Santosh Trivedi, priest at Kedarnath shrine, was shifted to AIIMS in Rishikesh on Monday after his health worsened while protesting against the formation of the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board in Uttarakhand. The 32-year old priest has been protesting in freezing temperatures for over 2 months.
Santosh Trivedi was transported to Rishikesh on a helicopter. Priests have been protesting over the formation of the board for a long time. Their demandsa have not yet been met by the state government. They have been threatening to continue the protest until the decision to form the board is taken back.
Vinod Shukla, the president of Kedarnath Tirtha Purohit Mahasabha, was quoted by Hindutan Times as saying, “We have been protesting for months, but the state government has not paid any heed to our demands. Even in such extreme temperatures in Kedarnath, Trivedi would protest bare-chested outside the shrine and eat only one meal a day. His health condition has worsened. He has been admitted to AIIMS in Rishikesh for treatment.”
“A team rushed to the shrine and brought the priest to Lincholi on a stretcher, from where he was airlifted to Dehradun for treatment,” Vineet Kumar, an official from State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), said. Harish Thapliyal, the public relations officer (PRO) at AIIMS, Rishikesh, stated, “A priest from Kedarnath, Santosh Trivedi, was admitted to the hospital at around 11.30 am on Monday. He complained of pain in his lower abdomen and was administered medicines accordingly. Doctors have taken his swab samples for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) test as per the protocol. He is being examined further.”
Santosh Trivedi has been protesting wearing just a Dhoti since June. “My protest is against the formation of the Devsthanam Board. This move is to deprive us priests from our traditional rights. I will continue my protests,” he had said. Vinod Shukla has threatened to intensify the protests across the Char Dham shrines if anything unfortunate happened to the Kedarnath priest.
In his 68th address to the nation in Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the importance of proper diet and nutrition for women and children in their formative years. “Nutrition plays a key role in helping children unleash their true potential. The month of September will be celebrated as ‘Poshan Maah’ or nutrition month nationwide. Nation and nutrition are inextricably linked,” he said during his address to the nation.
PM Modi highlighted that our food intake influences our mental and intellectual development. He added that it is essential for a newborn child and the mother to get complete nourishment. The Prime Minister said, “Only public participation can make the initiative successful.” He informed that the ‘nutrition’ has been made into a mass movement in rural areas of India in the past few years.
Quizzes and meme competitions to be used to spread awareness
“Be it through Poshan Safta or Poshan Maah, we are creating awareness about the importance of nutrition. Schools have been asked to hold competitions to spread awareness among children… Just like class monitor, there needs to be a nutrition monitor and nutrition card,” PM Modi stated. He further informed that a quiz on food and nutrition will be organised during the ‘Nutrition Month’ on the MyGov portal.
Proper nutrition is vital to build a prosperous nation. #POSHANMaah2020 starts today. Let us undertake efforts to reach out to people across the length and breadth of India and spread awareness on eradicating malnutrition. This will help our Nari Shakti and Yuva Shakti. pic.twitter.com/mpPEuaT210
PM Modi stated that a meme competition will be organised and has asked people to participate in it. He highlighted the nutrition park built on the premises adjoining the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Gujarat. “India is a large country with diverse food habits, seasons, and climates… It is important that a nutrient-rich diet plan is prepared, specific to each region”, he emphasised.
Central database about region-specific nutritious diet to be created
Taking to Twitter, Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, wrote, “In order to form a database of indigenous food items with high nutrition value, the Ministry seeks support of people of India. Contribute towards Bharatiya Poshan Krish Kosh by sharing traditional recipes of your family/region.” She had appealed to people to share recipes of balanced and nutritious region-specific diet so that they can create a central database for the welfare of women and young children.
On March 8, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launchedPOSHAN Abhiyaan (abbreviated for The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) to improve the nutritional level for children, pregnant and lactating women. Also known as National Nutrition Mission, the objective behind the campaign was to reduce malnutrition by 2022. NITI Aayog has been handed the task to monitor, evaluate, and file periodic reports about the progress of the initiative.
When the ‘Poshan Maah’ was first observed in 2018, the broad themes included optimal breastfeeding, anemia, growth monitoring, complementary feeding and education, diet, hygiene, and sanitation of girl child. The event was successful as the Mission reached over 13 crore children, 12.2 crore women, and 6.2 crore men through various activities observed in September 2018. In total, a total of a whopping 30.6 crore people were benefitted by the awareness campaign.
In a new development surrounding the unnatural death of the 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput, a team of three AIIMS doctors had prepared a list of four questions for the Cooper hospital doctors who conducted the autopsy of the deceased actor, reportedIndia Today.
On Saturday, the team of three doctors from AIIMS Delhi, namely, Dr. T Millo, Dr. Adarsh Kumar, and Dr. Abhishek Yadav visited the scene along with teams from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and CFSL (Forensic Investigation of Crime and Scientific Services). They were in Mumbai for a short period between September 4 and September 6.
AIIMS doctors quiz Cooper Hospital doctors about the autopsy report
The five doctors from the Cooper Hospital were quizzed by the Delhi team. The four questions included, “What is your opinion about ligature mark alone? With mixing the internal examinations findings and inquest reports. Please explain how you ruled out the possibility of ligature strangulation? How could ligature mark be produced by a kurta, the alleged ligature material? How this narrative of homicidal ligature strangulation which has been spread among public all over world can be resolved?”
Reportedly, the last pictures of Sushant Singh Rajput had horizontal ligature marks in the middle of the neck, instead of being oblique and abraded. Such an occurrence is common in homicide cases and not suicide.
Medical Team from Delhi visits Mumbai
Earlier, the medical board held a meeting and concluded, following the assessment of documents, that a visit to the crime scene was essential. The team of doctors had the mandate to visit the crime scene as well as the Cooper Hospital where the post-mortem of Sushant Singh Rajput was conducted. They also had the mandate to interact with the officers from the Central investigative agency, mortuary staff, and the doctors who performed the autopsy. The doctors from AIIMS Delhi also recreated the crime scene in the presence of Meetu Singh, the sister of the deceased actor.
Autopsy report of Sushant Singh Rajput lacks time stamp
As per a report by India Today, the final autopsy report lacked a timestamp, which is considered a critical piece of information. Dr. Sudhir Gupta, the head of the Forensics Department at AIIMS, has stated that the Mumbai police should have sought a second opinion from doctors since the column for the timestamp was left vacant. “It is a hard fact, what can be said about that … they should give it. It is mandatory,” he was quoted as saying. He further added, “If there is something missing (in the autopsy report) they have to take a second opinion from doctors.”
Online streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, Amazon Prime and others have offered to self-police content on their respective platforms to avoid censorship from Indian authorities. About 15 companies have signed a self-regulatory code, described as the “Universal Self-Regulation Code for OCCPs (Online Curated Content Providers)” to prevent regulators from censoring content deemed problematic by them.
The 15 signatories include Zee5, Viacom 18, Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, MX Player, Jio Cinema, Eros Now, Alt Balaji, Arre, HoiChoi, Hungama, Shemaroo, Discovery Plus, and Flickstree.
The new self-regulation code mandates the service providers to set up grievance redressal mechanism, involving complaint department, internal committees or both to deal with the issues. The code was presented over the weekend by The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), emphasising that intends to “empower consumers with information and tools to assist them in making an informed choice” and “nurture creativity and provide creators the freedom to tell the finest stories.”
The common practices under the new code include providing content descriptions, age ratings, and parental controls. In addition to this, online platforms are mandated to set up a Consumer Redressal Department or/and an internal committee, an advisory panel, to address the complaints, appeals and escalations raised by the people. The advisory panel should have a minimum of three members, including two senior executives of the platform, and one independent advisor. The external advisors will be appointed in the next 60 days.
OTT platforms have a history of airing problematic content on their platforms
The development comes at a time when many Over The Top (OTT) media streaming services had a free pass, airing content without exercising any censorship over it. They were accused of providing their platform for Hinduphobic movie makers to host deeply problematic and severely critical content with impunity as the government had been reluctant in censoring the content that went on their platforms.
For far too long, Netflix, the American online streaming service, has been involved in airing controversial web series that depicted Hinduism and Hindu Gods in a bad light. Recently, a controversy was kicked up, after Netflix’s new Telugu film “Krishna and his Leela” showed a male character named Krishna having sexual encounters with many women, one of them with a girl named Radha. The controversy created a furore on social media platforms, with many users vehemently criticising Netflix for hurting their religious sentiments.
This was not the first time that Netflix has been accused of providing a platform for disseminating Hinduphobic views through its platform and hurting the religious sensitivities of lakhs of pious Hindus. Earlier, Netflix series such as Sacred Games, Ghoul and Leila were decried for portraying Hinduism and Hindu practices as wicked.
Amazon Prime has also been accused of providing its portal space to blatantly Hinduphobic content. The online streaming service by Amazon had come under attack after Anushka Sharma produced ‘Paatal Lok’ was accused of broadcasting Hinduphobic views. The social media users criticised the show for degrading the Hindu culture by glorifying beef-eating in a few scenes.
Another OTT platform, Zee5, was under the fire of Hindu organisations and senior BJP leaders over the blatant Hinduphobia pushed by the platform through its new Tamil web series ‘Godman’. Several Hindu groups, including prominent voices BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, social media users had raised their voices against the anti-Hindu web series. The blowback from the Hindu organisations and Hindus on social media was so severe that Zee5 had to suspend the release of the controversial web series.
Ekta Kapoor’s Alt Balaji had also come under a severe attack of the social media users after many complained that an erotic show on the platform disrespected and disparaged the Indian Army personnel. After receiving flak for a controversial sex scene in her erotic web series XXX 2, streaming on OTT platform Alt Balaji, producer Ekta Kapoor later claimed that the team has deleted the scene in question.
The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested Asif Shah alias Nafiz, a resident of Jajmau in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, who had allegedly used occult practices to trap Govind Nagar’s 18-year-old Muskaan.
Muskaan’s mother, Mamata Tiwari, while speaking to OpIndia has also confirmed that Asif alias Nafiz, who had been absconding ever since the case came to the fore, has been arrested on September 6 and sent to jail.
Muskaan’s family had filed a complaint with the local police station in Govind Nagar, Kanpur, accusing a Muslim youth named Asif Shah alias Nafiz of ‘brainwashing’ their daughter with the help of occult practices, physically abusing her, threatening and intimidating her to convert into Islam and marry him.
On the basis of the complaint, Govind Nagar police had registered an FIR against Asif Shah under IPC Section 366 and had been investigating the matter.
Asif referred to his first wife as “apaa” and she, in turn, called him “Bhaijaan”
Speaking about the youth’s arrest, Muskaan’s enraged mother also made other allegations. She said that Asif is a married man with two children. He is 35-years-old, while Muskaan was only 18. He had lied to Muskaan about his previous marriage. In fact, when he took Muskaan to his house he had allegedly introduced his wife as his elder sister.
Mamata Tiwari said that till the time Muskaan lived there, Asif referred to his first wife as “apaa” (elder sister in Urdu)and she, in turn, called him “Bhaijaan” (brother in Urdu). “Sodeceitful was Asif that he also taught his two children to call him mamu in front of Muskaan”, revealed Mamata Tiwari.
Speaking about her daughter, Mamata Tiwari, in a heavy voice, said that she would take time to recover from the shock.
Kanpur Love Jihad: Victim’s family claims Asif trapped, used occult practices to intimidate her.
OpIndia had earlier reported how the 18-year-old daughter Muskaan was ‘trapped’ by one Asif Shah alias Nafiz, who brainwashed her into embracing Islam. She was then, forcefully converted and married off to Asif. Here, the family of the girl have accused the Muslim boy and his family of brainwashing Muskaan into embracing Islam with the use of some occult practices and intimidation methods.
The victim’s mother Mamata Tiwari, Mamata’s employer Deepti Tiwari and the Bajrang Dal activist Ramji Tiwari, who had helped the Hindu family to bring their daughter home, all had confirmed that this too, like other cases in Kanpur, was also a case of Love Jihad, where the accused’s family had targeted and trapped a girl in a planned manner.
CM Yogi Adityanath asks UP officials to stop ‘love jihad’ incidents in Kanpur
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed senior officials of the state Home Department to prepare a plan to stop incidents of “love jihad” after several such cases were reported from different parts of the state. On his direction, the Uttar Pradesh police have formed a special investigating team (SIT) to probe allegations of an organised effort to entrap, convert and forcefully marry Hindu girls to older Muslim men.
If you have been following the social media trends on those demanding ‘postponement’ of JEE and NEET exams, you’d have noticed how possible bots are hired to retweet tweets with particular hashtag. A lot of these tweet get thousands of retweets within seconds by Twitter handles which have mostly zero followers. One of the frontrunners of these hashtag campaigns has been one self-proclaimed ‘climate change and environment activist’, eight year old Licypriya Kangujam.
She claims that the account is managed by her guardian. Earlier it was her father, who is accused of an elaborate con of duping people and faking her ‘achievements’.
A Twitter user who goes by the handle @Being_Humor today posted a series of tweets, exposing the hashtag propaganda campaign that is being peddled by some perverse individuals to postpone the NEET examinations. Tagging the Delhi Police, the Twitter user had alleged that the protests against JEE/NEET examinations were not spontaneous and organic, but preplanned and coordinated.
The thread, which comprises of screenshots of a certain Telegram group, alleges that members of the group, whose admin is a media troll Prerna Bakshi, is orchestrating a protest in Delhi, supposedly led by Licypriya Kangujam, to demand the deferment of the NEET examinations.
In one of the screenshots shared above, a user named Prerna B, presumably Prerna Bakshi, is seen asking students in the group to call for a protest. When Prerna B did not receive the desirous response from the students, she vehemently emphasised the need to corner the government on the NEET issue. Bakshi, however, has denied being part of the social media group leading online mob.
In another screenshot, a message forwarded by another admin of the group–Sabbuma, asked students based out of Delhi to enlist themselves in a protest against the government’s decision of not postponing the NEET examination. The message read that the demonstration was going to be led by Licypriya.
In subsequent screenshots, in another Telegram group (or possibly name changed of current group), one Vedhika can be seen urging everyone to protest outside the PMO.
In fact, she has been going on an inane rant on Twitter. She is 8 and her account is managed by her guardians for their own seemingly political agenda.
Privately students are abusing admins of Whatsapp groups such as Licypriya for organising protests against NEET exams
OpIndia contacted @Being_Humor to get into details of the allegations levelled by him. “The protests surrounding the JEE and NEET examinations were pre-organised. It has more to do with thrusting the country into chaos rather than highlighting alleged problems faced by the students with the current schedule. This was proved when propagandists like Licypriya were roped in for the protests. While some students had genuine issues concerning the organisation of the exams, the same was addressed by the government,” @Being_Humor said while talking to OpIndia.
“JEE aspirants, who have already appeared for the examinations, have appreciated the precautions taken by the government to ensure their safety. The students said that they had always wanted to appear for the examination as per schedule, but various Telegram groups have been created by admins like Prerna Bakshi, Licypriya and others, that seek to provoke and incite students to protest against the government and turn it into a student revolution. The same students were then abusing these admins in their private DMs,” he revealed.
Licypryan Kangujam, who ‘turned down’ PM Modi’s #SheInspiresUs honour faked her ‘achievements’ to stardom
Another controversial figure associated with the pre-organised campaign against the NEET examinations is the so-called ‘child activist’ Licypriya Kangujam. For some time now, Licypriya, who is aping another putative environmental activist Greta Thunberg, has been used as an instrument by leftists to throw the country into chaos.
The Manipuri ‘child activist’ shot to limelight in March this year for ‘turning down’ government of India’s ‘#SheInspiresUs’ movement honour on Twitter because she did not ‘want to be celebrated if PM Modi was not going to listen to her’.
Dear @narendramodi Ji, Please don’t celebrate me if you are not going to listen my voice.
Thank you for selecting me amongst the inspiring women of the country under your initiative #SheInspiresUs. After thinking many times, I decided to turns down this honour. ??
The poor little girl has been subject to intense criticism online, because of the antics of the elders surrounding her. The criticism came after a guardian operating the verified Twitter account of Licypriya rejected Prime Minister Modi’s #SheInspiresUs movement because ‘she’ did not ‘want to be celebrated if PM Modi was not going to listen to her’. A storm was kicked up over the matter as the little girl, who presumably be more interested in toys and cartoons, found herself in the eye of that storm, with several journalists, opposition politicians, who perenially opposed PM Modi, hailed the 8-year-old girl for snubbing PM Modi.
However, it was later learned that the ‘achievements’ which had propelled Licypriya to international fame were all fake and her father is a conman.
Twitter account of Licypriya Kangujam
While the mainstream media fell over itself to criticise the BJP government and PM Modi, none of them, despite having endless resources at their disposal, cared to identify if it was the 8-year-old girl running the Twitter account. The verified account of Licypriya is that of an adult exploiting Licypriya for his or her devious objectives.
Fake it like Licypriya
In April 2019, Licypriya claimed that she was on her way to UN headquarters in Geneva to address a ‘global UN session’ for ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’. The news was widely reported and Licypriya was congratulated on social media for ‘making India proud’. Except, it turned out to be fake. After Imphal Free Press uncovered that not only was she not invited to the UN but her father was also reported to be an alleged conman.
An investigation by Imphal Free Press (IFP) revealed that her entire ‘UN invite’ was a sham and a cooked up story by her father, Kangujam Kanarjit. IFP got suspicious over the news item since when they investigated the claims, the UN event showed that registration for delegates was still on and the names of speakers wasn’t confirmed yet. Hence, Licypriya’s claims that she is going to address the session was already on thin ice.
Further, Licypriya claimed to be working as a “Child Disaster Risks Reduction Advocate in International Youth Committee (IYC)” which did not have much internet presence. IFP got hold of a press release on the basis of which this news report was published. The press release was issued by IYC that had no specific address and the pin code corresponded to Safdarjung area in New Delhi.
The address was partial and IFP had little success in tracing. However, soon enough the search result showed that the IYC chairman was one Dr KK Singh. The Dr KK Singh was Kangujam Kanarjit, who IFP had exposed as a conman back in 2015. As per IFP, Kangujam Kanarjit, was a man behind the Global Youth Summit and World Youth Summit held at Imphal and is charged of cheating and fraud. He has been accused by several businessmen of duping them.
Licypriya’s father, Kanarjit’s court proclamation requesting his appearance. (image: @angellicaaribam on Twitter)
Kanarjit has been accused of cheating multiple people, with amounts as high as Rs 19 lakh. In 2015, he was arrested in Manipur with charges of criminal case number 176 of 2015 under Section 420 (Fraud), 324 (Assault) and 406 (Criminal breach of trust). As per investigation by IFP, a place he had rented in Porompat and carried out his clandestine activities under the Club 25 banner was allegedly sold to three different individuals without the knowledge of the real owner. Kanarjit was later released on an interim bail and has been an absconder since.
When the story of Licypriya attending UN event broke, eyebrows were raised as the source of her attending an event at UN in Geneva was routed through IYC, which has a history of fraud, dubious and shady work. Soon after the IFP investigation, the story quietly disappeared. Later, in a now deleted Facebook post, Licypriya wrote that she has ‘decided’ not to attend the UN event in Geneva. “Finally I decided not to attend the program in Geneva next month as I am completely in depression. Even my visa and flight tickets was ready. This is not the way to treat your “Ningol” [daughter]” she reportedly wrote on Facebook.
One of her ‘achievements’ she claims to have is one ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Children Award’ and one ‘World Children Peace Prize’ and an ‘India Peace Prize’. In July 2019, she was awarded one “Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award” by one Munna Kumar, founder of Khwaab Foundation. No one has heard much about Munna Kumar either.
In September last year, Licypriya Kangujam had claimed she won some ‘World Children Peace Prize’ at Male.
Licypriya faking it
Except, such an award does not exist.
Licypriya’s lies busted
Activism is the new buzzword and ‘climate change activist’ even more so. And children like Licypriya Kangujam, an eight-year-old ‘child activist’, are being used as a tool by her guardians for their personal motives.
Embroiled in the Sushant Singh Rajput’s suspicious death case, actor Rhea Chakraborty has filed a complaint with Mumbai Police against the late actor’s sister, Priyanka Singh. Rhea, the prime accused in the CBI case, has requested the Mumbai Police to file an FIR against Priyanka Singh, Dr Tarun Kumar (from RML Hospital, Delhi) and others under IPC, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act & Telemedicine Practice Guidelines for allegedly prescribing drugs to the actor without any consultations.
Rhea Chakraborty’s complaint states that Priyanka had sent Sushant a prescription by Dr Tarun Kumar and he “appears to have prescribed medication controlled under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 to Sushant without any consultation as mandated by law.”
According to the complaint filed by Rhea, Priyanka had sent Sushant a prescription by Dr Tarun Kumar, who “appears to have prescribed medication controlled under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 to Sushant without any consultation as mandated by law”. The complaint added that the medicines prescribed by the doctor (Dr Tarun Kumar) were “prohibited from being prescribed electronically under the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2020”.
She has accused that the so-called prescription appeared ‘forged and fabricated’.
Rhea had alleged in her complaint that Sushant had died just days after ‘obtaining this unlawful prescription’. She had sought an investigation into the role of Priyanka and doctor Kumar for providing the late actor with an unlawful prescription. The complaint was filed based on Whatsapp messages between Sushant and his sister on June 8.
As per the chats between SSR and Priyanka, his sister had suggested him to take Librium for a week, Nexito every day and Lonazep whenever he was afflicted by an anxiety attack.
Rhea being grilled by NCB in connection with drugs probe linked with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput
As a part of the ongoing investigation into the death case of Sushant Singh Rajput, Rhea Chakraborty is currently being grilled by Narcotics Control Bureau. As per various reports, Rhea had reportedly confessed of procuring drugs but never consuming them. Earlier last week, Rhea’s brother, Showik Chakraborty, was arrested along with others in connection with the drugs probe linked with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput.
On Monday, TMC MLA and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee took to Twitter to slam the former Governor of Meghalaya, Tathagata Roy, after he made remarks hinting at the situation in the state and alluded that it is turning into ‘West Bangladesh’.
The TMC Minister tweeted, “Bengal is a land where respect for people is paramount! Tathagata Roy has made some wild obnoxious comments and he should really consider the idea of entering Bengal politics with such a polluted mindset.”
Bengal is a land where respect for people is paramount! @tathagata2 has made some wild obnoxious comments and he should really reconsider the idea of entering Bengal politics with such a polluted mindset!https://t.co/IZ5V0X33xu
Partha Chatterjee had shared an old article listing some remarks by Roy on modern-day Bengali ‘liberalism’ where he had insinuated that the people of the state are being forced to seek menial jobs in other state while the state’s ruling politicians seek trivial issues to stir up controversies. The article shared by Partha Chatterjee mentions Tathagata Chatterjee making blunt remarks on a variety of matters, which included the suggestion that the terrorists responsible for the Pathankot terror attack should be wrapped in pig’s skin and buried in pig excreta.
Tweet by former Meghalaya Minister riles up Trinamool Congress
Earlier, in the day, Tathagata Roy had expressed fears about how so-called ‘progressive thoughts’ had led to the destruction of the State. Without naming any political party, he took potshots at the ruling dispensation on how it was hellbent on turning the West Bengal into ‘West Bangladesh’. Praising the Prime Minister, the former Meghalaya Governor said that the fear of Narendra Modi had prevented the State from turning into the ‘West Bangladesh’.
He tweeted, “There is no state in India called ‘Bengal’. West Bengal,through its so-called ‘progressive thoughts’ has shot itself in the feet and would have been halfway today to becoming West Bangladesh. It is only the fear of the Iron Man in New Delhi that prevents it. Jai Hind.”
There is no state in India called ‘Bengal’. West Bengal,through its so-called ‘progressive thoughts’ has shot itself in the feet and would have been halfway today to becoming West Bangladesh. It is only the fear of the Iron Man in New Delhi that prevents it. Jai Hind.
In a series of tweets, Roy had emphasised how Shyama Prasad Mukherjee had worked to create West Bengal, a land for Bengali speaking Hindus. Sharing some incidences from the region’s political history, Roy had stated that had it not been for Mukherjee, Bengali Hindus would have all been slaughtered. He had also discussed how the radical Bengali Muslims call Mukherjee as ‘Shyama Poka’, an insect.
Rising 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 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.
On July 13, The West Bengal police had recovered the dead body of Debendra Nath Roy, a BJP MLA from Hematabad, in a closed tea shop in the village of Balia in Bindol Panchayat in Rajiganj. Roy was found hanging from the roof of the shop. He had been missing from the previous night. While the West Bengal police has ruled out ‘foul play’, the BJP unit of West Bengal has alleged that the MLA Debendranath Roy was murdered. BJP President (North Dinajpur) stated that the ‘suicide note’ was a conspiracy by the police to protect the murderers of the deceased politician. “We are not satisfied with the probe by the CID and will stick to our demand for a CBI investigation,” he was quoted as saying.
Radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who has been on the run from the law enforcement authorities in India, is back in the news again. A recent video of him advocating Muslims to refrain from becoming IAS/IPS officers is doing the rounds on the internet.
On being asked by a ‘Muslim brother’ whether a Muslim can become a bureaucrat in a democratic country like India, Zakir Naik replied, “If you can follow the ‘deen‘ (religion), then, it is permissible. Else, it is not.” He then responded to another Muslim who inquired whether it was possible for a Muslim to become an IAS, in light of the alleged ‘anti-Muslim’ hatred.
The Islamic preacher informed, “It is not impossible but difficult.” Under the assumption that a Muslim IAS officer would ‘definitely’ be intimidated by his colleagues, Naik stated, “When they attack you, Islam or the Prophet, can you reply them back? Do you have the courage to reply? If you are timid and shy, don’t take such a job. If you can answer them and are bold, go ahead with it.”
Become IAS officer only if you protect Muslims and Islam, recommends Naik
Later in the video, he emphasised, “If you are a strong person who can face the criticism of the non-Muslims, attacks of non-Muslims on Islam, stay away from bribery, follow the Sunnah and Quran, go ahead with the job.” Zakir Naik also warned Muslim IAS aspirants by citing the examples of Muslim officers who have ‘deviated’ from Islam.
His advice to his fellow ‘Muslim brothers’ is premised on the belief that the ‘objective’ behind bagging the coveted job of an IAS or IPS officer is to respond to fellow colleagues, defend Islam, and follow the teachings of Allah and the Quran.
He also asserts the narrative that even for an IPS and IAS officers, it is always about Muslims and non-Muslims. He repeatedly says that ‘they’ will defame the Quran and the Prophet and asserts that for Muslims who are selected into these jobs, it is all about defending Islam from ‘them’.
Zakir Naik video
Hate preacher casts aspersions about the honesty of IPS officers
In the same video, the hate preacher then made sweeping statements about IPS officers. Naik claimed, “Not all, but the majority of IPS officers for sure are corrupt… If an honest officer goes there, he either becomes corrupt or he has to leave the job… The setup is such that if you don’t agree with them, then, they will make life difficult for you.”
Zakir Naik is not new to making bizarre claims
Radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is not new to making bizarre assertions. Earlier, he had declared that despite his noble efforts of “taking the side of Muslims” and “showing the ugly face of oppressors”, NDTV’s star journalist Ravish Kumar will not find a place in the ‘Jannah’ or Muslim heaven.
In the video titled, “Dr. Zakir Naik on the fate of Ravish Kumar who stands for Muslims & Righteous Non-Muslims”, he explained how Ravish Kumar and other ‘good non-Muslims’ did not deserve the Muslim heaven or ‘Jannah’. Naik said that whatever the ‘good deeds’ people like Ravish Kumar may do for the benefit of Muslims since they have not converted to Islam, they will still go to hell because of the crime of ‘shirk’ (heresy, idol worship) is bigger than any other crime.
NIA books Zakir Naik in love-jihad case
Recently, Zakir Naik, along with two Pakistani hardline preachers have been named as accused in an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the high-profile “love jihad” case. The said case involved the daughter of a Chennai-based businessman and the son of a top Bangladeshi politician, belonging to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The father of the daughter had complained with the Chennai Central Crime Branch in May that his daughter, who was studying in London, was radicalised and forcibly converted to Islam. He had also alleged that his daughter was kidnapped by Bangladeshi men and spirited away to Bangladesh.
Social media has been on fire recently, metaphorically of course, after certain ex-Muslims decided to post obscene images of Goddess Kali in order to offend the Hindu community. A certain line was crossed and as was to be expected, a response directed at one of them, Armin Navabi, the founder of Atheist Republic, made an obscene comment on his deceased mother.
To spare our audience of the vulgarity of the whole situation, we shall not post the obscene image of Goddess Kali and neither shall we share the obscene remark directed against Navabi’s mother. Suffice it to say that the ex-Muslim’s mother was insulted in the same manner as he had insulted Goddess Kali, who is regarded and worshipped as a mother by Hindus worldwide.
What proceeded then was grave condemnation from the atheists of the individual who had targeted Navabi’s mother. Concurrently, the user’s tweet was lauded and appreciated by those at the other end of the spectrum. Others believed the response was completely justified and within the acceptable boundaries of freedom of expression. Then there were those who disagreed. And Twitter has been in turmoil ever since.
But how did it all of this begin? Where did the raging debate originate? Here, we shall look into the cascading series of events that led to the situation where ex-Muslims are dishonestly drawing a false equivalence between Hindus and Muslims. And yes, certain ex-Muslims are drawing that equivalence and certain others have gone to the extent of decreeing that Hindus are worse while responding to blasphemy, which is a funny allegation as Hindus merely responded to insult with insults of their own.
Origins: Riots in Malmo, Sweden
It might be hard to believe but the origins of the current controversy do lie in the events of the Scandinavian country miles away. Soon after the rioting, an ex-Muslim, Abdullah Sameer, claimed that the fire was lit by the people who lit fire to the Quran. His argument was, “Yes, the Muslims should not be reacting this way. They are wrong to escalate to burning buildings and rioting. But why spark the match when you know you have crazies who will react this way.”
Abdullah also claimed that the people who burnt the Quran “just want to see the world burn”. As it turns out, the ‘ex-Muslim’ does not really appear to believe in freedom of expression. He also appears to suggest that Muslims would have reacted any differently if the ones burning the Quran had been liberal themselves. And even if they were liberals, they would have been branded far-right anyway.
Robert Spencer, the Director of Jihad Watch, commented on the matter and slammed Abdullah Sameer for his stance on the issue. He said, ““Ex-Muslim” flies into a rage over the burning of the Qur’an. Apparently according to this “ex-Muslim” we should all bow to Sharia blasphemy laws and violent threats, rather than defend the freedom of expression even when we disagree with what is expressed.”
He added, “Of course, this is the same “ex-Muslim” who became an Islamic apologist a few weeks ago when I dared to point out that the material on women in the Qur’an and Sunnah makes for a culture of violence against them. So this is no surprise.” Thus, we have good reason to suspect the motivations of this particular ex-Muslim at the very least.
Abdullah Sameer ties himself in knots
Apart from having a run-in with Robert Spencer for his problematic opinions, Abdullah Sameer had arguments with others as well. And during his arguments, he tied himself up in knots further. He claimed that he did not have an issue with burning the Quran per se, but he only had an issue with it when members of far-right groups indulged in it. “I think its unwise and counterproductive,” he said.
When he was asked whether he would tweet a sexualised image of prophet Mohammed, Abdullah Sameer flatly denied and claimed, “It would undermine the academic friendly approach I am trying to take and everything I worked for thus far.”
Abdullah Sameer vs Robert Spencer: Enter Hindus
The ex-Muslim took a dig at Robert Spencer and claimed that the “Hindu mob” questioning his problematic stance were all followers of the latter. “Robert, when are you going to convert to Hinduism? You’re pretty much already one of them,” he asked. Spencer was obviously displeased with the insinuations made in the comment and called him a “bigoted, hateful creep”. Abdullah responded, “Care to answer why it is you’re primarily followed by Hindus? Whats up with that Robert?”
The ex-Muslim then proceeded to drag Hindus into the squabble and equated the RSS with Taliban. He said of Hindus, “India and the world would be much better without intolerant nasty religious tribal people like yourself.” When it was pointed out to him that India was secular because of Hindus, he responded, “Then why is eating beef illegal in 24 of 29 Indian states? Isnt that a religious injunction?” All of this happened during the last days of August.
Armin Navabi is summoned by his ex-Muslim comrade
Soon enough, Abdullah posted a sexualised image of Goddess Kali, which further earned him the wrath of the Hindus on social media. Along expected lines, he was confronted over the matter which he perceived to be an ‘attack’. Soon after, in the early days of September, he made a tweet where he tagged Armin Navabi.
Abdullah said in his tweet tagging Armin Navabi, “I’m getting attacked by Hindus, Muslims, and the far-right (Spencer types). My blog is being DDOSed and I dont even know which of the three is responsible. Now I know how @ArminNavabi feels.” That tweet is likely to have attracted the attention of Armin Navabi who is the main instigator behind the drama that unfolded.
Soon, Armin Navabi made the sexualised image of Goddess Kali which broke the dam and led to a torrent of fiery exchanges. Atheists in India got involved in the whole matter as well. And that is how, a matter that was initiated by Abdullah Sameer’s reaction to the riots in Sweden came to affect political discourse in India.
Armin Navabi saga: Not an organic development
Thus, quite clearly, the series of events was not entirely organic and ex-Muslims deliberately plotted to target Hindus over the matter. The possibility that the entire thing was organised to deflect attention from the riots in Sweden by Radical Muslims cannot be denied. In the aftermath of the events that occurred, ex-Muslims also drew a false equivalence between Radical Muslims and Hindus and attempted to paint the Hindus in broad brush.
There is no evidence at all that Hindus are anywhere even close to Radical Muslims. Hindus had only responded to offensive tweets with offensive tweets. They had not rioted or engaged in acts of violence against the ex-Muslims. Even so, Hindus were demonized. The whole purpose of it appears to have been to promulgate the narrative that radical Muslims are not a uniquely violent group, even though they clearly are.
In the current saga, what appears to have suffered the most is the credibility of ex-Muslims. Next time onwards, before voicing their support for ex-Muslims, Hindus will think through their decision a thousand times over. Truly, the whole episode does tend to remind one of the Butterfly Effect which theorises that the smallest of changes in one part of the world could end up causing a tornado in the other part of the globe. The concept is imagined as a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon.
