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Threats, water supply cut and no puja being allowed: How Hindu families are being harassed by Christians in a Mumbai building

OpIndia Staff
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Threats, water supply cut and no puja being allowed: How Hindu families are being harassed by Christians in a Mumbai building

Maharashtra has recently seen a change of power at the state with erstwhile Hindutva party Shiv Sena allying with ‘secular’ forces like the Congress party headed by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi along with NCP, headed by Sharad Pawar. With a ‘secular’ government in place now, the Hindus of the state have been left in the lurch. The plight of Hindus was evident from the ordeal of some Hindu families living in a Mumbai residential complex where the majority of residents are Christians.

Zee News reported that in a residential building called MP Kinny House in Juhu, there are only 5 Hindu families, with all other residents being Christians. The Christians of the building have been harassing the Hindu families by issuing threats, shutting off the water supply and not allowing them to perform puja.

A Hindu resident of the building, Alpa Beli said that the Christian families of the building shut off the water supply of the building because that is where they take the water from to perform their puja. In fact, she said that even though the Hindu families furnish advance rent of 6 months, the Christian families mistreat them. She says that their (Christian families’) greatest issue is that the Hindu families perform puja. ‘Unhe pasand nahi hai hum apne Devi, Devtaon ko puje’, she said.

Another family, that of one Anju Tata had a similar tale to tell. She said that the Hindu families face a lot of issues in the building like facing abuses, threats and the water supply being cut by the Christian families. She said they often come outside their house and lock their doors and threaten them to leave.

Another individual said that they are troubled because the Christian families are against the Hindus performing puja. He said that they are harassed when they play the Shankh or even light Agarbattis for their puja. He said that the harassment has reached a level where the Hindus of the building are wondering if they should flee and live elsewhere.

Read: 8 attacks on Durga Puja and Dussehra processions in just 2 days, Durga idol vandalisation reported across India

When the Zee News correspondent tried to reach out to the caretaker of the building, he refused to respond. The daughter of the caretaker flat-out refused to answer questions posed by Zee News. In fact, the daughter can be seen standing at the door and telling the correspondent to interview those people who have made the allegations. Further, she says that it was not their fault at all (the caretakers and Christian families).

When contacted, the Maharashtra Home Minister said that everyone in Maharashtra has the right to worship the Gods they believe in, in their homes.

Reportedly, a complaint has already been lodged by the Hindu families with the police about the harassment they face at the hands of the Christian residents of the building, but no action against the culprits have been taken thus far.

This is not the first time that such an incident has come to light from Maharashtra. In October, Vishwa Bhanu, a resident of Malad West, Mumbai, who is associated with the movie industry as an actor, wrote on Facebook about the ordeal he suffered on the occasion of Diwali as a consequence of the intolerance of his Muslim neighbours. He said that her wife was not being allowed to light up their house on Diwali and he was forced to remove the lights by the mob.

Read: Vishwa Bhanu who was not allowed to celebrate Diwali by his Muslim neighbours: The Quint misquoted me, If I am being branded a Leftist, today, I leave Leftism

In the complaint to police, Vishwa Bhanu wrote:

Like every year, my wife Priyanka Sharma has been prevented from lighting candles and making her Rangoli on Diwali. Anti-social elements who live in the society, where Rehan Petiwala, Salim and Mustafa broke the lights. Every year they do this and even mock our God’s and Goddesses. On Bakra Eid, they force us to keep our door open and they slaughter goats in front of our house when they can do this elsewhere also. But I never said anything because it is their festival. Because we are Hindus, we are mocked, pressurised and a situation is being created that we will soon leave the area. For small things, they come to fight with us. I am mostly away for shooting and am concerned about my wife. 

After OpIndia broke the story, Bhanu was severely misquoted by The Quint and had then lashed out against the portal. He had also detailed his ordeal further on how Muslims of the society regularly harassed them for being Hindu.

It’s official: Endgame of Shaheen Bagh protest is second partition of India. Listen to what mastermind and The Wire columnist says

Shashank Bharadwaj
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It’s official: Endgame of Shaheen Bagh protest is second partition of India. Listen to what mastermind and The Wire columnist says

The anti-CAA protests, especially at the Shaheen Bagh, which had turned rampantly communal, is now caught pushing dangerous secessionist agenda which aims for a second partition. A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Sharjeel Imam, the chief co-ordinator of Shaheen Bagh protest and a The Wire columnist was seen instigating Muslims of the country to break India by cutting of North-east from the rest of the country. Interestingly, earlier, ‘Jinnah Wali Azadi’ slogans were raised at Shaheen Bagh which also pointed towards the main agenda of these anti-CAA protests, specifically at Shaheen Bagh, is the second partition of India.

In a video which has gone viral now, Sharjeel Imam, the mastermind Of Shaheen Bagh ‘protests’ and The Wire columnist, while speaking to Muslim mobs, says, “Our main aim is to permanently cut Assam and North-east India from rest of India”.


Amidst controversial slogans of “Allah-u-Akbar” and “Naara-e-Taqbeer”, an excited Imam makes a stunning revelation that how rallies organised by Kanhaiya Kumar can be used to instigate 5 lakh Muslims to create riots.

He adds, “If 5 lakhs Muslims are organised then we can cut the North-east from rest of India. If we cannot do permanently, at least we can cut North-east from India for months. Our responsibility is to cut the Assam from India then Govt will hear our voice. If we have to help the Assam then we will have to cut the Assam from rest of India.”

Read: Shaheen Bagh protests: The Wire columnist Sharjeel Imam pulls out to prepare for ‘Hong Kong style’ round 2, women say ‘chakkajam’ still on

Imam in the video, Imam further says that the non-Muslim population of the country should now stand with the demands of the Muslims. Inciting Muslims by spreading fake news, Imam says that Muslims are being discriminated through the Citizenship Amendment Act and are being put into a detention camp.

Shockingly, Imam continues his fear-mongering by claiming that Muslims are being killed in Bengal. “We need block Assam including the movement of Armed Forces and the supplies. Chicken Neck belongs to Muslims,” he claims.

Siliguri Corridor or Chicken’s neck.

The Siliguri Corridor or Chicken’s Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 kilometres located in the Indian state of West Bengal, that connects India’s northeastern states to the rest of India, with the countries of Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor.

The Siliguri Corridor is one of India’s most important strategic communication lines as it passes through the rail and road networks that feed the primary military formations located in the North East which will counter China during a conflict.

Read: Shaheen Bagh protests: Deep dive into how JNU ‘student’ and The Wire columnist Sharjeel Imam went from ‘let us burn Constitution’ to ‘saving it’

“We need to make use of the anger and frustration of the people of the country. It is the responsibility of the scholars to productively use the anger of the people,” says Imam while taking a dig on Kanhaiya Kumar for just resorting to his own image building rather than channelling the anger of the people, especially Muslims of the country.

Another video of Sharjeel Imam has made it to the social media in which he can be seen instigating Muslim population of the country and brainwashing them by stating that Constitution of the country should not matter to Muslims and that they only should believe in it when they get power to change it.


“Muslims will be put into detention camps. There is an attack on Muslims, not on the Constitution as you (Muslim protestors) think. Constitution keeps on changing. You all know what the Court did in the Babri Masjid case. You all know what the court did in Kashmir, There is no internet from last five months. Is this the Constitution of India?,” asks Sharjeel Imam while trying to instigate Muslims against the state.

The anti-CAA protests, especially at Shaheen Bagh, which had turned blatantly communal, has now become even more dangerous as day-after-day it is propagating more anti-India agenda.

Read: Latest poster from Shaheen Bagh confirms that CAA ‘protests’ is about Islamist supremacy and Hinduphobia: Here is why

In an exclusive OpIndia expose, we had reported how the protests at Shaheen Bagh in the name of saving the constitution are being organised by people who had planned to burn the Constitution.

On December 31, OpIndia had published screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation where Sharjeel Imam had said that he would prefer to burn the constitution, as burning the 1500 page Ayodhya judgement would be difficult. He had said this while planning protests after the historic Ram Mandir verdict was given by the Supreme Court.

Sharjeel Imam is a PhD scholar from JNU who was earlier caught discussing regarding burning the constitution one day ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on the long-contested Ram Janmabhooomi-Babri Masjid dispute. Moreover, a video was posted by Facebook group ‘Muslim Students of JNU’ on 14 December 2019 – a day ahead of the Shaheen Bagh protests telling the crowds to block the roads of Delhi. He was seen instigating Muslims saying ‘Don’t Muslims even have that much in them to shut down cities of north India?’

Read: Sting video exposes propaganda behind Shaheen Bagh protests, organiser Sharjeel Imam from JNU confesses protest was carried out to attract ‘Western media’

The dangerous secessionist agenda of Islamists, who are the masterminds of the ongoing anti-CAA riots backed by “liberal-secular” media of the country was also recently exposed in a sting operation by Republic TV.

In an explosive sting, Republic TV had exposed the real intentions behind the Shaheen Bagh ‘protests’ as Sharjeel Imam, the chief conspirator of anti-India propaganda at Shaheen Bagh was caught saying on camera that the original plan was to organise a protest for one day to try and block major roads to attract the ‘western media’.

As the violent protests perpetrated by the Muslim mobs on the streets of Delhi and Jamia Millia Islamia University failed, few women belonging to Muslim community sat on a protest at Shaheen Bagh and blocked bus stop and a highway causing severe problems to the public of Delhi.

Read: The Battle from CAA to JNU: Khilafat 2.0, Communist Fantasies, Petty Politics and the conspiracy of Hong Kong style protests

It is important to note that the Shaheen Bagh protests, which were actually passed as an organic protest in a bid to ‘save the constitution’ later turned blatantly communal. It was earlier reported how protestors chanted slogans of “Jinnah Wali Azadi”, exposing the claims of “liberal-secular” media, who had earlier passed of these protests as peaceful.

Later, another Hinduphobic poster came up at the protest site in which the Hindu Swastika was depicted wrongfully and shown crushed by Hindu women in Burkha.

From The Print to The Wire: How journalists justified the attack on colleague Deepak Chaurasia by Shaheen Bagh goons

OpIndia Staff
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From The Print to The Wire: How journalists justified the attack on colleague Deepak Chaurasia by Shaheen Bagh goons

Consulting Editor of News Nation Deepak Chaurasia was attacked yesterday at Shaheen Bagh by people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Sharing a video from his ordeal on social media, he had said, “We are hearing that the constitution is in danger, we are hearing that the fight is to save democracy! When I reached Shaheen Bagh to show the same voice to the country, there was nothing less than mob lynching!”

The video that emerged was nothing short of shocking, with goons almost lynching Chaurasia. The video journalist accompanying Chaurasia was attacked as well and the camera was destroyed. According to him, there was no policeman at the site to protect him.

While most people expressed shock and unequivocally condemned the violence against Deepak Chaurasia by Shaheen Bagh goons, there were some who chose to shield the Islamist mobs by justifying the attack on him.

Read: Watch: Journalist Deepak Chaurasia attacked by anti-CAA mob at Shaheen Bagh, camera broken

The political editor of CNN News 18, Marya Shakil first condemned the attack on Deepak Chaurasia. However, then she went on to justify the Islamist goons too.


She said that journalists must think why the mic which is supposed to give voice to voiceless has started intimidating people and why the media is not trusted by people. She also said that the media has become a party to the “dangerous and polarising debate”.

Essentially, what Marya was doing was shielding the Shaheen Bagh mob by contextualising the near-lynching of journalist Deepak Chaurasia. What she was implying is that the Shaheen Bagh protesters are ‘voiceless’ and the section of the media that differs with the “secular” narrative, are prone to be lynched and attacked.

While Marya was slightly discreet, others did not even bother to keep up pretences.

Responding to Marya, Rohini Singh, who has conducted several lie-ridden hitjobs in her illustrious career with the Leftist propaganda rag, went a step further.


She rued the fact that the ‘onus of appropriate behaviour’ was always on the ‘citizens who have consistently been dehumanised, demonised and abused by the same media’. What she essentially meant that it was wrong for people to demand basic civility and display of appropriate behaviour from Muslims of Shaheen Bagh (or anywhere else) since according to her, they were the ones who were being demonised and abused by the media.

Read: The dangers of random ‘bigot-baby-secular-baby’ Goebbels propaganda being peddled by the ‘Liberals’

Rohini Singh, of course, did not mention ‘Muslims’ directly, but given the context and the fact that the Muslim-victimhood is aggressively peddled by The Wire, this seems like a reasonable inference.

Rohini Singh, of course, did not stop there.


Confirming our earlier inference, Rohini Singh said that Muslim women were protesting in Shaheen Bagh and that ‘you’ (Deepak Chaurasia) had gone to delegitimise their voice. Rohini Singh shamelessly contextualised and almost legitimised the attack on Chaurasia saying that it was him that behaved like a goon and that his intention was to demonise Muslims.

‘Writer’ who does a weekly show on Shekhar Gupta led The Print was even more brazen. She downright said that the Shaheen Bagh goons were actually ‘polite’ with Deepak Chaurasia, implying that they should have beaten him up and attacked him further.


While The Print journalist cheers Deepak Chaurasia being assaulted, it is pertinent to note that Shekhar Gupta, who leads the Editors Guild, had to issue a statement merely for a tweet by BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya against Rajdeep Sardesai.


There were other smaller self-proclaimed journalists, commentators and trolls who are espoused by the ‘secular’ ecosystem too who chimed in.


What these elements have essentially done is declare that for them, lynching and attacking people is justified if they do not agree with them. For all the virtues of a free, independent and protected media that they seem to extol on a regular basis, they were more than happy when a journalist who doesn’t seem to toe their line, in their mind, is attacking by Islamist goons.

Only a couple of days ago, Deepak Chaurasia was abused by CPI leader Ameer Haider Zaidi in the vilest of language. Zaidi had claimed that he conducts debates only to insults Muslims and called him a ‘bh*dwa patrakar’ (pimp journalist).

On the day of the 30th anniversary of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus, the protesters at Shaheen Bagh had clashed with Kashmiri Pandits. Hinduphobic posters have also been spotted at these protests against the CAA. Shaheen Bagh is the same place where chants of ‘Jinnah Wali Azadi‘ were raised by the anti-CAA protesters. At the same protests, children were used in order to peddle a nefarious agenda. These children were raising extremely disturbing slogans and they appeared to be indoctrinated into a cult of hatred. Despite all of this, certain people have found these protests ‘too Indian’.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva says slowdown in Indian economy is temporary, expects better growth in 2020

OpIndia Staff
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IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva says slowdown in Indian economy is temporary, expects better growth in 2020

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva on Friday said that growth slowdown in India appears to be temporary and she expects the momentum to improve going ahead. Speaking at the World Economic Forum 2020 at Davos, she said the world appears a better place in January 2020 compared to what it was when IMF announced its World Economic Outlook in October 2019.

She said the factors driving this positive momentum include receding trade tension after the US-China first phase trade deal and synchronized tax cuts, among others. However, she asserted that a growth rate of 3.3% is not fantastic for the world economy.

“It is still sluggish growth. We want fiscal policies to be more aggressive and we want structural reforms and more dynamism,” the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Read- India has significantly enlarged global profile steered by decisive leadership, shown remarkable resilience amid global slowdown: WEF President Borge Brende

“We had a downgrade in one large market India but we believe that’s temporary. We expect the momentum to improve further going ahead. There are also some bright spots like Indonesia and Vietnam,” she noted.

She further said a number of African countries are doing very well, but some other nations like Mexico are not.

On the risks ahead for the global economy, the IMF chief listed factors like weakness in long-term productivity growth and low inflation. “We are living in a more risk-prone world. It is only January and there have been events that are sparking risks for the global economy,” she added.

CNN’s ‘Fredo’ Christoper Cuomo slams ‘Trumpers’ for criticizing Greta, days after CNN settled lawsuit for defaming a teenager

OpIndia Staff
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CNN’s ‘Fredo’ Christoper Cuomo slams ‘Trumpers’ for criticizing Greta, days after CNN settled lawsuit for defaming a teenager

CNN anchor Christoper Cuomo, mockingly referred to by critics as ‘Fredo’, was subject to another round of ridicule after he slammed ‘Trumpers’ for criticizing teenage environmental alarmist Greta Thunberg. Cuomo’s comment came in response to US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin suggested that Greta should study economics.


Amusingly enough, earlier this month, CNN settled a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann after the news network ran an outrage cycle after a video surfaced that showed a confrontation between the teenager and Nathan Philips, a native American. All the MAGA-hat wearing teenager did was stand and smile at the Native American while the latter beat a drum right in front of his face.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Zp4ldFC4w]

On the basis of a short video that did not describe the entire picture, the students were branded as ‘white supremacists’ and some in the media even suggested that the students should be punched. However, when the full video emerged, it became evident that it was not the students that were at fault but the adult who was seeking out a confrontation. Other footage that emerged showed that other racist groups were present at the location where the students were waiting for a bus and hurling the vilest of abuses at them.

Read- Donald Trump labels climate alarmists like Greta Thunberg as ‘perennial prophets of doom’, says would have loved to meet her

For the outrageous coverage of events, Nick Sandmann had filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN which the news network chose to settle. Now, the student is expected to file lawsuits against numerous other liberal news networks that demonized him. Sandmann’s attorney, Todd McMurtry, confirmed that lawsuits against ABC, CBS, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, NPR, Slate and The Hill have already been filed.

In light of these circumstances, ‘Fredo’ Cuomo’s attack against those who criticize Greta Thunberg made him a subject of mockery. The treatment meted out to Sandmann and the resolute defence of Greta only further illustrates the liberal media’s hypocrisy. According to them, Greta Thunberg who wants to shape global economic policy is beyond all criticism. However, they have no compunctions against slandering a Trump-supporting teenager who did not force himself into the national conversation but was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Watch: Journalist Deepak Chaurasia attacked by anti-CAA mob at Shaheen Bagh, camera broken

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Journalist Deepak Chaurasia attacked by anti-CAA mob at Shaheen Bagh, camera broken

Consulting Editor of News Nation Deepak Chaurasia was today attacked at Shaheen Bagh by people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Sharing a video from his ordeal on social media, he said, “We are hearing that the constitution is in danger, we are hearing that the fight is to save democracy! When I reached Shaheen Bagh to show the same voice to the country, there was nothing less than mob lynching!”


As per News Nation, the people protesting at Shaheen Bagh started heckling the senior journalist and eventually, Chaurasia was manhandled when he was reporting from the venue. The mob did this to stop him from reporting about the ongoing protests against the CAA. The video journalist accompanying Chaurasia was attacked as well and the camera was destroyed. According to him, there was no policeman at the site to protect him. A complaint has been filed by the matter and DCP South East Delhi Chinmay Biswal has promised action against the perpetrators once they have been identified.

Read- CPI leader Ameer Haider Zaidi abuses journalist Deepak Chaurasia during TV debate on CAA, calls him ‘bh*dwa patrakar’

Only a couple of days ago, Deepak Chaurasia was abused by CPI leader Ameer Haider Zaidi in the vilest of language. Zaidi had claimed that he conducts debates only to insults Muslims and called him a ‘bh*dwa patrakar’ (pimp journalist).

On the day of the 30th anniversary of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus, the protesters at Shaheen Bagh had clashed with Kashmiri Pandits. Hinduphobic posters have also been spotted at these protests against the CAA. Shaheen Bagh is the same place where chants of ‘Jinnah Wali Azadi‘ were raised by the anti-CAA protesters. At the same protests, children were used in order to peddle a nefarious agenda. These children were raising extremely disturbing slogans and they appeared to be indoctrinated into a cult of hatred. Despite all of this, certain people have found these protests ‘too Indian’.

After backlash, Ola cabs clarifies: Driver who irked pro-Congress passenger has not been fired

OpIndia Staff
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After backlash, Ola cabs clarifies: Driver who irked pro-Congress passenger has not been fired

Following a backlash on Twitter, Ola cabs has issued a clarification on their Twitter page that a driver who was targeted by a pro-Congress supporter for his political views has not been fired. In a tweet, Ola cabs said that we all should be respectful of India’s democratic values and encourage a healthy exchange of thoughts. It further added that no parties in the case has been penalised from using the platform and urged everyone to be tolerant towards contrarian viewpoints.


The Clarification from Ola came after a large number of social media users had expressed their anguish over the fact that the Ola may be taking disciplinary action against the driver for his political views. Many had threatened to boycott the cab aggregator if the driver is removed from Ola network.

Earlier today, a flaky Management Consultant touched off a controversy when he took to Twitter to express his conniption against his Ola cab driver for holding a differing opinion than his. Lamenting about his experience on Twitter, the Management Consultant, Kanav Sharma, tagged official Twitter handle of Ola cabs to express his fulminations over the driver’s audacity of not conforming with his worldview.


In a string of tweets, Sharma narrated the entire conversation he had with the driver. According to Sharma’s account, the driver weighed in his opinion while he was having a conversation about the economic situation of India on his phone. Apparently, the driver accosted Sharma stating 6 years of Modi government is not the right barometer to measure the country’s economy and that it was Congress’ mistakes from the 70 years that the Indian economy is in such a bad shape as of now.

The driver then proceeded to brush-up history lessons for Sharma as he claimed that JNU is a “hub of prostitution for Tukde Tukde gang” and that Nehru’s Muslim grandfather converted to Hinduism to fool Indians.

Disconcerted by driver’s assertions, Sharma defensively claimed that his only concern is with the country’s economy which according to him was not doing good.

The conversation then segued into CAA and NRC and while the Ola driver supported the move by the Modi government, Kanav opposed it. Then the argument veered into atrocities on Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir, In a bid to take a moral high ground, Sharma lied through his teeth that he is from Jammu and Kashmir intimately understands the problems faced by Kashmiri Pandits during their exodus.

The Ola driver seems to have assumed Kanav was a Kashmiri Hindu and thus told about him about the brutalities that his family escaped in Kashmir. At this point, after the entire conversation, Kanav told him he was not interested in debating the driver. Thereafter, Kanav tagged Ola along with his ride number, urging Ola to take action against the driver.

Kanav’s tweets elicited a response from Ola Support who stated that they have reported the driver-partner for corrective action and would ensure to avoid these instances in the future. However, the targeting of Ola driver did not sit well with a score of Twitter denizens who called out Ola cabs to refrain from taking corrective actions against the driver who was simply having a healthy exchange of views with his passenger. In fact, after the matter blew out of proportion, even Kanav backtracked, claiming he had absolutely no intention of getting the driver penalised.

BJP MLA comes to Rajasthan Assembly with basket full of locusts to protest government inaction against locust attack on crops

OpIndia Staff
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BJP MLA comes to Rajasthan Assembly with basket full of locusts to protest government inaction against locust attack on crops

Rajasthan BJP MLA Bihari Lal Nokha walked in the Rajasthan Assembly with a basket full of locusts on Friday to draw the attention of state government towards its increasing menace in the fields of Rajasthan.

The BJP MLA has demanded swift action from the state government to compensate the farmers whose crops have been destroyed by locusts.

“The farmers in the state have faced huge losses due to the locust menace and the government should pay them their compensation. Over seven lakh hectares of crops have been damaged,” Nokha informed while speaking to ANI.


Nokha also asserted that he will speak to the government official regarding the issue. “We demand the state government to not waste time and help the farmers in Rajasthan. They have been affected due to locusts that have emanated from the desert area of Pakistan. I have come here to speak to the government and work out some relief measures”, he said.

Eleven districts of the state are facing the worst locust attack after 26 years. Control measures have been undertaken on 3.70 lakh hectares of affected land, officials said.

Read- Karachi faces locust attack, Pakistani minister urges people to eat them in Biriyani

“The seriousness of the government is visible in addressing the issue of locust attack in western Rajasthan that has damaged crops on lakhs of hectares of land,” Nokha (Bikaner) MLA Bihari Lal told reporters in the assembly building.

“Instead of taking the issue very seriously, the government is focused against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The farmers have suffered huge losses due to the locust attack and the government should expedite the compensation distribution process,” he added.

This year the Locust infestation has been very severe in the region. Apart from ruining crop in Gujarat and Rajasthan, several places in Pakistan are also facing this problem. Rajasthan is experiencing the worst locust attack in 26 years. The locust attack has not just destroyed crops but has also affected livelihood of farmers.

Locust is a kind of a grasshopper that usually move in large numbers and devour the crop wherever they settle. According to experts, the insects have come from Oman side due to wind direction.

‘How can we tie down hands of authorities when properties are being burnt in the protests’: SC rejects plea seeking blanket ban on NSA

OpIndia Staff
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‘How can we tie down hands of authorities when properties are being burnt in the protests’: SC rejects plea seeking blanket ban on NSA

On Friday, the Supreme Court of India rejected a plea filed by advocate ML Sharma seeking “blanket ban” against the imposition of the National Security Act (NSA), 1980 in Delhi and a few other States. The court said that these are law and order issues, and the court can’t restrict the government in taking action against violence.


NSA empowers the police to detain anyone without trial as long as 12 months. The plea came up before a bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Arun Mishra.

Mr. Agarwal claimed that NSA would be used against people who are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NPR (National Population Register) and NRC (National Register of Citizens). The petitioner contended that the imposition of NSA was “unconstitutional” and violates Fundamental Rights guaranteed to an individual under the Indian Constitution.

Justice Arun Mishra said that the court can’t issue restrictive orders on the government when widescale violence is going in the name of protests. “How can we tie down hands of authorities when properties are being burnt in the ongoing protests,” he said, making it clear the court will not prevent the government from enforcing law and order and punishing those indulging in rioting.


He sought a blanket ban on the implementation of the law, besides demanding compensation of ₹50 lacs for the detainees. The petition challenged the orders of Delhi’s Lt. Governor, Anil Bajpai, to impose NSA in the national capital for a period of 3 months, starting from the 19th of January.

Justice Arun Mishra was reported saying, “If you can show a specific case, tell us. Then we can look into it… We can’t issue a general order saying ‘follow the law’, can we?” The Bench refused to pass “general orders”, highlighting the damage to public property and law and order issues witnessed in the wake of anti-CAA protests. “You are telling us to issue a direction to the govt not to arrest anybody. How can we do that? Withdraw the petition, and we give you the liberty to approach the court citing individual cases of misuse of authority, but not like this,” the court directed the petitioner.

“These are law and order issues. How can we interfere? We cannot pass a general direction, a blanket order restraining govt from invoking the NSA, but we can definitely do something if individual cases of misuse of the NSA by authorities is brought to our attention,” the court told ML Sharma.

The plea was thus rejected by the apex Court. Justice Mishara however, added that the Bench is willing to hear any “specific case” where the said law was misused. This is not the first time that serial petitioner, ML Sharma’s plea was rejected by the apex court. He has been rebuked for filing frivolous petitions in the past as well, and was fined by the court several times.

Saying citizens have right to refuse to be governed by a law they don’t support is a very shabby way to justify anti-CAA violence

Dr Satish P
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Saying citizens have right to refuse to be governed by a law they don’t support is a very shabby way to justify anti-CAA violence

Prof. Faizan Mustafa, VC of NALSAR Hyderabad, has published a well written political message, in the guise of a reviewing a book titled ‘India’s Founding Moment’ by Madhav Khosla. The interesting parts in the book review are where the Book contents are deftly connected to the ongoing Anti-CAA protests. Prof. Mustafa says, “The nation is fighting for the ‘idea of India’ by protesting against the Narendra Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act and plans for a nationwide National Register of Citizens. But a new book delves deep into the idea of the Indian constitutionalism, at a time when the document has become a talisman for those defending India’s foundations.”

Perhaps this Professor is confident his fate won’t be anywhere similar to a fellow Professor in Mumbai, who also made political comments just last week while holding post of Director, Academy of Theatre Art, but ended up being sent on compulsory leave. As the matter with Senior Professor Yogesh Soman escalated, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said: “The job of a university professor is to teach, and commenting on Rahul Gandhi is not right”.

Perhaps Prof. Faizan Mustafa knew well that the Union Home Minister will not do anything similar to him, the VC of a Central University. Despite the Central Home Minister being castigated for leading a “fascist” Govt, while the State Home Minister is being acclaimed as part of a coalition of “secular” parties! Perhaps the definition of secularism & Fascism needs to change, since the latter seems to believe more in freedom of Speech than the former.

It is an old argument to claim the idea of India is thanks to the British and was enshrined in the Constitution born after 1947. Actor Saif Ali Khan recently got castigated for similar claims. Someone should tell Prof Mustafa that the British East India company was registered in 1600, and has the word “India” within its name since then. This is apart from the numerous references to the Geographic boundaries of Modern India OR Bharat, even in the ancient scriptures, hymns, prayers of Bharatvarsh, recited without change since few millennia.


In fact, the original document of the Indian Constitution has images depicting the Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc and nothing at all representing the “azaadi” slogans used by those protesting against Citizenship Amendment Act.

Read- Latest poster from Shaheen Bagh confirms that CAA ‘protests’ is about Islamist supremacy and Hinduphobia: Here is why

India has given shelter to various refugees, even before the Constitution was accepted and the Republic was born, or European secularism. India has given shelter to various refugees: Christians from Syria, Parsis from Iran, Jews from Poland, victims of 1947 riots in Pakistan, Tibetans, the survivors of 1971 Bangladesh genocide and Sri Lankan Tamils. Any claims that India became secular only because of its Constitution are rubbish!  Or as Kangana Ranaut remarked: “If there were no Bharat, what was MAHA-Bharat?”

The Law Professor further says, “The CAA protesters are testimony of the ‘civic culture’ that was born with the Constitution. The citizens’ clarion call is clear — choices made at the founding moment of the republic cannot be altered now. The citizens are now masters of their own destiny and refusing to be governed by a law they consider contrary to their sense of justice and to the foundational principles of the Constitution. They are going much beyond the Supreme Court’s highly technical, narrower and legal techniques of examining the constitutionality of parliamentary laws.”

Talking of Civic Culture of protestors, Prof. Mustafa should spare a thought for protestors who shouted Anti-Hindu slogans, displayed placards denigrating Maa Kali and Swastika symbol most revered by Hindus, those members of SDPI who came to assassinate public figures in a pro CAA rally in Bangalore but instead attacked an innocent.

Read- In their bid to fear-monger about CAA-NRC, ‘liberals’ are exposing how Muslim cab drivers are flouting safety rules

What about the members of NSUI in JNU who opposed neutral students from registering for the new semester by violent means and violated HC orders by protesting near Main building, confining a Lady Professor for many hours, vandalising the server room to prevent online student registration; is this civic culture?

The Leftist student’s union in JNU is finally claiming to be the victim while calling others as perpetrators, after unleashing all their violence.  And those in Shaheen Baug who have violated prohibitory orders and blocked main arterial roads since weeks causing grave hardships to common citizens who don’t have any issue with this Citizenship Amendment Act. Any comments Prof. Mustafa about the ‘civic culture’ in such protests? If he finds these constitutional, I’m sure the concerned Article/Schedule can be mentioned. And to say Citizens have a better interpretation of the Constitution that even Supreme Court, makes one rub eyes to check if this is indeed a VC of a National Law University! If the foundational principles of the Constitution are sacrosanct, what about the insertion of the word “secular” into the preamble, done surreptitiously by Indira Gandhi in 1976 during the Emergency as 42nd amendment? Does that count as opposing the foundational principles OR aligned to it? Finally, what was India between 1950 & 1976: secular, non-secular or communal?

Calling ‘citizens as masters of their own destiny, and refusing to be governed by a law they find contrary to their sense of Justice’, is a very shabby way to justify violence protests by a select few, with misinformation and propaganda by their supporters in Media, Academia, Arts, Literature, etc. Isn’t there something called collective responsibility, or duties by the same people protesting for their rights? The CJI reminded all of the same, in this very context just last week.

If those opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act are so concerned about the constitution, why not campaign for the next election with an anti-CAA agenda in their manifesto, win to have a simple majority and repeal the same Law in Parliament? Will not this be a way to uphold the highest values of Constitutional Democracy? Why rather burn railway stations, uproot tracks, attack police stations after massive stone-pelting, support Jinnah, Kashmir separation and Moplah Riots of Kerala, and what not? When those allegedly ‘destroying’ the Constitution by supporting CAA, have not done anything similar, what is the tearing hurry  for those opposing CAA to ‘save’ the Constitution through such means? Even Students are not spared of this dirty political game as exposed by the Justice Shamsuddin Committee report on torture rooms for neutral students not supporting the Leftist groups in Kerala student politics.

As a Professional, Prof. Mustafa would find it interesting to know that another group of professionals who have been targeted, with an intention to hurt their Professional work, just because of having an opinion on Citizenship Amendment Act, are Doctors. Vadodara has witnessed leaders of Muslim community issue open calls to boycott few Doctors for alleged support to CAA-NRC and speaking against violence in the name of protests on various fora. The irony is that many of them had never commented on CAA at all. Things got worse when Individual Doctors were targeted by vested interests, using CAA-NRC as a pretext, as with Dr. Ranjith Vijayhari who runs a Gastro Clinic in Trivandrum


Most unfortunate is the case of Dr. Vyas Vaidyanathan, an Intensive Care Specialist at Avitus Hospital Palakkad, Kerala, who was doxed and emails were sent to Avitis Hospital Management demanding his sacking, who succumbed to the pressure.


All this for supporting CAA on Twitter and asking illegals to be deported! And this is the fate of an expert Doctor who comes back to his roots in Palakkad, to help local healthcare needs hitherto unmet. He quit Palakkad for good on Jan 22nd, 2020.

Would Prof. Mustafa take a stand on the blatant violation of IPC 153, 295 & 295 (A) against those who serve society? Or is it justified on the grounds that ‘citizens as masters of their own destiny, and refusing to be governed by a law they find contrary to their sense of Justice’. Why is it that those opposing CAA as unconstitutional, never find a voice to call out such hate crimes against the Community of “Healers”?

Read- Nothing Defeats like Defeat: Liberals thought they were using Islamic extremism to retain power, they received a rude shock

It is no surprise that such reviews are covertly used to justify violence and other unconstitutional means of protest and then claim it is an “agitation to protect Constitution.”
No wonder, when appeasement becomes a norm, even equality seems like oppression.

The biggest irony is, the strongest protestors to this affirmative action in CAA, are the very ones who have been beneficiaries themselves since decades. CAA in fact implements the same unfulfilled promises made by Gandhi, Nehru and other leaders at the time of Partition.

So, Prof. Mustafa can perhaps ponder, who will the founders of Indian Constitution be with: those who implemented CAA or those protesting against it by unconstitutional means, supported by those claiming violent protests are a battle to save the constitution?

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