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Rajasthan: 18 students admitted to hospital after they fell ill following consuming midday meal

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On Saturday, 18 students studying at a government school in Ajmer district of Rajasthan were rushed to hospital after consuming their midday meal. The incident took place at Arjun Pura Khalsa School, a government school in Arjun P54ura village.


The children had, reportedly, consumed vegetables, roti, and milk as their midday meal. After taking the milk, the students complained of vomiting, nausea, and diarrhoea. The school administration then contacted the health officials, following which the children were admitted to the hospital.

Chief Medical Health Officer (Ajmer) KK Soni said, “Children were rushed to the hospital and are stable now. The food safety officer was sent to take the food samples of the meal. We are looking further into it.”

Read- Mirzapur: Salt and roti mid-day meal row staged? Police books journalist and village Pradhan’s rep for conspiracy

Around 50 students were taken to the nearby community health centre. From there, 18 students were referred to Jawaharlal Nehru hospital in Ajmer town. The condition of the children, aged between and 11 years, is said to be out of danger now.

He added that around 80 children have been kept under observation. The district collector, Vishwa Mohan Sharma, also informed that the headmaster Khoob Chand Maghani and midday meal in-charge Meena Sharma have been suspended. He had earlier directed the Education Department to initiate disciplinary action against the school authorities.

Secularisation of Islamic Supremacist Owaisi

A leader who’s built his entire career on the politics of animosity, false victimhood spread through aggressive communal slogans; he is now, with the help of his powerful friends in media, trying to swivel into a smiling secular statesman. Question remains whether this will be successful, or will people see through this charade?

Within the last few decades, Indian Muslims have made the same mistake repeatedly by choosing the wrong leaders. Because of the narrative aided by powerful media spinners, Indian Muslims have been made to feel that only those who wear burqas or a skull cap can be trusted to respect their wants and needs. They are now putting their faith on an autocratic English-speaking megalomaniac who preaches empty lessons on democracy but knows nothing beyond self-interest. He is just another poster-boy for hypocrisy who panders to the insecurity created among the Muslims. The Muslims in India have always made this error in typecasting of their faith in such leaders which have increased a perception of alienation, while other communities continue to treat elements like Owaisi as the fringe rather than mainstream. A good example is how Mr. Modi admonished Sadhvi Pragya Thakur after her controversial statements.

Let us now break into this enigma of divisive politics of Asaduddin Owaisi:

After the delimitation of constituencies in 2008 and Vikarabad, Tandur and Chevella got excluded from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, Asaduddin’s party only won those seats because he could communalize the Muslim population which was at 65 per cent.

So, how do the Owaisi brothers try to maintain the unwavering support of the Muslims? They do so by creating a fabricated enemy among those who like Indian Muslim love this country. Their speeches have created this artificial fear and paranoia in a few within the Muslim community making them a ready fodder for violent protests.

Akbaruddin Owaisi is particularly notorious for communal hate speeches:

1.      In 2007, he had threatened to behead Tasleema Nasreen.

2.      In 2011 he addressed our former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao with words like katil (murderer), darinda (monster), beimaan (dishonest), dhokebaaz (cheat), and chor (thief) and that he would have killed Rao himself if he were alive.

3.      In 2012 he said, “Where all did Ram’s mother go wandering and where did she give birth to him?”.

4.      In 2012, he said, “What is this new name Bhagyalakshmi, never heard of her. The Bhagya also shakes and Lakshmi also falls down.”

5.      He also said, “25 crore Muslims would need just 15 minutes without the police to show 100 crore Hindus who is more powerful.”

He is a repeat offender who works inciting people to indulge in violence. Even after all this, they are still able to convince a few Muslims that AIMIM will save them from the clutches of this imaginary enemy. He fuels their raw passion and keeps the communal tension alive.

However, all their promises for development are empty. They have convinced the people of old Hyderabad that they are safe and living in peace all due to AIMIM but they live in almost inhumane conditions with rare water supply, electricity and poor condition of sanitation and roads. While the new city is beaming with development, the old city is being pushed further down the junction. If we follow any of Owaisi’s campaign videos, we can see him pleading for votes in the dingy streets in return of false emancipation that he promises them.

Owaisi brothers have also openly expressed their support to terrorist Yakub Memon, when he was hanged. While they have condemned ISIS, Asaduddin had promised legal help to the three Hyderabad youth who were arrested for being a part of ISIS, just a few years ago. Rumour has it that Hyderabad has become a shelter for the illegal Rohingyas who have allegedly found refuge under the Owaisi brothers.

Asaduddin Owaisi’s defence to those who criticize his Islamist politics is that they have rejected the two-nation theory of Jinnah and are proud Muslims of India. However, he contradicts this statement when he asks for special privileges for being a Muslim in India. He always labels his brand of politics as secular and those who are pro-India as bigots.

Even during this recent agitation, we have seen Asaduddin inciting violence and creating unnecessary paranoia among the people. When the country is cooling down a little from these violent protests against the CAA, leaders like Asaduddin are continuously stoking and igniting fear among citizens. Despite the government repeatedly trying to calm the situation down by busting the myths around CAA, perhaps it is leaders like Asaduddin who under the garbs of secularism, satisfy their personal agendas through the suffering of the common man.

I hope that the Indian Muslims can truly see through this man and his brand of politics before it’s too late.

Controversial doctor Kafeel Khan’s uncle shot dead by unidentified men in Gorakhpur, police say case of property dispute

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55-year-old Nusrullah Ahmad Warsi, the maternal uncle of the controversial doctor Kafeel Khan, was shot dead by some unidentified men at his house in Gorakhpur on Saturday at around 11 pm. Warsi was returning home from his neighbour’s house when he was shot in the head at a point-blank range.

A case has been registered at Rajghat police station against two people, Imamuddin and Anil Sonkar, following a written complaint by the family.

The cops suspect the murder to be a case of a property dispute since Warsi owned many plots of land and was fighting cases of illegal possession. The body of the deceased has now been sent for post-mortem. CCTV footage is being analysed by the police to identify the murders.

Senior SP (Gorakhpur) Sunil Gupta said, “Prima facie, property dispute seems to be the reason behind the murder. Following a complaint by family members, we have formed three teams to arrest the culprits. Soon, the case will be worked out.”

Read- After OpIndia report, DNA updates misleading story on Dr Kafeel Khan

Earlier, Khan’s brother, Kashif Jameel, was shot by miscreants over a property dispute in 2018. Interestingly, the three shots which were fired at Kashif Jameel, the bullets had just scraped through, and instead of reporting to police, Jameel had reached out to media while his brother tweeted a video regarding it.

Dr. Kafeel Khan came under the scanner after 60 children died in 2017 at BRD Hospital in Gorakhpur. He spent 7 months in jail before being released. In December 2019, he made provocative remarks at Aligarh Muslim University during the Anti-CAA protests, after which he was arrested again. He was granted bail but was booked again under the National Security Act (NSA).

#SantoorMoms: The vulnerabilities, insecurities and disproportionate amount of outrage on seemingly harmless trends

One of the things that attracts me most to Twitter is how the most innocuous tweets or trends can attract disproportionate amount of outrage. It provides a peek into the psyche of the tweeter as well as the “outrager”, possibly in a far more accurate way than even Freud could. 

Recently, a twitter handle asked for moms to put up their pictures under the hashtag #SantoorMoms. The hashtag trended within no time and was a runaway success. Mothers across the ideological spectrum put up pictures of themselves with their children. The pictures ranged from a middle-aged mother who could pass off as a teenager herself to grateful sons putting up tributes to their mothers and their stories of struggle. Though riding on the back of the young looking Santoor mom advertisement, mothers of all hues and even some grandmothers proudly uploaded their pictures. In fact it was heartwarming to see a positive hashtag trending, in stark contrast to negative political hashtags that one has got so used to.

However this is Twitter and even this trend was received with a certain amount of negativity that has now become the bane of social media. Women are often at the receiving end of advice and abuse in equal measure and #SantoorMoms was no exception. There were uncouth comments on their clothes as well as assertions that married women were uploading their pictures to entice men. 

In the meantime OpIndia carried an article, where its Editor Nupur J Sharma reflected upon her reservations with this hashtag. She spoke about how the advertisement and the subsequent hashtag put unrealistic expectations on mothers who by the very nature of being a caregiver are treated not so kindly by the ravages of time. She wrote that “this trend not only exploits the underlying, unsaid, silent tormentor but also reinforces the impossible standards that are expected from women”.

Here I disagree and these are the reasons why.

Social media by its very nature exploits all kinds of vulnerabilities and insecurities, if one is prone. There are enough studies which have proved that people who spend more time on sites like Facebook are more prone to depression and anxiety. The make-believe world and unrealistic portrayal of people and their near perfect relationships can leave impressionable minds with deep insecurities about gaps in their own far-from-unrealistic lives. And sadly, when I say impressionable, it is not restricted to teenagers and youngsters. So this is a monster of our own creation and we continue to live with it. It is up to the individual to be mature, grounded and not be over-awed by fakeness and falsehoods. Trends like this do not create any additional torment to what already exists due to the complete encroachment of social media in our daily lives. The solution is not in shielding people from visuals that could make them feel insecure. That would make us like the liberals who spend their lifetime looking for possible slights and insults to the “persecuted minority”.

Having said that, I empathise with the angst and vulnerability that a new mother can feel when she looks at pictures of ravishing, young, model like mothers. Most new mothers are consumed by their child’s need and tend to relegate their own interests to that of their child. Very often it results in deterioration in looks and to make matters worse, their health. The dissatisfaction with their own appearance can cascade into multiple issues like lack of self-worth and problems in their closest relationships. And an unhappy mother most definitely leads to an unhappy child. This is where looking at pictures of happy, healthy mothers with older children gives hope to the new mother. Not only does it encourage new mothers to reassess their own fitness and health goals but it also reinforces the fact that mothers can get back to having normal lives and personal aspirations once their child has grown. That is precisely the kind of encouragement that a new mother requires and what could be a better way than glorious sisterhood to do that! 

Watch: Journalist Rubika Liyaqat takes on Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhasker, exposes how latter indulges in fear-mongering about NRC

Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhaskar had to face yet another massive humiliation during a live-show on Saturday after she got exposed for her lack of knowledge on the ongoing debate over CAA, NRC and the NPR.

Swara Bhaskar, who often marinates herself in the mediocrity of the Bollywood, was part of a TV debate along with another actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub and Director Tigamanshu Dulia to express her opinion on the ongoing debate over Citizenship Amendment Act. The show was moderated by ABP News journalist Rubika Liyaqat.

As the show progressed, Rubika asked Swara Bhaskar regarding her opinion on the ongoing debate over implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register for Citizens and National Population Register. However, Swara Bhaskar was caught off-guard as she had no idea pertaining to the objectives and procedure associated with the CAA, NPR or NRC.


Confusing CAA, which is passed by both houses of Parliament with NRC, which is not even out in the draft form yet, Bhasker indulges in fear-mongering by saying, “The provisions of the NRC are so fearful. The poor people of the country do not have any documents.” As Rubika Liyaqat asked where was the draft of the NRC as claimed by Swara Bhasker, she in return asked the journalist to question the government and said it was none of her business.

Clueless Swara Bhaskar then went on to blame the Narendra Modi government over CAA affecting the botched up NRC implementation in Assam. The comedy of errors was not even funny. Liyaqat then asks Swara to read the Act first which does not mention the minorities in India. “I know you will not read it as it will expose your falsehood,” Liyaqat hit back.

As Swara Bhaskar faced more and more embarrassment on the live-show, she began to express her frustration by accusing the journalist of playing to the gallery by asking her such intimidating questions and even said that the audience was ‘right wing’.

That was not it. Other gems from the debate gave netizens a free-hand on memefest. During the show, anchor Rubika Liyaqat asked why Swara Bhaskar has a problem with the implementation of NRC in 2020 and why did she not have a problem when the Congress government had introduced in 2010. To this, Swara Bhasker, whose real age is unclear, said she was just 15 years old in 2010, which is mathematically incorrect.


While Wikipedia states her birth year as 1988, she mentions that fellow actor Minissha Lamba was her classmate in Delhi University. Lamba is approximately 35 years old. Following this gaffe, social media users ran a meme fest and trolled Swara Bhaskar for her low-level understanding of Mathematics. The netizens came up with hilarious edited images to mock Bollywood artist for not only fear-mongering but also her stupidity.

Twitter users mocking Swara Bhaskar
Memes on Swara Bhasker
Memes on Swara Bhasker
Memes on Swara Bhasker
Memes on Swara Bhasker
Memes on Swara Bhasker

Earlier in December 2019, Swara Bhaskar had stoked a massive controversy after she had to express solidarity with the anti-India protesters at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh and had also instigated the crowd against the government. The actor was also joined by Sharjeel Imam, the mastermind of the Shaheen Bagh protest, in her endeavour.

Group of Jamia Milia Islamia University students claims ‘La ilaha illallah’ is against Nationalism on Facebook

A Facebook page that claims to have been founded by a group of students from Jamia Milia Islamia has declared that the chant “La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah” is against Nationalism. The group called ‘Students of Jamia’ (SOJ) claimed this while sharing a post by another Facebook page called ‘Al Haya Min Allah’ (AHMA). As per its description, SOJ is a “group of JMI students determined to stand against all injustices, and strive towards achieving justice and righteousness.”

The Facebook post by SOJ

The original post from AHMA which SOJ appears to endorse says, “Nationalism is a ridiculous ideology even when thought from a purely rational point of view. It’s a view that divides people on the basis of a completely arbitrary standard and something that the individual has no control over – his/her place of birth.”

“Nationalism forces people inside one walled piece of land to have brotherhood for one another and espouse enmity against those on the other side of the wall whom he/she has never met,” it adds.

AHMA states, “Nationalism promotes the worship of nation based on man made boundaries. It becomes the taghut that decides what is right or wrong, obligates it’s citizens to have unconditional loyalty to it, its army, its flag etc.” The page quotes Muhammad Iqbal to claim, “Of all the new false gods, the biggest is the motherland (watan), The garment of this idea is actually the death-shroud of religion.”

Read- 2019 anti-CAA protests: 9 visuals that prove they were motivated by deep seated anti-Hindu bigotry and Islamic extremism

The post by SOJ appears consistent with the ideology of Sharjeel Imam who, too, believes that nationalism is ‘shirk’. Sharjeel Imam is the mastermind of the anti-CAA Shaheen Bagh protests who had called for North East India to be cut off from the rest of the country and is now lodged in prison. The SOJ’s ideology also appears consistent with that of the Islamic Youth Federation (IYF), Sharjeel Imam’s link to which is being probed by investigative agencies.

The IYF believes that ‘La ilaaha illallaah’  translates to “There is no God and sovereign except Allah”. The image in the post shared by SOJ also states, “The concept of nationalism is against the concept of AL-WALA WAL-BARA (love and hate for the sake of Allah) which is the very fundamental of Tawheed which Islam gave to its people.”

Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha meets Pakistan President to “promote peace”, sets Twitter on fire

Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha met Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Saturday at the Governor House in Lahore and agreed on the “need” to “promote” peace in the subcontinent.

They both shared concerns about the supposed “lockdown” of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, post the abrogation of Article 370.


A tweet by the office of Pakistan President read, “Indian politician Shatrughan Sinha met President Dr. Arif Alvi in Lahore today. They discussed the importance of building peace bridges across the border. Mr. Shatrughan Sinha  endorsed concern of the President about the lockdown of ‘occupied Kashmir for more than 200 days.'”

Last month, Pakistan President had tweeted a propaganda video and claimed that “resounding slogans” were coming from the Valley despite so-called “brutal oppression.” He wrote, “Kashmir will become Pakistan.”


The fact that Shatrughan Sinha chose to meet Arif Alvi despite him endorsing “Kashmir” to be a part of Pakistan has sparked a controversy on Twitter. Netizens slammed the Congress politician for siding with forces that work against India.

A Twitter user, Keya Ghosh, said that Sinha “cheerfully” attended a wedding in Pakistan despite Pakistan continuing to unleash terror in India, be it in Mumbai or Pulwama.


Another user, Professor Srinath Rao K, wrote that Sinha had exposed the culture of the Congress party. He suggested the veteran actor to settle down in Pakistan for backing its stance on Kashmir.


Ashok Kumar asked whether Shatrughan Sinha has any official position to discuss critical matters such as Kashmir in Pakistan. Kumar urged the Government to take firm action against those who take an anti-India stand.


In a video shared by Pakistan-based Instagram channel “The Spotlight Moments,” Sinha was captured on camera while sitting next to Pakistani actress Reema Khan at a qawwali night. As per reports, Shatrughan Sinha attended a wedding in Lahore on the invitation of Pakistani businessman, Mian Asad Ahsan.

Shatrughan Sinha defected to the Congress party after being denied a ticket by the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Last year, he made a bizarre comment that Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Rahul Gandhi contributed to India’s independence and development.

Jainism making inroads in Japan, thousands of people travel to India to embrace Jainism by taking Deeksha

Inspired by the spiritual thought of Jainism, thousands of Japanese have turned towards the Indian origin religion and are living like astute Jains, apart from marking their calendars for an annual pilgrimage to India where they spend weeks studying Jain script under learned monks, reports Times of India.

Reportedly, the town of Naganoken, home to the seventh century Zenko-Ji temple with a hidden Buddha, sees hundreds of Japanese nationals travel to Palitana and Shankheswar in Gujarat to embrace Jainism every year.

Devotees wrapped in a white loincloth, chant the navkar mantra, follow dietary self-abnegation, wake up with the sun, consume only warm water, meditate for hours at derasars in Japan (Jain temple) and dine before the sunsets.

A traveller named Churushi Miyazawa came to India in 2005 and in her first meeting with Gachadhipati Swargiya Jayantsen Suriswarji Maharaj Saheb, a senior monk, she was inspired by the charm of the religion. With that, she has now decided to shed her past, lead a minimalistic life, give up the comforts she earlier soaked in and vow to live like a Jain.

Churushi, who has changed her name as Tulsi, wanted to take Deeksha (renunciation). “My guru entrusted me with a bigger task: To spread Jainism across Japan. Every month, since then I have been travelling to India four to five times a year with hundreds of Japanese who are ready to embrace Jainism,” Tulsi said.

After Naganoken, the popularity of Jainism is spreading in Osaka and Tokyo too. Not only have thousands of Japanese turned to Jainism, but many are taking up monkhood. Under normal practice, initiation into monkhood comes after immense training. The initiates live with monks in temples and the preparatory phase can last anywhere between six months and 10 years, says Babulal Jain-Ujwal, an expert in Jainism.

Just a month ago, 2,500 Japanese travelled to Tharad in northern Gujarat and spent a week there with the disciples of Jayant Sensuriswarji Maharaj Saheb.

“There are a number of Japanese coming here in large numbers. They follow all our rules, pray with us, eat Satvik food before the sun sets, mediate and go back home to follow the same lifestyle we induct them into,” said Nityasen Suriswarji Maharaj Saheb.

Another group of Japanese nationals is expected to travel to Gujarat next week. The Japanese are also taking Hindi tutorials to understand the intricacies of the religious texts, said Jain-Ujwal.

“A new temple is being planned in Japan and now we are told there are more than 5,000 families are newly inducted into Jainism,” he added.

The Japanese follow the eight-day holy festival of Paryushan too. “There they fast for eight days (atthai) by merely consuming warm water. Even children follow Paryushan and keep fasts for a day or two,” said Tusi.

“The appeal of ahimsa or non-violence propounded by Jainism has found a connection with all of us,” added Tulsi.

Buddhism, another Indian origin religion, is a major religion in Japan, and it has the second-highest number of followers in the country after Shintoism.

After ‘opening’ Noida-Faridabad road, anti-CAA protestors now block road near Jafrabad metro station

On Saturday, a group of over 500 Muslim women gathered near the Jafrabad Metro Station and blocked road No. 66, which connects Seelampur to Maujpur and Yamuna Vihar. They were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).


The protestors have warned that the road would be blocked until CAA is revoked. The police tried to negotiate with the demonstrators to clear the road, but it was in vain. This has resulted in traffic woes and massive security deployment in the area. A local cleric by the name of Shamim Ahmed also tried to persuade the protestors to leave the area.

Read: Confusion whether all Islamists of Shaheen Bagh agree to open a tiny stretch of road, partially ending their illegal occupation

Clad in Burkha, the women had also raised slogans of “Jai Bhim.” The sudden protests had forced the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to shut down the entry and exit gates of the metro station. The official Twitter handle also announced that no trains would halt at the said station.


The road blockade at Jafrabad comes day after the ‘protestors’ at Shaheen Bagh reopened the Noida-Faridabad road they had blocked for over two months.


The Supreme Court had also recently appointed fake news peddler Sanjay Hegde to act as an interlocutor along with Sadhana Ramachandran to convince the Shaheen Bagh demonstrators to shift to an alternate site.

The Shaheen Bagh model of blocking roads and causing public inconvenience, in an attempt to force the Government to revoke CAA, seemed to have been replicated now at Jafrabad Metro Station. Fuelled by Islamic supremacy, the protestors at Shaheen Bagh had been on a sit-in protest for the past 2.5 months, thereby leading to job losses and traffic woes.

Ahead of India visit, President Donald Trump retweets ‘Bahubali’ spoof video, says look forward to being ‘great friends with India’

On Saturday, ahead of his India visit, US President Donald Trump said he was looking forward to being with his “great friends” in India and retweeted a video in which he was depicted as Bahubali – a popular character in the blockbuster movie with the same name.

“Look so forward to being with my great friends in INDIA!” Trump said in a tweet on Saturday as he retweeted a video in which his face was superimposed for a song sequence of the movie Bahubali. In the song, he was seen as the great saviour bringing peace to his kingdom.


Trump retweeted an 81-second video by a Twitter account identified as Sol, who had written, “To celebrate Trump’s visit to India I wanted to make a video to show how in my warped mind it will go… USA and India united!”.

Trump appears as a great saviour, in the short animated clip, riding on a chariot with First Lady Melania. A few stills later, Trump is seen riding a horse carrying on his soldiers his son Donald Junior and daughter Ivanka.

Later, he is welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a village setting. Hundreds and thousands of people are seen welcoming Trump in the video. Towards the end of the video, Trump can be seen riding the elephant and putting on fire the effigy of “Raavan”.

An arrow is given by warrior Narendra Modi to the First Lady, who then passes it on to Trump before he lights the effigy. The Trump-Bahubali video, which ends with “USA and India United”, went viral after Trump retweeted it. In a few hours, it was seen by nearly 14 lakh people.

Read: Trump Junior shares meme video of Donald Trump dancing to song ‘Malhari’ from movie Bajirao Mastani

President Trump is all set to visit India on a state visit on February 24 and 25 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. President Trump will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including First Lady Melania Trump, the President’s daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and a galaxy of top American officials.

Earlier, in a similar instance, US President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. had shared a similar meme video wherein the American president Donald Trump could be seen dancing to the song “Malhari” from the 2015 movie, Bajirao Mastani. Trump’s face was superimposed on Ranveer Singh’s face and the President could be breaking into dance moves.