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“Pooja, what is this behaviour?” Read how Bigg Boss made an appearance after US bombed Iran leader Soleimani in Iraq

OpIndia Staff
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“Pooja, what is this behaviour?” Read how Bigg Boss made an appearance after US bombed Iran leader Soleimani in Iraq

Yes, it is as surreal as it sounds. Indian reality tv show Bigg Boss, which everyone loves to hate but secretly watches to hate on it, has made it to US bombing Iranian general Soleimani in Iraq and putting the world on the verge of third world war. Let us break it up for you.

After the US killed Iranian general Soleimani in Iraq last week through targeted drone strikes, Iran has called for revenge. It raised the red flag of doom suggesting an imminent war even as US President Donald Trump showed off how US military is the best and Iran should back off and not retaliate.

As world leaders are asking leaders of these countries to maintain restraint, Nikki Haley, an American Republican politician with Indian roots, took to Twitter to share her views on what Soleimani’s death means for Iran.


In a 45-second clip from her interview with Fox News, Haley says how President Donald Trump will never let anyone get away with taking lives of Americans. To that, another Indian-American actor, entertainer KalPenn responded with ‘Pooja what is this behaviour?’ Haley responded with laughing emojis and said that as a fan, that was hysterical.


She also said she was proud of the work KalPenn does. While we are not sure whether Haley is a Bigg Boss fan and got the reference, here is actually what was wrong with Pooja’s behaviour.

https://youtu.be/tM76nAN6SLo

This clip is from Bigg Boss season 5 when a contestant Pooja Misra was particularly angry at fellow contestant and kicked a ‘dustbin’ by mistake. When she was asked to put the dustbin properly, Misra got a little more than mad and threatened her fellow contestant she’d hit her as she was ‘asking for it’. She even broke the wiper she was holding while she ‘accidentally’ kicked the dustbin. Further in clip she again loses her cool and continues to snarl.

Meanwhile, it is also not clear who is Pooja in the reference here? Is it Nikki Haley? Or Donald Trump or is Iran the Pooja here?

Lawyer who represented Laxmi Agarwal files plea in Delhi Court seeking stay on release of Chhapaak: Read why

OpIndia Staff
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Lawyer who represented Laxmi Agarwal files plea in Delhi Court seeking stay on release of Chhapaak: Read why

The Deepika Padukone starrer Chhapaak has yet again found itself surrounded in controversy. Aparna Bhat, the lawyer who represented the acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, on whose life the movie is based on, has moved Delhi’s Patiala House Court seeking for a stay on the release of the movie.


Bhatt in her plea has said that while she was the lawyer who represented Laxmi in her arduous legal fight, she has been given no credit in the movie Chhapaak.

Late last night, Aparna Bhat took to Twitter to express her anguish at being left out of the movie despite her fight for Laxmi’s rights at the time.

Facebook post by Aparna Bhat

In her Facebook post, she says that she is never the one to demand attention for her work, but she is deeply disturbed by the turn of events. She took to Facebook to express her angst after she watched the movie Chhapaak, she said. She said she represented Laxmi in her criminal trial and that she is set to take legal action to ‘protect her identity’ and ‘preserve her integrity’.

Read: The real story of Chhapaak: When 32-year-old Naeem threw acid on 15-year-old Laxmi’s face because she refused his marriage proposal

As soon as Aparna Bhat posted this on Facebook, she received overwhelming support from several quarters. In response, Aparna Bhat wrote another Facebook post thanking everyone for their wishes.

Facebook post by Aparna Bhat

On Facebook, Aparna Bhat wrote that she was thankful to all those who endorsed her contribution and challenged team Chhapaak in failing to even say ‘Thank you’. Further, she said that she cannot match the powers of ‘these might producers of Bollywood’ but keeping quiet will only endorse injustice.

Read: Ahead of release of Deepika Padukone starrer Chhapaak, Laxmi Agarwal’s Wikipedia page vandalised, culprit Naeem changed to ‘Rajesh’

Earlier, on 11th December, Aparna Bhat had infact taken to Facebook to celebrate the movie the making of the film Chhapaak. She said that she still remembers how it took her 8 years to get the law changed, the minimum compensation increased, ensuring free treatment at private hospitals and finally, regulating acid sale. She then celebrated the story now being told in Bollywood. However, after watching the movie, she seems to have changed her opinion.

Facebook post by Aparna Bhat

It is pertinent to note here that the producer of the movie Chhapaak is Deepika Padukone herself who had landed herself in trouble just a couple of days ago with her PR stunt in JNU.

On January 7th, three days prior to release of her film Chhapaak, Deepika Padukone had decided to show ‘solidarity’ with students who were on the receiving end of violence by masked goons on JNU campus. The leftist goons had attacked students who were registering for winter semester and took over the server room and made it dysfunctional. JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, who was found leading a mob on Sunday, 5th January, is named in an FIR for vandalism by JNU administration.

Read: Deepika Padukone’s PR stunt at JNU gets endorsement from Pakistan. Here is how it unfolded

Padukone, to show her solidarity with the students, chose to meet Ghosh and her friends while the ones who were the victims during the registration process were ignored. Which is fine, as everyone is a hypocrite at the end of it.

However, Padukone’s visit to JNU as show of solidarity was anything but organic. It was a PR stunt for her film promotion as was revealed after Deepika’s pictures from JNU were shared to various media houses by a PR firm ‘Spice PR’. This PR stunt by Deepika Padukone for her movie Chhapaak was also hailed by terrorist nation Pakistan.

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

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

Since the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act, which aims to fast-track providing citizenship to persecuted religious minorities in three neighbouring Islamic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the Indian ‘liberals’ are out and about fear-mongering and sharing ‘anecdotes’ how Indian Muslims are afraid of being stateless. This, despite the fact that CAA does not affect Indian citizens, irrespective of their religion.

But now with National Population Register, the hysteria has gone through the roof. The ‘cab drivers’ are now changing their names on cab aggregator apps to ‘hide’ their Muslim identity.


Social media user Namaah, who tweets as @thehappyn00dle, took to Twitter on Tuesday to say how her ‘cab driver’ with a Muslim sounding name thanked her for not cancelling on him despite his ‘Muslim’ name. She added that “His fellow Muslim drivers have had to start using ambiguous nick names, dressing differently, and have wiped their cars of any religious symbolism.”


She further added how this isn’t about religion, “it’s a sneaky, effective way of obliterating any sense of belonging and community among Muslims when they might need them the most.” To further fear-monger, she asks people to imagine being rejected by your own country and then not having option to fall back on our cultural identity. First of all, Islam is a religion, not a culture. Second of all, since CAA does not affect Indian Muslims, how does one get rejected? Further, she adds how this is not just about Muslims but also Bahujan and trans people. This does not make any sense anymore.

Toeing similar line, Huffington Post India journalist Ankur Pathak floated another theory.


On Wednesday, he talked about a Muslim Uber driver from Vrindavan who grew up with Hindus but now that they’ve all grown up, he feels isolated as a Muslim. His ‘cab driver’ shared his anxiety about papers that might be needed for NRC. Instead of explaining his ‘cab driver’ that he need not worry about it since the NRC is not even ready in draft format and hence it is too soon to panic without knowing the whole issue, Pathak chooses to remain silent and let the poor ‘Muslim cab driver’ get more anxious.


He added some more human angle without getting a little alarmed that if his cab driver is registered with Uber, he would have at least some basic documents, like the driver’s licence or even the PAN. In fact, Uber website has a list of documents needed for drivers and Uber partners that need to be registered. Pathak could have explained that should the NRC come out, since he has so many proofs of identification, his having taken birth on a cot and not a hospital bed should not really be a problem.

Read: Delhi: Muslim Uber driver Naseem asks Pakistani Hindus to get off his cab, flees without taking them to Majnu Ka Tila camp

This, however, raises a few concerns. If Uber drivers claim they have no proof of identification, isn’t Uber thorough with vetting the driver partners? If not, how safe is it to ride in cabs where drivers have not provided their identification proofs. Moreover, if what Namaah says is true and if cab drivers are indeed changing their names to hide their identity, irrespective of religion, shouldn’t that be a red flag and raise concerns of safety? OpIndia has reached out to Uber for a statement on the same. We shall update our report once we hear back from them.

Pakistani passport becomes fourth-worst for overseas travel, tied with Somalia

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani passport becomes fourth-worst for overseas travel, tied with Somalia

On Tuesday, the Henley Passport Index released its first report of the year, retaining the Pakistani passport’s rank at 104 out of 107, making it the fourth-worst passport for international travel ahead of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to the reports, the ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information, enhanced by ongoing research.

The Index, which ranks of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, placed Pakistan on the 104th position. In its latest report, the Index has found that only 32 nations allow visa-free access to Pakistan, tied with Somalia.

The Henley Passport Index, which periodically measures the world’s most travel-friendly passports released its first report of the new decade. In 2019, the Pakistani passport had been ranked as the fifth-worst passport to hold.

Meanwhile, The strongest passport was found to be that of Japan. According to the Index, the Japanese can avail visa-free, or visa-on-arrival, access to 191 destinations around the world. Singapore comes in second with 190, while South Korea and Germany are tied in third place with 189.

Other European countries also feature in the top 10 rankings as Finland and Italy on the fourth position while Spain, Luxembourg and Denmark rank fifth, and Sweden and France enjoying the sixth position.

The US and the UK, meanwhile, continued to slide down the rankings. They currently are tied in eighth place with 184 options for ease of travel – a dramatic drop from the number one spot they jointly held in 2015.

India ranks at 84 with 58 nations offering its nationals visa-free or visa-on-arrival access.

Kerala: Left-wing ‘activists’ block Nobel laureate Michael Levitt for hours in his houseboat during Bharat Bandh

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Left-wing ‘activists’ block Nobel laureate Michael Levitt for hours in his houseboat during Bharat Bandh

The houseboat of Nobel Laureate and renowned biophysicist Michael Levitt in the backwaters of Alappuzha, Kerala, was blocked for hours by left-wing trade union activists from CITU during the nationwide strike against the Centre on Wednesday.

According to the reports, Michael Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist and a professor of structural biology at the Stanford University in the United States, and his wife were stranded in a houseboat in Alappuzha when protestors prevented their boat from leaving for more than three hours.

Levitt, who received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was on a three-day visit to the state for a lecture series as a government guest. His boat, anchored near Alappuzha after a trip to Kumarakom, was not allowed to leave by CITU protestors, who threatened the crew.

“It is as if a bandit stopped us at gunpoint and delayed us under threat of force for one hour. These persons, who did this, ignored all arguments that tourists were exempted and that I am a VIP guest of the Kerala government. He is obviously acting knowing that he is safe from prosecution. Sadly, this makes me fear that India is sinking into lawlessness,” Levitt wrote in an email to his tour agent at Kottayam.

In the email, which was later released to the media, he also said the person who blocked them “ignored all arguments that tourists were exempted” from the strike.

The police have now registered a case after the houseboat owners filed a complaint in this regard. “We received a call from the boat driver, saying the protesters were blocking the boats. When we were about to leave for the place, the driver called us back and told us the issue was solved and that they have left,” said a police officer.

Reacting to the incident, Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said, “We will take strong action against those anti-social elements who blocked the boat. Levitt was here as a state government guest. We will also look into whether there were any lapses in providing security to him.”

The Kerala trade unions had earlier declared that the tourism industry will be exempt from the strike. However, CITU members who stranded Levitt’s boat, allegedly did not honour the promise. The boat owners’ association has reportedly informed that houseboats carrying tourists were stopped at several other places, often for hours.

Ten trade unions, including INTUC, AITUC, and CITU, backed by left parties and Congress, had called the nationwide strike to protest against labour reforms, FDI, disinvestment, corporatisation and privatisation policies and to press for a 12-point common demand of the working class relating to minimum wage among others.

Banking, transport and other services were hit by the strike, especially in the non-BJP ruled states. However, large parts of the country remained unaffected.

IPS officer Aslam Khan speaks the language of Pulwama terrorist, makes a ‘cow urine’ jibe at BJP Delhi spokesperson

OpIndia Staff
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IPS officer Aslam Khan speaks the language of Pulwama terrorist, makes a ‘cow urine’ jibe at BJP Delhi spokesperson

The latest to join in making the ‘cow urine’ jibe to mock Hinduism is Delhi-based senior IPS officer, Aslam Khan. Following the JNU violence perpetrated by leftist goons to stop the winter semester registration process, BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga had tweeted that ‘Leftist are cancer’. After the tweet got multiple retweets, senior IPS officer Aslam Khan quoted it and said whether we can ‘cure’ them with cow urine.


Using cow urine as a derogatory term to mock Hindus is also something the terrorists in India do. Pulwama terrorist, in his confession video released later had said that he was doing this to take on the cow urine drinking Hindus.

Soon netizens pointed it out to her that the ‘cow urine’ jibe is not in good taste, especially coming from someone who is in the public service.


However, she was also given helpful suggestions by well-wishers who suggested that she could avoid the cow jokes in public and have a hearty laugh at them in private, like he does.


Others wished for more like her, who’d mock Hindus and Hinduism, in the services.


When Pulwama terrorist blew up the SUV that killed 40 CRPF personnel in February this year, he referred to Indians as ‘gaae ka peshab peene wale’ (cow urine drinkers). ‘Cow urine drinker’ jibe has been long used by people to mock Hindus even though it echoes the language used by terrorists.

Update: IPS Officer Aslam Khan took to Twitter to announce that her Twitter account was compromised since 3rd week of December. She said that the earlier ‘cow urine’ jibe was not posted by her and deleted it.


However, Twitterati isn’t quite buying that because on 7th January 2020, 2 days before the Hinduphobic tweet, IPS Khan had tweeted that she has restored her account.


The 7th January 2020 tweet has also been deleted along with the Hinduphobic tweet.

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee rues how JNU is no more a place with vibrant debates between different ideologies

OpIndia Staff
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Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee rues how JNU is no more a place with vibrant debates between different ideologies

Ruing about the present situation of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, who is also an alumnus of the JNU said that during his time the university was considered as a safe place for raising dissenting views.

Speaking about the long-tradition of the JNU being seen as enemy of the state, Banerjee claimed that he was sent to Tihar Jail in 1983 because JNU was seen as being too uppity by Mrs Gandhi.

Expressing concern about the growing culture of violence that has bedevilled JNU recently, Banerjee stated that the adopting violent measures is extremely terrifying for the future sense of policy because it does create this worry for the youth of today. The way of resolving a conflict by beating those who with the opposing views is a dangerous prospect, he added.

Banerjee, who was speaking at the Express Adda event on Wednesday echoed finance minister N Sitharaman’s statements on the University. He said, “What was remarkable about the university(JNU) was that it was a safe place for dissent. It was extremely vibrant but with a lot of diversity.”

The Nobel laureate continued, “JNU is always characterised as being a sort of Leftist hangout, but there was Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, and Yogendra Yadav. Coming from middle-class Bengal, I didn’t really know the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in any form, and then we met them (at the JNU campus). They were engaged in conversation, almost formally polite. It was the first time I’d encountered a wide range of views. But I think we got along.”

Speaking on people with diverse political ideologies engaging in civil conversations, Banerjee said “The Lohiyaites loved the communists, but last year when I was there, the Lohiyaites won the students union against the communists. The divide was there. There was enormous diversity of views.” He said that when he was with JNU, people could disagree but still listen to each other. “The recourse to violence, therefore, is extremely frightening for future polity,” he added cautioning that the future generation will grow up believing the only way to resolve conflict is violence.

Banerjee’s assertions come on the heels of the violence that was witnessed in the JNU on Sunday, January 4, when masked assailants barged into university and attacked students inside the campus who were registering for the winter semester. Left students had been opposing registration over marginal hostel fee hike which was eventually partially rolled back.

West Bengal: Videos of police vandalising vehicles and setting them on fire emerge from Malda

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Videos of police vandalising vehicles and setting them on fire emerge from Malda

The nationwide strike called by the trade unions against the centre’s labour and economic policies has turned violent in West Bengal’s Malda district and shockingly the West Bengal police themselves seem to have resorted to vandalism after they were allegedly seen setting vehicles on fire.

According to News18, the West Bengal police were seen destroying vehicles in the Malda, West Bengal after the protests against the Modi government turned violent on Wednesday. In the video, policemen appear to be attacking cars with sticks and also allegedly set them on fire.


In the video, the journalist Sougata informs that while some vehicles were already burning at the time of video, one cannot say for sure they were set on fire by police but at around 1:00 in the video, one can see police allegedly vandalising the vehicles and using their weapons like lathis to smash the windscreen.

Earlier, there were reports that protests had reportedly turned violent in West Bengal’s Malda district and that the protestors had set police vehicles on fire. The earlier reports said that the police had fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse protestors.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has blamed the left parties and Congress for the violence that took place in the state during the Bharat Bandh protests on Wednesday against the union government.

Attacking the Left parties and the Congress over violence and vandalism during the ‘Bharat Bandh’ protests, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that those who do not have any political existence in the state are trying to ruin its economy by pursuing “cheap politics” of strikes.

Mamata Banerjee also launched an attack against the left parties by claiming that they have not engaged in any mass movement against CAA or NRC, neither in Bengal nor across the country, but wanted to take a short cut by calling a strike.

Trade unions across the country had called for a nationwide strike on Wednesday against alleged ‘anti-working class policies’ of the Modi-led government. Banking, transport and other services were hit by the strike, especially in the non-BJP ruled states. However, large parts of the country remained unaffected.

Watch: Pakistanis extend support to JNU students in Lahore, chant ‘halla bol’ in solidarity against PM Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Pakistanis extend support to JNU students in Lahore, chant ‘halla bol’ in solidarity against PM Modi

The Jawaharlal Nehru University, has now garnered support from across the border following the recent clashes between the JNU students and masked assailants inside the university. Students and teachers in Lahore, Pakistan took out a rally on Wednesday in solidarity with the JNU students.


As reported by Aaj Tak, the rally which begun from the Lahore Press Club saw participation from students belonging to various universities in Pakistan. The theme of the demonstration was controversial poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem-‘Lajim Hai Ki Hum Dekhenge’. The poet has already caused a great deal of upheaval in India with many terming him as a divisive historical figure.

Invitation for the demonstration in Lahore

Earlier on Sunday, January 5, a large group of masked goons entered the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University campus and assaulted students, faculty and other staff members. JNU Student Union president Aishe Ghosh was also attacked and she was injured in the incident.

The attack attracted widespread condemnation from several quarters, with students from many universities protesting against the violence meted out to the JNU students. Yesterday, students of IIM Ahmedabad registered their protest against the attack on JNU campus. The IIT Kanpur students also came out in support of the JNU students.

In addition, actress Deepika Padukone, as a part of her PR exercise before the release of her upcoming movie-Chhapaak, visited the JNU campus on Tuesday night to meet the victims of violence. She met Aishe Ghosh, the president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union who was allegedly assaulted by masked goons on Sunday evening.

The JNUSU has accused the university vice chancellor for being purportedly involved in meting out violence against the students. The student union says that by filing an FIR against Aishe Ghosh, the JNU administration has made it clear whose side it is in this fight. Delhi Police had filed a case against JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh following administration’s complaint against her. In fact, two FIRs have been registered against the JNUSU president and several others for attacking security guards and vandalising the server room of the university on January 4.

JNU rose to prominence after the event organised in 2016 witnessed anti-India and pro-Pakistani slogans raised by the participants who attend the event. One of the controversial slogans raised at the event was “Bharat tere tukde hoge Inshallah”, following which the university was criticised by many as a hub of anti-national and pro-Pakistani activities.

After ‘Free Kashmir’ poster in Mumbai, now ‘Kashmir Maange Aazadi’ slogans and posters in DU

OpIndia Staff
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After ‘Free Kashmir’ poster in Mumbai, now ‘Kashmir Maange Aazadi’ slogans and posters in DU

Though leftist activists and groups have been maintaining that the protests organised to show solidarity to JNU students are against the violence at campus and students’ rights, secessionist posters keep making an appearance, forcing everyone to ask what is the real intention behind these agitations.

On January 6, secessionist posters asking for “Free Kashmir” were seen in Mumbai’s Gateway of India where many social media and Bollywood activists had gathered to show solidarity with the JNU students after Sunday’s violence in the campus.

Now, as per reports, similar posters are seen at Delhi’s St Stephen’s college. As shared by BJP spokesperson Suresh Nakhua, a poster supporting ‘Aazad Kashmir’ was seen at the protest there over JNU violence.


Social media users have shared images of other similar posters seen at St Stephen’s too.


It is notable here that after the “Free Kashmir” poster fiasco at the Gateway protest, there has been a desperate attempt by the ruling Shiv Sena, which has become freshly ‘secular’ and newly ‘liberal’ after forming an alliance government with Congress, to claim that the poster was not secessionist.

A video has emerged where DU students can be seen raising slogans of “Kashmir Maange Azaadi”.


Read: Sanjay Raut defends ‘free Kashmir’ posters in Mumbai protests, says they did not mean that

Sena prince Aaditya Thackeray and Sena leader Sanjay Raut had tried to defend the poster. Raut has even claimed that the poster was not about demanding secession from India but about asking for internet access. A similar claim was also repeated by the woman Mehek Mirza Prabhu, the woman who had held that poster.

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