Home Blog Page 5419

5 Muslim men lied, spread fake news, TOI carried it: The truth about ‘Muslims organising last rites of Hindu man ostracised by neighbours

OpIndia Staff
-
0
5 Muslim men lied, spread fake news, TOI carried it: The truth about ‘Muslims organising last rites of Hindu man ostracised by neighbours

The anguished Hindu family of a man, who recently passed away, has rubbished the report published by the Times of India alleging that the Muslim men organised the last rites and funeral of the deceased man after the neighbours “banished” the family since they suspected that he died after battling the Wuhan Coronavirus.

The report was published by Times of India on April 20, 2020, in all the major editions of the newspaper as well as on its official website. The report titled-‘5 Muslim men organise last rites of a man shunned by neighbours’ alleged that the family of the deceased Hindu man was ostracised by the neighbours on the suspicion that the man died from Coronavirus. The deceased, Venu Mudiraj, died of tuberculosis on April 16 in the hospital.

Snapshot of report published on TOI website

The report stated that 5 Muslim men carried out the last rites of Venu Mudiraj, an autorickshaw driver, after his neighbour ostracised the family following a heated argument with his teenage children and younger brother Vinod for bringing the body of the deceased home who they suspected had died of coronavirus.

However, a Hyderbad based journalist Sridharan Siddhu contacted Swarajya Magazine journalist Swati Goel Sharma to inform her that the family of the deceased is traumatised because of the false report and it intends to clarify things regarding the falsehoods published about them in the media.

The Times of India had quoted the deceased’s brother, Vinod, as saying,

relevant portion from the TOI report

Refuting the lies published in the report, Vinod accused the Times of India of concocting statements and attributing false comments to him. “I never said that. It is totally false,” he said.

Vinod then gave his account of the incident. According to him, after bringing his brother’s body home on April 16, some 5 Muslim men visited their house at around 10 PM in the night. One of them was Mohammad Ahmed, who was his brother’s friend, Vinod claimed. However, he did not recognise the rest of the 4 men who accompanied Ahmed. Vinod states that they all expressed their condolences and provided the family with food packets before leaving.

Vinod goes on to say that those men also attended the funeral and some of them asked if they could pick up the bier. Vinod assented to their request, completely oblivious to the fact that photos of them carrying the bier were clicked.

Vinod then said that the men visited him again the next day, April 18, and made him talk to press reporter over the phone.

“One of them asked me to talk over phone with the press reporter. He said the person is a journalist and the report could help us in getting a financial assistance from the government. I talked with the reporter quickly and got busy with the other rituals,” Vinod said.

However, the family was shocked to learn about the fallacious report published in the Times of India two days later.

“We have become a laughing stock in our community. we are subjected to ridicule by people, asking us we don’t have four men to lift the bier and depend on the members of other community. They are asking if my brother was an orphan,” an anguished Vinod said.

Vinod clarified that they are a large family and only because of the restrictions imposed during the lockdown, they had to carry out the funeral of his brother with a gathering of 20 men.

He further added that he spent Rs 35000 from his hard-earned money in his brother’s funeral but it pains him to see that five Muslims took away the credit without doing anything.

In a video-recorded statement to Swati, the deceased’s 18-year-old son Sachin said that initially people in his area opposed their entry in the colony due to the COVID-19 restrictions but when they called up police for the cooperation, the people in his neighbourhood helped the family in every way they could.

“5 Muslim men,claiming to be my father’s friend, came and requested us to carry the bier for sometime. We don’t know them at all. But since they said they were my father’s friends, we allowed them to hold the bier. They then took photos and spread the news in newspapers and on social media that they performed the entire last rites. That’s not true. They didn’t do anything,” Sachin said.

He further added, “We lost our mother two years ago and now we have lost our father. And then this misleading report published by TOI is further traumatising us. My relatives are calling me up to ask ‘Who are these 5 Muslim men who helped you?’ This is very humiliating and they are exploiting my father’s death to gain credit. This is fake news, Muslims did not help us, people in our neighbourhood have helped us.”

Sachin also revealed that contrary to media reports which claimed his father died of the tuberculosis but of “low BP”.

An audio recording between “one of those Muslim men” with his maternal uncle Bharath after the publication of the report was shared by Sachin. In the audio, Bharath angrily asks the man on the other side who he was and what he got published in the newspaper. The man on the other side defensively says “it’s nothing”. Bharath then questions him what help did he or his other friends offered and if getting photos clicked amounts to helping the family.

When Preeti Biswas, the journalist who wrote the contentious report in the Times of India, was approached for a comment after the family refuted the assertions made in her report, she defended herself saying she followed the protocol and had a conversation with the deceased’s brother Vinod which she reported in the article. Biswas said that Vinod informed her about the five Muslim men who visited their house and provided them with help such as arrangement of food for family members, sought police permissions and spoke to the house owner on behalf of the family members. He also told them how the five Muslim men helped the family in moving the body to crematorium and stayed until the funeral ended.

Meanwhile, one of the members of the family, who wished to remain anonymous, informed the Swarajya Magazine correspondent that they are mulling over taking a legal course against the “fake news” as it has besmirched the family’s reputation.

Trying to hoodwink FATF? Report says Pakistan has quietly removed names of 4000 terrorists from watchlist including Mumbai attack mastermind

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Trying to hoodwink FATF? Report says Pakistan has quietly removed names of 4000 terrorists from watchlist including Mumbai attack mastermind

A New York-based Artificial Intelligence startup has revealed that Pakistan has silently removed the names of almost 4,000 terrorists from its terror watchlist. The removed named include LeT leader and Mumbai attack mastermind Zakir ur Rehman Lakhvi and many others.

The Artificial Intelligence startup Castellum has revealed quoting Financial Action task Force that in October 2018 the country’s terror watchlist had 7,600 names. As the work of AI is to add new data sources, it noted that between March 9 and 27 data showed that Pakistan removed 1,069 names from the Proscribed person List and all those names appeared on the country’s denotified list. After 27 March, 800 names were also removed and eventually 3800 names have been placed in the denotified list till so far without any explanation or notification to the public.

Denotified list includes the names of those who are officially removed from the main list.

It is notable here that the terror watchlist is maintained to help financial institutions to avoid doing business with or to process money transactions linked to terrorists or terrorist organisations.

Several of the names removed are the aliases of designated terrorists listed by the US or the United Nations. The Wall Street Journal has stated that while nations are required to notify financial institutions when such names are included or excluded, Pakistan has a history of not doing so.

Pakistan and FATF

While Pakistan received a low rating from the global money laundering and terror watchdog Financial Action Task Force in this February, removing the names from the terror watchlist may be a strategy to implement the FATF recommendations.

The Global watchdog FATF had retained Pakistan in the Greylist in this February. The FATF subgroup International Cooperation Review Group had recommended retaining Pakistan in the ‘grey list’ citing that Pakistan failed to take appropriate action against terror financers.

In the 5-day plenary session, the ICRG noted that the Islamic country had addressed only 14 points out of 27 conditions to get out of the Greylist, which is considered unsatisfactory. The FATF will again look into the progress made by Pakistan in June 2020.

Earlier in October 2019, the Asia Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had published its annual report (Mutual Evaluation report of Pakistan) which stated, “With the exception of some recent actions discussed in detail below, Pakistan has not taken sufficient measures to fully implement UNSCR 1267 obligations against all listed individuals and entities – especially those associated with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)/Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as well as the groups’ leader Hafiz Saeed.”

The role of Muslim leadership in the times of Coronavirus crisis

Desh Ratan Nigam
-
0
The role of Muslim leadership in the times of Coronavirus crisis

I may have my own definition of leadership but so do many others. However, a famous author once said: “A leader is one who knows the way, walks the way and shows the way”. Hence leadership is a beautiful relationship between the leader and the followers and the leader can sometimes be the follower of the followers if followers are bringing up something noble and show the way. Tested on the above parameters it is safe to conclude that Muslim leadership has failed Muslims and the country but at the same time, Muslims have had some very good leaders like A P J Abdul Kalam, Brig. Mohammad Usman and their failure today is so manifest in times of Coronavirus crisis.


The Maulvis of the kind of Tablighi Jamaat have taken over the leadership of the Muslim community even much prior to the independence and wearing a mask to hide their true identity and disseminating convenient teachings to brainwash Muslims that Ummah first Nation afterwards and that psychological imprint was so very visible from countrywide behaviour in corona crisis. A prime example is the rejection of Ram Mandir judgement after the verdict by the same leadership who swore by the Constitution and acceptance of whatever the verdict would be.


The fundamental question, therefore, is “Does the Muslim leadership knows the way? ” The answer is a big “NO”. The present leadership of the likes Owasi are vitriolic and communal to the core and incapable of uplifting Muslims and want their Ummah to remain in the red zone of Jahaliyat (ignorance) and prevent Muslims from imbibing scientific temper. This lack of scientific temper and sense of enquiry, since the time of banning printing press by Khalifa of Turkey for 250 years in medieval times, led to severe and grievously injuring attacks on our noble Coronavirus warriors who, in fact, are their saviours. The news is that apart from being 35 % of partners in direct corona cases in India, the Tablighis have infected Muslim children where ever they have gone. And the Muslim community and their leaders are loud and visible by their silence.


The good Muslims must be many are, absent by their presence, afraid of lethal attacks from orthodox rudderless leadership. There were some who paraded themselves before media fearfully were and are on the sides of Tabhligis who have worldwide notorious history. The partition, roasting of Kar Sewaks in Godhra, the involvement of Tablighi HQ in Nizamuddin in 9/11 are just a few examples of Tabhligis gift to India and the world and shockingly the Muslims are supporting them.


Infact the leadership of Muslim community by default or by design has been with non Muslim political leaders  who have harmed the nation more by their appeasement politics and giving them false sense of superiority rather than of equality. Opportunistic slogans like Meem-Bheem are the means to exploit the SCs rather doing any good to them.The hollowness of their leadership was exhibited by Shaheen Bagh protest. The advocacy of Sharia law in civil affairs and not in criminal affairs highlights their hypocrisy and an effort to to take Muslims to stone age where as using every symbol of modernity and inventions at the same time.


The Muslim community must rise and unshackle the hold of maulvis and incompetent leadership and ask a very simple question… What has the Muslim community gained from them except backwardness and opposing the programmes of Polio vaccination, population control or the Coronavirus fight.


Therefore, a leader is not a leader who does not know the way and hence cannot walk the way or show the way and that, my Muslim brothers and sisters is the storey of muslim leadership in the past and present and hopefully not in the future.We therefore need a Muslim leadership, that does not prevent you from handing over hiding Tablighis or suspected corona patients, that prevents you from pelting stones on your saviours..The Corona Warriors.This is the time Muslims cannot fail for your own sake, for fellow Indians and Country or else the gap will increase. The Nation comes first and then everything else.

Bihar: Communal tension in Warisaliganj after 60 goons attack Maha Dalit colony leaving one dead and several injured

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bihar: Communal tension in Warisaliganj after 60 goons attack Maha Dalit colony leaving one dead and several injured

An incident of murder has been reported from the Warisaliganj village of Navada district in Bihar. A heated altercation between two sides in Maha Dalit colony in Warisaliganj rendered one dead and several others injured. The fight which started as a minor scuffle quickly escalated in a shootout after which a 55-year-old Dalit man named Ravidas was shot dead by the main accused Mohammad Irfan. Besides, 6 other people including a woman were injured in the brawl.

Eight accused in the connection with the shootout have been arrested by the Police. However, the prime accused, Mohammad Irfan is still at large. Soon after killing Ravidas, Irfan is said to have absconded from the spot. According to the reports, the situation between the two factions of the village had been tensed for the last 20 days, after which the killing was carried out on Friday (April 18, 2020).

It is being claimed that the dispute was mainly between Kishore Raja Ravidas and one Mohammad Mahir. The exact cause of the dispute between the two men is yet not clear. The altercation happened close to the Vivekananda Public School. After this, the family of Mohammad Mahir reached Ravidas’s house, dragged him out of his house and mercilessly thrashed him. The incident was not reported to the police until then. Even the local police were not informed about the beating that Ravidas received at the hands of Mahir and his men. Ravidas stayed in the Maha Dalit colony of the village, where on Friday morning, Mohammad Mahir arrived along with 60 people and started fighting with Ravidas.

When the Dalits opposed the beating, stones were pelted on them by the Muslim faction. In response to stone-pelting by Muslims, Dalits too started hurling bricks and stones at the Muslims in order to deter them from continuing the attack. However, the Muslim faction continued attacking the Dalits and vandalising their colony. Thereafter, Mohammad Irfan started firing indiscriminately towards the Dalits. Ravidas was mortally injured in the shootout and he succumbed to his injury during his treatment. All the other 6 injured, including a woman, belonged to the Dalit community. They are all under treatment at VIMS Pavapuri.

(Picture courtesy: Dainik Jagran)

Soon after the incident was reported, the ASP and the team of the local police station rushed to the spot. Additional soldiers were summoned from the district headquarters. Four large swords were also seized from the accused. Those accused of violating blockade were taken into custody. However, police is still on the lookout of Mohammad Irfan who is still on the run.

The two factions were engaged in a fight last month as well

Last month, on March 29, a skirmish had broken out between the two factions over who had killed the fish in a pit in the village. 8 people were injured in the clash during that time. The village panchayat had managed to somehow broker a truce between the sparring sides. No police complaint was registered by either of the sides then. However, the police had preemptively filed a case against several people from both the sides for defying strict lockdown amidst the raging coronavirus pandemic. No arrests were made by the police in the case.

A similar incident of Dalit murder in Madhubani

Recently, in a similar incident of murder was reported from Madhubani, where a 70-year-old Dalit woman Kala Devi (aka Kaili Devi) was killed by Suleiman Nadaf, Malil Nadaf and Sharif Nadaf on the intervening night of April 5 and 6. The sarpanch of the village, Fakre Alam, tried all his might to save the killers and alter the postmortem report.

Palghar mob lynching: Relatives of those arrested threaten to kill BJP sarpanch on the suspicion of colluding with the police

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Palghar mob lynching: Relatives of those arrested threaten to kill BJP sarpanch on the suspicion of colluding with the police

Days after the horrific incident of mob lynching that claimed the lives of 3 men, including 2 sadhus, in Gadchinchle village of Palghar district, relatives of those arrested in the case have reportedly threatened BJP sarpanch Chitra Choudhary of dire consequences for colluding with the police. The relatives suspect that it was the sarpanch of the village who released the details of the murderers to the police.

The police have arrested 110 people in connection with the ghastly lynching of the three men who were on their way to Gujarat from Mumbai when they were stopped in Palghar district and brutally hacked to death by a mob of 400-500 people based on the rumours that they were involved in the abduction of children to harvest organs, including kidneys. As per the Lokmat report, the relatives of those arrested have threatened the BJP sarpanch of killing her, her two children as well as her husband for the leaking the identities of the murders of the three men to the police.

Palghar Sadhus lynched

The blood-curdling incident happened on 16th April 2020 in Palghar, Maharashtra. Two Sadhus, 70-year-old Kalpavrishka Giri Maharaj and 35-year-old Sushil Giri Maharaj along with their driver 30-year-old Nilesh Telgade associated with the Juna Akhara and were on their way from Mumbai to Gujarat to give Samadhi to another Sadhu. At Gadakchinchale village, a wild and frenzied crowd of over more than 100 people attacked them. The villagers deemed them as thieves and started attacking them. The police claim that their team which had rushed to the spot to rescue the 70-year-old man also came under the attack of the violent mob.

Horrifying visuals of the Palghar lynching incident where a mob of over 100 people killed two Sadhus and their driver even as the Police stood there as mute spectators, just letting the barbaric act unfold, had gone viral on the social media.

People of the Sadhu community say that this village is tribals dominated and most of them are Christians while some are Muslims. Some even say that the police, out of fear of the tribals, handed over the Sadhus to the mob which later beat up those Sadhus to death with sticks. Reportedly, when the tribals of a particular religion started beating up the Sadhus, the police did not intervene.

Investigation in incident

In the FIR, the assistant police inspector Anand Rao Kale, who led the initial response team of the police at the spot claimed that the police were heavily outnumbered as there were about 400 to 500 frenzied people who were baying for the blood of the three individuals. The report mentions that the police team which had reached the location to rescue the victims were also attacked by the mob. When they tried to rescue the victims by putting them in the police vehicle, the mob vandalised the police vehicle and kept attacking the three men with stones. Kale identified five men from the mob of 400-500 and included them in the FIR. They are- Jairam Bhavar (25), Mahesh Sitaram Ravte (19), Ganesh Devji Rao (31), Ramdas Rupji Asare (27) and Sunil Somji Ravte (25).

Offences under IPC sections 302 (murder), 120(B), 427, 147, 148 and 149 have been registered against the five accused along with the mob of 400-500 people. IPC Section 188 has also been invoked in the case due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown under which sweeping curbs have been imposed on movement and assembly of people, the report said.

Amidst coronavirus, Donald Trump to ‘temporarily’ suspend immigration into the United States

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Amidst coronavirus, Donald Trump to ‘temporarily’ suspend immigration into the United States

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump informed on Twitter that he would sign an executive order to ‘temporarily’ suspend immigration in the country in order to protect the jobs of the American citizens, amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. He has, however, not clarified on the duration of the order or the date from which it will be enforced in the country.

The White House has also not commented on the issue so far. Recently, executive powers were used by the US to deport undocumented migrants Mexico. It is important to mention that Public health measures can be used to override immigration laws.

Donald Trump has been vocal about immigration and border security. He had also proposed and started building a wall across the Mexico border to prevent the inflow of illegal immigrants. The decision to temporarily suspend immigration comes at a time when the Wuhan Coronavirus has infected 7.92 lac people and claimed over 42,500 lives.

As per reports, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has already suspended routine in-person services but is offering only emergency services.

Donald Trump stops funding WHO

US President Donald Trump has suspended funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO) until a review is conducted to assess its role in mismanaging the Chinese coronavirus outbreak.

“Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organisation while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organisation’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. Everybody knows what is going on there. American taxpayers provide between 400-500 million dollars per year to the WHO and in contrast, China contributes roughly 40 million dollars a year or even less. As the organisation’s leading sponsor, the United States has a duty to insist on full accountability”, he said.

Malegaon: Over 500 people gather at Noorani Masjid area for a funeral procession despite lockdown orders, dispersed after police intervention

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Malegaon: Over 500 people gather at Noorani Masjid area for a funeral procession despite lockdown orders, dispersed after police intervention

Defying lockdown and social distancing orders, hundreds of people gathered to be a part of the funeral procession in Azadpur, Malegaon, Maharashtra on Monday. The police, however, dispersed the mob of around 500 people who were part of the funeral procession, allowing only 20- 25 to proceed to the cremation ground.

Most of the people left the place after the police intervened in the matter. As per reports, the funeral procession was taking place in Malegaon’s Noorani Masjid area.

“Around 500 people were there during the funeral procession but only 20-25 proceeded for funeral ground, rest of them returned to their homes following our request to keep the strength of the gathering around 20 people,” said Police Sub Inspector Abhijit Jadhav of Malegaon.

Coronavirus in Maharashtra:

As per the data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases in Maharashtra stands to 4,203, which includes 223 deaths. 

The financial capital of the State Mumbai has been the worst affected district in the entire country, registering over a hundred cases per day. BMC has set up 438 containment zones throughout Mumbai since the rise in the number of cases.

Dharavi, Mumbai’s most densely populated area, has been under severe scrutiny. As Dharavi’s case tally touches 168 with 11 deaths, BMC has started screening all 7.5 lakh residents of Asia’s largest slum.

Liberals always talk about ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ composed by Muhammad Iqbal but never ‘Tarana-e-Milli’: Here is why

K Bhattacharjee
-
0
Liberals always talk about ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ composed by Muhammad Iqbal but never ‘Tarana-e-Milli’: Here is why

The 21st of April marks the death anniversary of Muhammad Iqbal, one of the most significant proponents of the two-nation theory and the creation of Pakistan in the first half of the 20th Century. Indians, of course, know him as the pen behind the famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’. In Independent India, under the patronage of Nehruvian Secularism, Iqbal has come to be regarded as a beacon of Secularism and the underlying cultural unity between the Hindus and Muslims of India.

Anyone with half a thinking mind should have realized that Muhammad Iqbal was a very poor ambassador for the mythical construct of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. However, the intoxicating capabilities of Nehruvian Secularism are so potent that it renders an individual unable to grasp even the semblance of reality. Any self-respecting country would have thrown Iqbal into the dustbins of history for the morbid political worldview he advocated which manifested itself in the form of Pakistan. But in Secular India, his words were held up as an example for Hindus and Muslims to follow. Needless to say, if the Muslims of this country decide to follow Muhammad Iqbal’s words in their entirety, Hindus have plenty to worry about.

The now famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ was published in 1904 by Muhammad Iqbal, a year before the Partition of Bengal in British India. The most famous lines of the composition say, which formed its sixth stanza, “Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā, Hindī haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā”. Unfortunately, in Independent India, the entire legacy of the Islamic fundamentalist poet has been reduced to these two lines, ignoring almost entirely his contribution to the formation of Pakistan. Unsurprisingly, not much is spoken of the Tarana-e-Milli which was composed by Iqbal in 1910.

In Tarana-e-Milli, the Islamic fundamentalist nature of Muhammad Iqbal become entirely evident. It was composed in the same metre and rhyme scheme as ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ and was composed for children. The first stanza of this particular composition contrasted sharply with the sixth stanza of his prior composition. It said, “Cīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā, Muslim haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai sārā jahāṉ hamārā”. This is the pure vision of the Ummah in poetry. The Ummah which does not constrain itself with any national boundaries but believes that it has an Allah-given right to lord over the entire world. Unfortunately for the Ummah lovers, that vision is unlikely to ever come true.

The Islamic fundamentalist worldview of Muhammad Iqbal, which contrasts sharply with the image of him being a beacon of communal harmony that has been propped up in India since independence, are more than evident in the words of Tarana-e-Milli. He says, “The treasure of tawhid is in our hearts, It is not easy to wipe out our name and mark. The first house we have liberated from idols is the Ka’abah; We are its custodians, and It is our protector.” Tawhid refers to the concept of Monotheism in Islam. The words seen in unison reflect quite clearly the deep hatred for idolatry and polytheism that Muhammad Iqbal carried in his heart. These are not the words of someone who preached communal harmony, these are the words of an individual who wishes to wage Jihad against Hindus for his religious reliefs.

It is quite evident that between 1904 and 1910, a radical transformation occurred in the worldview of Muhammad Iqbal. It is believed that it occurred when he left for the United Kingdom for a three-year period. It is then that he supposedly turned into an Islamic fundamentalist which paved the way for him becoming a staunch advocate for the creation of Pakistan. Throughout the later stages of his life, Muhammad Iqbal was a passionate advocate for the creation of Pakistan.

In his presidential address at the 25th Annual Session of the All India Muslim League on the 29th of December, 1930, he said, “India is a continent of human beings belonging to different languages and professing different religions…I, therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in the best interests of the Muslims of India and Islam.” In the same address, Muhammad Iqbal also said, “I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single State. Self-government within the British Empire, or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim State appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of North-West India.”

Adherents of Nehruvian Secularism in India blame anyone and everyone for the two-nation theory and the creation of Pakistan, even as they idolize those who were primarily responsible for the partition of the country. Even during the CAA debate in December last year, the Congress party blamed Vinayak Damodar Savarkar for propagating the two-nation theory when, in fact, it was first advocated by Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. And all this while, they continue to hold Muhammad Iqbal in high regard even though he actively demanded the creation of Pakistan. But then, logical inconsistency and hypocrisy are the features of Nehruvian Secularism and not a bug.

It is also known that Muhammad Iqbal was an Ahmadiyya for the major part of his life. It was only later that he quit the sect, allegedly due to pressure from Radical Muslims who consider Ahmadiyyas to be heretics. It is widely known that he remained in touch with the Ahmadiyya leadership till 1931, when he vouched for the Ahmadi Khalifa as the most able person to lead as the first president of the newly founded all-India Kashmir Committee. His parents and elder brothers remained Ahmadiyyas. The pitiable circumstances of Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan is abundant evidence as to why Iqbal might have been motivated to convert out of the sect. Thus, ironically, the beacon of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb was quite probably shamed into converting out of the sect he was born into.

As has been said before, any self-respecting country would have dumped Muhammad Iqbal and his compositions in the dustbin, where it belongs. However, Secularism in India means that Hindus continue to suffer every slight that is thrown at them. Of course, one could indulge in a long philosophical debate about whether art could be separated from its creator but these are intellectual luxuries that could ever be entertained only in the absence of imminent existential threats. Unfortunately for us, however, Hindus have been combating a multitude of existential threats ever since the creation of the Indian Republic.

After 53 journalists in Mumbai, 27 employees of a Chennai-based channel test positive for coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After 53 journalists in Mumbai, 27 employees of a Chennai-based channel test positive for coronavirus

Two days after a 24-year-old journalist of a Tamil TV channel based out in Chennai tested positive for coronavirus, an additional 26 journalists of the same TV channel have tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

The Greater Chennai Corporation, as quoted by the New Indian Express, had sent swab samples of 94 people working at the Tamil TV channel in Royapuram after a journalist, a copy editor, had tested positive for coronavirus. So far, 26 of the 94 samples have tested positive for the infection. Officials claim the number can increase since the result of many samples have not yet come.

According to the officials, the office of the Tamil TV channel has been sealed off. The Royapuram zone of the Southern metropolis of Chennai has the most number of cases in the city with 92 cases as on Tuesday.

The officials of Health Department have sent all the contacts of the 27 journalists, including their family members, to the quarantine centres. The high risk contacts of these 27 journalists who tested positive for the virus will be be tested for the coronavirus.

53 journalists in Mumbai test positive for coronavirus

The news of 27 scribes testing positive for the virus comes a day after 53 reporters in Mumbai had tested positive for COVID-19. The BMC official yesterday revealed that a camp was organised on April 16 and 17 for COVID-19 testing at the Azad Maidan for the media persons. The BMC medical staff collected samples from 171 persons, including field staff from electronic and print media houses, reporters, photographers and camera persons out of which 53 tested positive for the novel contagion. Currently, most of those who were tested positive are asymptomatic.

A majority of those who tested positive in Mumbai are from TV channels. They are being provided medical treatment and held in quarantine at a hotel in Goregaon.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal agrees to conduct mass testing of journalists

Following a request made by a journalist to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to organise a mass testing for journalists in Delhi in the the aftermath of 53 journalists in Mumbai testing positive for coronavirus, the Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has agreed to arrange for widespread testing for journalists in Delhi as well.

India has witnessed a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases reported daily. With 1,331 cases in 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 18,658 by Tuesday. Maharashtra tops the list of states with the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases as it recorded 472 new cases and 9 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Rana Ayyub declares victory for Ummah, claims PM Modi appealed for communal harmony due to ‘pressure from Islamic countries’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Rana Ayyub declares victory for Ummah, claims PM Modi appealed for communal harmony due to ‘pressure from Islamic countries’

Habitual Fake News Peddler Rana Ayyub appears to be hallucinating in broad daylight. She is labouring under the belief that pressure from Islamic countries is forcing Prime Minister Modi to appeal for communal harmony. On Sunday, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to put up a united front against the Wuhan Coronavirus regardless of our race, religion, caste, creed or other such barriers. It was one of the many appeals to communal harmony he has made over the years.

Rana Ayyub, however, feels that Narendra Modi made the appeal due to pressure from UAE and other Islamic countries. This is the same woman who sees genocide of Muslims where there is none happening. Her belief comes from the recent exhortations against Hindus by some malcontents in the Arabian state in tandem with Muslims living in India.

The Targeted Campaign Against Hindus

In recent times, Muslims and the Left in India have been harassing Hindus in the Middle East to vent out their frustration against the loss of the Muslim Street Veto in India. The Indian Government under the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah refused to give in to the demands of Muslims and the Left to take back the CAA and refused to commit to the junking of the NRC. The continuous barrage of propaganda and incitement to violence resulted in the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi in February. However, the CAA is still in force and the NRC could very well be implemented in the future although there are no official discussions underway currently.

As a consequence, Muslims and the Left in India have been horribly frustrated and organized a concerted campaign to target Hindus living in the Middle East. Soon enough, some malcontents in UAE also joined in the charade. Recently, they had also demanded that Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya be sacked for a five-year old tweet. One princess Hend Al Qassimi, who has a history of posting lewd and crass content on the social media platform, has also been quite vocal against Hindus.

Salman Nizami, a Congress leader, meanwhile, is going a bit overboard in his profuse declarations of love for his counterparts in the Gulf. Pakistanis, too, are rejoicing that malcontents in the Gulf have joined hands with Indian Muslims to target Hindus.

Happy Delusions

And now, Rana Ayyub believes that Prime Minister Modi made an appeal for communal harmony due to the pressure created by such malcontents. It is pertinent to note that Islamic countries like Malaysia and Turkey, too, tried to create pressure on India due to its decision to abrogate Article 370 and integrate Jammu & Kashmir with the Union of India. Months later, Malaysia is regretting its decision, Turkey lost some deals due to the comments made by wannabe Caliph Erdogan and Kashmiris, meanwhile, are still forced to contend with 2G internet in the time of 4G. And all the while, the ties between Arab countries and India are continuously increasing. Project Ummah has clearly hit a roadblock. And thus, the desperation and the unhinged demonstration of hatred.

Needless to say, these are just false pretensions of victory and confidence one has to maintain in order to convince the adherents to not lose hope at a time when Radical Islam in India has suffered one terrible lost after the other. Rana Ayyub is a propagandist, facts do not matter to her. She is claiming victory so that her deluded followers believe the strategy of harassing Hindus is working and the harassment of Hindus continues in the Gulf. In reality, this could have devastating consequences for the Muslims in India who will have to suffer the social repercussions of Hindus being made to suffer in the Middle East.

1...5,4185,4195,420...7,585Page 5,419 of 7,585