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‘Will shoot you, bow down to us if you want to live in Mewat’: Faisal and Parveen warn Hindu youth against following Hindu rituals in Mewat

The atrocities on Hindus in Mewat, Haryana is not unheard of. The Hindus, who have been reduced to a minority community in Haryana’s mini Pakistan (Mewat), are living under constant threat in the hands of the Muslim majority in the region. Incidents of rape of Hindu, especially of Dalit girls, kidnapping of brides, forced conversion, assault on Dalits have become common in the villages in Mewat.

Recently, it was reported how a temple located in a village falling under the jurisdiction of Mewat’s Nagina police station was vandalised by the Muslims in the region. Now, another incident from the same jurisdiction has come to the fore where a Hindu youth has been terrorized and threatened with death if he visits the temple or indulges in any religious activities.

Hindu youth in Mewat claims that his case is not being heard

According to reports, two Muslim youth named Faisal and Parveen have threatened to kill a Hindu youth Muralilal Saini. Muralilal claims that in the hope to get some help, he has been knocking every door possible. He has approached the village sarpanch to the Nagina Police station and also written a letter to Haryana’s Chief Minister Mohan Lal Khattar. However, Murarilal claims of receiving no assistance until now. His case is not being taken seriously, alleges the youth.

Murarilal Saini

Murailal, who is a fruit seller by profession, was going to the temple with his friend Hemraj on November 2 when he was accosted by 4 youths. The Muslims who were on two bikes started abusing Murarilal and Hemraj. According to the Hindu youths, this was not the first time that Faizal and Praveen had harassed them. They often confronted them and intimidated them with locally made guns. Until now, Murarilal kept complaining to the village Sarpanch in hope that he would help him out. But when he saw that it was not working he approached the Nagina police station.

In his complaint, Murarilal said that he was standing at Hemraj’s shop on November 2 when some boys including Faisal and Parveen came to him and started abusing him. They threatened him by saying: “The day we find you alone, we will kill you”. They told him that they had prepared a hit-list with the name of few Hindu youths from the village who were in their radar and that he was one of them. In his complaint, Murarilal clearly expressed his fear that his life was in danger. He specified that if anything untoward happened with him, the Faizal, Praveen and his accomplice should be held accountable.

OpIndia speaks to oppressed Hindu youth in Mewat

When OpIndia got in touch with Murarilal, he shared with us the letters he had written Haryana’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, State Home Minister Anil Vij and the Superintendent of Police, requesting them for help.

Murarilal’s letter to Haryana CM

When OpIndia questioned Murarilal on police’s response, he said despondently that he had not received any reply from the police station so far. The bike riders still threaten him and kept saying that “You are from the RSS … will shoot you.”

“Jab bhi humare same aao toh humain salaam karo”, Muslim youths warn Murarilal

Murari expressed helplessness as he claimed that he is 31 years old and yet he was receiving such threats from boys aged 20-22. He said nothing like this happened before. He has been running his shop in the market for about 20 years. But from the last 7 to 8 months these boys started bothering him, claimed Murari. He told us that when the Muslims youths accosted him, while he was on his way to the temple, they warned him that if he wanted to live in Mewat, he would have to live as per their whims. They said that whenever in future Murari crosses them he would need to bow down and salute them first. “Mewat mein rehana hain toh humare hisaab see rehna hoga. Is liye jab bhi humare samne aao toh humain salaam karo”, roughly translated as (If you want to live in Mewat, then you have to live according to us. So whenever you come in front of us, you have to salute us).

The aggrieved youth first thought that all these were petty matter amongst the villagers and would get resolved in the village itself, but when his hardships started to cross all endurable capacities, he gathered the people of the village and approached the village sarpanch. The sarpanch assured him that he would make sure that the matter is resolved and the Muslim youths do not bother him henceforth.

For a month things were better, but it all started again after one month. The process of intimidation and threatening has continued ever since, said Murarilal. In fact, those Muslims youths have now started threatening Murarilal to leave the village or face dire consequences.

On November 2, seeing Murarilal standing at Hemraj’s shop, these Muslim youths surrounded him and asked: “You have not left the village yet? Now your time has come.” According to Murarilal, every Hindu in his area who visits temples or engages in any form of religious activities is suppressed and harassed. They are often roughed up by these Muslim youths and due to their dominance in the village, the helpless Hindus can do little to help themselves or their friends, revealed Murari.

OpIndia approches SHO of Nagina police station

After speaking to Murarilal, Opindia contacted the SHO of Nagina police station. However, we were told that they have no information about the purported incident. After this, we again tried to reach out to them, but the police did not pick up our phone.

Murarilal’s letter to the Nagina police station SHO

Atrocities against Hindus in Muslim dominated Mewat continues unabated

This is, however, not a one-off incident in Mewat. Earlier, a 24-year-old Dalit boy Rahul was brutally assaulted, with a battle-axe, by members of the Muslim community in his village Uleta, falling under the jurisdiction of Mewat’s Nagina police station. When Rahul’s family went to save their son, even they were also subjected to assault by the Muslim assailants.

The village sarpanch and other villagers stayed away from even inquiring the well being of Rahul and his family which came under the attack of the Muslim assailants. Instead, Rahul’s uncle Jaswant was allegedly intimidated by a well-known person in the village who warned him that if he wants to stay in the village, he will have to live under their yoke. The police did not allegedly cooperate. To weaken the case, the ST/SC Act was removed from the case. It’s been four months since Rahul’s family has been running pillar to post seeking justice for their young son, but his assailants are still roaming around freely.

However, these Hindus are no different from the rest of the oppressed Dalit family’s in Mewat, who have been enduring these hardships for the past two decades. The pervasiveness of the local police, probably under the influence of the majority Muslim population in the region, has only added to the miseries of these Hindu families.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani steps in to represent Sameet Thakker

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Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani will represent Sameet Thakkar, who is currently lodged in jail for criticising the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government through his social media posts. Thakkar is a victim of the witch-hunt by the Maharashtra government. He has been arrested three times in three weeks under different cases by the Mumbai Police.

It has been confirmed by OpIndia that senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani is taking up Thakkar’s case against the Uddhav Thackeray government.

The cases against Sameet Thakkar

Two FIRs were registered against Sameet Thakkar in Nagpur and at VP Road police station in Mumbai on July 2 for allegedly posting objectionable remarks against CM Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aditya Thackeray and Nitin Raut. Thakkar filed a petition in Bombay High Court seeking protection from arrest and quashing of FIRs against him. On 1st October, the court granted him protection from arrest and ordered him to cooperate in the investigation.

Another FIR was registered against him and eight others with BKC Cyber police by Shiv Sena’s legal consultant Advocate Dharmendra Mishra on August 5, 2020, for allegedly posting against Aditya Thackeray, alleging that he was linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Thakkar is currently facing three FIRs filed with Nagpur police, VP Road police, and BKC cyber police in relation to the comments posted by him.

Thakkar was first arrested on October 24 by Nagpur Sitabuldi police. He spent nine days in custody. On November 2, he was re-arrested by the VP Road police from court premises after a Nagpur court granted him bail. On November 10, he was arrested by BKC police after he was granted bail on November 9 in relation to the FIR lodged with VP Road police. He was sent to police custody till November 13, but as the courts will be closed till November 15, he can request bail only on or after November 16.

Attorney General KK Venugopal grants consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Kunal Kamra

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Attorney General KK Venugopal has granted his consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against far-left troll masquerading as a ‘stand-up comedian’ Kunal Kamra. A Mumbai based lawyer had sought the Attorney General’s permission to initiate contempt proceedings against Kunal Kamra for his tweets against the Supreme Court, after apex court had granted bail to Arnab Goswami.

According to the reports, the AG KK Venugopal, granting his consent to initiate proceedings against Kamra said the tweets by Kamra, where he referred to the Supreme Court of India as Supreme Joke India, and said that humour has left the SC long ago, “were highly objectionable.”

In his consent letter, KK Venugopal stated that the other tweets also are highly objectionable and it would perhaps be for the court to decide the question as to whether these tweets also would constitute criminal contempt of the Supreme Court of India. The AG also referred to one image posted by Kamra where the Supreme Court was shown in saffron colour, and the Indian flag was replaced by the flag of BJP, insinuating that Supreme Court is working under BJP.

“I find that today people believe that they can boldly and brazenly condemn the Supreme Court of India and its judges by exercising what they believe is their freedom of speech,” the Attorney General KK Venugopal said in his letter to the Mumbai-based lawyer Rizwan Siddique.

He added, “But under the Constitution, the freedom of speech is subject to the law of contempt and I believe that it is time that people understand that attacking the Supreme Court of India unjustifiedly and brazenly will attract punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1972, I, therefore, grant consent to proceed by way of initiating contempt proceedings against Kunal Kamra”.

Mumbai-based lawyer had sought the consent of AG to file contempt proceedings

Earlier, Mumbai-based lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee had sought Attorney General KK Venugopal’s permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Kunal Kamra. 

The infamous so-called comedian lost his cool when the Supreme Court of India granted interim bail to Arnab Goswami on 11th November. Kamra published a series of Tweets where he described the Supreme Court of India as ‘Supreme Joke of India’. As per the law, his tweets are subject to contempt proceedings.

In his letter to AG, Siddiquee said that Kamra posted unsavoury comments on the Supreme Court and Justice DY Chandrachud. He also circulated a morphed image of the Supreme Court premises. Siddiquee said his tweets amount to a “manifest attempt to lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India.”

Kamra’s tweets against Supreme Court and Justice Chandrachud

Siddiquee added five tweets by Kamra in his letter. In the first tweet, Kamra compared the Supreme Court to a Supreme Joke. In the next tweet, he wrote, “The pace at which the Supreme Court operates in matters of “National Interests” it’s time we replace Mahatma Gandhi’s photo with Harish Salve’s photo.”

In the third tweet, he compared DY Chandrachud to“flight attendant serving champagne to first-class passengers after they’re fast-tracked through, while commoners don’t know if they’ll ever be boarded or seated, let alone served.” In the last tweet, he provoked lawyers to stop using the prefix “Hon’ble” while referring to the Supreme Court or its judges. He said, “Honour has left the building long back.”

Siddiquee highlighted another tweet by Kamra where he posted a morphed image of the Supreme Court building giving it an Orange shade with the BJP flag hoisted in the Supreme Court’s entrance.

He said if the court does not take action based on the derogatory statements made by Kamra, his millions of followers will follow the same path and make reckless allegations when judgment is not in their favour. He further added, “Greatest strength of the judiciary is the faith of the people in it, a belief that should not allowed to erode because of a calculated and well-timed propaganda of a few,”.

Yesterday, lawyer Chandni Shah had filed a contempt plea against Kamra for his vile remarks, which was handed over to the Secretary-General of Supreme Court of India. Along with this, she also filed a cybercrime complaint against him.


NCP used Swami Vivekananda when they wanted to justify beef-eating, now protesting against his statue in JNU

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be unveiling a life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus today evening. The statue was vandalised by goons on JNU campus in November last year. Slogans like ‘Bhagwa jalega’ and ‘F*ck BJP’ were painted across by leftist goons. The inauguration will be done through video conference. 

Speaking about the event, PM Narendra Modi Tweeted: “At 6:30 this evening, will unveil a statue of Swami Vivekananda at the JNU campus and share my thoughts on the occasion. The programme will be held via video conferencing. I look forward to the programme this evening”.

While the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) has called for an anti-Modi protest over the funds used for the construction of the statue, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also jumped on the bandwagon to question the BJP government on the ‘wasteful’ expenditure being incurred on the installation of Swami Vivekananda’s statue. They claimed that the funds being spent on the ceremony could have been put to better use.

The National Congress Party has been steadfast in joining the controversy that has hit the ceremony hours ahead of the scheduled unveiling. Interestingly, today NCP is finding the funds spent on the installation of the leader’s statue a waste of expenditure. Probably, the party members have forgotten that it was their opportunistic party which had only a few years back latched onto the name of the same leader when they wanted to justify beef-eating.

“Swami Vivekananda was not only a meat eater but used to cook non-vegetarian food”: NCP

When in April 2017, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had advocated a nationwide law against cow slaughter, calling it a “vice” that must be removed, NCP general secretary DP Tripathi had rebuked the RSS chief for his idea. He had then said that “nowhere in the Vedas it is written that eating beef is a crime. It is not there in the shastras, the Vedas. I challenge Bhagwat or any of his representatives to come and a debate on the basis of all Hindu scriptures.”

Claiming that 80 per cent of the countrymen, including a majority of Hindus, eat beef, Tripathi said Bhagwat’s idea of having a ban on cow slaughter is against the spirit of the Constitution.

He claimed Swami Vivekananda, whom “Prime Minister Narendra Modi admires, was not only a meat eater but used to cook non-vegetarian food”. He had furthered that had it been possible for these groups, they would have “jailed even the likes of Swami Vivekananda” for their views on beef and meat.

Interestingly, the party which had not shied away from using Swami Vivekanand’s name for proving their point, are now getting worked up when the statue of the same leader is being installed.

The witch-hunt against Sameet Thakkar by the Maharashtra govt and the 3 arrests in 3 weeks: All you need to know

The Thackeray government in Maharashtra seems to be on a mission to shut out the last dissenting voice in the state that speaks against or criticises the government. Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami came out on bail yesterday after getting relief from the Supreme Court, however, Twitter user Sameet Thakkar is stuck in a loop of bail and arrest. Trouble refuses to end for Sameet Thakkar who is paying a heavy price for posting comments on social media against Maharashtra Chief Minister and his son.

Thakkar who is facing charges for his remarks was arrested by Maharashtra police for the third time in a row on November 11. He has been sent to police custody till November 13. However, Thakkar’s ordeal does not end there, the courts are closed till November 15 which means that he can request bail only be after courts reopen on November 16.

Three FIRs lodged against Thakkar

Two FIRs were lodged against Sameet Thakkar in Nagpur and at VP Road police station in Mumbai on July 2 for allegedly posting objectionable remarks against the Chief Minister, his son Aaditya Thackeray and Nitin Raut. Thakkar filed a plea in Bombay High Court seeking protection from arrest and requesting quashing of FIRs registered against him. on October 1, 2020, a Bench of Justice SS Shinde and MS Karnik granted Thakkar protection from arrest and ordered to cooperate in the investigation and record his statement at VP Road police station.

Another FIR was registered against Thakkar and eight others with BKC Cyber police by Shiv Sena’s legal consultant Advocate Dharmendra Mishra on August 5, 2020 after he allegedly posted a tweet alleging that Aaditya Thackray was linked with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and his former manager Disha Salian. Thakkar is currently facing three FIRs in total filed with Nagpur police, VP Road police and BKC cyber police in relation to the comments posted by him.

Advocate Mishra said that Thakkar was spoiling the atmosphere of the country through his posts. “He has been uploading content that spoils the atmosphere of the country. Rather than using social media for constructive work, it is being misused to defame people and forward conspiracy theories”, said Mishra as reported by the Indian Express.

Court asked police not to take coercive action

He went to VP Road police station on October 5, 2020 to record his statement, however, he escaped from there on the pretext of using washroom fearing his arrest. He told the court on October 9, 2020 that he had escaped from the police station fearing arrest. The court asked the cops not to take any coercive action against Thakkar and hand over to him a copy of the FIR and record his statement.

Thakkar was ordered to appear in the police station on October 16 but he did not appear. After that, his lawyer Advocate Abhinav Chandrachud returned his brief on October 23. Advocate Raspal Singh Renu infrormed the court about the same and requested the court for time to appoint a new counsel, after which the matter was scheduled on November 3 for hearing.

The series of arrests started on October 24

Thakkar was first arrested by Nagpur’s Sitabuldi police on October 24 after which he spent nine days in custody. He was then re-arrested by the VP Road police from court premises after a Nagpur court granted him bail on November 2 in relation to the FIR lodged with Nagpur police. He was again arrested by BKC police on November 10 after he was granted bail on November 9 in relation to the FIR lodged with VP Road police. He was granted bail on the condition that he would not operate his Twitter account until further orders.

The BKC police arrested Thakkar in relation to the case lodged with them and sought his police custody before the local magistrate court. His anticipatory bail in relation to the FIR filed with the BKC cyber police was rejected by the sessions court. Thakkar will now have to spend Diwali in police custody. It is noteworthy that out of nine people against whom FIR was registered at BKC police station, only Thakkar has been arrested.

Thakkar had allegedly called Aaditya Thackeray as  ‘Mohammad Azam Shah of Maharashtra, aka baby penguin.’ He also referred to CM as ‘Modern day Aurangazeb’ and posted a derogatory comment on Raut.

NDA win was a feminist victory — but liberals were left praising a privileged man

On the face of it, the Bihar elections were closely contested. The NDA won 125 seats and polled 37.26% of the vote. The Mahagathbandhan (MGB), consisting of the RJD, the Congress and the Left, won 110 seats and polled 37.21% of the vote. But was it really that close? When you break down the results phase by phase, as in this graphic from the Times of India, a strikingly different picture emerges.

Performance of parties (phase wise) (Image credit: Times of India)

It started out as a wave election in favor of MGB. In Phase I, the NDA won a mere 22 seats compared to 47 for the MGB. In Phase II, the NDA took a hard fought lead, grabbing 51 seats to 41 for the MGB. And in Phase III, the MGB was almost wiped out, with the NDA taking 2/3rd of the available seats. What began as a wave election for MGB ended up as a win for NDA.

What happened? After the first phase, word must have spread on the ground. Even if exit poll data was not publicly available, the internal assessments would be there. It would show in the body language of netas and ground level workers. Voters would know about the hawa. Under ordinary circumstances, the massive anti-incumbency wave from Phase I should have picked up strength as it washed across the state.

But the opposite happened. It is almost as if somebody heard about the hawa and came out to stop it. Here is the simplest explanation.

Snapshot of Hindustan Times article

In Phase I, male voter turnout was 57%, which was slightly higher than the female turnout of 54%. The RJD led alliance swept this phase.

By Phase II, that changed. The female voter turnout rose to 59%, exceeding the male voter turnout by a healthy 5%. The NDA grabbed a lead over the RJD in this phase.

The magic happens in Phase III. The female voter turnout rises to an astonishing 65%, nearly 11% more than the male voter turnout. The NDA sweeps this phase, wipes out the RJD and wins this election.

The conclusion is obvious. Women of Bihar must have heard about the hawa. In Delhi, the media could barely restrain their delight. The TV anchors could barely keep themselves from breaking into song and dance. The crowds at Tejashwi’s rallies were driving them wild with “liberalism.”

But where liberal media sensed victory (and smelled crumbs), the women of Bihar smelled fear. Lalu-raj was coming back. They decided to stop it. The Indian Constitution gives them the right. They used it to devastating effect. In that sense, Bihar is an outstanding example of feminist assertion on a mass scale.

So why aren’t the alleged feminists celebrating in Delhi, New York, London and Paris? Aren’t they delighted that their poor sisters in backward regions of Bihar have recognized and asserted their authority?

I haven’t noticed much rejoicing in those circles about the Bihar verdict. Have you?

A few days ago, one Phalasha Nagpal had come to the following conclusions in the pages of the Indian Express:

“With over half of the female population unable to even read or write, one may question whether the women even have any understanding of political ideologies or any inclination to vote for a specific party.”

Wow! That was insulting. There’s more:

“… with virtually no reproductive, economic and social agency, an average woman in Bihar is likely to make similar political choices as her male counterpart….”

The Indian Express introduces the writer as a “social policy researcher and analyst” (whatever that means).

I am neither a social policy researcher nor an analyst. But I have some questions for them. Is it possible that social policy researchers lack understanding of society, or even the inclination to understand society? At least, let us hope that in social policy research circles, where all people can presumably read and write, the women have as much agency as the men. I am hoping Ms. Nagpal will write a follow up article refining her conclusions about the women of Bihar. Are you?

There are other questions here. What about the ground reporters who told us about the Tejashwi hawa? Why did they fail to bring out the voices of the women of Bihar in the course of the campaign? Did they make up their minds by speaking to just 50% of the electorate? If they chose to ignore, whether consciously or unconsciously, the other half of the population, is this not patriarchy? Have they examined their prejudices or apologized publicly? Have they said what they will do in the future to avoid repeating this error?

And above all, will there be apologies from those who constantly try to corner the BJP as patriarchal and regressive?

America and Bihar. The results came out within a week of each other. The two places could not be more different in terms of standard of living. But they are united by a common thread of democracy. And in both places, women made the difference. While male voters were roughly evenly split between Biden and Trump, female voters gave Biden a landslide.

Both America and Bihar were expressions of feminism. But the women of America were celebrated. The women of Bihar were not.

Is it because the commentariat perhaps did not enjoy the result in Bihar as much as it enjoyed the result in America? Is a woman a feminist only when she sides with a certain political party? If a woman rejects the liberal consensus of fashionable New York and New Delhi based editors, does she cease to be a feminist?

Instead, on results day in Bihar, the fashionable liberal commentariat of New Delhi busied themselves with praising Tejashwi Yadav. A privileged young dynast like no other. He drops out of school in the 9th grade because he has enough privilege to last a lifetime. A month before the election, he emerges from a bungalow and goes on a helicopter tour of Bihar. And the liberal durbar of Delhi can’t stop praising his hard work and merit.

That’s what patriarchy truly means. And all of the liberal universe, including the feminists, are part of it.

‘Order from Uddhav Thackeray is final’: BJP’s Nilesh Rane makes a stunning charge, shares audio of Shiv Sena leader threatening contractor

BJP leader Nilesh N. Rane took to Twitter on Thursday to make a stunning charge against Uddhav Thackeray and his leaders. The BJP leader released an audio tape where he alleged that a Shiv Sena leader was threatening a contractor to stop the work on a highway.

Nilesh Rane, sharing the audio wrote, “Shiv Sena is working to recover money by threatening the contractors of the same highway that they had once strongly objected to. The Shiv Sena’s formula is to oppose the projects first and then contract for the same projects”.

In the audio tape that was shared by BJP leader Nilesh Rane, he says that a Shiv Sena leader and her aide can be heard threatening a contractor.

In the tape, the alleged Shiv Sena leader and her aide are heard threatening a Highway contractor. In the audiotape, the alleged Shiv Sena leader and her aide appear to be in a conference call with the contractor. They are heard threatening and intimidating the contractor to stop the job assigned to him by the company.

The contractor, however, refuses to heed the Sena leader’s suggestion and defends himself saying he has been awarded the contract by the company and he needs directives from the organisation to stop his work.

Peeved by contractors’ refusal, the Shiv Sena leader tells him that Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray has personally asked her to get this job done(to get the contractor to back off). However, the contractor wouldn’t budge. He asked the Shiv Sena leader to visit his office the next day for a discussion over the matter.

“What’s the need for a discussion? An order from Uddhav Thackeray is final and binding. His authority is final, no company decision comes before his word,” the Shiv Sena leader said.“We will send Shiv Sainiks to have a discussion with you. We will then see how you assume your work,” the leader’s aide ominously threatens the contractor.

BJP Nilesh Rane has alleged that this is the standard modus operandi of the Uddhav Thackeray government where they first oppose construction and then offer contract for it.

OpIndia could not verify if the voice in the tape was indeed that of a Shiv Sena leader and her aide or if there was any money involved, however, one can hear the individual in the tape telling someone that an “order from Uddhav Thackeray is final and binding”. She is also heard menacingly telling the person that she will send Shiv Sainiks to “have a discussion with him”.

The Sena-led government in Maharashtra has been facing criticism for targeting and harassing citizens to score petty political goals. Earlier, She Sena goons had attacked common people over social media posts and voicing options against the Uddhav government. A retired Navy official named Madan Sharma was brutally assaulted in September for a social media post against the Uddhav government. Sena leaders had also threatened actress Kangana Ranaut of physical assault when she had raised her voice against the Thackeray government. The BMC had demolished her office claiming that parts of the construction were ‘illegal’.

Watch: UP girl accuses father Idris Khan and family members of sexually abusing her, forcing her to marry a cousin

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A video has surfaced where a girl from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh has levelled serious allegations against her family members. She has alleged that her father Idris Khan, who is a police official posted in the IG office in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, and her brothers have been sexually exploiting her and forcing her to marry her cousin brother.

The Badaun girl alleges family sexually exploting her and forcing her to convert to Islam

The girl has left her house and has taken refuge in Haridwar Kotwali. The girl reveals that her mother was a Hindu while her father is a Muslim. She alleged that her father Idris Khan killed her mother had since then has been sexually exploiting her and forcing her to convert and marry her cousin Waqar Younis. Tired of the exploitation and harassment she has left her house and approached Viswa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists who brought her to the Haridwar Kotwali on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the girl’s father has lodged a missing complaint and based on the complaint the Badaun police reached Haridwar Kotwali to take her back home. But the girl, who is an adult now, has refused to go back home. Reiterating all the allegations in front of the police she has sought police security. The victim, a resident of Badaun, alleged that she had left the house on her own will on November 5. She said that she was repeatedly being sexually exploited and mistreated. Her father was also pressurising her to marry his elder brother’s son Waqar Younis.

The victim has alleged that some officials of UP Police who are on good terms with her father have been pressurising her to return to UP. She added that she is an adult and she refuses to go back to her family members. She also claimed that her family has threatened that all the VHP and Bajrang Dal workers who have been helping her will be killed in ‘encounters’.

The Haridwar police have presented the woman in the City Magistrate Court. City Kotwal Amarjeet Singh told that the girl has been produced in the City Magistrate Court. He said that appropriate action would be taken based on the victim’s complaint.

Unable to control pollution in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal goes to save the environment in Goa, gets his facts completely wrong: Here are the details

Left-wing NGOs and media have now targeted three important infrastructure development projects in Goa, alleging harm to wildlife. The three projects are: expansion of national highway 4-A, construction of transmission line, and doubling of the existing Railway line, which is being opposed by the activists. It is alleged that the projects will hamper the wildlife in the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in Mollem. Now, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has chosen to join the protests in Goa against the govt sanctions projects, which led to an open spat between him and Goa CM Pramod Sawant.

This all began when on 9th November, Arvind Kejriwal hailed the protesters in Goa for their efforts to save the environment, and condemned the Goa govt for muzzling the protests and lodging FIRs.

Reacting to the comments of Kejriwal, Goa CM Sawant had told reporters on Wednesday that the Delhi CM should first fix the pollution problem in Delhi before worried about Goa. After this, the Delhi reacted to the Goa CM’s tweet, quoting a tweet by Goa News Hub carrying the Sawant’s comments. He Kejriwal said that it is not about Delhi’s pollution vs Goa’s pollution, and they will have to work together to ensure that there is no pollution in both Delhi and Goa.

However, Sawant was happy with this reply, and he said that Goa govt is ensuring that there is no pollution in Goa. The Delhi CM used this to once against oppose the projects, and asked the Goa CM to hear the voices of the protesters. He also said that he understand that the centre is forcing the project on the Goans, and asked Sawant to say NO to the centre and save Goa from becoming a coal hub.

Pramod Sawant strongly reacted to this tweet, rejecting the claim that the projects are being forced by centre on Goa. He said that the doubling of Railway tracks is a nation building exercise, and said that there is no threat to Mollem from the project. He also ensured that they will not allow Goa to become a coal hub.

Interestingly, Sawant also slammed Kejriwal for trying to created a rift between centre and Goa govt. “Knowing your expertise in creating Center vs State issues, we will skip your advice,” he tweeted.

But Kejriwal still insisted that the project is being forced by the union govt, and asked the Goa govt to oppose the projects.

Uncontrolled Delhi pollution

While the Kejriwal worried about the environment in Goa, and asking the Goa govt stop a major project to protect it, he himself has failed to protect the environment in Delhi. Delhi has seen record levels of pollutions this year, and the state govt failed to take steps in advance to combat the situation, despite the fact that it is well known that Delhi is hit by severe pollution during this period.

Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that stubble burning is the biggest source of air pollution, and said that he can’t do anything about it as the burning takes places in neighbouring states. He has blamed the CMs of those states for inability to end the menace, while completely ignoring other sources of air pollution.

In fact, he had a war of word with Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar, who said that stubble burning contributes only 4% of air pollution in Delhi. Kejriwal responded to it by saying that staying in denial will not help, and claimed that stubble burning is the only reason of spike in air pollution levels. According to an IIT Kanpur study done in 2015, almost 70% of pollution in Delhi is the result of local sources, like road dust, vehicles, domestic sources. Therefore, stubble is not the single largest source as claimed by the Delhi CM.

Due to refusal to acknowledge the real problem, the Delhi govt has been unable to control pollution, despite taking several initiatives. The govt had launched a ‘Green War Room’ ion October, and had announced several measures, like monitoring satellite images, intensive anti-dust drive, installation of anti-smog guns, action plan for 13 pollution hotspots in Delhi, etc. But none of these have worked, and the AQI level was 999 at several places in Delhi, which is the maximum reading the devices can measure. Which means, the exact level of pollution is not known as the the pollution level more than the what the devices used to check AQI can measure.

Other than banning firecrackers, and arresting traders who had stocked ‘green-firecrackers’ after the Delhi govt had issued licenses, there is no major step to combat the severe air pollution in the city-state. While Arvind Kejriwal argues with Goa CM to stop the track doubling project, he has been unable to convince his neighbouring state Punjab to stop stubble burning by farmers, which he claims is the main source of air pollution during this period.

It is not sure how Arvind Kejriwal proposes to combat pollution in Delhi and Goa together, two states located almost 2000 kms away, with completely different environments.

Lies about the doubling project

The project includes double-lining of railway tracks between Hospet in Karnataka and Vasco da Gama in Goa. Work 252 km of the total 342 km has already been completed, and of the remaining 90 km, 70 km lies in Goa. The need for the infrastructure projects was generated by the inability to introduce 24 coach length passenger trains due to the existing length of platforms and others concerns.

Activists and some local population have opposed the project over concerns of harm to the national park, damage to heritage buildings, damage to environment due to increased transportation of coal etc. It is also claimed that High Court has stayed the project, and there is a Railway board order to stop work on it. Another claim is that Railways has not sought permission from village permission.

But the Railway ministry has rejected the concerns, and said that the local public is being misled by those with vested interests. The existing single line track has been in existence for over a century, which was completed in 1905. The line passes through the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National park. But railways occupy only 0.869 square km of land in the park, opposed to the total area of 240 sq km of the sanctuary. Thus, Railways occupies a negligible 0.36% of area of the Wildlife Sanctuary.

Furthermore, the Railway has already conducted an Environment Impact Assessment Survey through IISC, Bangalore, one of the most prestigious institutes in the country and it has been scrutinized by the Forest Department and Ministry of Environment as well. With a view towards permitting safe crossing for animals in the area, 5 new under passes and 3 new over passes are planned for construction along with doubling which are not currently available on the existing single line track.

Ministry has also confirmed that not a single heritage building will be demolished for the track doubling project. Govt is also reducing import of coal, therefore coal transportation is not likely to increase on the track.

Railways have also confirmed that it is a lie that High Court has stayed the project, as the matter is yet to be taken up by court for hearing, and no stay has been granted. Similarly, the claim of Railway Board order to stop work is also a lie. The ministry has also said that as per law it does not require approval from any local body or village panchayats as the project is being implemented on land already owned by Railways.

‘Rights cannot be claimed by depriving others of freedom’: Editor who hailed Arnab’s arrest in the dock, HC refuses to quash FIR against her

On Tuesday, the Meghalaya High Court refused to quash a criminal case lodged against the journalist Patricia Mukhim over her Facebook post about ‘continued attacks on non-tribals’ in the state.

According to the reports, the Meghalaya High Court bench comprising of Justice W Diengdoh, taking note of the Facebook Post, observed that the post made by Mukhim sought to create a divide to the cordial relationship between the tribal and non-tribal living in the State of Meghalaya.

Patricia Mukhim, who is the editor of Shillong Times, had written a post on Facebook condemning the attacks against non-tribals on July 3 by a few masked miscreants in Lawsohtun village. A group of miscreants had attacked five Bengali youth near a basketball court with iron rods and sticks.

Tribal council filed a complaint against Mukhim’s Facebook post

In her Facebook post, Mukhim had reportedly criticised the Lawsohtun village council for failing to identify the “murderous elements” in the assault case after the police had not made any arrests in the case. She had urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to not let this be “another case lost in the police files” while demanding action against tribals. “Criminal elements have no community. They must be dealt with as per the law of the land,” Mukhim had written.

Angered by Mukhim’s Facebook post, the Lawsohtun village council in Meghalaya had filed a complaint against her, alleging that her comments on Facebook about the attack on five boys in Lawsohtun village could incite communal tension. In the complaint, Lawsohtun village head Lurshai Shylla had said Mukhim mentioned the 1979 conflict between tribals and non-tribals in her Facebook post.

Shylla had alleged that Mukhim’s comments were reported by some media houses in West Bengal in an attempt to give it a communal colour. It has put all Khasis outside the state in extreme danger, the complainant had added.

Following that, the Meghalaya police had registered a criminal case under Section 153A/500/505C IPC against her and also issued a notice under Section 41 A CrPC asking her to appear before them.

I had expressed only my concern on handling the case, says Patricia Mukhia

However, Patricia Mukhia filed a petition in the Meghalaya High Court contending that she had only expressed concern on the handling of the case in question by the police and has only expressed the hope that this will not be another case lost in the police files but must be dealt with as per the law of the land.

Hearing the petition, the Meghalaya High Court dismissed her petition saying, “The author has gone on to assuage the feelings of the non-tribals by posing a question as to why they should live in perpetual fear in their own State when they have a right to call Meghalaya their state as the indigenous tribal does.”

It added, “Again, ongoing through the said Facebook post and as observed above, what can be deduced is that there is an attempt to make a comparison between tribals and non-tribals vis-à-vis their rights and security and the alleged tipping of the balance in favour of one community over the other.

The High Court said that Mukhia’ Facebook post would fall on the mischief of Section 153 A (a) IPC as it apparently seeks to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between two communities. The court also observed that S.153 A (1) (a) is not just confined to the promotion of feelings of enmity etc. on grounds of religion only but takes in promotion of such feelings on other grounds as well such as race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community.

Patricia Mukhim had hailed Arnab Goswami’s arrest

Ironically, Patricia Mukhim, who is currently in the dock for making an ‘objectionable’ post on Facebook, had refused to condemn Maharashtra government’s witch-hunt against her fellow journalist colleague and had in fact gone on to extent to say that Arnab Goswami deserved to be arrested.

Soon after the arrest of Arnab Goswami by the Mumbai Police, Patricia Mukhim had taken to Twitter to not only to insinuate that Arnab Goswami was not a journalist but also he deserved no rights as he had ‘deprived someone else of their freedom’.

Tweet by Patricia Mukhim

Responding to one person named Aditya Sharma, who was pontificating on why Arnab Goswami’s arrest need not be condemned due to his nature of journalism, Mukhim had said she completely agreed with Sharma’s views to state, “Rights cannot be claimed by depriving someone else of their freedom”.

According to Patricia, Arnab was not a journalist and he was not entitled to the right to be protected against threat and intimidation.

Last year, Patricia Mukhim was also convicted by the Meghalaya High Court in a contempt case for her article in “Shillong Times” under the caption “When Judges judge for themselves”. Reportedly, in the article, she had criticised the series of orders passed by Justice Sen in suo moto proceedings for enhancing the retiral benefits of judges. However, later this order was stayed by the Supreme Court.