As assembly elections are coming closer in West Bengal, the political atmosphere in the state is heating up. On February 10, West Bengal police arrested Amanish Iyer, General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Srirampur Jila. He was arrested allegedly for wearing and distributing masks with “Jai Shri Ram” written on them.
For wearing and distributing Jai sri ram mask Amanish Iyer has been arrested by Bengal Police. Amanish Iyer is GS of BJP SRIRAMPUR JILA. pic.twitter.com/QYRfhNqiIZ
During his arrest, Iyer alleged that chanting the name of Shri Ram in West Bengal has become crime. If you chant the name of Ram, police come to arrest. He further added, “Chanting Ram Chandra’s name is today a crime. Today in Bengal, the anti-Hindu government, understand their state. I urge Bengalis, give an answer to Trinamool government in 2021. This anti-Hindu government wants to turn Bengal into Bangladesh. We will protect Bharatiya Sanskriti, Bengal culture. We, the bhakts of Lord Ram and nationalists will save Bengal. Bharat Mata ki Jai.”
Attacks on BJP in Bengal
BJP has been under continuous attack by state machinery and TMC goons. In the last few months, several attacks on BJP’s rallies and convoys have happened. ON January 20, TMC’s Madan Mitra threatened BJP during a rally and said if BJP eyes on West Bengal, they will get chopped. He said, “Those from BJP listen, ‘doodh maango to kheer denge, agar Bengal maango toh chiir denge’ (if you ask for milk, we will give you kheer, But if you ask for Bengal, we will rip you off).”
On January 5, senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya’s convoy was attacked by TMC workers. The incident took place during a roadshow that was scheduled from Orphanganj Road to the BJP headquarters in Kolkata. When the procession crossed the Watganj area, BJP’s convoy came under a volley of stones and shoes, hurled by TMC workers from an adjoining stage. On January 4, BJP’s Krishnendu Mukherjee was attacked by a gunman. He narrowly escaped an onslaught of bullets in Asansol, West Bengal. Mukherjee had to lock himself in the car to ensure his safety.
On Monday, Twitter decided to defy an order by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, India to block or remove 1,178 accounts from the social media website. These accounts were on the radar of security forces as Pakistani-run accounts trying to incite people in the midst of the ongoing Farmers Protest. Twitter was given this list of suspicious account of February 4th.
However, Twitter has refused to take any action pertaining to the list of suspicious accounts. On Monday, Twitter released a statement in an attempt to offer an explanation for its disregard for Indian security. But, a particular phrase in Twitter’s statement has caused controversy on its own. In its statement, Twitter declared that “the tweets must continue to flow” in a callback to a statement regarding the Arab Spring protests almost 10 years ago. This trip down memory lane on the part of Twitter did not go unnoticed. Former Twitter staff were immediately able to connect the dots with the Arab Spring.
Here is a part of the statement issued by Twitter after they refused to comply with Indian laws. If one notices, in the last point mentioned by Twitter, the sentence summarily ends with “Tweets should flow”.
Twitter response to India
As mentioned earlier, these exact words were used by Twitter precisely 10 years ago during the Arab Spring.
Twitter blog during Arab Spring
During the Arab Spring, Twitter had said, “Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them. For this to happen, freedom of expression is essential. Some Tweets may facilitate positive change in a repressed country, some make us laugh, some make us think, some downright anger a vast majority of users. We don’t always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content”.
What was essential, is the subtle messaging by Twitter when it said, “Some Tweets may facilitate positive change in a repressed country”. It basically gave us a window into the functioning of Twitter where it thinks that it believed that perhaps, the Arab countries were repressed and that the Arab Spring was a moment of emancipation.
In that context, when one reads how “tweets must flow” in India in the Twitter statement, it becomes almost clear that Twitter considers India, a vibrant democracy of over a billion people, a ‘repressed country’ that it needs to emancipate by fanning insurrections.
It should be extremely concerning that Twitter equates the current Farmers Protest unrest in India to the Arab Spring. Even in its most charitable interpretation, the Arab Spring was a movement whose sole purpose was to oust a sitting government, non-violently or violently. Tunisia, the genesis of the Arab Spring, was the only country with a successful democratic solution at the end of it. Other Arab Spring countries like Syria, Libya, Yemen are now in a state of permanent war. Egypt is now under a military dictatorship. The legacy of the Arab Spring, except in Tunisia, is a legacy of eventual violence, death and non-democratization.
This is not to debate the intimate intricacies of the Arab Spring, but just to recognize that PM Modi is not facing ouster as Arab leaders did. PM Narendra Modi is the legitimate prime minister of the sovereign of India. PM Modi’s political party, the BJP, secured re-election with 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, an increase by 21 over the 2014 General Elections. This is not an Arab Spring situation, where there was a perception of illegitimacy about Hosni Mubarak’s 30 year-long reign in Egypt. PM Modi might even be the most legitimate leader on Earth, as he is the legitimate leader of the world’s largest democracy just in terms of the sheer size of the votes. Therefore, if Twitter chooses to disregard a mandate from the Modi Government, that is not some populist, free-speech stance, but rather a rebuke of one of the most popular leaders in Indian history.
In fact, one can even go as far as to say that Twitter is fanning an Arab Spring-like situation in India, hoping for it, by not withholding accounts that have either indulged in or fanned an insurrection in India.
It also stands to reason that Twitter refused to withhold accounts that were spreading disinformation and fanning an insurrection in India during the so-called farmers protest spearheaded by Khalistani terrorists, because it believes that the 26th January violence was akin to the Arab Springs.
We have extensively reported that the farm laws that are now being opposed by Khalistani elements disguised as farmers entail. Essentially, a) it aims at creating additional trading opportunities outside the APMC market yards to help farmers get remunerative prices due to additional competition b) relates a framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce c) aims to regulate the supply of certain food items only under extraordinary circumstances.
By all measures, and even by noted experts, these laws would enhance the price farmers get for their produce and end the hegemony of middlemen, who have exploited farmers for decades. The protests against these laws are mainly spearheaded by Khalistani terrorists, fanned by Sikhs for Justice, a banned terror outfit, foreign elements like Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh and those who wish to violently seize power and overthrow a democratically elected government and have aligned with radical leftists and terrorists to do so. These protests led to rampant violence on the 26th of January, which led over 400 policemen injured and the capital city under siege.
By using the same words for these motivated protests as they did for the Arab Spring, Twitter is admitting that they believe that these violence riots are necessary in India for democracy to “thrive” and is thus, an active participant in overthrowing democracy in India.
It is crystal clear that Twitter does not actually believe any of the free speech rhetoric it espouses. Twitter has a long, well-chronicled, history of banning non-Left accounts for their political beliefs, the most prominent being former U.S. President Donald Trump himself. In its explanation for the de-platforming of Donald Trump, Twitter cited a tweet by Donald Trump which read,“ To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.” Twitter explained that this tweet, when taken into consideration along with the Capitol siege on January 6th, promoted violence, even though Joe Biden welcomed the news.
Interestingly, while Twitter has refused to ban accounts of politicians, journalists and activists in India who are fanning an insurrection, it had no compunctions in doing so during the Capitol Hill riots. They banned the account of the sitting president of the United States of America because they believed he was fanning violence – whether it was true or not is something that the American people need to decide.
Therefore, it would be foolish to assume that Twitter is a non-partisan actor when it utilizes its power to ban and de-platform an elected President on the flimsiest of excuses or reasons. In an article published on Monday, OpIndia cautioned its readers on the Color Revolution-like tactics that were being utilized against the Indian Government.
A Color Revolution, simply put, is an attack on foreign governments by contesting their electoral legitimacy, orchestrating mass protests and acts of civil disobedience, and leveraging media contacts to ensure favourable coverage in the Western press. This attempt by Twitter to equate the Farmers Protest to the Arab Spring through their statement has to be seen as an attempt by Twitter to delegitimize the Indian Government in the eyes of the Indian people and the rest of the world.
Miffed over Twitter’s non-compliance with government’s orders to take action against the handles spreading hate against India, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said that the double standard of the social media platforms will not be allowed in India. “Be it Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Whatsapp, action will be taken if these platforms are misused,” the union minister said while replying to a host of answers during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Prasad furthered that if these companies want to work and tap the Indian market, they are welcome to do so, but they would have to comply with the Indian laws and the Constitution. “Work in India. You have crores of followers here. Make money but you will have to abide by Indian laws and the Constitution,” the minister said.
Irate by Twitter’s brazenness in complying with the Indian government’s orders to take action against those Twitter handles which have been spreading anti-India propaganda, Prasad said: We have now flagged Twitter. Our department has engaged with Twitter. That’s why I didn’t want to comment on this issue outside and chose the House to raise these questions. What is the issue that when there is violence in US Capitol Hill, social media platforms stand by police investigation but when Red Fort is breached, the same platforms go against the Indian government? Red Fort is the symbol of our pride. We won’t allow this double standard.”
“What is this? You are trending hashtags supporting massacre, genocide?” the minister asked.
Furthering that the Indian Govt has immense respect for social media as it has a big role to play in the Digital India programme, Prasad added that, however, if these platforms are used to spread fake news and propagate violence against India, the Government would be forced to take action against it.
IT Minister RS Prasad irked over Twitter’s defiance
Earlier, we reported that RS Prasad had refused to meet Twitter officials after the social media giant refused to take action the anti-India and Khalistani accounts.
Earlier this week, the centre had issued a new notice to Twitter directing it to block 1,178 accounts found to be from Pakistan peddling Khalistani secessionism. This was an addition to the government’s earlier notice asking them to ban 257 anti-India social media accounts for making hate speech.
The misuse of the social media platform for spreading anti-India propaganda, provocative content and misinformation had irked the Union government. The government believes that the said Twitter accounts have the potential to cause a threat to public order.
Twitter fails to comply with Indian government notice
However, Twitter showed its reluctance to comply with the central government’s notice under Section 69A of the IT Act. The social media site has banned only some handles, and Twitter said it would not be taking action against any media, journalists, activists, and politicians despite the government’s notice.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked his administration to work on setting up e-courts for faster disposal of e-challans issued over traffic rule violation. These cases of e-challans are piling up at regular courts and increasing the work load, reports say.
Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi and Principal Secretary, Law, held a meeting on Wednesday to chalk out the details on setting up e-courts so as to bring a uniformity in e-challan system across the state.
Between January 7, 2019 and December 31, 2020, as many as 1.3 crore e-challans were issued in Uttar Pradesh. Many of these e-challans were disposed of after the violators paid the fines. However, some were sent to the court for further action. As many as 36 lakh e-challans are currently pending in courts.
The UP Chief Minister has instructed his administration to draw up an action plan for faster disposal of e-challans so that courts are not burdened. Currently, in Varanasi and Faizabad, e-challans are being sent to court through National Informatics Centre (NIC). Similarly, e-mapping is also carried out in Prayagraj by traffic directorate through NIC. The officials say that these system should be studied and implemented across the state for brining in ease and uniformity.
On February 10, Canadian PM Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called up PM Narendra Modi seeking the Indian government’s help in facilitating vaccine supply to Canada. Sharing information about the phone call on social media, PM Modi said that he had assured PM Trudeau that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada.
Was happy to receive a call from my friend @JustinTrudeau. Assured him that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada. We also agreed to continue collaborating on other important issues like Climate Change and the global economic recovery.
In the official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs, it was mentioned that PM Trudeau informed PM Modi about Canada’s requirements of Covid-19 vaccines from India. PM Trudeau appreciated India’s role in controlling the spread of Covid-19 and providing support to several nations with its pharmaceutical capacity.
The two leaders also talked about several geopolitical issues and agreed to continue the close collaboration between both countries in fighting global challenges like Climate Change and the economic impacts of the pandemic.
The official statement by Canada
In the official statement by PM Trudeau’s office, they mentioned that during the conversation, both leaders talked about the efforts both countries are taking to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. They spoke about the significant efforts India is making in promoting vaccine production and supply, which have provided vital support to countries around the world and agreed to work together on access to the vaccine.
Today, I had a good discussion with Prime Minister @NarendraModi on many important issues, and we’ve agreed to stay in touch. For a summary of the call, click here: https://t.co/vFGa8lkkQV
The two Prime Ministers also talked about the importance of working together on global challenges, including climate change and international trade. Apart from that, the discussion included democratic principles, recent protests and importance resolving issues with dialogues.
Trudeau govt was facing criticism for not reaching out to PM Modi for vaccines
Trudeau’s call is important diplomatically for several reasons. The Trudeau government has been facing criticism in Canada for failing to secure enough vaccine doses for its population. In a conversation with Canadian minister Anita Anand, Conservative Party MP Michelle Rempel Garner had questioned why the Trudeau government is not reaching out to India’s PM Modi for supply of vaccine doses.
India-Canada relations have been bumpy in recent times because the Canadian government’s pandering to Khalistani elements in their politics and populace. Trudeau’s associations with Khalistani elements have been criticised by India on several occasions.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday sentenced Bangladesh-based terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) chief Kausar to 29 years in jail for the 2nd October 2014 Burdwan blast case.
A fine of Rs 35,000 has also been imposed on him. Kausar was convicted by the court under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act and the Foreigners Act. As per reports, Kausar is also charge-sheeted in another NIA-case related to January 2018 Bodh Gaya blast.
2014 Burdwan Blast
On 2nd October 2014, a powerful bomb accidentally went off at the first floor of a rented house in Khagragarh locality of Burdwan, West Bengal. Two terrorists, who were fabricating the bomb succumbed to the injuries. While the case was initially probed by West Bengal police, the same was later taken over by NIA on 10th October, 2014.
Further investigation revealed how it was the conspiracy of Bangladesh-based terror group JMB to radicalise and recruit members and train them in using arms and explosives to commit acts of terrorism in India and wage a war against India. Further, a large number of IEDs, explosives, hand grenades and training material was recovered. Out of the 33 accused, now 31 are arrested.
However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, soon after the blast, had blamed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the foreign intelligence agency of India, for being behind the blast. She had alleged that she has been central government minister for 23 years, she knows who does what.
She had alleged that the two terrorists were ‘let in’ by the Modi government which had just come to power few months back and ‘found them a house’ and ‘allowed them to make explosives’. She had alleged that the Central government had done so to start a riot during the Pujo.
Experts had then believed that Mamata Banerjee’s statement could be used by the accused as a shield.
Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer who recently resigned as the Uttarakhand head coach has been accused of favouring Muslim cricketers while holding the position. Jaffer had submitted his resignation alleging interference and bias of selectors and the association’s secretary for non-deserving players.
According to reports, Jaffer had a dispute with Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) secretary Mahim Verma and Chief Selector Rizwan Shamshad. Jaffer had reportedly taken Rs 45 lakh to work as Uttarakhand head coach for a session. Jaffer has accused Verma of interfering in the selection of players. However, Jaffer’s allegations were denied by both Mahim Verma and Rizwan Shamshad.
Jaffer accused of having religious bias and preferring Muslim cricketers
Mahim Verma, who is former vice-president of the BCCI, accused Jaffer of quarreling with Cricket Union officials and trying to break the cricket team due to his religious bias. Verma said that initially they lend full support to Jaffer and accepted his decisions considering that he has scored the maximum runs in domestic cricket.
Verma added that he never pressurised Jaffer regarding the selection of players. He told that Jaffer brought in Iqbal Abdulla, Samad Salla and Jai Bista as guest players. Jaffer forcefully made Iqbal Abudullah the captain of the team instead of Kunal Chandela, alleged Verma. However, the team lost four matches out of 5 in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament due to his decisions, said Verma.
Jaffer got the team slogan ‘Ram Bhakt Hanuman ki Jai’ changed to ‘Go Uttarakhand’ citing religious reason
Verma added that a team was selected on Monday for Vijay Hazare trophy one-day tournament that starts on February 20 keeping Kunal Chandela as the captain. However, Jaffer submitted his resignation the next day. Jaffer was appointed by Appointment Advisory Committee and therefore his resignation has been sent to the committee.
Verma further alleged that the team’s assistant staff used to tell him that Jaffer used to bring a Maulvi during the camp. Navneet Mishra, who has been team manager during Mushtaq Ali trophy reportedly said that three Maulvis had visited the camp. He said that Jaffer told him that the Maulvis had come to read Namaz. This happened twice during the camp.
Mishra further told that the team has been using the slogan ‘Ram Bhakt Hanuman ki Jai’ since last year but Jaffer got the slogan changed to ‘Go Uttarakhand’ saying that the team had members from different religions. Jaffer was suggested the slogan ‘Uttarakhand ki Jai’ but he had a problem with the word ‘Jai’, he said.
Mahim Verma alleged that Jaffer favoured Iqbal Abdullah over Kunal Chandela and therefore he kept Abdullah as opening batsman shifting Chandela to lower spots. Jaffer even prepared a parallel team for the Vijay Hazare trophy and mailed the details to Verma without consulting the selectors. Verma said that Jaffer misbehaved with him on three occasions and told him that he (Jaffer) was not his servant.
Khalistani terrorist and a close aide of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Muhammad Hafiz Saeed, Gopal Singh Chawla, has announced that he will organize a tractor rally in Pakistan in support of the ongoing ‘farmers’ protest in India.
The announcement was made through a 2-minute video in which Chawla said that a tractor rally will be organised in Pakistan in solidarity with the ‘farmers’ protesting against the newly introduced Farm Bills in India. In the video, Chawla was also heard indulging in fear-mongering, alleging that hundreds of farmers were killed by the Modi government since the protest started last year.
“Modi has brought bills that are unacceptable to the farmers. Atrocities are being inflicted upon farmers in India for the past several months. Modi may not be troubled by this but I am. We will take out a tractor rally in support of the farmers. The rally will start from Nankana Sahib and conclude at the Wagah border,” Chawla reportedly said.
He further said, “We will tell the farmers around the world that we are united. Whoever is sitting at the protest are the ‘Anndatas’, they are feeding everyone. Therefore I appeal to everyone to join the rally.”
It is worth noting that the call for tractor rally came after ‘farmers’ protesting along the Delhi border had carried out a similar tractor rally on January 26 this year. During that tractor rally, the protesters breached barricades and burst in the national capital. Thousands of protesters even stormed the grounds of the hallowed Red Fort, desecrating the symbol of India’s sovereignty by raising Khalistani flags on its ramparts. The chaos that was unleashed in the wake of the rally caused injuries to over 300 police personnel. Buses, private cars and government properties were also vandalised by the protesters.
Gopal Singh Chawla, a Khalistani terrorist and an ISI stooge
It is noteworthy to mention that Chawla is an ISI stooge and has been accused of carrying out anti-India activities. He is also close to LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, whom he hails as the “Messiah” of Pakistan. In 2018, the Indian government had submitted a dossier to Pakistan in which it claimed that Chawla had been indulging in whipping up anti-India sentiments.
Earlier in 2018, a controversy erupted when Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu posed with Khalistani terrorist Gopal Chawla during his Kartarpur visit. Chawla had posted a photo of him standing next to Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on his Facebook account.
Gopal Singh Chawla, an ardent supporter of Khalistan, a separate nation for Punjabi Sikhs and is also an active member of pro-Khalistani terror outfits. He is also suspected to be involved in the recent bomb blast at a Nirankari gathering in Amritsar in which three people were killed. Gopal Chawla is also believed to be a close aide of Pakistan sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Hafeez Saeed and is in contact with the ISI to hatch a terror plot against India. Gopal Singh Chawla is also the man behind the ‘Sikh Referendum 2020’ movement and had been routinely involved in waging anti-India activities.
Bullets were shot at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) district chief Deepak Shah on February 9 in Rajasthan’s Kota when he had gone to solicit funds for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya under the ‘Shri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan’ drive. A bullet hit him on the thigh and he was rushed to the Community Health Centre for treatment. He was subsequently shifted to the MBS Hospital.
Deepak, a resident of Ramganj Mandi in Kota, was out to collect funds for the construction of Ram Temple on Tuesday evening, as per reports. He was accompanied by district pracharak Hemant and department pracharak Manoj Pratap. After a while, Pratap left the fundraising exercise while Deepak and other associates carried on. However, a few minutes later, three men came riding on a bike and fired shots at Deepak Shah. People present on the spot rushed him to the hospital.
कोटा के रामगंजमंडी में श्रीराम मंदिर निर्माण समर्पण निधि संग्रह करते हुए कार्यकर्ताओं पर चली गोलियां! जिला संघ चालक दीपक जी शाह के दोनों पैर में गोली लगी, कोटा रैफर किया जिला प्रचारक हेमंत जी भी साथ थे, बाल बाल बचे, विभाग प्रचारक मनोज जी कुछ देर पहले ही निकले थे! @friendsofrsspic.twitter.com/1RKq7PNMlG
Following the incident, MLA Chandrakanta Meghwal and former MLA Prahlad Gunjal reached the MBS Hospital to meet the injured Deepak Shah. Simultaneously, a large number of businessmen and RSS workers swarmed the Ramganjmandi police station demanding action against the culprits who attacked Shah.
In the aftermath of the incident, police officials, including the rural SP encamped in Ramganjmandi. Different teams of police carried out raids all night to catch the accused. The police team also launched a search operation along the MP border. The district special team and the Ramganjmandi police team finally arrested the accused from Raipur (Jhalawar) near the MP border.
Personal enmity the cause of the attack on Deepak Shah: Reports
As per reports, the main accused is the brother of history-sheeter Babu Paya’s brother Ashu Paya. Ashu, along with 2 of his associates, opened fire on the RSS district chief Deepak Shah. The assailants then fled from the spot. Police teams continued to chase them. They took the help of the mobile phone tracking to track the exact location of the miscreants. In Raipur, Jhalawar, the accused reportedly left the car and fled to the fields and switched off the mobile. Police laid siege and nabbed the accused at Nayagaon in Raipur.
It is being reported that the attack on Deepak Shah has roots in the past rivalry between the RSS leader and history-sheeter Babu Paya. A few days ago Babu Paya had threatened RSS leader Deepak Shah after which the RSS district chief filed a complaint with the police. Following the complaint, Babu Paaya was arrested by the police under Section 307 of the IPC. Since then Babu Paaya is lodged in jail. In order to avenge his arrest, Babu Paaya’s younger brother Ashu Paya, along with two of his associates fired bullets at Deepak Shah.
Enraged over the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s contentious remarks on Ram Temple donation seekers, the saints of Ayodhya have called the Samajwadi Party chief a ‘Babar-Jeevi’.
After Akhilesh Yadav coined the term ‘Chanda-Jeevis’ for those seeking donations, saints of Ayodhya term the former CM as ‘Babar-Jeevi’
Earlier yesterday, Akhilesh Yadav coined a term “Chanda jeevi“, ridiculing people who sought donation under the ‘Shri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan’ campaign.
This did not sit well with the Hindu saints, who slammed the former UP CM for his crass remarks. A simmering wave of resentment swept the devotees of Lord Ram after Akhilesh Yadav derided the donation collectors, calling them “Chanda jeevi” or professional donation collectors.
Mahant Raju Das of Hanuman Garhi said that Akhilesh Yadav has always been a ‘Babar-jeevi‘ and advised him to get a handle on his senses.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Mr Yadav, a fierce critic of PM Modi, took a swipe at the Ram Mandir devotees by saying that those who collect donations must be called “Chanda jeevi” or professional donation collectors. “What is being said about the agitations? That people are ”aandolan jeevi”. What should I call the people who go out to collect donations? Are they not members of ‘‘chanda jeevi sangathan” (organisation which collects donations)?” he said.
Yadav’s remark was in response to PM Modi’s sharps comments on the protests pervading the country. PM Modi, while replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President in Rajya Sabha on Monday, had earnestly appealed to the farmers protesting along the Delhi border against the new Farm Laws to call off their demonstrations and engage in dialogue to iron out the differences. He, however, later cautioned that one must be aware of a “new category” of people: “Andolan jeevi”.
Akhilesh Yadav’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav earned the nickname of ‘Mullah Mulayam’
It is also pertinent to note that Akhilesh Yadav is not the only one in his family who is described by people as a supporter of the Mughals. Even his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had earned the nickname of ‘Mullah Mulayam’ after he ordered firing upon the Karsevaks who had gathered at Ayodhya in November 1990 to demand the construction of a Bhavya Ram Mandir at Janmabhoomi.
While official figures suggested that 16 Karsevaks were killed by UP Police under Mulayam Singh Yadav, the actual number is believed to have been much higher. In a sting by Republic TV, it was claimed that the Hindus were not even cremated as per their religious but were buried instead. Footage of the manner in which the Police attacked the Karsevaks reveals the manner in which the devotees of Rama were hunted down.
