Since the National Investigation Agency took over the probe into the Antilia bomb scare case, shocking new details have trickled down on a periodical basis. After revelations about Scorpio and Innova cars, now the premier investigation agency is on the lookout for a Mercedes car that was used by tainted police officer Sachin Vaze, a report published by TV 9 Marathi said.
Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Sunil Toke, who happens to work in the main control room of the Mumbai Police Force, has made a shocking claim about a Mercedes car. As per Toke, Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze had in December 2019 barreled down to the Commissionerate of Police in a Mercedes car, without stopping at the entrance gate to register details.
Toke said the vehicle had come so fast that it had narrowly escaped an accident. Shockingly, the car carried a fake number plate and there was no record of any four-wheeler with the number of the vehicle that Vaze had come in. The Pune Regional Transport Department later informed that the number of the Mercedes car actually belonged to a Pulsar motorcycle.
The incident occurred on 23 December 2020 when Sunil Toke was parking his car at the gate of the Commissionerate of Police. At that time, a perilously fast Mercedes 4matic car barged into the Commissionerate. Toke recalls that Vaze had evaded the car registration process at the entrance and drove the car right past the gate.
When Toke approached the gate to seek details about the car, he was told that no record of the car was supposed to be kept. Toke said when he went inside to see who brought the car, he saw API Sachin Vaze getting out of it.
Besides concerns about who is the real owner of the car and why was a bogus number plate attached to it, another looming question that arises is that with whose permission was Vaze allowed to bring the vehicle inside the Commissionerate.
Scorpio car that was found outside Antilia was never stolen and was used by Sachin Vaze: Report
Earlier today, in a sensational disclosure, it was revealed that the explosives-laden Scorpio car found outside Antilia was never stolen but used by Assistant Police officer Sachin Vaze. According to a report, the car was used by Vaze, and he had asked Hiren to file a false complaint about it being stolen. The NIA believes the owner of the car was pressurised to file a complaint about his missing car. Mansukh Hiren, the owner of Scorpio, had filed a missing car complaint at the Vikhroli police station.
It is pertinent to note that days before his death, Mansukh Hiren, whose Scorpio car was found outside the Ambani residence, had penned an agonising letter, accusing the police of harassment. Three days after he wrote the letter, Mansukh was found dead in a creek near Thane.
On March 11 a video of the conversion ceremony of a 13-year-old girl named Kavita Oad from the Kandhkot area of Sindh, Pakistan had gone viral on social media. Kavita had reportedly been abducted, forcibly made to embrace Islam by the notorious Islamic cleric Mian Mithooand possibly married off to her abductor.
Today, it has been reported that on the night of March 14, some identified goons torched Kavita’s house in Sindh. An NGO- Voice of Pakistan Minority, which has been committed to protecting minority rights in Pakistan, has taken to Twitter to share the video of the incident.
On the night of 14th March, Kavita’s, (a 13 yr old minor #Hindu girl who was kidnapped and forcibly converted) house has been torched by unknown goons. Despite of the promises by the officials, Kavita’s family hasn’t been provided any security. Why?#StopConvertingMinoritiespic.twitter.com/vn0L5UhtbL
— Voice of Pakistan Minority (@voice_minority) March 16, 2021
Infuriated by such incidents of brutalities against minorities in the terror state of Pakistan, the NGO questioned why the Pakistani authorities, despite assurance, could not protect Kavita and her family.
It is pertinent to note here that merely two days after the news of Kavita’s abduction and forced conversion gained traction on social media and the case reached Pakistan court, the perpetrators set her house on fire. This, in all probabilities, is nothing but a strategy to create pressure on Kavita’s poor and distressed family to back down. Also, by burning down Kavita’s house, these Islamists evidently want to instil fear in the minds of all the poverty-stricken Hindus in Pakistan, giving out a message that if the minority Hindus want to live in Pakistan they will have to abide by the terms and conditions set out for them by the Islamists in the country.
Meanwhile, giving further updates in the case, Sukhdev Hemnani, Vice-President of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), who has been following the case very closely, wrote on Twitter that Kavita, who had gone missing, has finally been recovered by the Kandhkot police. She was to be presented before the court today.
As she is under immense pressure, her statement will be recorded tomorrow morning and the case will be decided accordingly. Meanwhile, the court has sent Kavita Bai to a government safe house at Kandhkot. The Sindh govt and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are following up the case, said Hemnani.
He also informed that the Sindh police have arrested two people, who were reportedly involved in setting Kavita’s house ablaze and are in the lookout for the other culprits.
Hemnani had earlier said that his party had taken up the case with Sindh Human Rights Commission and trying for the court to fix hearing of the case at the earliest.
Moreover, as far as the issue of her home having been set ablaze earlier is concerned, the police has made arrests in that regard. Two of the suspicious culprits are under police custody.
The 13-year-old Kavita Oad was allegedly kidnapped by a man of Bahalkani tribe and forcibly converted to Islam by Barelvi cleric Mian Mithoo.
Mian Mithoo runs the controversial Bharchundi mosque in Sindh, notorious for kidnapping, forceful conversions, and marriage of minor Hindu girls in the area.
Video of the conversion ceremony of Kavita goes viral on social media
In the video, the minor girl could be seen sitting on the ground with a mob surrounding her and recording the video of the conversion ceremony. According to Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, the conversion ceremony was facilitated by notorious cleric Mian Mithoo of the Bharchundi mosque. Mithoo is a hardline cleric and politician and is notorious for systematically carried out kidnappings and forced conversions of poor Hindu girls.
Sukhdev Hemnani, Vice-President of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Twitter, had informed that he is following up the case with local officials. Sukhdev said that Kavita was forcefully taken to Ghotki from Kadhkot for conversion. He had added that an FIR has been registered in the matter and a case will be filed by a lawyer. Sindh women’s department official Syeda Shehla Raza had also informed that they are trying to recover the girl.
Hindu community in Pakistan protests, demands Kavita’s return to her family
The Hindu community in the Tangwani city of Pakistan held a protest against the conversion of minor girls from the community and demanded that Kavita be returned to her family.
About 150 kms away from where I live rests the star constituency of Nandigram, which is expected to see a battle of the Titans this election cycle. Suvendu Adhikari, Mamata Banerjee’s point-person in Nandigram, quit TMC and joined the BJP recently. Not only did Suvendu Adhikari join BJP, but it was declared that he will fight the 2021 election from Nandigram against Mamata Banerjee.
A testament to just how important Nandigram is to both TMC and BJP is the drama that has unfolded over the last few days. Mamata Banerjee, while holding a roadshow in the area injured herself. Her claim initially was that 4-5 people pushed her while she was greeting people from her car, and as a result, she injured herself. Initially, the media reported that she suffered a hairline fracture. However, soon enough, gaps seemed to appear in the story.
For starters, there were several eyewitnesses who said that Mamata Banerjee got hurt accidentally and nobody had pushed her. Then, Mamata Banerjee herself had issued a statement from the hospital where she admitted that the incident was merely an accident. Further, the police report also found that nobody had pushed Mamata. Recently, however, soon after Mamata Banerjee’s plaster magically turned into a mere crepe bandage within hours, Mamata Banerjee again claimed that her car door was pushed and shoved.
Mamata Banerjee made this claim, yet again, while OpIndia was just about starting its journey in Nandigram, trying to figure out the mood of the star constituency. Incidentally, we decided to start from the very place where Mamata Banerjee claims she was ‘attacked’.
This is the exact pillar where Mamata Banerjee’s open car door collided, resulting in her injury.
While Mamata Banerjee claimed that her car door was pushed and shoved, alluding to the fact that it could be a part of a political conspiracy, the locals of the very area where the incident occurred had this to say.
The individual who OpIndia spoke to categorically denied that Mamata Banerjee was pushed by anyone. He narrated how her procession was approaching the pillars and her car door, which was open, then banged into the pillars resulting in her injury.
The same story was repeated by another eyewitness.
This was a recurrent theme amongst those we spoke on and off-camera. Even those who support TMC and Mamata Banerjee asserted that it was an accident.
When one goes to Nandigram, another stark reality hits you. The area where Mamata Banerjee got injured is a TMC village. This is to say that most individuals in that area are inclined towards voting for Mamata Banerjee herself. The very fact that Mamata Banerjee herself felt the need to concoct this lie about being attacked in a village that supports her, proves beyond doubt that the Nandigram constituency is an all-important one that neither parties can afford to lose. In fact, even while most of the occupants of that village support TMC, BJP has put up several posters and flags to mark their presence.
So what are the dynamics of Nandigram? Why is the constituency so important that Mamata had to potentially create this drama in a village she clearly has a hold on, to create a sympathy wave in her favour? Who is winning Nandigram?
According to 2011 census data for Purba Medinipur, which contained data for Nandigram-I, Nandigram-II and the census town of Nandigram, the Muslim population in these census units was 34%, 12.1% and 40.3% respectively.
In the 2016 Assembly Elections, Suvendu Adhikari won 67% of the total votes, CPI won about 27% and BJP won about 6%. Judging by the landslide victory of Sudendu Adhikari in the 2016 elections, the popular narrative is, of course, that it could be a walk-over for Suvendu in Nandigram. After all, it was he who set the ground for the 2007 Nandigram movement that catapulted Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011. It was him who was worked on the constituency, nurtured it, been with the people of Nandigram when they lost their loved ones in the Communist government’s firing etc.
On the face of it, it would seem logical that Suvendu Adhikari would have enough mass appeal to clock a win, this time, for BJP.
But Nandigram is not as cut and dry and political pundits would have us believe.
BJP seems to believe that Nandigram is going to swing massively in its favour because Suvendu Adhikari, Didi’s point-man in Nandigram is fighting this election on a BJP ticket. Since it was he who set the ground for the 2007 Nandigram movement, people would vote for him regardless of the party he is in.
TMC seems to believe that the fact that Suvendu Adhikari joined BJP will be viewed as a betrayal by the people of Nandigram. That the BJP is viewed as an ‘outsider’ will ensure that while people might still like Suvendu, they would vote for TMC.
The truth, however, lies somewhere in between and as of today, while the fight is still incredibly neck-to-neck, Mamata Banerjee has a slight advantage over Suvendu Adhikari. To understand why and what BJP can do about it, we need to analyse certain factors that are at play in Nandigram.
The Hindu-Muslim polarisation
Nandigram, whether one likes it or not, is now divided on communal lines rather prominently. While OpIndia spoke to hundreds of people from both communities, a clear divide in the opinion emerged as far as the Muslim community was concerned.
The Muslim community is not voting for Suvendu Adhikari. While talking to OpIndia, several Muslim residents of Nandigram said that Suvendu Adhikari had ‘sold the motherland’ and joined BJP. The anger amongst Muslims mainly revolved around Adhikari joining BJP, which they view as a party that never has their best interest at heart, and the fact that he deserted ‘Didi’ in an all-important battle.
A snippet of the conversation OpIndia had with local Muslims in Nandigram is here. “For Nandigram, there is nobody other than TMC and Didi”, was the overwhelming sentiment.
While the BJP might want to believe that a fraction of the Muslim vote might still go to Suvendu Adhikari because of his stellar work in the constituency over the years, on the ground, that seems like a slim possibility. The Muslims, who constitute a significant share of the Nandigram electorate will vote overwhelmingly in favour of TMC.
Absence of the Abbas Siddiqui factor
In the rest of West Bengal, one factor that plays a crucial role in BJP’s march to victory is the division of Muslim votes between TMC, the CPIM, Congress and Abbas Siddiqui alliance and in some limited areas, AIMIM. However, in Nandigram, the Abbas Siddiqui factor on its own plays no role whatsoever. Therefore, the Muslim vote is unlikely to get divided.
If the Muslim vote then goes en masse to TMC without any substantial division, except some that may go to CPIM, a huge chunk of the vote that was going to Suvendu Adhikari earlier when he was with TMC, stays with TMC and does not float to BJP in 2021.
This would translate to advantage Mamata.
The division in Hindu votes
While the Muslim vote in Nandigram has been polarised towards TMC, there is no such polarisation of the Hindu vote towards BJP. Suvendu Adhikari, while exceptionally popular in Nandigram, will be unable to consolidate the entire 66% in his favour. In fact, the Hindu vote will see a slight split since there is still a chunk that would stick to voting for TMC and Mamata Banerjee despite Adhikari working on the ground since 2007.
One has to realise that in Bengal, often party loyalties are formed over generations, with someone’s father, grandfather working for a particular party throughout their lives. For example, the boy who testified earlier in this article about Mamata Banerjee getting hurt accidentally, was a CPIM voter. When asked why, he said, “My grandfather, father, all have been CPIM voters”.
In 2016, CPI’s Abdul Kabir Sekh won 27% of the votes and that percentage was not limited to the Muslim population. In Nandigram at least, CPIM is not a spent force and the traditional electorate of the CPIM will still vote for their preferred party.
While Suvendu Adhikari is sure to cut into the CPIM vote bank, it remains to be seen if a substantial migration of the CPIM vote share goes to either TMC or BJP.
BJP: What it’s doing right, what it’s doing wrong and what it needs to do
Suvendu Adhikari is a stalwart in Nandigram and there is no debate there. While it was indeed Mamata Banerjee who was catapulted to power in 2011 as a result of the Nandigram movement, it was Suvendu Adhikari who worked on the ground. However, the dynamics are different this time around and that feeling is palpable on the ground. It is not as simple as voting in favour of everything Suvendu dada did for the people of Nandigram.
The voices in favour of Suvendu ‘dada’ are there and are strong. BJP indeed did snatch the prospect of victory from the jaws of a definite defeat in Nandigram with the induction of Adhikari.
The voter here specifically and categorically says that Mamata Banerjee comes to Nandigram only once a year, but Suvendu dada is there with them throughout the year and tends to their needs. He believes that Suvendu Adhikari will win decisively. He was not the only voter who harboured this sentiment. Several voters, off the record, told OpIndia that while they might not be vocal, they will vote for Suvendu Adhikari for the year long work he does for Nandigram. Others, silently hinted at voting for ‘Poriborton’ while not explicitly talking about voting for BJP.
Therefore, it is evident that BJP has the foundation that they can use to build their presence. Where it is falling short then? Other than the Muslim vote consolidation and the Hindu vote splitting three-way between TMC, BJP and CPIM, what is it that BJP can do to get an edge that Mamata currently has?
Firstly, BJP needs to realise, unequivocally, that in Nandigram it is not a wave election. There is no massive wave in favour of either Suvendu Adhikari or Mamata Banerjee. As of now, the voter base is almost split in the middle with Mamata having the slight edge.
Once it is established that there is no wave in favour of Suvendu, one needs to understand which intersection of voter can swing towards BJP, who might be currently voting for TMC.
It is true that Suvendu has worked on the ground and that development is visible. Till Suvendu took over the reigns of Nandigram, the 130 villages in the constituency hardly had pakka roads. Trudging through the kaccha roads, the largely agrarian society had little to no development. Now, there are pakka roads even in the furthermost parts of the constituency. When OpIndia travelled through the constituency, there was almost no area where there was no road for a car to travel through. That, in Nandigram’s book, is development. For a region that was marred with violence only over a decade ago, the constituency has come a long way and the credit of it mainly goes to Adhikari.
However, if one talks about the traditional voters of TMC in Nandigram, one has to also analyse how many of them credit this development to Suvendu Adhikari and how many credit it to TMC. Several voters OpIndia spoke to believed that it was under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership that Suvendu Adhikari had worked for the people. For this section, Mamata is still the face of the Nandigram movement and of the development that has accrued to the area. For another section, Adhikari’s departure from TMC is a betrayal that they will not forgive. For yet another, this election is also a battle between their own loyalties – this is the section that is a traditional TMC voter but also has their loyalty towards Suvendu Adhikari.
It is this section that BJP needs to cater to and perhaps communicate to them why they need to repose their faith in Adhikari and not TMC as a party or even Mamata as a leader, who by all accounts, seldom visits Nandigram.
If BJP wishes to gain the edge that Mamata has currently, the section that is torn, the section that feels betrayed and that which credits Mamata for the development of Nandigram needs to be spoken to.
Perhaps where BJP is going severely wrong also is their reliance on large political rallies. While the large rallies consolidates the voter base that will vote for the party anyway, what it fails to do is convince those who are sitting on the fence about voting for Suvendu.
The remedy to that is Suvendu Adhikari himself doing small nukkad sabhas where he addresses a small group of people at a time, talking to them about his role in the upliftment of Nandigram. With his clout in the area and the years of work he has put in, Suvendu will now need to convince people that he worked for the people because of his connect with the region, not because he was asked to work for the area by the party. He will also need to re-emphasise his role in the Nandigram movement and how, Mamata Banerjee, after accruing political benefit from the Nandigram movement, failed to visit the area and work for the people as much as Suvendu Adhikari.
Beyond that, the party itself will need to reach the people of the area even when Suvendu Adhikari is not holding a rally or a nukkad sabha in the area.
For example, while we walked around in Nandigram, talking to just about anyone we could, in two separate places TMC was holding a small rally with local workers. They were chanting slogans, waving the TMC flag and talking to locals. Mamata Banerjee was clearly not there but the party itself was active even on a Monday afternoon. During our entire stay there, however, we did not see even one such village rally by BJP.
The risk of miscalculation – Political parties claiming villages
In West Bengal, a unique characteristic in rural areas is that of political parties ‘claiming villages’. Essentially, every village in an area is ‘claimed’ by a political party. So if a village is ‘claimed’ by TMC, if one goes into that village to report, one would end up believing that there is a massive TMC wave in the constituency since every member of that village would unequivocally say that they would vote for TMC. However, if one would go to a nearby village which is, for example, ‘claimed’ by BJP, one would believe that nothing could defeat BJP in the constituency.
To give the readers a bit of perspective, Nandigram itself has about 130 such villages, each claimed by a political party.
For a journalist or a pollster, more so for a pollster, it is almost impossible to take a survey of all those 130 villages and make an educated guess about which way the constituency would vote. Further, many in such villages chime in and confidently claim to vote for the party that has claimed their village because the fear of backlash is rather severe. They often face persecution, social stigma and violence if they dare to go against the village sentiment. Therefore, even if one does take a survey of all 130 villages, it is impossible to predict which party one would vote for when they finally reach the ballot.
In Bengal specifically, the silent voter base is rather massive and that phenomenon was also prevalent in Nandigram. Many simply refused to talk and hundreds chose to talk off the camera. Even while talking off the camera, most only dropped hints about their political preference instead of outright claiming to vote for one party or the other.
It is therefore important to bear in mind that any prediction about Nandigram is only an educated guess and as far as educated guesses go, the constituency today is split in the middle between TMC and BJP with Mamata Banerjee having a hair’s edge over Suvendu Adhikari. While the impact of the silent voter can never be discounted in Nandigram, if BJP wishes to win Nandigram, it will have to come out of its obsession with large rallies and start talking to people – village by village.
A vehicle that was part of the BJP Parivartan Rath Yatra was vandalised while it was returning to Purulia after completing rounds of all nine assembly constituencies of the district. The incident reportedly happened soon after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s rally in Manbazar town of Purulia district in West Bengal. While BJP has accused TMC goons to be behind the attack, the latter has refuted the allegations.
BJP IT-cell chief Amit Malviya took to Twitter to share the picture of the vandalised bus and informed that the bus driver suffered injuries in the incident. “BJP’s rath for the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Samman Yatra, parked in Purulia, vandalised. Driver suffered injuries. BJP national president J P Nadda would be flagging off the yatra anytime now from Kotulpur,” the BJP West Bengal in charge said.
“TMC won’t be able to do much to stop it! What is Pishi so scared of?,” Malviya added. Following the incident security has been beefed up in the district.
BJP’s rath for the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Samman Yatra, parked in Purulia, vandalised. Driver suffered injuries. BJP national president J P Nadda would be flagging off the yatra anytime now from Kotulpur. TMC won’t be able to do much to stop it!
In an effort to woo voters in WB ahead of the state Assembly elections, BJP had been organising “Parivartan Yatra” across the state. In fact, PM Modi’s rally at Kolkata’s iconic Brigade Parade Ground held on March 7 was a culmination of this “Parivartan Yatra”. More than 10 lakh people had reportedly attended the rally.
“Bengal needs Shanti, Sonar Bangla, Pragatisheel Bangla,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground. PM Modi also said that time has come for Bengal to achieve ‘Asol poriborton’.
The eight-phase Assembly polls for the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal will begin on March 27. The results will be announced on May 2.
Kolkata is on the cusp of a revolution. The smell of it is in the air and regardless of the results of the assembly elections, the city is all set to change forever. Bengalis can feel it, even if they don’t necessarily live there. It is a moment of great significance for the entire community because at the end of the day, Kolkata is a city that holds special significance in the heart of every Bengali, whether they live there or not, whether they have even set their foot on the city or not.
The West Bengal Assembly Elections, in more ways than one, will play a pivotal role in the history of the Bengali Hindu community. With twisted demographic trends, persistent unemployment and enduring poverty, Bengal is at siege. And Kolkata, the heart of Vanga, has suffered the brunt of it. But that could change and Bengal could be set on the long road to prosperity by the results of this year’s election. However, there is the danger of regression as well.
Coffee House’r shei adda ta aaj aar nei?
There are certain imageries that have become symbolic of the change currently underway in Bengal. One of the most significant came on Monday when BJP supporters entered Coffee House and raised slogans after they were stopped from pasting posters inside.
Others may not be able to grasp the true import of the event but for Bengalis, it is pretty hard to miss. For decades, Coffee House has been Ground Zero for leftwing ideologues to engage in ‘intellectual’ masturbation. While it is iconic for the numerous occasions when Bengali stalwarts have graced it by their presence, it is renowned for the ‘addas’ as well that usually involve fantastical ideation.
The location of Coffee House is significant as well. College Street, dominated by universities and educational institutions, was in the thick of the turbulence during the Naxalbari movement. The memories of it are still kept alive in the nook and crevices of College Street.
There are plaques that can be found in honour of the ‘martyrs’ of the Naxalbari movement. Sometimes, even posters glorifying Charu Mazumder can be spotted, no doubt put up by some deluded morons studying in some university. But that has been the story of West Bengal and why the rise of BJP is so significant.
It might appear improbable in 2021 but it is true that once upon a time, the Left Front was essentially a front for Bengali Hindu politics. The refugees from Bangladesh organised themselves under the banner of Communist parties and established political parties towards that end. It is entirely a different matter that the brand of politics in and of itself appeared inimical to the interests of the community itself.
And after all these decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the front for Bengali Hindu politics in the state. While the party may itself beg to disagree and insist on its ‘secular’ credentials, which we have no reason to doubt, it is undeniable that its cadres and vote-base are primarily Bengali Hindus. Under the Left Front, the community had organised around abstract outlandish ideals but this time around, they have unified along communitarian lines.
But it is not just communitarian concerns that are the focus of the current elections, development and ‘Shonar Bangla’ are major talking points as well. The ‘Intellectuals’ of Kolkata have often been guilty of romanticising poverty and where the average Bengali sees misery, the dreary turmoil of lives beleaguered by poverty, the ‘Intellectuals’ feel a sense of romance surrounding the city. Bengalis have a specific name for such special nutcases, ‘Aantel’ we call them.
Romanticisation of Poverty by Kolkata ‘Aantels’
There have been much discussion on social media of late regarding the handpulled rickshaws that are unique to Kolkata. While most Indian cities have moved beyond such modes of transport, Kolkata has been hesitant or rather unwilling to abandon the vestiges of its past. While it is understandable that such visuals might spark innate disgust from people in other cities, Kolkata has far greater problems.
And truth be told, India is still a developing country and first world concerns do not suit the citizens of a country where even toilets were a dream for the overwhelming majority of its citizens until very recently and drinking water is a prized commodity that is yet to reach every household. There are extremely disturbing visuals of poverty that abound across the country, and even in Kolkata, a man making an honest living through handpulled rickshaws is not one of them.
Imnage Credit: Soumya Shankar Ghosal/Sahapedia
Even so, the romanticisation of poverty is an extremely convenient ruse for incompetent politicians. They can augment their own stature among the populace by harking back to claims of preserving cultural hallmarks while the masses continue to labour in destitution. And given the pitifully little Bengali Hindus have had to celebrate over the course of the past century, even several centuries, it comes as a respite from harrowing reality.
However, what cannot be denied is that Kolkata has fallen off its perch. There was a time, not too long into the past, when Kolkata was at the forefront of the Great Indian Story. But now, after decades of poor governance by the Congress party, the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress in turn, Bengalis have finally decided that enough is enough.
The despicable cycle of poverty cannot be permitted to manifest itself for another generation because the people deserve better, Bengal deserves better. And thus we stand at the precipice of another revolution.
How ‘Aantels’ brought Bengal and Kolkata to the cusp of another revolution
In many ways, Bengal has been experiencing continuous revolution since the beginning of the past century. It began with the Partition of Bengal in 1905 and then continued into the independence era which culminated with the communal massacre in Kolkata and elsewhere.
The influx of Bengali Hindu refugees following the partition of the country heralded another phase of revolutionary zeal. The Naxal movement resulted in great bloodshed and it continued well after the Left Front came to power.
Mamata Banerjee burst it into the scene in 1990s and she brought with her the Trinamool revolution. The Nandigram movement in 2007 propelled Trinamool Congress to power in the next assembly elections and after a decade in power, Bengal is on the verge of a Saffron Reckoning.
There is good reason why Bengal is set for a revolution in 2021. A part of it, certainly, is because revolutions have been a part and parcel of Bengal’s political life for a century. Despite a hundred years of bloodshed and turmoil, the revolutionary zeal is yet to be satiated.
The blame for it, of course, lies with the ‘Aantels’ of Bengal who have preferred to build bridges in the firmament of their marvelous imagination rather than help improve the lives of the citizenry. Sloganeering and glorifying endless protests, escapism became the fodder for their existence.
While they quenched their thirst of idealism by crawling under the safety of their own ramblings, Bengal’s descent into decline was uninhibited and the aura of grandeur around Kolkata began to decay. Revolutions foment more revolution and the endless cycle of violence managed to convince the Aantels of Bengal that they were on to something great.
While they engaged in romanticisation of poverty in a bid to avoid coming to terms with their own failure, they failed to notice the fading support of the unwashed masses. And after years in power, they find themselves surrounded by a disillusioned citizenry gathering around the rallying cry of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
Shonar Bangla or regionalist politics?
Kolkata has suffered unspeakable atrocities over the course of the past century. Its streets have been littered by corpses, women have been left bereft of their husbands, mothers have lost their sons, daughters have lost their fathers and Bengal has still not been able to shed the violence of its cursed past.
But there is a dream that every Bengali holds in his heart. Political violence that has become endemic to the state will cease, poverty that tarnishes the rustic beauty of the City of Joy will be a thing of the past, Kolkata will again become an intrinsic part of the Great Indian Growth Story and Bengal will rise again.
That is a sentiment that is overwhelmingly persistent among widespread sections of the Bengali Hindu community and it is this sentiment that the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to capitalize on. The Trinamool Congress, on the other hand, has chosen to embrace the regionalism card, a plank that is unlikely to work because it is alien to Bengal’s DNA. Quite obviously, whoever is advising the Prime Minister appears to be far more in sync with the sentiments of Bengal than Prashant Kishore.
Nevertheless, the much awaited revolution could take two forms depending on the results of the elections. A BJP victory in May will usher in an era of Saffron Revolution in the state but should Mamata Banerjee succeed in retaining power, she will interpret it as an endorsement of her regionalist politics and double down on it moving forward. Thus, we could see the birth of truly regionalist politics in West Bengal.
‘Shonar Bangla’ or regionalist politics, the form the impending revolution will take will be clear only on the 2nd of May.
Days after the US military launched a comprehensive propaganda campaign against Fox News host Tucker Carlson, netizens are now mocking the US Department of Defence for a 2019 advertisement featuring a beauty influencer.
About two years ago in May 2019, the US Department of Defence had shared the story of one Jackie Aina, who has served in the reserve force of the United States Army. The woman, who identified herself as a ‘beauty influencer’ and ‘diversity activist’ talked about how the army shaped her ‘makeup career’. The video began with Jackie Aina’s rap music before she took netizens by surprise with her experience doing makeup in the military.
“A lot of experiences that I have gone through in my time of service taught me a lot about leadership. I felt like I learnt how to (work) in a professional setting, command a group or teach a class and do it with confidence I definitely learnt a lot about challenging myself. I did not if I would fail or if I would succeed. At that time, it did not matter to me,” the influencer said.
— Department of Defense ?? (@DeptofDefense) March 28, 2019
She further added, “I made a video years ago about how to makeup with Army regulations. I wanted to show that people in the Army are like normal people. There are musicians, photographers and people from the industry that do makeup just like me but also put on a uniform and serve our country. That was a very cool, reletable way of showing that I am like a normal person. I do a unique job but I am a normal person.”
Netizens slam Department of Defence for promoting ‘wokeism’
The tweet by the Department of Defence promoting the idea of ‘makeup’ and ‘beautification’, contrary to military skills and competence, did not go down well with netizens. Against the backdrop of US President Joe Biden’s decision to bring about a change in ‘the culture and habits of the US military’, social media users were miffed at the infiltration of ‘woke culture’ within the military.
“This is embarrassing. Delete it,” wrote one user. “This is just f*cking embarrassing. Our enemies are watching,” another user pointed out.
Social media users also pointed out that the US Department of Defence is promoting wrong ideas about the US military, at a time of when the country faces the biggest threat from China. A user, Foxtrot Utah, tweeted, “China definitely gonna kick our a**.” Another Twitter user said, “The top Chinese military commander just said that war with the US is *INEVITABLE* and this is what you chose to focus on.”
Netizens also pointed out about the ‘unprofessional’ conduct of the ‘diversity activist’. “God have mercy on these lost souls and the poor tax payers of America,” wrote Ryan Michael.
Tucker Carlson, Joe Biden administration and the targeting by US military
The US Department of Defence faced the wrath of social media after it issued a stunning criticism of conservative host Tucker Carlson for questioning the identity politics of Joe Biden on March 10. The talk show host had argued that the objective of the Military is not social justice but to win wars. He criticised the decision of the Biden administration to promote ‘maternity flight suits’ at a press conference.
“So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits… Pregnant women are going to going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the US military. While China’s military becomes more masculine … our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine,” Carlson remarked. “I want to be very clear right up front, that the diversity of our military is one of our greatest strengths,” said Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.
This is despite the fact that the US military has struggled to win any of its numerous wars in recent times. In a bizarre turn of events, the entire top brass of the military singled out the journalist for a targeted political propaganda campaign. It soon drew the ire of Conservative leaders and netizens alike who expressed concern over the politicised conduct of the military.
Sachin Vaze, the Mumbai Police officer who has been making headlines since he was reinstated in 2020 in Mumbai Police, has a ‘tainted’ record at service. Popular as an encounter specialist, Vaze’s name was involved in Khwaja Yunus death case, which was picked in connection to a 2002 bomb blast. It has been almost two decades since Yunus allegedly died in police custody, but Vaze’s role has remained untried in court.
History of the case
On December 2, 2002, a bomb went off in a BEST bus parked outside Ghatkopar railway station. As it was a rush hour in the evening, there were many people at the station. The blast claimed the lives of two and injured 50 people.
Vaze was part of the Mumbai crime branch team that picked a few people on December 25. 27-year-old software engineer Khwaja Yunus was one of them. On January 7, 2003, police-reported that Yunus went missing from the custody. They claimed that he escaped with two other accused when they were being transferred to Aurangabad. It was alleged that the vehicle they were in met with an accident in Ahmednagar district that gave them a chance to escape. An FIR was registered in connection to the alleged escape at the Parner Police Station.
Yunus’ body was never recovered.
Yunus was beaten – alleged another accused Mateen
the special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court in Mumbai conducted an enquiry into the alleged accident. During the course of the enquiry, another accused in the case Mateen, revealed that he had heard Yunus being beaten. He further added that Yunus was vomiting in an adjacent cell after getting beaten up. He claimed that Yunus possibly died on January 6. CID took over the alleged custodial death case in May 2003.
An encounter specialist with Mumbai Police had said that Yunus had died due to third degree interrogation used by Vaze. He had said that, “Sachin punched Yunus in the stomach and poured a bucket of cold water on him. The fragile Yunus died on the spot.”
As there was no information about the case, Sayed Khwaja Ayub, Yunus’s father, moved to Bombay High Court and filed an appeal that the case should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. On February 25, 2004, CID finally announced that they had a breakthrough in the case and found some evidence. They arrested Vaze on March 3. Three more policemen were arrested later in March. All four of them were suspended, pending investigation.
In April 2004, the High Court asked CID to record a fresh statement of Mateen and treat it as the FIR in the alleged custodial death case of Yunus. The state appealed against the order in the Supreme Court but lost. A fresh FIR was registered in the Ghatkopar Police Station in September 2004 against Vaze. Three other police personnel, constables Rajendra Tiwari, Sunil Desai and driver Rajaram Nikam were also named for allegedly beating Yunus to death in custody. The probe was completed in October 2006, and a charge sheet was filed by CID against 14 policemen, including Vaze and other three suspended ones.
In the meantime, out of 19 people arrested in connection to the Ghatkopar blast, two, including Yunus, died, and nine were discharged. On June 11, 2005, the special POTA court acquitted the remaining eight accused.
In July 2007, the office of Director General of Police forwarded case papers to the state that accorded sanction to prosecute only four suspended police officers. On March 19, 2011, an additional sessions judge framed charges against Vaze and other three cops.
While the investigation was going on, Asiya Begum, mother of Yunus, filed a petition in the Bombay High Court and asked for compensation. She also sought sanction to prosecute seven more Police officers in addition to the four. In April 2012, the Bombay High Court ordered the state to pay Rs.20 Lakh to Yunus’ family as compensation. However, it rejected Begum’s plea to prosecute other police officers. Begum appealed against the decision in the Supreme Court, where the case is still pending.
The trial in Yunus’s death
In January 2018, the prosecution examined Dr Abdul Mateen, another accused in the blast case and first witness in Yunus’s death case. During his deposition, he named four more cops, Praful Bhosle, Hemant Desai, Rajaram Vhanmane and Ashok Khot, who allegedly assaulted Yunus. They were also named in the charge sheet filed by CID in 2006.
Based on his testimony, special public prosecutor Mirazkar moved an application to add the named of the four policemen to the list of accused. However, the state government claimed that the application was filed without taking instruction. Mirazkar was removed as the special public prosecutor. The state’s notification was challenged by Yunus’s mother in the High court.
Yunus’s mother continues to fight for justice
In June 2020, though Vaze had resigned from the force in 2007 and had joined the Shiv Sena, he and the three other police personnel were reinstated by order of the Maharashtra government citing lack of personnel during the pandemic.
In 2020, Asiya Begum filed a petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the reinstatement of Vaze. She claimed that chief secretary Amitabh Gupta and Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh do not have the power to set aside 2004 suspension orders. She also stated that as the trial against the four suspended police officers was pending, a review committee cannot set aside the suspension orders. The state argued that the petitioner did not have a locus as reinstatement was an administrative decision.
A division bench of justices KK Tated and Riyaz Chagla last heard the petition on March 9, 2021. The next hearing is on March 31.
Yunus’ family reacts to Vaze’s arrest
After learning about the suspension of Sachin Vaze following the arrest by NIA on March 15, Hussain Sayed Khwaja Ayub Yunus, Khwaja Yunus’s brother, said that in the house of God, there might be delay injustice, but there is no place for injustice. He said that his reinstatement let the ball rolling for the current case to pile up against Vaze.
Yunus’s body was never recovered. His family is still fighting to get justice for his custodial death. Sachin Vaze’s role in Yunus’s alleged death in police custody stands untried in court.
As reported by news agency ANI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the brother of TMC leader Vinay Mishra in connection to the coal and cattle scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had issued an arrest warrant against the youth leader of TMC in the cattle smuggling case early this year. In spite of receiving four summons, Mishra failed to join the investigations.
Brother of TMC leader Vinay Mishra, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with coal and cattle smuggling scam, has been sent to 6 days ED remand by a special court in Delhi
Prior to this, CBI had carried out raids at multiple locations, including that of Mishra, who is believed to be a close aid of West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamta Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee. As per reports, the TMC leader was the first politician who was linked to Enamul Haque, the kingpin of the cross-border cattle smuggling racket. The CBI officials have reasons to believe that Mishra was acting as Haque’s front man in the cattle smuggling racket.
An exclusive sting operation conducted by Republic Bangla, caught an alleged member of coal mafia confessing that after 2011 when government changed, the illegal coal operations also changed hands to another mafia. Since 2016 a totally different set of organised mafia has been operating. “This was the time when ‘Lala’ (Arup Majhi) emerged as the king of coal. But Lala is not the only one, several big politicians are also involved in this. Those who we think are the members of the mafia are actually paid with just Rs. 700 for one ton of coal, but a pad of coal costs Rs 1.5 lakh. Politicians from both the ruling party and opposition are involved in this,” the sting revealed.
The report which was made public yesterday made some more shocking revelations related to the case. Vipul, an alleged middleman working for the TMC Youth Wing Leader Vinay Mishra, who is currently absconding was caught saying that he did not manage it alone, “Others are there. Bengal police sometimes create problems and file cases under sections 413,417,418 of the IPC, harass us but cannot do anything more,” he claimed.
Days after resigning from the Congress party, veteran politician PC Chacko will be joining the Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) today. After being in Congress for decades, Chacko had tendered his resignation from the party following differences over seat allocation for the upcoming Kerala assembly polls.
Former Congress leader PC Chako to join NCP today, in Delhi.
“I’m meeting Sharad Pawar. Whatever crisis the party is facing, needs to be discussed. I’m also meeting Sitaram Yechury and Ghulam Nabi Azad to discuss the future course of action. I need to extend my support to the LDF (Left Democratic Front of Kerala). I’ll decide (on joining) after meeting Pawar sahab,” ANI quoted as Chacko saying.
Congress is facing its Waterloo: PC Chacko
Chacko said the Congress party is facing its Waterloo crisis, referring to the historic defeat of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte that eventually led to his undoing in the early 19th century.
“The Congress is facing its Waterloo. I had already spoken to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. There is no dearth of discussion. I tried to make them understand that the situation was deteriorating,” Chacko said.
The former Congress leader exalted Sharad Pawar as a leader who could provide a credible alternative in the Opposition camp. With Chacko lavishing praises on the NCP chief, speculations are rife that his entry into the NCP is all too imminent.
He was also critical of the Congress party and faulted them for the erosion of democracy within the party. Putting paid to the rumours of his return to the Congress party, Chacko said he has “no plans” in Congress.
PC Chacko resigns from the Congress party over undemocratic selection of assembly poll candidates
The 74-year-old leader is a former Member of Parliament from the Kerala Thrissur constituency. He also presided over the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G Spectrum during the UPA government (2009-2014). Last week, Chacko had announced his decision to quit the Congress party over the alleged undemocratic way of selecting candidates for the forthcoming assembly polls in Kerala.
At the time of tendering his resignation, Chacko had come out all guns blazing against the Congress party, not even sparing the central leadership. The leader said that there was groupism within the party and the top leadership did little to iron out the differences. He accused the party high-command of courting both the factions.
He said, “Kerala is facing a crucial election. People want Congress to come back but there’s groupism practiced by top leaders of Congress. I’ve been arguing with high command that this should be ended. But the high command is also agreeing to the proposal given by both groups.”
Social media has been abuzz recently after visuals of a young boy being beaten at a Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad went viral on social media. The viral video suggested that he was beaten because he was a Muslim who had entered the Temple to drink water and before long, ‘Sorry Asif’ began to trend on social media.
It is not clear why people on social media would assume guilt for themselves despite having no association with the incident at all. It stands to reason that the only objective of such self flagellation is the weaponization of guilt. When one assumes guilt even when he is not to blame, then he suddenly feels empowered enough to mandate sweeping actions in order to compensate for it.
In the current instance, a minute fraction chose to assume guilt on behalf of the entire Hindu community and trended ‘Sorry Asif’ so that the guilt could then be projected to the entire Hindu community. Let us be clear, if there is any incident here which commands guilt to be felt, then it is the concern of only the parties involved.
There is no reason for the wider Hindu community to feel guilty about the Temple incident. What happened was a consequence of local factors that reached a climax with Asif ending up on the receiving end of some beating. And as more facts have emerged, it is uncertain to be precise whether blame should be accorded at all to the individual who decided to take action against Asif.
According to a local resident, it was a regular occurrence for Muslim youths to enter the Temple and harass Hindu women. The pandit said that there have been multiple incidents of theft and dacoity at the Temple and some of these youths have been known to desecrate the Shivling, urinating and spitting on it. The pandit mentioned that there have been at least 4 instances of dacoity at the Temple.
Such incidents explain the ‘No entry for Muslims’ board at the Temple gates, an issue that had been cited as incontrovertible evidence of bigotry on social media. But given the other side of the story, it appears to be a reasonable course of action. Muslims as such, under any circumstances, do not have the right to enter Hindu Temples just as Hindus do not have the right to enter Mosques.
Entrance into the religious institutions of a community is a privilege that the community is at complete liberty to decide who it awards it to. And yet, the ‘no entry’ board served as the cornerstone of the ‘Sorry Asif’ campaign.
And as it appears, Asif had no reason to enter the Temple in the first place. There were other avenues of drinking water right outside the Temple which could have been utilized if drinking water was the objective. It beggars all manner of reasoning as to why Asif would travel to the farther end of the Temple premises for water when drinking water was available right outside it.
Thus, two of the three cornerstones of the ‘Sorry Asif’ campaign falls flat. First, the ‘no entry’ board and then, the drinking water ruse. The third is the claim that even if all of this could be taken as fact, the boy should not have been beaten.
That point is, maybe, correct. But then, we live in India where state capacity has not reached the point where individuals can always rely on the police for security and protection. This is not a defense of the accused’s actions but reality as it currently stands.
Now, the interesting thing here is that the ‘Sorry Asif’ campaign had swept across social media even before any of this was known to the public. Logical reasoning mandates that one wait for all sides of the story to emerge before one rush in to assume guilt for oneself on behalf of the entire community. But that is not what happened.
Quite clearly, the objective was to ensure that such facts do not surface and even if they do, they are not given due importance because the propaganda blitzkrieg had already convinced the masses by then of the guilt of the Temple camp. It was designed to make the conviction of the Hindu a fait accompli.
It was preemptive action undertaken to ensure that the Hindu accused could not absolve themselves of the guilt accorded to them even if circumstances justified his actions later on. It was preemptive action to file the incident as just another evidence of the narrative that paints the Hindu community as oppressors and Muslims as oppressed.
The individuals primarily responsible for trending the hashtag make the agenda further self evident. Luminaries such as Swara Bhasker, Tejashwi Yadav and Dilip Mondal were at the forefront of it. When people, who invariably endorse precisely the political position that is inimical to Hindu interests every single time, suddenly wake up to assume the Hindu identity to push a certain narrative, the objective of the narrative becomes abundantly certain.
We have seen all of this before as well. During the Kathua rape case, a concerted attempt was launched to denigrate the Devisthan and the sentiments of the Hindu community associated with it. All of it is carefully designed to turn Hindu Temples into symbols of hate for their international audience.
It could be argued that they have already succeeded in turning one of the major temples of Hinduism into a symbol of hate. The Bhavya Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the construction of which is currently underway, is targeted and insulted at almost every anti-India campaign that is organised abroad.
Now, the next objective is to extend the same courtesy to every Hindu Temple in existence. As is abundantly clear at this point, there is plenty of reason here for us to wait till investigation into the matter is completed. But those with a premeditated agenda cannot wait for evidence to emerge before devoting themselves to action because evidence has a way of spilling water over all their plans in the end.
Therefore, what better way to achieve the said objective than assuming the guilt onto themselves and thereby, the larger Hindu community, and trend ‘Sorry Asif’?
