In a startling disclosure, a Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer said Thursday revealed that they had found injuries on the back of businessman Mansukh Hiren’s head and neck, whose body was found near the Retibunder creek in Thane district on March 5, reports Hindustan Times.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, an unnamed source in the Maharashtra ATS, which is now investigating the death of 48-year-old Thane-based auto spare parts dealer Mansukh Hiren, has said that he might have been assaulted before his death. Hiren was linked to the bomb-laden car that was found parked outside billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s house on February 25. However, he was found dead mysteriously near the creek ten days after the bomb scare incident.
As per Hindustan Times, the ATS official said that it appeared that someone might have assaulted Mansukh Hiren with a blunt and heavy object, and it is suspected that the attack might have rendered him unconscious. The assailant(s) then put four or five handkerchiefs in his mouth and covered his entire face with a scarf, the police officer said to HT.
“The murderer might have used chloroform to make Hiren unconscious or might have used some other means because Hiren’s face was covered by a number of handkerchiefs and was covered by a mask. Perhaps, he was later (after becoming unconscious) thrown into the water,” the official added.
Forensic team says Hiren died due to drowning, ATS raises doubts
However, the test results submitted by a forensic team at the JJ Hospital have confirmed the presence of diatoms in Hiren’s body. The diatoms test is usually carried out to detect their presence in the body to indicate drowning. Even though the JJ Hospital report claims that Hiren was alive when he was thrown into the creek, the ATS investigators have raised suspicions regarding this theory.
Meanwhile, the investigating authority has now sought a second opinion from a Haryana forensic laboratory after discovering injuries on Hiren’s body.
Antilia bomb scare and death of Mansukh Hiren
On February 25, a Scorpio car with 20 gelatin sticks was found parked near Antilia, the multi-storey residence of Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai. A few days later, it was revealed that the car belonged to a person named Mansukh Hiren. The bomb-laden car was owned by Mansukh Hiren, who had alleged that his car was stolen from Mulund-Airoli link road. Hiren had also filed a police complaint about the missing car.
Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis had made sensational disclosures related to the Antilia bomb scare while speaking in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha and said that the bomb-laden vehicle belonged to Hiren.
Speaking in the assembly, Fadnavis alleged that the owner of the Scorpio car, which was used to plant gelatin sticks and a threat letter outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai, was in touch with a mobile phone number that is registered under the name of Mumbai Police officer and ‘encounter specialist’ Sachin Vaze.
However, hours after Fadnavis had made a statement in the legislative assembly, Hiren’s body was washed ashore in the Kalwa creek, which only deepened the mystery surrounding the attack against Mukesh Ambani. Mansukh Hiren’s family have accused suspended police officer Sachin Vaze of murder. Following the family’s complaint, Maharashtra ATS had registered a murder case to investigate the death on March 7.
Do you know who Pasmanda Muslims are? Is there any casteism in Indian Muslims? Do Muslims feel that a section among them belongs to the lower caste? When we see a Muslim, these questions often do not strike us. However, there is a lot of discrimination among the Muslim communities, which in the words of Pasmanda activist Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie, is hidden from the outer world.
The story of Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie, who left Tablighi Jamaat
Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie was a young, energetic Muslim who had a deep connection with Tablighi Jamaat since the time he remembers. When he was growing up, he used to see his paternal relatives going to Jamaat and dedicatedly following the guidelines provided by their leader. Faiyaz, who discussed why he left Tablighi Jamaat and why he is fighting for the rights of Pasmanda Muslims, said that his father was not happy with him going to Jamaat.
“He was, what you may call, a liberal,” Faiyaz said during a conversation with Abhinav Prakash on Urban Chatterati. His father did not want them to get ‘radicalized’. However, Faiyaz and his twin brother continued going to Jamaat and helping other members of the community. When he started going to college in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), he felt more connected to the Jamaat. He used to go to Jamaat at least 2-3 times a day.
‘Everything was fine from outside, but not from the inside’ – Faiyaz
Slowly, Faiyaz became more connected to Tablighi Jammat. He used to bring more members of his community to join and follow Jamaat. So much so, there was a time when he became one of the popular faces in Jamaat. He used to give lectures and spread the word about the teachings of Jamaat. He said Jamaat teaches about the world down under and up above, what lies in between is equal to the wings of a mosquito. However, what he observed during his visits to Jamaat was different.
During his conversation, Faiyaz mentioned Taril Jamil, a famous Tablighi leader, who tells his followers to stop worrying about worldly things and concentrate on developing a connection with ‘Allah’. “To tell his followers that they should not worry about the materialistic things, he leaves his posh house and come in an expensive vehicle,” said Faiyaz sarcastically. He said while the leaders of Jamaat tell others to follow a simple life, they prefer luxurious amenities.
Khawas and Awam – The discrimination that you don’t notice
In Jamaat, there are two sections of people. The first section is Awam, which includes common people. The second section is Khawas, which includes scholars, elites and the prosperous section of the society. The leaders of Jamaat belong to the latter. Faiyaz said when he had the chance to enter the room of Khawas for the first time, he was in shock to see that the leaders who tell them to eat together were eating on separate plates.
“They told us more hands in a plate, more will be prosperity, but they themselves preferred to eat in separate plates. I was shocked to see the real face of the leaders,” said Faiyaz. Unfortunately, he said, the problems with Jamaat did not end there.
Nepotism is deep-rooted in Jamaat
Faiyaz said that it is impossible for anyone who is not from Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi’s family to become the head of Jamaat. There were some instances when someone from lower caste became the head, but he was removed after an uproar among the upper caste or Ashrafs in Jamaat.
He mentioned a book by Masood Alam Falahi titled “Hindustan Mein Zaat-Paat Aur Musalman“, in which the author detailed the problems within the Muslim community. In the 9th chapter, according to Faiyaz, the author detailed the wrongdoings of leaders in Jamaat and how they discriminated against the Indian Muslims.
While explaining the deep-rooted nepotism in Jamaat, Faiyaz said that when Maulana Saad, the current leader of Jamaat, got old enough to be declared as the head of Jamaat, his cousin Maulana Zubair was also eligible. They took turns and worked as Ameer or head of the Jamaat. As soon as Zubair died, Saad declared himself as the head of Jamaat, which was opposed by those who followed Zubair. “It was a bloodbath in Nizamudin Markaz,” said Faiyaz. Now, there are two Jamaats, one headed by Saad and the other by Zubair’s son Zuhair.
The Pasmandas – Lower caste Muslims who are invisible
Faiyaz said that around 90% of Muslims in India are considered to be Pasmanda Muslims. When it comes to discussing the rights of Muslims, no one consider their voices. They do not get any position as a lawmaker. In an interview with Kushal Mehra for The Cārvāka Podcast, Faiyaz said that everyone puts Pasmanda Muslims in front and collect money for their upliftment. However, the Ashrafs control the funds and the money collected never reaches Pasmanda.
Pasmanda Muslims are the soldiers, not leaders: Faiyaz
He said that the leaders who belong to the upper caste, a.k.a Sheikhs etc., do not indulge in doing any work. They only prepare soldiers among Pasmanda Muslims. The influence of such leaders is deep-rooted in Pasmanda that even the educated ones leave their professions and open madarsas. “These upper-caste leaders or Ashrafs are the cause of all disputes in the country. They want to create an Islamic state. They believe that it will be their victory if they take the world back to the medieval times,” said Faiyaz.
He said that Jamaat is banned in many Islamic countries, but it is unfortunate for India that everything is allowed here in the name of secularism. The discrimination among Muslims is deep-rooted, and most of the benefits of government schemes are taken away by the Ashrafs. Pasmanda Muslims mostly never see those benefits. “Ashraf ke biryani se bhare hue pet ko shahi tukda dena, yehi Bharat ka secularism hai (Giving benefits to the already prosperous Ashraf community is what secularism means in India),” said Faiyaz.
No representation for Pasmanda Muslims
Faiyaz said there is no representation of Pasmanda Muslims in parliament or even the Muslim Personal Law Board. Every official on the board belongs to the upper caste. If someone tries to speak for the Pasmanda Muslims, the voice is silenced by the leaders. He said it was because of the increasing influence of Britishers that Muslim leaders of that time started building madarsas; otherwise, they were happy to keep lower-caste Muslims uneducated. “Britishers taught everyone English in 150 years, but they could not teach anyone Arabic,” said Faiyaz.
He added that even the government is unable to see the discrimination among the Muslim community. Before, it was Congress, and not it is BJP who is blind-sighted by the Ashraf leaders. No one talks about Pasmanda Muslims and the discrimination that they have to face daily.
The breaking point
Faiyaz said there was no single event that forced him away from Jamaat. A series of events and the teachings of his father played a vital role in his journey away from Jamaat. Every time he saw discrimination among Muslims in Jamaat, he detached himself from the community a little more.
Faiyaz now works as an activist to bring change in the lives of Pasmanda Muslims.
In March 2017, when BJP named Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister after their landslide victory in UP, many political pundits wrote him off even before he took the oath of the CM’s office. Analysts thought a saffron-clad mahant can only teach lessons in dharma and governance is not his cup of tea. This was a lazy analysis or hate for his saffron attire at best. Four years in office – Yogi proved them all wrong.
What the Yogi Adityanath government has achieved in the last four years in a state like Uttar Pradesh, which was at the bottom of all the development indices is not short of a miracle. The only index UP topped in the times of Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati was ‘crime’. Yogi, a five-time member of parliament knew that for bringing prosperity back to UP, for re-instating the trust of entrepreneurs in the state, he needs to fix the law and order of the state on priority. He took the task head-on. By adding 1.5 lacs police staff in the rank and file of the police force, strategically bringing history sheeters to book in each district, protecting businesses from land grabbers and extortionists, he was able to convince industrialists to come back and expand in UP.
A safe UP under Yogi started getting investment proposals to the order of Rs 5 lac crores every year and a high percentage of them starting seeing groundbreaking ceremonies. In the last 4 years, UP jumped miraculously to the 2nd spot in Ease of Doing Business ranking, beating industrialized states like Tamilnadu, Maharashtra and Telangana.
Tightened law and order was coupled with the fast-paced development of infrastructure, increased availability of power and de-cluttering the red-tapism faced by entrepreneurs. This resulted in massive job creation in the state. The per capita income in the state has almost doubled and the unemployment rate has come down to 4.1% in February 2021, compared to 17.5% in 2017, when Akhilesh Yadav left the office. Large scale government recruitment done in a robust and fair fashion and impetuous to MSME through an innovative scheme like One District-One Product (ODOP), added to the employment generation drive of UP govt under Yogi. As a result, Uttar Pradesh is now rapidly moving towards becoming the biggest economy in the country.
Many people find ‘double engine ki sarkar’ as political rhetoric, whenever PM Modi says it in state election campaigns while urging people to elect BJP in the state, to work on the same frequency with the central government. But Yogi proved that ‘double engine’ means ‘double growth’ for the states. All the development schemes of the centre worked superbly well in UP and succeeded the targets under Yogi govt. Yogi constantly brought senior cabinet ministers to the state to iron out pending issues and take steeper targets for his state to complete. Now be it Gas Stove distribution, or construction of toilets or the construction of houses for the underprivileged UP is among the top achievers.
Decoding elements behind Yogi’s success can give us useful lessons. Yogi was brought up in a very hard working-class family, where his late father was known for his incorruptible reputation as a forest officer in Uttarakhand. During his tenure as a member of parliament from 1998 to 2017, he was among India’s top-performing parliamentarians on the count of attendance, number of questions asked, number of debates participated in and number of private member bills presented.
During those two decades as an MP, Yogi trained himself meticulously on governance and policy frameworks. His daily 3-4 hours of Janta-Darbars in Gorakhpur for the last 20 years, kept his ears close to the ground and he exactly knew the pain areas of the people. In these two decades, Yogi also managed more than three dozen educational, health and social institutions of the Gorakhnath Mutt, almost like a super CEO. With such a rich wealth of experience and grounding, Yogi hit the ground running in 2017 and shook the slumber of Uttar Pradesh and catapulted it first among the equals in last four years. It speaks volumes about Yogi’s style of working, when a senior bureaucrat from Uttar Pradesh, mentioned Sanjay Dixit, his IAS friend from Rajasthan cadre – “Saloo baad, UP mein kaam karne ka maza aa raha hai” (After a long long time, it is such pleasure to work in Uttar Pradesh).
Uttar Pradesh used to be the theme for many mafia movies of Bollywood. UP residents were teased as uneducated bhaiyas, in many parts of the country. Yogi has turned the tables in the last 4 years. Yogi Adityanath is the best thing that happened to UP in the last two decades. Like PM Modi has enhanced the value of Indian passport across the globe, Yogi has added pride to be a UPite. Today as a UP-Walla, born in Bareilly, I feel proud to be a bhaiya from Yogi’s UP.
Days after giving a clean chit to tainted Mumbai police office Sachin Vaze, a prime accused in the Antilia bomb scare case, as “very honest and capable officer”, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday cast aspersions against the NIA. He said that NIA was working at the behest of the central government. The Shiv Sena leader said that the investigative agencies should focus on dangerous terror activities rather than going after ‘some gelatin sticks’.
Speaking to controversial news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday defended the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and the Mumbai police in the ongoing Anitlia bomb scare case. Responding to Shiv Sena’s alleged links to the terror case, Raut said he could not answer for Sachin Vaze, but only investigative agencies can do it.
Casting aspersions on the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Raut said everyone knew under whom and whose behest the NIA, Enforcement Directorate, CBI work. Questioning the NIA, Raut said, “What has NIA achieved in the last few years. NIA’s job is to break the nexus between terrorists. Tell me, what has NIA done after the Uri terror attack, Pathankot terror attack and Pulwama attacks? Have they submitted any report?”
The Shiv Sena leader claimed that the entire NIA, central government and the opposition parties are after ‘some 20 gelatin sticks’ found in a vehicle. They should focus on other dangerous terror activities around the country, he quipped. Responding to a question by Rajdeep Sardesai about whether this case could tarnish the reputation of the Maharashtra government, Sanjay Raut further said that the “opposition was making a mountain out of a molehill’ in this case and that it would not affect the credibility of the government. He further said that this ‘issue’ was ‘limited to Maharashtra’.
Essentially, Raut attempted to tone down the bomb threat against Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani by claiming that it was just some gelatin sticks that were found outside his residence.
Mistake has been made, it is not a crime to join Shiv Sena: Sanjay Raut
In the interview, Sanjay Raut also admitted that the Mumbai Police mistake has committed a grave mistake in handling the Antilia bomb scare case. However, he said that happened such mistakes will not happen again in the future.
“It is true that something like this should not have happened. A mistake has been made by the police and will not happen again,” Sanjay Raut said.
When asked about the allegations regarding Shiv Sena leaders’ involvement in the Antilia bomb scare case, Sanjay Raut said that no one could deny the fact that police work under the elected government. He further said that the government is responsible for the mistakes made by the administration, and hence the Chief Minister has ordered a reshuffle in the administration, said Sanjay Raut.
As Rajdeep Sardesai questioned the links between Shiv Sena and accused Sachin Vaze, who had joined the party in 2008, Sanjay Raut said it was not a crime to join Shiv Sena and said that anybody can join the party based on their ideology.
“The NIA and ATS are investigating all the allegations against Sachin Vaze. You cannot hang anybody without proper investigation. Sachin Vaze will be punished if he has done any wrong. Is it a crime to be a Shiv Sena member? asked Sanjay Raut when he was confronted about Vaze’s inclusion in the party,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Sanjay Raut defends Sachin Vaze, says he is very honest
As NIA arrested Sachin Vaze for his involvement in the Antilia bomb scare case, Sanjay Raut had defended the controversial cop by claiming that Sachin Vaze was a very honest and capable officer.
“He has been arrested in connection with gelatin sticks that were found. One suspicious death also occurred. It’s Mumbai Police’s responsibility to investigate the matter. No central team was needed,” Raut had said.
While Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut hailed Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze, the latter had reportedly named Shiv Sena leaders in the Antilia explosives case.
Interestingly, the statement had come at a time when Vaze, a former Shiv Sena leader himself, had allegedly named Shiv Sena leaders in the gelatin case. Vaze had reportedly said that he was just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and policemen and Shiv Sena leaders had a bigger role.
A week after the Rutgers-Newark University apologised to the community of Hindu students after they were targeted with vile messages and threats for speaking up against Hinduphobic ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke, the faculty members of the university have come out to support the controversial professor. They also said that the agitating students should be intellectually challenged in the issue.
The faculty members, which includes Gaiutra Bahadur, Manu Samriti Chander, Sadia Abbas, Akil Kumarasamy, Johan Mathey and Karishma Desai, refused to accept that Audrey Truschke is Hinduphobic, and defended her work which involves glorifying the Mughal regime in India and denying that Mughals destroyed Hindu temples to build mosques in their place.
“We insist that a critical examination of Hindutva, a political ideology, is not the same thing as Hinduphobia,” the statement issued by the Rutgers faculty members said. It then goes on to familiar Hinduphobic narrative, accusing Hindus of atrocities against Muslims and other minorities. “Dr. Truschke’s critique of the former rests on its majoritarian expression in India, in ways that threaten the safety, security, and equality of Muslims and other minorities,” they have written.
The faculty members said that they have every confidence in “Truschke’s respect for Hindus and Hinduism and its compatibility with a critique of Hindu nationalism as a social and political enterprise.” The faculty members also applauded the Rutgers management for defending Audrey Truschke.
The faculty members said that students can be safe and supported in their identities and intellectually challenged at the same time. They said that they will fight for the right of students to express their faiths and identities, but will also critically examine the social and political forces shaping the globe, and will provide students with the analytical tools to do the same.
After spreading Hinduphobia for years, Audrey Truschke had faced criticism Hindu students from Rutgers-Newark University for her anti-Hindu narratives. Students had specifically criticised her for her comments on Twitters where she frequently spreads fake news against Hindus. The students had filed a petition asking Rutgers-Newark University to take strong action against controversial ‘historian’ and Professor Audrey Truschke for demonising Hinduism. They had also demanded that “Prof Truschke be disallowed to teach a course that involves materials related to Hinduism and India due to her inherent prejudiced views”.
Responding the concerns of the students mentioned in the petition, the university on 9th March had issued a statement defending the professor, saying she has academic freedom in pursuing her scholarship.
However, this defence by the university had angered the students more, and Hindus on Campus, a group that fights the persecution of Hindus, Hinduphobia and toxic environment for Hindus prevalent in college campuses, had come out against the professor.
The National Investigation Agency seized two more luxury cars in the Antilia bomb scare case, which are suspected to be linked to API Sachin Vaze. This has raised the number of vehicles seized in the case to 5, and reportedly NIA is looking to two more luxury cars.
Today NIA brought two more luxury SUVs to its office in Mumbai in connection with the case. One of the cars is a black luxury SUV, a Mercedes Benz ML 250 CDI. After that, the agency brought another high-end SUV, a white Toyota Land Cruiser Prado GRJ 120 R.
The Mercedes Benz ML 250 CDI
The Mercedes car with registration number MH43AR8697 is registered in Vashi RTO in Navi Mumbai in the name of Narmada Offshore Construction Pvt Ltd. While the Prado with registration number MH02CC101 is registered in Borivali in Mumbai, and its owner as per official records is Vijaykumar Ganpat Bhosle. It is not known how these cars are related to the case, and whether Sachin Vaze has any link with the owners of the cars.
The Land Cruiser Prado GRJ 120 R
Vijaykumar Ganpat Bhosle is a Shiv Sena leader, and in his affidavit for 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, he had listed the Toyota Prado SUV with the same number under the list of motor vehicles owned by him. He had quoted the current price of the vehicle at that time at Rs 38 lakh.
Election Affidavit of Vijaykumar Ganpat Bhosle
It may be noted that after suspension from service in a custodial death case, Sachin Vaze had joined Shiv Sena, and thus he has deep ties with the party. During the Devendra Fadnavis govt, Shiv Sena had put pressure on the govt to reinstate Vaze, but CM Fadnavis had declined it. After Shiv Sena formed the govt with the support of Congress and NCP, they reinstated Sachin Vaze despite being suspended on a court order, and soon he was handling several high profile cases.
According automobile websites, the price of the Mercedes is around Rs 55 lakh, while the Land Cruiser Prado costs almost 1 crore.
With these, NIA has seized 5 cars in the cars, which now includes two Mercedes SUVs and one Land Cruiser Prado. The first car to be seized was the Scorpio car which was found parked near the residence of Mukesh Ambani filled with gelatine sticks. It was owned by Mansukh Hiren, but was being used by Mumbai Police cop Sachin Vaze for several months, before it was returned to Hiren just days before it was found with the explosives. Soon after the discovery of the car with the explosives, Mansukh Hiren was found dead, and his wife has alleged that Sachin Vaze is behind the murder.
The second car to be seized was an Innova, which was seen in CCTV footages trailing the Scorpio before it was parked near Antilia. Although Mumbai police ‘looking’ for the car for days before the case was transferred to NIA, the NIA had found it parked in the office of the Mumbai Police commissioner.
The third car was another Mercedes SUV, which was used by Sachin Vaze. NIA found incriminating evidence in the vehicle, including the number plate of the Scorpio car, more than Rs 5 lakh in cash and a currency counting machine. Reportedly, Sachin Vaze had used the Mercedes car for his personal use with a fake number plate. This Mercedes car also costs around Rs 55 lakh.
Apart from these, NIA is reportedly looking for two more cars linked to the case, one blue Mercedes car and a Skoda car. Sachin Vaze arrested by NIA on the midnight of Saturday in connection with the case.
Milwaukee County Children’s Court Judge Brett Blomme, who was endorsed by the LGBTQ Victory Fund for his position as a judge, was arrested on Tuesday and charged on seven counts for possessing child pornography, specifically depicting the sexual abuse of young boys.
Brett Blomme, who is 37, is also the ex-President of Cream City Foundation, a LGBTQ+ organization which is known for hosting ‘Drag Queen Story Hour‘, a highly controversial event where men dressed as women in drag attire read out stories to little children.
The charges against Brett Blomme are serious, with each count of child pornography carrying a minimum mandatory prison sentence of 3 years to as much as 15 years in prison. After spending a night in prison, Blomme has now been released through a signature bond, mandating Blomme to not use social media or file sharing services, or have unsupervised contact with children, except for his own. Brett Blomme is married to a man and has two adopted children.
The criminal complaint against Blomme details that up to 27 images and videos of minor children being sexually abused were uploaded on the messaging app Kik. The location for these uploads were tracked back to Blomme and husband’s house in Cottage Grove, Dane County.
According to the complaint, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children informed investigators about a Kik user “DomMasterbb” who was suspected of possessing and sharing child pornography. Investigators then tied the Kik account to Blomme through his personal and work emails.
Endorsed by the Democratic Party
Brett Blomme was handpicked by Democrat Milwaukee mayor Tom Barret as a candidate for the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, with Tom Barret urging fellow Democrat and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to put Blomme’s name forward for the opening on the Milwaukee Country Circuit Court in 2019.
Milwaukee mayor Tom Barret cited his 20 year close relationship with Brett Blomme, however Gov. Evers did not appoint him to the open position on the court. Eventually in 2020, Brett Blomme would go on to win the Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 5 election, being the first openly gay man to do so in Milwaukee county.
Brett Blomme’s election would not be possible without a string of ringing endorsements in his favor, the vast majority of which were Democrat endorsements. In his race, Blomme described himself as a “progressive alternative” to his opponent. To kick his campaign off, Brett Blomme boasted early endorsements from a whole host of elected officials, attorneys and community leaders, the most prominent being Democrat Wisconsin State Senator Tim Carpenter.
The next major endorsement for Blomme came from Democrat U.S. Congress Representative for Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional district, Rep. Gwen Moore. Rep. Moore endorsed Blomme whole-heartedly, going on to say, “I support Brett because, like me, he is committed to making Milwaukee a better place for all of us. He is a former public defender who has dedicated his career to fighting for justice and equity. Please join me in supporting Brett Blomme for Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Branch 5 on February 18. Brett is the change we need to help fix our broken criminal justice system.”
Another major endorsement for Brett Blomme was the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national organization established in 1991 solely dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ people elected to public offices. According to Blomme’s own press release, this endorsement from the LGBTQ Victory Fund indicated the confidence of the Victory Fund that Blomme would be elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Blomme’s past as the President of an LGBTQ+ organization like Creamy City Foundation further boosted his credentials as a champion of LGBTQ people.
Brett Blomme also received endorsements from the local Milwaukee media, the most prominent of them being Shephard Express. The Editorial Board of Shephard Express endorsed Brett Blomme for the Milwaukee court, citing his “strong history of serving our community, including his work with nonprofits.”
An Inconvenient Past?
Brett Blomme was appointed the CEO of Creamy City Foundation, an LGBTQ+ organization which organizes the highly controversial ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ events at public libraries in and around Milwaukee, in June of 2017 and left just before he was elected as a judge. However, this is not easily accessible information.
This is because as the news of Blomme’s arrest for Child Pornography has come out, various online web pages were scrubbed which tied Brett Blomme to Creamy City Foundation. Blomme’s LinkedIn profile has been purged, with only a screenshot confirming his role as CEO of Creamy City Foundation existing.
The Creamy City Foundation has deleted all references to Brett Blomme on their website. OpIndia was able to secure a cached version of Brett Blomme’s author archives on the Creamy City Foundation website, which have all now been scrubbed. As an author, Blomme has advocated far-left positions on gender and sex, choosing to write articles about topics such as “trans cultural competency training”.
Multiple press releases from Brett Blomme himself describe him as the CEO of Creamy City Foundation, so there is no doubt regarding Blomme’s CEO-ship for the Creamy City Foundation. Here is an archived link of the Creamy City Foundation’s About webpage, showcasing Brett Blomme as the Past President and CEO of Creamy City Foundation.
Now that Blomme’s grievous offences of possessing multiple image depicting child pornography have been revealed, many poignant questions arise about Blomme’s activities as CEO of Creamy City Foundation. As the CEO, Blomme was overseeing several events, including Drag Queen Story Hour, with a great many minor children in attendance. If Blomme is convicted of the child phonography charges, it raises serious doubts regarding the safety of children at these events, and how a suspected pedophile was incharge of putting these events together.
After the news report of 35,000 acres of land belonging to Shree Jagannath Puri Temple went viral, the temple administration has come out with clarification in a series of tweets. The temple administration has stated that the reports of land being sold are completely false and motivated.
SJTP (Shree Jagannath Temple Office, Puri) issued a series of tweet stating, “The lands, which are occupied or are under the possession of various persons since long but belongs to Shree Jagannatha Mahaprabhu; are being settled by Temple Committee as per the “Unified Policy”, framed for the purpose in the year 2003.”
“It is important to note that from 2001 to 2010, 291 acres of land was settled and from 2011 to 2021, 96 acres of land have been settled. These have been settled for the benefit of the public mostly in the form of schools, medical college, roads, etc.”
Chief Administrator, Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA) clarifies on the issue related to lands of Shree Jagannatha Mahaprabhu. (1/7)
— Shree Jagannatha Temple Office, Puri (@SJTA_Puri) March 18, 2021
The Temple administration also clarified that all the decisions regarding the allotment of land for public benefit infrastructure projects to the Government or others are taken by the Shree Jagannath Temple Committee.
Decisions regarding the allotment of land for such public benefit infrastructure projects to the Government and others is taken by the Jagannath Temple Committee. (6/7)
— Shree Jagannatha Temple Office, Puri (@SJTA_Puri) March 18, 2021
Basically, the Temple administration clarified that the decision to ‘settle’ land is not a unilateral decision by the state government and has been taken by the Temple administration for lands that are currently occupied by different parties.
This comes after news reports of the Odisha government selling 35,000 acres of temple land went viral yesterday and social media was awash with posts condemning the move.
Odisha Law Minister’s statement in the assembly
On Tuesday, Law Minister Pratap Jena had informed the Odisha assembly regarding the decision. “Around 60,426 acres of land in the name of Lord Jagannath, has been identified in 24 districts across the state. Over 395 acres of land has been identified in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Bihar.”
The Law Minister had stated that of over 60,000 acres of land owned by Lord Jagannath, the Temple authorities could prepare the final Record of Rights (RoR) over 34,876.983 acres and those lands will be sold and the funds will be deposited with the Temple.
The report also stated that as per the government’s decision, those who have encroached temple land for more than 30 years can take possession of the land by paying Rs. 6 lakh per acre. The ones who have encroached the land for less than 30 but more than 20 years will have to pay Rs.9 lakh per acre and those who have encroached the land less than 20 years but more than 12 years will have to pay Rs.15 lakh per acre to take possession of the land.
The news of Lord Jagannath’s land being sold had rekindled debates on social media regarding the government’s control and interference over Hindu temples and their properties.
Cable News Network (CNN), the left-leaning American mainstream media outlet, is haemorrhaging viewership after Joe Biden’s inauguration as the U.S. President. The legacy media outlet slumped to a loss of almost 50% viewership in the key demographics, with CNN losing 47% viewership in 24-54 age demographic. The 24-54 age demographic is widely considered to be a key age group in terms of TV ratings. CNN has also lost a million viewers per night on average since the Biden inauguration on January 20th.
According to Nielsen data, CNN averaged around 2.5 million prime-time viewers from November 4th to January 20th. Prime-time viewers can be understood to be CNN viewers who watch the outlet during the prime-time slots of 8 PM to 11 PM Eastern Standard Time. After January 20th, this prime-time viewership of CNN, which averaged around 2.5 million, crashed down to 1.6 million prime-time viewers. This loss in prime-time viewership amounts to a drop off of 36%. This 1.6 million figure is the average of prime-time CNN viewership from January 21 through to March 15.
However, in the key demographic age group of 24-54, CNN’s prime-time viewership suffered a precipitous loss of 47% from January 21 to March 15. CNN’s daytime viewership also suffered similar viewership losses, with the average of CNN daytime viewership suffering a 34% decline from 1.7 million average daytime viewers to 1.1 million average viewers.
Daytime viewership for CNN in the key demographic age group of 24-54 in terms of daytime viewers fell 44% from an average of 4,83,000 to only 2,72,000. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on March 5, the CEO of WarnerMedia, CNN’s parent company, Jason Kilar, said that CNN was ‘killing it’ in terms of ratings because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that’s not going away any time soon. If you take a look at the ratings and the performance, it’s going well. I think it’s going well because A. the team at CNN is doing a fantastic job and B. it turns out the pandemic and the way that we can inform and help contextualize the business is really good for ratings.” CEO Jason Kilar said during the conference.
Jason Kilar further went on eulogizing the supposed success of CNN, “Anyone that is paying attention to the news business through linear television, CNN is killing it. They’re the number one cable news network now and have been since the election.”
A complaint has been lodged with the Narcotics Control Bureau against Saket Gokhale, a Congress supporter and an ardent follower of Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of earning drug money through the means of crowdfunding.
Legal activist group Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) has filed a complaint Narcotic Control Bureau against Congress supporter Saket Gokhale accusing him of receiving drug money through crowdsourcing. According to LRO, Saket Gokhale is the son of a former police officer, who was once accused in a drug trafficking case.
Met Narcotics Control Bureau NCB @narcoticsbureau officials regarding our complaint related to suspected dr*g money earned thru crowdfunding by @SaketGokhale s/o once suspended Police Officer in dr*g trafficking case. Shared few more inputs n sought donor inquiry @AmitShahpic.twitter.com/5dfUiLXgUH
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) March 18, 2021
Last year, Gokhale had claimed to have collected over Rs 22 lakhs to take on the ‘BJP hate machine’ and launched a ‘campaign to take down hate-speech mongers’ on social media. The LRO has now accused that Gokhale has been using the money earned through such donation drives to procure drugs.
Time-and-again Gokhale has claimed that he intends to use the funds collected to pay for the expenses of people working for his campaign. However, there are serious allegations against Gokhale for misappropriating funds for his personal use.
Recently, allegations of fraud were made against Congress supporters and ardent follower of Rahul Gandhi – Saket Gokhale. Several people, including left-liberals, have accused Saket Gokhale, who often claims to be an “RTI and Transparency Activist”, of being a ‘fraud’ and have alleged that Gokhale collects money on the pretext of filing RTIs.
An AAP supporter named Amit Behere had accused Gokhale of wasting money by filing RTIs, which have had absolutely “zero return on investment”. He had alleged that the donations to Gokhale had obtained no results for the common public buf have benefitted only Gokhale himself.
It is pertinent to note that Saket Gokhale’s father was arrested in 2015 on the charge of protecting drug smugglers. Later, the court had acquitted him as Mumbai Police had no evidence against him.
