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West Bengal: CID files chargesheet in the ‘suicide’ case of Hemtabad BJP MLA Debendranath Roy

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: CID files chargesheet in the ‘suicide’ case of Hemtabad BJP MLA Debendranath Roy

The West Bengal Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Friday has filed a chargesheet in the unnatural death of BJP MLA from Hemtabad, Debendranath Roy. The investigative agency has submitted the chargesheet before the Raiganj court.

The West Bengal police had recovered a ‘suicide note‘ that categorically mentioned the names of two individuals, Niloy Sinha and Mabud Ali. The CID had arrested the accused, post which the charge sheet was filed. While the investigative agency did not file a murder case against the duo, they had been booked for harassment and abetment of suicide.

While the autopsy report ruled out any foul play in his death, the family alleged it to be a case of suicide. They have expressed their lack of faith in the CID as it had failed to show them ‘convincing’ evidence. It is pertinent to mention that the hands of Debendranath Roy were tied when his body was discovered hanging from the roof of a closed tea shop.

CID probes the death of Debendranath Roy, contrary to family’s wishes

Although the family members had demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter, the State government instead decided to hand over the case to the CID. The wife of the deceased politician, Chandni Roy, had also approached the Calcutta High Court. However, the Court too disposed of the petition and instead directed CBI to continue with the investigation.

Arrest of Mabud Ali and Niloy Sinha

The West Bengal police had arrested Niloy Singha on July 15  from Mokdumpur in Malda district. Mabud Ali was apprehended in early August while he was planning to evade arrest by changing his location. Earlier, the investigators had informed that the accused had borrowed ₹1 Crore from the BJP leader.

Officer-in-charge of Mothabari police station, Bitul Pal, informed, “Soon after receiving the note from the CID, we explored all our sources. Thus, we came to know that Ali was being sheltered by one of his relatives at Babla village. He was changing his hideout every night to evade the arrest. We arrested him on Friday afternoon when he reached Kashimbazar on a two-wheeler.”

The Death of Debendranath Roy

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.

The shop, from where the corpse of the BJP leader was retrieved, is located about 1.5km from his house. After he went missing on Sunday night, the local area was searched overnight but it was in vain. The family of the BJP MLA has alleged that it is a case of murder. Reportedly, the cops rushed to the crime scene after they received information about the incident.

West Bengal Congress holds rally in support of “Bengal’s daughter” Rhea Chakraborty in Kolkata, calls her arrest a ‘political conspiracy’

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal Congress holds rally in support of “Bengal’s daughter” Rhea Chakraborty in Kolkata, calls her arrest a ‘political conspiracy’

The Congress party, which has been dealing with an existential crisis in the state of West Bengal, decided to use accused Rhea Chakraborty as a tool to score political brownie points. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of Congress workers hit the streets of West Bengal’s Kolkata on Saturday seeking justice for the actor, calling her ‘daughter of Bengal’. Rhea is currently lodged in Byculla jail after the Narcotics Control Bureau found credible evidence of her involvement in the drug cartel.

The rally was taken out from the Congress office allegedly on the instructions of the Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is also the current president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee. Though he himself was not present during the rally it is being reported that he was the one who had given a call to the party workers to take out the rally.

The Congress workers chanted slogans in support of Rhea Chakraborty in the rally. They also carried banners and placards claiming that the arrest of Rhea was a part of political conspiracy.

Congress invoke the ‘religion card’ to score political points

It is pertinent to note here, that Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury after taking over as PCC president in Kolkata had described Rhea Chakraborty as a ‘Bengali Brahmin lady’ and called her arrest over drug charges “ludicrous”.

Probably in his desperate attempt to woo the state electorate ahead of the upcoming 2021 West Bengal state elections, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was seen skillfully invoking his party’s one of the oldest and most peddled ‘religion and caste-based’ narrative. Quickly clinching on to the part Bengali lineage of Sushant’s girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty, the Congress MP on Wednesday Tweeted: “Rhea’s father is a former military officer who served the nation. Rhea is a Bengali Brahmin lady; justice to actor Sushant Singh Rajput should not be interpreted as justice to a Bihari. The father of Rhea is also entitled to demand justice for his kids, trial by media is an ominous portent for our judicial system. Justice for all is one of the basic tenets of our Constitution.”

Rhea Chakraborty to remain in Byculla jail after her bail plea gets rejected

Meanwhile, Rhea Chakraborty, arrested over drugs charges linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput case, was denied bail today by a Mumbai court. The bail requests of her brother Showik Chakraborty and four other accused were also rejected.

Rhea Chakraborty, in judicial custody till September 22, will stay in Byculla jail at least Tuesday, the earliest she can appeal to the High Court after the written order is released on Monday.

Why Tamil Nadu govt does not want to see the growth of Navodaya Vidyalayas: Some truths about DMK and anti-Hindi agitations

Suren
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Why Tamil Nadu govt does not want to see the growth of Navodaya Vidyalayas: Some truths about DMK and anti-Hindi agitations

In August 2020, Smt Kanimozhi, daughter of the DMK Patriarch Shri Karunanidhi, and the sitting MP for Thoothukudi, alleged that she was asked if she was an Indian when she refused to respond to a CISF official in Hindi at the airport.

In the wake of this, certain elements in the Tamil movie industry started a campaign of circulating their pictures on social media with the caption ‘I am a Tamil Speaking Indian’ or ‘Hindi Theiyadhu Poda’ – ‘I don’t know Hindi, man!’.

Some sections of Tamil social media celebrities questioned this premise, pointing out that

  • All DMK MPs have availed of the MP quota to admit children from their constituency into Kendriya Vidyalayas.
  • Many individuals that are part of the Dravidian movement or related to AIADMK and DMK party functionaries run CBSE schools, that implement the 3-language policy in teaching.

It was at this point that Tamil vLogger Maridhass, who has been in the cross-hairs of the DMK ecosystem for some time now, released a YouTube video on September 11th, 2020. In this video, he alleges that DMK MPs have been using caste considerations and also accepting donations for admitting children using their quota in Kendriya Vidyalayas.

Kendriya Vidyalayas 

The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghathan is the single largest chain of CBSE schools in India, for the purpose of providing quality education to children of Central Government employees at nominal cost and to ensure that childrens’ education is not compromised in transfers. The cost of setting up and operating these schools is borne by the Union Ministry of HRD and the premises are constructed on land that is part of premises belonging to Central Government enterprise. 

As of 2020, there are 13 lakh students enrolled in 1247 Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country. Kendriya Vidyalaya follows the CBSE’s 3-language policy and teaches some subjects in Hindi. There are 59,000 students enrolled in 50 Kendriya Vidyalayas in Tamil Nadu alone. While the vast majority are children of Central Government employees, there is a smaller quota for children from the local population. Each MP can also recommend up to 10 children from his/her constituency per year to be admitted in the Kendriya Vidyalayas.

Incidentally, none of the MPs from Tamil Nadu has been ever known to give up this privilege on account of their opposition to Hindi imposition. Mr Ma Venkatesan, a prominent young intellectual of Tamil Nadu, tweeted a list of children admitted to Kendriya Vidyalayas in the academic year 2019-2020 in the quota to be availed by Smt Kanimozhi.

Mr Maridhass, in turn, tweeted a list of children admitted in the academic year 2020-2021 on the basis of recommendation by Dr Senthilkumar, DMK MP from Dharmapuri.

To this, Dr Senthilkumar tweeted rather blasely that this was common knowledge and what was to be gained by sharing this information

All data drawn from https://www.kvsangathan.nic.in/.

Between their avowed anti-Hindi stance and the habit of using their position as MPs to get children enrolled into Hindi-teaching Kendriya Vidyalayas, the Dravidian MPs from Tamil Nadu have shown quite a disconnect between beliefs and practice.

This seems to cut across party lines. In August 4, 2018, Smt V Sathyabhama, then AIADMK MP for Tiruppur, tweeted that she met Union HRD Minister Shri Javadekar and placed a demand for opening Kendriya Vidyalayas in her district.

Notably, her party has always opposed setting up Navodaya Vidyalayas in Tamil Nadu, which are of the same nature as Kendriya Vidyalayas, except that they are geared towards admitting rural children rather than children of Union Government employees.

Leaving that aside, let us now look at two categories of schools that are CBSE affiliated and apply the 3-language formula, to which all Dravidian parties have expressed opposition – the Navodaya Vidyalayas and private CBSE schools.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas

The National Policy on Education – 1986 envisaged the set up of centrally funded Middle and High Schools to be set up in rural areas, to provide high quality education to families that have been historically not had access to education due to geographical and socio-economic reasons.

As of 31-03-2019, 661 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are operating in 638 districts of India at a budget of Rs 3213 Crores per annum. The education system, recruitment is similar to the other Central Government run school system – the Kendriya Vidyalayas. These residential schools start from Class VI on a residential basis. The entire cost of education, including boarding, lodging and personal expenses of students are met by the Government. Children are selected from rural backgrounds on the basis of an entrance test. There are reservations for SC/ST/OBC and for girl children. 

20% of Navodaya Vidyalaya students that have appeared for IIT JEE have cleared the JEE Advanced paper and 80% of JNV students that appeared for NEET 2019 qualified.

The student body is 2.65 lakh strong – of which 75% are rural, 40% female, 25% SC and 20% ST. While miniscule in comparison to the large population of underprivileged children in the country, it is still a laudable experiment in making good quality education available to them.

The only requirement from the State Government is that 30 acres of land must be made available for each school and premises provided for operation of schools until such time as construction is completed. All information drawn from https://navodaya.gov.in/

However, for decades, all Tamil Dravidian leaders have opposed setting up JNV in Tamil Nadu, on the grounds of Hindi imposition.

Private CBSE schools 

According to the CBSE official site in 2020, there were 1171 schools affiliated to the CBSE in Tamil Nadu. This is more than 4-fold growth from 2010 when there were only 250 CBSE schools in the State.

This roughly 10% of all private unaided schools in the State, according to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. We can assume that roughly 13 lakh students, or 10% of the 1.3 crore school student population of Tamil Nadu are enrolled in private CBSE schools. All CBSE schools follow the 3-language formula. As a result, a good number of Tamil Nadu’s children are now learning Hindi.

Since private CBSE schools charge anywhere from 60,000 to 1.5 lakhs or above per year per student, these are students from privileged upper middle-class backgrounds. Of note is the fact that many of these schools are run by party members or relatives from the DMK or AIADMK, both of which have been opposing the Navodaya Vidyalayas. 

Crunching the numbers

If we assume that 40 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Schools could have been set up in Tamil Nadu and allowed to operate for 20 years, here are some projections for what could have been possible.

The student body of a JNV, on average is composed of 400 children, of which 50 would be in each graduating class of Std XII. If the standard percentages are applied, 40 of these would be rural, 20 girls, 12 SC and 10 ST.

Over 20 years, this would imply 32000 rural students, 16000 girls, 9600 SC and 8000 ST students would have benefited.

All of this at the mere cost to the Tamil Nadu State Government of identifying and allocating some 1200 acres of poromboke land to the school. While this seems like a large sum, we must keep in mind that 37,000 Government run schools operate in the State, which represent more than 75000 acres of land that are already being utilized for the purpose of education. Another 1200 acres wuld hardly make a difference to the land bank under the control of the TN Government.

How much does the Government of Tamil Nadu Spend?

The Government of Tamil Nadu spend Rs 31,000 crores per year on school education. There are 6500 private aided schools in Tamil Nadu. Roughly 13-15% of the budget would be spent on teacher salaries or Rs 4000 crores. Even if we take a very conservative estimate of 50% of these schools being privately owned, the Government of Tamil Nadu spends Rs 2000 crores per year in subsidizing minority educational institutions.

There are 280 Urdu Medium schools in Tamil Nadu, of which 66 are Government-run. Even among the other 214 privately run Urdu medium schools, there could be a good number that is aided by the Government of Tamil Nadu. We could not find conclusive figures on the list of private aided Urdu medium schools online.

Even if the amount spent on JNVs were simply transferred to the Government of Tamil Nadu, it would be Rs 135 crores per year, or 0.4% of the annual school education budget. One wonders how this would make any material difference to the working of the School Education Department.

Why this resistance?

As we saw from the numbers, even if Navodaya Vidyalayas were allowed, the student body would be miniscule. They would not make a dent in the growth of private CBSE schools, since the target demographic for these two sectors are vastly different. They would not affect enrolment in schools that are run by Tamil Government (54 lakh students in 37,000 schools) or private aided schools (28 Lakh students in 8400 schools).

What they affect are several narratives

  • That learning Hindi in schools would affect the growth of Tamil
  • That central entrance examinations are biased against Tamils and specifically rural children from under-privileged backgrounds.

When people from rural, underprivileged backgrounds can see children from similar backgrounds take up CBSE education and succeed, they will begin to question the dominant narrative of the Dravidian movement.

And that will destroy one of the primary tricks of the Dravidian delusion among the rural under-privileged masses that have been the driving thrust of their movement.

Barkha Dutt issued notice by Delhi HC in plea seeking transfer of her criminal complaint against Kapil Sibal to special PMLA court

OpIndia Staff
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Barkha Dutt issued notice by Delhi HC in plea seeking transfer of her criminal complaint against Kapil Sibal to special PMLA court

A notice has been issued by Delhi High Court to ‘journalist’ Barkha Dutt in a plea seeking transfer of the criminal complaint filed by her against Congress MP Kapil Sibal to special PMLA court from Patiala House Court.The notice was issued by a single-judge Bench of Justice Anup J Bhambhani to Barkha as no one appeared for her in the court. The next hearing of the matter is scheduled on November 2.

Dutt had filed a complaint against Kapil Sibal, his wife Promila Sibal and their TV network company called Analog Media last year for allegedly committing a offence under section 420 of the IPC read with section 120B of the IPC. Barkha Dutt had accused Kapil Sibal and his wife, who were the promoters of the Tiranga TV, of firing the journalists working at Tiranaga TV without prior notice.

She had demanded damages worth Rs 74 lakhs along with interest from Sibal for allegedly terminating her contract early. It was alleged by Dutt that the senior employees of the channel including herself were not paid salaries by the channel for a year. She has compared Kapil Sibal with fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya for not paying the salaries of the chanel’s employees. The channel had shut down in July last year.

Dutt had also accused Promila Sibal of using derogatory language for the female journalists of the channel for which she had filed a complaint in the National Commission of Women (NCW). Kapil Sibal had denied the allegations leveled by Dutt claiming that the ‘journalist’ was already fired from the channel on disciplinary grounds before it was shut down.

Fact-check: Old video from 2018 being circulated as a recent one to claim Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was attacked by protesters

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-check: Old video from 2018 being circulated as a recent one to claim Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was attacked by protesters

A video has been recently doing the rounds on the Internet in which demonstrators are seen protesting against the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

Opposition politicians and several social media users have shared the video, alleging that the Union Minister for Railways, Piyush Goyal, barely managed to escape the wrath of angry protesters staging a demonstration against him in Lucknow.

The video was shared by the National Spokesperson of Samajwadi Party, I.P. Singh, who said in a tweet that Railway Minister Piyush Goyal somehow managed to escape the beating after policemen somehow escorted him to safety. He also ominously added that in the coming times, BJP ministers across the country will be beaten by public.

Another politician, Piyush Mishra, In-charge of the National Information and Technology & National Spokesperson of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, also tweeted the same video, claiming Railway Minister Piyush Goyal ran away from Lucknow after hearing negative slogans against him.

Similarly, social media users have also shared the video, ostensibly a video clip from Zee News report which says that protesters had mounted a demonstration against the Railway Minister.

Old video being circulated as a recent one

However, the video that has been shared by political functionaries and various social media users to allege that demonstrators are up in arms against the Railway Minister at Lucknow, is actually from November 2018. The video is from a Zee News report from two years ago showing protests launched by Railway employees against minister Piyush Goyal.

In fact, the propagandists who have tried to pass off the protests as a recent one did not even bother to check the video as it carried the date of the news broadcast. In the bottom left of the video that is going viral on the Internet, one can observe the date of the report which says November 17, 2018.

Even the official Twitter account of Police Commissionerate Lucknow has responded to the tweet by I.P. Singh, saying that the video shared by him is from 2018.

In addition to this, the official Twitter account of Piyush Goyal’s office had already issued a clarification in November 2018, refuting the allegations of protesters attacking Railway Minister in Lucknow. Categorically denying the misleading reports, the tweet said that there was no attack against Piyush Goyal or his car and nobody was injured.

Opposition indulged in peddling motivated social media campaign against the Modi government

However, it appears that propagandists have decided to run a string of motivated social media campaigns against the central government. Recently, old videos of protests and out-of-context images were circulated on the Internet to attack the central government on its decision to continue with the JEE and NEET examinations.

A large number of inflammatory social media posts had come up in the aftermath of the government’s decision going ahead with the revised schedule. The social media posts, mostly made by recently created Twitter and Facebook accounts, and based out of India, demanded the deferment of the competitive exams that were scheduled to happen in September. Through these posts, the rabble-rousers attempted to whip up anti-government sentiments, piggybacking on the discontent surrounding the government’s denial to adjourn the exams further.

Continuing with this chicanery, the social media propagandists and opposition politicians have resorted to sharing an old video, that was already called out by the Railway Minister as “incorrect”, to falsely project that there is growing dissatisfaction among the people against the BJP government.

Nirav Modi made a ‘scapegoat’, will not get a fair trial in India: Former SC judge Markandey Katju defends the bank scam accused in London court

OpIndia Staff
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Nirav Modi made a ‘scapegoat’, will not get a fair trial in India: Former SC judge Markandey Katju defends the bank scam accused in London court

In a shocking disposition before a London court on Friday, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju alleged that fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi will not get a fair trial if he is extradited back to India.

According to the reports, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju appearing before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, claimed that the judicial system in India has collapsed as investigative agencies such as the CBI and Enforcement Directorate were acting at the behest of political masters.

During the hearing, Katju cited several cases to substantiate his allegations including the 2019 Ayodhya judgement by former chief justice Ranjan Gogoi and his subsequent nomination as a Rajya Sabha MP. Katju also highlighted the post-retirement appointment of judges, media trials and alleged corruption in the judiciary.

Katju also said before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court that the Ayodhya case judgment, which he termed the “most shameful verdict in 50 years”, was nothing but judiciary’s surrender.

Nirav Modi being made a ‘scapegoat’ for economic collapse

The former Supreme Court judge also claimed that Nirav Modi was being made a “scapegoat” for India’s economic collapse in the same way Jews were blamed for the economic troubles in Nazi Germany during the 1930s.

“Even before the corona pandemic the Indian economy was collapsing, GDP is going down, businesses are closing down and hundreds of millions are losing jobs. The BJP has no idea how to solve it so they must find some scapegoat. They want to blame all economic collapse that the government of India has created on Nirav Modi,” former Justice Katju said.

He added that Nirav Modi is BJP’s scapegoat and this is why they are so adamant to get him back and convict him but he will not get a fair trial in India.

Katju also alleged that people were afraid to appear as witnesses for Nirav Modi as Indian government would apply criminal laws against them and they would be put behind bars.

Crown Prosecution Service calls Katju a ‘self publicist’

The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which argued on behalf of the Indian government, countered Katju’s claims that Nirav Modi would not receive a fair trial in India.

Helen Malcolm, the lawyer representing CPS, referred to Katju as “self-publicist” as he gave evidence in the extradition case. Helen asked Katju whether his statements were anything to do with his being a “self-publicist” keen to exploit the high-profile case.

On the final day of a five-day hearing, Justice Samuel Goozee heard Katju’s detailed argument before adjourning the case until November 3.

In May, retired Bombay High Court judge and Congress leader Abhay Thipsay had defended fugitive businessman Nirav Modi in a London court via video conference and claimed that the charges levelled by the CBI against Nirav Modi will not hold in India.

Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi, and uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 14,356 crore by fraudulently obtaining Letter of Undertaking without furnishing any guarantee.

 

J-K: Restoration of centuries-old Raghunath Temple in Srinagar begins almost 3 decades after terrorists vandalised and burnt it down

OpIndia Staff
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J-K: Restoration of centuries-old Raghunath Temple in Srinagar begins almost 3 decades after terrorists vandalised and burnt it down

A year after the effective abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and the administrative reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, the government has decided to restore the lost glory of the centuries-old heritage shrine- Raghunath Temple situated near Fateh Kadal in the heart of Srinagar city, reported the Hindi daily, Jagran.

The renovation work of the temple has been entrusted to the State Tourism Department. Along with the temple, the ghats of river Jhelum will also be beautified. This long-pending decision has lifted the mood of the Kashmiri Hindus in the valley who have remained devoid and oppressed for years due to adverse circumstance, created by radical Islamists, which also compelled many Hindu families to migrate from Kashmir.

Centuries-old Raghunath Temple vandalised, burnt down by Kashmiri terrorists in early 1990s

The historic temple which was one of the most revered by Hindus was vandalised and burnt down by Islamic terrorists in the early 1990s- the time when the valley witnessed mass genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus at the hands of the blood-thirsty Islamic terrorists who were ready to do anything to convert Kashmir into an Islamic state.

In the early 1990s, the terrorists had initially burnt a school which was located on the premises of the temple. This had led to the Dharamshala of the temple being gutted in the fire. The Hindus were forbidden by Islamists from worshipping in the temple. However, when the devotees refused to stop visiting the temple, the entire temple premise was set on fire and destroyed.

Again in the year 2002, the temple had witnessed two terrorist attacks in the months of March and November. Islamic terrorists had hurled grenades and indulged in indiscriminate firing which resulted in the death of 20 Hindu devotees and injuring over 40 others.

Abandoned Hindu temples in the valley were turned into garbage dumping sites

From the last 30 years, the temple site remains abandoned and ignored. Police failed to nab the terrorists responsible for the attacks and also failed in tracing 23 precious idols, 40 kilograms of silver, gold and other valuables worth lakhs of rupees which was looted from the temple. Over the years the beautiful heritage site was turned into garbage dumping site like other Hindu shrines in the valley.

Raghunath Temple which is dedicated to Lord Ram is one of the most revered temples in the valley. The temple was constructed by Maharaja Gulab Singh who was the founder of the kingdom of Jammu & Kashmir and the work on the temple began in the year 1835. After his death, the work was completed by Maharaja Gulab Singh’s son, Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1860.

The main temple’s inner wall was covered with gold sheet on the three sides of the temple. The temple also had a vast gallery which had various “lingams” as well as “saligrams” that are placed for the general public as well. 

Hours after Mumbai Police arrested six Shiv Sena workers for assaulting former Navy officer, they manage to secure bail

OpIndia Staff
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Hours after Mumbai Police arrested six Shiv Sena workers for assaulting former Navy officer, they manage to secure bail

Hours after Mumbai Police had arrested six Shiv Sena goons for attacking a 65-year-old former Navy officer for sharing a satirical cartoon on WhatsApp, all six men were released on bail on Saturday.

According to the reports, Shiv Sena leader Kamlesh Kadam and five others were granted bail just a day after they had brutally assaulted Madan Sharma for sharing an image that had allegedly mocked Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. After they obtained bail, they were released from the Samta Police Station.

The six accused were arrested by Mumbai police overnight after an FIR was registered in connection with the incident. Following the release, Mumbai Police said that the accused were charged under bailable sections and hence they could easily secure a bail.

Retired naval officer Madan Sharma, who was brutally assaulted by Shiv Sena goons, had registered a case against them on Friday at Samta Nagar Police Station. In the FIR, Sharma had stated that he was attacked by Shiv Sena workers earlier in the day for sharing a cartoon that had taken a dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

BJP protests against the release of all six accused

Following the release of Shiv Sena goons by the Mumbai Police, the opposition party BJP held protest against the release of the accused.

Meanwhile, the daughter of the veteran also joined the sit-in protest against the Maharashtra government.

Navy veteran brutally attacked by Shiv Sena goons for sharing Uddhav Thackeray cartoon

On Friday, a veteran of the Indian Navy – Madan Sharma was attacked by Shiv Sena goons in Maharashtra on Friday for sharing a cartoon on WhatsApp.

The WhatsApp forward was allegedly a satirical cartoon featuring Uddhav Thackeray and his allies Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi.

In the CCTV footage of the incident that has gone viral on social media, one can see how the veteran was brutally attacked by a bunch of goons.

Speaking to the media after the incident, Madan Sharma had said that he had received a phone call from an unknown person earlier in the day. A person, who identified himself as Kamlesh Kadam, had asked him to come down at his society’s gate.

As Sharma reached the gate, Kadam and other Shiv Sena goons attacked him brutally and injured him. They assaulted me, punched me and kicked me. My right eye sustained injuries, Sharma had said.

Here is what Suresh Chavhanke said during Sudarshan News’ first episode on ‘UPSC Jihad’

OpIndia Staff
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Here is what Suresh Chavhanke said during Sudarshan News’ first episode on ‘UPSC Jihad’

Sudarshan News aired its first episode on the ‘UPSC Jihad’ which embroiled the channel in great controversy recently. Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke spoke on the unfair advantage that members of the Muslim community have over non-Muslim citizens of the country in recruitment to civil services and also spoke on the links between the Zakat Foundation with Islamist organisations.

Unfair Benefits to Muslim Community

Suresh Chavhanke said during the show that Rs. 1 lakh is granted to members of the minority community through the Udaan Yojana to crack entrance exams for UPSC while Hindus do not receive any such benefits. Similarly, for gazetted posts in state public service commission (PSC), the minority community receives Rs. 50,000 and for non-gazetted posts in state PSC and SSC exams, they receive Rs. 25,000.

Source: Sudarshan News

Sudarshan News also revealed that the overwhelming majority of those availing the benefits of the schemes for the minority community are Muslims. After the Muslim community, Christians come a distinct second; followed by Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis respectively.

Source: Sudarshan News

The other unfair advantages that Muslim candidates appearing for civil services receive are higher number of attempts and higher upper limit for the age of candidates. Suresh Chavhanke said that some Muslims take advantage of OBC categories and are included in them. Consequently, a Hindu can appear for the civil services till 32 years of age, Chavhanke said, while Muslims can appear for the exams till 35 years of age. Also, Hindus can make only 6 attempts while Muslims can make 9.

The Urdu Advantage and Interviews

Suresh Chavhanke said in the episode that the rate of success for candidates who opt for Urdu is disproportionately high when compared to other languages. For instance, in the year 2011, the success rate for Urdu candidates was 40.9% while the same for Sanskrit and Hindu were 11.8% and 13.1% respectively. In 2017, the success rates for Urdu, Sanskrit and Hindu were 19.2%, 7.1% and 7.1% respectively.

Source: Sudarshan

The Sudarshan News editor said that in Urdu, the question paper is prepared by people from the same community, the answer sheets are checked by the same community and those who choose the language also belong to the same community. Suresh Chavhanke also revealed that Muslims on an average score higher than non-Muslims in interviews, which is bound to attract suspicion as assessment during interviews can be highly subjective.

Source: Sudarshan

In 2018, the difference in the marks for interviews between Muslims and non-Muslims was as high as 9.5 per cent. A similar trend has followed since 2013. Suresh Chavhanke also gave the example of Shah Faesal, the infamous Kashmiri bureaucrat who had quit in protest against the Modi government, who had secured the top rank solely due to his superior marks in interviews.

The Zakat Foundation and Islamist Links

The episode also spoke on the Zakat Foundation’s links to Islamist organisations and radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. He mentioned Zafar Hussain Qureshi, the Zakat functionary who has links to Zakir Naik and various other Islamist organisations. Zakat Foundation helps Muslims get recruited into civil services. They believe that bureaucrats rule the country and through the civil services, Muslims could capture the PMO and all other ministries. We had reported on the matter in detail.

Source: Sudarshan

Suresh Chavhanke also spoke out against the critics who slammed him for raising questions against the civil services. He said that in this country, no one is above criticism. From the Courts to the laws passed by the Parliament, everyone and everything is criticised. Therefore, there is no reason why the civil services should be beyond reproach. He said that asking such questions was his right and answering them was the duty of authorities.

Bombay High Court allows activist Sunaina Holey to approach the court in case of any urgency, assures immunity from arrest for two weeks

OpIndia Staff
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Bombay High Court allows activist Sunaina Holey to approach the court in case of any urgency, assures immunity from arrest for two weeks

In the matter relating to the Maharashtra government’s action against a Twitter user named Sunaina Holey for allegedly making remarks against CM Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray, who is the Environment Minister of the State, the Bombay High Court allowed Holey to approach the court in case of any urgency or exigency while assuring her that she will be not be arrested for at least two weeks.

Holey had approached the court seeking interim relief from arrest in the three cases that have been slapped against her by the Maharashtra government for allegedly making remarks against the CM and the Environment Minister. Three FIRs were registered against her in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police station, Azad Maidan police station and Tulinj police station. She was first arrested on August 6 but was released on bail on the same day.

The Bombay High Court did not grant her interim relief from arrest as requested by her but, on the state’s assurance, said that she will not be arrested for at least two weeks. The court directed police to give her prior notice of at least 48 hours in case they intended to arrest her. Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) JP Yagnik was also directed by the court to file an affidavit before the court within two weeks.

The court accepted the assurance of Holey’s lawyer, Dr Abhinav Chadrachud, that she will be appearing in the police station whenever required for the purpose of investigation. APP Yagnik told the court that Holey did not appear before the Investigating Officer to which her lawyer replied that she was apprehensive of being arrested if she visited the police station. Holey was earlier arrested by Tulinj police a day after getting bail when she had gone to visit the BKC police station to cooperate in the investigation as was required by her bail order.

APP Yagnik made it clear before the court that the Mumbai police was not focused on arresting Holey and not wanted the investigation to proceed. Some media portals, however, attempted to selectively represent the proceedings that happened in the court insinuating that the court rebuked Holey. Apparently, the media portals selectively picked up an observation made by the court regarding the freedom of speech. When Holey’s lawyer was explaining before the court how his client is on the target of the government despite she having the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 of the Constitution, the court had clarified that the right under Article 19 was not absolute and had certain restrictions. Dr Chandrachud had however assured the court that his client was aware of it.

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