In the aftermath of the Republic Day violence and the public anger over the Red Fort attack, the farmer union leaders are desperately trying to blame each other and escape legal action. The Khalistani supporter Deep Sidhu was the only ‘known face’ present at the Red Fort, he became the first target of union leaders, opposition parties due to his alleged association with a BJP MP in the past.
Sidhu defends his actions, blames ‘farmer leaders’
Irked by the plethora of blames being thrown at him, Khalistani secessionist Sidhu has released a video statement on his official Facebook Page. In his statement, Sidhu said that he is being targeted because he was the only one who was there at Red Fort. The farmers who came with tractors to march inside Delhi were not happy with the farmer leaders as they bent in front of the police and decided to choose the route decided by the police, Sidhu has claimed.
He further said that only 3000 farmers went on the decided route and the rest of them entered without any union leader. No leader who provoked the farmers was present at Red Fort that fueled the chaos. He alleged that he tried to alleviate the situation and police also appreciated them for being non-violent. He said that farmers did not hit anyone or destroyed any property. He said everyone is calling him anti-national. “If I am anti-national, every protester present at the Red Fort was anti-national,” he added.
Sidhu threatens union leaders of consequences
At 14:00 minutes, he said that he is keeping quiet as he does not want to break the bond. No one is standing with him and blaming him for everything. At 15:35 minutes, he further alleged that the government would try to pin everything on him because of the statements made by farmer leaders. If he starts to talk about the dark secrets of the union leaders, they will not find any space to hide. He said, “The one who runs needs the land, and the one who flies needs the sky. Now I want both. The moment I come across any of the union leaders, I will not spare them. Remember, I will not spare them.”
Notably, Delhi Police has registered case against Deep Sidhu among other leaders. Many of the Congress leaders and their supporters, who had earlier hailed Sidhu as a hero, are now trying to paint him as a ‘BJP agent’ to whitewash the complicity of so-called ‘farmer leaders’ behind the violence.
Madhya High Court today denied the bail applications of self-proclaimed comedian Munawar Faruqui and his aide Nalin Yadav who are charged with hurting the religious sentiments. Faruqui was arrested by Madhya Pradesh police for insulting Gods during a stand-up comedy show in Indore. His bail application had come up before a single-judge Bench of Justice Rohit Arya for hearing.
BREAKING : Madhya Pradesh High Court dismisses bail applications of comedian Munawar Faruqui & his aide Nalin Yadav in case for alleged hurting of religious sentiments.
Rejecting the bail applications, Justice Arya observed, “…regard being had to the material seized and the statements of the witnesses and that the investigating is in process, no case is made out for grant of bail”.
A single bench of Justice Rohit Arya observed “no case is made out for grant of bail”.
“Mutual respect, faith and trust amongst all citizens of India are basic tenets of co-existence in a welfare society governed by rule of law”, the judge remarked in parting.#MunawarFaruqipic.twitter.com/z487y8jkse
The court noted that it is the constitutional duty of every citizen of the country and also of the State to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India irrespective of religious, linguistic, regional or sectional diversities. The court reminded the State of its duty to create an environment conducive for the sustenance of coexistence in the society and to make sure that it is not “polluted by negative forces”.
“States must endeavour that ecosystem and sustenance of coexistence in our welfare society is not polluted by negative forces and must strive for achievement of goals enshrined under Article 51A(e) and (f) of Constitution”, HC said in #MunawarFaruqui bail order. pic.twitter.com/eAdtuN5gMF
Making critical remarks regarding Faruqui’s comedy show, the High Court noted, “The evidence /material collected so far suggest that an organised public show under the garb of standup comedy on commercial lines, prima facie scurrilous, disparaging utterances, outraging religious feelings of a class of citizens of Indian were made”.
“The evidence/material collected so far, suggest that in an organized public show under the garb of standup comedy on commercial lines, prima facie scurrilous, disparaging utterances, outraging religious feelings of a class of citizens of India were made”- HC said#MunawarFaruqi
During the previous hearing of the bail applications, the High court had spoken in a strict tone. The High Court had questioned the mindset of Faruqui for making the alleged derogatory remarks against Hindu gods. Reserving the order in the application, Justice Arya had said that such people must not be spared.
Faruqui and four other persons identified as Edwin Anthony, Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas and Nalin Yadav were arrested for allegedly mocking Hindu Gods in a stand-up comedy show in Indore based on the complaint of Eklavya Singh Gaur, an activist and the chief of Hindu Rakshak Sangathan.
The Thailand King Maha Vajiralongkorn, known for his luxurious life and several concubines, has reportedly anointed his official mistress as the country’s second queen.
According to the reports, the 68-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn has crowned his royal consort – Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi as his second queen on Tuesday. The Thai King reportedly made Sineenat his second queen as a ‘birthday gift’ to her.
The latest development comes just a month after more than 1400 “naked selfies” of the king’s mistress were leaked on the internet.
Here are the images of private ceremony held to celebrate the birthday of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi:
Images via Daily Mail
The king and the new queen were seen relasing birds and fishes on the Chao Phraya river in a traditional Buddhist ceremony. They were seen attending the ceremony at the Wasukri pier in Bangkok.
As per reports, the reported appointment of Sineenat as the Second Queen is the latest development in the long series of dramatic events in the alleged bitter rivalry between Sineenat and Queen Suthida.
The leak of the “very explicit” photos of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, fondly known as ‘Koi’, was said to be an extension of the bitter rivalry between the King’s younger mistress and his wife. The alleged leak of the personal images of Koi, some of which are naked or semi-naked, comes just months after she rejoined the royal harem after being dramatically expelled and imprisoned last year.
Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn appointed Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi as his official mistress in 2019. However, she was stripped of her titles after a few months due to allegations of conspiracy against the Queen. Later this year, she was pardoned, and her titles were restored.
Sineenat, trained as a pilot in Thailand and abroad, had served in the King’s royal bodyguard unit. She held the rank of Major General in Thailand King’s Guard.
The royal rivalry between the Queen and King’s mistress?
According to critics of the Thailand monarchy, the naked images’ anonymous leak was an attempt to undermine defame the Thai king’s mistress Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi. The return of Koi to the palace was bitterly opposed by King’s wife Queen Suthida and Princess Bajrakitiyabha. It is being said that the images of Koi were leaked to sabotage her return as Vajiralongkorn’s consort.
The 67-year-old Thai king had named Sineenat as his royal consort in an elaborate ceremony in 2019. It was done just three months after he married Queen Suthida, his fourth wife. Queen Suthida was a cabin crew member in Thai Airlines earlier. The king, who took the throne in 2019, had divorced his first three wives. He has seven children from his previous three marriages.
It is notable here that Thai king is facing severe criticism back home after it was revealed that he had isolated himself with his entire harem of 20 concubines in a German luxury hotel during the coronavirus outbreak.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Vikramjeet Banerjee, appearing for Delhi Police in Supreme Court said that one of the February 2020 riot accused got bail because the prosecutor withheld information about the case before the High Court.
As per the reports, the additional public prosecutor of the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government was well aware that the central government had appointed special counsel to deal with the Delhi riots cases. However, he deliberately did not communicate this to the investigating agency when the bail plea for the accused Iliyas came up for hearing.
Challenging 25 August 2020 bail order, the ASG said that the additional public prosecutor did not communicate it to the police officials attached with the High Court and instead made a wrong statement that he had informed a deputy commissioner of police about it. The High Court also gave bail to the accused without issuing notice to the special prosecutor.
In the petition, Delhi Police has alleged that the city government’s prosecutor “withheld” the information from the investigating agency. He even appeared in the matter without authorisation and “made statements which led to a propitious order for the accused in question,” the petition says.
As per Delhi Police, this is not an isolated incident and same prosecutor has been acting in this manner in other cases too where he had not informed either the special prosecutor or the police officials present in the High Court.
Banerjee further submitted personal affidavits of two police personnel which stated that they were not informed about Iliyas’ bail hearing. Iliyas has been booked under charges of attempted murder, rioting and arson in an FIR lodged at Dayal Pur police station.
Referring to the High Court order as ‘strange’, the ASG said that it failed to take into account the charge sheet filed against Iliyas and the presence of several pieces incriminating evidence against him.
The Supreme Court bench, however, told the ASG that the correct course for Delhi Police would be to persuade Delhi High Court to review its decision.
2020 Delhi riots
In February 2020, the national capital was gripped with riots after the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and other parts of Delhi turned violent. Delhi Police is currently investigating role of AAP leader Tahir Hussain and others for their alleged involvement in the riots. He is charge sheeted in the brutal murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) employee Ankit Sharma and also inciting riots in the Delhi.
Punjabi actor and Khalistan sympathizer Deep Sidhu who was seen among the mob who attacked the Red Fort and hoisted different flags in place of the Tricolour on the 72nd Republic Day has reportedly been named by the police in an FIR lodged in connection with the violent protests of the Republic Day. Gangster-turned-social activist Lakha Sidhana has also been named in the FIR.
Several laws including the Arms Act invoked by the police
According to reports, a case has been registered by Delhi police at Kotwali police station of North district under relevant sections of various laws including the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, and the Arms Act. As informed by the officials, IPC sections-
186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions),
353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty),
308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 152 (assaulting or obstructing public servant when suppressing riot, etc.),
397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and
307 (attempt to murder).
The Archaeological Survey of India has issued an order announcing closing of the Red Fort for visitors from January 27 to January 31.
Protestors did not indulge in violence: Deep Sidhu
After being named in the FIR, Sidhu released a video on Facebook claiming that he tried to reason with the protesting farmers to reach a unanimous decision regarding the route to be taken for the protest on Republic Day. He claimed that no one led the farmers to the Red Fort and that he reached there only after the gates of the fort had already been broken. In the video, Sidhu justified the hoisting of the Sikh flag atop the Red Fort calling it “diversity”.
Contrary to what the visuals of the Red Fort and other parts post the violent protest suggest, Sidhu claimed that the protestors did not indulge in any sort of violence and did not damage any public property. He claimed that he was being made a scapegoat for the violence carried out by the protestors on January 26.
Debunking the allegations of having connections with the RSS and the BJP, Sidhu said that the allegation lacked logic as no RSS or BJP member would hoist the Sikh flag atop the Red Fort.
On January 27, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath handed over a cheque worth Rs 1 crore 1 lakh for the construction of Bhavya Ram Mandir on behalf of Shri Gorakhnath Mandir as a part of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nirman Nidhi to Champat Rai, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra. Notably, residents of Gorakhpur also donated money for the construction of the Mandir. Earlier, CM Yogi had donated Rs 2 Lakh and Rs 11 Lakh from his personal account to construct the temple.
आज गोरखपुर में @GorakhnathMndr का दर्शन किया । इस क्रम में गोरखनाथ मन्दिर के सभागार में मा. मुख्यमंत्री श्री @myogiadityanath जी के साथ गोरखपुर महानगर के प्रमुख नागरिकों ने निधि समर्पित किया। मा. मुख्यमंत्री जी ने गोरक्षपीठ की ओर से 1 करोड़ रुपये का समर्पण किया । pic.twitter.com/sniwhxEduM
Remembering Mahant Avaidyanath and Mahant Digvijay Nath, Rai said, “Mahant Avaidyanath and Mahant Digvijay Nath were associated with this movement. I came to Gorakhpur to pay reverence at the feet of Mahant Avaidyanath. He was associated with the Ram temple construction movement from 1984 onwards.”
UP CM Yogi Adityanath is currently on a tour of Gorakhpur where he offered prayers at the Gorakhnath temple on Wednesday morning. Many industrialists also donated for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. A total of Rs 5 crore was donated by the businessmen in Gorakhpur.
Donations for Ram Mandir coming from across country
Nirman Nidhi was commenced on the auspicious day of Makar Sakranti. President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kannada actors and a few Bollywood actors have donated money and urged people to donate as per their capacity. Several videos of donors have gone viral on the social media platform, out of which one video had stood out in which a poor elderly was trying to donate Rs 20, but the VHP members tried to convince her to donate only Rs 10.
The donation campaign will conclude on 27th February 2021.
Swati Chaturvedi, journalist cum abusive troll who accuses others of being abusive trolls, yet again displayed her lack of knowledge about the way the internet works and ended up embarrassing herself on social media on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Swati Chaturvedi, who spends most of her free time on the internet peddling conspiracy theories against the BJP, attributing them to her imaginary ‘sources’, took to Twitter to outrage against the saffron party for allegedly demeaning ‘gays’ and their own woman MP Raksha Khadse by describing as a “homosexual” on the party’s official BJP website.
The troll masquerading as a journalist – Swati Chaturvedi, did not stop at one tweet. The self-proclaimed ‘journalist’ attacked the BJP and the party president JP Nadda for demeaning Maharashtra MP Raksha Khadse and the gay community by describing her as a ‘homosexual’.
Not just Swati Chaturvedi, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh too joined the imaginary controversy to drag in BJP MP Raksha Khadse. Taking to Twitter, Anil Deshmukh said that it was shocking to see such a ‘derogatory description’ of Raksha Khadse on the official site of the BJP.
Sharing ‘troll’ Swati Chaturvedi’s tweet, the Maharashtra Home Minister said that the government would not tolerate this disrespectful behavior towards women and demanded action against those responsible.
Anil Desmukh’s tweet
If Swati understood how Google translate works, she would have probably pointed out the error in translation in the BJP website. But the urge to blame the BJP for anything and everything is so strong that she probably jumped to the conclusion that it must have been the BJP’s fault.
Fiasco caused by Google translate
The entire fiasco was caused due to Google translate. The official website of BJP has the option for viewers to view their content in both Hindi and English. If one wishes to read the website’s content in Hindi, the contents of the page, originally written in English, Google translates the content to Hindi using its software.
In this case, the Google Translate has wrongly interpreted the word ‘Raver’, the name of Khadse’s constituency, into Hindi that read ‘Homosexual’. The BJP has nothing to do with the content translation on their website.
Google translate wrongly translating the constituency name
Swati Chaturvedi, who have no idea whatsoever how translation on the internet works, accused BJP of disrespecting their own leader, instead of directing her outrage against tech-giant Google for wrong interpretation of Indian names without comprehending nuances.
Most importantly, the website does not demean or disrespect anybody per se. If one looks at the website, the wrongly translated word was the name of Khadse’s constituency and not her personal details. The error on the part of Google was to misinterpret her constituency’s name and not her personal details or BJP MP’s sexual orientation.
Also, how does the word ‘Homosexual’ is demeaning? The likes of Swati Chaturvedi, who claims to champion the cause of ‘liberal-secular’ values, perhaps think that calling someone ‘Homosexual’ or ‘gay’ is demeaning.
Google corrects is translation error
Following the outrage, Google has recognized the technical error and also corrected it. The BJP website now correctly translates the exact translation of the word ‘Raver’ into Hindi, thanks to immediate intervention from Google.
The corrected webpage
Alas, it is baffling to know about the inability of someone calling herself to be a ‘journalist’ to pick up basic nuances of the internet.
Swati Chaturvedi and ‘Goggling’
Swati Chaturvedi seems to have a complicated relationship with Google. They don’t get each other that well. Recently, the self-proclaimed journalist had claimed that she had ‘goggled’ the words “Modi marriage pics” and had found the image of the PM’s wedding. Swati had not thought of the possibility that Google can throw up images of the PM attending a marriage party. She had just decided that any search result with the words ‘Modi’ and ‘Marriage’ just had to be the PM’s own wedding. She even claimed that the PM doesn’t look like an adolescent and was quite visibly an adult during his wedding.
When social media users pointed out the obvious details, she had claimed that it was google’s fault, not hers.
As per the reports, police have cleared the National Highway adjoining Baraut, Uttar Pradesh, at the request of the National Highway Authority of India. While some propagandists claimed that police used force to clear up the area, but Baghpat police have denied the claims.
NHAI के अनुरोध पर राष्ट्रीय राजमार्ग से अवैध अतिक्रमण शांतिपूर्ण ढंग से हटाया गया।जिसके संबंध में ADM महोदय बागपत द्वारा दी गई बाइट। pic.twitter.com/OeA6bLiuxh
As per the police, ADM Amit Kumar, ASP Manish Kumar Mishra, SDM Durgesh Mishra, and CO Alok Singh interacted with the farmers’ representatives in the SDM room of Barot district for over two-and-half hours, but they could not reach a mutual decision.
After the meeting, the police asked the farmers to remove their belongings from the protest site and return to their homes. While talking to the media, ADM Amit Kumar denied using force and said that the claims of forceful removal of the farmers are incorrect. He said, “We received a written request from NHAI to clear the protest site as it was hindering their work. The police went to the site where only a few farmers were there for sit-in protests. All of them were sent back home.”
When he was asked why two protesters were taken in an ambulance, and if they were taken to a hospital, Kumar said that those two protesters are fine and they were not injured. The police used an ambulance to send them back to their home. They were sent in ambulance as they were elderly and keeping unwell.
Some propagandists on Twitter had claimed that the police used force and cut off the power at the protesting site, but the police have denied any such claims.
January 26 violence
Delhi Police is actively investigating the violence that happened on Republic Day in the city. Around 200 people were detained for their involvement in the violence, and several were arrested. The protesters had barged into the Red Fort, hoisted an alien flag and caused severe damage to public property. Several vehicles of Delhi Police and buses were destroyed by the protesters. As per reports, several cases under serious charges have been filed by the police against farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Deep Sidhu, Darshan Pal and others.
While the rioting mob created havoc in national capital, the ‘farmer leaders’ have claimed that the tractor rally was ‘peaceful’.
Day after rioting mob desecrated the Red Fort when official Republic Day celebrations were on, YouTuber Kusha Kapila took to Twitter to instigate the protesting rioters to hit back ‘Rang De Basanti’ style.
Kusha Kapila’s tweet
In a tweet, she said, that people say how Rang De Basanti is their favourite movie, but in real life, they ask protestors to not do this as it is not a good thing. It must be reiterated that the ‘protestors’ on Republic Day broke barricades, wielded swords at Delhi Police while riding horses, deliberately tried to kill the cops by trying to run tractors over them and pushed them into ditch at Red Fort in what appeared like an attempt to kill. The ‘protestors’ also beat up cops with the National Flag and eventually unfurled a flag believed to be that of the Sikh religious symbol Nishan Sahib on top of the Red Fort.
Film Rang De Basanti glorifies street vigilantism where in the lead actors, Aamir Khan, Siddharth and others kill the actor playing the role of Defence Minister after their friend, R Madhavan playing role of Air Force pilot is killed after MiG-21 malfunctions and crashes. Apparently, the Defence Minister was corrupt and hence the friends decided to kill him for avenging death of their friend.
Kapila has since then deactivated her Twitter account.
A day after a violent mob of protesters participating in tractor rally wreaked havoc in the national capital, a US-based ‘Human Rights Lawyer’, presumably of Indian origin, Arjun Sethi, made a clarion call to the demonstrators to continue protesting against the Modi government and oust PM Modi from power.
Sethi equated Donald Trump with PM Modi and urged people to mobilise against the Indian Prime Minister as they did against the former US President.
“If you organised against Trump, organise against Modi. If you organise against white supremacy, organise against Hindutva nationalism. The struggle for liberation is global,” Sethi tweeted.
Source: Twitter
Earlier yesterday, Sethi had tried to whip up resentment against the Modi government by claiming that “terrible violence and atrocities” were being inflicted on the farmers and that the BJP, RSS, PM Modi and Delhi Police were responsible for this.
Source: Twitter
Sethi was also profoundly distressed that internet services were suspended in some parts of the capital in the wake of violence. Sethi claimed that by blocking internet services Modi government wanted to silence dissent and commit acts of violence against the farmers and the protesters.
According to Sethi, when violence broke out in Delhi, police should not have placed internet curbs in the city. Perhaps, they should have allowed the social media miscreants to continue fomenting unrest through rumours and provocative posts is what Sethi meant with his tweet.
A cursory glance at Arjun Sethi’s Twitter profile characterises him as a person supporting the farmers in their fight against the Modi government. However, a deeper and more considered look at his profile reveals that Sethi harbours pathological hatred for PM Modi.
For a long-time now, Sethi has been dissing against PM Modi and the BJP-led central government. Sethi’s hatred for PM Modi became more apparent following the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by the Centre in 2019.
Ever since the CAA came into force, Sethi has been on a ranting spree against the central government and the Act itself. He has been persistently stoking unfounded fears about the CAA and has made several demands for its annulment.
Sethi even had problems with the Uttar Pradesh government when they named and shamed the anti-CAA rioters. The so-called Human Rights Lawyer also extended his support to the Shaheen Bagh protests, where demonstrators squatted on a busy thoroughfare in Delhi to oppose the CAA. In fact, Sethi also spearheaded a Shaheen Bagh-kind of protest in Washington against the CAA.
Source: Twitter
Sethi has also been seen celebrating denunciations of CAA made by the various city councils in the United States as if those denunciations were of profound consequence to get the CAA revoked.
Source: Twitter
Behind his interminable opposition to the CAA lies his overwhelming hatred for PM Modi. Sethi had even alleged that PM Modi helped incite and later justified the Gujarat pogrom. He even termed PM Modi a war criminal for his alleged role in Gujarat 2020 riots. He has been incessantly trotting out accusations of fascism against PM Modi and his government.
Perhaps, this perennial animosity for PM Modi is why he has now called for protesters to stage an uprising against the Modi government. The ongoing farmers’ agitation against the central government has provided an apposite plank for the Washington-based ‘Human Rights Lawyer’ to peddle his hatred against PM Modi, even if that meant unabashedly lying to stir resentment against the current dispensation.
Tractor rally protesters resort to violence and vandalism to create mayhem
Though Sethi has been scare-mongering about the violence that marred the tractor rally in Delhi on the 71st Republic Day, he has been significantly economical with the truth.
New Delhi was in the grips of violence on Tuesday when thousands of rampaging protesters opposing the three new Farm Laws ran riot on the streets of the national capital. Clashes broke out between security personnel and the unruly mob of protesters as they tried to breach the barricades and proceed on forbidden paths.
As thousands of so-called ‘farmers’ streamed towards the city, using their tractors to pull apart barricades and defy the agreed-upon route for the parade, police forces responded to bring a semblance of order to a city that seemed to be in chaos.
The police officials lathi-charged and tear-gassed the lumpen protesters to stop them from creating mayhem in the capital. Violence ensued and over 300 policemen were injured in the clashes that broke out between the riotous protesters and law enforcement officials. Violence was followed by vandalism as several vehicles, including DTC buses were attacked by protesters carrying out the tractor rally.
A large number of protesters also stormed the Red Fort in Delhi, where they attacked the security personnel who were deployed there, and subsequently scaled the iconic monument to hoist a religious flag alongside the Indian tricolour.
