Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is committed to reviving the historic and cultural heritage of Kashmir and that we will soon ‘reclaim what has been lost.’
Shah made the statement after releasing the book ‘Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh Through the Ages: A Visual Narrative of Continuities and Linkages’ here in the national capital.
Amit Shah firmly stated that Kashmir always has been and will continue to remain an inseparable part of India.
He further stressed that no legal provision could ever sever this bond, pointing “there were attempts to separate Kashmir from India in the past but time itself has nullified those efforts.”
Many dignitaries including Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and Editor of the book Professor Raghuvendra Tanwar were present on the occasion.
In his address, the Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation emphasized that the National Book Trust (NBT), through its latest publication, has effectively dismantled a long-standing myth about India by presenting facts and evidence, thereby establishing historical truths.
He said that there was a myth that India was never united and the idea of independence for this country was meaningless — a misconception that many had come to accept as truth.
The Minister highlighted that while for most countries, geo-politics have defined their boundaries, India’s case is unique in the way that this nation has been defined by its geo-cultural expanse, and whose borders are made up of cultural unity.
Home Minister remarked that the relationship between Kashmir, Ladakh, Shaivism, and Buddhism has been eloquently captured in this book and exhibition. He commended the documentation of scripts, knowledge systems, spirituality, culture, and languages, emphasizing the meticulous effort that went into presenting this rich heritage.
The Minister said the book vividly chronicles the journey of Buddhism–from Nepal to Bihar via Kashi, and onward to Afghanistan through Kashmir.
He highlighted that the book also features sculptures from Drass and Ladakh, discussions and images of stupas, depictions of temple ruins destroyed by invaders, and references to the use of Sanskrit in Jammu and Kashmir, as described in Rajatarangini.
Covering Kashmir’s 8,000-year history, Shah likened this comprehensive effort to encapsulating the sacred Ganga within a vessel. He noted that for 150 years, some people’s understanding of history was “confined to narrow geographies–from Dariba to Ballimaran or Lutyens to Gymkhana. He stressed that history cannot be written from a distance but requires engaging directly with the people and understanding their lived experiences.”
Shah emphasized that the time has come to move beyond history written to appease past rulers, and He urged historians to confidently document India’s history using evidence, facts, and the perspective of its rich, millennia-old culture, and to present it to the world with pride.
He remarked that today, India stands as an independent nation with a government committed to upholding the values and ideas rooted in its heritage.
Shah highlighted that Kashmir and Ladakh have historically served as centres of civilization, fostering creation, preservation, and cultural promotion. Numerous examples of this rich legacy are detailed in the book, noting that Kashmir has always been a land of inclusivity, embracing and nurturing diverse faiths.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The discussion around the infamous grooming gangs in the United Kingdom involving Pakistani men has re-ignited after Elon Musk, JK Rowling, and several journalists started talking about the police complicity and utter failure of the UK administration to deliver justice to the grooming gang victims. This comes amidst the Labour government’s decision to reject Oldham town council’s plea seeking a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
???UK GOVERNMENT REJECTS NATIONAL INQUIRY INTO PAKISTANI RAPE GANG SCANDALS
The UK government has refused calls for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation scandals in the town of Oldham, leaving local authorities to investigate.
Taking to X, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commented on the police complicity in the prevalence of grooming gangs, inaction against them for many years, and the unfair arrests of victims and their family members. “So many people at all levels of power in the UK need to be in prison for this,” Musk said.
So many people at all levels of power in the UK need to be in prison for this. https://t.co/PtM39RGrFi
Musk has also launched a scathing attack on Britain’s current Prime Minister Keir Starmer who was the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Crown Prosecution Service between 2008-2013 which approves the police requests to charge suspects in serious crimes like rape.
Musk said that when the “rape gangs” were exploiting young girls, Starmer headed the CPS and allowed the crimes to take place. In a subsequent post, he pointed out that till 2013, Starmer himself was the director of CPS and now heads the government, however, even now Safeguarding Minister Jesse Phillips refused a national inquiry into the crimes of rape gangs since it would involve blaming Starmer.
“In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects. Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013,” Musk wrote,
“Who is the boss of Jess Phillips right now? Keir Stamer. The real reason she’s refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS at the time),” he continued.
Who is the boss of Jess Phillips right now? Keir Stamer.
The real reason she's refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS at the time).
Meanwhile, globally renowned author JK Rowling known for her advocacy of women’s gender rights emphasised that the grooming gangs should be called “rape gangs” and also called the allegations of police complicity in the horrific crimes against women and girls in the UK “beyond belief”.
“The details emerging about what the rape gangs (why call them ‘grooming’ gangs? It’s like calling those who stab people to death ‘knife owners’) did to girls in Rotherham are downright horrific. The allegations of possible police corruption in the case are almost beyond belief,” Rowling wrote.
The details emerging about what the rape gangs (why call them 'grooming' gangs? It's like calling those who stab people to death 'knife owners') did to girls in Rotherham are downright horrific. The allegations of possible police corruption in the case are almost beyond belief. https://t.co/0SVoxuqw6K
Police complicity, crackdown on victim families, lenient sentences
Beginning in the 1980s in the town of Telford, vulnerable girls as young as 11 were picked up, raped, beaten, sold, and even killed by grooming gangs or rape gangs for a full forty years. The young girls, mostly white, were tossed from one rapist to another, most of whom were of British Pakistani origins. Three girls were murdered and two others died in tragedies linked to the scandal. As many as 1,000 girls suffered in a town of 170,000 people. In Telford, these Pakistani grooming gangs were literally running a rape house while they made the victims believe they were in love by buying them alcohol, cigarettes, doing their mobile top-ups, buying gifts etc.
A similar racket was unfolding in Rotherham wherein around 1,500 girls were raped, abused, sold, and bought by men of Pakistani descent in a town of 260,000 people. Many victims were gang-raped and the abuse went on unabated from 1997 to 2013. In Rochdale, the horror began in 2002. At least 47 young girls were subjected to abuse. Such has been the (Non) response of administrative and legal authorities that the grooming gangs continue to walk freely on the streets of “Great Britain”.
Sexual abuse scandals were widely uncovered in a series of locations in the UK, including Huddersfield, Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Bristol, Peterborough, and Newcastle. Nearly 19,000 adolescents in England are estimated to have been sexually groomed based on government numbers. Despite multiple reports and inquiries, investigative operations like Stovewood, Tourway, the true scale of sexual exploitation by the grooming gangs is not known.
These ‘grooming’ crimes continue to haunt the United Kingdom as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) reported in 2023 that there has been an 82% increase in online grooming offences against youngsters over the past five years.
The issue of Pakistani-origin men-led grooming gangs raping vulnerable white and other non-Muslim girls first became widely known in towns like Rotherham, Rochdale, and Telford. According to the 2014 Jay Report on Rotherham, almost 1,400 children were sexually exploited over 16 years, predominantly by men of Pakistani descent. The pervasive inaction by the authorities can be attributed to concerns of triggering racism against Pakistani immigrants. To put it in simple words, the UK authorities were reluctant to act and adopted a silence and denial approach against the grooming/rape gangs believing that acting against the Pakistani-origin rapists would reinforce ‘negative stereotypes’ about the ‘minority’ community.
In many cases, instead of arresting the rapists, the police ended up arresting the victims and their families. This was commonly due to a ‘misreading’ of the situation, a failure to probe the grooming part and in most cases a deliberate cover-up, with young victims being treated as offenders for small violations while still in contact with their abusers. This demonstrates an intentional diversion in the approach to child safety, spurred by an obsessive avoidance of racial profiling. Fear of being perceived as racially ‘insensitive’ appears to have taken precedence over safeguarding young girls culminating in a serious miscarriage of justice.
In one of the cases, a grooming gang victim’s father narrated how he was arrested when he tried to rescue his daughter from the apartment she was being held in by her abusers. Speaking to Hearts of Oak, a grooming gang survivor Elizabeth Harper’s father said in 2020 that he was arrested twice in one day by the Police for trying to rescue his daughter. It is notable that Harper won the landmark case against her abuser Asghar Bostan. In 2023, the High Court awarded £425,000 in a verdict. In 2018, Asghar Bostan was jailed for 9 years at Sheffield Crown Court raping the Harper in a flat in Rotherham for 10 weeks when she was just 14 years old.
In November 2020 Hearts of Oak travelled to Rotherham to spend the day with Elizabeth, a Grooming Gang Survivor who was recently awarded £425k against her rapist in a landmark ruling. This is her father who was arrested twice in one day by the Police for trying to rescue his… pic.twitter.com/3pp6oFjxTm
Meanwhile, Elon Musk expressed his anger over the unfair arrest of the family members of the grooming gang victim saying that “Whoever ordered the arrest of fathers trying to protect their daughters from gang rape should be in prison for life.”
Whoever ordered the arrest of fathers trying to protect their daughters from gang rape should be in prison for life https://t.co/jJj0pmoqSD
In a blatant mockery of the rape survivor’s ordeal and travesty of justice, Bostan was moved to an open prison without Liz being informed in 2020. Just two years later, he was set free having served only half of his sentence.
Expressing her utter disappointment, Harper said in 2023, “I was badly let down by South Yorkshire Police, Rotherham Council, the courts, the prison system, and many others, but this landmark case proves that survivors can now get their own justice even if the establishment fails them.”
In December 2023, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published a report revealing that police continued to blame the victims for the crimes committed against them by Pakistani grooming gangs.
In its report, HMICFRS said that instances of group child sexual exploitation were overlooked, with some cases handled by non-specialist officers who were unable to know what to find. It also stated that law enforcement did not have a clear definition of group-based child sexual exploitation.
In one instance, crucial evidence from mobile phones was not analysed for a year. In another case, a teenage girl and her friend who were being exploited by a 30-year-old male were first arrested before authorities altered their approach and began treating them as victims.
HMICFRS report said that in three of the six forces it inspected, it discovered more than twelve instances of victim blaming, which they attributed to the force’s poor culture rather than individual officers’ failures.
In one incident of police staff victim blaming, the police accused a victim by noting that “concerns [were] raised [due] to her general proclivity with older men”. In another case, a missing child was classified as “medium-risk due to age – streetwise and tends to return the next day”. In another example, a child was referred to as “putting herself in precarious situations,” and another child as a “difficult victim to engage with.”
Excerpt from HMCFRS report
Besides victim blaming, the UK authorities also suppressed reports about Pakistani men grooming school girls in Birmingham with drugs and alcohol. The reason to suppress this report was the fear that making this report public would incite ‘racial tensions’ ahead of the 2010 general election. This report released under the Freedom of Information Act, only to be redacted later, had identified 140 potential victims from a school with most of them being around the age of 13. These girls were intoxicated and raped by men of Pakistani origin.
However, despite there being a clear indication that Pakistani men were deliberately targeting White girls, the police prioritised preventing supposed ‘backlash’ against the ‘Asian/Pakistani’ community instead of arresting the perpetrators and prosecuting them.
“The predominant offender profile of Pakistani Muslim males… combined with the predominant victim profile of white females has the potential to cause significant community tensions. There is a potential for a backlash against the vast majority of law abiding citizens from Asian/Pakistani communities from other members of the community believing their children have been exploited,” the police report said revealing how misplaced racial sensitivity took precedence over protecting minor girls from their abusers.
This clearly indicates that police deliberately covered up the persistent child sexual exploitation by Pakistani-Afghani grooming gangs and this police inaction further emboldened these paedophiles and rapists to carry out their horrific deeds unchecked because the police and governments were more concerned about averting any criticism or what they called triggering ‘racial tensions’ than punishing those targeting girls of specific race and outside their religion.
The highest rates of child grooming victims in Britain were reported in areas including Birmingham, Lancashire, and Bradford. One of the most horrific cases was of Charlene Downes who disappeared from Lancashire. She was feared to be groomed by these gangs and murdered. Her body was allegedly minced into pieces and served as kebabs to customers at a takeaway restaurant in the area.
32 individuals were charged by the police in West Yorkshire, England in 2020 for more than 150 sexual offences committed against eight underage teenage girls. According to reports, several victims continued to suffer horrific crimes when they became adults.
A report prepared by Malcom Newsam tracing the failures of the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in handling grooming gang cases between 2004 and 2013, said that the local police were absolutely apathetic towards the grooming gang victims, who were mostly white girls. In one incident, the GMP secretly took the aborted foetus of a 13-year-old victim to carry out a DNA test without even informing the victim or her parents.
In another case, a victim was treated as a ‘co-conspirator’ by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The review uncovered a “significant probability” that 74 of the 111 children on police records during the time period were sexually exploited. The investigation stated that in 48 of those cases, agencies failed to adequately protect children. Malcolm Newsam, the report’s author, stated that many abusers had gone unpunished due to police and local council failures. In 2022, the GMP Police Chief had ‘apologised’ to the Rochdale grooming gang victims.
It was only after Maggie Oliver, who served as a detective constable, resigned from her post and became a whistle-blower exposing the gross failures of the GMP to arrest rapists and the inhumane treatment of the victims.
In the early 2000s, a grooming gang comprising of 97 men of Pakistani-Afghani origin were freely abusing nearly 57 young girls in Manchester, because the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officials were instructed to focus on apprehending offenders of “other ethnicity”.
While in Manchester, the police were told to focus on arresting culprits of other ethnicity other than ‘South Asians’, the South Yorkshire Police did not record the ethnicity of child sexual abuse accused persons, omitting ethnicity of the perpetrator in 67% of cases in Rotherham.
Formation of Grooming Gangs Taskforce and mass arrests
In April 2023, then British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak established a new Grooming Gangs Taskforce to support police agencies in looking into the significant issue of grooming gangs in the nation. This was a step towards recognising past errors and punishing perpetrators. However, the people of the UK have criticised the authorities over the sentencing of those convicted, since in many cases penalties were too lenient or the court system was sluggish to deal with these cases due to the intricacies of race and community ties. Despite arrests and convictions, numerous criminals have not received sufficient punishment, with some still free or serving relatively short sentences.
Within the first year of its formation, the Grooming Gangs Taskforce arrested over 550 suspects and identified and protected over 4,000 victims. Besides arresting the perpetrators and protecting the victims, this task force also trained police officers to handle child sexual exploitation cases.
In November 2024, twenty men were found guilty of rape and assault of young girls and have been handed over a total of more than 219 years in prison. The men were found to have sexually abused and exploited four girls in Calderdale after a succession of individual investigations and prosecutions.
South Asian grooming gangs or Pakistani grooming gangs?
Be it Rotherham, Telford, or Rochdale grooming and sexual exploitation cases, the pattern remained the same, non-Muslim girls including Hindu, Sikh, and White Christian girls being systematically targeted in the United Kingdom by Pakistani men. An important reason for the cover-up was the fear of offending the minority community.
Prioritising avoidance of potential racial tensions against the community to which the grooming gang members belonged to is outrageously wrong. The UK authorities and the media advertently or inadvertently failed to comprehend that there would have been no need to ‘fear’ incitement of racial tensions if they had focussed on the motivations of the perpetrators.
The grooming gangs in the UK were shielded by the media and pro-Islamist politicians by passing them off as “Asian” or “South Asian grooming gangs”.
Cultural sensitivity, fear of racial profiling and political ramifications: How appeasement and woke politics enabled grooming gangs
From governments to police, the authorities in the United Kingdom remained wary of addressing the crimes being committed by people predominantly from one ‘ethnicity’ fearing that acting against the perpetrators from this ‘ethnicity would trigger hatred and prejudices against ‘South Asians’. This mindless zeal to protect cultural/racial sensitivities over protecting sexual abuse victims resulted in the continuous exploitation of young girls for nearly four decades.
The political discourse around the grooming gangs and their crimes in the UK indicate that the appeasing politicians feared racial profiling and the supposed spread of ‘Islamophobia’. It is evident from the 2013 Jay Report on Rotherham which said that “several [police] staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist.”
It must be recalled how Keith Vaz, a Labour Party leader and Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2012, had downplayed the grooming jihad crimes calling them not racially motivated and emphasised that the entire community should not be ‘stigmatised’. His overemphasis on not singling out the identity of the grooming gang members reflected the Labour Party’s appeasement politics and downplayed the crimes of the grooming gangs involving men of Pakistani origins.
In 2011, former Home Secretary Jack Straw attributed the cultural practices of Pakistani men to their crimes against white girls. He said that Pakistani men see white girls as “easy meat”. A Nottingham Crown Court judge who convicted two Pakistani men who groomed and raped several minor white girls, downplayed the identity of the perpetrators by asserting that the race of both, the victims and the abusers were ‘coincidental’.
Back in 2017, Sarah Champion, Labour Party leader and the then Rotherham MP, had written an article in The Sun, wherein she wrote that “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”.
She pointed out that the child sexual exploitations being reported in the UK involved “predominantly Pakistani men” adding that the apprehension of getting labelled ‘racist’ was hindering the investigation by the authorities. “These people are predators and the common denominator is their ethnic heritage.”
While what Sarah wrote was not entirely wrong, she too failed to see that more than any ethnic reason, it was more a religious and cultural problem. Sarah Champion even had to apologise for the supposedly ‘offensive’ article and even resign from her position as the shadow minister.
Such is the situation in the UK, an elected representative had to retract her statement, apologise, and resign from her post for simply saying that Pakistani men were targeting white girls, which was indeed the case. No wonder, grooming gangs thrived in UK for decades with such political leaders who either fail to acknowledge the problem or when they attempt to do so, they cave into the pressure of being politically correct.
Driven by fears of racial profiling, cultural sensitivities and desperation to take the moral high ground, the United Kingdom, its police, and politicians allowed Pakistani men to rape and exploit vulnerable girls in the country for nearly four decades and continue to evade accountability. This suicidal empathy for those who deserved nothing but condemnation and punishment caused a massive travesty of justice to the young girls who had their childhood ruined and their dreams destroyed by these monsters. Had the UK shown even a shred of kindness, empathy and compassion for the victims of the grooming gangs than their abusers, the country could have got rid of such monstrous gangs much earlier and many young girls could have been saved.
On 2nd January, a survey report of Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal was submitted in a sealed envelope by Court Commissioner Ramesh Raghav to the Chandausi Court. Due to security reasons, the 40-45-page report was handed over in a confidential manner.
The document was presented to the court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) Aditya Singh. The comprehensive details of the report have come to light. According to sources, substantial evidence of a temple has been found inside the mosque as per the report.
According to information, the mosque houses two Banyan trees, which are generally associated with Hindu temples where they are worshipped. Furthermore, there is a well within the mosque, with one portion located inside the premises and the other outside. The outer part of the well was covered. The survey report included approximately four and a half hours of videography during which around 1,200 photographs were taken.
On 19th November, the initial day of the survey, nearly one and a half hours of videography were completed and on 24th November, further three hours of videography took place. Over fifty floral patterns have been identified inside the Jama Masjid. Moreover, alterations to the original structure have been uncovered, alongside indications of new additions. The temple’s form has been coated with plaster and painted.
It has been reported that the mosque contains symbols that are emblematic of temples and Hindu places from that historical period. The temple’s original architecture has been concealed through the application of plaster and paint on its doors, windows, and elaborately decorated walls.
Court Commissioner Ramesh Singh Raghav stated, “A petition asserting that the Shahi Jama Masjid was originally the Harihar Temple was filed in the Civil Judge Senior Division Court on 19th November. On the same day, a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid was conducted. However, as it could not be completed, the Court Commissioner visited the mosque again on 24th November for further survey work, accompanied by the District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP).”
He added, “During this time, violence broke out, resulting in the deaths of approximately four people. The report was initially scheduled to be presented to the court on 9th December, but the Court Commissioner requested an additional 15 days citing health issues. Today, the report, consisting of about 40 to 45 pages, has been submitted to the court.” There was communal tension in Sambhal for several days after the riots following the survey.
Action is being taken by the authorities against individuals who instigated violence. As of now, 47 arrests have been made over the violence. Police task forces have been organized to detain others implicated in the unrest. Currently, 11 cases have been filed regarding the violence.
The Shahi Jama Masjid, a mosque from the Mughal era, is located in the Kot Garvi area of Sambhal city. Recognized as one of the oldest monuments in the Sambhal district, it is believed that Mir Beg constructed it in 1529 under the directives of Mughal Emperor Babur. A legal petition has been submitted, asserting that the site of the mosque was previously the Harihar temple and the new structure was built after destroying it. A survey was ordered after the court hearing regarding the same.
The Rajkot Police have filed a case against a group of around 25 people including Farooq Musani for vandalizing 2 shops belonging to the Hindu traders. The accused persons broke into the shops at night by breaking the locks and vandalized the shops by throwing the merchandise onto the street.
As the shopkeepers learned about the incident, they protested. However, the accused claimed that the shops were Waqf properties and that they had orders claiming the same.
Following the incident, one of the victims, Virendrabhai Kotecha, filed a complaint at the Rajkot A-Division Police Station against Farooq Musani and several unidentified individuals. The complaint was lodged late on December 31st but the FIR was registered against 5 identified persons on 1st January. The sections imposed against the accused individuals are Sections 189(3), 190, 329(3), and 351(2).
A copy of the FIR has been exclusively obtained by OpIndia.
As per the FIR copy, the incident occurred on 31st December 2024. Farooq Musani and others broke into the shops in the Old Danapith area of Rajkot, citing a Waqf Board Order. They broke the locks of two shops and threw the belongings of the Hindu traders on the streets. The shops, notably, had been leased by the Hindu traders for decades and this incident has created significant resentment among the local business community. The complainant, who operated a mandap service business from one of the shops for 50 years, condemned the incident and demanded action in the case.
The complainant initially stated that the shops are looked after by the Nawab Masjid Trust but have been leased for decades. Later, it came to the notice that the land on which the shops were built belonged to the PWD department.
On the evening of December 31st, 2024, the complainant said that he was sitting at his nephew’s shop nearby when individuals, including Farooq Musani, arrived and forcibly broke the locks of two shops. They began throwing goods out from the shops, one of which belonged to the complainant.
As per the complaint, Virendrabhai, seeing this, rushed to his shop and confronted Farooq Musani, urging him to stop. Responding to this, Musani claimed that he was a trustee of Nawab Masjid and that he had orders to clear the shops from the Gujarat State Waqf Board. He allegedly threatened another shopkeeper, warning them to vacate their shop or risk having their goods thrown out. Musani also demanded that the shops be handed over to the mosque.
Farooq Musani further presented an order dated December 19th, 2024, from the Gujarat State Waqf Board in Gandhinagar. The order allegedly instructed the immediate transfer of possession of the shops to the mosque. Following the incident, the complainant contacted the police, prompting personnel from Rajkot A-Division Police Station to visit the scene. Later, the complainant filed a formal complaint at the police station against Farooq Musani and others involved.
OpIndia talked to Virendrabhai Kotecha and learnt that a group of approximately 20 to 25 people, including Farooq Musani, stormed his shop without prior notice. “They forcibly broke the locks and began throwing goods out onto the street. Farooq Musani and others entered the shops unlawfully and discarded the goods. Even now, my shop’s belongings are lying on the road,” he said.
Kotecha further explained, “After being shown the Waqf Board’s order, we consulted our lawyer in Ahmedabad. According to the Waqf Board’s regulations, possession of any property requires issuing three notices as prior intimation. However, we did not receive even a single notice. The order was dated December 19th, yet the locks were broken directly on December 31st, which violates the rules.”
Speaking on the matter, Rajkot City DCP Zone-2, Jagdish Bangarwa, stated, “A complaint has been filed against five individuals, including Farooq Musani. A letter has surfaced claiming that the shops were vacated following an order from the Waqf Board. Verification of this letter is underway. The Waqf Board’s own instructions state that possession must be taken following proper procedures, which include issuing notices and conducting eviction in the presence of police. Since these rules were not followed, action has been initiated.”
In an update to the case, it has been informed to the media that the police have given back the possessions of the attacked shops to the Hindu traders. Further, it has come to the fore that the properties that were being claimed as Waqf property were actually encroached upon and originally belonged to the PWD department. A detailed original Gujarati report on this case can be read here.
Justice Sarang Kotwal, a judge of the Bombay High Court, recused himself on Thursday, January 2, from the hearing of an appeal filed by Bhima-Koregaon case accused Anand Teltumbde. Teltumbde’s appeal had come up before a division bench comprising Justices Sarang Kotwal and M S Modak. Justice Kotwal recused himself on the grounds of having decided on some bail applications related to the matter earlier.
Anand Teltumbde had filed the concerned appeal through his lawyer Neeraj Yadav after his discharge plea was rejected by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in May 2024. The ground for rejection of his discharge plea was the presence of sufficient prima facie material suggesting his involvement in the Elgar Parishad violence of 2017. A Plethora of evidence was presented by the prosecution including witness statements, electronic records and letters to establish Teltumbde’s links with the activities of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation.
Teltumbde is accused of being one of the convenors of the Elgar Parishad event held in December 2017 and making provocative speeches there which led to the riots on January 1, 2018. A special court had rejected his bail plea in July 2021 on the ground that he was a member of the CPI (Maoist). However, later on, he was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in November 2022.
The trial is yet to begin as the court is hearing the discharge applications filed by several accused persons in the case.
Details of the prosecution case
A case was registered by a complainant named Tushar Damugade in 2018 at Vishrambaug Police Station in Pune which led to the arrest of Teltumbde along with several others. In his complaint, Damugade said that a program called Elgar Parishad was organised at Shaniwar Wada in Pune on December 31, 2017, wherein the artists present gave provocative performances which had the effect of disturbing the communal harmony. The complaint further said that objectionable and provocative books were also kept for sale at the event including a book on CPI (Maoist). As per the complaint, the event led to the violence that erupted at Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018, which left one dead and several injured.
Communal tensions flared in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh on Thursday after some miscreants inscribed ‘786’ and ’Allah’ on the wall of an ancient Durga temple located near Ala Hazrat Dargah in Biharipur area of the city. As soon as the information about the incident spread, some Hindu organisations reached the spot and protested against the incident. The police were subsequently informed and a case was registered.
According to the priest of the Durga temple, the incident hurt the religious sentiments of the local Hindu people. On receiving information about the incident, Circle Officer Pankaj Srivastav reached on the spot. On his order, the scribblings were removed and the temple wall was repainted.
The miscreants could not be identified since no CCTV camera was installed at the temple entry. However, the police are inspecting the CCTV cameras installed on buildings around the temple to identify the culprits.
On 2nd January, the Supreme Court expressed strong disapproval regarding what it deemed a “deliberate attempt” to suggest that the apex Court wished for Jagjit Singh Dallewal (67), the farmers’ leader who has been on a hunger strike since 26th November 2024, to end his fast by accepting medical assistance.
The court explained that its directives to offer medical assistance to Dallewal should not be interpreted as an intention to interrupt his fast.
Notably, Dallewal started the fast in relation to the continuous farmers’ protests demanding a minimum support price for their crops. A panel of Justices Surya Kant and Sudhanshu Dhulia indicated that Dallewal should not worry that seeking medical assistance would undermine the farmers’ protests.
The court further expressed disapproval of media coverage and the responses or lack thereof from the Punjab government, which may have suggested that providing medical aid to Dallewal could be a tactic to disrupt the ongoing protests.
“There is a deliberate attempt in the media by your state government officers to give an impression that the court is pressuring him to break the fast. Our direction was not to break his fast. We only said that let his health be taken care of and he can continue his peaceful protest even when he is hospitalised. You have to persuade him from this angle. Shifting him to the hospital does not mean he will not continue his fast. There are medical facilities which will ensure that no harm is caused to his life. That is our only concern. His life is precious as a farm leader. He is not aligned to any political ideologies and he is taking care of only the farmers’ cause,” the court stated.
The Supreme Court bench added, “Once Mr Dallewal’s health is adequately addressed, he may resume his fast, certainly with the assistance of medical professionals. When we are assured that his life is not at risk, the responsibilities of the committee appointed by the court will become less complex.”
The Court made these observations during the proceedings regarding Labh Singh’s petition, which called for contempt of court measures against the Punjab Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police for their failure to comply with the order to transfer Dallewal to a hospital.
Advocate General Gurminder Singh, representing the Punjab government, assured the court that a committee has been established comprising relevant stakeholders, and the state is making efforts to ensure that Dallewal receives the required assistance. “(The state is) not taking any sides. Issue is, we have tried to convince him to take medical help. People are on site. He is of the firm opinion, which was communicated to mediators, media that he will accept medical help subject to some intervention (talks with the relevant government regarding the farmers’ demands),” he conveyed.
Justice Kant sought clarification from the state on whether it had effectively communicated its openness to resolving the challenges encountered by the farmer. He questioned the Punjab AG, “Have you ever told him that a committee was formed just for this purpose? Don’t make us say things. Your attitude is that there should be no conciliation. That is the problem.”
The Advocate General submitted, “We have tried to convince him (Dallewal) to take medical aid as per your Lordships’ directions. Our people are on the site. He is of the firm opinion that he will definitely accept medical help subject to some intervention (by the centre).” The court pointed out, “Mr Advocate General, not even a single time your officers have gone there. Your ministers have gone there. Please don’t force us to say many things. Have you ever told them that we have constituted a committee for this purpose?”
Singh informed the bench that the committee had summoned the protesting farmers for discussions on 3rd January and that they had been told about the court-constituted panel. “There are people who are making irresponsible statements. We are aware. There are some so-called farmer leaders who are making irresponsible statements to complicate things. What are their bona fides is a matter to be looked into,” the court stated.
The court was reviewing a contempt of court petition submitted against the Chief Secretary of the State of Punjab for failing to adhere to a 20th December directive issued by the Supreme Court, which instructed the state to persuade the leader of the fasting farmers to seek medical attention. At a hearing on 28th December, the state reported that farmers were maintaining a watch to obstruct any efforts to provide medical assistance to Dallewal.
The Attorney General expressed that the state found itself in a position of helplessness. The bench reprimanded, “If state machinery says you are helpless, then do you know what is the repercussion? Court is not saying use unwanted force.”
Why are farmers protesting
The farmers are protesting, alleging that the government has failed to fulfil the promises made in 2020–2021. They are demanding for legal assurances regarding minimum support prices (MSP), debt relief, and pensions for both farmers and laborers. Additionally, they are seeking the restoration of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act and compensation for individuals who lost their lives during the protests of 2020-21.
They also blame the government for not attempting to double their incomes. Farmers affiliated with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been stationed at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since 13th February of last year, following the intervention of security forces that halted their march to Delhi.
A contingent of farmers made three attempts to proceed to Delhi on foot between 6th and 11th December, but each time they were stopped by security personnel in Haryana.
In the 2018 Chandan Gupta murder case wherein the Hindu youth was killed in a brutal mob violence that erupted over a Tiranga Yatra in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh, the NIA court of Lucknow on Thursday (2nd January) convicted 28 accused and acquitted 2 people. On Friday, the court will pronounce the sentence to all the accused.
According to the special advocate of the prosecution, Chandan Gupta alias Abhishek Gupta was shot dead in a dispute during the Tiranga Yatra in Kasganj on the 26th of January 2018. The incident was reported by his father Sushil Gupta at Kasganj police station.
Chandan, alias Abhishek Gupta, was involved in the Tiranga Yatra, which was taken out on Republic Day along with his brother Vivek Gupta and others. It is alleged that as soon as the procession reached the gate of Government Girls Inter College via Tehsil Road, Salim, Wasim and Naseem sons of Barkatullah alias Barki and Zahid alias Jagga, Asif Qureshi alias Hitler, Aslam Qureshi, Asim Qureshi, Nasiruddin, Akram, Tauq, Khillan, Shabab Rahat, Mohammad Nawab Mohsin, Asif Gym Wala, Saqib, Bablu, Nishu and Wasif and other people, who were already waiting in ambush armed with weapons, blocked the way and snatched the tricolour from the hands and threw it on the ground, shouted slogans of Pakistan Zindabad and Hindustan Murdabad and threatened at gunpoint that if they have to pass through this road, they will have to say Pakistan Zindabad.
The court was further told that when Chandan and other people opposed this, all the Muslim accused started pelting stones and firing to kill them. Accused Salim targeted Chandan Gupta and shot him leaving him severely injured and many other people were also injured due to the firing of the accused. Chandan’s brother Vivek somehow saved his life and first went to Kasganj police station and then from there took him to the district hospital for treatment where the doctors declared Chandan dead. The local police were conducting the investigation of this case, however, considering the seriousness of the incident and anti-national acts, further investigation was handed over to the NIA.
NIA led the first chargesheet on 26th April 2018. In this, Salim, Wasim, Naseem, Bablu, Nasruddin, Akram, Tauq, Mohsin, Rahat, Salman, Asif, Nishu, Khillan, Wasif, Imran, Shamshad, Zafar, Shakiv Khalid, Faizan, Imran, Saqir, Azizuddin and Zahid alias Jagga were made accused. In the second supplementary chargesheet, Asif Qureshi alias Hitler, Asim Qureshi, Shawav, Saqib, Aslam Qureshi, Munajir and Aamir Ra have been made accused. Azizuddin died during the trial of the case. Due to this, the case was led against 30 accused.
OpIndia reported earlier, how except for accused Salim, 28 out of the 29 individuals charged in connection with the 2018 Kasganj communal clash and the subsequent murder of Chandan Gupta, have been released from jail. However, today the NIA court convicted 28 accused and acquitted 1. The court will pronounce their sentences on Friday (3rd January).
Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani met World Chess Champion D Gukesh and his parents. In a post on X, Adani expressed that prodigies like Gukesh are inspiring a new generation and building an army of champions.
“It was an absolute privilege to meet and hear the victory story of reigning World Chess Champion @DGukesh. Equally inspiring was meeting his incredible parents, Dr Rajinikanth and Dr Padmavathi, whose quiet sacrifices laid the foundation for his success,” Adani wrote in his post on Wednesday.
“At just 18, Gukesh’s poise and brilliance are a testament to India’s unstoppable youth. Prodigies like him are inspiring a new generation, building an army of champions ready to dominate global chess for decades. This is the confident, resurgent and rising India. Jai Hind!,” he added.
Gukesh’s success story was one of the major highlights of Indian sports in 2024. He made history in December by defeating China’s Ding Liren in the decisive 14th game of the FIDE World Championship match in Singapore. The championship, tied at 6.5-6.5 heading into the final game, saw a stellar performance from Gukesh, who secured a 7.5-6.5 victory, becoming the youngest world champion ever at 18. He also became India’s second world chess champion after Viswanathan Anand.
During the meeting, Mr Adani highlighted how every challenge has to be seen as an opportunity. He also pointed out that so many youngsters are taking to Chess these days and Tamil Nadu has become the capital of Chess in India.
Gautam Adani also mentioned during the meeting that once you have self belief, it gives you inner strength to achieve your goals. He added that people who have a dream will always work hard.
In April, Gukesh won the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2024, becoming the youngest challenger to Ding Liren’s world title.
During the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, in September, the Indian teams made history, with both the men’s and women’s teams securing gold medals for the first time.
The Indian men’s team, including Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, and Arjun Erigaisi, defeated Slovenia in the final, scoring a record 21 points. The Indian women’s team, led by Harika Dronavalli and Divya Deshmukh, also defeated Azerbaijan for the title. Gukesh, Arjun, Divya, and Vantika also won gold individually on their boards.
Also, Humpy won the FIDE Women’s World Rapid Championship in New York after beating Indonesia’s Irene Sukandar with the black pieces in the final round of the tournament. It was Humpy’s second world rapid title and the fourth time she has finished in the top three of the event. Previously, the Indian chess player won the title back in 2019.
Humpy sealed the title after finishing with a score of 8.5/11 in the final round of the tournament.
As per ESPN, the Indian chess player achieved the milestone of becoming the second player to win multiple women’s world rapid titles after China’s Ju Wenjun.
Back in 2023, Humpy came second at the FIDE World Rapid Championship. While, in 2012, she secured second place at the tournament.
Back in October, the 21-year-old Grandmaster Erigaisi achieved a significant milestone by surpassing the 2800 ELO rating mark in live chess ratings. This accomplishment made Erigaisi the youngest Indian and only the second player from the country, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand, to cross this coveted threshold.
On Wednesday (1st January) night, a Hindu man named Pranta Talukder was abducted by a Muslim mob from his residence in the Patenga Kathgarh area in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.
According to reports, the extremists tortured and thrashed him mercilessly. The young Hindu man was severely injured. The Muslim mob accused Talukder of committing ‘blasphemy.’
The local police were informed that a man was being beaten in the parking lot of Lalkhan Bazar Amin Center. On learning about the matter, the cops reached the spot and rescued the Hindu man.
ধর্ম অবমাননার অভিযোগ তুলে "নারায়ে তাকবীর আল্লাহু আকবর" স্লোগান দিয়ে চট্টগ্রাম কাটগড় ২ নাম্বার গলি থেকে প্রান্ত তালুকদার নামে এক হিন্দু যুবককে তুলে নিয়ে যাওয়ার আজকের সিসিটিভি ফুটেজ।।#SaveBangladeshiHinduspic.twitter.com/Ss96PP56Hy
Pranta Talkuder was thereafter admitted to the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital. A video of the Hindu man being carried on all fours by a violent Muslim mob is doing the rounds of the internet.
The matter is currently being investigated by the police.
Muslims attack Hindu minorities in Bangladesh under pretext of blasphemy
In December last year, Muslims carried out arson attack on 130 Hindu houses and 20 temples after accusing a young boy named Akash Das of making blasphemous comments on Facebook.
In October 2024, a frenzied Muslim mob laid siege to the Kadirdi Degree College in Boalmari in the Faridpur district of Bangladesh after accusing a Hindu boy named Hridoy Pal of ‘insulting’ Prophet Muhammad.
In Faridpur, a teenager named Hriday Pal is being taken away by the army in a bizarre manner, but what is his crime? Behind him, the miscreants are telling the soldiers to beat the boy, and according to them, the soldiers are attacking the boy. The boy is Hindu. Fanatics are… pic.twitter.com/irFz1UcrrF
In September last year, a Hindu boy named Utsab Mandal was almost lynched by a Muslim mob on accusations of ‘blasphemy’ in the Sonadanga residential area of Khulna city.
Later that month, another frenzied Muslim mob laid siege to the Patiya police station in Chittagong district of Bangladesh, demanding that the cops hand over a Hindu boy accused of ‘insulting’ Prophet Muhammad.
The mob, comprising mostly local madrassa students, also attacked an army vehicle after seeing a young boy in civilian clothes and mistaking him for the Hindu victim. A 22-year-old Hindu youth named Partha Biswas Pintu was arrested on charges of committing ‘blasphemy’.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University (BSMRSTU) Student Utsab Kumar Gain has been brutally assaulted and handed over to the police for allegedly sending a message in a social media group by commenting on Muslims Prophet Muhammad. The student's… pic.twitter.com/CYj9mZuRgC
In May 2024, a Hindu student named Utsab Kumar Gian, studying at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University in Bangladesh, was thrashed by a Muslim mob on accusations of blasphemy.
