like one person snatching what belongs to another. At another level, it is important too. Unless groups maintain the memory of collective victimhood, how do they ensure something like that never happens again?

There is one particular controversy about Gujarat 2002 that I never understood. There is an allegation that the Gujarat government brought the charred bodies from the Godhra carnage to Amdavad and displayed them. Indian liberals accuse then CM Modi of doing this to inflame communal passions. The state government denies that such a ‘display’ even happened.

My question is this. Why is this even treated as an “allegation”? Why is it so important to liberals that nobody should even see the charred bodies from Godhra? Each of them used to be a living breathing human being before they were turned into a charred body. Why don’t they get to tell the world, at least in death, about how they suffered? Why should we be denied one last image of what happened to them?

The answer is obvious. The media wanted to bury the victimhood of one side by turning their suffering into statistics. Fifty nine people were burned alive inside that S-6 compartment. As long as there were no faces, no names and no dead bodies, it was easy for the media to wipe them out.

Not just to wipe them out, but to actually demonize them. Somebody said that the kar sevaks had harassed a woman. Somebody said that they had refused to pay for tea. How much does a cup of tea cost, by the way? Two rupees? Five rupees? Now imagine what kind of person would make excuses for burning 59 people alive by saying that somebody did not pay for tea. Could a cup of tea be worth 59 human lives?

And yet. those who made such arguments faced no public censure of any sort. Most of them lead socially respectable lives today and almost all are still in the business of ‘secularism.’

How did this become possible? Because we never got to see the names and faces of the victims. We only ever got a fleeting glimpse of their dead bodies. Their lives were never captured, whether in photographs or in news reports, for us to remember. Do you know the name of a single person who perished in that S-6 compartment? I am guessing you cannot. Meanwhile, Indian liberals still complain about the urban legend that someone, somewhere might have seen their dead bodies before these unfortunate people were lost forever.

They insist that Hindus can never be victims. They insist on hating kar sevaks as a class. And in order to achieve this, they insist that no record of their victimhood should remain anywhere. Even if someone saw their dead bodies, that was a crime too. Because if anyone heard that Hindus could be victims, then Hindus would have the moral authority to push their own narratives. They cannot tolerate that.

Each one of us here will be gone some day. As individuals, very few of us will make a lasting impact. For most, our group identity will be our only footprint that stays with the world long after we are gone. So when we lose the memory of collective suffering, our group is left powerless. When our stories fade, we cease to exist. And that is what they have always wanted.

After a massively successful Modi Para group rally, The Wire tries to peddle ‘anti-BJP’ narrative in West Bengal: Read how

OpIndia Staff
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After a massively successful Modi Para group rally, The Wire tries to peddle ‘anti-BJP’ narrative in West Bengal: Read how

In a bid to oppose the political murders of hundreds of BJP Karyakartas in West Bengal and express their angst against the rising intolerance of the Trinamool Congress party at the behest of their supremo Mamata Banerjee in the state, the ‘Modipara’ group on Sunday conducted a rather unique march from Subhash Bhawan to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Bhawan in Kolkata.

Though the members of the group called it a non-political march, hundreds of Karyakartas and volunteers led by BJP Leader Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga and Kapil Mishra gathered on Sunday evening to protest silently against the atrocities the Mamata Banerjee led government has unleashed over time on the BJP workers in the state.

The rally began from the Netaji House, in Kolkata’s Lala Lajpat Rai (Elgin) Sarani and ended at Dr Shyama Prashad Mukherjee Bhawan.

The Modipara volunteers handcuffed themselves and covered their mouth with black cloths to symbolically protest against Mamata Banerjee led TMC govt in the state, alleging that they can’t speak, can’t write fearing that TMC will kill them as they have allegedly murdered the 130 BJP cadres.

They also carried posters of the dozens of BJP karyakartas who have fallen prey to TMC’s wrath in West Bengal.

March taken out by the Modipara group in West Bengal

The Modipara group rally, which was organised to express angst against such political murders which have become the new normal in the state of West Bengal, drew hundreds and thousands of participants, making it a grand success.

Meanwhile, amidst the success of the rally, The Wire has decided to peddle the narrative that a “people’s campaign” against the BJP has gained momentum.

The Wire rushed to publish a report titled: “‘No Vote To BJP’: A People’s Campaign in Bengal Reaches Remote Villages”, which discussed how a campaign named “No Vote To BJP” carried out by ‘common people’ has reached remotest corners of the poll-bound state.

The report published by The Wire

It wrote how an out on bail commoner, spearheading the campaign, explained to the website that “since the 2019 parliamentary elections, BJP had unleashed an onslaught on secularism and Indian’s federal structure, sweeping attacks on the rights of minorities, systemic subversion of independent institutions and silencing of dissent”.

The Wire has gone all out to peddle the anti-BJP narrative claiming that “students, young people, teachers, doctors and social activists have been joining the forum voluntarily and campaigning for the cause”. It further claims that this forum which has 48 convenors operating from Kolkata, has reached the remotest village to campaign against BJP.

The Election Commission recently declared that the much-anticipated polls in Bengal will be conducted in eight phases, starting from March 27 to April 29. The result of the assembly elections will be declared on May 2. 

This time around, the fight is clearly between the incumbent Mamata Banerjee-led government and BJP which has been posing a big threat to the Trinamool Congress. Though the results of this high octane political drama will unfold over time, what is extremely interesting is that these self-proclaimed ‘neutral media’ houses have already picked sides and are trying their best to peddle an anti-BJP narrative in the poll-bound state.

Leftist Historian, who got the book on Delhi riots de-platformed, gives ‘activist’ Malala Yousafzai platform to propagate anti-India narrative

OpIndia Staff
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Leftist Historian, who got the book on Delhi riots de-platformed, gives ‘activist’ Malala Yousafzai platform to propagate anti-India narrative

Leftist historian William Dalrymple has invited ‘activist’ and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai to the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), despite being well-aware of her anti-India rhetorics. Dalrymple, who serves as the Festival Director of JLF, has earlier tried to de-platform the ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’ books that reveal the anti-Hindu antecedents behind the rioting that took place under the garb of Anti-CAA protests in February last year.

Malala, while speaking at JLF claimed that the Muslims and Dalits are minorities in India and are at risk as they are not given the minorities’ rights. Interfering in India’s internal matter, she claimed that the Indian women and girls ‘speaking out for farmers’, climate change and protection of minority rights are ’empowering and inspiring’. It is imperative to note that the ‘climate activists’ are supporting farmers against the farm laws which aim to improve ground water levels and control air pollution which is caused due to stubble burning by farmers, mostly in Punjab and Haryana.

As per the official website of JLF, Malala is listed as a ‘speaker’ for the 2021 Edition of the event. “Malala Yousafzai is an education advocate, youngest Nobel laureate, Oxford University graduate and co-founder of Malala Fund. At age 15, she was attacked by the Taliban for advocating for girls’ education in Pakistan. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to see every girl in school,” read the speaker description.

Screengrab of the Jaipur Literature Festival

The event, held between February 19-28 of this year, was based on the theme of ’embracing new digital paradigms with a specially curated festival experience.’

Malala’s anti-India propaganda during abrogation of Article 370

On August 8, 2019, Malala Yousufzai took to Twitter to peddle Pakistan’s false propaganda on Jammu and Kashmir about the decision of the Indian government to abrogate Article 370 that gave special status to the erstwhile state.

Again on September 14, 2019, she had resorted to fear-mongering and attempted to incite Muslims by making claims. Malala said that she talked to the people from Kashmir directly, despite having a ‘communication blackout’. She added that Kashmiris were cut off and unable to make their voices heard to the rest of the world. She claimed to have spoken to three Kashmiri girls, who said that the current situation in Kashmir was of ‘complete silence’ and all they could hear was the steps of troops outside their windows.

Furthermore, the ‘activist’ said claimed that one of the three girls told her that she could not go to school to appear for her exams that were supposedly held on August 12. As the girl missed her exams, she cried to Malala that she was now purposeless and depressed. However, August 12 was a notified holiday declared across India on the occasion of Bakr Id or Eid ul-Adha. Even on the Jammu and Kashmir General Administration Department website, 12th August was clearly marked as Eid.

Leftist-historian de-platforms book on Delhi Riots

On August 21 last year, Bloomsbury author William Dalrymple had announced on Twitter that he was working to stop the publication of ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’ book. Responding to a request by Congress troll Saket Gokhale to somehow stop the book, Dalrymple had replied, “I’m on it. As are several other Bloomsbury authors.”

Replying to another Twitter user with the same request, Dalrymple had replied, “Just seen this and onto it”. The leftist author had also tagged several other authors in his tweets, implying that he was requesting them to put pressure on the publishing house to pulp the book. After the book was de-platformed, writer Aatish Taseer had informed that William Dalrymple was behind the effort to prevent the book from being published.

“I’m extremely grateful to @DalrympleWill for his efforts in putting a stop to this shameful bit of state propaganda. It could not have happened without him”, Aatish Taseer had tweeted. However, the liberal agenda failed with Garuda Prakashan decided to publish the book.

Gujarat: Ahmedabad woman Ayesha commits suicide by jumping into Sabarmati River, last video message goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Ahmedabad woman Ayesha commits suicide by jumping into Sabarmati River, last video message goes viral

A video has gone viral on social media where Ayesha, a young woman, can be heard announcing her decision to commit suicide. According to reports, Ayesha committed suicide soon afterwards jumping into the Sabarmati River.

Ayesha says in the video, “I am happy and I want to die in peace, I don’t want to fight, I love Arif.” Arif is her husband whom she had married in 2018. Reportedly, after their marriage, Arif and his family began to harass Ayesha for dowry. She had filed a complaint against her husband, mother-in-law, and father-in-law at the Vatva police station and a case of domestic violence was filed as well.

She said, “Dear Dad, when will you fight your case? Don’t let Ayesha fight because she doesn’t want to fight. If Arif wants freedom, then he is free. Let’s live our life, this is the opportunity. I am happy, I will meet Allah, I will tell him, where did I go wrong? I got good parents, wonderful friends but something either lacked in me or my fate.”

She said further, “This is a lovely river and I hope it absorbs me, Main hawaaon ki tarah hoon; main behna chaahti hoon… Main khush hoon aaj… Mujhe duaon me yaad karna, kya pata jannat mile na mile (I am like the winds; I want to flow… I am happy today… Remember me in your prayers. Don’t know if I will go to heaven or not).”

Her suicide has sparked several strong reactions on social media. Authorities have recovered the body and a case has been registered against her husband in the matter.

While the overwhelming majority of people empathised with the 23-year old, there were some who complained that she chose Haram over Halal.

Ayesha had also called her husband before jumping into the Sabarmati River. She also called her parents before committing suicide. Her parents desperately tried to convince Ayesha to change her decision but they were unsuccessful.

She told her mother, “All that has happened his enough, I am frustrated, I can’t tolerate it anymore, He (her husband Arif) wants freedom, I will give him the freedom.”

‘Bring resolution against CAA, law for Muslim reservation’: Abu Azmi threatens to protest against Maha govt if demands not fulfilled

OpIndia Staff
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‘Bring resolution against CAA, law for Muslim reservation’: Abu Azmi threatens to protest against Maha govt if demands not fulfilled

Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Azmi has demanded the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to bring a resolution against CAA-NRC in the ongoing assembly session and has also asked the government to bring a law to provide 5% reservations to Muslims in the state.

Speaking to the media, Abu Azmi, who is also a partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, demanded the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to bring in legislation to provide 5 per cent reservations to Muslims in the state. The controversial Samajwadi Party leader warned of taking to streets against the state government if they fail to do it.

Abu Azmi also said that the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP lead coalition should pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act that provides citizenship to persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring Islamic countries.

Recently, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra had proposed extending the contentious 5 per cent reservations for Muslims across educational institutes in the state. Informing about the government proposal to provide reservations to Muslims in educational institutes, Minority Affairs minister Nawab Malik said that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government would soon bring in an ordinance to this effect in the ongoing Budget session.

Speaking on the same, Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi had earlier lauded the Maharashtra Government, stating that this move would not only benefit the Muslims but the country as a whole.

“Today, people say that Muslims are backward, the truth is that education has become so expensive. This reservation will prove as a great benefit for the Muslims who could not afford education,” said Abu Azmi. 

MVA alliance’s persistent push for Muslim reservations

Ever since Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance formed a government in Maharashtra, the alliance partners have been pressing to bring in reservations for Muslims in the state. In January 2020, a month after Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister, several reports surfaced stating that Maha Vikas Aghadi government is preparing to introduce reservations for Muslims in the state.

It is pertinent to note that the Shiv Sena was earlier amongst the political parties who had vehemently opposed the reservations based on religion in Maharashtra but owing to the changing political dynamic, it appears to have acquiesced to the NCP-Congress demand of passing reservations for Muslims in education.

Bihar: NDA keeps its promise, free coronavirus vaccination for all in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: NDA keeps its promise, free coronavirus vaccination for all in the state

The second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive has started pan-India on March 1 to cover people aged above 60 years and those above 45 with comorbidities. The Bihar government has announced that it will bear the entire cost of the Covid-19 vaccine in both government and private hospitals. Though the government hospitals will provide vaccine for free across the country, private hospitals will levy charges of up to Rs.250 per dose.

However, after the announcement, the vaccine will remain free in both government and private hospitals in Bihar. Notably, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised in its election manifesto before the Bihar assembly elections that if they come back in power, the Covid-19 vaccines will be free for all.

The decision to make Covid-19 vaccine free for private hospitals as well was made during a meeting chaired by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on February 28. In a statement, CM Nitish said, “Vaccination will be absolutely free in the entire Bihar state. Such facility will be made available even at private hospitals, it will be facilitated by the state government.”

CM Nitish gets his first shot of Covid vaccine on his birthday

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar got the first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine on his 70th birthday on March 1, 2021, at 1 PM at IGIMS Hospital, Patna Bihar.

Poll promise of free Covid vaccine

On October 22, while releasing the election manifesto for the Bihar assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party had announced that everyone in Bihar would get free Covid-19 vaccine if BJP comes back in power. At that time, the announcement was misinterpreted as if BJP would give free vaccine only in Bihar. The misleading claims were refuted. As per the government of India’s latest announcement, the Covid-19 vaccine is free in government hospitals.

The private hospitals that have enrolled as vaccination centres can charge up to Rs.250. The states have the power to decide on the cost of vaccine in private hospitals. As Bihar has announced free vaccine at all centres, government or private, it is possible that other states may also follow suit. Those who are eligible to get Covid vaccine can register on the Co-Win2.0 portal and schedule the shot.

Meet Abbas Siddiqui, Rahul Gandhi’s new ally who wanted 50 crore Indians to die from ‘Allah’s virus’

Dibakar Dutta
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Meet Abbas Siddiqui, Rahul Gandhi’s new ally who wanted 50 crore Indians to die from ‘Allah’s virus’

On Monday, the West Bengal unit of the BJP put out a video drawing analogies between the slogans of the separatist leaders of the Muslim League in 1946 to that of the recent speech by Peerzada-turned-politician Abbas Siddiqui. The BJP tweeted, “Ladke lenga Pakistan (We will fight until we get Pakistan) – Muslim League leaders, 1946. Matribhumi ke saadhin korbo (We will gain independence for our homeland) – Abbas Siddiqui 2021.”

While addressing a large gathering of supporters at the Bridage Parade Ground in Kolkata, Abbas Siddiqui remarked, “I want to say this to all Bengalis, and my beloved folks to vote for the CPIM wherever they field their candidates. In the next election, we will free our homeland even if it requires shedding our blood for it.” As can be seen in the video, Abbas Siddiqui’s vicious election rhetoric of separatism and violence was cheered on by a large number of supporters.

The ‘secular’ alliance of Abbas Siddiqui, Congress and Left

The 24-year-old Siddiqui, who has made a name for himself as a ‘Peerzada (cleric)’, had been hinting at joining electoral politics since last year. He hails from Furfura Sharif village in Hooghly district and yields strong influence over young Muslim voters in the four districts of Hooghly, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. Sensing an opportunity to make his way to the State Legislative Assembly, he floated the Indian Secular Front (ISF) party in January this year.

Although he had initially planned to align with Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the plan did not materialise. He instead joined hands with the Communist party and the Congress, even though they have lost ground in the State. Despite not forging an alliance with Owaisi, Siddiqui has informed that he will not oppose AIMIM in West Bengal. Given that Owaisi did not ally with the Congress-Left-ISF, the Muslim vote will get divided between in 3 ways (with Trinamool Congress as a major player in the political arena).

Abbas Siddiqui realises that his influence over the Muslim vote bank is limited to the youth in South Bengal whereas Congress has a stronghold in Muslim-dominated areas of Malda, Murshidabad, and North Dinajpur in North Bengal. The alliance is therefore mutually beneficial. While Congress has been thriving on Muslim appeasement, it has refrained from allying with the Owaisi due to its ‘extreme rhetorics’. However, Siddiqui’s incendiary rhetoric, fear mongering and calls for ‘divine intervention’ for death of Hindus have been conveniently ignored by the Left or the Congress.

A vocal Anti-CAA critic who threatened to block Kolkata airport

In December 2019, the Indian government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to fasttrack the citizenship of individuals who have come to India illegally from the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to avoid religious persecution. While the law covered only the religious minorities from these 3 countries, Islamists and left-liberal lobby had insinuated that Indian Muslims will lose their citizenship.

Amidst the raging debate on CAA, Abbas Siddiqui had threatened to block Kolkata airport if the law was not revoked. Claiming that the citizenship law was unfair to the Muslim population of the country, the cleric urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to either move the Supreme Court or bring a resolution against CAA in State Assembly. Speaking to Times Now, Siddiqui warned her to take immediate steps or else risk losing the support of Muslims in West Bengal.

Abbas Siddiqui had urged Allah to kill 50 crore Indians, later made a U-turn

During the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in the world, a video of Abbas Siddiqui shot on February 26 last year had gone viral on social media. He was seen addressing a large gathering of followers and praying to Allah to kill 50 crore Indians with the virus.

In the video, the cleric was heard referring to anti-Hindu Delhi riots and saying, “Recently I have got the news that mosques are being set on fire, mosques are being burnt for the last two days. I think something is going to happen within a month. May Allah accept our prayers. May Allah send such a terrible virus to India that ten to twenty to fifty crore people die in India. Am I saying something wrong? It is absolutely blissful.”

His genocidal statement was well-received by his followers as they applauded in unison. Siddiqui also said that he did not mind whether he would die or survive but he would surely take Hindus with him. However, he later claimed that he was quoted ‘out of context.’ In an attempt to water down the vitriol that he spewed earlier, Siddiqui went on to say that he respected “India’s secularism” and that he had worked for the people, irrespective of religion and caste.

Abbas Siddiqui championed Islamic supremacy, fear mongering and changing population demographics

The ever-changing population demographics of West Bengal had been a matter of concern for the Hindu population in the State. With a low birth rate, coupled with mass infiltration of illegal Muslim immigrants from the neighbouring country of Bangladesh, Hindus have already been outnumbered in Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur districts. In an undated video that surfaced on social media in November last year, Islamic cleric Abbas Siddiqui had revealed that Muslims constituted ‘the majority’ in the State of West Bengal.

“This is Bengal. We (Muslims) are not minorities here. We are the majority here. Keep this in mind. We have a 35% population in the State,” he emphasised. Siddiqui also claimed that such a thing was possible as Adivasis, Matuas and Dalits did not fall into the Hindu fold. “If we do not come to power next time, they (Hindus) will rape our women in front of our eyes. Do you understand? You cannot do anything if you do not have power in your hands,” Siddiqui was seen fear-mongering at a public rally.

Electoral challenges of Abbas Siddiqui

Abbas Siddiqui is junior in the hierarchy of pirzadas. To add to that, his uncle Toha Siddiqui is a vocal supporter of the Trinamool Congress. Many Bengali Muslims revere pirzadas to an extent that they abhor the idea of them engaging in politics. With the growing influence of Salafi Islam in the State, other Islamic preachers have been labelling Sufis such as Siddiqui as an ‘apostate.

Nevertheless, to increase the scope of his electoral chances, he has appealed that the ISF also represents the interests of Dalits and tribals. This electoral strategy of ‘Dalit-Muslim unity’ has also been used successfully by Owaisi’s AIMIM during the Lok Sabha elections in Aurangabad in Maharashtra. However, TMC leader Arup Biswas commented, “The ISF will hardly be viewed as a secular party. It is an Islamic party and will be painted as such.”

Kanpur: Fashion designer accuses one Arif of sexually exploiting her under a fake identity, complaint registered

OpIndia Staff
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Kanpur: Fashion designer accuses one Arif of sexually exploiting her under a fake identity, complaint registered

A 21-year-old Dalit Hindu woman in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh had approached the police on February 27 (Saturday) with a complaint against a youth named Mohammad Arif, who lives in Lalganj, Ghosiana town of Rae Bareli, accusing him of cheating and rape.

In the complaint lodged with the Nawabganj police in Uttar Pradesh, the woman, who is a fashion designer by profession, alleged that Arif had befriended her posing as ‘Rajveer Kesariya’ on Facebook. He lured her into a relationship on the pretext of marriage and forced her to get sexually involved with him. When the woman became pregnant, the accused Arif broke all his ties with her. 

Based on the complaint, the Nawabganj police registered a case against the accused under sections 417, 504, 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Information and Technology Act and initiated an investigation. Arif has been now arrested.

As per reports, the police have said that the anti-conversion law has not been invoked in this case as the victim and accused knew each other and allegations of an attempt to conversion have not been made.

How Arif hid his identity and lured the Kanpur girl on Facebook

The fashion designer wrote in her complaint that she met Arif on Facebook. During the conversation, he told her that his name was Rajveer and he was a resident of Lucknow. He also said that he is pursuing a management course in Mumbai. Over the passage of time, their friendship developed and Arif aka Rajveer started visiting the 21-year-old. The victim said that he promised to help her get a job. The accused began to sexually exploit her on the pretext of marriage.

The woman alleged that Arif stopped talking to her when she told him that she was pregnant with his child in January. The victim somehow traced his family members and approached them. It was then revealed upon her that the accused’s real name was Mohammad Arif and that he had been concealing his identity from her for all this while. She then finally confronted him, only to be threatened with dire consequences.

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