In a new development, Khalistani organisations in the United Kingdom have asked the Sikhs in the country to not identify themselves as ‘Indians’ in the upcoming Census, reportedThe Times of India.
The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO), which runs more than 130 Gurdwaras and organisations in the UK, has tweeted on Thursday (February 18), “On 21 March 2021 the Census will occur. We have made some recommendations for the British Sikh community on some of the Census questions – in relation to religion, ethnicity & language. It is of course up to the individual to fill in as they best see fit.”
Screengrab of the tweet by NSO
NSO had shared four infographics, asking Sikh residents to choose ‘Sikh’ as their religion, primary language as ‘Punjabi’ and ethnicity as ‘Punjabi’ under the Asian section. “Our final recommendation is the question of ethnicity. This asks participants to answer, ‘What is your ethnic group’? In this section (15C), We recommend individuals unhappy with the ‘Indian’ option should tick Any other Asian background’ (under ‘Asian or Asian British’) and write in ‘Punjabi’, NSO tweeted.
Screengrab of the infograohic by NSO
Sikh Federation asks to use ‘Sikh’ as ethnicity instead of ‘Indian’ or ‘Punjabi’
While speaking to the Times of India, NSO Director Lord Singh of Wimbledon said, “On ethnicity, our advice to those unwilling to describe themselves as ‘Indian, because of the absence of closure for the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide is to write ‘Punjabi — a more accurate description of ethnicity.” While NSO recommended the use of the ‘Asian’ group, another Khalistani outfit named the Sikh Federation suggested to pick the ‘other ethnic group’ category and write ‘Sikh’ as the ethnicity.
UK Census may collect factually incorrect data
The Sikh Federation had earlier lost a legal battle while trying to compel the UK government to identify ‘Sikh’ as an ethnicity in the Census. Its spokesperson said that 83,000 Sikhs refused to use exisiting ‘ethnic’ categories during the 2011 UK Census and choose the ‘other’ option. “Now we plan to double that number and possibly get up to 200,000 Sikhs to tick ‘other’ and write ‘Sikh’ this time to send a strong signal to the UK government,” remarked the spokesperson of the Sikh Federation.
The intervention of the Khalistani outfits has sparked fears of the census capturing wrong data about the Indian community and its population. While some Sikhs may write ‘Punjabi’ as their ‘ethnicity’, others might go with ‘Sikh’ or ‘Indian.’ It must be mentioned that around 2.5% (14.13 lac) of the British population identified as ‘Indian’ in the 2011 Census. However, only 1.5% (8.35 lac) identified as ‘others’ in the Asian category and 0.06% (3.33 lac) in the ‘any other ethnic group’ section.
British Indians Voice remains hopeful about British Indians choosing the ‘Indian’ ethnicity box in Census
While speaking about the development, the spokesperson of the British Indians Voice said, “I am confident everyone who is ethnically Indian will tick the ‘Indian’ box…For the ethnicity question we want people to tick Asian, then Indian. This applies to Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Jains, Buddhist Christians and others with roots in India.”
The spokesperson added that incorrect information will affect funds collected for relevant necessities such as temples, chaplains, crematorium etc. He reiterated that British Indians should be known by their own identity and not ‘Asian’, ‘British Asian’, or ‘South Asian’.
Farmers protest in India hijacked by Khalistanis
OpIndia has reported how Khalistani elements had infiltrated the Punjab farmer protest, which subsequently turned violent with the rioters unfurling multiple flags with Sikh religious symbol on the Red Fort on Republic Day.
A week later, after popstar Rihanna and porn star Mia Khalifa along with international protestor Greta Thunberg voiced their support to protesting farmers, a bigger conspiracy to defame India on global platform backed by pro-Khalistan outfit Poetic Justice Foundation was revealed. Khalistanis in California, USA, have also indulged in supporting and celebrating the violent farmer protests and had even broken Mahatma Gandhi statue.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly election is scheduled to be held in May 2021. This election is extremely critical for the Congress party, which has lost its political significance in almost all states of the country. Now, the Syro Malabar church in Kerala has issued a stern directive to the Congress party. The Changanassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Perumthottam has warned the Congress party against deciding its candidates for the upcoming Assembly election without consulting the church.
The Metropolitan Archbishop has instructed that Congress should consult the minorities before it decides on its candidates for the minority-dominated areas. It also said that the party should consult the church before deciding candidates for the Christian areas in the state.
In an editorial in Deepika, the official mouth-piece of the church, Mar Joseph Perumthottam stated that Congress should not field candidates from outside the community. The editorial piece recalls that in 1951, Jawaharlal Nehru had issued a similar directive to PCC presidents.
Saying so, the Archbishop wrote that the candidates should only be those who have won the trust of the minorities in the area from where they are being fielded. It said that outsiders, who do not belong to the community either by faith or birth, should not be touted as candidates in the minority Christian constituencies.
The 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election is round the corner. Those who are familiar with Kerala’s demography and politics will know that politically, by and large, Kerala has been bi-polar, with power alternating between the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Assembly elections.
However, going by the declining performance of UDF including its two main elements, the Congress and Muslim League over the last three decades, Congress would be leaving no stone unturned to reverse its losing streak and making a political U-turn. In such a scenario, it would be interesting to watch whether Congress will be giving in to the Syro-Malabar church’s demands.
On 22nd Feb, a video featuring derogatory anti-Modi chants aimed towards prominent Indian-American Dr Romesh Japra caught attention on social media. This video features chants in Punjabi by a sizeable mob of protestors equating Dr Japra to a dog, directly outside Dr Japra’s house in Fremont, California. This ‘counter-protest’ is part of a backlash against Dr Japra for organizing a car rally in support of the 2020 Indian laws.
See,how Hindu Homes are getting attacked in California just for Supporting farmers law..yesterday these Khalistani goons have attacked eminent Indian American cardiologist Dr.Romesh Japra's home just for one facebook post supporting Farmers Law…unbelivable!! pic.twitter.com/wIBvC8ULgl
Dr Romesh Japra is a very prominent figure in the Indian-American community of California, especially Fremont. Dr Japra is an eminent Cardiologist with an MBBS degree from AIIMS, Delhi before moving to the USA in 1973. Beyond the field of medicine, Dr Japra is the founder and convener of the Festival of Globe, an annual multi-ethnic cultural event featuring film, visual, performing and folk arts located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the years, this event has featured a multitude of Bollywood celebrities including Vivek Oberoi, Gulshan Grover, Randeep Hooda etc.
In recent years, Dr Japra has gravitated towards pushing pro-India and pro-Hindu politics in California in response to the perceived anti-India rhetoric and actions of the Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party, especially Rep. Ro Khanna, the U.S. Congressman for the 17th Congressional District, the district Dr Japra resides in. Rep. Ro Khanna is a member of the Pakistani Congressional Caucus. In the 2020 U.S. election, Dr Japra supported an Indian-American Republican challenger against Rep. Khanna, however, Khanna was able to retain his seat in the historically super-majority Democrat seat.
Meet Dr Romesh Japra
Dr Romesh Japra was born in Phagwara, Punjab in 1950 in a Hindu family. Raised in a village in the Phagwara Tehsil, Dr Japra successfully completed his MBBS degree at AIIMS, Delhi and moved to the US in 1973. After that, Dr Japra established his highly successful medical practice as a Cardiologist. Moreover, Dr Japra was also highly active in the affairs of the Indian community in USA. In 1983, he was a co-founder of the Fremont Hindu Temple and Cultural Center, one of the first, if not the first, Hindu temples established in Fremont, California.
“Being a small immigrant community in those days we needed a place to worship and socialise. We had to rent time from churches for the same. So we took this Church and turned it into a Hindu Temple.” Dr Japra was quoted as saying. Dr Japra has also been the Chairman of the Federation of Indo-Americans of Northern California, a Fremont based umbrella organization that consists of over 40 Indian-American member organizations.
The Federation of Indo-Americans of Northern California, under the stewardship of Dr Romesh Japra, launched the annual Festival of India in 1993 on the occasion of the Indian Independence Day. The event, which features a Grand Parade was led by then Bollywood star Asha Parekh in 1993, followed by Sushmita Sen the next year. Ever since then, the Festival of India has been one of the most premier Indian cultural events in the San Francisco Bay Area, also popularly called Silicon Valley. The Festival of India has featured prominent Bollywood celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Ayushmaan Khurana over the years.
In recent years, the Festival of India has evolved into the Festival of Globe, with Chinese and Hispanic groups also showcasing their respective cultures. The cultural festival has an attendance of approximately 150,000 to 200,000 people, making it a highly productive festival with an explicit aim to showcase and highlight Indian culture.
Involvement in Pro-Indian politics
On August 29, 2019, U.S. Congressman Rep. Ro Khanna replied to a tweet from accused Khalistani asset Pieter Friedrich. The tweet, which Rep. Khanna replies to, is an article by Pieter Friedrich in the Caravan Magazine which baselessly accuses Anti-War Progressive Hindu politician Tulsi Gabbard of being financially aided by the RSS in exchange for certain favors. In his reply Rep. Ro Khanna tweets, “Important article. It’s the duty of every American politician of Hindu faith to stand for pluralism, reject Hindutva, and speak for equal rights for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist & Christians. That is the vision of India my grandfather Amarnath Vidyalankar fought for.”
Important article. It’s the duty of every American politician of Hindu faith to stand for pluralism, reject Hindutva, and speak for equal rights for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist & Christians. That is the vision of India my grandfather Amarnath Vidyalankar fought for.
OpIndia had recently covered Pieter Friedrich’s and OFMI’s campaign to target pro-India and Hindu politicians and its links with Khalistani and ISI elements. In the middle of this coordinated smear campaign against a progressive Hindu politician like Tulsi Gabbard, Rep. Ro Khanna, another progressive Hindu politician threw Tulsi Gabbard under the bus, commended Pieter Friedrich’s article, and called for the rejection of Hindutva. Naturally, this led to a backlash against Khanna amongst the Indian Hindu community residing in Fremont and the Indian-American Hindu community in general.
In October 2019, a group of Indian Americans gathered outside an elementary school which was the venue of a town hall meeting featuring Rep. Ro Khanna. They held signs saying “Ro: Stand with the community, not with racists” and ““Ro: Stand for Equality, Stand Against Hinduphobia” in order to protest Ro Khanna’s. Ro Khanna also came under fire from over 230 Indian-American organization which collectively signed a letter to Rep. Khanna, condemning his endorsement of Pieter Friedrich who the letter refers to as a ‘fringe and extremist Anti-Hindu activist’. Ironically, the town hall was held to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary. Mahatma Gandhi has long been a target of Pieter Friedrich and OFMI, with baseless allegations of Nazism and Pedophilia against the Mahatma promoted by them.
In the fallout of all this, Dr Romesh Japra saw the need for a pro-Hindu and pro-India political action committee (PAC). This led to the formation of Americans for Hindus, a new PAC in order to push for pro-India policies in reaction to “Anti India and Anti-Hindu statements and actions by members of the Progressive Caucus (“PC”) of the Democratic party that have aggrieved a large swath of the Hindu-American community”. This PAC was formed in December 2019 and commenced operations in early 2020.
By October 2020, the Americans for Hindus PAC raised around $225,000. The PAC endorsed 14 candidates for Congressional races across the USA in the 2020 election cycle including a Republican challenger for Rep. Ro Khanna. The Indian-American Republican challenger to Khanna, Ritesh Tandon was a personal friend of Dr Japra and relied highly on Dr Japra’s influential support. However, the lack of campaigning due to the pandemic, meant that Rep. Khanna would retain his historically Democrat district.
Ro Khanna has not only put his own community under the Bus by joining Pakistan Caucus and tweeting " Reject Hindutva " but has moved too much to the Left and become ultra radical Socialist and wants to make Silicon Valley into Venezuela. Friends, vote for Ritesh Tandon4Congress pic.twitter.com/bGzLtMQUXE
In many ways, Dr. Romesh Japra is a pioneer for Indian American and Hindu American communities. A highly successful Cardiologist, he has also been a pillar of the Indian diaspora in Fremont, organizing cultural events in order to promote Indian culture in the West and also to inculcate it within children in the Indian diaspora. Dr. Japra is also a pioneer for utilizing his resources towards actually using the American political system for the benefit of India and Indians worldwide. The attack on Dr Japra seems to be a result of his efforts to bring pro-India narrative into American politics and an organised effort by the highly active pro-Khalistani forces in North America to threaten the pro-India voices.
The Greta Thunberg toolkit has shed great light into the manner in which a global campaign was orchestrated against India riding on the ‘farmer protests’. While the toolkit has exposed the dark underbelly of the campaign and shady organisations such as the Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), the darkest secret that it has revealed is the alliance between Khalistanis and caste activists in the West to tarnish India’s reputation abroad and undermine our national interests.
The nexus first came to light when it was revealed that Suraj Yengde, a Harvard alumni, whose columns appear across numerous media outlets, had partnered with the PJF for a Caste related project funded by the Canadian federal funding agency. The project received $25000 in grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in Canada. The PJF was founded by Khalistanis and was intimately involved with the current global campaign.
Suraj Yengde, despite his dubious associations, is a prominent figure in the media. His columns have appeared on the Indian Express and The Print and he has been actively promoted by Indian liberal media as an ’eminent intellectual’. In his columns, he primarily focuses on Caste and waxes eloquence against ‘Brahminism’.
Suraj Yengde writes against Brahminism
Another distinct proposition of his is that the “new image of Dalit capitalists is a creation of the dominant castes to diffuse the potential risk of Dalit rebellion against capitalism.”
Suraj Yengde on Capitalism
His hatred towards Hindus is well documented. He once called Hindus the “sick people of India”. Despite his virulent hatred towards Hindus, he has been feted by Indian liberal media as an ‘intellectual’.
Screenshot source: India Currents
Now we know that Suraj Yengde has worked with Khalistanis in the past, all thanks to Greta Thunberg. But he is only a small part, albeit very significant, in a slick propaganda machine that has been developed by Khalistani and anti-Brahminism Caste activists for their tirade against India.
The Equality Labs is an extremely prominent anti-Brahminism Caste activism group in the United States. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had once stoked a massive controversy when he held an anti-Brahmin placard that said ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’. Incidentally, that poster was designed by Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the Executive Director of Equality Labs.
Again, thanks to Greta Thunberg, we learnt that Equality Labs had collaborated with the Organisation for Minorities in India (OFMI), among other organisations, for a report titled ‘Caste in the United States: A Survey Of Caste Among South Asian Americans’. The OFMI was founded by Bhajan Singh Bhinder, a known ISI operative, and his puppet Pieter Friedrich was part of the organisation too.
Pieter Friedrich was listed as a ‘resource person’ in the Greta toolkit, which again brought him into the attention of Delhi Police. We now know for a fact that this ISI-Khalistan nexus has also been extremely vocal against Hindu Americans and has been attempting to influence American politics. They have run a dedicated campaign against former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard during her run for the presidency of the United States.
Equality Labs holds great influence among the ‘Justice Democrats’ wing of the Democrat Party. They were campaigning hard against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the United States while accusing India of committing genocide with the hashtag ‘Stop Hindu fascism’.
EqualityLabs campaign against India
Equality Labs also campaigned hard against Amit Jani, who had worked in the Joe Biden campaign, accusing him of supporting ‘Hindu Fascism’. Quite clearly, there is great resemblance in tactics adopted by the ‘anti-Brahminism’ Caste activist group against Jani and that adopted by Friedrich against Tulsi Gabbard.
Equality Labs campaigns against Amit Jani
The Caste Activist organisation has also been trying hard to insert a ‘Dalit’ angle to the current farmer protests even though the protests are clearly an attempt by dominant caste groups in Punjab and Haryana to preserve their privilege.
Equality Labs farmer protests campaign
Further testament to the Equality Labs’ influence among Justice Democrats is that they have worked with Congressman Ro Khanna for a seemingly benign project. Ro Khanna worked with them to introduce a resolution in celebration of the 129th birth anniversary of B.R.Ambedkar.
In a press statement, he said, “Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a pioneer in the movement to make India a free, fair, and just society for everyone in it,” said Rep. Ro Khanna. “He mobilized a generation to push back against discrimination and to instead celebrate equality, human rights, and universal tolerance. Today, we stand at a moment in world history when we could all use more of that compassionate spirit. I’m proud to work with Equality Labs and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) to make this landmark resolution a reality.”
Here we find three distinctive issues where Equality Labs and Khalistani-backed Pieter Friedrich find themselves on the same side of the fence spreading the same brand of delusional propaganda and using similar tactics to target Hindu Americans in the United States. Article 370, the CAA and the farmer protests have seen precisely the same brand of propaganda by anti-Brahminism Caste activists and Khalistanis.
We also see the collaboration between Suraj Yengde and the PJF for a project funded by Canada’s SSHRC and the collaboration between Equality Labs and OFMI for a Caste report. Thus, the evidence is abundantly clear that a nexus of Caste activists, Khalistanis and Pakistan’s ISI is working in tandem in the United States, and more broadly, the West, to tarnish India’s reputation abroad.
In a major development, the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme Implementation Committee in Uttarakhand has sent a proposal to set up smart classes in madrassas that are registered with the State Madrassa Education Board, reportedThe Times of India.
The said proposal, which is yet to receive a green signal, has been sent to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs. As per the proposal, the madrassa classrooms will be equipped with speakers and large LED screens. The smart classes are aimed at providing education to Muslim students via visual tools with built-in internet. Reportedly, the project will first be developed at Rehmaniya Madrassa in Roorkee, Uttarkhand. The Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme Implementation Committee in Uttarakhand has been seeking ₹27 crores from the Central government for the project.
While speaking about the development, the Deputy Chairman of the committee Shadab Shams stated, “Compared to those in private schools, children in madrassas shouldn’t lag behind in their studies. It is important that madrassas also get technologically advanced and move with the times. We have sent a proposal in this regard to the Centre amounting Rs 27 crore.” He added, “It is an initiative to bring madrassas and its students in the mainstream. Apart from this, we have fully implemented NCERT academic syllabus in 420 registered madrassas across the state.”
Maulvi’s job is to teach religion, students’ education is the govt’s responsibility
Earlier on January 25, Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Health and Education Minister of Assam said that the recent step to close state-run madrassas was right. He was answering ABP News’s question on allegations made by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Badruddin Ajmal who alleged if the BJP government comes in power again, it will close down mosques and madarsas.
Sarma asserted that after being re-elected, the BJP government in Assam will work to bring education in madrassas at par with mainstream education in schools by introducing maths, computers and science. “Muslim clerics’ job is to go to the mosque to teach religion. It is the responsibility of the government to educate students, it is the job of the education minister. We will fulfil our responsibility and they should fulfil their responsibility. Where is the dispute in this?” Sarma added.
In yet another indication that Congress has been supporting the ‘farmers’ rebellion in the country, gangster Lakha Sidhana, who is wanted in connection with the Delhi violence that erupted in the national capital in the wake of the tractor rally on January 26, was today seen at a ‘farmers’ rally held in Bhatinda’s Mehraj, the ancestral town of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
In a brazen challenge to the security agencies, Sidhana was today seen seating on the stage at the ‘farmers’ rally in Mehraj. Sidhana subsequently even addressed the gathering and the organisers on the stage dared the police to arrest Sidhana, who carries a bounty of Rs 1 lakh.
Sidhana urged the villagers to not allow police to arrest anyone in connection with the violence that transpired at the Red Fort on Republic Day this year. He alleged that the central government was wrongly implicating people from Punjab to undermine the ‘farmers’ protest and appealed to the Dalit community to participate in the protest in large numbers. After the rally, Sidhana reportedly ran away on a motorcycle from the spot.
It is also pertinent to note that several farm union leader, including Haryana BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have egged on people in Punjab to stop Delhi Police from entering their villages to arrest those responsible for wreaking havoc in the national capital on Republic Day.
Organisers of ‘farmers’ rally wash their hands off involvement with gangster Lakha Sidhana
Baba Hardeep Singh Dal Khalsa, the organiser of the rally washed off his hands from the involvement of Sidhana in the demonstrations. He alleged that Sidhana was not in their contact and stressed that they had announced the rally before Lakha exhorted people to attend it.
“We wanted to send our voice to Kisan morcha that they have support from Punjab. The response of the gathering will reveal the next course of action from this rally. Lakha Sidhana is not in our contact though we have announced the rally before Lakha. He has supported the rally but we have no information if Lakha is visiting this rally,” Singh said.
Lakha Sidhana releases a video on social media asking people to join protests in Bhatinda’s Mehraj
Last week, in a bid to instigate people, Sidhana released a video on social media, asking people to join in support of the farm agitation in Bathinda district’s Mehraj, the ancestral village of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on February 23.
In the video that was posted on Friday night, Sidhana urged people to gather in big numbers at the grain market in Mehraj, 35 km from the Bathinda district headquarters. “We are organising a farmers’ gathering in Mehraj of Bhatinda on February 23,” said Lakha Sidhana and urged people to reach the protest in large numbers.
Gangster Lakha Sidhana absconding since violence erupted in Delhi on January 26
The gangster Lakha Sidhana was about to be caught from the Singhu border area on January 26 but as the tractor rally crowd went rampaging, the accused switched off his phone and managed to flee from the area. In addition to Sidhana, actor-activist Deep Sidhu was also listed as one of the accused in inciting demonstrators to indulge in violence in Red Fort. While Sidhu has been arrested, Sidhana remains untraceable.
Since then, Delhi Police has been on the lookout to trace the whereabouts of gangster Lakha Sidhana, accused of fomenting violence during the tractor rally on the Republic Day when thousands of demonstrators breached barricades, clashed with the police and stormed the grounds of the iconic Red Fort.
After the violence swept over the national capital, Delhi Police named actor-activist Deep Sidhu and Lakha Sidhana in an FIR accusing the two of instigating the protesting farmers to storm the iconic monument and hoist flags, including Khalistani flags.
Six civic bodies in Gujarat went to polls on Sunday: Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Surat. While BJP is comfortably set to clean sweep the polls, what has caught everyone’s attention is how the Aam Aadmi Party, which is notorious for losing even the deposits in most of the elections it contests out of Delhi, has managed to win at least 23 seats in Surat Municipal Corporation.
At the time of writing this report, BJP is headed for a clear win in Surat with lead/victory in 90 out of 120 seats. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party has got as many as 27 seats.
People on the ground believe that Aam Aadmi Party winning these many seats is not really BJP’s loss as it is only filling in the void left by Congress as it fades into oblivion. That the Patidar votes, who were angry with the BJP over Patidar agitation, shifted to AAP after Hardik Patel joined the Congress. However, whichever way you see, AAP making inroads in Gujarat should alarm the BJP.
The Good
Congress in Gujarat has been the pioneer of caste politics. It was under Congress’ Madhavsinh Solanki rule that Gujarat witnessed one of the worst communal riots in the 80s. Solanki introduced how to divide votes as per his ‘KHAM’ (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim) vote bank. That it was under him the likes of don Latif thrived in Gujarat. Did you know Latif won in five municipal wards in local body elections of Ahmedabad in 1986-87? He was in jail at that time. Congress’ Amarsinh Choudhary was the chief minister of Gujarat at that time.
In the mid-80s, when anti-reservation protests (a prelude to anti-Mandal protests that India would see later) erupted in some parts of Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad, it is said that the then Congress government used Latif to target the protesters, which caused the anti-reservation protests to turn into communal riots. Many other communal skirmishes and riots in Ahmedabad saw an active participation of Latif’s gang in this duration. Hindus of Gujarat, especially those in Ahmedabad, started looking for a saviour who would save them from Latif.
It is no wonder that after 1995 state assembly elections, Congress has not managed to form a majority government in Gujarat.
On one hand it is a good sign that the Congress, with all its divisional politics is on its way out in Gujarat. However, the bad part is that AAP is no better.
The bad
You see, under Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi has seen months and months of roadblocks under the pretext of protests which have culminated into violent riots. In fact, today will be the first anniversary of the 2020 anti-Hindu riots that rocked the national capital. AAP has made promises in Delhi but always finds others to blame for the lack of fulfilment of those.
However, what is worrying is that the analysts saying that the Patidar vote, which formed a major chunk of Congress vote bank, went to AAP. Gujarat has moved beyond caste politics and now it cannot afford to go back to the ugly mess of divisive caste politics.
Furthermore, despite Gujarat having a sizeable tribal population, it has not fallen into the trap of Naxal and extreme left-wing violence. With AAP, which has a tendency to lean towards the left, one never knows.
One would think how bad could AAP be as against Congress. Short answer: Worse.
The ugly
You see, AAP is the primary opposition party in Punjab, a border state. Soon after the 2017 Punjab elections, AAP supporter and leader Gul Panag revealed that Kejriwal had flirted with the Khalistani elements during the 2014 elections. She had said that she had warned Kejriwal against courting the separatist elements but his team had paid no heed to her.
Does that mean Kejriwal and his team know the gravity of their associations? That they were warned about the dangerous territory they were playing on, but still went ahead?
Gujarat, too, is a border state. Pakistani province of Sindh is situated on the north-west side of the state. Approximately 506 km of the total border India shares with Pakistan is in Gujarat.
Gujarat has a turbulent history with communal violence. Did you know that before the 1989 Bhagalpur riots that rocked Bihar, the 1969 Gujarat riots were the worst communal riots after the partition? Congress’ Hitendra Desai was the chief minister of the state. There were many subsequent communal in the state, the last one being in 2002 after a train bringing Karsevaks from Ayodhya was set on fire by a Muslim mob in Godhra.
However, since then, the communal riots in Gujarat have been things of history. If one were to draw parallels between Gujarat and Punjab, the separatist Khalistan movement, backed by Pakistan, was also long forgotten in Punjab. Since AAP came into the political landscape, the Khalistan snake has raised its poisonous hood, as can be seen in the recent Republic Day riots.
Communal riots, too, cannot be seen in isolation. Gangsters like Abdul Latif and Dawood have exploited these very communal fault lines to threaten our national security. For example, in retaliation to the 2002 Gujarat riots, Indian Muhajideen had carried out serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad in 2008. But in past few years, Gujarat’s communal violence has also been a thing of the past.
This is why Aam Aadmi Party gaining ground in Gujarat is bad news.
The Patiala House court in Delhi on Tuesday granted bail to Bengaluru-based ‘climate activist’ Disha Ravi, who was arrested in connection with the toolkit case.
Granting interim protection to Ravi, the court said, “Considering the insufficient and sketchy evidence on record, We do not find any credible reason to breach the rule of bail for a 22-year-old girl who has absolutely no criminal antecedents.”
The court granted her bail on the condition of two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each. Though Disha’s lawyer asked for reducing the surety amount to Rs 50,000, the court did not relent.
Ravi was accused by the Delhi Police of being one of the creators of the Toolkit—a Google document that was created to organise a widespread anti-India campaign under the pretext of the farmer protests. The police had also accused Ravi of being a part of the global nexus to ferment unrest and trigger violence under the pretext of supporting the demonstrations against the three newly introduced agriculture laws.
On Monday, Ravi was sent to one-day police custody after a three-day judicial remand and spending five days in police custody. Ravi was arrested by Delhi Police on February 13. In a closely-guarded operation, the Special Cell of Delhi Police detained 21-year-old ‘climate activist’ and founding member of Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future’s India chapter, Disha Ravi.
The police had sought her custody again yesterday stating that they want to confront Ravi with other accused in the case—Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk. She was brought to the Delhi Police Cyber Cell for the same earlier on Tuesday.
Muluk and Jacob were both charged for sedition along with Ravi but they manage to get transit bail from the Bombay High Court. The duo was, however, interrogated at the Delhi Police’s Cyber cell office in Dwarka.
Greta Thunberg toolkit case
A few days back, activist Greta Thunberg accidentally released a toolkit that her supporters could use to propagate misinformation about farmer protests. Since then, security agencies are investigating the toolkit and searching for people who created and distributed the documents. A leaked WhatsApp chat between Disha Ravi and Greta Thunberg revealed the international conspiracy behind creating chaos in the country in the guise of supporting the demonstrations.
On February 4, Special Cell of Delhi Police had registered a case against the creators of the ‘toolkit’ on farmer protests under serious sections including sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting hatred among groups under Sections 124A, 120A and 153 A of the Indian Penal Code. Upon realising the blunder Greta had made, she deleted the original tweet and uploaded an edited file claiming the old file was outdated.
Toolkit exposes nexus between NGOs, overseas network, political parties and Khalistanis
The toolkit Greta posted on Twitter opened Pandora’s box revealing deep-knitted nexus between international celebrities, NGOs, media houses, and terrorist organisations directly linked to Khalistani movement. There was enough propaganda material in the toolkit to run widespread campaigns against India.
Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner (Crime Branch), Delhi Police had said that initial investigation revealed the toolkit was linked to Poetic Justice Foundation which has close links with Khalistani movement and has been termed as a pro-Khalistani organisation. The founder of PJF has openly supported Khalistani movement and had claimed these protests are just a beginning. “The ‘toolkit’ exposes the conspiracy by an organised overseas network to instigate the farmer protests,” Ranjan added.
BJP leader Kapil Mishra on Monday said that he has no regrets for what he said a day ahead of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots and would repeat the same if the need arises. “I will do what I did again. I don’t have any regrets, except that I couldn’t save the lives of Dinesh Khatik, Ankit Sharma (Hindus who fell prey to the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi) and many others,” he said during the launch of the book “Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story”.
The BJP leader lashed out at the leftist ecosystem for comparing the Greta ‘toolkit’, which intended to defaming India on the global platform, to his call for a “Hindu ecosystem”. We said that unlike the Greta ‘toolkit’, which envisaged that the world cuts off all its trade relationships with India and wished to “Disrupt yoga & chai image of India” in general, the Hindu ecosystem is merely an effort to unite all the Hindus in India.
It is well known that PM Modi had once worked as a tea seller. Also, he had put Yoga on a larger international platform that resulted in the inception of International Yoga Day in 2014. These two aspects of the Greta toolkit’s objectives have nothing to do with the farmers, but it is about causing damage to India’s image on an international platform.
Chai aur Yoga toh tumhaara baap bhi nahi khatam kar sakta: BJP leader Kapil Mishra
Slamming the toolkit leaked by Swedish protestor Greta Thunberg on February 3, 2021 which exposed several organizations, celebrities, and leaders for conspiring against India, Kapil Mishra exclaimed: “Chai aur Yoga toh tumhaara baap bhi nahi khatam kar sakta”, (Even your fathers and forefathers cannot destroy Chai and Yoga image of India) adding: “chai wala toh tumse jhela nahi jaata, yoga wala tumse jhela nahi jayega” (you’ll are not being able to tolerate the ‘chai wala’, and it will be impossible for you’ll to tolerate the ‘yoga’ wala).
It is important to note here that by ‘chai wala’ the BJP leader means PM Modi and “Yoga wala” is the reference he uses for Yogi Adityanath.
One year after the brutal anti-Hindu riots which happened in Delhi, the BJP leader recounted how Hindus were slaughtered, their houses destroyed and properties were vandalised by Islamist mobs, yet, the leftist media coterie, national and international, tried to paint these riots as a “pogrom against Muslims”.
“Whenever roads will be blocked, and people would be prevented from going to work, or children to school, there will always be a Kapil Mishra to stop that. Whenever a Chidambaram or Kapil Sibal stands up to advocate lies, a Monica Arora will expose them. Whenever a Rajdeep, Barkha or Nidhi Razdan comes forward to spread propaganda or lies, an Ashok Srivastava will stand up to bust the propaganda. Whenever you try to incite the youth by spreading lies about India’s past or present, there will be a Prerna Malhotra who would destroy your efforts”, the BJP leader said.
On the book launch, Kapil Mishra highlighted how left-wing ‘activists and Islamists had bullied Bloomsbury India into withdrawing the publication of the book ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’.
One year into the brutal Delhi anti-Hindu riots, Kapil Mishra criticises the leftist media for spreading lies and rumour about the incident
The BJP leader furthered that though it’s been a year after the violent riots in northeast Delhi claimed at least 53 lives and damaged properties worth crores, the leftist ecosystem and its friendly media like NDTV, has not stopped spreading misinformation about the deadly riots.
They have constantly tried to degenerate India and Hindus on the global platform. Despite knowing that it was the Muslim who ran amok, unleashed violence in the National Capital, the national and international media have resorted to blatant lies while painting these riots ‘Anti Muslim pogrom’.
It is anything but that. These riots have been created by a relentless attack on anti-Hindu sentiments amongst the Islamists. They were further enabled by a narrative peddled by self-declared liberals, who fueled Hinduphobia in name of ‘saving constitution’.
Delhi riots was well designed and well executed
He said that though the 24th and 25th of February violence was treated as a stand-alone, isolated case by the Left media and the Islamists who were participating in the violence, the truth is that it began much before.
The violence began on the 15th of December when Muslim mobs rampaged through the national capital. Amanatullah Khan, a prominent MLA of the Aam Aadmi Party, and Delhi’s Sunni Waqf Board chief was spotted leading the riots in Jamia Nagar. Chants of ‘Hinduon se Azadi’ were raised in the same area that very day. Buses were also set on fire during those violent protests. On the same night, the Delhi Police cracked down on the violent rioters hiding in the Jamia Millia Islamia University and entered the campus to flush out the miscreants. Two days later, massive riots broke out in Seelampur. Delhi turned into a war zone.
The BJP leader asserted that Hindus have always been in the radar of these bloodthirsty Islamists, be it the December 16/17, incident in the Seemapuri area of Delhi where the Islamists almost killed IPS officer Rohit Rajbir Singh (IPS) or the incident where a car was set on fire in Daryaganj outside the police station, or the Uttar Pradesh riots, it was evident that every cluster of violence had been planned carefully and executed, almost masterfully said Mishra.
Here, the former Delhi MLA recounted the name of several Hindus, like Ankit Sharma Rinku Sharma, Ankit Tyagi, constable Ratan Lal, Nikita Tomar and many others who have been felling prey to this hate and expressed his disbelief at the leftist media which has somehow shut its eye to these atrocities on Hindus and continues to shift blame from the Islamists to the government and Hindus at large.
We at OpIndia have also extensively covered the Delhi anti-Hindu riots which the national and international media painted as an “Anti-Muslim pogrom”.
“On February 23/24/25, Umar Khalid openly declared that they would do something big when Donald Trump arrives in India. On February 22, Tahir Hussain, the AAP leader who spearheaded the Delhi riots in which IB staffer Ankit Sharma was murdered brutally by his mob and several Hindu properties were burnt to ashes, collected bombs, acids, stone on his rooftop… was this done after my speech? asked Kapil Mishra, irked by the leftist who had described him as the ‘whistleblower’ in the Delhi riots.
It is pertinent to note here that several media outlets and journalists – from NDTV to propaganda outlets like The Quint had propagated that the charge sheet filed by the Delhi police probing the anti-Hindu riots had termed Kapil Mishra as a ‘whistleblower’. However, we had reported how these claims were unwarranted and a futile attempt to shift the real focus from the perpetrators of the crime.
“What other way is there to issue an ultimatum in a democracy? I did that in front of a police official. Do people who want to start a riot give ultimatums in front of the police?” Mishra asked while defending his speech.
Mishra asserted that the anti-Hindu riots which took Delhi by the storm, was a carefully crafted and well-planned attack. The Islamists, incited by the narrative peddled by self-declared liberals, who fueled Hinduphobia in name of ‘saving constitution’, had been preparing for a mass massacre, the likes of which the country has never seen before. Otherwise, how do you think they got arms and ammunitions, bombs, acids in such large quantity. It cannot be procured overnight, exclaimed Mishra.
“A leftist media portal named The Wire had tried to whitewash Tahir Hussain’s crimes. At the time when he was absconding and the Delhi police and various media houses showed evidence againt the AAP leader, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, the senior editor at The Wire made a video of Tahir Hussain in a masjid and asked the media house to run it to evoke public sympathy for the AAP MLA”, claimed Mishra.
Delhi riots was a pilot project which is being replicated
He added that the Delhi riots was a pilot project to set an example. It was replicated in August 2020 during the Bengaluru riots and now too, efforts are being made to replicate it (referring to the farmers’ protest and the ensuing Republic Day violence), that too on a much larger scale, said Kapil Mishra, adding that the Hindus should stand united to end the Islamic Jihad.
“It’s been a year since Jihadi forces engineered the riots in Delhi, last year. Exactly the same pattern is being seen even now, like what happened on Republic Day. The so-called fringe elements are trying to sabotage the peace in the Capital, aided and funded by anti-India forces, both within and outside the country. Pradarshan se danga tak model is very much evident. That is why we need to talk about what happened last year and also the book, which exposed the forces behind them,” he said.
Talking about the book authored by lawyer Monika Arora, and Delhi University teachers Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra, Mishra said it was an ummeed ka diya (a ray of hope) against the “dangerous propaganda against him” that has been blaming him for the riots.
BJP leader Kapil Mishra’s full speech at the book launch cane be viewed here:
As can be seen in the video, during the pre-exam frisking of candidates, the official while patting down one candidate discovers answer sheets stuck on various body parts of the candidate. “Who gave you the rubber (to tie the answer sheet on his ankles), mummy or didi? Or wife?,” the official asked. “He has brought the entire book,” another one commented. “Must’ve thought let us take the entire sea, will drink whatever quantity water I need to drink,” another said.
The officials then asked to check his undergarments to see if he is hiding answer sheets in them and not to everyone’s surprise, a paper chit was found in his underwear too. Embarrassed, he then went ahead for the exam after he was stripped of the chits.
It is not yet clear what exam the student was appearing for but from the masks worn by other candidates, it is quite likely it is one of the recent exams.
Bihar and cheating in exams
Last week, the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) commenced the class 10 Board exams. About 82 students were expelled on the first day for resorting to unfair means during the exams.
Bihar board exams, in recent years, have won notoriety because of fake topper scandals. About four years ago, one Ruby Rai had topped Bihar Board exams only to be exposed that she had not even appeared for the exams she had allegedly ‘topped’.
As can be seen, 2016 Bihar Board topper Ruby Rai did not even know the subjects she had appeared for. Subsequently, she was arrested after she even failed the reexamination.
A year later, another Bihar Board exam topper was clueless about his subjects.
