Former journalist, Anuj Dhar, who is also the author of the book ‘Conundrum: Subhas Bose’s Life after Death’, stirred up a controversy on social media on Saturday.
In a tweet, he wrote, “This day in 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose was elected president of Congress. According to a declassified CIA record, Bose was later ousted from Congress presidency by certain “British influences”. Dhar further added, “At that time, Bose suddenly took ill. Poisoning was suspected.” His claims sparked outrage on social media amidst aspersions about the role of the then Congress high command in his mysterious disappearance.
This day in 1939, #SubhasChandraBose was elected president of Congress. According to a declassified CIA record, Bose was later ousted from Congress presidency by certain “British influences”. At that time, Bose suddenly took ill. Poisoning was suspected. #Netaji125pic.twitter.com/2wx91I2RfF
Subhas Chandra Bose and his ouster from the Congress
Bose had been elected as the president in Haripura session of Congress in 1938. Bose had been advocating opposition to the British government’s federal scheme as per Government of India Act 1935. He had been proposing a mass movement for ‘Purna Swaraj’, unlike other elements within the party which were in favor of accepting the new concessions from the British. However, the old guard, including Mahatma Gandhi, refused to heed to his words. Therefore he contested for re-election to the presidency of the next annual Congress session that was to be held in Tripuri.
Unlike today’s Congress party, there were real elections to the post of president during that time. He won against Gandhi’s candidate Pattabhi Sitarammayya (1,575 to 1,376 votes). In response, the entire CWC (Congress working committee) resigned. Thereafter, he was shunted out of the Congress party because he had the charisma and ability to win an election against the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi.
Amidst the ongoing armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and rebel group Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the United States has directed the Eritrean government to withdraw its security forces from the conflict zone. It is important to mention that Ethiopia has denied any presence of Eritrean troops in the region, although credible reports estimate their numbers to be in thousands.
According to the spokesperson of the State Department, the United States has expressed grave concerns after witnesses reported human rights violations, loot, sexual assault and killing in the Tigray region. The US is concerned that the Eritrean forces are reluctant to leave the region.
On Thursday, IT Minister of Eritrea responded to concerns raised by US ambassadors to Ethiopia. He said, “The allusion by these ambassadors to potential territorial war between Eritrea and Ethiopia can only be disingenuous in content and vicious in intent.” Eritrea had emphasised that the concerns were ‘provocative’ and ‘ill-intentioned’ in nature.
The impact of conflict in the Tigray region
Following the military intervention of the Ethiopian government under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed against Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Tigray region has become an isolated territory with only limited access to humanitarian workers. The conflict zone is home to 6 million people and concerns have been raised about the growing starvation and shortage of food and other essential supplies.
While speaking about the situation, Ato Abera Tola, President of Ethiopian Red Cross Society said, “There is no area which is not affected by this conflict … the conflict is everywhere.” With no access to journalists, it is difficult to verify assertions made by the government or the armed rebel group.
Debretsion Gebremichael, a fugitive rebel leader, said in a purported audio clip, “Many have paid and many are continuing to pay the ultimate sacrifice…They are carrying away what they can and burning what remains.” He asked residents of Tigray to continue the ‘struggle’ against those threatening their identity and existence. He also reiterated allegations of torture, rape and murder against the Ethiopian government.
How the Tigray conflict began
Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, ordered a military offensive against the TPLF after an attack on one of its military bases early in November. Ahmed accused the rebels of being responsible for the attack which resulted in the capture of the military base by the rebels. A state of emergency was declared in the country for six months.
Ahmed said that the attackers “tried to loot” military assets, asserting that “the last red line had been crossed”. “The national defence force that has been in the bunkers for the past 20 plus years defending its people and the country by paying heavy sacrifices with its blood and flesh, has been attacked, this evening in Mekelle and many other places, by traitors and the force they organised,” he said in a televised address.
During its initial years, the TPLF had a Marxist ideological bent but later, it moderated itself and claimed to be pro-democracy. Since 1991, after overthrowing what it labelled as a dictatorship, the TPLF and others formed a coalition government that ruled Ethiopia until 2018.
In 2018, however, another coalition, the Prosperity Party, assumed power after the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front Chairman under Abiy Ahmed unified the constituent parties into a new coalition. The TPLF did not accept the merger and called it illegal. Amidst the ongoing fight, the government has claimed to taken two key towns from the rebels in Northern Tigray.
Delhi State Congress unit today passed a unanimous resolution to make senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi as the party President.
Rahul ji is only one who can inspire Congress workers. All his predictions are coming true from farmers issue to ills of GST. He's shown his leadership ability. So we passed resolution to make him Congress president again: Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Anil Chaudhary https://t.co/FjfBOEUMJnpic.twitter.com/c3tlSTee2B
Delhi Congress unit believes that because Rahul Gandhi’s ‘predictions’ are coming true, he has shown his leadership ability and hence they passed a resolution to make him party president again.
Rahul Gandhi quit after 2019 general elections debacle. Upon his resignation as party president, his mother Sonia Gandhi was made interim President. Prior to Rahul Gandhi, she had served as party president for two decades.
Soon after he had resigned as party chief, speculations were rife that he would come back as party president, mostly because of the party’s lack of leadership and political will to think beyond the Nehru-Gandhi family. However, other senior leaders like Shashi Tharoor have been quite vocal about expressing disdain over dynastic politics in the grand old party.
Various state units have also passed similar resolutions to make him the party president.
Amidst all this, there are rumours that Rahul Gandhi has again left the country for foreign vacation. Congress, however, has dismissed the reports.
Senior Trinamool leader Madan Mitra has found himself in the dock recently after making Hinduphobic comments during a live debate on Zee 24 Ghanta with BJP MP Arjun Singh on the 28th of January. He claimed during the debate that Sita made beef for Parshuram and announced his inclination to move the High Court and have the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan banned.
But that was not the only bizarre comment that was made during the debate which soon devolved into mudslinging and something that could not be accurately described with words. Madan Mitra also somehow managed to link Sita to NRC.
He 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.”
A visibly disgusted Arjun Singh responded saying, ‘We cannot expect better from Madan Mitra. The culture he is a part of cannot distinguish between mother and wife. He belongs to Mamata Banerjee. That is why she in such a situation.’ And this was probably the highest point of the debate. At one point, the Trinamool leader called himself the ‘crush of Bengal’.
But Madan Mitra, here, is a repeat offender. Only a few days earlier, he threatened the violence. 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).”
After Suvendu Adhikari jumped ship to the BJP, he expressed his happiness saying that the party was free from virus now. He also said that if Mamata Banerjee does not defeat Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram by 1 lakh votes, he will cut his own wrist.
Madan Mitra started his career with the Indian National Congress. However, later, he joined the All India Trinamool Congress founded by Mamata Banerjee. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the party and even became a Minister in West Bengal. Now, he is a meme sensation in Bengali sections of social media.
There is an extremely popular Facebook page called ‘Madan Mitra at Unusual Places’ that has over eighty-six thousand likes on the platform. The page is dedicated to, as the name suggests, sharing photographs of the Trinamool leader at unusual places. Sometimes, he is shown in football matches and sometimes, in posters of popular movies.
Image Credit: Madan Mitra at unusual places/Facebook
Image Credit: Madan Mitra at unusual places/Facebook
Image Credit: Madan Mitra at unusual places/Facebook
Memes were shared where the Trinamool is shown as Hulk, Thanos or one of the other Avengers characters.
Image Credit: Madan Mitra at unusual places/Facebook
Image Credit: Madan Mitra at unusual places/Facebook
Image Credit: Madan Mitra at unusual places/Facebook
He was also shows with former US President Donald Trump on one occasion.
Image Credit: Madan Mitra at unusual places/Facebook
Madan Mitra is well aware that he is a meme on social media. However, to his credit, he does not mind being one. During an interview with Bankura Memes that was shared on YouTube, he equated the current meme culture with the work of the legendary comedian Charlie Chaplain.
During the interview, he revealed that he was once asked by a journalist from a very prominent media house why he did not take any action against those making memes on him, he responded, “How many people have been making a living by selling God? And in our land of over a billion, Ram and Sita are the ones most being sold. Some Hanumans have gathered, they don’t have Ram-Sita in their hearts, they have them in their mouths.”
He continued, “If someone is most responsible for the troll culture, if someone is most responsible for the memes, the ones responsible for vandalism…” He did not really complete the train of thought.
At another point, he said, “If someone can guarantee that they want sunglasses like mine, then I will say that please do something, vote for Trinamool Congress. I will come wearing these sunglasses in front of you however many times you want, I might even let you wear it once but I will take it back.
He was asked once during an interview why he had such a huge following among the young crowd. He went on to describe how people always prefer ‘kochi’ (kachcha/young) things. He spoke at length about the attractiveness of ‘kochi aam (kachcha mangoes)’.
‘It looks good, the size is also good,’ Madan Mitra said about ‘Kochi aam’. Unfortunately, ‘kochi’ is also used to refer to nubile women in a derogatory fashion. From his conduct, it does not appear that he was aware of that meaning while speaking.
The Trinamool leader also appeared on a TV show during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic in India covered totally in clothing. It appears sensible enough but it is a bit comical as he could have easily appeared for the interview through live stream from his home if he were so worried about the virus. But then again, perhaps he should not be mocked for exercising too much caution. It is funny nonetheless.
YouTube screengrab
In 2013, the Trinamool leader boasted about how he had threatened a police officer with physical violence prior to the elections in 2011. He claims to have told the police officer, “Ekta kaan er goraay debo na, kal shokal er por khuje pawa jaabe na (I will slap you and they will not be able to find you next morning.”
In 2018, he claimed that Amit Shah looks like the dacoits from Chambal and compared Mamata Banerjee to the ‘Maa’ of Bengal. He was also arrested by the CBI in 2014 in connection with the Saradha scam. He was granted bail two years later.
Madan Mitra also loves going ‘live’ on Facebook. People on social media also claim that he is a drunkard, although we cannot verify such claims. Following the debate with Arjun Singh, YouTube and Facebook were rife with comments that he was under the influence of alcohol during the debate.
The Trinamool leader also questioned the morals of the victim in the infamous Park Street rape case and asked who would befriend strangers at 2 am in a discotheque.
Under such circumstances, it appears that there is some merit to Arjun Singh’s comments that the fact that Madan Mitra is still relevant in the party only demonstrates that the state of the party. During the debate, the Trinamool leader called Singh ‘Chor’ and ‘Lompot’ (Thief and lumpen).
The Republic Day violence and the subsequent desecration of Indian tricolour and the hoisting of other religious flags at the Red Fort created shock waves across the country. The riots that were unleashed in the capital on a historic day was suspected to have pro-Khalistani outfits hand, who along with far-left ‘activists’ and ‘farmer’ leaders instigated protestors to carry out large scale violence on the streets of Delhi.
Ever since the so-called farmer protests began to oppose the three farm laws passed by the Modi government, there were allegations of Khalistani interference. OpIndia had also reported in detail regarding how Khalistani elements were trying to hijack the protests to incite the ‘farmers’ to carry out insurrection against the state.
As suspected the farmer protests culminated in the massive violence during the tractor rally in the national capital on Republic Day. A few days after the riots, explosive details are emerging that links to the involvement of Khalistani elements in instigating the violence.
According to a report published by Sunday Guardian, members of a group going by the name of “Khalistan Zindabad” had discussed ‘picking up arms’ and ‘carry as many arms as possible’ in the initial days of January on the popular messaging application Telegram. These members also discussed their present and future moves to oppose the farm laws.
Private Telegram groups asked members to pick up arms, says report
As per the report, the suspected Telegram group had 42 members, and the group’s admin is identified by the name of ‘EmbassyofKhalistan’. The admin has the picture of Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is declared a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in July last year. Following the Republic Day riots, the number of members in the group decreased.
However, it is not yet clear whether any of these 42 members were part of the protestors, squatting at various points outside Delhi. These protestors disguised as ‘farmers’ created a riot-like situation in the national capital region on 26 January, that ended with desecration of the Red Fort and the unfurling of an alleged Khalistani flag from its ramparts.
On 11 January, one of the members of this ‘private group’ on Telegram had asked the members to ‘carry as many arms as possible’. It is not clear from the conversation as to where these armed members were asked to go and when.
Most importantly, the Sunday Guardian report disclosed that one of the prominent members of this group is also behind a music video, released on 31 October 2020 glorifying the life of Khalistani secessionist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The video glorifies Khalistani movement and incidents like assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi apart from Bhindranwale. It was uploaded from Southall district of London, United Kingdom, on YouTube as well as Instagram.
During a conversation between members of this group on 14 January, at around 9 pm on the ‘ills of farm bills’, one of the group members is inciting the other members to ‘pick up arms’.
Protesters resort to violence, vandalism and destruction amidst Tractor Rally
Thousands of farmers breached barricades and proceeded towards Delhi amid huge police presence as they kicked off their tractor rally on Republic Day. Chaos was unleashed on the streets leading to the national capital as farmers flouted the designated route and marched towards the Parliament and Red Fort.
The participants of the tractor rally also resorted to vandalism as they ran amok on the highways, attacking the trucks and breaking the barricades that were put up by the Delhi police to control their route. As disorder swept over the city’s borders, protesters were baton-charged and tear-gassed by the policemen on duty.
The upheaval was primarily caused after the protesters who were allowed to hold the “Kisaan Parade” between 12 to 5 PM, started the march much before the allotted time and veered away from the agreed-upon routes. The security personnel had tried in vain to convince the farmers to stick to the plan of holding the tractor parade after the conclusion of the Republic Day parade at Rajpath. But, their requests fell on deaf ears as the protesters ran riot, breaking barricades and vandalising vehicles on their way.
Uttar Pradesh Police has opened a history-sheet of 81 people in Gorakhpur district. Dr. Kafeel Khan, who was named as main accused of involvement in the deaths of several children in BRD Medical College in 2017, is amongst the top ten on the list of history-sheeters. After becoming a history-sheeter, Khan will remain on Police’s radar.
History-sheeters are those people who have a criminal record.
Senior Superintendent of Police Jogendra Kumar gave the instructions to open history sheets against 81 people. As of now, there are 1,543 history-sheeters in Gorakhpur.
Kafeel Khan accused in Gorakhpur BRD Medical collage case
Adeel Khan, brother of Kafeel Khan, claimed that the history-sheet against controversial Dr Kafeel Khan was opened in June 2020, but the media came to know about it on Friday. He has since moved to Rajasthan after Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi assured him of ‘safe stay‘ in the Congress-ruled state.
Dr Khan was suspended after allegations of medical negligence was levelled against him in 2017 after 72 infants had died in BRD medical college in Gorakhpur due to lack of oxygen supply, and was arrested on that charge. Two years later, after a probe by UP police, the charges of negligence and corruption were dropped, but he was still charged with running a private practice and two other accusations. He was released in 2018 after spending 9 months in jail, and he still continues to be suspended from his job.
In January 2020, he was arrested for his speech at Aligarh Muslim University on December 10, 2019, during anti-CAA protests.
Khan had made some inflammatory remarks in his speech delivered during the anti-CAA protests in Aligarh Muslim University. He had allegedly remarked against Home Minister Amit Shah that he was a murderer whose clothes are foul with blood. He had also said that the CAA made Muslims second class citizens. He alleged that the students in the RSS run schools are taught that people with beard are terrorists and that with the CAA the government has told us that India was not our country. Khan had urged people to fight for their existence.
He was later booked under National Security Act. In September 2020, Allahabad High Court quashed his detention and ordered immediate release.
Amidst ongoing farmer protests, violence on January 26 in New Delhi, and uproar against the protests in the pretext of insulting the National Flag, many social media accounts are being exposed that are continuously spreading fake news and provoking naïve people. One such account is Instant Bollywood, run by one Simi Deol.
What is Instant Bollywood?
In simplest possible words, Instant Bollywood deals in information related to the film industry. It was started by Simi Deol in 2012. The company claims to have over 25 million followers. Its Instagram account has 6.4 million followers, Twitter account has 51,000 followers, its Facebook page has 1.8 million followers, and its YouTube account has less than 1000 subscribers. The LinkedIn page of the company claims it gets 2 billion page impressions every month. These stats are important as any misinformation posted by an account with 6.4 million followers can spread like wildfire, and this is exactly what Instant Bollywood did.
A long list of misinformation and manipulative posts by Instant Bollywood
The posts made by Instant Bollywood did not happen all of a sudden or happen only once. The company has been posting misleading information and fake news for months. Here are some screenshots of the posts a Bollywood News website posted on its Facebook page with 1.8 million followers.
In this video, the Sikh man is claiming that if the Agriculture laws are implemented, it will take away prosperity from Punjab. He also misled the viewers by saying that these laws will take away MSP. The government of India has repeatedly rebutted the claim and said that MSP is here to stay. During the meetings with farmer unions, the government of India was ready to give it in writing that the MSP will stay even if the laws are implemented. MSP was never part of any law, but the misinformation spread by such pages has presented it in a way that the government is trying to take away MSP.
Source: Instant Bollywood Facebook Page
Here are some other posts.
Source: Instant Bollywood Facebook PageSource: Instant Bollywood Facebook PageSource: Instant Bollywood Facebook PageSource: Instant Bollywood Facebook PageSource: Instant Bollywood Facebook Profile
The list continues on Instant Bollywood’s Instagram profile. During the Tractor rally, the company shared series of inflammatory posts on its Instagram stories that would have seen not only its millions of followers by countless others who reached to the stories because of hashtags and reshares.
A Twitter user ScarletStreetAv shared a few screenshots containing misleading information by InstantBollywood about flag hoisting on Red Fort.
A Twitter user Gayatri took screenshots of many posts made by the company on its Instagram account and shared them in a Tweet Threat. In the first four screenshots, the Instant Bollywood was seen justifying hoisting Nishan Sahib on Red Fort. The account even went ahead and called anyone against the protest ‘eggheads.’
Thread on anti-India anti-Gov anti-Hindu anti-RW blue tick Bollywood portal @instantbolly funded by LW&India’s enemies that runs their propaganda 24*7 to brainwash&mislead 6.3 million+ vulnerable Indians&instigates ri0ts&hate against Gov,RW& @KanganaTeam!@centerofright@LegalLropic.twitter.com/jZsQm3BlR2
In the second set of screenshots, Instant Bollywood tried to portray as if the young farmer, who died because his tractor overturned, died for protesting. Police have registered several cases against journalists and news agencies for spreading misinformation about this particular death.
2)25 IG stories~Thread on anti-India anti-Gov anti-Hindu anti-RW blue tick Bollywood portal @instantbolly funded by LW&India’s enemies that runs their propaganda24*7 in garb of Bolly updates to brainwash&mislead 6.3million vulnerable Indians&cause ri0ts@coolfunnytshirt@swati_gspic.twitter.com/X6U0Z0taO4
In the third set of screenshots, it was visible that the company claimed that only a fraction of protestors were diverted from the route. However, in a recent video of one of the main accused of the Red Fort incident, Deep Sidhu, he had claimed lakhs of farmers had diverted from the original route.
In the fourth and fifth sets of screenshots, Instant Bollywood again tried to justify hoisting Nishan Sahib on Red Fort. It also shared videos of police retaliating to the protestors’ attacks but failed to post any videos when the protestors had attacked police or tried to mow down police personnel with a tractor.
5)Thread~Instigation of ri0ts&huge anti-India anti-Gov anti-RW propaganda carried out by 6.3M+ follower bluetick IG page that wears facade of Bolly updates.If IG goes unregulated&hate factory traitor portal isnt penalised,India will suffer @GemsOfBollywood@ErayCr@KreatelyMediapic.twitter.com/c1EsqJXryU
Instant Bollywood also shared a post by Dilip Mandal, who tried to whitewash the act of holding Delhi at ransom by the protestors by saying, “There were over two lakh tractors and countless people. Was a single shop looted? Was someone’s car damaged? Was someone’s personal property damaged? Was some girl got molested? Was an ambulance stopped? They were not violent. They were just agitating against the government.”
5)Thread~Anti-India LW 6.3M follower bluetick Bolly portal posted 30 back to back insta stories against Gov,India, RW&Hindus&to incite ri0ts in just 24hours,imagine impact of so many months&years on kids,youth&India that follow it for Bolly @TheAngryLord@delhichatter@desimojitopic.twitter.com/R2UWAKbqIE
In the sixth set of screenshots, there was a post made by Instant Bollywood that claimed every tractor had National Flag on it. Interestingly, it was one of the conditions Delhi Police had imposed while allowing the tractor rally. Also, it might be the only condition that the protestors had followed. Rest all conditions imposed on the route, time and weapons were ignored by the protestors. It has to be noted that over 300 police personnel, including female police officers, were injured. One female police officer was cornered and assaulted by protestors. Two female police officers were cornered with their male counterparts in Red Fort and beaten with batons. The protestors damaged several public buses, police vehicles. Not to forget, there are videos where they tried to mow down police personnel with tractors.
In another post, Instant Bollywood claimed that after denying Reliance will not enter into contract farming, and it secured the first major deal because of the new laws. In reality, the company only procured 1000 quintal paddy and not signed any contract for growing paddy with the farmers in Raichur, Karnataka.
Image source: Twitter user Gayatr1_
Other Netizens also demanded action against Instant Bollywood
Instant Bollywood has also posted against the summons National Investigating Agency sent to several people and organizations to explore their connections to Khalistan organizations.
Fraud bluetick @instantbolly should also be served @NIA_India notice to show its funding source~Has 6.3Mfollowers,been brainwashing millions DAILY against Gov,Kangana,SSR&Arnab. Instrumental in misleading millions&instigating violent Khαlistani protests to cause unrest in country pic.twitter.com/avZgGEL3IL
Now, all these propaganda posts are removed from the social media accounts of Instant Bollywood.
Soon after the Red Fort siege, Instant Bollywood tried to whitewash the riots and posted a video that claimed that the ‘protests’ were ‘peaceful’.
The Other Side film posted by Instant Bollywood for whitewashing Red Fort siegeMore propaganda from Instant BollywoodInstant Bollywood hailing tractor rally
The user comments on these posts were limited by the social media account.
Who is Simi Deol?
According to a ‘sponsored’ Financial Express report, Simi moved from the US to India and founded Instant Bollywood in 2012. The report claimed that Instant Bollywood is the largest Bollywood based Instagram Channel. In a report in Indian Express, that is also sponsored, it was mentioned that Simi, who is a Psychology graduate, moved to India after getting married. There is not much information available about Simi Deol.
Simi has very little social media presence herself and her Internet footprint is also quite limited to sponsored content published by Indian Express in 2019. Around same time another ‘profile‘ of hers was published by some media blog called ‘popdiaries’, which was subsequently republished by Yahoo.
Instant Bollywood’s trademark and the domain is under Shabir Momin’s name
Though Instant Bollywood is registered as a Sole Proprietorship firm under Simi’s name, interestingly, the domain name InstantBollywood.com is under one Singapore based individual Shabir Momin, founder of ZengaTV and several others.
Source: DomainTools
The logo and trademark application of Instant Bollywood is also under Shabir’s name in April 2020.
Source: QuickCompany.in
It is unclear what is the connection between Simi Deol and Shabir Momin.
Amongst other things, Instant Bollywood also handles social media marketing of various films. Simi Deol’s earliest internet footprint is of July 2018. Prior to that, despite running such a successful company, she had very little presence. Even after that, other than the sponsored content and her ‘success story’ very little is known of her.
Days after former IAS officer and the founder of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM), Shah Faesal, praised India’s Coronavirus vaccination drive, he has yet again expressed his support to the Modi government’s initiatives.
While applauding the Prime Minister’s address to the nation, Shah Faesal tweeted, “It is like 1.3 Billion people coming together as a family on a Sunday morning and each one being heard and spoken to, each one feeling counted.”
It is like 1.3 Billion people coming together as a family on a Sunday morning and each one being heard and spoken to, each one feeling counted.
My take away from this program: Communication can build solidarities and make a nation ‘sound’ like a family. https://t.co/H4FSzkge80
He further added, “My take away from this program: Communication can build solidarities and make a nation ‘sound’ like a family.”
Islamists troll Shah Faesal for ‘backstabbing’ Kashmiris
Shah Faesal, who was once the poster boy for other emerging Islamists, faced fierce criticism for his support to PM Modi’s ‘Maan ki Baat’ programme. Twitter troll Mohammed Asif Khan accused him of selling his soul.
Kitne mein bech diya tune tera zameer ??? 2019 mein bahut bada revolutionary ban raha tha tu, ab Modi ke talwe chaat raha hai!
Khan tweeted that he was being a great revolutionary in 2019 but now he’s licking PM Modi’s boots. He had earlier said that Shah Faesal was a bigger stooge than freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.
One Muneeb Khan shared the screenshot of a Times of India article, wherein Shah Faesal had said that one could only be a stooge or separatist in Kashmir. Slamming the former IAS officer for supposedly deserting the Kashmiris, Khan tweeted, “Don’t troll him. He chose to be former, ‘the stooge.'”
Another user, Hamid Haqani, wrote, “On your last tweet, I thought that you might’ve now surpassed their criteria of meanness and shamelessness for becoming eligible to join their cadre. But, now I have idea about that level of degradation.”
On your last tweet, I thought that you might’ve now surpassed their criteria of meanness and shamelessness for becoming eligible to join their cadre. But, now I have idea about that level of degradation.
A Twitter user said, “You have fallen from grace more than the temperature of Kashmir.” Another user asked, “Aur kitna chaatoge (How long will you continue with the boot-licking)”
Itna tou ajj kashmir ka temperature b nahi gira hai jitna app gir gye ho.
Last week, in a supposed change of heart, Shah Faesal tweeted, “This is more than just a vaccination program. It’s good governance + human capital formation + nation-building + India assuming global leadership as a Jagat Guru (The Guru of the World).” He had also been retweeting tweets of PM Modi and other BJP leaders, in connection to India’s vaccination drive. While some Islamists and members of the left-liberal lobby have been vocal against him for supporting India for a noble cause, others resorted to calling him names for supposedly ‘betraying Kashmiris’.
Shah Faesal and his hate politics
Shah Faesal has been accused of hate-mongering for a long time. Earlier, after sliding into irrelevance, former IAS officer-turned-politician Shah Faesal had attempted to incite violence and threatened that he would not celebrate Eid until ‘the last bit of insult is avenged and undone’. A frustrated Shah Faesal had threatened to seek revenge and warned the people of India that he would not celebrate the Eid until he avenged the ‘insult’ meted out to him following the historic abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories.
Earlier, it was reported that Shah Faesal has been informed by authorities that his resignation has not been accepted. He was made a part of the IAS cadre in Jammu & Kashmir after he had topped the civil services in 2010. In 2018, he had left for the USA supposedly to pursue further studies in the USA and following his return, he had established the JKPM. In August last year, Shah Faesal had stepped down as the president of the organisation.
In a major development on Saturday, a 58-year-old Congress MLA named Pradeep Chaudhary has been disqualified from the Haryana State Assembly after he was convicted in a decade-old riot case by a Himachal Pradesh court.
Pradeep Chaudhary, who represented the Kalka Assembly, has been sentenced to 3 years behind bars and penalised ₹85,000 by the Nalagarh court in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. He was found guilty on charges of assault, rioting and other penal offences on January 14 this year. Apart from the MLA, fourteen others too were convicted and sentenced to three years in jail.
“Consequent upon the conviction of Pradeep Chaudhary, MLA under sections 143, 341, 147 of the IPC, by the court of Jitender Kumar, Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Nalagarh, District Solan, Chaudhary, representing the Kalka Assembly constituency of Haryana, stands disqualified from the membership of Haryana Vidhan Sabha from the date of his conviction, that is January 14, 2021,” the Haryana assembly secretariat issued a notification.
The Background of the Case
On May 31, 2011, a resident of Paploha village climbed atop an electric pole in Barotiwala village in the Nalagarh constituency to avoid traffic police check. However, he came into contact with a live wire, resulting in severe injury. He eventually died while undergoing treatment at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.
Soon, a mob put his body at the Red Light Chowk in protest. The agitation soon culminated into violence and attack on police officials. The frenzied mob set two buses and a pick-up vehicle on fire and blocked vehicular movement on the highway. It is important to mention that Pradeep Chaudhary was part of the mob that was involved in rioting.
Congress MLA cannot contest elections until 6 years of his release
Chaudhary has been disqualified under Section 8 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which calls for automatic disqualification in case of conviction and a subsequent jail term of more than 2 years. The disqualification is enforceable from the date of disqualification. Such an individual cannot contest elections until 6 years of their release. As such, the Kalka Vidhan Sabha constituency has been declared as vacant.
While speaking about the development, Additional solicitor general Satya Pal Jain informed, “If the high court stays the conviction of the MLA, then his membership of the assembly will get restored from that day. But the restoration of membership will not be applicable if the high court only grants him bail.”
Plans to move no-confidence motion against the BJP fails
The development comes as a blow to the Congress party, which had been contemplating moving a no-confidence motion against the incumbent BJP-JJP government. The simple majority of the 90-member Haryana Vidhan Sabha has now fallen to 45, following Pradeep Chaudhary’s disqualification and the resignation of INLD MLA Abhay Singh Chautala last week. While the Congress has just 30 seats, the BJP has 40 MLAs and JJP has 10. The Haryana Lokhit Party has one seat and 5 out of 7 independent candidates support the ruling dispensation.
Union Minister Smriti Irani addressed a rally in Howrah, West Bengal on Sunday as campaigning for the Assembly Elections in the state heats up. She slammed the Trinamool Congress for its targeted attack against the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan and over the corruption carnage that has been unleashed in the state.
“People will not support a political party which makes them fight among themselves and hates the Central govt for its own profit. No patriot can stay for even a single minute in a party which insults the slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’,” said Smriti Irani.
The senior BJP leader also addressed the gathering in fluent Bangla. She said that in light of the lockdown, the central government had allotted rice and lentils to the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. However, the Trinamool Congress stole the grains, she said.
#WATCH | During COVID, throughout the country under the PM Garib Kalyan Scheme, 80 crore people got 5kg rice grains & 1kg dal for 8 months. In West Bengal during the Lockdown, TMC only misappropriated(stole) paddy & lentils: BJP leader Smriti Irani at rally in Howrah, West Bengal pic.twitter.com/0AIuH18Cbr
Smriti Irani also slammed the Trinamool Congress over the ‘cut money’ scandal. “Where there’s corruption, there is TMC.” She said that the people of Bengal have decided that this time, the TMC will be thrown out of power and BJP will win the elections.
During the rally, Smriti Irani also gave a catchy slogan for the party. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Didi o akhon jaanen Banglay poddo phool ghore ghore (Even Didi knows in Bengal, the lotus flower is in every house).”
The rally in Howrah was attended by Suvendu Adhikari and other leaders who had recently jumped ship from Trinamool Congress. Politics has heated up in West Bengal and there have been instances where TMC leaders have insulted the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan.
Senior leader Madan Mitra had recently said that he would go to the High Court to have the slogan banned after Mamata Banerjee walked off the stage during an event at Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial for Netaji birth anniversary celebrations with Prime Minister Modi in attendance.
