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IIT grad who created ‘faster app’ to book Tatkal tickets got arrested because of Railways’ history with touts. Here are the details

Anurag
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IIT grad who created ‘faster app’ to book Tatkal tickets got arrested because of Railways’ history with touts. Here are the details

On 25th October 2020, officers from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrested 32-year-old S Yuvarajaa for allegedly swindling around Rs 20 lakh via two fraudulent mobile apps for IRCTC ticket booking. As per the reports, in 2016, Yuvarajaa developed an app named Super Tatkal and an updated version of the app Super Tatkal Pro in 2019. He gained up to one lakh users during this period and made around Rs 20 lakh using in-app purchases.

Yuvarajaa was arrested under Section 143(2) of the Railway Act under which unauthorized continuation of a business of procuring and supplying of railway tickets is a punishable offense. Any person found using illegal ways to procure tickets or provide services to procure railway tickets without adequate permissions and licenses can be punished as per the law.

Indian Railways, touts and Operation Dhanush

Ticketing touts have been a major issue for Indian Railways. Touts, as a term, refers to a person who tries to persuade people to buy a certain product or services from him, rather than going to the authentic source. Ticketing touts are the private agents who use certain illegal software to book tickets in bulk and then selling them further to the customers at a higher price.

Indian Railways took numerous steps in the last few years to control this menace and put an end to the problem of ticketing touts. In July 2019, Indian Railways issued a press release in which they mentioned that they had arrested 1261 touts in 2017 and 2391 in 2018. A total of 11,500 illegally obtained tickets were recovered in 2017, and 78,001 were recovered in 2018.

As per the press release of March 2020, here are the steps that Railways took to give a fair chance to everyone while booking Tatkal tickets:

  • Restriction of only 2 Tatkal tickets per user from 1000 hours to 1200 hours.
  • Introduction of Random Security Question for Tatkal ticket bookings.
  • Restriction of only one tatkal ticket per day per train to retail service providers (agents).
  • Regular checks on user IDs and deactivating those found using malpractices like fast booking of tickets. It has to be noted that Indian Railways blocked 1.26 lakh such user Ids between 1st April 2018 and 31st May 2019.
  • Restriction of only one booking in one user login session except for return/onward journey between 0800 and 1200 hours.
  • Dynamic CAPTCHA introduced at three places- registration, login and booking page to check fraudulent booking through automation software.
  • Checks on the minimum time required to enter passenger details and display of CAPTCHA at the time of e-ticket booking by users.
  • Restriction on authorized agents of IRCTC for booking tickets during the first fifteen minutes of opening of Advance Reservation Period (ARP) booking and Tatkal booking.
  • RPF is conducting regular drives against persons/agencies found involved in unauthorized carrying on of the business of procuring and supplying of railway tickets. The offenders are booked under section 143 of the Railways Act.
  • Use of PRABAL query-based application for verification of IRCTC IDs to detect the cases of illegal E-ticketing with follows up action.

As the steps mentioned state, Indian Railways restricted the use of any application to quickly fill out the user form. Later in October 2019, Indian Railways launched ‘Operation Dhanush’ to further prevent touts from booking tickets. They nabbed 23 agents and seized 287 live tickets worth Rs.9,43,725/- and 1008 journey performed tickets worth Rs.21,18,097/-.

In May 2020, RPF started a nation-wide drive to identify and act against touting activities. In the press release, Indian Railways said, “The IRCTC agents were using personal Ids to corner tickets and then sell them unauthorizedly at a premium. Action has been initiated to get them blacklisted. One tout was found using autofill software called Super Tatkal Pro.” Railways had mentioned in May itself that touts were using the said software to quickly book Tatkal tickets reducing the chance for the general public to get access to the Railways services.

In May, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal warned touts that Railways is taking strict action against agents who use software to book tickets. He also requested the travelers to inform Railway at 138 if anyone approaches them to book tickets.

Difference between authorized and unauthorized booking agent

There are several schemes under which companies or firms can become authorized agents for IRCTC. There are many regulations [PDF] in place to ensure no fraudulent activities are happening while booking railway tickets. As per the regulations, there is a penalty for any software tempering that may provide an advantage to the vendors’ customers for using their platform over others. Companies like Make My Trip, Paytm, etc. are IRCTC’s authorized agents, among several others. IRCTC regularly updates the list of authorized principal service providers, commonly known as agents [PDF].

These service providers either use IRCTC’s platform or integrate IRCTC services into their platform using APIs. Anyone who indulges in booking tickets for customers and charges them for the services without the license provided by Indian Railways gets subject to punishment as per the law.

The Print’s attempt to whitewash the illegality of the apps

Shekhar Gupta’s The Print has published a report on Yuvrajaa’s arrest calling it India’s policy-makers’ attempt to ‘kill innovation’. In the report, Print stated that while the Indian government talks about ‘fancy technical terms’ like AI, machine learning, and blockchain, in reality, innovators like Yuvarajaa get arrested for creating ‘useful’ apps.

Article in The Print

The Print said that the app developed by the IIT-Kharagpur grad only facilitated the customers in buying tickets quickly on IRCTC’s platform. “One might think Indian Railways would be on board with this innovation, especially since the enhanced user experience on the margin likely contributes to greater ticket throughput (and hence greater revenue). Nope, no such luck,” the report added.

Though The Print got the functionality of the application correctly as it mentioned that the app asked users for in-app purchases to auto-fill the IRCTC form for a quicker transaction, it completely failed to understand the illegality of it.

The reply from Indian Railways

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor quoted the article by Print and called the arrest a “national embarrassment.” Indian Railways has refuted the claims and released a press statement explaining why the application was illegal and against the customers’ interest. It said, IRCTC already had all the features that were listed in the application made by the accused. “However, they were disabled to ensure a level playing field for all the users. There is nothing new in Computer Application made by the said accused,” it further added.

As far as the ‘innovation’ aspect is concerned, Yuvaraja’s App was no ‘innovation’ since the autofill features were already there in IRCTC platform, though they were later disabled to allow a level playing field for the thousands of users who try to book Tatkal tickets in the website.

It said that anyone could book tickets using the IRCTC website or application without using any illegal application. Indian Railways has imposed several measures to prevent the use of illegal software available in the market, such as imposing a time limit to complete the transaction and captchas. Railways regularly monitor the traffic on its servers to check for any fraudulent activities.

It further added that the faster app mentioned in the reports was not, in fact, a faster app. He was illegally facilitating the application users to book e-tickets and was making money in the process. “Jumping the Tatkal queue and denying equal, a fair opportunity to all other travelers is not tenable. By this application, an unfair opportunity was being fraudulently given to those limited few who had access to the application. Any activity that leads to providing an unfair advantage to some and for illegal charges will be against the Railway rules,” it further added.

Bihar: Family beaten by RJD goons for not voting for the party, victim narrates ordeal in viral video

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: Family beaten by RJD goons for not voting for the party, victim narrates ordeal in viral video

In the midst of the second phase of polling in the Bihar elections, a man named Kavindra Mahto and his family was allegedly brutally thrashed by goons, associated with the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), for not voting for the party.

As per reports, the incident took place in the Fatuha Vidhan Sabha constituency. The family, which was returning home after casting their vote, was stopped by the goons and assaulted after learning that they did not vote for RJD. Following the assault, a complaint was filed by the victim at the Fatuha police station against the unnamed accused.

In a video shared by social media activist Ankur Singh, the victim could be heard narrating his ordeal. Mahto had his vest ripped apart while his father, mother and son sustained injuries during the assault.

He recounted, “A few people wanted that we do not vote…They knew we would not vote for their party. They were angry at us and had come to harass us. We have just come after casting our vote. They wanted us to vote for the lantern symbol (election symbol for RJD).” His mother, who stood in the background, narrated, “They told us that we cannot vote for the lotus symbol (BJP) by staying in a Yadav-dominated area.”

JDU condemns the attack on the victim by RJD goons

Janta Dal (United) leader Ajay Alok hit back at the Rashtriya Janta Dal and condemned the attack on Mahto and his family.

He tweeted, “This is the true character of the party. These incidents show why people don’t vote for them.”

PM Modi slammed the ‘Yuvraj’ from ‘Jungle Raj’ era

While addressing a public gathering in Chhapra, PM Modi stated, “Today, Bihar has a government with two engines (referring to the BJP and the JDU). On the other side, there are two ‘Yuvraj’. One of them is from the ‘Jungle Raj’ era (referring to Tejashwi Yadav). ‘Jungle Raj’ refers to the dark phase in the history of Bihar under the rule of Lalu Prasad Yadav wherein hooliganism was at its peak and the RJD goons determined what’s right or wrong for people.

Voting for the second phase of three-phase election is currently underway in Bihar. The third and final voting will take place on 7th November. Results for the elections will be declared on 10th November.

Day after Nagpur court granted him bail, Mumbai Court sends Sameet Thakkar to police custody till November 9

OpIndia Staff
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Day after Nagpur court granted him bail, Mumbai Court sends Sameet Thakkar to police custody till November 9

A day after Mumbai police re-arrested popular social media user Sameet Thakkar, a Mumbai Court has now sent him to police custody till November 9. He was granted bail by a Nagpur Court yesterday but moments later he was arrested again by the Mumbai police.

Sameet Thakkar was earlier arrested on October 24 in Nagpur for allegedly making ‘objectionable’ comments on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aaditya Thackeray.

Earlier last week, an unsettling video of Sameet being tied with a rope and his face was covered with a black cloth and being led by police officials had surfaced on the internet. The video was from October 30, when Sameet was being taken to the court which extended his police custody till November 2.

Aaditya Thackeray called Baby Penguin

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s son and MLA Aaditya Thackeray is referred by some as ‘baby penguin’. In 2016, on Aaditya’s insistence, 8 penguins were brought to Mumbai’s Byculla zoo from Seoul, South Korea. The administration spent around 2.5 crores on the project that included the cost of an artificial environment built for the flightless birds.

 It was known as a ‘pet project’ of Aaditya Thackeray, as he had led the project to bring penguins to Mumbai. But a few weeks later, one penguin “Dory” died due to bacterial infection, triggering a massive controversy.

The experts said that the bird died due to sudden change in the environment, and the zoo administration did not have the training and knowledge to handle such exotic birds. Several experts had also said that it was a bad idea to bring penguins to hot and humid India. Later, the first baby penguin hatched in India had also died.

Highlights of the case

Multiple FIRs have been registered against Sameet Thakkar in Nagpur and Mumbai for his remarks where he has referred to the Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray as “baby penguin”.

He submitted a plea in Bombay High Court seeking protection from arrest and quashing of FIRs against him. Court directed Thakkar on October 1, 2020 to cooperate with police in investigation and record his statement VP Road police station. Thakkar had escaped from police station when he went there to record his statement on October 5 fearing arrest. He told this before the Bombay High Court after which the Court ordered the police not to take any action against him.

He was ordered to appear in police station on October 16 but he did not comply. His lawyer Abhinav Chandrachud refused to appear for Thakkar and returned his brief. Advocate Raspal Singh Renu informed the court on record that Chandrachud has returned the brief and asked for time to appoint new counsel. The hearing in the matter was scheduled for November 3, 2020.

A court in Mumbai today sent him to police custody till November 9.

Dead people show up to vote to help Joe Biden in his ‘battle for the soul’ of USA, pointing towards voter fraud: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Dead people show up to vote to help Joe Biden in his ‘battle for the soul’ of USA, pointing towards voter fraud: Report

Dead people appear to be showing up to vote for Joe Biden at New York City in the US Presidential Elections, the New York Post has reported. As per the report on the NYP, election records show that ballots have been received in the names of people long since dead, confirming that voter fraud as a very real possibility in the ongoing elections.

An absentee ballot was received from one Frances Reckhow of Staten Island, a registered Democrat, would have been 105 if she were alive today but unfortunately, she passed away eight years earlier. However, her spirit appears keen on assisting Joe Biden in his “battle for the soul of this nation”. Her daughter is a registered Republican and is registered at the same address as her mother, the report said.

Intriguingly, however, the NYC Board of Elections received the ballot on the 8th of October and declared it valid. Another such incident transpired when someone pretending to be Gertrude Nizerre, with an address in Brooklyn, requested an absentee ballot in September. But her ballot was declared invalid on the 30th of October after it was discovered that the voter was deceased. Since both these instances involved registered Democrats, it is safe to assume that the votes were cast in favour of Joe Biden, the Democrat candidate.

The Staten Island Republican Party is reportedly referring the matter to the police and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon’s office. “People should be on the alert for dead people voting. There are people using the names of dead voters to cast ballots,” said chairman Brendan Lantry. “I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Lantry. “We’re requesting that the NYPD and the Staten Island District Attorney’s office investigate.”

Donald Trump has often warned about possible voter fraud with mail-in ballots, however, the mainstream media has pretended that it does not exist despite overwhelming evidence. Social media giants like Twitter then proceeded to censor the US President for his tweets citing mainstream media reports which have an unreserved animosity towards Trump. Joe Biden, on the other hand, has always brushed all such allegations under the carpet.

Over 50 Islamic terrorists aligned to Al-Qaeda killed in an airstrike by French forces in Mali

OpIndia Staff
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Over 50 Islamic terrorists aligned to Al-Qaeda killed in an airstrike by French forces in Mali

Coming as a significant blow to the dreaded Islamic terrorist organisation, over 50 Al-Qaeda linked terrorists have been killed in a French airstrike in Mali. The operation is said to have taken place on October 30 (Friday). The French Army has confiscated arms and ammunitions. Almost 30 motorcycles were destroyed in the offensive.

The airstrikes are believed to have happened in border areas of Burkina Faso and Niger.

Meanwhile, Colonel Frederic Barbry, the French Military spokesperson also informed that “four terrorists have been captured”. Explosives and a suicide vest had been found, Barbry told reporters in a conference call, furthering that the terrorist group was preparing to attack (an army) position in the region.

Referring to the French-led anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane, the French Defence Minister Florence Parly said: “On October 30 in Mali, the Barkhane force conducted an operation that neutralised more than 50 jihadists and confiscated arms and material.”

The French Defence Minister, who had met Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou and her Nigerien counterpart Issoufou Katambe before heading to Bamako, informed that the operation was launched after a drone detected a “very large” motorcycle caravan in the “three borders” area.

French force sent in two Mirage jets and a drone to carry out airstrike, leading to the “neutralisation” of over 50 terrorists in border areas of Mali

When the Islamic terrorists moved under trees to try and escape surveillance, the French force sent in two Mirage jets and a drone to launch missiles, leading to the “neutralisation” of over 50 terrorists, Parly said, calling this operation a “significant blow” to the Ansarul Islam group which she said was linked to Al-Qaeda via the GSIM alliance led by Iyad Ag Ghaly.

Barbry also said that another operation, this time targeting the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, was also underway, with a total of 3,000 soldiers.

The results of the operation, launched about a month ago, would be announced in the coming days, he said.

Islamic insurgency in Mali, Africa

Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, has been struggling to contain the Islamic terrorism which first emerged in the north of the country in 2012, overtaking a rebellion by mostly ethnic Tuareg separatists. Attacks have since spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and are threatening other neighbouring countries. The entire region remains unstable.

France, which had earlier ruled these regions, had launched a military operation to drive back the Islamists in 2013. Over the years, fighting and civil unrest have engulfed the country and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger leaving thousands dead in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of people remain internally displaced, many seeking ways to flee to other countries for survival.

The United Nations has some 13,000 troops deployed in Mali as part of its peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA, while France has 5,100 personnel deployed in the Sahel region.

Is the US gearing up for civil war after Antifa rioters make it clear there will be violence if Donald Trump is reelected president?

K Bhattacharjee
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Is the US gearing up for civil war after Antifa rioters make it clear there will be violence if Donald Trump is reelected president?

The United States of America is on the verge of the conclusion of their presidential election and the declaration of results is only hours away. Citizens in Democrat controlled cities, meanwhile, are already boarding up properties in anticipation of riots by violent left-wing thugs should Donald Trump win the elections.

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer shared news of the development on his Twitter account and said that it was occurring not only in Washington but also in New York, Los Angeles and other cities across the country. He expressed sadness with the turn of events which is a bit surprising given the fact that CNN is on record describing left-wing rioting as ‘mostly peaceful protests’.

Salesforce Tower in downtown San Francisco was boarding up as well in order to protect its property. Democrat Mayors and Governors have been extremely reluctant to crack down on the thugs rampaging across the streets as they are expected to vote blue during polls. Conventional wisdom suggests that people are much less likely to vote for parties if the said party cracks down on them.

All of this points towards an unprecedented series of events in the aftermath of the declaration of results. The Joe Biden camp does not expect a peaceful transition of power. The Transition Integrity Project, consisting of Biden supporters, said that it expected Donald Trump to attempt to continue in his position despite not having the mandate to do so.

The TIP also said that it does not expect results to be known by the end of the election night. As the number of people voting with mail-in ballots have increased exponentially in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis, the counting is expected to take much longer than expected. It said, “This period of uncertainty provides opportunities for an unscrupulous candidate to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the process and to set up an unprecedented assault on the outcome. Campaigns, parties, the press and the public must be educated to adjust expectations starting immediately.”

The US Military has also had to come forward on several occasions and make it clear that they will play no part in deciding the outcome of elections. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said that he does not foresee a situation where the military may play a role in the election process or resolve disputes.

“In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military,” Milley had told Democratic Congresswomen Elissa Slotkin and Mikie Sherrill. “I foresee no role for the U.S. armed forces in this process… We will not turn our backs on the Constitution of the United States.” Earlier, the Pentagon had stated that the Military had no constitutional role “as arbiter of political or election dispute.”

The USA is currently extremely polarised as it heads off into election night. Donald Trump has warned regularly that the Democrats will attempt to rig the elections through ballots and there’s a fair amount of evidence available that suggests that the integrity of mail-in ballots can be compromised. Joe Biden and the Democrats, on the other hand, with the help of the mainstream media, have all but declared that a Trump victory is a statistical impossibility barring any large-scale electoral malpractice.

It is also pertinent to mention that Democrats have still not come to terms with their defeat in the 2016 presidential elections and for four years, they have every tried every trick in the book to delegitimise the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. They peddled the Russian Collusion Delusion, without the slightest bit of evidence, then they attempted to impeach Donald Trump and there are indications that they would attempt similar tricks should they lose this time around.

In their lust for political power, they have spread malicious propaganda that has half the country convinced that Donald Trump is a Russian puppet and a fascist. It is even acceptable in significant sections of the Democrat camp to suggest that Donald Trump is literally Hitler, or worse. For instance, ‘rational’ atheist Sam Harris claimed that Donald Trump is more reprehensible and despicable than Osama bin Laden, then went on to defend that utterly ridiculous claim.

To top it off, Antifa and Black Lives Matter goons have been rioting on the streets ever since George Floyd died during a confrontation with the Police. Their violence seems to be showing no signs of stopping and it is almost a certainty that their rioting will exceed every boundary should Donald Trump manage to secure a victory.

One remembers Kyle Rittenhouse who is currently in jail after killing Antifa rioters in self defense. Therefore, things could get very bad very quickly. And there appears to be a tension in the air as the nation waits with bated breath for the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. Will there be a civil war? It depends entirely on the election results and the reaction of the Democrat establishment. But violence on election night appears to be a certainty. And American citizens appear to be preparing accordingly.

Vienna synagogue terror attack was carried out by ISIS-sympathising Islamic terrorist, confirms Austria Interior Minister

OpIndia Staff
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Vienna synagogue terror attack was carried out by ISIS-sympathising Islamic terrorist, confirms Austria Interior Minister

In the aftermath of the brutal terrorist attack at a synagogue in Vienna last night that left several people dead and many injured, the Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer confirmed that the attack was carried out by an Islamic terrorist.

Describing the terrorist attack as an attempt to weaken or divide Austria’s democratic society Nehammer during a conference today said, “We experienced an attack yesterday evening from at least Islamic terrorist.” He said that one attacker who was heavily armed and was wearing an explosive belt was an ISIS sympathiser. As reported by news agency AP, another suspected terrorist carrying assault rifle and a fake suicide belt was shot by the authorities.

The Minister appealed to people to stay indoors until, further notice from police. Children are advised not to attend schools and stay at home. One terrorist was killed by police in an attack in central Vienna yesterday.

The attack in Vienna

The horrific attack in Vienna was reportedly carried out by multiple terrorist who went around shooting random people in near a synagogue. At around 8 PM local time, several shots were fired at a busy street in the city center. The attack happened at six locations. One police officer was also injured in the attack.

Islamic terror attacks in Europe

European countries have witnessed several attacks by Islamic terrorists in past few days. In October, an Islamic terrorist beheaded a French History teacher named Samuel Paty for showing a caricature of Prophet Mohammad to his students. The incident was strongly condemned by French President Emmanuel Macron.

This was followed by a number of similar attacks in France. In the same month, three more people were killed and several injured by an Islamic terrorist shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ in an attack in Notre Dame Church in Nice, France. The same day, two more attacks were reported one from Avignon in France and the other from Mecca. In Avigon, an unidentified man wielding a knife reportedly attacked a group of police officers patrolling the streets of Montfavet, near the southern French city of Avignon. In the other incident, a man in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah was arrested after he stabbed a guard at the French consulate.

In the month of September, four people were injured in a knife attack near the former offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after the magazine announced that it was going to republish the cartoon of Prophet Mohammad that had caused Islamic Terrorists to launch a terror attack against them in 2015.

Accused Faisal Khan, who offered namaz in a Mathura temple despite outrage by devotees, also participated in anti-CAA protests: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Accused Faisal Khan, who offered namaz in a Mathura temple despite outrage by devotees, also participated in anti-CAA protests: Details

A massive controversy was kicked up on Monday after pictures of two men offering namaz in a Mathura temple surfaced on the internet. A case was registered against the two men, identified as Faisal Khan and Mohammad Chand. Now, it has been revealed that Faisal Khan had also participated in anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and several other protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in several places in the country.

Khan has been the founder of Khudai Khidmatgar, an organisation which is based out of Delhi and which had participated in many anti-CAA protests around the country, fuelling misguided apprehensions about the new law, even after repeated clarifications issued by the Government of India.

Faizal Khan in anti-CAA protest

PFI links of Faisal Khan and Mohammed Chand

Earlier, it was also revealed that the Facebook ID that posted the contentious pictures of the duo offering namaz in Mathura temple was a vocal advocate of the four radical Islamists from People’s Front of India (PFI), who were apprehended on their way to Hathras. The case was taken up by Barsana police station before being transferred to the Intelligence Department. A probe has been initiated for determining the motives behind the act and making the picture viral on social media.

Mathura temple namaz row

On October 29, the duo had offered namaz at the Nand Baba Mandir in Mathura. As per reports, the case was filed, following a complaint by the temple server Kanha Goswami against Faisal Khan and Mohammed Chand, who had reportedly done the ’84 kos’ yatra to reach the temple by bicycles. They were accompanied by two other ‘Gandhian activists’, namely, Nilesh Gupta and Alok Ratna.

The photos of the two individuals offering namaz in the temple premises had instantly gone viral on the social media, after which many people started expressing their displeasure over their actions. A complaint was filed after a photo of the duo, reciting Islamic prayers within a Hindu temple, went viral on social media.

The Uttar Pradesh police had lodged a case against two individuals for reading Namaz (Islamic prayers) within the premises of Nandmahal temple in Nandgaon area in Mathura district’s Barsana on Saturday (October 29). Faizal Khan was nabbed near Jamia Gaffar Manzil on Monday. The other accused – Mohammad Chand – is yet to be arrested by the police. Chand and Khan have been booked under Sections 153-A, 295, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Anti-CAA protests in different parts of the country

Following the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act in December 2019, widespread protests took place in different parts of the country opposing the provisions of the Act that sought to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014. Violence, arson and vandalism was a distinctive feature of the anti-CAA protests that took place after the enactment of the law and culminated into the deadly riots in Delhi in February 2020.

A roadblock was organised by the detractors at Shaheen Bagh, blocking one of the busiest thoroughfares in Delhi, causing grave inconvenience to the passers-by and daily commuters. The protesters at Shaheen Bagh demanded the repealing of the Citizenship Amendment Act which they claimed was discriminating against the Muslims. One of the organisers of Shaheen Bagh protest, Sharjeel Imam, was later arrested for his seditious speech, whipping up anti-India feelings among Muslims and asking them to cut-off Assam and the northeast from the rest of the country.

The organisers and protesters at Shaheen Bagh continued to fan Muslim fears that the Citizenship Amendment Act would disenfranchise Indian Muslims, despite the clarification issued by Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah that the new amended law, in no way, affects the existing citizens of the country and is meant for the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries.

 

FIR and 65 crore defamation notice against publication, that cheered hounding of Republic TV, for reporting about Sharad Pawar-family owned paper

OpIndia Staff
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FIR and 65 crore defamation notice against publication, that cheered hounding of Republic TV, for reporting about Sharad Pawar-family owned paper

Even as folks at Newslaundry rejoiced at the systematic witch-hunting of Arnab Goswami and his news channel Republic TV, one of their own journalist and their own organisation is subjected to a similar kind of harassment for reporting about Shard Pawar-owned Sakal Media Group.

The leading Marathi media house, run by Sharad Pawar’s nephew, Abhijit Pawar, has filed an FIR against a Newslaundry journalist and slapped the leftist rag with Rs 65 crore defamation suit for publishing “false” and “defamatory” reports.

Newslaundry’s Prateek Goyal had published a report on March 27 that Sakal Times, a Marathi daily newspaper run by Sakal Media Group, has sacked 15 of its employees in violation of a government directive to not terminate employees during the pandemic.

Report about Pune Police’s hounding of Newslaundry and its journalist

About two and a half months ago, Sakal Times laid off its entire 50-60 editorial staff. This was also reported by Newslaundry in a report published on June 11. A few days later, a Rs 65 crore defamation suit was filed against Newslaundry by Sakal Media Pvt. Ltd. The Pawar family-owned media house alleged that Newslaundry’s report was false and defamatory in nature.

According to Newslaundry, they had sent questions asking the Sakal group to point out the facts which they thought were disputable. However, Newslaundry claims that instead of highlighting the inaccuracies in their report, Sakal Media filed an FIR against Prateek Goyal. The complaint was filed on September 16 by a certain Mahendra Pisal, who identified himself as Chief Administrative Officer of Sakal Media Pvt. Ltd.

Prateek has been accused in the FIR of not seeking the information from the Sakal Media Group before publishing and using its logo in a “cunning” manner. On the day the FIR was filed against him, Pune police visited Prateek’s home to arrest him. Though he was able to secure an anticipatory bail, the police still want to seize his laptop. claimed NewsLaundry.

Sakal Media Group is owned by the politically influential Pawar family. The board of the directors of the organisation is headed by Pratap Pawar, the brother of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, also sits on the board. The Managing Director of the media group is Abhijit Pawar, son of Pratap Pawar and the nephew of Sharad Pawar.

Sharad Pawar is one of the most important alliance partner in Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, which has demonstrated its willingness to go after the news organisations who do not toe its line.

Maha Vikas Aghadi’s government’s relentless hounding of the Arnab Goswami-owned Republic TV, as Newslaundry rejoiced

This hounding of Prateek and Newslaundry by police at the behest of Pawar’s media house is reminiscent of Republic TV’s predicament in Maharashtra. The freedom of press under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra is shrinking rapidly.

Republic TV has been under a ruthless attack for its unflattering coverage of the government. Mumbai Police Commissioner had recently convened a press conference in which it named Republic TV for manipulating TRPs. Later it was revealed that India Today’s name was mentioned in the TRP manipulation complaint and not of Republic TV. It was also alleged the witness in the case was coerced into taking Republic TV’s name.

Before that, Mumbai Police had also arrested a Republic TV journalist and camera person for pursuing a story in Navi Mumbai. Another Republic TV journalist Pradeep Bhandari was circled by Mumbai Police personnel and illegally detained.

Prior to that Arnab Goswami was subjected to a severe interrogation for over more than 11 hours for his prime time show in which he had raised questions on Sonia Gandhi’s silence on the lynching of Hindu sadhus in Palghar. A complaint was also lodged against Republic TV for its coverage of migrant issues at Bandra station.

While Newslaundry celebrated and cheered the unabated hounding of the Republic TV by the Mumbai Police, the chickens have come home to roost as Sakal Media House, owned by Pawar family, gets Pune Police to act against Newslaundry and its journalist.

When Republic was being hunted by the Mumbai Police, the co-founder of Newslaundry was mocking Arnab Goswami instead of talking about the witch-hunt.

NewsLaundry has, in fact, not published a single article where they point out the discrepancies in what the Mumbai Police is accusing Republic of or even a customer article where they question the Maharashtra government for their incessant witch-hunt against the channel. In fact, Newslaundry was instrumental in launching an assault targeting the advertisers of Republic TV and getting it defunded.

Freedom of the press is stifled, individual rights trampled upon in Maharashtra under Maha Vikas Aghadi government

The Freedom of the press is not the only casualty of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. Gradually, individual rights are also being trampled upon.

Recently, a social media user, Sameet Thakkar, was recently rearrested by Mumbai Police after a Nagpur Court granted him bail. He has been arrested for making critical remarks against Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Maharashtra Environment Minister, Aaditya Thackeray.

Moments after Nagpur Court granted him bail, he was arrested by Mumbai VP Road police from the court premises and conveyed to Mumbai. The government has shown unabashed zeal in stifling dissent and going against the media organisations who have dared to bring forth uncomfortable realities.

Tagore International School makes Hindu girls wear Hijab and spread message of Islam, after it had brainwashed children about Hadiya Love Jihad case

OpIndia Staff
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Tagore International School makes Hindu girls wear Hijab and spread message of Islam, after it had brainwashed children about Hadiya Love Jihad case

The Tagore International School once again finds itself in the midst of a controversy after it was found making its Hindu female students wear the Hijab while greeting people on the Islamic festival of Eid. A video of its greetings was uploaded to its YouTube channel on the 4th of August 2020 with the caption, “Greetings on the auspicious occasion of Eid-Ul-Adha”.

YouTube screengrab

In the video, a student identified as Ishita Verma shares information about the Islamic festival that she appears to have memorised earlier. It is not clear which standard Verma is a student of. She narrates the story of how Abraham (Ibrahim in Islamic texts) was willing to sacrifice his 13 year old son Ismail when Allah commanded it but was prevented in the end after the angel Gabriel paid a visit.

Soon after, another Hindu girl, Deeksha Pandit appears on screen to inform viewers about the five pillars of the Islamic faith. She was wearing the Hijab as well. There were Muslim students as well who participated in the video to wish everyone Eid Mubarak. However, it is not clear what was the need to involve Hindu girls in the process.

It appears to be the same brand of secularism that demands that Hindus bend their knees and grovel on the floor for the sake of communal harmony and better interfaith relations. Furthermore, there is no justification for making Hindu girls wear the Hijab and whitewash the oppressive connotations of the garment, especially at an age where they cannot think for themselves entirely.

What was going on in that video was clearly brainwashing of children using children who were already brainwashed. Tagore International School was the same that was in the dock recently for providing an opportunity to the Nazariya QFRG, an LGBT advocacy group that had come up with a colouring book with nude women masturbating in it with a special discount for children.

At Tagore International School, the Nazariya QFRG had exposed children to the image of a transgender man breastfeeding her children and was obviously brainwashing children into the toxic ideology of gender identity politics. Shockingly, they brainwashed the children on the matter of Hadiya as well. Hadiya is the same girl who had converted to Islam to marry her husband and an NIA investigation into the matter. Radical Islamist organisation PFI had spent Rs. 1 crore in court cases over it.

Thus, after brainwashing children about the Love Jihad case of Hadiya, it is now making Hindu girls wear the Hijab and appear on videos. It is an extremely dangerous development that could have devastating consequences.

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