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Chinese aggression along borders is to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic when the world is distracted, says US diplomat

OpIndia Staff
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Chinese aggression along borders is to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic when the world is distracted, says US diplomat

The ongoing Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control and China opening multiple fronts of territorial disputes may be a ploy by the Chinese establishment to take advantage of the situation at a time when the world is distracted due to coronavirus pandemic, a top American diplomat said on Thursday.

Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell said that the Chinese government is unleashing its forces at a time when the world is distracted, adding that the Trump administration is closely watching the Indo-China situation. The latest Chinese activities with India is similar to Beijing’s past activities on India border including Doklam, Stilwell said at a press conference.

“One explanation for China creating multiple fronts like this is an assessment in Beijing that the world is distracted and is focused entirely on survival as of now, recovering from the corona pandemic, which then possibly is seen as an opportunity to take advantage of the distraction,” Stilwell said.

The US diplomat added that though he is not offering an official US Government position on the issue, but there are already numerous explanations out there for that in the public domain regarding the aggressive Chinese behaviour with its neighbours, including India.

US administration is watching India-China border dispute closely

‘The US administration is watching the India-China border dispute very closely’, Stilwell said to the reporters after the meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi to exchange views on bilateral relations and coronavirus pandemic.

“This activity is similar to the activity we’ve seen in the past on border disputes with the PRC (Peoples Republic of China), and again, I would point you to those – I think it was 2015 when Xi Jinping travelled to India the first time,” he said.

Highlighting the aggressive behaviour of the Chinese, the US diplomat also stated that the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) invaded this contested area deeper and longer, with more people than ever before historically. “Whether that was a negotiating tactic or just a punch in the nose to demonstrate their superiority, I don’t know,” the diplomat said.

“But then we saw the Doklam issue down near Bhutan, where we saw similar concerns. I wish I knew. Again, we don’t have a lot of visibility and we don’t have a lot of open dialogue with our Chinese counterparts, and honestly, I’d like to see more of that if we can” Stilwell said.

Earlier, the State Department official had also expressed concern over the recent Chinese aggression in the region. “The actions that we’ve seen out of the PRC of late – and you all know this as you watch the beat – have been not really constructive as we look at India, the South China Sea, Hong Kong issues, and just go around the perimeter. In the periphery things like trade have not lived up to the billing, unfortunately,” Stilwell said.

US insists China disclose everything about coronavirus pandemic: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

The US seeks a constructive and result-oriented relationship that is fair and reciprocal with China, the senior diplomat said, adding that the US seeks actions rather than just conversations. Stilwell said that, Pompeo, during his meeting with the Chinese, has insisted on the Chinese disclosing all they know about how this pandemic began and asked them to share all the information that they have that leads to saving lives.

“This is not about saving face; it’s about saving lives. And we insist that they live up to their agreements with the WHO and with the international health regulations to make open as this is beyond politics,” he said.

The US diplomat added that Chinese aggression and its reluctance to be transparent is not just a US-China event. but ‘China versus lots of others’. We just saw a very strong G7 statement on Hong Kong that demonstrates that it’s the world that’s concerned with this behaviour, the diplomat added.

“The objective of these talks was to help the Chinese government understand that their actions are actually working against them and that if they come to the table with a reasonable proposal, the US is obviously going to greet it reasonably and look for ways to work toward a positive outcome,” Stilwell said.

US expresses deepest condolences for loss of Indian soldiers’ lives

The United States on Thursday expressed its deepest condolences to India for the loss of lives of 20 Indian soldiers in a face-off with China on Monday night.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the people of India for the lives lost as a result of the recent confrontation with China. We will remember the soldiers’ families, loved ones, and communities as they grieve,” United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has said.

Indian troops killed by Chinese aggression along LAC

The Indian Army on Tuesday had released a statement saying that at least 20 Indian soldiers had been martyred, including the Commanding Officer of a battalion at Galwan valley in a violent faceoff on Monday night. The Indian soldiers were killed in an unprecedented violent clash with PLA troopers in the Galwan Valley on Monday night.

The official statement said that it took place during the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan valley. It reported that no bullets were fired but the Chinese troops pelted stones and used clubs and batons.

During the clashes, the Chinese troops have also suffered severe casualties as at least 43 Chinese troops are either injured or dead during the attacks that took place on Monday night, as per reports.

TMC supporter Garga Chatterjee slapped with FIR for calling Ahom dynasty’s founder Sukaphaa as a “Chinese invader”

OpIndia Staff
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TMC supporter Garga Chatterjee slapped with FIR for calling Ahom dynasty’s founder Sukaphaa as a “Chinese invader”

A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against Trinamool Congress stooge, Garga Chatterjee, at the Dibrugarh police station for his distasteful comments against the founder of Assam, Sukaphaa. In a bid to criticise the Assam BJP, Chatterjee had termed the founder of the Ahom dynasty, Sukaphaa, to that of a ‘Chinese invader’.

On Wednesday, the TMC troll questioned the Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, on Twitter for celebrating a ‘Chinese invader’ who is supposedly eulogised by a militant group named United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). He also criticised the BJP for wasting taxpayers’ money to unveil statues of Sukaphaa. In another tweet that has now been deleted, Chatterjee wrote, “There is a state in India where the State Day is celebrated by Assam BJP to commemorate a Chinese invader who brutally attacked India with Chinese troops.”

Screenshot of his contentious tweets (Photo Credits: InsideNE)

FIR against TMC troll

The FIR was filed, following the complaint of one advocate Bhaskar Gogoi on Thursday. The same was confirmed by him on Twitter. In his complaint, Gogoi argued that the accused has indirectly termed Ahoms as ‘Chinese invaders’. Calling out the blatant accusation, the advocate wrote, “These tweets coming in the wake of tense border standoff in Ladakh and general antagonism against the Chinese government at large, might lead to targeting of Assamese people in rest of India.”

Gogoi remarked that the nefarious attempt to malign the Assamese people through misinformation would put the entire community at risk, amidst escalated tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Reportedly, the advocate who is a resident of Dibrugarh has requested the Assam government to write to the Twitter management to suspend the verified handle of Garga Chatterjee.

Sukaphaa and Ahom Dynasty

Sukhaphaa was the founder and the first ruler of the Ahom dynasty in medieval Assam. He was a Tai prince from Mong Mao whose reign is celebrated as Ahom Diwas or Assam Day on December 2 every year. Chaolung Sukaphaa had established the Ahom kingdom in 1228 which survived for around 600 years and led to the unification of several ethnic groups in the region. In memory of the ruler, he is often referred to as Chaolung, meaning ‘great Lord.’ Sukaphaa’s reign lasted for around 40 years between 1228 AD to 1268 AD.

The report has argued that dismissing the credentials of the founder of the Ahom dynasty is a disservice to his legacy, compounded with a lack of understanding about India’s north-eastern region. Another aspect that has to be highlighted following Chatterjee’s comments to link Sukaphaa to China, is the tendency to racially discriminate north-eastern people on the basis of ‘mongoloid based features’

Garga Chatterjee spreads hate against Non-Bengalis

This is not the first time that the foul-mouthed TMC troll had tried to spread hatred against Non-Bengalis. Earlier, Garga Chatterjee went on to insult the Marwari community by referring to them as ‘dishonest community that indulges in black-marketing’. He had also suggested that all of India’s problems could be solved if Biharis, people from Uttar Pradesh, Marwaris and Gujaratis were restricted to their own states for their livelihood. Chatterjee had also issued veiled threats against non-Bengalis living in West Bengal.

Varanasi: Dalit woman files FIR against Scroll journalist for falsely portraying her as starving and struggling for food

OpIndia Staff
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Varanasi: Dalit woman files FIR against Scroll journalist for falsely portraying her as starving and struggling for food

The Varanasi police have booked Scroll.in Executive editor, Supriya Sharma under defamation and sections of SC/ST act after a Dalit woman named Mala Devi filed a complaint against her for misquoting her story in her article to show that she’s living in extreme poverty during the lockdown in the village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The complainant Mala Devi alleged that her story was misreported by the journalist and presented as if she(Mala Devi) was facing extreme poverty and hunger which was actually not the case. The woman in her complaint revealed that she is working as a Safai Karmachari in the Municipal corporation, Varanasi. Her mother was working in the Municipal corporation and is currently getting a pension. She described that woman journalist Supriya Sharma and others had met her asked her about the lockdown.

In the complaint, the woman has stated that she was facing no problem during the lockdown. She has food for her and her family to eat. Recently, she learned that Supriya Sharma had made false claims about her in her report. She alleged that Supriya Sharma falsely mentioned in her report that the Dalit woman works as a domestic worker and she slept after having a cup of tea and a chapati.

Mala Devi is reportedly a resident of Domari village in Varanasi constituency and her village has been adopted by PM Modi under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna.

The Scroll article by Supriya Sharma had mentioned Mala, a Dalit woman as a domestic worker unable to feed her family

The woman has alleged that the Scroll Journalist has made fun of her poverty and caste by writing such malicious claims about her which has hurt her mentally and damaged her reputation in society.

Supriya Sharma mentioned in her report that the Dalit woman was struggling for food

The Executive editor of the Scroll.in, Supriya Sharma had mentioned in her article that the aforementioned woman Mala Devi, who is a single mother and is survived by six people in her family works as a domestic worker. She has mentioned that the woman made fugitive trips to Varanasi in search of work after her employers stopped paying her so that she can earn and buy food for her family. She quoted her as saying, “We would sleep on chai and roti, sometimes not even that.”

The Scroll article, dated 08 June, had claimed that the lockdown has brought poverty and starvation for the poor in the Prime Minister’s own constituency and the government’s schemes are not being delivered on ground level.

The Scroll article on June 08

Scroll defends their article

The Scroll has acknowledged the FIRs registered against Sharma and stated that they stand by what Sharma had reported. They have claimed that while speaking to them, Mala Devi had stated that she is a domestic worker and is currently struggling for food. However, the portal has not shared any audio or video evidence of the woman’s statement.

It is notable here that recently, the Scroll was found making false claims against the Indian Railways and also the Food Corporation of India.

Is the Odisha Govt merely abiding by SC order to stop Ratha Jatra of Shri Jagannatha this year? Here is the truth

Sambit Nayak
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Is the Odisha Govt merely abiding by SC order to stop Ratha Jatra of Shri Jagannatha this year? Here is the truth

The annual Ratha Jatra of Prabhu Shri Jagannatha won’t be held this year. The last time it happened was in 1733 when Mohammed Taqi Khan attacked the temple and the idols were shifted to Ganjam district. After 285 years, Supreme Court has halted the Ratha Jatra this year due to the ongoing pandemic caused by the Chinese virus, as Odisha government apprised SC of the dangers of the congregation.

A brief background of events may be in order before understanding how the matter reached court. In the first week of May, the Odisha government said that they would seek MHA’s directive on whether Ratha Jatra can be held this year. The first sign of their lack of decisiveness. On a pure state administrative matter, they sought MHA directive. On 7th May, MHA issued a letter to Chief Secretary, Odisha clearly outlining that it’s for the Government of Odisha to decide if they want to celebrate Ratha Jatra or not. However, the construction of chariot and other rituals may begin.

After receiving the order, the Odisha government said that they will make a decision at an opportune time. However, they allowed the chariot construction to begin, 12 days after Akshaya Tritiya, the usual date on which it begins.

As per Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA, a government body) order, Swabs of all sevayatas associated with Ratha Jatra rituals were collected and sent for testing. They were quarantined at Bhakta Nivas and advised to stay there and not meet anyone else till the end of Ratha Jatra. With reduced manpower and lost days, they pulled double shifts day and night to finish the work on time.

Other rituals associated with the Jatra were also conducted as per rule. Deva Snana Purnima (Bath Ceremony) was conducted with minimal sevayat presence. Below you can see Deva Snana Purnima during last year and this year.

Here is a view of deserted Bada Danda (Grand Road) during Deva Snana Purnima.

All this while, state government remained non committal but the rituals proceeded as usual. SJTA held meetings with various stake holders. On 11th of June, a previously unheard NGO, Odisha Vikas Parishad, filed a PIL in SC stating that “Holding Ratha Jatra in Odisha from June 23rd will be catastrophic, in light of rising COVID cases”.

On 18th June, a 3-judge bench including CJI Bobde began hearing. SG Tushar Mehta, appearing for the centre, asked the court to allow some rituals to be performed. However, Harish Salve, representing Government of Odisha, apprised the Court of “the dangers of the congregation if any celebration is held”.

The court noted, “We have experience that anytime something is allowed, people gather”. The order was unanimous and CJI said “Lord Jagannath won’t forgive us if we allow Ratha Jatra this year” before passing an order to cancel Ratha Jatra for the year 2020.

It’s important to note here that, all this while, the state govt was facilitating the preparatory work for Ratha Jatra. Quarantining all sevayata associated with Ratha Jatra, swab tests, make-shift island on Bada danda separated by barricades for Ratha Khala (Where chariot is constructed), planning to seal Puri boundary before Ratha Jatra and so on. Devasnana Purnima was held with extraordinary discipline and no COVID guideline was broken. None of these facts was presented before the court by the state’s counsel Mr Harish Salve. In fact, the original petition paints the Deva Snana Purnima as a health hazard and asserts that if Deva Snana Purnima is held, there is a chance that Ratha Jatra will be held and hence, it should be stopped.

In absence of any of these facts before the bench, how did the bench conclude that allowing Ratha Jatra is dangerous? It is also surprising that the state government which remained non-committal but allowed all rituals to go on with required safety measures argued against celebrating Ratha Jatra. Why then govt of Odisha never even once clarified its position with respect to Ratha Jatra, to the people of Odisha? They deserved to know what the government’s view is vis-a-vis Ratha Jatra. 

After the order, at 7:30 PM in the evening, the state government held a cabinet meeting and decided to “Comply with the Supreme Court directive”. While state govt wants to paint a picture that it’s the SC order which stopped the Ratha Jatra, people can see through it. SC took this decision based on state government response which was not affirmative.

While the state government argued against celebrating Ratha Jatra fearing congregation of people, it may be noted that, on 30th May, CM appealed people to sing “Bande Utkala Janani”, now the state anthem, to pay tributes to the Corona warriors. The following pic is from the same event held on Puri Bada Danda.

Puri Bada Danda (Grand Road) on 30th May, Congregation to Sing Bande Utkala Janani, the state anthem

Anyways, as law abiding citizens, we must respect the SC order and state government decision. As we say here in Odisha, “Chaka Akhi Sabu dekhuchi” – The One with the round eyes is watching it all.

Even as China kills 20 of our soldiers, Former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel says BJP is the real enemy, not China

OpIndia Staff
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Even as China kills 20 of our soldiers, Former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel says BJP is the real enemy, not China

Even as China unleashed its treacherous attack on the India troops with nearly 20 soldiers losing their lives along the LAC at Ladakh, the Indian ‘intellectuals’ have now turned blind to the barbarity unleashed by the Chinese and instead are busy depicting the ruling BJP as country’s biggest enemy. Amidst the ongoing standoff between India and China where China went as far as to mutilate our soldiers, former Amnesty India Chief Aakar Patel took to Twitter to declared that the enemy of the country was BJP and not China.

It all started when Aakar Patel claimed that he did not find any references to China in the original document of the Jana Sangh or the BJP. However, he said that he found too many references to Indian Muslims as being the enemy of the country.

“As long as they can fix the Indians they don’t like, they don’t care what happens to Bharat Mata,” the controversial activist made serious claims against the ruling BJP alleging that the party inherently hated the Muslims of the country.

Image Source: Aakar Patel

A user named Deepak Lokhande responded to Aakar Patel’s rants, to remind him that former Defence Minister George Fernandes had also warned the country that the real enemy is China.

To this, Aakar Patel made a shocking assertion that BJP was his real enemy and not China. Patel said that China is just an opponent, which has strategic objectives. According to Aakar Patel, China is not trying to destroy us internally, but BJP is.

Image Source: Aakar Patel

The likes of Aakar Patel’s attempts to absolve crimes committed by China on the border and instead of pointing fingers towards the BJP by referring to it as the ‘enemy’ by intellectuals is not surprising anymore. At a time when the entire country is united against China, individuals like Aakar Patel who have often worked against the interests of India are busy furthering their own political agenda. Essentially, they seem to be using the savagery unleashed by China as an opportunity to further their narrative.

To even remotely allege that a democratically elected government of a nation is more dangerous that the external enemy at the gate, that even went to the extend of mutilating our soldiers only goes to show where the loyalties of such activists lie.

Aakar Patel and his hate for Hindus

Aakar Patel has proved several times that he harbours deep-seated hatred for Hindus and anyone who refuses to toe the classic Left agenda. While Patel was with Amnesty International, he had written an article in the Congress mouthpiece National Herald and claimed that India is secular “despite” Hindus.

In fact, after the Supreme Court judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, Aakar Patel had gone as far as to say that the judgement by the Supremo Court reminded him of Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

Recently, while quoting a tweet by Colorado Times Recorder featuring a video of thousands of people protesting in Capitol in Colorado, Aakar Patel had tweeted that India Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, women and poor also need to do protests like these. “We need protests like these. From Dalits and Muslims and Adivasis. And the poor. And women. World will notice. Protest is a craft,” he had tweeted. Thereafter, an FIR was registered against Aakar Patel for the said tweet. Following the FIR, Aakar Patel’s Twitter account was withheld by the social networking giant only to be restored later.

It is pertinent to note that Amnesty International, the dubious NGO that was headed by Aakar Patel until recently has ties to radical Islamist outfits and even the British government. The NGO has regularly meddled in the internal affairs of India, for example, actively supporting the riotous anti-CAA protests.

‘Prostitute, you sell your body to BJP leaders’: Bhim Army chief’s vile, abusive tweets to women surface, NCW takes cognisance

OpIndia Staff
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‘Prostitute, you sell your body to BJP leaders’: Bhim Army chief’s vile, abusive tweets to women surface, NCW takes cognisance

On Thursday, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma, tweeted that she has taken cognisance of the vile and abusive tweets of Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad and “will take care of this man who is disgracing the name of great hero”. This tweet was in response to a tweet which has gone viral on social media, where a number a Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad’s old, abusive and sexiest tweets have been compiled.

Netizens have also demanded Twitter India to remove Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad from the micro-blogging site after few of his old sexist and disparaging tweets went viral on Twitter. They questioned how Twitter could verify such a vile person by ascribing a blue tick to his twitter account.

A compilation of screenshots of Aazad’s abusive tweet from the past has gone viral on the micro-blogging site. Most of the tweets date back to the year 2018, where the Bhim Army chief has used extremely derogatory and cheap Hindi slangs to insult women with a different ideological bent.

Chandra Shekhar Aazad in almost all his tweets has called these women, who are seen as supporting the Prime Minister, as “Dallas” (pimps) and “prostitutes” and abused them for supporting the latter.

On March 25, 2018, Aazad wrote an extremely vile and abusive tweet against journalist Jagrati Shukla, where he called her a “prostitute”.

In another tweet, sharing an undated screenshot of a promotional clip of PM Modi’s interview with Zee News anchor Anjana Om Kashyap, Aazad called the journalist a “Dallal” and a “prostitute”.

Listing out all the vile hateful abuses made against women by Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad, some netizens demanded a ban on his twitter account, while others flagged the issue to Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma and demanded strict and prompt action against the Bhim Army chief for insulting women.

Bangladesh: In May 2020 alone, 30 incidents were reported where Islamist mobs attacked or killed Hindus in the country

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh: In May 2020 alone, 30 incidents were reported where Islamist mobs attacked or killed Hindus in the country

Like in Pakistan, religious persecution of minorities, especially Hindus, continues to be rampant in Bangladesh too. The World Hindu Federation, Bangladesh chapter has released a press note which lists a series of incidents conducted by religious fanatics against Hindus in the the month of May.

Apart from other incidents of temple vandalisation, forced conversion, rapes and abduction of Hindu girls, the press note mentions as many as 4 incidents where Hindus were murdered in the month of May in Bangladesh. Moreover, it stated 12 cases of loot, around 435 acres of land grabbed from Hindus, 43 Hindu families displaced and almost 10 Hindu families exiled last month.

May 1: Around 50 local Muslims attacked Ananta Biswas’s house in Lakhirpara village in Kotalipara Upazila of Gopalganj in Bangladesh, over allegation of breaking the branches of a small tree, They threatened the members of the Hindu family with dire consequences if they did not leave the country. All the members of the family were seriously injured.

May 1: On the same night, some goons led by Upazila Chairman MA Moeed Farooq attacked and vandalized Shri Deenbandhu Sen’s poultry farm in Amtail Village falling under Juri Police Station, Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh. In the attack, Sen incurred a loss of 40 lakh Taka.

May 1: In yet another incident of atrocity against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, a Hindu identified as Rony Satyarthi, a student of Manikgong Debendra College, was arrested over false allegations of writing a derogatory post about Islam and Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page. Soon after this became known, miscreants attacked and looted Rony’s house. He was also forced to flee from his village.

May 4: One Dr Kajal Kumar Bhowmik was attacked by terrorists when he was on his way to home from Sripur local market Comilla, Bangladesh at around 8:30 pm on May 4, 2020. He was seriously wounded and taken to Comilla Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

May 4: The body of a man named Swapan Chandra Sarkar (55) was found floating in the Someshwari river. The police and fire service personnel recovered the body and handed it over to the relatives. It was reported that the body of the deceased was recovered after 33 hours after his disappearance from Durgapur in Netrokona.

May 4: On the same day, Bangladesh police had arrested one Sanjay Sarkar, son of Rajkumar Sarkar of Subidpur village in Habiganj’s Baniachang upazila on charges of insulting religion of Islam.

May 4: In yet another incident, the police recovered the body of one Dulan Rajbhar. Locals had spotted his body floating in the nearby river somewhere at noon, after which thei informed the police. Rajbhar is survived by his wife and a 2 years old son.

May 5: The police have arrested a Hindu young man named Rakesh Chakraborty (18) on charges of hurting religious sentiments at social media – Facebook Messenger at Nawabganj upazila in Dhaka.

May 5: On the same day, some unidentified terrorists broke into the house from the back of the house and started beating Karthik with sharp weapons and sticks with the intention of killing him. At that moment, his wife and other family members woke up and started shouting. Then the assailants fled.

May 5: 15-20 local terrorists tried to occupy one local Hindus house and build a new structure there. The Hindu identified as Chittaranjan and his two daughters Pinki Devi (24) and Kali Devi (26) was critically injured in the attack and were admitted to Sitakunda Government Hospital in Chittagong.

May 5: Kalidas’ son Ravi Das was beaten and injured by local criminals. At night the group of people attacked Ravi Das’ house and set it ablaze. The women of the house were also brutally tortured by the local criminals.

May 7: Local land mafia Mintu Mia and his goon attacked 10 Hindu families in Kalia Upazila in Narail district, Bangladesh. They vandalized their houses, cut of trees and threatened them to leave the country.

May 8: Terrorist killed Sunil Chandra, a Hindu day labourer and fled leaving him in a bamboo bush next to his house. Wound marks were found on his body.

May 9: Rubel Mia and his associates attacked Ranjit Debnath’s house at Nathpara village of Nasirnagar Upazila in Brahmanbaria district and seriously injured his family members. They then entered the house and looted gold and silver jewellery, and 2,10,000 taka in cash.

May 9: In another incident, a drug mafia named Matin Gangra attempted to attack one Sudhir Kumar’s house and tried to occupy the house and property.

May 10: Terrorists attacked Hindu families and vandalized houses and temples over comments on Facebook at Tatikona village of Chhatak Municipality in Sunamganj district. At least 10 Hindus were injured in this gruesome attack.

May 10: Some members of the Nasirnagar Upazila Sub-Registrar office in Brahmanbaria district attacked and looted valuable things from the Hindu gold trader, Shri Mihir Dev.

May 12: A former member Bancharampur Union, Md Omar Farooq forcefully took the dead body of one Hindu named Tagore Das from a crematorium and buried it in a graveyard. He did this to allegedly degrade and dishonour the Hindu religion and Hindu beliefs.

May 13: At least ten Hindu people including men and women were injured and their houses were vandalized when local criminals attacked them with the intention of grabbing their properties at Kurushaferusha village of Phulbari Tenaodanga Union in Kurigram district.

May 13: 14-year-old Hindu girl Sanchita Shabdakar committed suicide after repeated sexual molestation, harassment and attempt to abduct by a Muslim youth named Madhu Miah in Kamalganj sub-district under Moulvibazar district of southeastern Bangladesh.

The accused also threatened to abduct and marry the victim, and assaulted both her and her father in an attempt to do so. The next morning, when her mother went to the toilet, Sanchita hung herself in her room from the roof.

May 14: Miscreants set fire to the barn of Nayan Mallik’s house on May 14 (Thursday). Mallik’s cow and a bull were burnt to death in the incident while other two cows received 80 per cent butnr injuries.

May 15: Local union chairman and his goons took about 20 minority Hindu men to the union council office and thrashed them as the police watched silently. Another large attack took place to the Hindu community at Monpura in Bhola district by spreading rumors of blasphemy.

May 16: Three Hindu women were seriously injured when criminal Sultan and his goon attacked a minority Hindu family in Pakhimara village of Kalapara in Patuakhali district. The attack was carried out to allegedly grab the lands belonging to these Hindus.

May 17: Some unidentified miscreants set fire to the house of Baul Ranesh Chakraborti Tagore (55) of Ujandhal village of Dirai upazila inSunamganj district. Police have not yet able to identify the perpetrators.

May 18: Police recovered the body of one Mohan Lal Das (48 years), a Hindu farmer, from Tilpara of Nasirnagar police station in Brahmanbaria district. According to the press release by World Hindu Federation, Bangladesh chapter, the Hindu farmer’s body was found in a jute field at Rasulpur.

May 19: A Hindu priest, Shri Sameer Haldar (55) of and his wife were physically assaulted by local chairman Shahjahan Ali Khan and his goon at Ambria village of Morelganj in Bagerhat district to occupy the residential house and land of this Hindu priest.

May 25: Tapas Das, a Hindu Chhatra League activist from Patuakhali district, was stabbed to death in political revenge while undergoing treatment at Barisal Sher-E-Bangla Medical College.

May 28: Local land mafia Md Abdus Salam tried to occupy the ancestral land of a Hindu girl, Ms Suma Vishnu. When she tried to stop him, he hit on her head with an iron rod.

May 28: On the same day, terrorists attacked Bipul Mahanta’s, a Hindu businessman, at Ghoshpara, a town under Sherpur police station in Bogra district. The miscreants vandalised his house and looted jewellery and other valuable things kept in the house. His family members were injured in the attack.

May 29: Md Abdul Jalil, Shafiqul Islam, Md Mamun and Naki Khatun had forcedone Sridham Biswas and Saral Biswas to leave the country by embroiling them in false cases at Fatepur village of Kaligonj in Satkhira district.

Such hooliganism by Islamists in Bangladesh has become quite a routine. The Hindu minorities have been badly oppressed in the hands of Muslims in the Islamic state. Earlier we reported, how Islamists in Bangladesh, vandalised at least ten temples, that too only in the month of May 2020.

While dancing on our soldiers’ dead bodies, Rahul Gandhi forgets that India-China conflict was the legacy of his great-grandfather

G Kishan Reddy
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While dancing on our soldiers’ dead bodies, Rahul Gandhi forgets that India-China conflict was the legacy of his great-grandfather

The Congress scion seems to think that he has found an issue that could help re-launch him after all the previous launches turned out to be major duds. Looking at his past behaviour during the surgical strikes post-Uri, his urgency to meet the Chinese Ambassador during the Dokalam stand-off, and his tweets during the Pulwama attack, one need not be surprised with this pathetic need to dance on the dead bodies of our brave soldiers. This brings us back to Late Shri Arun Jaitley’s observations on the shahzada “Every time I listen to the views of Rahul Gandhi, both inside and outside Parliament, I ask myself the same question –how much does he know? When will he know?”

The failure of political leadership during the 1962 war with China is well documented. Yet when the Congress shahzada questions the silence of Prime Minister Modi and comments over China’s incursion into the region, he conveniently forgets that the border dispute is baggage left by his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru. Government strategy cannot be bereft of context and ground realities. The former Prime Minister’s strong need to have “people like us” within his coterie of advisors had led to group-think and suboptimal strategies such as the “forward policy”.  

This need to have “yes-men” and consensus over dissent within his group led to Pandit Nehru rewarding family ties and promoting nepotism in the 1962 war is well documented in Steven A. Hoffman’s “India and the China Crisis”. The whole role of Lieutenant General Brij Mohan Kaul has been well documented. 

Figure 1: Excerpt from the book, India and China Crisis by Steven A. Hoffmann

Further, it is nothing short of an irony that the Congress President questions the PM over hiding when his own great-grandfather was outside the country for over 25 days just before the 1962 war. The Indo-China war broke out on October 20th 1962. On September 8th, PM Nehru left for London to attend the Commonwealth meeting of Prime Ministers. He further had time to pause in Egypt and did not return till October 2nd 1962.

Figure 2: Excerpt from the book, India and the China Crisis by Steven A. Hoffmann

Perhaps this explains his inspiration for the 250 odd foreign trips that he has taken since 2015 without SPG protection including. Our DNA doesn’t allow us to abdicate responsibility and flee in adversity as he did after resigning as Congress President and running away. This failure to explain his whereabouts during the Lok Sabha debate on Special Protection Group Bill in November 2015, was brought in front of the public by Home Minister Amit Shah. While Rahul Gandhi may think he is taking jibes at the government, our Prime Minister is tirelessly working to mitigate the Covid-19 crisis.

Figure 3: Speech by Amit Shah as a part of Lok Sabha Debates on Special Protection Group Bill on 27 November 2019

The government wants to take everybody on board and hence the all-party meet on June 19, to forge a broad political consensus on the situation at the border. India is already in the midst of a national health emergency and a political attack on the government on the issue of national security reflects the desperation of the Congress scion.

This is a critical moment when we need to safeguard our national interest and PM Modi has taken the opposition into confidence. Now the ball lies in the opposition’s court – Would Rahul Gandhi, the shahzada, want to continue to exhibit his mean-spiritedness or would he want to respond to the Prime Minister’s call and come together at a time when national unity is paramount. 

“Bullying is kind of killing somebody”: Actor Jiah Khan’s mother accuses Salman Khan of sabotaging investigation into her daughter’s death

OpIndia Staff
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“Bullying is kind of killing somebody”: Actor Jiah Khan’s mother accuses Salman Khan of sabotaging investigation into her daughter’s death

The untimely death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput had exposed the toxic world of Bollywood. People from the film fraternity started breaking their silence and speaking against nepotism, the exploitation and power-play that rules in Bollywood. After director Abhinav Singh Kashyap, actor Jiah Khan’s mother has also come out to accuse Salman Khan of sabotaging the investigation into her daughter’s death.

In a video released by SpotboyE, actor Jiah Khan’s mother, Rabia Amin accuses Salman Khan of using his money power to sabotage actor Jiah Khan’s death probe. She said that Khan did this to protect actor Sooraj Pancholi, Jiah Khan’s alleged boyfriend at that time, from interrogation.

Actor Jiah Khan died by suicide in 2013, her case until today remains unsettled

For the uninitiated, Jiah Khan, the Ghajini famed actor had died by suicide on June 3 in 2013. Her death was re-confirmed as a suicide in 2016 following an extensive investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a hearing at the Bombay High Court. Khan’s mother continued to claim that Jiah had been murdered by her boyfriend, actor Sooraj Pancholi, leading the prosecution to make a failed attempt to lay charges of murder and sexual assault in 2017. On 31 January 2018, nearly five years after her death, a court in Mumbai charged Pancholi with abetting Khan’s suicide. The case has not yet been settled.

Jiah Khan’s mother blames Salman Khan for sabotaging investigations

Jiah Khan’s mother has now said that Sushant’s case has reminded her of 2013 when her daughter also took this drastic step. She recollects how CBI had told her then that Salman Khan calls them (CBI) up everyday and asks them not to harass the boy (Sooraj Pancholi) as he has invested a lot of money in him.

“What happened with Sushant, has reminded me of 2015 when I went to meet CBI officer who had called me down from London. He said please come, we have found some incriminating evidence. I land up over there and he says, ‘Oh, by the way, Salman khan calls me every day and says he has invested a lot of money, please don’t harass the boy, please don’t interrogate him, don’t touch him. So what can we do, madam’? He was annoyed, he looked frustrated,” said Amin in the video.

“I want to say please stand up, fight, protest, and stop this toxic behaviour in Bollywood,” Jiah’s mother signed off.

Letter recovered from Jiah Khan’s house named Sooraj Pancholi

According to initial police investigation, a note had been recovered from Jiah Khan’s house purportedly written by her. In the letter she mentioned about her relationship issues with Pancholi had forced her to take the drastic step. This evidence had resulted in Sooraj Pancholi being booked with the charges of abetment of suicide.

Dabangg director Abhinav Singh Kashyap accused Salman Khan of ruing his career

Salman Khan and his family, recently, were also accused by Dabangg director Abhinav Singh Kashyap of ruining his career and threatening him with life. Calling Salman Khan and his family “the head of this venomous serpent”, the Dabangg director had in his Facebook post, alleged that the Khan family made sure he lost many good projects after his rift with Salman’s brother Arbaaz Khan after first Dabangg movie.

PM Modi launches auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining, says it will bring jobs and development to tribal belt in central and eastern India

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi launches auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining, says it will bring jobs and development to tribal belt in central and eastern India

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on the event to launch the auction of 41 Coal mines for commercial mining. PM Modi said that the country will overcome the COVID-19 crisis and will convert it into an opportunity to boost the motive of self-reliance and reduce its dependence on others. The coal ministry in association with FICCI launched the auction of these coal mines.

PM Modi said while addressing the nation through video conference, “India will turn this COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity. It has taught India to be self-reliant. India will reduce its dependence on imports. To make India self-reliant in the energy sector, a major step is being taken today.”

He added, “We are not just launching the auction for commercial coal-mining today, but bringing the coal sector out of decades of lockdown.” Prime Minister emphasized that despite having the world’s fourth-largest coal reserves and second-largest producer Indian does not export coal but imports and also is the second-largest importer of coal in the world.

PM Modi said that each sector and each product, each service, should be kept in mind and worked holistically, to make India self-reliant in a particular area. PM Modi stressed that today’s event will generate employment for lakhs of youth in the country. He also noted that today we are not only launching the auction of commercial coal mining today but also freeing the coal sector from decades of lockdown.

The Prime Minister said that these coal sector reforms will make eastern and central India, our tribal belt, into pillars of development. He added that These areas have a big number of Aspirational Districts and have not been able to reach the desired level of progress and prosperity. He said that 16 aspirational districts in the country have a huge stock of coal but people of these areas have not got adequate benefit of this. People from these places have to migrate to far-flung cities for employment.

50 thousand crore rupees on creating an infrastructure for coal extraction and transportation

He further added that the steps taken towards commercial mining will be very helpful to eastern and central India by providing the local population with employment. He informed that the Government has taken a decision to spend Rs 50 thousand crore on creating an infrastructure for coal extraction and transportation, which will also create employment opportunities.

In this auction process, 41 coal mines are on offer which includes fully explored and partially explored mines. These include 4 coking coal mines which are fully explored mines. These coal mines are located in the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha. The auction process will be a two-stage tender process with technical and financial bidding.

Production of all mines has registered a quantum jump in the last year: Union Minister Prahlad Joshi

Union Coal and Mining minister Prahlad Joshi said that coal sector is committed to massive capital expenditure and employment plan for coal bearing regions. The production of all mines has registered a quantum jump in last 6 years. He emphasized that the laws and auction methodology for commercial mining have been framed with thorough stakeholder involvement. He added that blocks to be offered have been identified through public consultation. The Minister said that this is the best time for private companies to enter the mining sector.

President of FICCI, Dr Sangeeta Reddy said, “Commercial mining of coal launched by Hon’ble PM today, will help meet the country’s energy needs, reduce dependence on imports, modernise the sector and generate jobs. This landmark reform will unlock country’s natural resources, stimulate the economy and catalyze India’s path to a 5-trillion dollar economy. FICCI is happy to be the industry partner at the launch of this major initiative.”

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