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Blow to anti-Modi ‘Minorities under attack’ narrative as US rejects USCIRF comments accusing India of violating religious freedom of minorities

OpIndia Staff
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Blow to anti-Modi ‘Minorities under attack’ narrative as US rejects USCIRF comments accusing India of violating religious freedom of minorities

The US State Department has rejected the recommendation of the controversial United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to include India in the list of countries of particular concern (CPC) for alleged violation of religious freedom. The State Department has designated ten countries including China and Pakistan in the CPC list on December 7.

In response to a question as to why Pakistan was included in the CPC list and India was not, the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Samuel Brownback had said that violation of religious freedom was carried out by the government in Pakistan which was not the case in India. “(In) Pakistan, a lot of their actions (violations of religious freedom) are done by the government. In India, some of them are done by the government and the law that was passed, and much of its communal violence. And then when that takes place, we try to determine whether or not there has been effective enforcement, judicial action after communal violence takes place”, said Brownback. He added that half of the world’s people locked in jail on the charges of blasphemy were in Pakistan’s jails.

Besides China and Pakistan, the other countries included in the list are Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The countries of Comoros, Cuba, Nicaragu and Russia have been placed in the Special Watch List (SWL) for governments in these countries have either engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom. The US has designated Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaida, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-shram, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Taliban as the Entities of Particular Concern’.

India rejects USCIRF observations as biased and tendentious

The USCIRF had told the US government in its 2020 annual report that religious freedom in India had experienced a ‘drastic turn downward’ and that the religious minorities in the country were under ‘increasing assault’ in 2019. The organisation had made a similar recommendation in 2004. India had rejected the USCIRF observations as biased and tendentious. The USCIRF claimed that India was “engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations”. It stated in the report that the Indian government allowed violence against minorities and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence.

The USCIRF has been meddling with the internal affairs of India ever since the Modi government returned to power in 2019. It had been pushing one sided propaganda against the Modi government. In June this year, the Ministry of External Affairs had denied visas to the USCIRF teams in connection with issues relating to religious freedom. “We have denied a visa to USCIRF teams that have sought to visit India in connection with issues related to religious freedom, as we do not see the locus standi of a foreign entity like USCIRF to pronounce on the state of Indian citizens’ constitutionally protected rights”, the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had clarified.

Hindu and Christian Women in Pakistan being marketed as concubines and forced brides into China: US diplomat

OpIndia Staff
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Hindu and Christian Women in Pakistan being marketed as concubines and forced brides into China: US diplomat

The United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Samuel Brownback made certain revelations regarding the situation of Hindu and Christian women in Pakistan. Brownback said that Pakistan has been marketing Hindu and Christian woman as concubines and forced brides to China. He highlighted how religious discrimination makes religious minorities in the country vulnerable.

Pakistan designated as Country of Particular Concern

Brownback said that this was the reason that Pakistan has been designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. “We just had a really difficult webinar this morning on forced brides into China, and one of the source places is Pakistan religious minorities, Christian and Hindu women being marketed as concubines or forced brides into China because there’s not effective support, and then there’s discrimination against the religious minorities that make them more vulnerable”, he said.

Half of the people jailed for blasphemy are in Pakistan

According to reports, China is witnessing an acute shortage of women owing to a number of reasons including to its decades old one-child policy and the cultural preference for boys. This has led to Chinese men importing women as brides, mistresses and labourers. Replying to a question as to why the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Pakistan as CPC and not India, Brownback said that half of the world’s people locked in jail for blasphemy are in Pakistani prisons.

On December 7, Pompeo had designated ten countries including Pakistan and China as countries of particular concern for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations violations of religious freedom”. The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had recommended to the US State Department to include India as a country of particular concern but the recommendation was not accepted. Myanmar Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are the other countries on the CPC list.

“(In) Pakistan, a lot of their actions (violations of religious freedom) are done by the government. In India much of it is communal violence. And then when that takes place, we try to determine whether or not there has been effective police enforcement, judicial action after communal violence takes place”, Brownback told reporters during a conference call. The USCIRF observations in its annual report were rejected by India.

Bareilly: Father of a Muslim girl accuses Hindu boy of kidnapping his daughter, the girl tells court she married him on her own free will

OpIndia Staff
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Bareilly: Father of a Muslim girl accuses Hindu boy of kidnapping his daughter, the girl tells court she married him on her own free will

According to a report by Navbharat Times, on December 5 (Saturday), Shahid Mian, the father of 22-year-old Alisha, lodged an FIR at Prem Nagar police station in Bareilly stating that his daughter had been kidnapped by three people, the owner of a firm where she had worked. Besides Siddharth Saxena alias Aman (24), who married Alisha, the FIR named his sister Chanchal, who was her colleague at a private firm, and the firm’s owner Manoj Kumar Saxena.

In the FIR, the father claimed that on December 1, his daughter left home “to collect pending dues from her office” and did not return. Finding her phone switched off, Mian said, he went to the office and met Saxena who did not provide any information.

Mian claimed that Aman used to pressure his daughter for marriage, which led to her stop going to work. He accused Manoj Kumar and Anchal of putting pressure on Alisha to marry Aman.

Muslim girl gives a statement in court in favour of the Hindu youth

While Mian has accused Bareilly police of inaction, SP City Ravindra Kumar confirmed that following the complaint, they recovered Alisha on December 6 and produced in front of the magistrate, where she confirmed of marrying Aman on her will as she was a major. Kumar said that the girl had given a statement in court in favour of the youth. There was no mention of any religious conversion. Following the testimony, Alisha was allowed to go with her husband, said the police.

According to Station House Officer Avaneesh Kumar, after the FIR was filed, the Bareilly police who started investigating the case, found that the allegations meted out at Aman, Manoj and Chanchal were baseless. Kumar confirmed that Alisha had visited the station and said that she was a major, denied the charge of kidnapping and confirmed that she had gone with Aman on her own free will.

“The girl told us that she married Aman at an Arya Samaj temple on September 29 and that they hid this information from her family. The girl had the marriage documents with her,” said Kumar.

Police got Alisha’s medical examination done and got her identified by her family. On Monday, they got her statement recorded before a magistrate in which she reiterated what she told police, confirmed SHO Avaneesh Kumar.

Incidences where Hindus have become victims of religious bigotry for being romantically involved with Muslim women

We have previously reported as many as 20 instances where Hindus have been assaulted and killed by the family members of their Muslim lover/wife. These instances of religious bigotry exhibited by Muslim family members against Hindu men for being romantically involved with their daughter have often failed to garner the attention of mainstream media organisations and leftist portals since in these cases the perpetrators are Muslims.

Samajwadi Party leader in trouble over ‘mota lamba tonti’, NCW Chief takes cognizance of derogatory tweet against women

OpIndia Staff
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Samajwadi Party leader in trouble over ‘mota lamba tonti’, NCW Chief takes cognizance of derogatory tweet against women

Manish Jagan Agrawal, digital media coordinator of the Samajwadi Party, is in trouble after making a disgusting tweet against women. Since then, he appears to have deleted the tweet. But Rekha Sharma, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, has taken cognizance of the tweet after being made aware of the issue by a concerned citizen.

In the concerned tweet, Agrawal tells an individual, “Please keep your sisters, wives and mothers safe, some ‘samajwadi’ might end up putting his hands inside their skirt or put his big, fat ‘tonti’ and do a plumbing job. Our ‘tontis’ have a good pressure flow which pushes water up till the liver, all your mothers, sisters and wives will be satisfied.”

The tweet by Samajwadi Party digital media coordinator

‘Tonti’ actually means faucets or water taps but the Digital Media Coordinator of Samajwadi Party obviously has used the word for the male genitalia. The tweet was made to Swatantra Singh, who tweets under the username @swatantra52. He was extremely angry and questioned leaders of the Samajwadi Party regarding how such a man could be appointed to a position of influence in the party.

Rekha Sharma, taking cognizance of the tweet, said that she will be writing to the Police and Twitter India.

There have been cases in the past where members of the Samajwadi Party have behaved inappropriately with women. The district chief of Samajwadi Party in Shahjahanpur district in UP, Tanveer Khan, was booked along with three others for a case of robbery and sexual assault on a Dalit Woman in Shahjahanpur Kotwali and attempting to change her religion.

After preparing to expel 231 radicalized foreign nationals, France Government unveils new law to tackle Islamist extremism

OpIndia Staff
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After preparing to expel 231 radicalized foreign nationals, France Government unveils new law to tackle Islamist extremism

The France government, continuing with it’s zero-tolerance towards Islamist radicalism, has unveiled a draft law on Wednesday targetting extremism. This project was prompted by the French President Emmanuel Macron to root out what he calls “separatists” undermining the nation. This law is a result of the various attacks carried out by radical Islamists in the country including the gruesome beheading of a teacher-  Samuel Paty by an Islamist amidst chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ in Paris in October this year.

After the Samuel Paty beheading incident, the French President Emmanuel Macron had stated that a bill would be tabled in the Parliament to fight homegrown Islamic separatism within Muslim communities in the country.

The law was in the pipeline before the murder in October of Samuel Paty, who was attacked in the street and beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a civics class. But the killing, committed by an 18-year-old radicalised Islamist after a virulent social media campaign against the teacher, gave new impetus to the bill. It prompted the inclusion of the specific crimes of online hate speech and divulging personal information on the internet.

The bill “supporting Republican principles” would tighten restrictions on online hate speech and ban the use of the internet to maliciously reveal personal details about other people. The law also bans “clandestine” schools that promote Islamist ideology and tightens rules on home-schooling.

It would also reinforce the ban on polygamy by refusing residency to polygamous applicants. Doctors could be fined or banned for performing virginity tests on girls.

The bill also extends what is known in France as the “neutrality principle”, which prohibits civil servants from wearing ostentatious religious symbols like the Muslim headscarf and voicing political views, beyond public sector employees to all private contractors of public services.

There are new rules on financial transparency for Muslim associations and a requirement that they sign up to France’s republican values in return for funding.

Moreover, a ban on officials wearing religious attire at work is being extended to transport workers and staff at swimming pools and markets.

Introducing the draft law to fight separatism, Prime Minister Jean Castex stressed that it “is not a text against religion in particular.” Instead, he said, it is “a bill of freedom, a bill of protection, a bill of emancipation from Islamist fundamentalism” or other ideologies pursuing the same goals.

French Govt prepares to expel 231 religious extremists from the country

The French government has decided to come down heavily on suspected Islamic extremists in the country. Merely two days after the brutal beheading of Samuel Paty reports suggested that France had been preparing to expel 231 radicalized foreign national.

It was reported that more than 850 illegal immigrants are registered to the File of Alerts for the Prevention of Terrorist Attacks (FSPRT). Out of 231 fundamentalists in the FSPRT who will be deported, 180 people are currently in prison and 51 were due to be arrested.

France defines extremists as “people who, engaged in a process of radicalisation, are likely to want to go abroad to join terrorist groups or take part in terrorist activities”. 

Radical Islamist attacks in France

France has faced the wrath of several jihadist attacks in the past 5 years, resulting in 250 deaths. Last week, an 18-year-old Pakistani terrorist named Ali Hassan aka Zaheer Hassan Mehmood stabbed four people with a meat cleaver near the former offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo near the Richard Lenoir Metro Station in Paris. Two people were critically injured in the attack. Hassan, who hails from Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab province of Pakistan, was eventually nabbed by the Paris Police Department.

Charlie Hebdo had decided to republish the cartoons on prophet Mohammed that led to the terrorist attack against them in 2015. Their decision to republish the cartoons had triggered widespread protests across the Muslim world and renewed calls for violence.

Here is what will happen if the govt gives in to demands of ‘farmer protests’ and why it cannot afford to do so

K Bhattacharjee
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Here is what will happen if the govt gives in to demands of ‘farmer protests’ and why it cannot afford to do so

The ‘farmer protests’ appear to be reaching their climax. Recently, some of them were spotted expressing their solidarity with ‘Urban Naxals’ and Islamists arrested under the current ruling dispensation. The protesters could be seen demanding the release of ‘Urban Naxals’ such as Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bhardwaj, Varvara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, and riot accuses such as Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Khalid Saifi. Needless to say, such individuals have absolutely nothing to do with farmers.

The protesters appear unwilling to reach any compromise with the Central Government on the matter. They now threaten to block railway tracks from the 10th of December should their demands not be met. Such developments only make it clear that the government now can no longer afford to accede to their demands. If they do, then the consequences for this country would be disastrous. As an immediate fall out of bending the knee to such ‘farmer protests’, here is what we can expect in the immediate future.

Repeal of CAA and Article 370 after ‘farmer protests’

The most immediate consequence of bending the knee to ‘farmer protests’ would be that it would embolden all sections of the country that have a grouse with the NDA government at the center. Such a development will be evidence for the fact that the government can be made to kneel by holding the country hostage.

Therefore, we will once again witness the revival of the protests to repeal CAA and Article 370. And this time, it will require even greater effort to put down the rebellion as the ‘protesters’ will be far more motivated earlier, convinced that victory is indeed possible and even at the face of great adversity, they will have reason to believe that victory is just around the corner.

International media will claim Modi has suffered stellar defeat against Indian farmers

The international media is no friend to Narendra Modi and the NDA Government at the center. Ever since the NDA was elected to power, they have been looking to augment stories about “people’s uprising against Modi”. They have peddled this narrative several times and every time, they have ended up with eggs on their faces as the BJP secured stellar victories in elections.

With their penchant to embolden unruly elements, the international media will herald it as Modi’s humbling defeat against farmers and encourage other disgruntled factions to rise in protest. They will cite it as further evidence that Indians at large are not happy with the NDA government’s “authoritarian” tendencies and Narendra Modi has had to finally bend the knee.

Thus, if the Modi Sarkar decides to repeal the farm laws under pressure from vested interests, then it will set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy as the international media declares the ‘beginning of the end’ for the NDA government at the center.

Template for the future

Should the NDA government decide to fold under pressure, then it will become the template for the future. It will also mean that ‘New India’ will not be really different from ‘Old India’ and the vision will be destroyed even before it is realised. Going forward, it will become impossible to impose any kind of reform as disgruntled factions will simply hold the state ransom until they have their way.

The Modi Government will end up providing incentives for citizens to hold the state ransom in order to enforce their will. If it indeed comes to pass, then it will herald the doom of the nation as such antics cannot serve as the template for governance for long. It will also render Parliamentary elections meaningless as groups can simply organise themselves and threaten the state in order to ensure that their will is implemented even if their demand does not have popular support.

The revival of the Khalistan-Islamist-Left Nexus

Nothing defeats like defeat and nothing succeeds like success. If the ‘farmer protests’ succeeds in its objective, then we will only see the nexus between Khalistanis, Islamists and the Left strengthen here on. During the current protests, we have already seen the nexus operate on the ground. We have seen Khalistanis trying to hijack it and we have already seen Islamists entering the fray. Meanwhile, leftists such as Yogendra Yadav have been at the forefront of it from the very beginning.

Therefore, if this succeeds, we are going to the nexus strengthen over time and present a much more united front in the near future. And when they do present a united front, it will be much more difficult for the government to put them down as they will be feeling pretty high basking on their glory of their success.

A lot depends on how the government resolves the ‘farmer protests’

Thus, quite clearly, a lot is at stake here. The manner in which the government resolves these protests will determine the course of the country for years to come. The government can either hold their forte and not allow unruly elements to hold the state ransom, whatever maybe the cost, or it can bend the knee, which will open a pandora’s box for the ruling dispensation.

Whatever choice the government makes will continue to reverberate across Indian politics. If the government climbs down now, it is hard to imagine any government in the near future attempting any serious reform. The BJP was elected with a simple majority on its own in 2014 and with an even greater majority in 2019. If this government fails to implement hard reforms, then there’s very little hope that any government in the near future will be able to.

TikTok weaponized: Experts reveal how China influences elections, controls media and propaganda, hail India for banning Chinese apps

OpIndia Staff
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TikTok weaponized: Experts reveal how China influences elections, controls media and propaganda, hail India for banning Chinese apps

Experts who came together in a webinar organised by Usanas Foundation on 9th December revealed the dangerous methods of propaganda used by China to influence elections globally, spy on other nations using their educational institutions and other methods, weaponise Chinese apps and essentially, how their espionage activities have intensified in the past few years.

How China tries to influence elections and the narrative in other countries

Grove Human Rights Scholar Teng Biao, who was a speaker at the Webinar, revealed the modus operandi of China in trying to influence elections in other countries. “Chinese government meddles in elections of many countries like Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, United States, etc. During Taiwan elections, Chinese government launches a disinformation campaign through its social media and uses it to defame the Party that is anti-China or hostile to it (such as the Democratic Progressive Party). They use economic blackmail as well. Every time when there is an election in Taiwan, the Chinese government puts pressure on the Taiwanese government and supports Kuomintang (KMT). It also uses the People’s Liberation Army to put pressure on Taiwan”, he said.

Further, the panellists revealed how China controls the narrative in countries like USA etc, by staging planted protests, and even controlling what is written in their textbooks.

Biao said, “University students from mainland China studying abroad organize themselves under the umbrella of Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA). They get money from the Chinese embassy and receive instructions from the Chinese authorities for functioning. There have been many cases where CSSA threatened the academic freedom in other countries, similar to the incident at the University of California when it invited the Dalai Lama to deliver a speech. China then pushed CSSA members to stage a protest against the proposed talks. After the speech by the Dalai Lama, the University was punished by the CCP as students and scholars were not given further permissions to study in this university”.

Biao revealed that as of this year, there are over 500 Confucius Institutes in the world. Though they are supposed to promote the study of Chinese language studies and culture, however, what they really do is spread the propaganda material on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. In a shocking revelation, Biao also said that they select the teachers and the agenda, as well as the textbooks filled with CCP propaganda.

“One of the major functions of these institutes is to block sensitive speakers from being invited and to bulwark talks on sensitive topics like Xinjiang and Hong Kong”, said Biao. Revealing how the Confucius Institutes are operated by the Ministry of Education of China, it was revealed how this institute works as a propaganda arm of the Chinese government.

China and how they control the media in different countries

Biao at the webinar revealed that China holds extensive influence over the media in several countries. “Almost all Chinese language media in the United States are controlled by the CCP. To pressurise newspapers, the method that the CCP uses is to put pressure on the businesses of papers that run articles unfavourable to China. The CCP targets advertisers of that particular newspaper until they pull their advertisements and then the newspaper loses revenues. Only a few exceptions remain, rest are controlled by the CCP”, he said.

Chatham House’s Associate Fellow Cleo Paskal also echoed the statements made by Biao about China exerting significant hold over the media in various countries. He said that China uses public opinion building and especially the media to discredit anyone who speaks against the Chinese Communist Party. “If they don’t like you, they will shut you down. They will also try to shape public opinion. Hollywood sees this a lot, there is not a single movie that has come out recently with a Chinese villain. Like the example of running large scale military operations off the coast of Taiwan, Chinese psychological warfare is focussed at scaring entire country into submission”, he said.

National Geographic Young Explorer Aadil Brar said that China has about 200 journalists and more than half of them work for the Chinese government. Journalists play an essential role in information collection and at numerous instances, reports by journalists do not even end up to the media but instead are handled by Party officials. Experts believe that reports and analysis are always written in a way that can be read by Party officials.

“The transfer of information from Chinese social media like Weibo to Western Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook has become almost instantaneous. This signifies that Chinese disinformation campaigns are becoming more efficient. China’s capabilities are growing and we must be wary of Chinese attempts to emulate Russia’s disinformation strategy. Trump has taken concrete steps to combat CCP influence in the media and his reaction has elicited a response from the Chinese, forcing many journalists to leave China and continue their operations from elsewhere. Even Hong Kong has become unsafe for journalists”, he said.

Using a country’s laws against them and social media apps

Paskal revealed a rather interesting facet of China’s propaganda war. He said that China has a habit of using a country’s law against them. Citing an example, Paksal said that the US tried to ban WeChat and suddenly WeChat groups took the matter to the courts in an effort to slow down the decision stating that it was interfering with their freedom of speech. “But on the other hand, China will completely ignore domestic laws in other countries when it suits them”, he said.

Interestingly, it was revealed that if a foreign company wants to operate in China, they have to communicate to their local vendors through WeChat because WhatsApp is banned there. This means that the CCP has full access to all of your critical information such as where the company is procuring its material from and who the company is selling to. They can then essentially replicate any company and use the local version to run the original to close operations.

Paksal said that “TikTok pulls out metadata that could be weaponized. The data can be used to shape public opinion. The app was used to try and influence the recent US elections by pushing pro-Biden content and restricting pro-Trump content”. Saying this, he expressed respect for India for having the foresight to ban apps like TikTok because it showed that on some level, India understood the methods used by China in their propaganda war.

‘Confucius Institutes have not been successful in India, except West Bengal and JNU’

Interestingly, Diplomatic Editor of Economic Times Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury said that Confucius Institutes, that are hubs of Chinese propaganda and their spy network has not really made inroads into India except in West Bengal and JNU. He said that it had tried to foray into Southern India through an engineering college, however, those attempts were arrested.

“India was one of the first countries to be sceptical of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) while other countries were signing. India called China’s bluff much before the West called it. There is a lot of literature coming out in the West regarding China’s human rights abuses and its propaganda operations, but the debate regarding the BRI is still very weak. Awareness about the BRI trap has increased, but knowledge about it is still weak”, he said.

Farm laws will not be repealed, MSP here to stay and govt ready to discuss the provisions with farmers: Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar

OpIndia Staff
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Farm laws will not be repealed, MSP here to stay and govt ready to discuss the provisions with farmers: Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said that the Modi government is ready to hold discussions with farmers to clarify on the farm laws amidst the ‘farmers’ protests along the Tikri border near the national capital.

Addressing a press conference over the ongoing protests by farmers from Punjab, the Union Minister categorically stated that there is no question of withdrawing the three farm laws but would definitely open to hear and consult farmers regarding the provisions of the law that may have adversely affected the farmers.

“Any law cannot be entirely defective. Government is ready to discuss the provisions that may adversely affect the farmers,” said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

The Union Minister also reiterated that the new laws passed by Parliament in September will benefit the farmers and also urged farmers to go through the proposal of amendments that government is planning to incorporate in the farm laws and set a date for discussion.

“I would like to urge the farmers that if they want to discuss our proposal, they should definitely come to us. We are ready for discussions,” said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

MSP has nothing to do with the farm laws, says Agri Minister

Union Agriculture Minister Tomar also assured farmers that the new laws will not affect the APMC Act or the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism.

“MSP has got nothing to do with these laws and they do not affect MSP at all,” said Tomar stating that Prime Minister had already explained to farmers and assured the farmers that MSP will continue.

Reiterating government’s stand, the Agriculture Minister said that laws were passed in an effort to free farmers from the Mandi system and allow them to sell their crops outside the marketplace.

The minister also said that the government wanted to liberate the farmers of the shackles of mandi so that they could sell their produce anywhere, to anyone, at his own price, outside the purview of mandi.

“During the talks, many said that farm laws are invalid as agriculture is State subject and Centre can’t frame these laws. We clarified, we have the right to make laws on trade and explained it to them. APMC & MSP are not affected by it,” said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

The entire country has witnessed that Swaminathan Commission report came in 2006, the recommendation about MSP at 1.5 times cost of production remained pending till Modi government implemented it.

Contract farming exists across the country already: Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

Clarifying on the aspects of contract farming, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said it is being projected that the land of farmers will be occupied by industrialists through contract farming. He said that the contract farming has been going on for long in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka but there has never been such experience.

“Still, we have already made provision in the Act that agreement under these laws will only be between processors and farmers’ produce. There is no provision for any lease or agreement over farmers’ land,” said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar addressing the press conference along with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

He added, “Law provides that if farmer and processor enter into an agreement and the type of crops is such that some infrastructure has to be set up on the farmer’s land, then the processor will dismantle his infrastructure from thereafter the agreement concludes”.

Meanwhile, Union minister Piyush Goyal who was also present at the briefing, said, “Modi government was, is and will continue to be committed to the farmers of the country”.

Union Minister Goyal said that there were some concerns that farmers will be forced to sell their produce in the private market, which is completely erroneous as there is absolutely no provision in the law which brings an element of compulsion on any farmer.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Centre had presented a proposal for possible amendments in the bills to the representatives of protesting farmers, which the farmer unions rejected and said they will intensify their protest for the repeal of these laws. 

After ‘Ka Ka Chi Chi’, Mamata Banerjee comes up with ‘Chadda Madda Fadda Bhadda Nadda’ only hours after BJP leaders were attacked

OpIndia Staff
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After ‘Ka Ka Chi Chi’, Mamata Banerjee comes up with ‘Chadda Madda Fadda Bhadda Nadda’ only hours after BJP leaders were attacked

Just hours after BJP chief JP Nadda and party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s convoy was attacked by alleged TMC party workers in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee resorted to mocking the BJP leaders and claimed that the attacks against their leaders were just a political ploy by the BJP.

Speaking at a rally, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the BJP had no other work. Attacking Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda, Mamata Banerjee indulged in name-calling by mocking the name of the BJP president. She said that as BJP leaders have no other work, sometimes their chief ministers visit West Bengal, sometimes it is home minister Amit Shah who visits the state, and sometimes some ‘Chadda Madda Fadda Bhadda Nadda’ is here.

Making fun of BJP president JP Nadda, Mamata Banerjee also rejected allegations of massive political violence allegedly unleashed by their party workers on BJP workers, by claiming that when BJP did not have an audience, they call their workers for doing ‘nautanki’ (drama).

Her mocking of the BJP president’s name at the rally on Thursday comes after her past stunt during the anti-CAA protest rally in Kolkata, where she was seen singing a weird slogan, “Ka Ka Chi Chi”. The theatrics of Mamata Banerjee had then taken the internet by storm resulting in massive meme-fest across the social media platforms.

BJP party president, senior leaders attacked in West Bengal

In a shocking incident on Thursday, BJP chief JP Nadda and party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya were attacked in West Bengal, as the two leaders were en route Diamond Harbour on Thursday.

The senior leaders were attacked as they were en route to Diamond Harbour to meet party cadres. Some protesters, alleged to be TMC party workers had gathered on the streets to attempt to block the road to stop Nadda’s convoy from passing. They also pelted stones at the vehicle.

Videos have surfaced on social media in which protestors carrying Trinamool Congress flags are seen throwing stones and bricks at Kailash Vijayvargiya’s car, while the state police stand like mute spectators.

The attackers threw bricks that resulted in windshields cracking and severe damage to the cars in which they were travelling.

Dalit man beaten to death for ‘touching food’ in MP? Contrary reports emerge that suggest he was beaten for molesting woman

OpIndia Staff
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Dalit man beaten to death for ‘touching food’ in MP? Contrary reports emerge that suggest he was beaten for molesting woman

A report has been doing the rounds which claims that a 25-year-old Dalit youth has been reportedly beaten to death by two of his “upper caste” friends for allegedly touching their food during a private event at a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district. The incident reportedly took place in Kishanpur village, about 450 km from Bhopal and close to the Uttar Pradesh border, on December 7 (Monday).

Various media outlets like ANI, Times of India, Zee News Hindi, India Today, NDTV, Scroll.in etc, have carried the news. According to all these mainstream media reports, the victim, Devraj Anuragi, was called to clean up after a party. But the accused –Bhoora Soni and Santosh Pal –who were from OBC communities- got angry when they saw Anuragi eat the food at the party and beat him to death with sticks. Devraj fell unconscious and the duo dropped him at his home. He soon succumbed to his injuries.

The leftist media portal Scroll.in reported that the Gaurihar Station House Officer Jaswant Singh Rajput has confirmed the news. India Today claimed of speaking to Chattarpur SSP Sameer Saurabh. He reportedly confirmed to the outlet that the deceased’s family members have said that “he was beaten up because he had touched the food before the two upper caste men.”

Report by India Today dated December 9, in which it claims that the Dalit youth was beaten by two ‘upper caste’ men

Though these media houses have invoked the purported ‘caste’ angle and insinuated that the social evil of untouchability was the reason behind the brutal killing, contrary reports have also emerged. A social media group named Falana Dhikana has claimed to have investigated the case and concluded that the ‘caste’ angle in the alleged killing is untrue and that the case was related to woman molestation.

Dalit youth’s family in Madhya Pradesh refutes ‘caste’ angle weaved by various media outlets

After learning how media outlets had reportedly called the incident a fallout of caste divide in the village, Falana Dhikana got in touch with the deceased’s relatives. Devraj Anuragi’s brother Harishchandra confirmed to Falana Dhikana that his brother had not gone out of the house the entire day on December 7, the day the incident transpired. He said, Devraj, who was mentally unstable, had been eating his food at his house on December 7, when his friend’s Bhoora Soni and Santosh Pal came to see him. They dragged him out of the house and took him to a place a little away from the house where they beat him up. At around 4:00 pm they brought him back to the house. Devraj succumbed to his injuries two hours later.

Harishchandra told Falana Dhikana that he was at his sweet shop when he heard about the incident. Harishchandra said that initially, they did not even know what the real reason was behind the assault. He also confirmed that nowhere in the FIR did they mention any ‘caste’ angle or speak of Devraj being beaten to death for touching food.

Falana Dhikana further spoke to the villagers and neighbours of the deceased. They confirmed that the sister of one of the accused- Santosh Pal had visited Harishchandra’s sweet shop on December 7, where Devraj Anuragi had reportedly molested her and forced her to sit there with him. Pal’s sister had complained about this to her brother, who along with his friend Bhoora Soni, assaulted Devraj in his house, in a fit of rage.

According to Falana Dhikana, other villagers also confirmed that Devraj had molestated Santosh Pal’s sister.

Moreover, when Falana Dhikana’s team asked relatives if Devraj had gone to someone’s wedding, the family denied it. In fact, there was no wedding in the village on the day of the incident. The family of the deceased had received an invitation for a wedding of one Parashuram Yadav, which happened a day prior to the incident. This too was not attended by Devraj. In fact, Devraj’s father- Kallu, was the only one from their family who had attended this wedding. Parshuram Yadav himself confirmed this to Falana Dhikana.

The deceased’s brother Harishchandra said that his brother was mentally unstable due to which he did not go anywhere. He either stayed at home or spent time at their sweet shop. Devraj neither attended any wedding nor did he go out on the day of the alleged incident, claimed Falana Dikhana.

OpIndia could not personally verify either of the claims. When we tried to get in touch with Chhatarpur police station to know more about the incident, the lady police official who spoke to us refused to acknowledge any such incident. We also tried to establish contact with Chattarpur SSP Sameer Saurabh, but could not get through.

Meanwhile, media outlets have reported that the two accused are on the run and that the police are looking for them. PTI quoted Chattarpur SSP Sameer Saurabh as saying that the accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, and under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

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