In a letter to the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, a petitioner has sought for a transparent, free and fair investigation by a central agency into the murder of a 50-year-old temple priest named Babulal Vaishnav in the Bokna village, Sapotra division of Karauli district of Rajasthan. The said priest was burnt to death by 6 people, who were eyeing to encroach upon the temple land.
The petitioner has sought for the probe to be transferred to a central investigative agency from the Rajasthan police. While seeking for an urgent hearing of the case, the letter read, “It is humbly prayed that (the Court) may initiate appropriate proceedings on this letter petition excursing inherent powers and list for urgent hearing before the appropriate bench.”
The petitioner has sought for protection of the victim’s family, who are living under constant threat. “It is humbly prayed that (the Court)provide the victims (with ) immediate protection as they are under immense and constant threat.” The letter had also asked for a restraining order against the accused and others who might be causing harm or damage to the victim’s family.
Letter petition addressed to the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan HC urges for a free, fair & transparent probe into the burning of the priests incident by a Central Investigation Agency. It also seeks protection for victims from constant threat.#RajasthanHighCourt#PriestBurntpic.twitter.com/tX6nQp8pk1
Babulal was the head priest of the Radha Govind temple in the Bokna village, Sapotra division of Karauli district of Rajasthan. On Thursday, October 8, 6 persons who were allegedly trying to encroach upon the temple land and were resisted by the priest, had poured petrol over him and set him on fire. Babulal Vaishnav was admitted in the SMS Hospital in Jaipur in a critical condition and he succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning. Meanwhile, Sadhus in the state had hit the streets to protest against the killing of the temple priest.
In 2016, Rahul Gandhi who was then a Member of Parliament from Amethi, had gone to Una, Gujarat to meet family of Dalit youths who were allegedly beaten up by gau rakshaks. Except, instead of meeting the mother of the victims, Rahul Gandhi met and hugged a ‘fake mother’, a woman pretending to be their mother.
As per reports, Rahul Gandhi had parachuted himself to Una, Rajkot, to meet the victims. While visiting them at Civil Hospital, where they were undergoing treatment, Rahul Gandhi interacted with one ‘Rama Ben’ who was there pretending to be mother of one of the victims.
As can be seen above, Rahul Gandhi entered the ward and immediately met the woman and hugged her. The woman identified herself as the victim’s mother and showed Rahul Gandhi his wounds. However, as it turns out, the woman not his mother. In fact, not only was she not a mother but she was not even a relative of the victim.
Congress planted ‘fake mother’ of Dalit victim
Interestingly, after meeting the woman, Rahul Gandhi had given a media byte how he met the mother of the victim. However, it was later revealed that Gujarat State Congress General Secretary Hemang Vasavada admitted to ‘planting’ the woman as victim’s mother. Rama Ben was ‘planted’ to make Rahul Gandhi’s visit more ‘appealing’. Congress wanted to ‘humanise’ the visit to make Anandiben Patel government look bad.
In fact, as it turned out, she was facing cases of bootlegging, extortion and attempt to murder. She is suspected to having links with bootlegging mafia. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi, who was an SPG protectee at that time, could meet only those who are cleared by security personnel.
Later, she claimed that she never called herself the victim’s mother. She blamed media for portraying her as victim’s mother.
Rahul Gandhi after pulling off the mother of all imposter rows
In a significant decision that will vastly improve rail journey in the world, Indian Railways is going to remove all non-AC coaches from mail and express trains, replacing them with a newly designed AC coach. The railways have decided that barring slow-moving and local trains, all other trains will have AC-coaches only, according to a report by the Economic Times.
For this mega change, a new AC coach has been designed by Indian Railways, which is being manufactured at Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab. The newly designed AC three-tier coaches will have 83 berths, in place of the 72 berths in the current three-tier sleeper coaches. The new coaches are currently under trial.
The fare for these coaches will be less than current three-tier AC coaches, but will be more than the sleeper coaches. Which means, a category of fares will be introduced after this coach is added to the trains replacing the sleeper coaches. Reportedly, these coaches will be called AC3 tourist class.
Railway Board Chairman and CEO Vinod Kumar Yadav said that the main reason to replace the sleeper coaches with to AC coaches is to achieve the objective of raising the speed of about 1,900 mail and express trains to 130 kmph by 2023 in the golden quadrilateral section and then to 160 kmph by 2025. He said that increasing the speed requires abandoning non-AC coaches, as these coaches slow down train due to wind and dust.
He informed that once trains start travelling at average speed of 130 kmph, non-AC coaches will create technical and other problems because of wind and dust. Therefore, the Railways will gradually phase out all non-AC coaches in about 1,900 mail and express trains. This will be a big exercise and it will be done in a phased manner.
The prototype for the new AC coach has been built at the rail factory in Kapurthala, and the production will start from next fiscal. To accommodate 83 berths in place of 72, Railways is not re-introducing the infamous side-middle berth. Instead, the electrical units will be moved and the cabinets used to keep blankets, pillows and bedsheets will be removed. This create space for installing the additional berths at the both end of the coaches.
The Railway Board Chairman said that the vision of Railways is to increase the speed of all mail and express trains to 130 kmph initially and then to 160 kmph by 2025. When this is achieved, trains will stop only at major locations, and there will connecting trains to other stations. He said that despite the upgrade from non-AC to AC, the fare hike will not be steep, as the number of berths is being increased per coach. Therefore, the fare will be between present AC and sleeper classes. The existing AC 3 tier coaches will continue, as the new coaches will replace only sleeper coaches.
The passenger and local rains will remain non-AC, but those are also being replaced with MEMU trains.
The Railway Board Chairman also revealed some other future plans of Indian Railways in the interview given to the Economic Times, like merger of eight existing production units into two and the upgrade of in-house capabilities to manufacture high-speed coaches. Yadav said that the proposal is to merge the eight production units into two, one for making locomotives and the other for building coaches of all types. They are waiting for the detailed study report to be submitted by RITES in this regard.
“The idea is to upgrade our existing facilities so that we can manufacture high-speed, semi highspeed and metro coaches at one place. India should emerge as a major coach-exporting hub,” Yadav said. He said that the process of building an aluminium-based lightweight train prototype, which will eventually replace the rakes being used in Vande Bharat Express, has already begun at the Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli.
Yadav informed that high-speed rail corridors are being planned in Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Varanasi, Mumbai-Nagpur, Ahmedabad-Delhi, Chennai-Mysuru, Delhi-Amritsar, Mumbai-Hyderabad, and Varanasi-Kolkata routes. These could either be high speed, meaning over 300 kmph or semi high-speed, which is more than 160 kmph. Final decision on speed will be taken once the feasibility reports are submitted.
The United States of America appears to be reconciling itself to the fact that more aggressive action may be required to force China into abiding by international norms. The USA said that it was time to accept that dialogue and agreements will not be enough to make China change its erring conduct.
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said that China has attempted to seize the LAC with India as part of its territorial aggression. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, too, voiced similar sentiments and said China has deployed 60,000 soldiers along the Line of Actual Control with India.
“The Indians are seeing 60,000 Chinese soldiers on their northern border,” Pompeo said in an interview on Friday. “I was with my foreign minister counterparts from India, Australia, and Japan – a format that we call the Quad, four big democracies, four powerful economies, four nations, each of whom has real risk associated with the threats imposed, attempted to be imposed by the Chinese Communist Party. And they see it in their home countries,” he said.
Mike Pompeo added, “They see, the people of their (Quad) nations understanding that we all slept on this for too long. For decades, the West allowed the Chinese Communist Party to walk all over us. The previous administration bent a knee, too often allowed China to steal our intellectual properties and the millions of jobs that came along with it.”
China and India have been locked in a dispute at the Line of Actual Control over the past few months. The USA, too, has been wary of the rise of China as the latter seeks to upend the existing international order based on western hegemony. In recent times, ties between India and USA have improved significantly as both countries seek to present a united front against China.
‘Myth-making’ is an intrinsic feature of the establishment of any Republic. In order to legitimise its existence and its hold over power, the ruling establishment of every country creates certain myths that helps it further entrench itself in the corridors of power and justify its ideology. A similar phenomenon has also been observed with the establishment of the Nehruvian Secular state in in India with its ideology of ‘Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb’.
One of the core tenets of the ideology of ‘Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb’ is that Indian Muslims in 1947 chose ‘secular India’ over the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and consequently, all manners of minority appeasement is justified and whitewashing of Islamic radicalism is encouraged and even glorified. This obvious lie has permitted radical Islamic leaders such Asaduddin Owaisi, whose brother is often found threatening Hindus with violence, to walk away with atrocious demands by asserting that they ‘chose’ India over Pakistan.
While it has now become almost unforgivable to question the core tenet of Nehruvian Secularism, the political stalwarts of the Independence era were well aware that Muslims had not chosen to remain in India because they rejected the philosophy of an Islamic State. Sardar Patel, in his iconic speech in Kolkata in January 1948, gave voice to sentiments that would appal our ‘secular’ leaders to day.
Sardar Patel said, “The Muslims who are still in India, many of them helped in the creation of Pakistan… Has their nation changed overnight? I don’t understand how it changed so much. They now say that they are loyal and ask why their loyalty is being questioned. So I reply why are you questioning us, ask yourself. This is not something you should ask us.”
“I said one thing, you created Pakistan, good for you. They say that Pakistan and India should come together. I say please refrain from saying such things. Let Pakistan become heaven itself, we will enjoy the cool breeze coming from it (audience breaks out into raucous laughter),” he continued. It wasn’t the only time that Sardar Patel would speak of Indian Muslims having loyalties towards Pakistan.
In his letter to G.B.Pant, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on the 9th of January 1950, days after Murthis of Ram Lalla and Mata Sita had magically manifested themselves within the Babri Masjid, Sardar Patel wrote among other things, “The prime minister has already sent to you a telegram expressing his concern over the developments in Ayodhya. I spoke to you about it in Lucknow. I feel that the controversy has been raised at a most inopportune time both from the point of view of the country at large and of your own province in particular. The wider communal issues have only been recently resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the various communities. So far as Muslims are concerned, they are just settling down to their new loyalties.”
The hallowed myth has also been coming apart as the edifice of Nehruvian Secularism is crumbling apart after six years of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of the country. Sharjeel Imam, a beloved ‘intellectual’ of the Left accused of playing a pivotal role in the violence that erupted in the national capital in the aftermath of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act, has written and spoken extensively on the matter.
Sharjeel Imam believes Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the creator of Pakistan, to be an Indian leader and said that there are lots of lessons Indian Muslims could learn from him. According to him, Jinnah was an Indian Muslim leader fighting against the forces of Hindu revivalism. Most significantly, however, he said that Muslims did not choose India due to ideals of ‘secularism’. He said that Muslims remained in India due to their property and other reasons.
Thus, from Sardar Patel’s own words and those of an Islamist hailed as an ‘intellectual’ by the Indian Left, it is clear that ‘Muslims chose secular India over Islamic Pakistan’ is an enduring myth of the ideology of ‘Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb’ of the Nehruvian Secular State. However, this myth, along with many others, is destined for the dustbins of history.
On Friday, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker named Bapan Ghosh was accused of trying to rape the wife of BJP Booth President in Kalna in East Burdwan district of West Bengal, reportedABP Ananda. The incident has now triggered a political slugfest between the two parties. The BJP has accused the TMC leader of attempting to outrage the modesty of a woman, whereas the TMC has dismissed the allegations and instead blamed BJP supporters of brutally thrashing accused Bapan Ghosh.
As per a report in ABP Ananda, the accused TMC worker went to the residence of the victim when her husband was not at home. Taking advantage of the situation, he began sexually harassing her. She was rescued by the locals, post which the accused was thrashed. The BJP has claimed that Bapan Ghosh too retaliated and resorted to violence.
The BJP has further alleged that TMC workers vandalised the house of the victim and other houses in the vicinity, at the behest of the TMC booth Vice-President. The accused is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. A police complaint has been filed by both parties at the Kalna police station.
BJP accuses TMC of vandalism, sexual assault; TMC rejects the claim
While speaking to ABP Ananda, a local BJP leader informed, “At around 9-9:30 pm at night on Friday, the TMC worker went to the house of our booth President. He then summoned his wife, post which she stepped out of the house on hearing the familiar voice. The TMC worker than began sexually assaulting her. The accused was then apprehended by locals. It is possible that he was thrashed by the locals (who caught him red-handed committing the heinous crime).”
He further stated, “Around the same time, The TMC Vice-President of the area called in several vehicles, carrying TMC workers. They then vandalised not only the house of the BJP booth President but also three other adjoining houses and creating mayhem on the streets.”
(Video Courtesy: ABP Ananda)
Dismissing the claims levelled against the TMC worker, the TMC booth Vice-President stated, “As a matter of fact, our worker Bapan Ghosh is fighting for his life at a hospital in Kalna.”
Political violence in West Bengal
Political violence is on the rise in West Bengal, ever since Mamata Banerjee and the ruling TMC came to power. Bolstered by political patronage, the goons have turned into a nightmare for the political opponents in the State. Recently, a BJP councillor Manish Shukla was shot dead at Purani Bazaar near Titagarh police station in Barrackpore area. The West Bengal Crime Investigation Department had arrested three people, namely Mohammed Khurram, Ghulab Shaikh and TMC ‘activist’ Subodh Jadhav.
Earlier, a BJP worker named Rabin Paul was lynched to death in the Pathar Ghata village in Kalna in West Bengal. He was first beaten mercilessly by about 50 TMC supporters and then taken to another place in the village where Paul was thrashed by the TMC Deputy Chief. The family alleged that the TMC workers stopped the victim’s daughter when she tried to offer him water. The TMC workers also threatened to thrash Paul’s daughter if she tried to help her father.
BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga has filed a complaint against West Bengal Police with the Minority Commission of India pulling the turban of a Sikh person in Kolkata. The Sikh religious headgear of security officer Balwinder Singh was pulled off by West Bengal police on Thursday during the Nabanna Chalo rally by BJYM.
Complaint Filed to Minority commission of India to take action against West Bengal Police for Pulling of Turban of Sikh Security officer Sardar Balwinder Singh. I request Sh @AtifRasheedOff to take strict action pic.twitter.com/ej8WXiVuX7
The rally was organised by the youth wing of BJP protesting against the continued violence against BJP workers and leaders in the state. The protesters had planned to stage a protest in front of Nabanna, the state secretariate, but the state govt refused permission for the protest, and closed the secretariate for two days citing sanitisation.
The BJYM and BJP workers still went ahead with the protests, which was brutally prevented by the police. The police were seen hurling country-made bombs on the protests, apart from lathi charging them.
During such an act of police atrocity, on-duty Sikh security official Balwinder Singh was also attacked. The turban of the security officer of BJP leader Priyangu Pandey was pulled by the police in full public view, and he was dragged on the street. Police also accused him of carrying unauthorised weapon, while BJP leaders had claimed that he has a proper licence for the firearm with all-India permit.
Protesting against the incident, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga wrote that ‘what is happening in West Bengal is unforgivable. Brutal attack on security officer Balwinder Singh and disrespect of his turban by West Bengal Police is really shameful and condemnable act’.
The BJP leader urged the National Commission for Minorities to take action against the erring police officers as soon as possible, saying that otherwise they will have no other option but to resort to protest and legal action.
The Mizoram government has registered its objection with the Tripura government to the construction of a Temple at the Phuldungsei village near the Tripura-Mizoram interstate border. The border has served as a flashpoint for dispute in the past as well. Two months previously, 130 residents of the village were identified in Mizoram’s voter list despite the village traditionally being accepted as part of Tripura.
Mizoram has now taken objection to the construction of a Temple as well “community work” in the village by the Bru tribals from Tripura. Mizoram Home Secretary Lalbiaksangi, in a letter to his counterpart in Tripura, claimed that any work at the “disputed” inter-state border could create law and order problems and sought an “immediate and indefinite” stop to all work in the area.
“….report has been received by the Government of Mizoram regarding attempts by SONGRONGMA [a Bru organisation] of Tripura to construct a mandir at the disputed inter-state border village near Phuldungsei at Thaidawr tlang, Mamit district. It is also reported that community work is proposed to be organized on 19th and 20th October, 2020. Since any activities within the disputed inter-state border can result in law & order problems, it is requested to kindly intervene and issue necessary instructions to the concerned District Administration for the immediate and indefinite stoppage of the proposed construction” the letter, that was accessed by the Indian Express, says.
Chandni Chandran, Sub-divisional magistrate of Tripura’s Kanchanpur, had on August 17 written to the DM of North Tripura, “…Traditional Phuldungsei VC as a whole (despite Eastern side falling in Mizoram) has been accepted as a part of Tripura. Hence, the inclusion of the VC and its residents in Mizoram electoral rolls seems to be problematic. There is an urgent need to demarcate the exact boundary between Mizoram and Tripura incorporating the entire Phuldungsei VC in Tripura.”
Tripura home secretary BK Sahu has confirmed receiving the letter and said that appropriate action will be taken in the matter by the state administration.
Hours after Republic TV exposed Mumbai police Commissioner Param Bir Singh for making false allegations of TRP manipulation against the news channel, Consulting Editor Pradip Bhandari slammed Singh for partiality, working on the behest of his political masters and not respecting the police uniform. He also said that Mumbai police is planning to file charges under non-bailable sections against him, in an attempt to arrest him.
In a no-holds-barred attack against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami, the Mumbai CP had claimed, that the channel had illegally paid some households to keep some channels on even if they were not at home to boost their TRP.
Pradeep Bhandari questions Mumbai CP over inaction against India Today
In a video that has now gone viral on Twitter, Bhandari said, “Param Bir Singh, you need to resign. The name of India Today features 6 times in the FIR but you did not take any action. What is the problem? What is the fear? Do you have some internal understanding with India Today? Where are the anchors hiding, who wear the cloak of journalism and execute TRP scam behind-the-doors?”
Bhandari continued, “The key witness has now conceded that India Today was behind the scam. Why is no action being taken against them? What are you afraid of, Param Bir Singh? Don’t you respect your uniform?” He also pointed out how BARC had found in its investigation that India Today was involved in TRP rigging and was thus fined ₹5 lacs. “Take action Param Bir Singh. Show some respect for your uniform,” the Consulting Editor of Republic Tv emphasised.
In the garb of summons Mumbai Police wants to file non bailable sections against me. Mr Parambir Singh this will not stop me. You need to resign. I ask U – Why not act against India Today which is named 6 times in FIR? U can’t stop Arnab & @republic#RepublicFightsBackpic.twitter.com/Kn4xiBAjFh
Pradeep Bhandari also informed in the wake of Mumbai police’s plan to arrest him, he will be applying for anticipatory bail tomorrow. “I will continue to ask for resignation of Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh who lied in uniform. Fake sections won’t deter me in fight of truth,” he said.
Yes sir. We are moving anticipatory bail tomorrow. I will continue to ask for resignation of Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh who lied in uniform. Fake sections won't deter me in fight of truth. Whether Bihar or Maharashtra. #RepublicFightsBack#JusticeForSSRhttps://t.co/8BYCtEX0oB
You will be defeated by a nationalist channel, says Pradeep Bhandari
Pradeep Bhandari informed that the Justice Mudgal committee, constituted by BARC, had also found India Today guilty of TRP manipulation. “Param Bir Singh, you have hatched a conspiracy against Republic Tv network and Arnab Goswami. But, we will foil your plans. We are approaching the Supreme Court and will sue you legally. Listen to me, Param Bir Singh! You are at loggerheads with a nationalist channel and a nationalist reporter, and not some small-time channel. History is a testimony to the fact that whenever someone wants to falsely implicate a nationalist news channel, their defeat is inevitable.”
Arnab Goswami slams India Today-Mumbai police nexus
Earlier, Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami informed that the First Information Report (FIR) filed in the TRP scam has explicitly mentioned India Today over 6 times. However, the Mumbai police commissioner has instead chosen to give a clean chit to the news channel within 12 hours and falsely said that the allegations were against Republic TV. Goswami further slammed Param Bir Singh for deliberately hiding the FIR from public discourse.
While hitting out at the doublespeak of the Mumbai police commissioner, Goswami inquired, “How did you investigate so fast? Why are you not summoning Arun Purie and other owners of India Today group? You wanted to turn around the case and make it about me. How can you have two different rules for Republic TV and India Today?”
In a sensational development to the Rahul Rajput murder case in Delhi, the Muslim girlfriend of the deceased 18-year-old boy has disclosed that the murder of Rahul was a pre-planned act as her brothers had made detailed preparation for the same.
Coming forward for the first time after the murder took place, the girlfriend of Rahul has said that she was present at the spot when her brothers and their associates brutally thrashed Rahul Rajput in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar over an alleged love affair. The 16-year-old girl said that she even requested her brothers to not attack Rahul and claimed that she even tried to save Rahul.
Speaking to the media, the girlfriend of the deceased boy said that she received a call around 6 PM on Thursday from one of her maternal uncle’s son, who asked her regarding Rahul. The girl, reportedly said to her brother that Rahul was not using his mobile phone as his mother had sold it off. After that the girl the number of some other relative of Rahul to her cousin. After getting the contact number, her relative called up Rahul and asked him to meet them. The girl said that her brothers had asked Rahul to meet them to discuss tuitions.
Narrating the incident, the girl said, “Rahul asked me whether we should go and meet my brother. I said as it was a matter of just five minutes, let’s go. I went out and called my brother, who immediately arrived at the spot and starts brutally assaulting Rahul. I tried hard to save Rahul but could not save him.” She said that she kept yelling that Rahul’s health is not well, don’t beat him, but they didn’t spare him and continued to beat him.
The girl has also confessed that her brother were the masterminds behind the killing of 18-year-old Rahul Rajput on the suspicion that he had a love affair with the teenage Muslim girl.
Talking to Aaj Tak, the girl revealed that her own brother Raj, her two cousins Shahanwaz and Kaif, her neighbor and distant relative Tajuddin, Shahanwaj’s friend Hussain, and 3-4 goons who are friends of Hussain were part of the assault.
The girl also revealed that there is a police station near the place where the incident happened, and she ran towards it to get help. But the policemen there refuse to come, saying ‘what should we do if someone is fighting’.
CCTV shows that girl was with the deceased during attacks
The CCTV footages recovered by the Delhi Police also substantiate the claims made by the girlfriend of Rahul Rajput. According to CCTV footage, the girl was present alongside the deceased victim at the time of the attack.
In the footage, both Rahul and his Muslim girlfriend were seen walking holding each other’s hand. In the video, some other people, allegedly the attackers, were are also reportedly seen. In another CCTV footage, Rahul was also seen walking alone after being severely injured.
The Delhi Police, after securing the footage, has now decided to interrogate Rahul’s girlfriend in connection with the murder case.
According to the police, one of the accused Mohammad Raj, along with his relatives reached the spot. As he saw Rahul and girl together, he was enraged and began to abuse both. Later, the Muslim youth began to thrash Rahul over the love affair.
Meanwhile, following the disclosure, the Rahul’s girlfriend has been sent to Nari Niketan for her safety. The Delhi Police have stated that the girl’s life in danger as her family members may harm her. Even the girl has said that her family members will try to kill her too.
Rahul Rajput murdered for over love affair with a Muslim girl
An 18-year-old boy named Rahul Rajput was brutally beaten to death in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar by Mohammad Afroz, Mohammad Raj and three others over an alleged love affair with a Muslim girl.
The Muslim girl’s family, particularly her brothers, were opposed to their inter-religious affair. Enraged over their relationship, the girl’s brother, along with his friends, confronted Rahul and the girl near Adarsh Nagar in Delhi and brutally assaulted him, leaving him mortally injured.
Later, an injured Rahul was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The autopsy report of the young man read that he had sustained multiple internal injuries in his abdomen.
Talking to OpIndia, a police official from Adarsh Nagar police station had stated that Rahul Rajput was beaten up by the five accused because they were opposed to his relationship with the sister of one of them. All the five have been arrested and booked under the charges of murder, he said.
