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Mocking Maa Sita’s birth, sexual innuendos on Lord Krishna’s parents: Hindus demand action against Ambedkarite activist Satish Bauddh for vile, derogatory comments at Delhi event

Shraddha Pandey
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Mocking Maa Sita’s birth, sexual innuendos on Lord Krishna’s parents: Hindus demand action against Ambedkarite activist Satish Bauddh for vile, derogatory comments at Delhi event

Making derogatory remarks against the Hindu religion and deities under the pretext of advocating ‘social justice’ and ‘rationality’ has become an opprobrious trend. In a fresh attack on the Hindu faith, Satish Bauddh, a self-proclaimed Ambedkarite, made highly offensive, vile remarks about Hindu Devi-Devtas at a public event in Delhi’s Ashok Nagar on 18th April. Bauddh’s Hinduphobic comments have triggered a massive backlash, with many demanding his arrest.

During an event commemorating Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s birthday, Satish Bauddh delivered a speech wherein he began with the usual hateful commentary against the ‘Manuwadi ideology’, caste, and superstition, to incite Dalit Hindus to convert to Buddhism. However, he soon pivoted to spewing vitriol against Hindu deities, scriptures and beliefs.

Satish Bauddh mocked Maa Sita

Mocking the story of Maa Sita’s divine birth, Satish Bauddh said, “There was a king and queen. They were not able to have children… So meet a doctor… But a sage told them that if the king and queen plough the field together, they will have children… Now when the plough got stuck… a pot was found… there was a girl in it… That girl was named Sita… I did not understand one thing… the kids will come out during the excavation… are they kids or potatoes or radishes… We accepted it as truth because we did not take refuge in intellect… Can it really happen that while digging the ground, a girl comes out…”

Ambedkarite activist’s sexual innuendo-riddled mockery of the Puranic story of Lord Krishna’s birth

During his speech, the Hinduphobic ‘activist’ also mocked Lord Krishna and his birth story through sexual innuendos around the baby swap incident mentioned in Hindu scriptures.

“Vasudev oh Babuji… the relationship happened with great difficulty… Kansa collected both of them together… Men will be locked up separately and women will be locked up separately… But Kansa collected both of them together… Brother, farming has started there… The eighth child was about to be born… He left with the boy… They made the exchange… I gave the boy there. I took the girl here… The girl who came turned out to be even smarter than him… Flying in the air she is saying, Kansa son, your arrangements have been made… So we are moving from darkness to darkness,” he said, to cheerful and equally Hinduphobic crowd.

He further called Lord Krishna a ‘womaniser’ and rebuked people for celebrating birthday and cutting cakes in honour of such a person.

Mockery of Draupadi and the disrobing episode from Mahabharat

After insulting Mata Sita and Lord Krishna, Satish Bauddh proceeded to insult queen Draupadi, specifically mentioning the Vastra-haran or disrobing incident. He claimed that Pandavas planned to disrobe Draupadi, (although it was the Kauravas), and inserted a ‘Dalit-Savarn’ angle to villainise upper-caste Hindus.

He said, “A woman was standing there, her name was Draupadi… When the Pandavas planned to disrobe Draupadi… Were there any Dalits in that meeting? They were not Shudras, they were Ati Shudras… those who disrobed the woman were also upper caste… It was Savarn who bet the woman in gambling… The stories of these people have ruined us… From darkness to darkness, friend, the stories of these people have ruined us.”

Sounding no different from a Hindu-hating Christian missionary or an Islamist peddling hate, Satish Bauddh’s blatant mockery of Hindu deities and scriptures relied on insults, sexual innuendos and mindless literalist misreading aimed at alienating Dalit Hindus from Sanatan Dharma. Bauddh deliberately highlighted incidents described in Hindu scriptures without proper moral, philosophical and spiritual context and teachings of the Hindu scriptures.

It is also interesting to note how Satish Bauddh, Christian missionaries and even Islamists like the ones accused in the TCS Nashik case, share the same disdain for Hindus and penchant to mock Hindu deities. OpIndia reported earlier how the Muslim men accused in the TCS Nashik case used to ridicule the Hindu faith by throwing similar “Krishna was a womaniser”, “Shivling is phallus”, “Draupadi is characterless”, etc.

Hindus demand police action against Satish Bauddh

It is rather a deplorable reality of a Hindu-majority India that Hindus like Gautam Khattar are booked for criticising a 16th-century Christian missionary, who tortured, killed, and forced thousands of Hindus to convert to Christianity; Islamists become celebrities after mocking Bhagwan Ram and Maa Sita, and the likes of Satish Bauddh become ‘rationalists’ and ‘social justice warriors’ after mocking Hindu deities.

Bauddh’s speech has been widely circulated on social media by various self-proclaimed ‘Ambedkarite’ handles.

As several videos of Satish Bauddh’s Hinduphobic commentary went viral on social media, Hindus have risen in outrage and demanded his arrest.

In this vein, an X user wrote, “In Ashoknagar, New Delhi, this man kept on mocking Hindu Dharm, Hindu Deities. Mocked Mata Sita. Mocked Shri Krishna. Called Vasudev – R**dwa. Mocked Mahadev and so on and published a video on their social media channels @BahujanDastakTv. These statements have deeply hurt our religious sentiments. I urge @DelhiPolice @DCPSouthDelhi to file an FIR against this speaker, Social media handlers and the organisers  because they are trying to create a rift and propagate hatred among people.”

Saket wrote, “If Goa Police can go to Uttarakhand and pick someone for posting facts on a priest from medieval era, why cannot @DelhiPolice do the same for straight forward blasphemy and attempt to create disharmony.”

One user named “Sawarn Voice” wrote, “Ashoknagar, Delhi just dropped the most revolutionary content ever. Some genius from @BahujanDastakTv spent his evening mocking Mata Sita, roasting Shri Krishna, calling Vasudev a straight-up Rdwa**, and dragging Mahadev too. Then they proudly uploaded the whole circus on their channels. Peak Bahujan unity strategy: insult Hindu deities, hurt millions of sentiments, and cry “equality” while spreading hate. @DelhiPolice @DCPSouthDelhi FIR against the speaker, handlers & organisers right now. Or is hurt sentiments only a crime when it’s not Hindus? Stop manufacturing rifts for views.”

Who is Satish Bauddh

Satish Bauddh claims to be an Ambedkarite Buddhist activist and a public speaker. He has earned notoriety for delivering anti-Hindu speeches at ‘Ambedkarite’ events. His social media pages are replete with posts and videos mocking the Hindu faith.

As per his LinkedIn page, Bauddh is a Ghaziabad-based “Independent Corporate Training Consultant”.

Back in 2017, Satish Bauddh addressed a Muslim crowd wherein he labelled Hindus, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Bhagwa Gunda or ‘Saffron Goon’ and attempted to provoke mob violence. While attacking the BJP, he also peddled the ‘EVM hacking’ bogey, casting aspersions on the integrity of the Election Commission.

More recently, Bauddh peddled misleading claims that Manuwadi men used to force widows into the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands to become ‘Sati’. He also mocked the “Johar” practice committed by Hindu women in the Medieval era of the Islamic invaders.

Unsurprisingly, Satish Bauddh also glorifies anti-Hindu activist EV Ramaswamy Naicker also known as Periyar, who reportedly used to tell his followers that if they ever encountered a Brahmin and a snake on the road, they should kill the Brahmin first.

While Satish Bauddh’s recently anti-Hindu commentary has sparked massive outrage, the so-called Ambedkarite has repeatedly been targeting Hindu deities, scriptures, and practices in his speeches and social media content, all in the name of promoting ‘rational approach’, social justice and Buddhism.

Congress-linked advocate Muhammad Ali Khan gets X users to delete tweets, read why the court should not have issued this order

Divyansh Tiwari
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Congress-linked advocate Muhammad Ali Khan gets X users to delete tweets, read why the court should not have issued this order

OpIndia has removed its April 6 article about Meta India’s public policy team. The tweets that the article highlighted, rightly so, were removed in accordance with an ex-parte court order, following a case filed by the law firm Shergill, Hoda & Nasir on behalf of their clients – a Congress-linked lawyer Muhammad Ali Khan and his wife, a former META employee, Prianka Rao-Khan. An interim injunction was issued by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court on April 15, 2026 in CS(OS) 318/2026.

We do so not because we doubt the veracity of our reporting, but out of respect for the judicial process and appreciation of the Court’s interim orders, which are expressly binding on third parties. However, we think that our readers should be informed about the Court’s actual orders as well as the facts in our initial article that were based on verifiable, publicly available material and are still uncontested.

Muhammad Ali Khan a Congress-linked advocate with nearly two decades of experience before the Supreme Court of India, and his wife, plaintiff no 2, a former public policy manager at Meta India (Prianka Rao-Khan) who resigned on January 20, 2026, filed the suit before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi. X corp (formerly Twitter), two anonymous social media accounts using the handle @Jhunjhunuwala and @mujifren, and a John Doe (fourth defendant) representing unidentified individuals described in the pleadings as bots and coordinated troll accounts allegedly acting in concert with the named accounts are the defendants in the suit. The suit seeks damages for what the Congress-linked lawyer characterise as an ongoing, organised, and “communally inflammatory” defamation campaign against them, as well as a permanent injunction and mandatory orders for X Corp. to remove information and disclose the individuals behind the anonymous handles.

On April 15, 2026, Hon. Mr. Justice Subramonium Prasad heard the application for urgent interim relief entirely through video conferencing without informing the defendants. This process is referred to in law as an ex parte hearing. After reviewing the contested tweets, the Court determined that they were prima facie “vulgar, derogatory, and communally provocative”.

The Court issued the sweeping interim injunction, prohibiting not just the listed Defendants, but any third party, from disseminating the content in question. It is also against this context that OpIndia, which was not named in the complaint, was not heard, and was not given the opportunity to present its editorial reasoning to the Court, received a legal notice requesting the removal of our article within days of the order being passed.

For context, while we legally cannot reproduce the exact content of the tweets in question, the jist of the broader conversation on X was that META was biased against BJP supporters, especially those who post content about Hindu rights. It was alleged on X by many that it was owing to one of the plaintiffs, Prianka Rao-Khan, and her Congress-linked husband, Muhammad Ali Khan. The context is confirmed by Khan’s tweet which is still published on X (formerly Twitter). It is unclear why Khan believed that the contents of the posts on X (now removed) were defamatory.

The conversation itself could potentially be argued to be accusatory, which could have been defended in court, if at all, if a hearing was granted. Interstingly, Congress itself has accused Meta to be biased earlier and therefore, it is beyond the realm of reasonability that a Congress-linked lawyer would find it not only “defamatory”, but also “communally sensitive” for such an allegation to be made.

What court actually ordered and what it did not

On its face, Hon. Mr. Justice Subramonium Prasad’s order is an ex parte ad interim injunction, which is a temporary restraint granted urgently without hearing the other side. The Court’s exercise of jurisdiction is not intended to be criticised, this is a well established procedural tool. Nonetheless, it is also well established in Indian jurisprudence that an ex parte order does not constitute a verdict of guilt or a final factual determination. In order to avoid irreversible injury while awaiting a complete hearing, it is an urgent prima facie assessment.

In paragraph 16, the Court itself used cautious language ‘In the prima facie opinion of this Court.’ There is legal significance to the statement. It indicates that the Court’s opinion is provisional, rather than a definitive conclusion that the tweets or publications that relied on them were in fact defamatory, it is a threshold finding sufficient to provide temporary relief. The defendants have not yet been given a hearing. Cross examination hasn’t taken place. No evidence has been put to the test. The next hearing is scheduled for July 17, 2026.

It is also important to note that the defendants and anybody ‘acting on their behalf’ are prohibited from distributing the allegedly defamatory material by the injunction under paragraph 21. In paragraph 24, this is expanded to include ‘any member of the public.’

This restriction’s scope, which includes anonymous third parties who were never heard nor represented, raises valid concerns regarding procedural justice. Such blanket injunctions, especially those that restrict journalistic reporting, have historically drawn criticism from higher courts, and India’s prior restraint of the press legislation is still a developing and contentious field.

OpIndia is not a party to the case. We were not given a chance to present the Court with our editorial process, nor were we served or heard. The plaintiffs’ legal counsel used the injunction as justification for requesting take down in the legal notice they issued us on April 17, 2026. That requirement is taken seriously by us. However, we also respectfully point out that the issue of whether an injunction order should be applied to a media outlet that reported independently and was not a defendant in the suit is still up for debate.

What records show and what remains true

The original article relied heavily on facts that could be verified and on social media posts that were accessible to the public – including the tweet of Congress-linked lawyer Muhammad Ali Khan. We note that two of the key sources, the X accounts @Jhunjhunuwala_ and @mujifren, have been listed as defendants in the suit, and the Court has explicitly required for those posts to be deleted. Since those tweets have been deleted, OpIndia was bound by the court order to remove the content based on those tweets as well. However, some of the information in our story was supported by public records at the time of publishing and was not solely based on their accounts. We put them on record here:

Muhammad Ali Khan, the first plaintiff, is an advocate of the Supreme Court of India who publicly lists himself as a member of the Indian National Congress’s Media Team on his own X page. This is his declared affiliation, not a description put forth by critics.

According to the Court’s own order at paragraph 2, Plaintiff No. 2 left Meta India’s public policy team on January 20, 2026. According to the Court, she was ‘associated with Meta India’s public policy team (focusing on online women and child safety policy) until her resignation on 20.01.2026.’

In paragraph 2 of the court’s order, it is further confirmed that the two plaintiffs are married. Therefore, the Plaintiffs’ own pleadings before the Delhi High Court, rather than anonymous tweets, prove this fact, which was part of the context of our article regarding potential conflicts of interest inside a policy influencing capacity.

Fundamentally, it is a matter of legitimate public interest to determine whether a public policy manager at a major social media platform, one with substantial influence over content moderation decisions affecting hundreds of millions of Indian users, has a potential conflict of interest due to her spouse’s active political role. It is a question that regulators, oversight authorities, and individuals in democratic democracies routinely and correctly pose to institutions holding private influence over public discourse. It is not defamatory to ask that question. Accountability journalism is what it is.

Unexplainable victim-card by Muhammad Ali Khan

The court, in its wisdown, deemed it appropriate to pass an ex-parte injunction, ordering for the posts to be taken down while the case is being heard. However, what is far more problematic here is the claims made by Muhammad Ali Khan, and eventually, the claims accepted by the court.

The conversation on X revolved around how a Congress-linked lawyer and his wife were potentially ensuring that META was biased against those ideologically opposed to them. These are not different from the allegations that Congress itself has made in the past. It is, therefore, inexplicable how the same allegations have been deemed “communal” when made against Muhammad Ali Khan and is merely a suspicion when made by the party that Khan is affiliated with.

It is therefore clearly misuse of his own religious identity by Khan to ensure that his wife, a former META employee, and him, her Congress-linked husband, cannot be questioned by the public at large.

Essentially, the use of religious identity to subvert the religious process by victim-playing is not new, but as far as public criticism is concerned, the court has ratified a dangerous template which can now be used by other bad actors.

We would not be surprised if other, unrelated posts on X by related handles were used to allege religious bias by Khan and play victim to convince the court to pass this extremely problematic order in his favour.

A closing note

Free press cannot operate if publishing information that is publicly accessible exposes a news organization to injunctions that it was unable to challenge. Free public discourse is the very bedrock that democracy stands on and every public person is open to scrutinity – including Khan and his wife. Today, we comply. In compliance with the law, we maintain our right to continue reporting on issues of legitimate public interest and to pursue necessary legal remedies. The story of institutional conflicts of interest, political ties, and platform governance that influence India’s information landscape is not going away. It is a story that will and should be told again and again carefully, fairly, and with complete regard for the rights of all individuals involved.

OpIndia Exclusive: Shoaib Hussain stalks Hindu women, breaks into their houses at night and performs obscene acts while peeking into their rooms- Read details

OpIndia Staff
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OpIndia Exclusive: Shoaib Hussain stalks Hindu women, breaks into their houses at night and performs obscene acts while peeking into their rooms- Read details

A video recently went viral on social media, showing a man barging into a house and peeking into a room in the middle of the night and performing obscene acts. The viral video shared on an Instagram post was captured by the CCTV cameras installed in the house. The Instagram post attracted numerous comments by women who stated that the man in the video had targeted several Hindu women with similar activities over the past year.

OpIndia dug out some exclusive details relating to the incident by contacting the women who had narrated their stories in the comments on the Instagram post. Our investigation into the incident confirmed that it happened in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and the man in the video was Shoaib Hussain. Speaking to OpIndia, the women narrated their shocking stories of how Shoaib Hussain stalked them. The women also shared the CCTV footage of their houses with us.

Several videos of Shoaib Hussain barging into the houses of Hindu women late at night are being widely circulated on social media. In one of the videos captured on the CCTV camera of a house on April 18, 2026, Shoaib Hussain can be seen entering the building and peeking through the window of a room located on the top floor using a ladder. The house Shoaib entered belonged to a woman who worked at a company in the Transport Nagar area of Dehradun. When she returned from her work shift around 3:00 am, Shoaib followed her into her house. When the woman noticed Shoaib peeking into her room through the window, she raised an alarm, after which he fled.

Another Hindu victim, who spoke to OpIndia, revealed shocking details about the activities of Shoaib Hussain. She said Shoaib Hussain has been spotted near the Graphi Era University in Dehradun multiple times. He enters the Paying Guest (PG) accommodations for women at night and tries to peek into the rooms. The woman said that she and another woman live in a newly constructed PG accommodation.

On 17th April, Shoaib entered their PG accommodation and tried to open the door to the first floor of the building. However, since the woman had locked the door, he failed to get in. Then he went to another floor of the building, where the room of the other woman was located. Finding the door to the other floor open, he got in and reached the woman’s room. He kicked the door of her room twice. Hearing the knock on the door, both women grew suspicious and contacted each other on WhatsApp. Then they called a woman in their neighbourhood, who arrived at the spot within minutes. However, hearing the footsteps, Shoaib managed to flee the spot before the neighbour arrived.

In a video captured on a CCTV camera on March 14, 2025, Shoaib can be seen following a Hindu woman into her house at night. After the woman entered her room, Shoaib tried to peek in through the window of the room, but suddenly ran away on hearing some movement. In another video of the same house, captured on September 23, 2025, Shaoib was seen entering the house again and trying to peek into the room of the Hindu woman through the video. Failing to catch a view into the room through the window, Shoaib lay down on the floor and tried to peek into the room through the door mesh. While peeking into the room, her puts his hand inside his pants and performs an obscene act.

In another CCTV footage, Shoaib Hussain was seen passing through a lane on a bike. He parked the bike on the side and started peeking into the houses nearby. In a different CCTV footage of a house, Shoaib was captured entering a house through its main door at night. He climbed the stairs of the house and went to the first floor.

During OpIndia’s investigation, it was found that Shoaib Hussain is a resident of the Ranger colony in the Mohobewala area of Dehradun. He and his family cause a regular nuisance to their neighbours. He was detained by the police after the Hindu women submitted a complaint to the local police. However, he was released after his family claimed that he was a lunatic.

It is clear from the CCTV footage going viral on social media that Shoaib Hussain has been stalking Hindu women and entering their houses at least for the past year. The ease with which enter the houses of the Hindu women at night shows that he acts in a premeditated manner. He knows the usual routes taken by these women and is also familiar with the structure of their houses, suggesting that he had been watching them for a long time.

The Hindu women have accused local police of inaction against the accused. They are reluctant to lodge an FIR against him, fearing that if he is released on bail after the filing of the FIR, he would come after them. When OpIndia contacted the Mohobewala police in connection with the matter, they said that they have taken cognisance of the issue and are looking for Shoaib Hussain, who is on the run.

Jesuit priest Francis Xavier: How did the pioneer of the Portuguese “Goa Inquisition” die in China, and what is the controversy over his “relics”

Rukma Rathore
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Jesuit priest Francis Xavier: How did the pioneer of the Portuguese “Goa Inquisition” die in China, and what is the controversy over his “relics”

Francis Xavier, a divisive figure in Indian history, who landed in the country on 6th May 1542 when Goa was converted into a Portuguese colony, to pursue his missionary agenda, has once again grabbed attention following the allegedly contentious remarks made by Hindu activist YouTuber Gautam Khattar and his brother Madhav Khattar. Notably, the “patron saint” of Goa left a distressing legacy defined by torture, forced religious conversions and the persecution of the native Hindu population in a terrorising attempt to bring them closer to the Christian God.

He emerged as one of the most notorious symbols of the Goa Inquisition, which aimed to enforce Catholic orthodoxy, suppress the local traditions and punish individuals in the name of heresy. However, this controversy did not end with his death. Instead, the events surrounding his passing and its aftermath have similarly been clouded by mystery and debate, with conflicting statements persisting to this day.

Xavier was driven and prepared to travel to each nation to convert all people to Christianity. He sowed the seeds of proselytisation in India and Japan throughout the majority of his career. Nevertheless, he was far from satisfied and therefore embarked on a journey to China, as his ultimate goal was to push the entire region towards the Abrahamic faith. Unbeknownst to him, this would mark the conclusion of both is missionary activities and life.

A desperate endeavour to convert China triggered the beginning of the end

A translation of “his work on Christianity into the Chinese language” was among the multiple preparations Xavier undertook for his voyage. He organised each step of his expedition and spent a lot of time figuring out the logistics. Interestingly, the Portuguese were against his move because they were concerned that their trade relations would be broken. They made every effort to prevent him from heading to China, but he remained firm and refused to be put off his decision any longer.

“He had been much attracted by the Chinese merchants whom he met in Japan. He thought them quite as intelligent as the Japanese and as eager to acquire knowledge, if indeed they were not superior in intellect. From his inquiries, he found that China was a rich land full of religious sects, though he did not believe there were any Christians there. It was likely to prove a fruitful mission, and if the Chinese embraced the true faith, the Japanese would soon forsake their paganism,” wrote MT Kelly in “A Life of Saint Francis Xavier: Based on Authentic Sources.”

Xavier contracted a fever on one of the islands where his ship halted, but recovered after 15 days. However, he was preoccupied with his single desire and “thought of nothing else and could think of nothing day and night but of converting China. He often walked along the shore, turning his eyes to China, and he said to friends that his only wish was to be set down at the gates of Canton and that he would not trouble himself with what might happen afterwards.

He touched the island of Shangchuan (Sancian), recognised as a location for local fishermen and Portuguese smugglers, in late August or September 1552 and sought refuge in the rough hut of a man named Jorge Alvares. The newcomers, who were accustomed to a warm climate, suffered due to the piercing cold owing to the north wind. Their supplies were exhausted, and hunger began to take hold. Meanwhile, Xavier found himself alone with Antonio (a Chinese convert) and Christovao (his Indian servant), as Alvares had been murdered by robbers.

They were left without anyone to assist them in the desolate region. There were just 2 ships, and a small number of Portuguese continued to reside on the strand in their makeshift shelters. Xavier occasionally had to dispatch Antonio to plead with them for bread or other provisions, but they were also experiencing an acute shortage because the mandarins were hindering their exports from the mainland. 

On 19th November, a Chinese trader was supposed to secretly carry the Spanish Jesuit priest to Canton. The latter waited for him every day, but he never arrived. This was the closest he ever reached China, as he fell ill again. His condition deteriorated without any food or other supplies, and he eventually died on 3rd December of that year without making it to the mainland.

His body was exhumed nearly two months after his death in February of the next year and subsequently conveyed to Malacca, where it was temporarily buried in Saint Paul’s church on 22nd March. Furthermore, it required more than a year for his remains to find their way to India, where they were initially placed in Saint Paul’s College on 15th March 1554. It was the first building erected by the Jesuits in Goa.

The remains were relocated to the Casa Professa, also known as Professed House, a Jesuit residence which is adjacent to the basilica around 1613. They weren’t transferred to the Basilica of Bom Jesus until 1624, when word of his canonisation spread to the area.

The possible scientific rationale behind the “preserved” body

Xavier was put inside a lime-filled coffin, which might have produced an alkaline environment that restricted bacterial growth and stopped the normal breakdown process. Similar to refrigeration, the chilly winter temperatures in Sancian around that time might have served as a natural preservation.

The body might have been even more desiccated due to frequent excavations and exposure to different settings. Body tissue drying out could resemble the consequences of mummification, in which microbial activity, a vital aspect of decomposition, is inhibited by the dearth of moisture. The same could also be attributed to his physical state during the last moments.

His body fat might have drastically fallen, and its biochemical structure changed due to years of fasting and physical deprivation. Putrefaction is less common in individuals with less fat because fatty tissues break down faster than lean tissue. His body’s pH (Potential or Power of Hydrogen) levels could have been impacted by chronic illnesses and starvation, rendering it harder for bacteria that usually degrade organic matter to survive.

Xavier’s death sparked a new dispute concerning the “relics”

The prolonged duration from the death to the final resting spot of the co-founder of the “Society of Jesus” resulted in many raised eyebrows, suspicions and questions. Buddhists from all over the world, including Sri Lanka, have been asking for an examination of his “relics” and maintain that they actually belong to a highly revered 15th-century Buddhist monk, Rahula Thero. The Sri Lankan activist outfit “Rahula Thero” also wrote an open letter to the Indian government and Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s president at the time, in 2014.

“We, the signatories, as concerned and right-thinking citizens of India and Sri Lanka and the rest of the world, request you to kindly intervene in resolving the long-standing dispute regarding the true identity of the remains of a body kept in a glass coffin in a church in Goa, India,” it read.

They further submitted, “There is a widespread belief in Sri Lanka, particularly among Buddhists, that the body in question is that of a highly respected literary giant and learned monk of Sri Lanka, Acharya Ven. The remains belong to Sri Rahula Thero (1409-91), while Catholics have been led to believe that it is the body of Francis Xavier, a controversial Christian Jesuit missionary who was accused of committing crimes against humanity by starting the infamous Goa Inquisition.”

The letter added, “We believe that DNA testing or blood sample testing of the descendants of both families will satisfactorily put an end to the centuries-old debates and theories. We demand that the body lying in Goa be returned to France, and the controversial remains should no longer be kept in Goa as neither Goa nor India is a colony of foreign countries.”

According to the petition, India emancipated Goa in 1961. A statewide campaign and an appeal to the Indian government have been started by the descendants of the Konkani Christian victims of the Goa Inquisition, which was first proposed by Xavier. WTJS Kaviratne, a journalist from Sri Lanka, published a piece in February 2014 on the issue and highlighted that Buddhist monks and devotees from his nation consider the remains to be those of Thero and endorsed DNA analysis to identify the truth.

Buddhists in India call for validation of the claims

The prayer had also been backed by organisations within the Indian Buddhist community, which maintained that resolving any contentious situation by scientific investigation is beneficial to peace. OpIndia had met with Dhamma Dhiru, alias Prema Phante, of the management committee of Mahabodhi Temple, a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage destination in Bodh Gaya of Bihar. He expressed that the members of the community also hoped for a review of Xavier’s purportedly preserved remains in Goa.

According to him, Thero was a famous Buddhist saint and if an inquiry is recommended to address the problem, then it should be conducted. He stated that the nation’s Buddhist groups would discuss this, and if necessary, a memo is going to be delivered to the president and prime minister.

Christians invoked Xavier’s cruel deeds and opposed the exhibition of his remains

The Goan Christian community also objected to the public display of Xavier’s remains in a grand program which was scheduled to take place in the state between 22nd November 2014 and 4th January 2015. A group, “Konkani Christian Victims of Francis Xavier’s Atrocities” had been formed at that time by a section of the Christian community. They asserted to be the heirs of his victims and had warned of unrest against the showcasing.

The organisation pointed out that it has been 53 years since the Portuguese authority collapsed in Goa and insisted that the body should be returned to its native nation because preserving it in India is disrespectful to the country. They had launched a national signature campaign to support this demand. These people wanted to approach both the centre and state governments.

Xavier, despite a carefully crafted public persona and “sainthood,” was responsible for the oppression of the indigenous population of India and their Hindu beliefs. He was consumed by an unwavering hunger to spread Christianity to every corner of the globe, whether through coercion or force. He achieved his ambitions, especially in Asia, but his violent quest paved the way for a dismal fate.

It is even more poetic that his death is marred by controversy and fiercely contested claims, much like his life, as if destiny would have it no other way.

Rahul Meena arrested after two rapes and a murder: Read how he raped his friend’s wife in Alwar and then raped and killed an IRS officer’s daughter in Delhi within 12 hours

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Meena arrested after two rapes and a murder: Read how he raped his friend’s wife in Alwar and then raped and killed an IRS officer’s daughter in Delhi within 12 hours

Delhi Police on 23 April arrested 23-year-old Rahul Meena, a former domestic help from Rajasthan’s Alwar district, hours after he raped two women and killed one of them in a span of just less than 12 hours. He first raped a woman in Rajasthan’s Alwar, then travelled to Delhi, where he raped and murdered a 22-year-old woman, the daughter of a senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, at her residence in south Delhi’s Kailash Hills area.

The arrest, made late on Wednesday from a hotel in Dwarka, came within hours of the crime and has revealed a shocking 24-hour crime spree.

According to police, Meena had worked as a domestic help in the Delhi victim’s household for around eight months before being sacked approximately one to one-and-a-half months earlier. His dismissal stemmed from financial misconduct, including borrowing money from the family, other domestic workers, and local shopkeepers to fund an online gambling and betting addiction. Officers suspect this debt, combined with possible revenge for his termination, motivated the Delhi attack, though investigators have described the Alwar assault as driven by a “criminal mindset.”

The rape in Alwar

On Tuesday, Meena attended a friend’s wedding in Alwar. He left the event early, claiming urgent work, but later returned to the friend’s house at around 10.30 pm. There, he allegedly assaulted and raped the friend’s wife while her husband was still at the wedding. He is accused of covering her mouth, strangling her, and throwing her to the floor before committing the rape. He also allegedly bit the victim at several places on her body.

The victim, whose family had previously rented a house to Meena’s family, filed a complaint with Alwar Police later that night. She alleged that Meena threatened to kill her if she spoke out. A rape case was immediately registered against him in Alwar.

Meena then sold a mobile phone for ₹10,000, and hired a taxi to travel to Delhi for ₹6,000.

The Delhi Rape-Murder

Early on Wednesday, Meena reached a housing society in south-east Delhi’s Amar Colony at around 6:30 am, and went to the house of the IRS officer where he had worked. He had intimate knowledge of the household routine; he knew the parents left early for their morning walk and gym session, leaving their daughter alone, and that there was no security guard at the main gate at that hour, and a key was kept at a shoe rack. Using this knowledge, he entered the premises without forced entry.

The 22-year-old victim, an IIT graduate and UPSC civil services aspirant who was studying in a terrace room, was alone in the house. Meena retrieved the spare key kept in the shoe rack outside and gained access around 6:39 am. He spent approximately 41 minutes inside the residence. During this time, he allegedly raped the woman and strangled her to death using a mobile phone charging cable. When she resisted, he also attacked her with a blunt object, believed to be a lamp recovered from the scene.

According to the probe, he first strangled the victim with a mobile phone charging cable before hitting her with a heavy object, rendering her unconscious. He then proceeded to rape her when she was still unconscious. He then dragged her down the stairs to another room where a locker was kept, in an attempt to open it using her fingerprint.

He then forced it open using a screwdriver and stole cash and jewellery worth an estimated ₹2 to ₹2.5 lakh. He also changed his trousers and shoes, and fled carrying a black backpack he had not been seen with earlier.

CCTV footage captured him entering and leaving the building. The victim’s parents discovered her body upon returning home and rushed her to the hospital, where she was declared dead. Delhi Police registered a case of rape and murder at the local station.

How Police Tracked and Arrested Meena

Delhi Police formed 15 specialised teams and launched a massive manhunt involving coordinated raids across Delhi, Rajasthan, and neighbouring areas. Investigators pieced together Meena’s movements through extensive CCTV analysis, including footage of an auto-rickshaw he boarded after the crime. The driver provided crucial leads that directed teams to a hotel in Dwarka, around 25 km from the crime scene.

Digital forensics played a key role, Meena had used a stolen mobile phone linked to the Alwar incident, which he later sold for around ₹10,000 to fund his travel. Hotel Wi-Fi access logs, internet protocol detail records (IPDR), IP data, and his Instagram communications, including contact with a relative in Gurugram, helped confirm his location. He was arrested late on Wednesday evening after a brief surveillance operation.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Vijay Kumar confirmed that Meena has been charged with rape, murder, and robbery. Interrogation is ongoing, with police seeking his remand for further recoveries and to establish the full sequence of events.

The case has sent shockwaves through Delhi’s upscale neighbourhoods, raising questions about the vetting of domestic staff and home security. Meena, a native of Rajgarh tehsil in Alwar, is currently in Delhi Police custody. According to police sources, he has shown no visible remorse during interrogation and has maintained a composed and calm demeanour.

He reportedly told investigators that he had gone to the house only to take money and repeatedly stated that the rape and murder “just happened.” He claimed, “if didi had given the money, this would not have happened.”

Meena was produced at Delhi’s Saket court after the arrest, and the court granted police custody for four days. An FIR has been lodged at the Amar Colony police station in connection with the crime. Delhi police had sought 4 days’ custody of Rahul Meena to recover his mobile phone, to examine his family members and to verify whether there is any other person involved in the crime.

When Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Deepika Thakran asked Meena why he entered the house, he said that it was his mistake, and he couldn’t say anything now.

Rajasthan Police have now formed a special team to investigate the case fully, and Alwar Superintendent of Police Sudhir Chaudhary confirmed that the accused is in Delhi Police custody while they pursue leads.

Who is Gautam Khattar, the Hindu activist against whom Goa Crime Branch has issued look-out circular: Here is what he said exposing ‘Saint’ Francis Xavier who tormented the lives of Hindus

Shraddha Pandey
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Who is Gautam Khattar, the Hindu activist against whom Goa Crime Branch has issued look-out circular: Here is what he said exposing ‘Saint’ Francis Xavier who tormented the lives of Hindus

A massive row has erupted in Goa after a YouTuber and Arya Samaj follower, Gautam Khattar, allegedly made ‘offensive remarks’ about 16th-century Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier, during a Hindu cultural event in South Goa’s Vasco on 18th April. The controversy erupted over now-absconding Khattar allegedly calling ‘Saint’ Francis Xavier a “terrorist”.

What Gautam Khattar allegedly said about Francis Xavier

During his speech at the Sanatan Dharm Raksha Samiti’s Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti celebrations, Gautam Khattar allegedly described Francis Xavier as a “terrorist, barbaric, cruel ruler” who spent his life converting Hindus to Christianity. He is also accused of making ‘derogatory’ remarks about Francis Xavier’s remains in a casket revered as ‘sacred’ relics.

As per a viral clip, Khattar said, “…on this earth, there was a terrorist, barbaric, cruel ruler named Francis Xavier. There is a place where he died. His body has been consumed by insects. Neither his body nor soul exists anymore. His bones have been crushed to dust by insects. Yet, there is a festival held for him every year. Lakhs of Sanatanis (Hindus) go there hand fold their hands…before the same person who spent his life converting Sanatanis to Christianity…”

Protests by Goan Christian outfits and the police action

In no time, a video of the incident went viral online, sparking protests, condemnation and demands for Gautam Khattar’s arrest.

As per media reports, Gautam Khattar’s speech was prepared by his brother Madhav Khattar, who was arrested by the Goa Police on 22nd April.

The police initiated action after various Christian outfits in Goa, as well as political parties, rose in protest and multiple complaints were filed against Gautam Khattar for hurting religious sentiments.

The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman called Khattar’s remarks “hateful and malicious”.  Meanwhile, Congress leader Peter D’Souza lodged a complaint at Vasco Police Station. Overall, more than a dozen complaints were filed within two days across Vasco, Old Goa, Panaji, Margao, Anjuna, and other police stations in Goa.

An FIR was registered against Gautam Khattar at Vasco Police Station after transferring all complaints there, under relevant BNS sections for hurting religious sentiments.

Amidst mounting outrage, the case was transferred from Vasco Police to the Goa Crime Branch on 22nd April.

Recently, Pramod Sawant, the Goa Chief Minister, publicly stated that police teams have been deployed and Gautam Khattar will be arrested within two days.

Crime Branch issues a Lookout circular against Gautam Khattar, and arrests his brother Madhav from Haridwar

After taking formal charge of the case, the Goa Crime Branch issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Gautam Khattar through the Bureau of Immigration to bar him from leaving India. The police visited his residence in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, though he was not found there. Reports say that Khattar ignored the summons issued by the police.

While Gautam could not be traced, the police arrested his brother, Madhav, from Haridwar after an overnight surveillance by a Crime Branch team camping there. Madhav Khattar has been named as a co-accused in the FIR for his alleged role in scripting, recording, and disseminating Gautam’s speech, as well as bearing the logistics cost of his brother’s appearance at the Parshuram Jayanti event.

Meanwhile, Gautam Khattar’s Instagram account with over 2 million followers has been withheld in India after a legal request.

Who is Gautam Khattar

Born on 4th February 2000 in Delhi, Gautam Khattar describes himself as a “spiritual beat” journalist, YouTuber, author and orator. “My self Gautam Khattar I am spiritual Beat Journalist, or you can identify me as Half Journalist & Half YouTuber. My YouTube content is related to Baba Sadhus, Sanatan dharam, foreigner Devotes and religious places,” Khattar writes in the description of his YouTube channel boasting 8,97,000+ subscribers.

Raised in Uttarakhand, Khattar gained public attention with his interviews of Sadhus, and other videos during the 2021 Haridwar Mahakumbh.

Gautam Khattar’s popularity, however, is majorly owed to his content on Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagwat Gita, Arya Samaj principles, as well as critical commentary on Western influence on Sanatani youth.

Besides social media activism, Khattar is also the founder of Sanatan Mahasangh, an organisation devoted to promoting Vedic literature, Hindu Dharma and cultural awareness.

Khattar is an ardent follower of Arya Samaj and Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati. His Dharmic and youth-centric content and aggressive approach earned him popularity and relevance.

Amidst intensifying protests and politics, the Goa Crime Branch teams are searching for an absconding Gautam Khattar.

Who was ‘Saint’ Francis Xavier

Revered in Goa as “Geoncho Saib” or “Father of Goa”, Francis Xavier, remains a divisive figure in Indian history. Sent by King John III of Portugal, the Catholic missionary arrived in India on 6th May 1542, when Goa became a Portuguese colony. Francis Xavier actively propagated Christianity across India, Sri Lanka, the Malay Peninsula, Japan, and China. Throughout his life, Xavier harvested thousands of Hindu and other ‘heathen’ souls for Christianity through both persuasion and mainly coercion.

The ‘Patron Saint of Goa’ described Hindus as “heathens”, “impure souls”. The hatred Francis Xavier harboured for Hindus, their deities and beliefs is evident from his description of Hindu idols as “as black as black can be…ugly and horrible.” Xavier believed that Hinduism was ‘devilish’ and openly demonstrated his disdain through killings and torture of the native Hindu populace.

In 1545, the Spanish missionary wrote a letter to the Portuguese king, demanding the “Holy Inquisition” in Goa to ‘discipline’ New Christians secretly practicing Hinduism or their other original non-Christian faith.

 In a letter addressed from Amboina (Moluccas) to D. Joao III, the king of Portugal, on May, 16, 1545, he wrote, “The necessity for the Christians (in the Portuguese Indian capital of Goa) is that your majesty establish the Holy Inquisition, because there are many who live according to the Jewish law, and according to the Mahomedan sect, without any fear of God or shame of the world. And since there are many who are spread all over the fortresses, there is a need for the Holy Inquisition and of many preachers. Your majesty should provide such necessary things for your loyal and faithful subjects in India.”

 Auto-de-Fe, an annual event to publicly humiliate and punish the heretics, it shows the Chief Inquisitor, Dominican friars, Portuguese soldiers, as well as religious criminals condemned to be burnt in the procession. Courtesy: Wikipedia

The whole idea behind introducing ‘Inquisition’ not only in Portugal but also in India, was to facilitate mass forced religious conversion of Hindus in India and Jews in Portugal to orthodox Christianity and ensure that the new converts do not publicly or secretly revert to their original faith. Xavier was strongly against the idea of neo-converts believing in or practicing rituals of their old faith, which were heretical (seditious) to the Christian worldview.

In India, Christianity has step its foot way before the arrival of Francis Xavier. In fact, Christianity had made its dominant place in Goa, the capital of ‘Portuguese India’. During his visit across Goa months after arrival, Francis Xavier was impressed by institutions of the Christian supremacy including a convent of Franciscans, a ‘magnificent’ cathedral with a large number of canons, and several other churches which were being built across Goa. “There is good reason for thanking God for the Christian religion flourishes so much in this distant land in the midst of heathen,” he exclaimed.

The inquisition banned apostasy and banned the sale of books in the Konkani, Marathi, Sanskrit, and Arabic languages. The use of Konkani was also forbidden in the colony of Goa.

Upon the imposition of the inquisition in Goa, life became comparable to hell for the local Hindu population, who were often on the receiving end of persecution and were targeted in particular by the sadistic Christian missionaries.

The Christian missionaries, including the infamous Francis Xavier called the Hindus ‘uncultured’ and ‘savages’, who worshipped black idols ‘resembling demons’; they took it upon themselves to force Hindus into leaving their religion and succumbing to Christianity. An inquisition office was thereby set up essentially to discriminate against Hindus on all matters possible.

Xavier is documented to have overseen the destruction of more than 350 temples, seizure of Hindu orphans for the Jesuits, torture and public punishments like Auto-da-Fé, which involved whipping, torture, and burning at the stake.

St. Francis Xavier was a part of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits, which enslaved people on a large scale. The Jesuits enslaved local tribes in America, having over 20,000 slaves at one time. They were employed in farms and other works. Keeping slaves and torturing them was justified many times and was not considered against Christianity.

Xavier died in 1552 on Shangchuan Island off China. His supposed ‘remains’ are kept at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa and venerated annually by the converted descendants of the Hindus, Muslims and other non-Christian natives tortured and forced into Christianity by Portuguese invaders.

Over the years, attempts have been made by the left liberal cabal to whitewash the holocaust of Hindus and Jews by Portuguese Christian missionaries. There has been a systematic attempt by Hindu-hating propagandists and leftist ‘historians’ at whitewashing the violent Goan Inquisition by Portuguese invaders and forced alteration of Goa’s religious demography through dissemination of a sanitised version of the history.

From evacuating 11 lakh Indians to ensuring LPG supply, navigating blockades and daily inter-ministerial briefings: Read how Modi govt is managing West Asia crisis

Shriti Sagar
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From evacuating 11 lakh Indians to ensuring LPG supply, navigating blockades and daily inter-ministerial briefings: Read how Modi govt is managing West Asia crisis

In the face of the intensifying conflict in West Asia, the Modi government has adopted a high-intensity, “war-footing” approach to ensure that the ripples of the crisis do not disturb the lives of ordinary Indians. One of the most visible signs of this seriousness is the frequency of high-level inter-ministerial meetings. Senior officials and ministers are gathering on a daily basis to review the situation in real-time. 

These aren’t just routine discussions; they are strategic sessions designed to reassure the public that the nation is safe and that essential supplies, ranging from food to fuel, remain untouched by the chaos in the Middle East. By maintaining this constant rhythm of oversight, the government is sending a clear message: every potential risk is being monitored, and every contingency is already in place.

The Inter-Ministerial response

The complexity of the West Asia crisis requires more than just diplomatic statements; it requires a synchronised effort across the entire machinery of the state. The union government is conducting daily inter-ministerial press briefings to inform about the government’s response to the crisis and also to answer questions on the issue. The briefings in New Delhi are being conducted by representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Ports and Shipping, and other ministries.

These briefings serve a dual purpose: they streamline the government’s internal response and provide the public with transparent, factual updates to prevent panic and misinformation.

The latest of these crucial briefings took place on Wednesday, 22nd April. This particular meeting served as an important checkpoint as the region approached a critical juncture in the geopolitical timeline. The central theme of the session was unwavering: the safety, security, and welfare of Indian nationals living and working in West Asia remain the highest priority for the Prime Minister. 

With the security situation evolving rapidly, the government utilised this meeting to fine-tune evacuation routes and support systems. It was emphasised that no Indian would be left behind, and the state’s resources are fully committed to protecting the millions of expatriates who form the backbone of India’s diaspora in the Gulf.

The massive evacuation effort: 11 Lakh passengers returned

Perhaps the most staggering achievement of the government’s intervention is the successful movement of over 11 lakh passengers back to India. As the two-week ceasefire window in West Asia draws to a close, the government has scaled up flight operations to a massive degree. 

Aseem Mahajan, Joint Secretary (Gulf) in the MEA, confirmed that approximately 11,30,000 passengers have travelled from the region to India since late February. This wasn’t a simple task; it required navigating closed airspaces and shifting routes daily. For instance, while some airspaces remained restricted, the government coordinated with airlines to run over 110 flights from the UAE in a single day. 

Similar efforts have kept channels open from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, ensuring that families are reunited despite the regional tension.

Navigating blockades and ensuring safe passage

The government’s strategy has been remarkably flexible, finding ways through even the most difficult diplomatic and geographical terrains. In Iran, where airspace has been partially restricted to cargo, the Indian Embassy in Tehran has been working tirelessly to move citizens, including over a thousand students and hundreds of fishermen, through Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

In Israel, where the situation is particularly volatile, India has facilitated travel through Jordan and Egypt. Even in countries like Kuwait, where the local airspace was closed, the government successfully coordinated with airlines to fly passengers out of nearby Dammam in Saudi Arabia. This level of granular, ground-level coordination shows that the Modi government is looking at every individual’s safety as a personal mission.

Diplomacy in action: NSA Doval and the MEA’s outreach

Beyond the logistics of evacuation, the government is engaging in high-stakes diplomacy to protect India’s long-term interests. MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal recently highlighted the strategic travels of India’s top leadership. 

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia focused on regional stability and the strengthening of bilateral ties during this period of “geopolitical realignment.” This follows visits by the External Affairs Minister to the UAE and the Petroleum Minister to Qatar. 

By maintaining active contact with all stakeholders, including Israel, Palestine, and Iran, the Modi government is ensuring that India’s voice is heard and its strategic and economic interests are shielded from the fallout of the conflict.

Fueling the Nation: Ensuring LPG and petrol stability

For the average Indian household, the most pressing concern during a Middle East conflict is the price and availability of fuel and cooking gas. The government has addressed this head-on. During the recent briefing, Sujata Sharma from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas confirmed that the supply of oil and gas remains completely uninterrupted. 

On a single day recently, over 45 lakh LPG bookings were registered, and a massive 51 lakh cylinders were delivered to doorsteps across the country. This indicates that the domestic supply chain is not just surviving but thriving. Despite the wild swings in global crude prices, the government’s proactive management has prevented any shortages of petrol, diesel, or PNG at the local level.

Protecting the vulnerable and the workers

The government has also gone the extra mile to look after those who might be most affected by supply disruptions. Awareness camps and an expanded distribution of 5 kg cylinders have been rolled out specifically to support migrant populations who might not have permanent gas connections. 

Furthermore, the welfare of Indian seafarers, the individuals working on the merchant ships in the Gulf, has been given high priority. Indian missions are in constant touch with local authorities to ensure these workers are safe and have the consular support they need to return home if they wish. The successful repatriation of 12 stranded seafarers from Iraq recently stands as a testament to the fact that no group is too small for the government’s attention.

Stabilising the seas: The ₹12,980 crore insurance shield

One of the quietest but most effective moves by the Modi government has been the stabilisation of shipping operations. When the Strait of Hormuz, an important passage for global trade, faced threats, the government didn’t just wait for things to settle. 

The govt approved a massive ₹12,980 crore Maritime Insurance Pool on 18th April. This move was important because it lowered the skyrocketing insurance rates that shipping companies were facing due to the conflict, ensuring that goods continued to flow into Indian ports without a massive spike in freight costs. 

Today, port operations across India are functioning normally, congestion has been cleared, and the flow of trade remains steady, proving that the government’s economic planning is as robust as its rescue operations.

A 24/7 safety net for every Indian

At the heart of all these efforts is a dedicated, round-the-clock infrastructure. The MEA has set up a special control room that never sleeps, coordinating with missions and posts to answer every query and provide timely advisories. 

Whether it is through the 120-plus flights running daily from the Gulf or the stabilisation of LPG prices at home, the Modi government’s response to the West Asia conflict has been defined by action rather than just words. 

The Wire questions SIR process in Uttar Pradesh over deletion of over 2 crore names: Here is how there is no “Riddle” and the voter list is now cleaner and stronger

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire questions SIR process in Uttar Pradesh over deletion of over 2 crore names: Here is how there is no “Riddle” and the voter list is now cleaner and stronger

An article published by The Wire on April 21, 2026, has raised questions about the massive deletion of nearly 2.05 crore names from Uttar Pradesh’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The piece suggests doubts over whether more than two crore ineligible voters had cast ballots in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, or if large numbers of genuine voters- especially women-were wrongly removed. It also highlights concerns regarding population growth, the declining sex ratio in the voter list, and the non-public availability of certain internal formats.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa, the SIR exercise was neither a mystery nor a political conspiracy. It is a routine yet essential constitutional process under Article 326 of the Indian Constitution aimed at making electoral rolls pure, accurate, and error-free. The sole objective is simple and non-negotiable: no eligible Indian citizen should be left out, and no ineligible, duplicate, deceased, or shifted person should remain on the list.

Here is a point-by-point response to the main arguments in the article, based on the Election Commission’s official position and facts:

1. In 2024, there were 15.44 crore voters in UP. After SIR, the number dropped to 13.39 crore (about 2.05 crore names deleted)- Does this mean over two crore ineligible voters had voted in 2024?

The Election Commission’s answer is clear- no. The 2024 elections were conducted on the basis of the electoral rolls as they existed at that time. The SIR in 2025-26 involved intensive door-to-door verification to remove long-accumulated irregularities from the old lists. The main reasons for deletions were:

  • Permanently shifted or absent persons- nearly 2.17 crore
  • Deceased persons- nearly 46 lakh
  • Duplicate entries- nearly 25.5 lakh

These names had been lingering in the rolls for years without proper verification. Booth Level Officers carried out field checks using death certificates, transfer records, and other documents. This was a genuine cleanup exercise.

During the claims and objections period, as many as 70.69 lakh Form-6 applications (for inclusion of names) were received, with more applications coming from women than men.

2. The population of people aged 18 and above is increasing (around 15.58 crore in 2024 and 16.12 crore in 2026), so why did the number of voters decrease?

Population projections are only estimates. The SIR was based on actual ground-level door-to-door verification. Old rolls had accumulated a large number of dead, shifted, duplicate, and untraceable entries. Once these were removed after proper verification, the accurate figure emerged.

Moreover, in the final list, 84.28 lakh new names were added, taking the total to 13,39,84,792 voters. The total number of names deleted from the roll was actually 2.89 crore, and the net deletions became after the addition of 84.28 lakh new names. This means that youths who became voters recently were added to the voter list.

The Election Commission involved all political parties, appointed Special Roll Observers, and conducted verification through Booth Level Officers. The qualifying date was set as January 1, 2026. The entire process was carried out strictly as per Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Article 324 of the Constitution.

3. There is no significant immigration from Bangladesh, so why were so many names deleted?

Deletions were primarily due to death, permanent migration to other states or districts, duplicate registrations, and failure to submit forms during verification. The Election Commission never targeted any particular community. Across the second phase of SIR covering 9 states and 3 Union Territories, there was an average reduction of about 10 percent, depending on the level of irregularities present in each state’s old rolls.

4. The sex ratio in the voter list is very low (834), while the estimated population sex ratio is 943- Does this mean large-scale deletion of women’s names?

In the draft roll, the sex ratio was 824, which improved to 834 in the final list. Women now number 6.09 crore, accounting for about 45.46 percent of the total voters. During the claims period, more women applied for inclusion than men.

Deletions were carried out only after issuing notices and proper verification. If any eligible woman was left out, she can still apply through Form-6. The Election Commission’s clear directive is that no eligible voter should be excluded. The gap existed in previous rolls as well; the SIR has taken steps to correct it.

5. Formats 1 to 8 (elector-population ratio, sex ratio, deletions, etc.) are not publicly available for Uttar Pradesh – Is something being hidden?

These formats are internal analytical tools of the Election Commission as per its Manual on Electoral Rolls 2023. They are not mandatorily required to be made public in every state. The entire SIR process was conducted with full transparency under the Commission’s supervision. Political parties were actively involved, and a complete window for claims and objections was provided.

The Election Commission has repeatedly stated that the SIR is a constitutional duty and that “no eligible voter should be excluded, and no ineligible voter should be included.”

Uttar Pradesh’s Special Intensive Revision is not a riddle. It was a 166-day massive door-to-door verification drive involving enumeration forms, lakhs of claims and objections (over 70 lakh for inclusions), and due process. After the exercise, the final electoral roll with 13.39 crore voters has been published. Removing irregularities that had built up in the 2024 rolls was the constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission.

If any eligible citizen’s name is still missing, they can immediately apply online at voters.eci.gov.in or through the local election office or Uttar Pradesh CEO portal using Form-6. The Election Commission’s process includes full transparency and safeguards.

Keeping electoral rolls clean and accurate strengthens democracy — it does not harm anyone. The SIR is an important step in that direction.

Language, art, food and more: The Economist glorifies Mughals for bringing culture to India, as if nothing existed before Babur. Netizens mock the bizarre article

Rukma Rathore
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Language, art, food and more: The Economist glorifies Mughals for bringing culture to India, as if nothing existed before Babur. Netizens mock the bizarre article

Amitabh Bachchan’s character in a scene of the 1992 Bollywood flick “Bemisal” declared, “The British discovered all the hill stations in India, except for Kashmir, which was found by the Mughals,” to a highly impressed Kavita, portrayed by Rakhee Gulzar, who commended the Islamic imperialists for their “magnificent music, paintings and architecture,” insisting that they had no equal. He then playfully retorted that their greatest offering was “Mughlai food.”

The clip resurfaced and went viral in 2022, with people calling out how the film industry, notorious for its anti-Hindu propaganda, consistently distorts the truth to glamorise the invaders. Fast forward to 2026, and “The Economist” has produced a print version of that movie sequence, crediting the dynasty for “language, food, architecture, music, art and syncretism” while sarcastically adding that it even brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in 2014.

The article titled “What have the Mughals ever done for us?” was published on 19th April (Sunday) accompanied by the tagline “How India’s greatest Muslim empire built its most powerful Hindu party.” It is a eulogy extolling the Muslim rulers for enriching India, a civilisation that already existed for millenia, as one of the oldest civilisations in the world with a flourishing economy, historical significance, artistic and scientific achievements, literary contributions and a socio-cultural heritage, without the influence of Mughals.

Babur, who laid the groundwork for his empire, was drawn to the immense wealth and resources of the nation after being uprooted from his ancestral home in Ferghana (currently in Uzbekistan) due to regular conflicts with his family members and repeated losses in battles. All these invaders, from the Islamists to the White colonisers, chose India for its vast, famed treasures. They aimed to pillage and exploit the land, which they successfully did, and sought to convert the natives by any means necessary. The Mughals had a similar objective.

Mughals enriched Indian civilisation: The formulation of a bizarre argument

“The Mughals were the longest lasting of those. April 21st marks exactly 500 years since the Battle of Panipat, when Babur, a Central Asian descendant of Tamerlane and Genghis Khan (hence Mughal, from Mongol), defeated the last sultan of Delhi. The empire he established was, at its height, one of the world’s richest and most powerful. Its rulers adopted customs of Indian kingship, married locally and in effect became Indian (unlike the Britishers). Their achievements are Indian,” The Economist states.

The Mughal empire’s wealth and authority were sourced from the Indian territory it had ravaged for centuries. They capitalised on the country’s thriving ancient customs and traditions to erect new structures, constructed by local workers with indigenous resources only to be promoted as “monuments of synchronisation.”

They could not transport their looted fortune to their homeland as they were driven out of there by their own kith and kin and were never allowed to return. Babur made several efforts but faced continuous failures. As a result, they remained in India out of compulsion, not affection. Their love for India is further demonstrated by the reinterment of Babur’s remains in Kabul, in accordance with his wishes, because he regarded that place as his actual home.

The left-liberal brigade usually applauds the condemnation of invaders, but not when the atrocities are perpetrated against India or Hindus. Such actions are then ignored, justified and celebrated as seen in this column. Thus, The Economist also ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for referencing India’s history of subjugation at the hands of foreign

Economist admitted that the Mughals destroyed temples but claimed that this cannot be construed as an insult to them. The imposition of “jizya,” the massacre of Hindus and the forced conversions highlighted by the Islamic rulers in their own writings were conveniently disregarded by it.

However, the cabal that labels trivial incidents as “provocation” against the Muslim community does not regard the attacks on the most sacred places of Hinduism as humiliation, insinuating that these should not be viewed as an assault on the faith, effectively normalising the profoundly anti-Hindu conduct. Afterwards, the author expressed, “They took everything India had. And what, the ideology asks, did they ever give us in return,” and initiated lauding the Mughals in the field of language.

‘India was exposed to Persia via the Mughals who contributed to Indian language’

The piece stressed, “Of the 28 words that made up the original of his quote above, a quarter entered India via Persian, points out Richard Eaton, a historian of Muslim India. The language of the Mughal court infuses the vocabulary of most northern Indian languages. Indeed, Hindi and Hindu both come from Hind, the Persian name for the river known in English as the Indus (thus India). But what, apart from putting the Hindu in Hindu nationalism, have the Mughals ever done for us?”

India houses one of the most diverse collections of languages which has continued to evolve with time, and a similar episode unfolded with the Persianised Mughals. Languages impact each other and progress over time. Likewise, Hindi, which is rooted in Sanskrit, shares a common ancestor with Persian in the Indo-European language family. Therefore, the addition was more related to these origins than to the influence of the Mughals.

Moreover, if this reasoning is to be applied, then the English language should be attributed to the English people, but it would be incorrect, misleading and historically inaccurate, akin to the present argument. More importantly, language, art and literature do not require oppression as a means of dissemination. Many countries can communicate in foreign languages without being subjected to enslavement.

‘Mughals added refined taste to Indian cuisine and architecture’, claims the Economist

The Economist shifted to venerating the Mughals for culinary delights, often termed as “Mughalai,” including tandoori food items and biryani.

“The tandoor, a clay oven from which emerge flaky naans and charred kebabs, came from the Persianate world, as did samosas, sherbets, various desserts and biryani, India’s most-ordered dish on delivery apps for ten years straight. The party-pooper wing of the BJP frowns on meat and eggs, but even vegetarians enjoy a good tandoori paneer (from the Persian panir, a kind of cottage cheese that probably came via Afghans),” it contended.

The tandoor was invented in the Indus Valley, and Harappan civilisations, and Babur’s kingdom in Central Asia did not engage in rice cultivation, which is a key component in biryani. Spices, for which the Indian peninsula was famous, were also present. But for the idea that rice cooked with spices and meat may become a great dish, apparently, the Mughals have to be thanked. Indians might have been struggling or relying on rudimentary meals, as they purportedly lacked knowledge and expertise in creating delectable dishes until the Mughals entered the picture, according to the article.

Afterwards, it revered them for the lavish projects produced by Indian labourers and resources. The piece pointed out, “Four of India’s ten most popular ticketed historical sites for local tourists, and six among foreigners, were built by Mughals. The Taj Mahal tops both lists. Every year the prime minister delivers an Independence Day speech from the Red Fort, a Mughal monument in Delhi so central to India’s self-image it features on the back of the most common banknote.”

Ironically, these were built while common Indians, predominantly Hindus, continued to endure the brutality of the dictatorial policies and behaviour. They are symbols of the indulgently luxurious lifestyle of the Mughals and were designed to represent their affluent empire. Furthermore, they did not have the option to take this wealth to Central Asia as mentioned earlier and consequently took advantage of it for their own interests as they pleased.

However, these complexes are entirely Indian property, and the elected government is fully entitled to utilise them for currency or for other applications. Nevertheless, this does not erase the history tied to them or the decayed legacy of the Mughals. Urdu, interestingly, has its foundations in the Sanskrit and Prakrit languages, yet this cannot be outlined as it would contradict the agenda of exalting Muslim monarchs.

‘Mughals are responsible for Sherwani, Sitar and BJP juggernaut’

The Economist raved about the Mughals over Sherwani and Sitar, which were developed between the 16th and 18th centuries. It quoted “historian” Jadunath Sarkar and stated, “The popular religions of medieval India, Sufism, the Urdu language, and Indo-Saracen art were the common property of the conquerors and the conquered and tended to blend them together.”

Thereafter, it peddled the nauseating trope of “secularism” practised by Akbar, who commissioned the translation of Hindu epics, completely ignoring his violent campaigns against the community. As if this glorification were not enough, the article, in a derisive bashing of Hindu beliefs, proclaimed that the saffron party would not have risen to power in the absence of the “Babri mosque” at the Ram Janmbhoomi.

It stated, “In 1990, when the party held just 16% of seats in parliament, it launched a national campaign demanding a temple on the ground said to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, the protagonist of the Ramayana. At that site stood a mosque built during the reign of Babur, the first Mughal emperor. In 1992, a mob demolished the mosque under the gaze of BJP officials, sparking a nationwide conflagration that forged the party’s base, eventually propelling it to office. By early 2024, when Modi consecrated the promised temple, his party held 56% of seats. It has spent the past decade renaming Mughal cities, rejecting Mughal cuisine, and writing Mughals out of history books.”

The Ram Mandir, which is at the heart of the Hindu religion, was diminished to an election ploy because the BJP stood for the cause. Babar is painted as a protagonist by the media house despite demolishing temples, whereas the party is demonised for championing the rights of Hindus.

“It is one thing to raze an edifice of brick and mortar. It is harder to eradicate a culture that has, for over five centuries, permeated India’s blood and soil. That, then, is the best answer to their question of what the Mughals have ever done for them. They gave political Hinduism its eternal, indispensable villain,” it concluded.

The netizens react with astonishment

“Stating that Mughals brought Narendra Modi’s party to power is a bit like saying Hitler and Nazis created the state of Israel,” a user remarked, emphasising the absurdity of the statement.

“While the traumatic experiences of these regimes(Mughals in the case of Hindus and Nazis in the case of Jews) catalysed a defensive response that led to taking steps aimed at self-preservation by the two aggrieved groups, attributing the success of these movements to the tyrannical regimes as though it was some gift from them would be absolutely atrocious,” the person conveyed in a pointed denunciation of the effort to inappropriately edify them.

Another netizen noted that the Fergana Valley lacked in agricultural produce and such products, but the dishes prepared from Indian resources have been acknowledged as “Mughlai” food.

Varun asked the media platform to expand their scope beyond just art or music and also commemorate the Mughals for creating the sun, moon and the Himalayas.

The Economist, similar to other mainstream media outlets, tends to create narratives that credit foreigners for Indian achievement, whether related to the past or the present, thereby detaching it from its core, which is in Hindu Indian society.

Special NIA court sentences 7 accused, including Lashkar-e-Taiba member T Naseer, in Bengaluru prison radicalisation case: Read what the NIA court said

Aditi
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Special NIA court sentences 7 accused, including Lashkar-e-Taiba member T Naseer, in Bengaluru prison radicalisation case: Read what the NIA court said

A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi sentenced 7 accused, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) T Naseer, in connection with the Bengaluru prison radicalisation case. In a press release dated April 22, 2026, the accused, T Naseer, Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani and Salman Khan have been granted 7 years rigorous imprisonment. A fine of 48,00 has also been imposed on all the accused, excluding T Naseer.

The verdict comes after the seven accused pleaded guilty before the special NIA court in March this year. “The accused had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges filed by the NIA in the case RC-28/2023/NIA/DLI- relating to a LeT-linked terror conspiracy hatched inside the Parapanna Agrahara Central Prisons, Bengaluru, by Naseer,” the NIA press release stated.

According to the NIA, the accused had conspired to identify, recruit, train, convert and radicalise gullible youth lodged in prison to execute terror activities in India. They planned to carry out strikes in Bengaluru, Karnataka, as part of the anti-India agenda of the Pakistan-based terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba. The conspiracy came to light after a case was registered by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) in July 2023 following the seizure of arms, ammunition, hand grenades and walkie-talkies from the possession of seven of the accused persons. The seizure took place when all seven accused were present in the house of one of the accused.

Later in October 2023, the investigation into the case was taken over by the NIA, which led to the exposure of a larger conspiracy to facilitate the escape of Naseer, a life convict in several terror cases, while on his way from the prison to court. Naseer was an under-trial prisoner in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blast cases at the time.

A total of 12 individuals, including LeT terrorist T Naseer, were chargesheeted by the NIA in the terror conspiracy case. While 11 of the accused were arrested by the NIA, one of the accused, identified as Junaid Ahmed, was declared an absconder. One of the accused, named Salman Khan, was arrested after being extradited from the Republic of Rwanda after coordinated efforts of NIA and the agencies concerned in Rwanda. The NIA agency has been working to track and arrest Junaid Ahmed.

Details of the punishment granted to all the accused

The details of the sentences awarded to the accused by the special NIA court are as follows:

For conviction under Section 120B of the IPC, the accused (numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8), T Naseer, Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, and Salman Khan are granted 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of 2000 each. In case any of the accused fails to pay the fine, he will have to undergo an additional rigorous imprisonment of 2 months.

All seven accused were also convicted by the special NIA court under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and were sentenced to 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of 5000 each. On failing to pay the fine, they will have to undergo a rigorous imprisonment of 2 months. They were also convicted under Section 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 7 years and are liable to pay a fine of 5,000/- each, for the default of which, they will undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 2 months.

The special NIA court also convicted T Naseer, Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, and Salman Khan under Section 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and sentenced them to undergo 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed 5000 fine each. On failing to pay the fine, the accused will have to spend an additional two months in rigorous imprisonment. They were sentenced to 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of 5000 each for committing an offence punishable under Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. In default of payment of the fine amount, the accused will have to undergo 2 months’ rigorous imprisonment.

The court convicted (accused 3,4,5,6,7, and 8) Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, and Salman Khan under Section 23 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 7 years and pay a fine of 5000 each. In case of default of payment of the fine, the accused will undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 2 months. They were convicted and sentenced to undergo 5 years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a 3000 fine each under Section 25(1B) of the Arms Act, 1959. On failing to pay the fine amount, the accused will have to spend another 2 months in rigorous imprisonment.

The court also convicted the accused Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, and Salman Khan under Section 6 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 7 years and imposed a fine of Rs. 3,000/- each. On failing to pay the fine, the accused will undergo 2 months’ rigorous imprisonment.

Accused T Naseer was convicted by the court under Section 201 of the IPC and was ordered to undergo 2 years rigorous imprisonment and pay a fine of 2000. In case of default of fine, he will have to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two months. He was also sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 07 years and is liable to pay a fine of 5,000/- for the offence punishable under Section 18B of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. In default of payment of the fine, he shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two months.

The NIA court convictedMohammed Umar and Zahid Tabrez (accused 4 and 5 under) Section 17 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and sentenced them to 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of 5000 each, in default of which, they will have to undergo 2 months of rigorous imprisonment.

The court convicted (accused 5) Zahid Tabrez under Section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, sentencing him to 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposing a fine of 3000. On failing to pay the fine, he will have to undergo 2 months of rigorous imprisonment.

The NIA court said the substantial sentences imposed on T Naseer, Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, and Salman Khan will run concurrently. The period of detention undergone by them in judicial custody will be set off against the term of imprisonment imposed, as provided under Section 428 of the Cr.P.C. Regarding T Naseer, who has already been undergoing a life sentence granted by the Karnataka High Court, the court said that the sentence granted by it to him will run concurrently to his previous sentence. The court added that the fine imposed on the accused shall be used in defraying the expenses of the prosecution.

How the terrorists met in prison and hatched terror conspiracies

As per the NIA investigation, the accused met one another in 2017 when T Naseer, who was involved in multiple blast cases, came in contact with the other accused when they were all lodged in Bengaluru Prison. Accused Salam was in jail for a POCSO case, and others were in for a murder case. Naseer assessed the potential of all the accused for the purpose of radicalising and recruiting them into the LeT and managed to get them shifted to his barracks. Initially, he radicalised and recruited Junaid and Salman to further the agenda of the LeT, and subsequently, he conspired with the two of them to radicalise and recruit others.

After being released from jail, Junaid reportedly fled the country after committing some more offences. He sent funds to his co-accused from abroad to promote LeT activities within and outside the prison. He plotted with Salman to deliver arms, ammunition, hand grenades and walkie-talkies to the others as part of a plot to carry out a ‘fidayeen’ attack and help Naseer escape from police custody en route to court. Junaid also instructed his co-accused to steal used police caps for the attack and to commit arson on government buses as a practice run. The plot was foiled with the seizure of the arms and ammunition by the police.

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