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‘This is how the Christoislamist lobby behaves’, says journalist abused on social media for speaking out against Azaan in Chennai’s Marina Mall

Editorial Desk
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‘This is how the Christoislamist lobby behaves’, says journalist abused on social media for speaking out against Azaan in Chennai’s Marina Mall

Sanjay Pandey, a journalist who has been associated with FirstPost and Reuters in the past, on Sunday shared a short video on Twitter where the Azaan can be heard playing in the background. He said that the Azaan was being played through the internal sound system of the Marina Mall where the video was recorded. He noted that the mall’s usual music resumed after the Azaan was completed.


In the caption, Pandey said that he wondered if it was even legal in the first place. In the video shared he says, “This is insane and ridiculous. I have never heard anything like this; at least in India. I don’t know what kind of mindset is this. Next time you’ll see Church prayers and Bhagavad Gita playing in malls. Welcome to Secular India.” Immediately, Pandey was showered with abuses and some even told him to ‘Get the f**k out’ of Chennai.

OpIndia got in touch with Pandey to understand the situation. He told us that he had gone to the Marina Mall to watch a movie and the incident happened after he had come out after the show was over. “I am a journalist and I have travelled to every nook and corner of the country. I have worked in all the four metros. I have never had such an experience. This is something new. And this is an indication that we are probably headed towards a situation where such things will happen more and more frequently. They are basically trying to normalize it.”

Read: Youths stabbed after supporting Sonu Nigam’s views about loudspeakers at religious places

He continued, “They have normalized five times Azaan from Mosques, nobody objects to it now. And if somebody objects like Sonu Nigam, they have to shave their head. Also, get threats from people. I have talked to my friends from Dubai, it doesn’t happen there also.” Pandey further said that he doesn’t even tweet too much and he had tweeted for the first time in more than a year because he felt it was something that more people should know and care about. “A mall is not a religious affair, it’s a business establishment. In today’s society, a mall is probably the most secular place that you can think of.”

Pandey said that after recording it for thirty seconds, he went and talked to a few people in the mall and asked them whether it happened on a daily basis. He said that he was told that it is indeed the case. He said that in order to ensure that the Azaan was not coming from a nearby Mosque, he checked to see if there were any nearby and he found out that it wasn’t the case. He also tried to talk to the manager but he wasn’t able to. He talked to a few security guards but they said they could not speak on the matter. He also said that initially, they admitted that the Azaan was indeed connected to the internal sound system but backtracked later.

Read: Azaan played in a ‘secular’ Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata sparks outrage, TMC leader Paresh Pal amongst key organisers

The journalist was taking the slew of abuse lightly thus far. Pandey said that he ‘pretty much expected the abuse’. He said, “The way that the Leftists and Christoislamists lobby behave, it’s their way or the highway… But I believe if something is wrong, then I have to say it. And if the abuses come my way, I take it in my stride. This is helping me understand the psyche of these people and what they think about this country.” Pandey also said that he was not a Sanghi as he has never been associated with the Sangh, contrary to what the abusive people in the comment section were alleging.

Pandey also believes that the culture of inclusiveness in the country is being destroyed by the influx of money from the Gulf countries. “The Radical Islam that has been exported to our country, it has ruined the culture of inclusiveness. There is so much venom in people.” He also mourned the disappearing civility in public discourse. “People are ruining their relationships, just because of disagreements on social media. I do not usually tweet but this was something that caught me by surprise and I couldn’t restrain the urge to share it and let the world know this is what we have come to. What’s next?”

Update: In a tweet to Pandey, the Chennai mall has justified playing azaan five times a day on mall loudspeakers as it also celebrates festivals like Christmas, Diwali and Pongal which fall once a year. Azaan is a call to pray for Muslims and not a festival, like Christmas, Diwali and Pongal. 

Kejriwal activates damage-control mode, asks BJP to negotiate with seditious organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protests

OpIndia Staff
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Kejriwal activates damage-control mode, asks BJP to negotiate with seditious organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protests

The expose of communal undertones and secessionist agenda of the Shaheen Bagh protests seems to have compelled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to recalibrate his electoral strategy for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

As the seditious nature of the protest came to the light, an edgy Kejriwal, who had until now been non-committal on the issue of Shaheen Bagh protest, fearing backlash from his supporters, posted a tweet pinning the entire blame of the quagmire on the BJP.


In an attempt to legitimise the demands made by Shaheen Bagh protestors, Kejriwal put the onus of settlement on the BJP, asking them to quickly reach a solution so that the road blockades can be removed and commuters can be relieved of the distress they are facing due to the month-long protest. This statement of Kejriwal comes days after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had publicly declared that he stood in solidarity with Shaheen Bagh protesters. In fact, a video had also surfaced where AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was spotted next to Imam. In the video, it can be clearly seen Khan asking whether people want to protest or prepare for Friday prayers in Mosques.

Kejriwal asserted that the distress and hardships commuters have to go through due to the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protests is not because of the mindless protesters wantonly encamping on the roads but it is because of BJP’s “bad politics” for not wanting to negotiate with the demonstrators.

The AAP supremo has asked the BJP leaders to visit Shaheen Bagh and have a discussion with the organisers of Shaheen Bagh, one of whom had revealed his seditious plans to divide the country.

Read: Radical Islamists say Muslims must stand by Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam, defend his decision to cut off Assam

On Saturday January 25, 2020, a video of the Shaheen Bagh mastermind and the Wire columnist, Sharjeel Imam had gone viral in which he was seen calling upon fellow Muslims to unite and cut-off Assam and the North-East from the rest of India. In his speech, he also ridiculed the secular appropriation of the Shaheen Bagh protests and enunciated in clear terms that the protests were Muslim in nature.

With elections approaching, Delhi CM, who was hitherto dormant in raising his discomfiture with regards to public inconvenience caused by month-long Shaheen Bagh protests, cunningly tried to appear as a champion of public grievance by voicing his concern for the commuters facing distress while at the same time steer clear of offending the protesters. It is to this end that Kejriwal shielded the anti-CAA protesters while blaming the BJP for the continued protests.

Is Arvind Kejriwal beginning to panic about Shaheen Bagh?

Abhishek Banerjee
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Is Arvind Kejriwal beginning to panic about Shaheen Bagh?

A recent tweet by Arvind Kejriwal is quite telling. Arvind Kejriwal has finally mentioned Shaheen Bagh in a tweet

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However, Arvind Kejriwal has done so not to express support or any particular sympathy for those protesters. Rather he points out that the prolonged dharna has blocked the public road, causing inconvenience to ordinary people. He accuses the BJP of letting the protest drag for political reasons. He then demands that BJP leaders should speak to the protesters and get them to open the road.

There is a lot to decode in this tweet, the first being the cavalier attitude of Kejriwal towards the Shaheen Bagh protesters and their demands. He doesn’t even want to discuss them. His tweet is focused purely on getting the public road to reopen.

In other words, his ground feedback suggests common people don’t care about what Shaheen Bagh has to say. That common people are prickly about an arterial road being closed because of the ruckus.

Read: Days before Delhi polls, AAP extends its support to anti-CAA Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’

The second point is that he says BJP is doing dirty politics over Shaheen Bagh. Translation: he knows that the prolonged protest is actually going in BJP’s favour. That common people are not sympathetic to the Shaheen Bagh drama, that they likely see it as anti-national and they are putting the blame at the door of ‘secular’ parties and their surrogates.

Hence the desperation of Kejriwal to turn this around and blame BJP somehow.

Add this to the fact that the AAP campaign has so far maintained near-total silence over Shaheen Bagh. Except for one costly indiscretion by Manish Sisodia. When Kejriwal spoke on it three days ago, he again focused on the inconvenience caused to ordinary people and not the protests themselves.

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Economic Times article

On the other hand, the BJP has been extremely vocal in talking about Shaheen Bagh. Not just in terms of inconvenience to people, but directly taking on the protesters and their demands.

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The Hindu article

There’s only one reasonable conclusion here. Both sides know that Shaheen Bagh has become a serious issue. The BJP knows it is helping them. The AAP wants people to speak as little about Shaheen Bagh as possible because they know just as well that it is helping their adversary.

In other words, the ground feedback in both camps is the same.

This is not surprising. As the Shaheen Bagh (and assorted, sporadic anti-CAA protests) have continued, the worst of anti-national rhetoric has come to the surface. The hate was always thinly veiled, to begin with. But as the government has not relented, the protesters in their frustration have spewed more and more of their inner venom.

Read: After Congress, AAP leaders booked for anti-CAA violence, ‘protestors’ question absence of Rahul, Priyanka and Kejriwal at Shaheen Bagh, Jamia

One wanted to cut off the North East from India. Said openly that non-believers should live their lives as per terms set by Muslims. Just as disturbing as his words were the calm, almost scholarly manner in which he spoke. This was not a rabble-rouser on a street corner making an untoward remark in the heat of the moment. This was a well educated Islamist expressing his well thought out opinion on how he sees the future of India. Torn into pieces and subjugated to Islamism. Chilling.

The other day there was another viral video. This time of an alleged journalist, known to be suave and well-spoken. Explaining calmly that the show of inclusiveness in the protest is a strategic choice and not an ideological one. Again, chilling.

At least we got to hear this aloud. We as a nation needed to see this. Because too many of us are still denying the reality and the intensity of the hate.

Read: As AAP grandstands and dares BJP to arrest Sharjeel Imam, video surfaces where AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan is seen with Imam

One can only guess that with every passing day, as the frustration mounts, the anti-CAA crowd will expose themselves further. More such videos will be coming for sure and they will all go viral. And rest assured all of this will go against AAP in Delhi.

Eminent liberals had already anticipated this a couple of weeks ago. Remember when they begged with Shaheen Bagh to wrap up their protests in view of coming elections in Delhi? As the election is getting closer, the nervousness in the secular camp appears to be mounting. And Kejriwal is finally panicking.

Brace yourself: Rahul Gandhi will ‘come of age’ yet again as Congress plans his ‘one more return’

Dibakar Dutta
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Brace yourself: Rahul Gandhi will ‘come of age’ yet again as Congress plans his ‘one more return’

The Indian National Congress (INC) is hatching a plan to re-launch its 5th generation party dynast, Rahul Gandhi, to the throne of the President yet again, says a report by Economic Times.

The Gandhi-Nehru scion had resigned taking ‘moral responsibility’ after his party’s terrible performance in the second consecutive general elections in 2019.

Despite promising ₹72000 per year under the so-called NYAY scheme and weaving the imaginary tale of Rafale scam, the Congress Party failed to hold its ground in 2019 elections. After a harrowing defeat, the then President of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, had tendered his resignation.

This was followed by drama, uncertainty over acceptance and rejection of his resignation letter. The party was already hung in the balance. For months at a stretch, the think tank could not come up with a successor, despite the presence of several young leaders in the party. Unable to come out of its inherent nepotism that holds the party together, Congress had finally declared Rahul’s mother Sonia Gandhi as its ‘interim president’.

Read: Rahul Gandhi and how the media has been making him ‘come of age’ for the past 10 years

To re-establish himself as a leader, Gandhi will reportedly begin an all- India tour, starting from Rajasthan, followed by Kerala, Jharkhand, Congress-ruled states and other poll-bound states. He will speak rural distress, unemployment woes and the alleged “failed promises” of the current political dispensation.

This new development has come to light in the backdrop of the change in the political climate. The orchestrated Anti-CAA protests held across India and the woes of a slowing economy must have renewed hope in the party dynast that it was the right time to strike the hot iron.

The ET report states that besides his own interest, the reluctance of party supremo Sonia Gandhi to hold on to the Presidential post has also made the Congress old guard rethink about Rahul Gandhi. Moreover, he faces stiff competition from his sister Priyanka Gandhi who is now being looked at as the “next big name” at the party.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal has stated, “The party rank and file clearly wants Rahul Gandhi Ji to lead the Congress again. Though he is yet to respond, we are waiting for him to take that decision.”

The ET report, citing sources, has claimed that Rahul’s supporters are planning his ‘re-launch’ based on four trends:

  • Opposition parties wrestling states away from BJP
  • Rahul Gandhi showing a ‘renewed interest’ in the party’s decision-making process
  • Sonia Gandhi’s multiple expressions of reluctance to lead the party
  • Many supporters of Priyanka Gandhi starting to think that she may have a better future in the party and should, therefore, extend her work beyond Uttar Pradesh.

All four reasons and trends cited only reaffirm the growing concerns being expressed by political experts that Congress party is simply incapable of ditching the dynasts. Despite the presence of many experienced and capable leaders in the party, it is still fixated with its royal family.

Only time can tell whether Rahul Gandhi’s ascent to the party’s Presidential throne helps the Congress party reclaim its foothold in the country (like it did in MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh Assembly elections) or decimates the morale of party workers and vote share of the Congress like it did in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Why are comedy ideologues abusing Sadhguru and what is at stake for us all

drishtikone
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Why are comedy ideologues abusing Sadhguru and what is at stake for us all

Abuse and profanity are the new weapons of attack in India. Those who have contributed nothing for anyone in the society are today trying to drown the voice of those who are doing work that will help save the planet.

A hundred years from now, when we humans have destroyed the planet and its creatures and handed over hell to our kids to live on (if science is to be believed), the work of very few men and women will be remembered because it would have made a difference despite our destruction.

Not words, but work.

People, for example, who have taken up the objective to plant one trillion trees on the planet like Ivan Duque, Marc Benioff, Dominic Kailash Nath Waughray, Jane Goodall, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, and Sadhguru. They are the ones who are doing things that go beyond a race, country, creed or group. They are of course undertaking other initiatives that in themselves have transformed the societies they are living in.

Let us look at one such initiative that Sadhguru has undertaken. Cauvery Calling.

Thanjavur district has been known as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu for centuries, because of the fertile soil deposited by the river Cauvery. That Cauvery river is now just a trickle in that region. Thousands of years of agricultural communities are being destroyed. Sadhguru’s initiative is to revive the lifeline of those communities.

Diverse, even opposing political forces have been brought together to create institutional buy-in. The aim of this whole effort is to plant 2.42 billion trees along the 81,155 square kilometres of the Cauvery basin. So far 47,890,714 or ~48 million trees have been donated to the initiative. Just to get some context, the current number of all the trees in Mumbai is 3.3 million!

Far away from the real work of trees, our future, environment, and rivers, is a make-believe world political one-up-man-ship.  Those who can not achieve anything worthwhile for themselves or the community, make themselves relevant in their own eyes by abusing others.  That is what people like Kunal Kamra and Atul Khatri do.  They package hate, abuse, and profanity and choose to call it humor.  A tool that should have been for laughter and enjoyment is now a tool of shameless ideological vendetta.

Read: Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation rubbishes allegations against Cauvery Calling project made by activists in letter to Leonardo DiCaprio

For a man who is working on reviving Cauvery, taking up the almost impossible task of planting 50 billion trees (under 1T initiative), while having a standing Guinness record for planting maximum trees in a day, these are some of the things that Kunal Kamra – a propagandist with no real contribution to society other than colourless political hate speech  – has to say.

Quite simply, Kamra is churning out bigoted and profane abuse packaged as comic fodder.

You see, sarcasm and irreverence has sometimes been acceptable as humor, but what these people are dishing out is anything but.

What we are witnessing today are threats, hate speech, and “flaming,” (posting insults online laced with profanity and offensive language) by career trolls to intimidate those whose ideas they do not like.

It is an extreme form of political bullying at work.

Read: Sadhguru was talking about the Kanakadhāra Stotram, but ‘liberals’ expected him to know of acts of sexual deviancy

Sadhguru, for example, has been targeted because some of his views are appreciative of the work by the current central government. To target PM‌ Modi, anyone who backs anything he does is abused and humiliated. All, in order to isolate him.

Targetted abuse is an ideological weapon today. And it comprises of misinformation and abuse. For Kunal Kamra, flaming and abuse become his tickets to first creating a constituency of hate and then feeding it with the matter which is primarily profane. Humor that he aims for comes not from the content, but the imagined connotation of the content to that particular hate group.

Democracies subverted by targeted social media interventions have become societies where small pathological minorities of incompetent and least capable individuals are taking over social narratives for the rest of us.  And, that is dangerous because many young, confused and ill-formed minds can be impacted before they gain maturity.

The political comedy industry is now a potent business and at its foundation are ideological financiers, who have their own goals to achieve.

Read: Sadhguru talks about dismantling the enemy within the country, ‘liberals’ take offense

By impacting young minds and using them as cannon fodder, the political overlords attempt to derail important social initiatives that people like Sadhguru undertake. Apart from subverting the popular will of the people. They look at their gains, the future of our coming generations, polity, democracy, and planet can go to hell.

Those are the stakes at hand!

Pakistan believes BJP government is the ‘biggest threat’ to Pakistan, claims ‘Muslims feel unsafe in India’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan believes BJP government is the ‘biggest threat’ to Pakistan, claims ‘Muslims feel unsafe in India’

If reports are to be believed, Pakistan believes that the Narendra Modi led BJP government of India is the biggest threat to their nation. As per reports, a report by Pakistan ‘think-tank’ Islamabad Policy Institute, the biggest threat Pakistan currently faces from security point of view is the ‘transformation of India as a Hindu Rashtra’ under the BJP.

Despite India reiterating time and again that the abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir is an internal matter, Pakistan ‘think-tank’, in its report, mentions that the Muslims in Kashmir are under attack. The report states that the relationship between India and Pakistan will be determined on the basis of the condition of Muslims in Kashmir.

Read: Pakistani minister threatens nations who back India on abrogation of Article 370, says will fire missile at them along with one on India

Pakistan’s former foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, raising concerns over US not siding with Pakistan on Kashmir issue, said that the US supporting India while ignoring the central government’s “reckless behaviour” (abrogation of Article 370, passage of Citizenship Amendment Act), was in “violation of all norms of civility, international norms and principles”. Pakistan has time and again tried to raise the issue of abrogation of Article 370 on international platforms only to be embarrassed by lack of support.

Home Minister Amit Shah secures peace agreement with Bodo groups amidst plans to ‘cut off Assam’ by Shaheen Bagh mastermind

OpIndia Staff
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Home Minister Amit Shah secures peace agreement with Bodo groups amidst plans to ‘cut off Assam’ by Shaheen Bagh mastermind

While secessionist demands and threat to ‘cut off’ Assam and the North East were heard from the Shaheen Bagh protests recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has signed a peace accord with the Bodo groups of Assam.


The Government of India today signed a tripartite agreement with representatives of all factions of banned organisation National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) at Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).  The Bodo students group All Bodo Students’ Union was also a signatory of the peace accord.

Addressing the media on the occasion, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured that the agreement signed between Assam government, Centre and the Bodo representatives will herald a golded future for Assam and the Bodo people. The peace accord ensures political and economic benefits for the Bodo people, without compromising the territorial integrity of the Assam state.

This will be the third peace accord to be signed in the last 27 years since the violent movement for a separate Bodoland state began. The violent movement has claimed thousands of lives and destruction worth several crores.

Yesterday, the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Chief Hagrama Mohilary, in his speech on the occasion of Republic day celebration in Kokrajhar, welcomed the decision of the central government to schedule Bodo accord with NDFB and ABSU on Monday. He expressed his hope that the accord will bring peace and development in the region.

The convener of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), and Assam’s Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had asserted that no new village or area would be added to the BTAD under the new agreement. Allaying the concerns of Bodo representatives, Sarma had said on Saturday in Guwahati that as per the new accord, the Centre would not upgrade the state’s ‘Bodoland Territorial Area Districts’ (BTAD) to a Union Territory.

The peace agreement was signed amidst the calls to severe Assam and the North-East from the rest of the country, made by the Shaheen Bagh mastermind and the Wire columnist, Sharjeel Imam. Earlier last week, a video had gone viral in which one of the co-organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest, Sharjeel Imam was seen making profoundly seditious comments on the territorial integrity of the country. Amidst theological chants of “Allah-u-Akbar” and “Naara-e-Taqbeer”, Sharjeel urged Muslims to organise themselves to cut-off Assam and North-East from the rest of India.

Tamil Nadu: BJP leader hacked to death by sickles, party says his pro-CAA views may have led to his gruesome murder

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: BJP leader hacked to death by sickles, party says his pro-CAA views may have led to his gruesome murder

A 40-year-old BJP leader Vijaya Raghu was reportedly hacked to death in Trichy, Tamil Nadu early morning on Monday. The incident took place at around 5:30 AM today morning.

Reportedly, he went to a tea-shop when three assailants attacked him with sickles. On seeing the violence, the people present there dispersed.

Read: Ramalingam murder case: NIA arrests Myden Ahmed Shali, head of the ‘Dawah’ team linked to PFI

The police has currently initiated investigation and CCTV footage is being examined. BJP leader Raghu was the zonal secretary of the party at Palakarai in Tamil Nadu. BJP cadres held protests outside Trichy government hospital demanding action against the assailants. However, on police assurance, the agitators withdrew the protests. While News 18 claims that Police sources claim it was personal animosity that led to the murder state BJP VP Subramanian has said that his pro-CAA views may have been the reason behind the gruesome murder.

Delhi Elections: Errant, recalcitrant, spoilt Delhi needs a tough disciplinarian government

Mahesh Jagga
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Delhi Elections: Errant, recalcitrant, spoilt Delhi needs a tough disciplinarian government

When I shifted to Mumbai in 2007 and was looking for a house to rent, the broker gave me a piece of unsolicited advice, “Never say you are from Delhi or it would be difficult to get a house on rent!”

Hurt, I asked him why and he responded, a bit diplomatically, “Don’t feel bad but the ordinary Mumbaikar carries a not so benign perception about the ordinary Delhite.” I asked him to explain himself further.

“Average Mumbaikar feels that Delhi people don’t follow rules or understand their civic responsibilities. They are prone to get violent at slightest challenge or provocation; it is better to avoid them.” He said, diplomatically avoiding usage of offending adjectives.

Not exactly good words to hear about people of the city you belong to, but then, perception is a perception. It cannot be fought or contested; it can only be modified or changed by personal interactions, over a long period of time.

Though I did not need to pay head to his advice as I found a house belonging to a colleague of mine who believed he was insured against my “Delhite tendencies” because we worked in the same organization, I did face the question, “Äre you from Delhi?” many times over, in my first interactions with maid, newspaper guy, cable wallah or the corner grocery store, mostly followed by uncomfortable stares which my oversensitive mind read as, “Do I trust this guy?”

And this is only a perception formed on the basis of interactions with immigrants from Delhi, people who by virtue of moving away from this comfort zone, attempt to modify behaviour as per their understanding of requirements of his newly adopted city. A Delhite in Delhi is perceived to be much worse.

Read: As AAP grandstands and dares BJP to arrest Sharjeel Imam, video surfaces where AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan is seen with Imam

Does Delhi deserve this perception? If we ask the few questions, we may find that the reality is worse than that.

“In which city are the women afraid of being out alone in the dark?”

“Which city would you be in where the price of a property varies according to black
component and potential of encroachment available?”

“Which city comes to your mind where the auto-rickshaw driver would refuse to go by meter, use the longer route and believes that overcharging is his right?”

“In which city are you, where if your vehicle kisses another one on the road, you are more worried about the other driver shooting you than the scratches/dents on your vehicle?”

“In which capital (country or state), rioters first try to burn the city down, lynch the policemen and then encroach on a major road for a month, blocking the movement of the city and Police is reduced to ‘requesting’ them to vacate?”

Read: 1 school approved vs 500 promised, fall in DTC buses, 0 new hospitals, fake surveys: RTI replies reveal Kejriwal hasn’t fulfilled major election promises

Answers to these questions validate the perception referred above. Delhi is lawless, recalcitrant and violent, almost like a spoilt child. On comparative terms of course as there are many cities which can claim to this tag, though, to a lesser extent.

How did Delhi acquire this tag? There are two theories about it

First one, believed by most is that Delhi being the seat of political and bureaucratic power, it has thousands (or lacs) of people who have the money to spend (bribes or black money) and the connections to flaunt “तू जानता है मॆरा बाप कौन है” (You know who is my father?), who can disregard the rule of law and get away with it, giving rise to a new accepted norm of social behaviour were not respecting the law or not following rules is seen as a indicator of having arrived in life or having made it large.

The second one is more charitable and linked to history, or to be specific, medieval history.

Over a period of 1000 years, between the 8th century and 18th century, all invasions of India happened from the North West. From Muhammad Bin Qasim in 715 AD to Nadir Shah in 1737 AD to Abdali in 1761, invaders came using this entry route to India. Punjab, Rajasthan, Sindh, parts of UP and Delhi being geographically at a position where they were in path (other directions had either sea or the mighty Himalayas in the way) and bore the brunt of invading armies whose standard practice was to kill & maim, loot and rape, plunder & destruct and leave the charred towns and villages behind. Bigger towns like Delhi, Agra and Ajmer were the centre of attraction for all invaders and looters as they were the capitals of kingdoms and provided sufficient wealth to loot, sufficient people to kill or subjugate in one single place.

Read: There were always ‘red flags’ about Arvind Kejriwal: Munish Raizada to OpIndia while talking about his web-series exposing AAP

While the cost of war is paid for the defeated army in terms of losses and reparations, the aftermath is worse for the general populace. It gets a new ruler who imposes new taxes with the objective of acquiring the wealth of the subjugated and these taxes may be based on religion, ethnicity or culture. A new set of tormenters replace the old ones as the soldiers, the captains and the generals of the victorious army continue the looting game but this newer set does not conform to legal, social or ethical rules and have unstated but clear support from the rulers.

The tax avoidance, the disregard for law, a disdain for authority and a just below the surface violent streak were the defence mechanisms, the subjugated people developed when generations were forced to live in an ecosystem of unfair taxes by an alien invaders & rulers, discriminatory rules based on one’s religion or nativity, daily threats to life and limb and to the property & possessions and biased application of law. And when such defence mechanisms are deployed or put to use continuously, for centuries (for almost 1000 years), they become natural survival instincts and get hardwired, into the DNA of the race.

All this while, the rest of India was almost insulated from invaders by geography, long distances and the fact that these front line states wore the invader down. The southern plateau or the eastern delta did not face the invaders’ intensity in full. Most invaders (Qasim, Gazni, Gauri, Timur or Abdali) stopped or returned before the Vindhyas or Magadha in the east. Those few souls who did so after establishing themselves as rulers of India and not as invaders and had a different mindset by then.

Read: Aam Aadmi Party triggers the most juvenile election campaign ahead of Delhi elections: Here is how AAP manages to descend to newer levels of stupidity

Which theory explains the process of making Delhi the errant, recalcitrant, almost spoilt city of India better or whether both played their part in equal measure, is not the focus for this piece but the fact that this spoilt brat called Delhi needs a strict diet of discipline, sooner than later. The opportunity presents itself every time a new government is chosen. The assembly elections, due next month, present one such opportunity.

Choose well, Delhi!

Would Delhi choose an opportunist cum obstructionist who is prone to flout rules, disregard the law if it helps him win cheap popularity, who would wear the cloak of utopian but fake ideals & trivialize the government, institutions & symbols of the democracy and take Delhi further on the slippery road of lawlessness? Would Delhi choose someone who is willing to support rioters if they can promise enough votes, who would be more interested in protecting his chair while the lawless carry on with their shenanigans?

Or, Would Delhi choose someone who that takes pride in being an Indian, lives by its ethos and enforces rule of law by governing by an ethical, civilizational framework? Would Delhi choose someone who stands behind the forces when they will enforce the rule of law,  without fear or favour, whether the enemy is internal or external? Would Delhi choose the one who would support punishing those who are on the wrong side of the law, reform those who are willing to mend ways and inculcate a sense of discipline and respect for rule of law?

Would Delhi choose the one who can respond to the “तू जानता है मॆरा बाप कौन है” (You know who is my father?) with a “अपना आधार कार्ड चैक कर और दॆख लॆ तॆरा बाप कौन है” (Check your Adhar Card if you don’t know your father?

Choose well, Delhi. It is your future that is at stake.

Based on Quran, cannot be challenged over laws based on Constitution: Here is how AIMPLB is batting for Nikah Halala and Polygamy

OpIndia Staff
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Based on Quran, cannot be challenged over laws based on Constitution: Here is how AIMPLB is batting for Nikah Halala and Polygamy

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has batted in favour of Polygamy and the terribly oppressive practice of Nikah Halala in a submission to the Supreme Court. The submission was in response to a PIL filed by Ashwini Upadhyay of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The AIMPLB emphasized that ‘Mohammedan Law is based on Holy Quran and Hadith’ and that such practices can’t be tested on the basis of fundamental rights.


“That personal laws do not derive their validity on the ground that they have been passed or made by a legislature or by other competent authority. The fundamental source of personal laws are their respective scriptural texts,” the plea of AIMPLB said. “The Mohammedan law is founded essentially on the Holy Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet Mohammed and thus it can’t fall within the purview of expression ‘laws in force’ as mentioned in Article 13 of the Constitution and hence its validity cannot be tested,” it added.

“A member of the religious denomination of that particular faith, in the event of a violation of fundamental rights, only to the extent of threat to life and liberty, may be permitted to seek protection of the court and determine the issue of faith arising therefrom,” the submission says further.

The AIMPLB also stated that the apex court had already dealt with the practices of Nikah Halala and polygamy in its 1997 verdict where it had declined to entertain petitions.

The practice of polygamy allows a Muslim man to marry multiple women. Nikah-Halala is a practice of a divorced woman having to consummate the marriage with another man and then getting a divorce from him before remarrying her previous husband. In numerous instances, it has been seen that the woman is forced to have sex with multiple men by the husband after giving her the Triple Talaq. Despite their inhuman, exploitative nature, the practices continue to receive support from the AIMPLB.

The AIMPLB had also vehemently opposed to the criminalisation of the practice of Triple Talaq.

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