Disaster struck at the Eastern Railway Headquarters at Strand Road in Kolkata when a major fire broke out on the 12th floor of the high rise building. 9 people lost their lives in the fire, including 3 railwaymen, 5 firefighters and one police ASI.
In the aftermath of the disaster, the state government has come under strong criticism for its lack of disaster management infrastructure. Kolkata is no stranger to fire accidents. The Park Street Fire in 2010, the AMRI Hospital fire in December 2011 and now the Strand Road Fire.
Following the accident, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has indulged in blame game instead of laying emphasis on investigating the factors that precipitated the crime and those that led to the loss of life. She claimed that no men from the Indian Railways were present, a claim that has been denied outright.
“The property belongs to railways, it’s their responsibility but they were unable to provide map of building. I don’t want to do politics over the tragedy but no one from railways has come here,” said Mamata Banerjee. However, the claim was rejected by Manoj Joshi, general manager in the Eastern Railway.
“Officers of railways were present there, efforts were being made for whatever was required. Maybe any map wasn’t made available immediately, staff members of railways were present to guide about the building,” he said.
A doctor in Kolkata aware of the matter we spoke to blamed the lack of adequate disaster management facilities for the accident. We were told, “During the fire at the Eastern Railway building at Strand Road, Kolkata, the hydraulic ladder after arriving at the fire location, took nearly 40 minutes to set up. This was the critical golden hour which could have doused the fire immediately but due to lack of proper equipment and training, the fire could not be controlled.”
“Even after setup, only a single jet could be used for the fire at the 13th floor and another hydraulic ladder could not be deployed due to lack of space. This again brings out the lapses in equipment procurement for fire fighting through,” he added.
The doctor also mourned the fact that there has been no discernible improvement in disaster management facilities since Mamata Banerjee came to power a decade ago. Before she became Chief Minister in 2011, she had pointed out that there were no disaster management capabilities during the Park Street Fire. However, since she came to power, the sector has seen no improvement either.
Furthermore, her comments against the Indian Railways make it abundantly clear that Mamata Banerjee is more interested in playing politics over the matter to hide the incompetence of her government.
She has a history of blaming opposition parties for the follies of her government. When corruption charges emerged over Amphan Cyclone relief, she blamed the CPM’s ‘legacy of theft’. When riots occurred at Dhulagarh, she claimed ‘wrong information’ was circulating on social media. When the flyover accident happened in Kolkata, she said the construction had begun under CPM rule.
And now, Mamata Banerjee says that Indian Railway officials were not present during the Strand Road fire. In terms of mitigating such accidents, Gujarat has shown the way. Gujarat became the first state to formulate the Disaster Management Act which equipped local bodies with firefighting skills and created awareness in schools.
Gujarat’s measures were later endorsed by the Center and other states were asked to follow Gujarat’s lead. The state also has adopted better measures to ensure fire safety, including awarding private engineers the authority to inspect and certify buildings for fire safety. Four special posts have also been set up to oversee various aspects of fire safety.
If allegations of racism by Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle against the British Royal family were not enough, OpIndia has now got an exclusive scoop. Meghan Markle, along with Prince Harry is joining the BJP to contest 2024 US elections. Pregnant with her second child with Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, Markle was wearing an Armani dress that retails for USD 4,700 in her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
To an untrained eye, the grey design on her right shoulder could easily pass of as something her first born Archie might have thrown up on her. But to an observant soul, that is actually a lotus flower.
Dress Meghan wore for Oprah interview
According to Town & Country’s royal whisperer, she chose the dress specifically because of the lotus flower symbolism. Except, they got the interpretation completely wrong.
What lotus actually looks like (PM Modi holding lotus flower)
While the gossip magazines assume that she wore the lotus flower as symbol for Hinduism to represent rebirth (of Harry and Meghan as an independent entity) in reality it was a hint of her political future to come.
Lotus, as we all know is the election symbol of the BJP, also symbolises how the flower flourishes despite challenging conditions. That how the pretty lotus blooms in mud.
Meghan Markle is actually joining the BJP. Sources have confirmed to OpIndia that on Ram Navami (11th March), Meghan is joining the BJP in US at the newly opened branch in New York. The move comes just days after it was revealed that the BJP has opened its branch in Sri Lanka to form the government in the neighbouring country.
Meghan will now contest the 2024 US Presidential elections against another woman of colour, Kamala Harris on BJP ticket. The BJP is quite confident of forming the government in the US.
As former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once said, andhera chhatega, suraj niklega, kamal khilega. It is time for the clouds of darkness looming over America to clear themselves and the sun to shine so that the lotus can bloom.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has resigned from the post on Tuesday. There were intense speculations about his possible resignation. Rawat has resigned after meeting BJP leaders in Delhi, ending the speculations.
Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat submits his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya. He met BJP leaders in Delhi yesterday. pic.twitter.com/7oKkgZUwBm
Reports had claimed earlier that Trivendra Singh Rawat was called to meet JP Nadda at his residence on Monday evening after the BJP president held two rounds of meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the party’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and general secretary in charge of Uttarakhand Dushyant Gautam.
“There is unrest among a major section of party functionaries and MLAs. They are complaining that officers in districts are not paying heed to their recommendations. They are feeling ignored. In this situation, winning the next Assembly election could be a challenge,” an RSS functionary had said, adding “It is being explored if damage control can be done by holding meetings of the MLAs with the CM. A change in leadership is the last option.”
Ajay Bhatt, Dhan Singh Rawat and Anil Baluni are reportedly in contention to replace Rawat as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand but a final call on the matter will be taken by Prime Minister Modi.
On March 9, several news agencies reported that 10,113 companies shut their shop amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The reports were based on an answer provided by the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur in Lok Sabha on March 8, 2021. The reports suggested that these companies were struck off from April 2020 to February 2021. The companies closed down voluntarily and not due to any penal action, agencies reported.
During that period, India had imposed a nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Once the lockdown started to ease in May, several states decided to impose restrictions on their own. The reports in Mint, News 18, Economic Times, Business Standard, and several others tried to connect pandemic and shutting down of companies. However, the reality is far from what had been projected.
Business StandardThe Economic TimesNews 18 EnglishThe HinduMintNews 18 Hindi
The question asked in Lok Sabha
On March 8, Member of Parliament Benny Behanan asked [PDF] the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to provide details of the companies that went out of business during the year 2020-21 with state-wise data.
Question asked by Benny Behanan and reply by Anurag Thakur on March 8, in Lok Sabha
Anurag Thakur informed in his answer the ministry does not maintain any record of the companies that had gone out of business. However, a total of 10,113 companies were struck off under section 248 (2) of the Companies Act, 2013. Thakur added that MCA had not run any drive to strike off companies suo moto during 2020-21.
Thakur also provided state-wise details of companies struck off during the financial year 2020-21. A total of 2394 companies were struck off in Delhi, while in 1936 were struck off in UP. West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands were the only two among states and UTs that had a number of companies closed in single digits.
Number of companies struck down state-wise
What does Section 248 (2) of the Companies Act, 2013 say?
According to Section 248 (2) of the Companies Act, 2013, there is a provision to strike off companies that are not carrying on any business or operation for a period of two immediately preceding financial years and have not made any application within such period for obtaining the status of a dormant company under section 455 of the Act. The government follows due process and strike down such companies.
Was the Covid-19 pandemic a significant reason for companies going out of business?
The first notable thing is that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs DOES NOT keep any record of the companies that have gone out of business. The data provided by the state minister for Corporate Affairs was based on the data the Ministry had for the companies that were struck off during the said period. As per the law, the companies that were struck off during the suggested period were not doing any financial activities for at least two years. That means the companies were non-functional in previous financial years as well. Covid-19 might be a catalyst in some cases, but the way media reports connected the closure of all 10,000+ companies to Covid-19 lockdown is misleading. Nowhere in the question or the answer Covid-19 pandemic was mentioned. Hence, the reports can be deemed as FAKE.
On Friday (March 5), the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party announced the list of 291 candidates (in a State Assembly of 294 seats) for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls. While TMC had dropped several sitting Ministers from seeking re-election, it has nominated controversial leader Madan Mitra to contest from Kamarhati constituency in North 24 Parganas.
By giving election ticket to TMC loyalist Madan Mitra, the Mamata Banerjee-run-party has attempted to further polarise the vote bank. It must be mentioned that Mitra had been peddling anti-Hindu narratives under the garb of criticising the BJP. In a recent hysterical rant, the TMC leader said, “Jai Shri Ram, we have to ban this slogan. I am going to the High Court. This is Bharatvarsha. Why are you saying Jai Shri Ram? You are excluding Sita. Can there be Ramayana without Sita? It means you have been trying to implement the NRC from the beginning.”
He made the contentious comments in January this year. Besides, Madan Mitra mocked Hindu sentiments by claiming that Lord Ram would not eat unless beef was cooked by Goddess Sita herself. “Janaki jokhon janta parlo barita parshuram aschen tokhon janaki bollan ata janakraja tara tari akta choto goru ranna kore dao karon porshuram goru chara kichu khabana boddo ragi (When Sita got to know about Ram’s return to his house, she had asked for beef to be cooked. This is because Ram is temperamental and will not accept anything as food other than beef),” he had alleged.
Video Courtesy: Youtube/Zee 24 Ghanta
Ahead of the elections, the TMC is looking forward to consolidating the Muslim vote bank further by mocking Hindu religious sentiments. While Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim had vowed to increase the honorariums paid to Islamic clerics (Imam Bhata), the party had realised that its traditional Muslim vote bank might get split between AIMIM and the Left-ISF-Congress Mahagatbandhan. Madan Mitra’s candidature is a testimony to the fact that Trinamool Congress is not only indifferent towards Hindus but could go to any extent to stop their vote bank from trifurcation.
Madan Mitra is also a popular meme on the internet due to his penchant for bizarre comments. He had once declared himself as the ‘Crush of Bengal’.
A change in state leadership in Uttarakhand might be on the cards as speculations are rife that the party top brass has decided to remove Trivendra Singh Rawat from the CM’s post. The latest information on political developments In the state says that Rawat is set to resign from his post today in a press conference. Reports have stated that a number of BJP leaders are not satisfied with Rawat’s performance and there is a growing concern that the party’s prospects in the next election ma be hit if Rawat continues.
बड़ी ख़बर-उतराखंड पर्यवेक्षको की रिपोर्ट पर पार्टी ने सीएम त्रिवेंद्र रावत को मुख्यमंत्री से हटाने का फ़ैसला किया, जल्द पर्लियामेंट्री बोर्ड की मुहर लगेगी, विधायक दल के नेता के चुनाव के लिए विधायक दल की बैठक जल्द बुलाई जायेगी. https://t.co/xUu5absFiR
— Vikas Bhadauria (ABP News) (@vikasbha) March 9, 2021
Reports have it that Rawat was called to meet JP Nadda at his residence on Monday evening after the BJP president held two rounds of meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the party’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and general secretary in charge of Uttarakhand Dushyant Gautam.
Rawat had reportedly cancelled all his scheduled meetings for Monday to head towards the national capital to meet the top party leaders.
According to reports, some MLAs and a faction of the party have approached the central leadership to express dissatisfaction with the functioning of Uttarakhand’s government led by Trivendra Singh Rawat.
“There is unrest among a major section of party functionaries and MLAs. They are complaining that officers in districts are not paying heed to their recommendations. They are feeling ignored. In this situation, winning the next Assembly election could be a challenge,” an RSS functionary said, adding “It is being explored if damage control can be done by holding meetings of the MLAs with the CM. A change in leadership is the last option.”
Ajay Bhatt, Dhan Singh Rawat or Anil Baluni likely to replace Rawat?
BJP sources have reportedly said that the names in the race to replace Rawat are Ajay Bhatt, Dhan Singh Rawat and Anil Baluni. But a final decision on replacing Rawat will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision to replace the CM will be announced after a legislature party meeting, which is likely to be held on Tuesday, they added.
Refuting the reports that the party is mulling to hold any legislature party meeting to decide the fate of Trivendra Singh Rawat, BJP Chief Spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan told PTI Monday: “As far as my knowledge goes, no formal announcement has been made yet about any state legislature party meeting here tomorrow (Tuesday)”. He claimed late Monday night in New Delhi that Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat will continue to be the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He said that he will complete his term as Chief Minister.
As of yesterday, many BJP leaders in the state had denied reports that Rawat may be replaced.
BJP MP Ajay Bhatt, a senior party leader from the state, told PTI that “all is well” in the state. He added that the two central leaders, BJP vice president Raman Singh and general secretary Dushyant Singh Gautam, had visited Uttarakhand regarding preparations for the three-day state BJP executive meeting from March 12 and the Rawat government’s fourth anniversary on March 18.
Reports have it that Raman Singh and Dushyant Singh Gautam had visited Uttarakhand to speak to the state BJP core group members. They have reportedly submitted their report to party president JP Nadda on their return.
The party senior members have also suggested that it is unlikely that any leadership change in the state will take place.
On being asked if Rawat will continue as CM, the Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam said that there is no allegation of corruption against him and he is doing good work in the state of Uttarakhand. “It isn’t good to raise questions on his working style, said Dushyant Kumar Gautam.
WATCH: #Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) is doing good work. There is no allegation of corruption against him. It isn’t good to raise questions on his working style, says Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam on being asked if Rawat will continue as CM pic.twitter.com/6wwUm7LOQ1
Some reports had also suggested that there may be a possibility of BJP placating some leaders with a cabinet expansion, and granting new ministry positions. A report in India Today also stated that the party may add a Deputy CM post and select a leader from the Kumaon region. The name of Pushkar Singh Dhami is being suggested as the Deputy CM.
Rawat was named the chief ministerial candidate by the BJP after it stormed to power in 2017, winning 57 of 70 seats in the state assembly.
‘Historian’ Audrey Truschke has been receiving a lot of criticism on social media for her penchant for demonising Hindus. Twitter users have been trending #RacistRutgers on the micro-blogging site, calling out the ‘historian’ for her “hatred, bigotry and racism against Hindus”. The hashtag started trending after Rutgers University issued a statement trying to whitewash Audrey Truschke’s vile and bigoted anti-Hindu remarks.
Rutgers University comes out in defence of bigoted professor Audrey Truschke
In a statement released on Tuesday, the university defended the professor by referring to Hindu Genocide denial and racist rhetoric against Hindus as ‘Academic Freedom’. “Rutgers emphatically supports Professor Truschke, academic freedom in pursuing her scholarship, abhors the vile messages end threats that are being directed at her, and calls for an immediate end to them.” To further justify its support for the controversial historian, Rutgers cited the significance of ‘academic freedom’ in scholarship, said the University statement backing Audrey Truschke.
The University’s statement came on the heels of a petition initiated by a group of students asking Rutgers-Newark University to take strong action against controversial ‘historian’ and Professor Audrey Truschke for demonising Hinduism. The petition was shared on Twitter by the ‘Hindu on Campus’ group.
Hindu students at the varsity initiate petition against Truschke
The students who initiated the petition were miffed with Truschke’s continuous vile and bigoted opinions against Hindus. In an open letter written to the university authorities, the students said that they are “aghast at the bigotry being peddled against Hindus via continued derision of our religion, our deities, and our sacred texts” in the university, which may be a potential threat to their security, as it may lead to “potential attacks, bullying, and backlash, either on campus or via social media, due to our faith”.
The petition specifies how the atmosphere in the university is in odds with the Hindu student due to the hateful and vile anti-Hindu remarks made by professor Audrey Truschke on various occasions.
Students accuse Audrey Truschke of advocating that Hinduism is inherently oppressive
The petition read that the professor falsely linked Hindus with extremists and white supremacists rioting at Capitol Hill. She claimed that Srimad Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, “rationalizes mass slaughter” and violence. Truschke insulted Hindu god and goddesses by calling Lord Ram a “misogynistic pig”.
It accused her of portraying all Hindus as “lustful and sex-obsessed” and ‘cow piss drinkers’. It read that Truschke, in her hate for Hinduism, advocated that Hinduism is inherently oppressive, racist, misogynistic, and violent.
Further accusing her of whitewashing the genocide of Hindus by the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb, the students questioned the University administration whether they would also fail to address a professor if he/she would characterize Prophet Muhammad, Jesus, or another other central religious figure or sacred literature in a similarly ghastly, bigoted way.
Students demand that Prof Truschke be disallowed to teach a course related to Hinduism
Castigating the administration of the Rutgers University for its bias towards a professor who has always painted Hinduism through the lens of violence, extremism and sex, the students demanded that “Prof Truschke be disallowed to teach a course that involves materials related to Hinduism and India due to her inherent prejudiced views”.
They asked the University to issue a statement publicily condemning the ‘historian’ for causing trauma to Hindu students, alumni, and the Hindu community at large by her irresponsible tweets and remarks.
It asked the University to acknowledge that Hindus in the varsity are religiously, racially and ethnically minoritized, and, thus, should be provided with the same protections and considerations as other minoritized students in the campus. Saying so the petition demanded sufficient measures to ensure the protection of Hindus on campus and asked the varsity to take strict action against those who hurt a specific community on the college campus.
“This rule should be applied to everyone equally and all should feel included on campus”, read the petition.
Hindus trend #RacistRutgers on Twitter
Hindus are trending #RacistRutgers on social media to attract attention to the racism Rutgers University has chosen to defend.
Call them out for what they are doing. They are enabling racism and Hindu hatred. They are whitewashing the atrocities committed against Hindus. They are protecting a hinduphobic professor with this statement.#RacistRutgershttps://t.co/kwxIEPIurF
Audrey Truschke receives harsh reviews on Rate My Professors
Audrey Truschke has always been the subject of abject criticism on social media not only for her penchant for demonising Hinduism but also for whitewashing the crimes of the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb. All this time she has brushed all such criticism under the carpet by claiming that she is a ‘historian’ and pretending that it somehow absolves her apologia for a genocidal maniac.
In October, last year, Truschke had received extremely harsh reviews from students on Rate My Professors as well. She had a rating of 1.7 out of 5 at the Rate My Professors website where students can rate the professors they take classes of. Students have left comments like “horrible teacher”, “unhelpful”, “egoistic”, “nightmare” so on so forth, making her one of the most poorly rated professors on the website.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued a lookout notice against Bijay Mishra, brother of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Binay Mishra, in connection with a cattle smuggling case. Earlier, in January this year, the CBI had issued an arrest warrant against Binay Mishra in connection with a cross-border cattle smuggling case. Binay Mishra is said to be a close aide of TMC MP and CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Binay Mishra declared absconding by the CBI in a cattle smuggling case
According to reports, the CBI is also considering approaching Interpol to get a Red Corner Notice issued against Binay Mishra who has not joined the investigation despite several summonses of the CBI. The CBI has summoned two senior officers of the West Bengal police- an inspector general and a superintendent of police on Monday for interrogation in connection with the case. Last month, Binay Mishra was reportedly named as a co-accused in the supplementary charge sheet filed in the cattle-smuggling case.
Binay Mishra has been shown as absconding in the charge sheet filed by the CBI before a special CBI court in Asansol, West Bengal. The central agency filed a charge sheet on February 18 this year in a case against seven persons including Border Security Force (BSF) Commandant Satish Kumar for their alleged involvement in a cattle-smuggling racket operating at the India-Bangladesh border.
Raids on properties related to TMC leader
The CBI has carried out raids at multiple locations including locations related to Binay Mishra as part of the cattle smuggling case probe. Last year, the CBI officials had seized some incriminating documents during a seven-hour raid at Binay Mishra’s Rashbehari Avenue residence. Mishra is linked to the kingpin of the cross-border cattle smuggling racket Enamul Haque. Haque was arrested in November 2020 from Delhi in connection with the cross-border cattle smuggling racket being operated along the India-Bangladesh border.
Hindus on Campus, a group that fights the persecution of Hindus, Hinduphobia and toxic environment for Hindus prevalent in college campuses, today took to Twitter to respond to the statement put out by Rutgers Newark over the concerns raised over the anti-Hindu bias of controversial historian Audrey Truschke.
In a string of tweets, the Hindu group championing the cause of Hindu students in universities abroad, expressed their disapproval of the rationalisation of Audrey Truschke by the Rutgers Newark University.
We are deeply hurt by the response of Rutgers Newark. In response to a petition signed by a large number of Hindu students and our allies. Rutgers – a university that claims to pride itself on diversity and inclusion – continues to signal that Hindu student voices do not matter.
“We are deeply hurt by the response of Rutgers Newark. In response to a petition signed by a large number of Hindu students and our allies. Rutgers – a university that claims to pride itself on diversity and inclusion – continues to signal that Hindu student voices do not matter,” the group tweeted.
The group said academic freedom and pursuit of scholarship can’t be used as a front to peddle anti-Hindu bigotry. It said professors like Truschke, who has a history of insulting Hindu gods, calling them ‘misogynistic pigs’, claiming that Hindu texts endorsed rapes and Hindu organisations supported the assault on US Capitol are not welcomed.
The group also stated that the statement issued by Rutgers demonstrated their lack of commitment to Hindu students while defending Audrey Truschke’s spurious claims under the banner of “freedom of speech”.
Ironically, the Rutgers statement unintentionally demonstrates their lack of commitment to Hindu students. They defend Truschke’s claims under the banner of “free speech”, & take the stance to protect her from Twitter trolls that send “vile messages and threats”.
Though Rutgers University has shown an unmatched zeal in defending Truschke’s right and taken a stance to protect her from trolls, the same treatment is not extended to Hindu students, who are at the receiving end of the vile and threatening messages by people enabled by Truschke, the group argued.
“As Hindu students, we cannot study and live in an environment in which we feel unsafe. How are we supposed to feel safe, when a Professor can block us (a student-run handle) with no prior engagement – yet can continue to tweet at us & energize her followers who call us “dotheads”,” the group tweeted.
As Hindu students, we cannot study and live in an environment in which we feel unsafe. How are we supposed to feel safe, when a Professor can block us (a student-run handle) with no prior engagement – yet can continue to tweet at us & energize her followers who call us “dotheads”
Rutgers Newark comes out in defence of Audrey Truschke after Hindus raise concerns over her anti-Hindu prejudice
The group claims Rutgers refers to “rigorous” scholarship, but turns a blind eye to non-academic OpEd’s and Twitter posts where Audrey Truschke spews venom against Hindus.
“Why won’t Rutgers take a stand against the countless examples of bigoted and dangerous insinuations that Truschke makes online, where she enables danger towards Hindu students?” The Hindu group asked.
The response from the Hindu group came after Rutgers Newark heeded to concerns raised by the Hindu students over its association with Hinduphobic ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke.
Defending Truschke, the statement said, “Rutgers emphatically supports Professor Truschke’s academic freedom in pursuing her scholarship, abhors the vile messages and threats being directed at her, and calls for an immediate end to them.”
“Scholarship is sometimes controversial, perhaps especially when it is at the interface of history and religion, but the freedom to pursue such scholarship, as Professor Truschke does rigorously, is at the heart of the enterprise,” the statement further said in defence of the controversial historian’s pursuit of scholarship at the Rutgers.
‘Hindu on Campus’ Group calls out Truschke’s religious bigotry directed towards Hindus and Hindu scriptures
Earlier on Sunday, the Hindu group who goes by Twitter handle @hinduoncampus had posted another thread on the microblogging platform, enlisting various instances when Audrey Truschke had made problematic statements against Hinduism and indulged in casual racism against Hindus.
At the time of US Capitol riots, Truschke tweeted about the presence of an Indian flag at the scene to imply it to be the handiwork of Hindu Right.
In another instance, Truschke had misinterpreted the sacred Hindu religious text of Bhagwad Gita and accused it of rationalising mass slaughter.
2/ Accused the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most famous and sacred Hindu texts as “Rationalizes mass slaughter”
The Gita was the basis for Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence movement, even inspiring Nelson Mandela and MLK himself.
The Hindu group also shed light on an instance when Truschke had equated a gangrape case in India to an incident in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata, essentially alluding that Hindu culture endorses “rape culture” and misogyny.
Truschke had even called Hindu Gods “misogynistic pigs”. When confronted for her deeply bigoted remark, she passed the buck on the professor whom she claimed had orginally stated so and she had just translated his version. However, the professor later clarified that Truschke’s words had got nothing to do with his translation and commented that her words were “highly inappropriate” and “quite shocking”.
4/ Called Hindu Gods “Misogynistic Pig”(s) on Twitter. Prof Robert Goldman, has himself clarified that Truschke’s words have “nothing to do with our translation,” that her language was “highly inappropriate,” and that the whole saga was “extremely disturbing” & “quite shocking.” pic.twitter.com/tFEtk5WloK
The group also accused Truschke of endorsing controversial burning of sacred Hindu religious texts, portraying Hindu Society as “Sex Obsessed” and “lustful”.
And last but not the least, the group also highlighted how Audrey Truschke continues to remain smitten with the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb and in being so, she has brushed under the carpet the trauma inflicted by the bigoted ruler on the people of India, contending that his persecution of Hindus is often exaggerated.
Her deep-rooted prejudice against the Hindus and continued misinterpretation of sacred Hindu texts and religious figures are becoming increasingly manifest in her statements and the use of her authority to project Hindus as oppressors, violent and bigoted.
“Her deep-rooted prejudice against the Hindus and continued misinterpretation of sacred Hindu texts and religious figures are becoming increasingly manifest in her statements and the use of her authority to project Hindus as oppressors, violent and bigoted,” the group tweeted.
In the last few days, a large section of India’s liberal commentators have revealed themselves to be great fans of the US based think tank Freedom House. Somebody out there has downgraded India from “free” to “partly free.” The andolanjeevis came out in full force for this one.
Who are these people, by the way? As Freedom House notes:
“External analysts assess 210 countries and territories, using a combination of on-the-ground research, consultations with local contacts, and information from news articles, nongovernmental organizations, governments, and a variety of other sources. Expert advisers and regional specialists then vet the analysts’ conclusions. “
That paragraph is written as if it conveys some information. But does it really?
Why did Freedom House use only “external analysts,” “expert advisers” and “regional specialists?” Why not ask “local consultants” and “global thinkers” too?
That’s when you realize none of those job descriptions actually mean anything specific. Freedom House is just using random words to fill up space. They think that if the sentence is long enough, you will assume they know what they are talking about.
Don’t fall for this. Ask why they are using a long sentence to hide the names and credentials. As it is, the idea of an oligarchy of “experts” supposedly upgrading and downgrading democracies leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Of course the problems go much further. Even if we saw the names and (supposed) credentials, why should we assume the best about the intentions of these people? Could they pass the most basic sanity tests?
Now, I really hate to compare India and Pakistan on any metric, except for comic effect. In all other cases, even discussing such matters belittles India. It gives the appearance that our democracy is somehow comparable to whatever mess they have over there in Pakistan. But, I had to ask. If the high minded experts feel that minorities in India are under threat, what do these global humanitarians have to say about atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan?
You would be surprised (or perhaps not).
Pakistan and India maps by Freedom House
Right off the bat, don’t miss the respective maps they created for India and Pakistan.
They conceded all of PoK to Pakistan! For India? They couldn’t even leave us with the portions on our side of the Line of Control. Instead, they went all the way and cut off the whole of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh from India. You would think this is some B-grade movie in Pakistan, looking for cheap applause from its audience. But no, this report is now a bestseller in India. This is what Indian liberals are cheering. Seriously.
Anyway, one good thing about the Freedom House report about Pakistan is that they began with a joke. Here is the first line from their overview on the country.
“Pakistan holds regular elections under a competitive multiparty political system.“
I appreciate this. Humor is always a good ice-breaker. By the way, I wondered what is the first line from their overview on India. Turns out it is fairly similar, with one small difference.
“India maintains a robust electoral democracy with a competitive multiparty system at the federal and state levels, though politics are marred by corruption.“
They wasted no time in showing their prejudice, did they?
You may object here. How can you say that they have a bias against India? After all, they scored India at 67/100 and Pakistan at a paltry 37/100. So, if they are being unkind to India, they are being extremely severe with Pakistan.
Yes, they are being severe with Pakistan. The question is : for what reason? Will they blame Pakistan for how they treat Hindus? Absolutely not. A simple Ctrl+F search through the Freedom House report on Pakistan reveals just 2 instances of the word “Hindu.” In contrast, the word “Muslim” appears 16 times in the report on India. Again, I absolutely hate putting the two numbers side by side, but doing so is necessary to reveal the bias.
The report on India features sentences such as:
“Two developments in 2019 undermined the political rights of certain minorities, and Muslims in particular…“
” In August 2019, a Rajasthan court acquitted six suspects in the 2017 killing of a Muslim man, despite eyewitness accounts and video evidence of their complicity“
Wait till I show you what they said about Hindus in Pakistan, because it is a masterpiece in propaganda writing. As it is, there were only 2 instances of the word Hindu in the report on Pakistan.
“Hindus have complained of vulnerability to kidnapping and forced conversions, and some continue to migrate to India.“
Did you catch that? Read the sentence carefully. They didn’t acknowledge the atrocities committed on Hindus in Pakistan! They only said Hindus have complained of atrocities, thus in no way endorsing the claim!
You must have seen other instances of this trick in operation. We all know the difference between a headline that says “Scam in XYZ procurement” and a headline that says “ABC alleges scam in XYZ procurement.” In the second case, the media takes no responsibility for the allegation. Just what Freedom House did with Hindus of Pakistan.
This will become even more obvious when you notice the startling turn of phrase in the paragraph the sentence is taken from.
“Hindus have complained of vulnerability to kidnapping and forced conversions, and some continue to migrate to India. Members of the Christian and other religious minorities remain at risk of blasphemy accusations that can arise from trivial disputes and escalate to criminal prosecution and mob violence. The blasphemy laws and their exploitation by religious vigilantes have also curtailed freedom of expression by Muslims.“
Three sentences, back to back. Christians are at risk of blasphemy accusations. Muslims face the threat of religious vigilantes too. Two straight assertions, with no qualifiers. But Hindus? They have only complained. Freedom House will not say if they believe there is any truth in these complaints made by Hindus.
This is straight up dehumanization of Hindus. The suffering of Hindus does not matter to them. The reason they think Pakistan sucks is because Muslims and Christians have a hard time there. Not because Hindus face atrocities. In fact, you can read the entire report on Pakistan. Not at a single place do they acknowledge by name that any crime was committed against Hindus.
In fact, such language tricks appear all through their report. Consider the following sentences they wrote about freedom in India:
“Muslim personal status laws and traditional Hindu practices discriminate against women in terms of property rights and inheritance.“
“Muslim personal status laws and traditional Hindu practices feature gender discrimination on matters such as marriage, divorce, and child custody.”
The exact same phrase “Muslim personal status laws and traditional Hindu practices” appears twice in the same report! Looks like someone had a template ready. And more interestingly, was trying hard to make sure you don’t notice the difference between laws in one community and practices in another. A lot of bad things happen in society. But when injustice is officially given legal sanction, it is a whole other level of unfairness.
But if Freedom House admitted that one community is just more open minded than the other, what would happen to their agenda?
In reading the reports from Freedom House, what stood out is how similar it is to the now familiar secular whitewashing style of mainstream media here in India. We all know the template: a Hindu victim becomes “Delhi man” while a Muslim victim is clearly identified as such. If a crime happens in a madrassa, you can’t just say that a crime happened in madrassa. You must say that the incident has put the spotlight on crimes in “madrassas and Vedic pathashalas.” You can’t just say that a Hindu was a victim. You can only say that that they are alleging it.
In other words, be strictly factual and super skeptical when reporting on Hindu victims. When a Muslim alleges victimhood, take all claims at face value, suspend all skeptical questioning and disseminate it widely. And above all, try to avoid mentioning Hindus as much as possible. If you don’t even mention Hindus, it becomes easier for the world to pretend like they don’t exist. Thanks Freedom House for showing us that this writing style has now gone fully international. Whether as a majority in India or as a tiny persecuted minority in Pakistan, global liberals have made it clear that we Hindus deserve no place at all.
One last thing. The cover of the Freedom House report is an apparent tribute to a group of protesters, their fists in the air, carrying signs that say “We want justice.” Who is on that cover?
