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Enforcement Directorate arrests Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s aide in connection with multi-crore MMRDA security deal

OpIndia Staff
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Enforcement Directorate arrests Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s aide in connection with multi-crore MMRDA security deal

In yet another setback for Shiv Sena, the Enforcement Directorate has arrested Amit Chandole, a close aide of Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik in connection with a money laundering case linked to the legislator.

According to the reports, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s aide Chandole was grilled by ED officials for nearly 12 hours before being placed under arrest. The ED will produce Chandole in court on Thursday to seek his custody for further investigation.

Amit Chandole, a close relative and business associate of Sarnaik, is the first arrest in a money laundering case under investigation by the ED.

Prior to the arrest of Chandole, the ED had carried out raids on the Shiv Sena MLA’s residence and offices of Tops Group. The raids were conducted to collect evidence of suspicious transactions between the Tops Group and Shiv Sena MLA from Thane, Pratap Sarnaik. Tops Group, a private security agency, is owned by Amit Chandole.

Shiv Sewn MLA raided based on a complaint to ED

The ED had registered a case based on an FIR that was filed with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police last month. The FIR, in this case, named Tops Group Security employees and its promoter Rahul Nanda among others. Nanda is also considered to be a close acquaintance of MLA Pratap Sarnaik.

In the FIR, the complainant had alleged that there were irregularities in the contract given to Tops Group for providing security guards to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The FIR was registered on October 28 alleged that Tops Grup cheated the MMRDA to the tune of Rs 175 crore.

Following the raids, Sarnaik on Wednesday quarantined himself citing coronavirus guidelines. He has asked the ED one week’s time to join the investigation.

Sarnaik, an MLA from the Ovala-Majiwada constituency in Thane, had recently demanded that actor Kangana Ranaut be booked under sedition charges for likening Mumbai to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. 

Pratap Sarnaik – from driving autorickshaw to being a millionaire

Back in the 1980s, Pratap Sarnaik drove an autorickshaw and was struggling to make ends meet. Subsequently, he made a fortune by the reality sector boom that swept Mumbai and the adjoining regions in recent decades. Today, Pratap Sarnaik is the chairman of Vihang Group Of Companies, a major player in the real estate industry in Thane region.

Sarnaik’s relative affluence and his growing stature in the Shiv Sena party is a recent phenomenon. According to a report, Sarnaik’s political journey did not start from Shiv Sena. He was earlier associated with Pawar’s NCP. Sarnaik first hogged the limelight in 2008 when he gifted a diamond-studded cell-phone worth a staggering Rs 15 lakhs in 2008 to his former boss, NCP’s Ajit Pawar. 

But his association with the NCP came to an end over a perceived insult over the appointment of the leader of opposition in Thane Municipal Corporation. He jumped ship and joined the Shiv Sena in November 2009 and since then his political career took off at an inexorable pace, catapulting him on the path to becoming three-time MLA from Ovla-Majhiwada constituency in Thane.

Fact check: Did Congress remove Ahmed Patel’s profile from its website within hours of his demise

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Did Congress remove Ahmed Patel’s profile from its website within hours of his demise

Hours after reports of the death of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel emerged, Times Now Editor Navika Kumar noticed a strange behaviour on the Indian National Congress party’s website. Taking to Twitter, Navika Kumar said that the Congress party had deleted Ahmed Patel’s image from the website just hours after his death.

“Truly life is strange,” said Navika Kumar while indirectly highlighting how Congress party had disrespected one of its tallest leaders by removing his image from the list of office-bearers from the party’s website even as his death was being mourned by fellow party colleagues.

Navika Kumar had also shared an image on Twitter which depicted Congress party’s official website. In the image, it can be seen that the party has removed the image and details of the Treasurer of the Congress party.

Image Source: Navika Kumar

At the time of his death, Ahmed Patel, a key confidant of Sonia Gandhi, was serving as the Treasurer of the party. Navika Kumar alleged that his details and his image were insensitively removed by the Congress party just hours after his death.

Congress sympathisers, trolls attack Navika Kumar

As Navika Kumar put out tweets highlighting how the images of Ahmed Patel was allegedly removed by the Congress party within hours of his death, the Congress party sympathisers and trolls descended on Twitter to attack and mock Times Now chief Navika Kumar.

Several Congress party workers and trolls abused her, forcing her to delete her earlier tweet.

Another lady even referred to Navika Kumar as ‘Neech’.

Not just Congress IT cell members, even self-proclaimed fact-checkers, who are sympathetic to Congress party and radical Islamic movements too attempted to take a dig at Navika Kumar for posting images that exposed Congress party’s insensitivity towards death of one of its own leaders.

Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of ‘fake news’ website – Alt News, who is also accused of doxxing minor Hindu girls, took to Twitter to do his so-called ‘fact-checking’ hit job against Navika Kumar.

Zubair posted a series of images from the Congress website to claim that he has a screenshot from mobile as well as laptop to state that the Congress party had never removed the details and images of Ahmed Patel from its website.

According to self-proclaimed ‘fact-checker’ Zubair, the specific image and details of Ahmed Patel existed all along to claim that it was never removed from the website in the first place as hinted by Navika Kumar in her deleted tweet.

Image Source: Zubair

Did Navika Kumar lie on Twitter when she said that the Congress party removed his images from website? Let’s analyse

Fact-Check:

The Islamists of Alt News, Congress trolls on social media, who descended on Navika Kumar’s timeline to abuse her and claim that the Congress party did not delete the original image of Ahmed Patel soon after his death is a blatant lie.

Zubair, who posted a series of images to do some kind of ‘fact-check’ on Navika Kumar’s tweet attempted to mislead the public yet again by asserting that it was never removed in the first place.

However, if one looks into the images of Ahmed Patel that shared by Zubair in his ‘fact-check’, it can be seen that Ahmed Patel’s image is completely different from the one that was first uploaded in the website by the Congress party.

Here is the image shared by Zubair (on left) and the original image posted on the website (on right) before being ‘allegedly’ removed by the Congress party. The original image can be seen on the archive of the webpage dated 1st September.

The image shared by Zubair (on left) and the image which was deleted by the Congress party soon after his death (Right)/ Image Source: Befitting facts

Earlier, the Congress party had uploaded a ‘right-profile face’ image (on the right above) of Ahmed Patel and other details in its website. In addition to Ahmed Patel’s image, who was a Treasurer of the Congress party, there was also some details such as his address, telephone number of his residence on the party’s website before his death.

However, the image (one on the left) uploaded by the Congress party after getting exposed by the likes of Navika Kumar had several discrepancies. The image was also shared by the likes of Zubair and others to claim that the image of Ahmed Patel was never removed by the Congress party in the first place.

The image shared on the party’s website currently, has a ‘left-profile face’ image of Ahmed Patel along with fewer details. Moreover, in the address part, they have removed the pin number, another proof of recent editing done on the page. It may be noted that several archives of the page exist for the last few months, and all of them contain the right-profile image of Patel.

Perhaps, the Congress party thought current post holders should be alive and that is how it should be practical, as a post cannot be held by a dead person, and therefore removed the image and details of the treasurer of the party. However, the new guard of the Congress party perhaps acted too soon and later realised it was bad for optics.

As the likes of Navika Kumar picked the faux pas of the Congress party and posted it on Twitter, the IT team of the party may have thought of undoing the damage caused by them and decided to restore the page. But they selected a different image of Ahmed Patel this time instead of restoring the original image, leaving a digital footprint of the change made.

Not only that, but the Congress party may have also unleashed few of its trolls, ‘fact-checkers’ to keep the likes of Navika Kumar in check to buy some time to undo the damage they had caused.

However, if one looks at the above discrepancies, Navika Kumar was right after all when she said that the Congress party had removed the images of Ahmed Patel from its website soon after his death. Strangely, she had to delete her tweet after being subjected to extreme bullying by ‘fact-checkers’ and the Congress party workers.

As Congress remembers the 26/11 Mumbai attacks anniversary, netizens remind the grand old party of its double standards

OpIndia Staff
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As Congress remembers the 26/11 Mumbai attacks anniversary, netizens remind the grand old party of its double standards

Today, on the 12th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the social media handle of the Congress Party has Tweeted in remembrance of the dreadful terrorist attack.

The Mumbai terror attacks of 26 November 2008 left a throbbing scar on the psyche of the country, one it is still struggling to come to terms with. 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic terrorist organisation based in Pakistan, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks, targeting the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station, Nariman House complex, Leopold Cafe, Taj Hotel and Tower, the Oberoi-Trident Hotel and Cama Hospital among other prime locations in South Mumbai. While the terrorists were eventually killed, Ajmal Kasab was captured alive. Despite overwhelming evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in carrying out the terrorist attack, the then Congress government never retaliated against Pakistan. Instead, Congress leaders started a relentless tirade, trying to shift focus to the imaginary ‘saffron terror’ narrative.

While Congress never forgets to put out a Tweet every year on the anniversary of the attack to express its solidarity, social media users also never give up reminding the grand old party of its double standards and the despicable politics it had played over the incident.

Some Netizens reminded the Congress party of how their “Yuvraj” (Rahul Gandhi) was partying a soon after Mumbai 26/11 attacks.

It becomes imperative to reminisce here how soon after the 26/11 attack, the Gandhi scion went partying with his pals at a farmhouse on Delhi’s outskirts. Being completely out of sync with the mood of the nation post 26/11 attack, Rahul Gandhi partied hard, till 5 in the morning at the ‘sangeet’ function of his childhood friend Samir Sharma.

Meanwhile, some Twitter users also remembered how the grand old party had tried to spin a ‘Hindu terror’ narrative around the heinous attack carried out by Pakistan sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba, by falsely implicating RSS in the attack.

For the unititiated, in 2010, months after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, along with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and others had launched a book which claimed that the Mumbai terror attacks were an RSS conspiracy. While the world was holding Pakistan responsible for 26/11, then Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh and close aide of Rahul Gandhi, had released the book “26/11 RSS Ki Saazish?” (26/11, An RSS Conspiracy?). The Congress, going by its penchant, had then timidly “distanced” itself from Singh’s remarks. In fact, no top leader, including the Gndhi clan, had stepped out to condemn senior party leader Digvijay Singh. 

The Congress party probably forgets that in today’s age of the internet, it is difficult to ignore, deny, or conceal history from public view.

Six Pakistani cricketers test positive for Coronavirus in New Zealand, NZ authorities say they breached isolation protocols

OpIndia Staff
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Six Pakistani cricketers test positive for Coronavirus in New Zealand, NZ authorities say they breached isolation protocols

Six members of the Pakistan cricket team on a tour of New Zealand have tested positive for coronavirus, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Thursday.

According to the reports, six Pakistani cricketers were tested positive for the coronavirus after authorities in New Zealand carried out tests on the suspected Pakistani players. The Pakistani cricket team is currently quarantining in Christchurch. The names of the infected cricketers have not been disclosed.

New Zealand’s health ministry said the players will now “be tested a minimum of four times while in managed isolation” and the entire squad would be confined to their rooms.

With Pakistani players testing positive for the Chinese virus, the exemption to train while in isolation has been put on hold for now. The six members of the squad will be moved to the quarantine arm of the managed isolation facility, NZC said in a statement.

The latest testing of Pakistani players has now thrown preparations for the five-match series into turmoil and has caused a scare in New Zealand, that has largely eradicated the virus.

Pakistan team breached quarantine protocols

Reportedly, all members of the 53-people squad had tested negative for Covid-19 before leaving Pakistan, this means that the infected players got the virus after reaching New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket has revealed that the latest positive results may have emerged after few members of the touring party breached the protocols on the first day of managed isolation.

“Separately, NZC has also been made aware that some members of the Pakistan team had contravened protocols on the first day of managed isolation. We will be having discussions with the tourists to assist them in understanding the requirements,” the NZ Cricket statement further added.

The New Zealand’s Minister of Health also issued a statement backing NZC, adding that CCTV footage is clear evidence of a few members contravening the protocols despite ‘clear instructions’.

“Several team members have been seen on CCTV at the facility breaching managed isolation rules, despite clear, consistent, and detailed communication of expected behaviours while in the facility,” the Ministry of Health said criticising the behaviour of Pakistani cricket players.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Director-General of Health has stated the Pakistan squad has been issued a final warning.

“It is a privilege to come to New Zealand to play sport, but in return, teams must stick to the rules that are designed to keep Covid-19 out of our communities and keep our staff safe,” he added.

The Canterbury District Health Board’s medical officer of health has now sent a letter to the squad’s management saying all team members must stay in their rooms until further advised.

A 53-member Pakistan Cricket is currently touring New Zealand, which includes 35 players. They will play three T20 matches and after that two ICC World Test Championship test matches against the host team. The first T20 match is scheduled on December 18.

Odisha: Largest ever vigilance raid in state unearths massive wealth gathered by IFS officer, fancy cars, ultra-luxurious lifestyle

OpIndia Staff
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Odisha: Largest ever vigilance raid in state unearths massive wealth gathered by IFS officer, fancy cars, ultra-luxurious lifestyle

Dr Abhay Kant Pathak, 1987 batch IFS officer under the Odisha government, is under probe after a massive vigilance raid, considered to be one of the biggest and most extensive raids so far, has unearthed disproportionate assets and unimaginable wealth accumulated by Pathak over the years.

As per reports, Vigilance Cell Division, Cuttack, with 150 officers and staff of various divisions of Vigilance Directorate of Odisha have simultaneously raided five places in Bhubaneshwar, seven places in Mumbai and Pune, and some regions of Bihar and Rajasthan in the last few days.

According to reports, a senior officer said that Pathak had accumulated assets by illegal means. “Searches are being conducted on the strength of search warrants issued by Court of Special Judge Vigilance in Bhubaneswar,” he added. During the search operation, the department mobilized witnesses. Further verification and investigation are going on.

Since June 2018, Pathak is serving as Additional PCCF Plan Programme and Afforestation at the office of PCCF, Odisha. The investigation agencies have not revealed the exact amount of disproportionate assets as the investigation is still underway.

Trips in chartered planes, luxury hotel bookings

According to a report published in Times of India, a vigilance officer said they seized a considerable amount of cash and other incriminating documents. “Details of his assets and their value would be known after everything is collate,” he added. The reports suggested that a central agency had alerted the Odisha government that Pathak and his family had air travelled at least 20 times to Mumbai, Delhi, Patna, and Pune during the lockdown and post-lockdown period. 

A detailed report by Odia daily Sambad stated that the Pathak family had hired chartered planes for the 20 trips taken during the lockdown period and have spent upwards Rs 4.5 crores on the flights alone. The chartered planes reportedly belong to a private company named Kalinga Aero and Allied Services Pvt Ltd. The report also states that in the simultaneous raids, bills for hotel bookings, lavish banquet halls and other luxuries worth over Rs 2 crores have been recovered so far from the IFS officer’s residential properties in Bhubaneswar.

Odia media has reported that the amount of wealth, documents pertaining to financial transactions, bills and valuable items is so vast that the vigilance department has had to hire CAs to keep detailed accounts.

Italian marble floors, ivory bed, lavish houses

Pathak’s lavish apartment at Bhubaneswar’s Khandagiri reportedly had Italian marble flooring, a bed made of ivory worth over 60 lakh rupees, and other luxuries. Forest and wildlife products like horns have also been recovered.

TOI quoted a senior officer saying that during the inquiry, they found that four private bodyguards were hired for Pathak and his son at a salary of Rs.50,000 per month per bodyguard. His son is known for living a lavish lifestyle. They have rented a farmhouse in Pune on rent at Rs.5 lakh per month. In Pune’s Koregaon area, Pathak’s son Akash has also been staying in a swanky flat rented at Rs 5 lakh a month. The investigation agency has recovered Rs. 50 lakh from Pathak’s nephew’s house. A huge cache of cash was recovered from his driver’s home as well. Pathak and his family own five high-end cars.

IFS officer’s son was to marry MLA’s daughter on December 11, accused of forgery by TATA Motors

A report by Sambad has also stated that Pathak’s son is set to marry a state MLA’s daughter on December 11. The family had organised a lavish pre-wedding ceremony at a five-star hotel in Bhubaneswar recently which had lasted for several days. Pathak family had booked a ‘palace’ hotel in Udaipur for the wedding ceremony and were to fly there. The hotel has been raided by vigilance too. As per reports, vigilance is trying to ascertain which individuals were funding such lavish lifestyle of a government officer.

It is notable here that Pathak’s son Akash was earlier accused of fraud and forgery by TATA Motors. Akash has a case registered against him at the crime branch’s cybercrime cell. He was allegedly cheating people of money, promising to get them jobs at TATA Motors by falsely claiming to be an MD at TATA Motors. Akash had allegedly used forged documents, logo, and email id of TATA Motors to loot vulnerable people looking for jobs during the lockdown. Despite a crime branch FIR in May, no action has been initiated so far against Akash. This has raised suspicion of political collusion and efforts to shield the corrupt officials by powerful people.

Germany expresses concern after corporate dependency on China increases

OpIndia Staff
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Germany expresses concern after corporate dependency on China increases

German car manufacturers have seen an increase in car sales in China in last quarter. While the companies are happy that it offsets the fewer units sold in European countries amid the pandemic, they are also being cautious. A report in FT states that in last quarter, Daimler saw 23% rise in sales in China. Better known as Mercedes-Benz, Daimler is a German multinational automobile manufacturer.

The rich Chinese, who could not take foreign trips due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, bought luxury cars instead. While the corporates are elated, it has also raised concerns that the German industry is highly dependent on the Chinese market.

An October report in DW quotes Stefan Bratzel, head of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) who had also said that it was only Chinese market that was currently recovering. Last year, VW had sold 40% of its vehicles in China. He says that while the Chinese market may be temporarily helping companies stay afloat, in longer term, the industry’s dependence on Chinese market makes it prone to blackmail.

With highest growth rate, China is quite likely to be largest single market in future. Which is why industries can’t just completely withdraw.

In fact, even German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged German businesses to diversify into Asian markets beyond China. Germany currently is one of the biggest economy in European Union. Other EU leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron has also suggested diversification beyond China.

At an event in October, Merkel said that as of now, about three-quarters of Germany’s Asia exports go to east Asia, and half of them go to China alone. German Economics Minister Peter Altmaier also suggested to look for markets beyond China. He suggested how Singapore and South Korea offer promising markets.

And while the economic divorce many not happen completely, the pandemic has definitely increased Europe’s dilemma to introspect its dependence on the communist country.

Lucknow: Two medical colleges run by MMA Faridi and Mohammad Zafar Idris respectively, accused of organ trafficking, probe ordered

OpIndia Staff
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Lucknow: Two medical colleges run by MMA Faridi and Mohammad Zafar Idris respectively, accused of organ trafficking, probe ordered

Two medical colleges in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, are under scanner over allegations of human organ trafficking. Era’s Medical College and Integral Institute of Medical Science And Research have been accused of organ trafficking and gross medical negligence in treating patients. After the suspicious death of a 27-old man, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a probe in the case.

What is the case?

According to the reports, on September 11, Shiv Prakash Pandey from Pakka Talab, Chinhat, admitted his 27-year-old son Adarsh Kamal Pandey to Integral Medical College after he got tested positive for Covid-19. On September 15, Adarsh sent a message on WhatsApp to his sister and informed her about the hospital’s suspicious activities. He raised suspicions that the college is involved in human organ trafficking. Adarsh wanted to become a witness in the case. When the hospital came to know about the conversation, they shifted him to ICU from the general ward. On September 22, Adarsh requested his sister to got him discharged from the hospital and said if there is any more delay, his life would be at risk.

His family requested the concerned officers to get him shifted from the hospital at around 12 AM. He was referred to Era Medical College. As per the complaint, Integral College staff had already talked to the staff at Era Medical college. Adarsh’s family has alleged that the doctors at Era Medical College conspired against him and ensured his health condition got worse. On September 26, the hospital staff informed the family that Adarsh is doing well, but after 15 minutes, they called again and informed that Adarsh had died. The family has alleged that the hospital staff had killed Adarsh under a conspiracy.

Probe recommended by BJP MP

The victim’s family had written a letter to BJP MP Kaushal Kishore informing him about the case. He had written a letter to the police commissioner to investigate the case. Law minister Brijesh Pathak also wrote a letter to the CM Yogi and informed him about the case. A probe has been ordered by the CM. The family of the victim has claimed that they have evidence to prove their stand.

Image via Punjab Kesari

Dr. Sanjay Bhatnagar, CMO was quoted by Hindi daily Jagran saying Era and Integral Medical Colleges are under Medical Education Department. The complaint was forwarded to the Director General of Medical Education and they will initiate the required investigation.

Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital was established in 2001. It has three trustees Mohsin Ali Khan, Dr Farzana Mahdi, and Messam Ali Khan. Dr MMA Faridi is the Principal, Dean, and CMS of the college. Integral Institute of Medical Sciences and Research was founded by Prof SW Akhtar in 2004. Prof. Mohammad Zafar Idris is the dean at Integral Medical College, while Dr MN Siddiqui is the Medical Superintendent.

Indian law never defined “marriage”: Here is why govt needs to be involved in inter-faith “marriage”

Abhishek Banerjee
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Indian law never defined “marriage”: Here is why govt needs to be involved in inter-faith “marriage”

Are you against inter-faith marriage? These days, we often hear this question.

The question is absurd. It is like asking: do you like food? I am not sure. Which “food”? Perhaps I like samosas but not jalebis. You have to be more specific.

When you ask me a question about marriage, the underlying assumption is that there is a single, precise definition of the word “marriage.” The problem is that the word marriage is not defined anywhere in Indian law. Read, for instance, these words from the Supreme Court of India in Jan 2019:

“We conclude that the marriage of a Muslim man with an idolater or fire­worshipper is neither a valid nor a void marriage, but is merely an irregular marriage.”

Can anybody explain that sentence to me?

Indian law has a definition for Hindu marriages, under the Hindu Marriage Act. The law has a completely separate legal institution called Special Marriage, defined under the Special Marriage Act. And Muslim “marriages” are not even defined anywhere. They are treated as civil contracts, like one company agreeing to supply a certain amount of goods to another.

Each of these separate institutions comes with a completely different set of rights and obligations for the two parties involved. Generally speaking, if a woman converts to Islam and marries a Muslim man, she will lose a number of civil rights related to divorce, maintenance and inheritance. These laws will impact how she might inherit property from her husband and even her own parents. These laws will even impact how her children inherit property, whether sons and daughters will have an equal share and so on. It is an absolute mess.

Again, generally speaking, a woman who converts to Islam to marry a Muslim man will find the laws much harsher on her. Should the government not step in here and make some rules?

Many people have tried to frame this as a question of female agency. So what if a woman decides to convert? It’s her choice.

Really? Consider this. Consider a 14 year old girl, approached by an adult Muslim man and they fall in “love.” She decides to convert. Because she is a Muslim girl who has reached the age of puberty, the adult Muslim male can now legally marry this 14 year old girl. Do you realize how disturbing this is?

What female agency are you even talking about in this case? A 14 year old girl has agency? This is not a hypothetical situation. The matter has been tested multiple times in courts of law. A minor girl can absolutely marry an adult Muslim man (see here and here). The law is crystal clear on this.

Again, the reason this is possible is because there is no single definition of “marriage” under Indian law. A number of very different legal institutions are grouped under the loose word “marriage.” Naturally therefore, the government has to step in and make rules about how to move between these very different institutions. That’s not meddling, that’s the role of the government.

Think about transportation. You could walk. You could take a car, a two wheeler or an auto-rickshaw. Or a train or an airplane. Don’t you think you need the government to specify that pedestrians should stick to the sidewalk? Don’t we need the government to put traffic signals on the road, control where pedestrians can cross? Would you allow bicycles on railway tracks? Don’t you need access controls? Who determines these access controls? The government, of course.

You can’t pretend that these are all modes of transportation. And so, there should be no distinction between the road, the sidewalk, the railway track and the airplane runway.

And yet, we have liberals framing the matter of inter-faith marriage with pithy idioms such as “Miya biwi raazi, to kya karega qazi“?

Indeed, why not allow auto-rickshaws to ply on the runway at Bangalore airport? Shame on the government for meddling. Right?

There are only two legitimate options here. One, you could stick with our existing maze of various legal modes of marriage. In that case, be prepared for the government to make strict rules on access control between these various modes. Just like the government sets strict rules on how to access trains, planes and buses.

The other option is to have a Uniform Civil Code, which provides a single definition of the word marriage. It would specify everything on age of consent, inheritance, divorce, alimony, child support, etc with no distinction on the basis of caste, religion, or gender. In that case, the government would no longer meddle. Adult citizens would be free to do as they choose with their lives. That is why this is standard across the free world.

Our “activists” want neither. They want the absurdity to continue. They don’t want to talk concrete policy nor principles. And they just want to throw movie dialogues at their political opponents. And for this, they are perfectly willing to throw women and minor girls under the bus.

OIC snubs Pakistan again, no mention of ‘Kashmir’ in Foreign Ministers’ meeting agenda: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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OIC snubs Pakistan again, no mention of ‘Kashmir’ in Foreign Ministers’ meeting agenda: Read details

In a major embarrassment to Pakistan, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – an inter-governmental organisation of Muslim-populated countries has decided not to include the ‘Kashmir issue’ in its agenda of foreign ministers’ meeting that is scheduled to be held in Niger from November 27-28.

According to the reports, the OIC has dropped the ‘Kashmir issue’ from the agenda of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), resulting in distress in Pakistan, which has sought to repeatedly internationalise India’s internal matters.

The statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Wednesday to announce Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s participation stated that during the two-day session, they will discuss a range of issues facing the Muslim world, including the “Jammu and Kashmir dispute”.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry’s statement further said Qureshi intended to highlight the “aggravating human rights and humanitarian situation” in Jammu and Kashmir after India decided to scrap the controversial special status of the erstwhile state in August 2019.

OIC’s agenda does not have any mention of Kashmir

However, the claims made by Pakistan are not true as official statements issued by OIC in English and Arabic does not mention about Kashmir issue being on the agenda for the meeting.

The official statements of the OIC quoting the organisation’s secretary-general Yousef Al-Othaimeen said that the meeting of the foreign ministers, being held with the theme of “United against terrorism for peace and development”, has an agenda that includes “topics and issues of concern to the Muslim world”.

The statement read, “In addition to the Palestinian cause, the fight against violence, extremism and terrorism, Islamophobia and defamation of religious, the Council will discuss the situation of Muslim minorities and communities in non-member states, fundraising for the Rohingya cause at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as well as the promotion of dialogue among civilisations, cultures and religions, and other emerging matters”.

The above statement does not have any reference to the Kashmir issue. The statement in Arabic said nothing about the Kashmir issue.

The terrorist-state of Pakistan, which has illegally occupied parts of Kashmir, has been demanding a special meeting of the OIC foreign ministers on the dispute for a very long time now. However, the OIC members countries have overlooked Pakistan and have not convened so far.

The development comes at a time when Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), both influential members in the 57-member OIC, are strained. The Saudis who wield a virtual veto in the 57-member bloc of Muslim countries has declined to support Islamabad’s move.

Pakistan’s deteriorating ties with Arab world

The ties between the once long-time allies Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated lately. The relationship which had flourished for a long time now, has turned sour following Pakistan’s deranged behaviour and threats to Saudi Arabia.

The difference between the two long-time allies – Pakistan and Saudi Arabia emerged when the latter refused to side with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue earlier this year. The Kingdom’s reluctance to further Pakistan’s ineterests were visible in February 2020 when Saudi Arabia passed up Pakistan’s request to convene a special meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to get Muslim countries to condemn India on the Kashmir issue.

Ever since India hollowed out Article 370, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its “separate status”, Pakistan has been demanding on a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to internationalise Jammu and Kashmir and get India to reverse the decision.

Pakistan’s sabre-rattling before Saudi Arabia did not go well

As Saudi Arabia did not take notice of Pakistan’s rants against India, Pakistan had expressed displeasure over the refusal and had also threatened to split Saudi Arabia led OIC. Following the threats, Saudi Arabia, a long time benefactor of Pakistan, decided to overtly penalise the terror-state by cutting aides and grants provided to them.

In August, Saudi Arabia has sought the early repayment of a $3-billion loan provided to the Imran Khan government in 2018 after it was irked by Islamabad’s criticism of Riyadh’s position on the Kashmir issue. After being rebuffed by the Saudi leadership on the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Imran Khan had made an unsuccessful attempt to forge a new grouping of Islamic countries with Turkey and Malaysia.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia had also decided not to renew an agreement with Pakistan that allowed the supply of crude oil to Pakistan on deferred payments. As per the agreement, there was a provision of oil worth $3.2 billion on deferred payments per annum. 

Taking a cue from its neighbour Saudi Arabia, even UAE has begun to act against Pakistan and just recently it also temporarily suspended issuing visas to citizens of Pakistan, Afghanistan and some other countries over security concerns. The UAE too has been ignoring Pakistan’s overtures on the Kashmir issue.

Addition to that, the Modi government’s proactive diplomacy and goodwill in the Gulf have acted in favour of India. The Indian government has worked to strengthen ties with countries in West Asia, a major source of energy and home to some nine million expatriates, in the past few years.

After allowing Israelis to visit without visa, UAE stops issuing visas to citizens of 13 countries including Pakistan and Turkey

OpIndia Staff
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After allowing Israelis to visit without visa, UAE stops issuing visas to citizens of 13 countries including Pakistan and Turkey

Just a month after signing a visa waiver agreement with Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has stopped issuing visas to citizens of 13 countries including Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Most of these 13 countries are Muslim majority nations.

According to a report of Reuters, the UAE has temporarily stopped the visas being issued to these countries over security concerns, however, no details are available as yet. The relevant document reportedly seen by Reuters cited an immigration circular that came into effect on November 18. The document said that the applications for new employment and visit visas had been suspended for nationals of 13 countries. The counties affected by this ban are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Algeria, Kenya, Iraq, Lebanon, and Tunisia.

The circular came a week after the French Embassy in the UAE asked its citizens to stay vigil following a bomb attack on diplomats in Saudi Arabia, the responsibility for which was taken by the Islamic State. The bomb blast had occurred during a World War One commemoration day ceremony in Jeddah. The report said that the ban on visa was meant for a temporary period, and it was not known whether there is any exemption.

UAE-Israel visa waiver agreement

The decision is significant in the light of recent improvements in UAE-Israel relations. Just a month ago, the two nations had signed a visa waiver agreement, allowing citizens of the countries to visit each other without requiring a visa. The two countries had signed several agreements after the US-brokered peace agreement signed in September. Apart from the visa waiver, UAE and Israel had also signed agreements on cooperation in aviation, investment, science and technology.

After signing the visa waiver agreement on October 19 in Tel Aviv, UAE had ratified it on 1st November, and Israel ratified the agreement on 23rd November. This is the first such agreement between an Arab nation and a Jewish nation.

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