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To fill the void left by newly ‘secular’ Shiv Sena, Raj Thackeray’s MNS goes saffron on Balasaheb’s birth anniversary

OpIndia Staff
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To fill the void left by newly ‘secular’ Shiv Sena, Raj Thackeray’s MNS goes saffron on Balasaheb’s birth anniversary

Today on the birth anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray, founder of the Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray’s uncle, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray unveiled his party’s all-saffron new flag with Shivaji Maharaj’s Raj Mudra at the party’s first Maha Adhiveshan at Nesco Centre in Goregaon.

The old one had blue, green and saffron bands and the image of a train engine.

MNS old flag (left) and the all-new saffron flag (right)

Raj Thackeray probably hopes to occupy the space left partially vacant after the Shiv Sena ditched its ideologies to adapt it’s new ‘secular’ makeover after joining hands with the Congress-NCP.

Notably, while stitching up an alliance with Congress and NCP in Maharashtra, the erstwhile Hindutva Party Shiv Sena had come out hailing the tenets of ‘secularism’. In fact, the preamble of the Common Minimum Program (CMP) signed between the three allies had asserted that the alliance between Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP will uphold “secular” values of the constitution.

Meanwhile, MNS has not only changed the colour and design of its flag but in an attempt to change its course leaning more towards Hindutva ideology, for the first time ever, displayed Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s picture on the dais next to that of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the MNS state executive meeting.


Thackeray began the party seminar, which will be held in three sessions, by paying tribute to late Balasaheb Thackeray and garlanding a picture of Veer Savarkar along with B R Ambedkar, Sabitribai Phule, and Probodhankar Thackeray kept beside a bust of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Raj Thackeray’s son Amit Thackeray was inducted into the MNS at this meeting.

Senior MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande who felt that nobody has copyright over the saffron and that whole Maharashtra is saffron said that the new changes “will bring new energy” to Maharashtra, and a “new twist” in Maharashtra politics.

Read: Shiv Sena agrees to uphold ‘secular values’, work for ‘minorities’ in Maharashtra: Read details of Common Minimum Program

MNS was founded in 2006 after Raj Thackeray split from Shiv Sena. Lately, the party was not performing well enough in elections. Now, with Shiv Sena holding the secular flag, MNS probably thought it to be the right time to hold a saffron flag.

There have also been speculations of an alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the MNS following Thackeray’s meeting with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis earlier this month though the BJP leader said there was “no scope” for a tie-up.

“There is a difference in the ideologies of the MNS and BJP. There is no scope for an alliance. It is not possible until our ideologies are different. We can consider it in the future if the MNS changes its ideology,” Fadnavis had said after the meeting.

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

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

Senior AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has publicly declared that he stands in solidarity with Shaheen Bagh protesters, where anti-India and anti-Hindu slogans were shouted during the anti-CAA protests.

Speaking to the CNN News18 ahead of the 2020 Delhi elections, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia categorically stated that the Aam Aadmi Party stands with the protestors of Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.


It is rather unsurprising to see Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi party supporting the communal protestors of Shaheen Bagh. The AAP leadership had earlier decided to steer clear from openly taking sides on the issue of Shaheen Bagh protests after they had received a huge backlash after AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was spotted at the Jamia Nagar protests which turned violent in December. Later, an FIR was also filed against him for instigating violence through social media.

In an inflammatory speech on December 15 at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, Khan had attacked the BJP government for enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act by claiming that it was discriminatory for Muslims of the country. Khan had also alleged that the silence of Muslims on the Triple Talaq Act was taken as their weakness by the central government.

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

The speech which was attended by thousands of impassioned people gathered to protest against the CAA was allegedly delivered just minutes before the violence broke out on the streets of Delhi.

However, despite all this, Kejriwal had steered clear from Shaheen Bagh protests. Neither did he physically go there nor did he tweet to extend his support to the road blockages caused by Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’.

Assam: 644 terrorists from 8 banned outfits surrender in mega arms lay down ceremony in Guwahati

OpIndia Staff
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Assam: 644 terrorists from 8 banned outfits surrender in mega arms lay down ceremony in Guwahati

A total number of 644 terrorists belonging to eight banned extremist outfits surrendered in Assam today, along with 177 firearms. The terrorists of the insurgent groups United Liberation Front Asom, National Democratic Front of Bodoland, Rabha National Liberation Front, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, CPI (Maoist), National Santhal Liberation Army, Adivasi Dragon Force, and National Liberation Front of Bengalis surrendered in Arms laying down event in presence of Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal and various police officials welcoming the move.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal on Thursday said that the government will arrange re-employment of the 644 extremists who have surrendered today at a mega Arms and Ammunition Lay Down Ceremony held at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital auditorium. Speaking at the event, he said, “the government’s aim is to make Assam free of corruption, terrorism, and foreigners. Without peace, the state cannot progress and therefore we want a peaceful state. The surrendered could take the benefits of the government’s schemes”.

Assam
CM Sarbananda Sonowal with a surrendered militant

“The government will extend all possible assistance to you. My appeal to you is that wherever you live, you work to create an environment of peace,” the CM added. He praised IGP Hiren Chandra Nath of Assam Police and urged other militants who are still serving the militant groups to surrender.

“This is an important day for the state and the Assam Police. Altogether 644 cadres and leaders of eight militant groups laid down their arms,” Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta told reporters. He said it was one of the largest surrender of militants in recent times.

Among the 644 insurgents who have surrendered, 301 are from Bengali insurgent group National Liberation Front of Bengalis (NLFB), forming the largest group. Among the rest, 50 are from ULFA, 8 from NDFB, 6 from KLO, 87 from NSLA, 13 from RNLF, 178 from ADF and 1 from CPI(Maoist). The Bengali outfit also surrendered larget number of weapons, 75 in total 177, along with 1.93 kg of explosives and 31 grenades. Other groups didn’t deposit any explosive.

Such a large number of insurgents from the Bengali outfit surrendering with such large scale arms and ammunition has raised eyebrows, as it is little known in the region compared to other groups like ULFA and NDFB. According the sources the group was formed in 1990s in lower Assam following some stray incidents of violence on Bengalis but the group had remained dormant for many years.

All of the surrendered militants have returned from various places along with a huge amount of arms and ammunition. Earlier this month, the NDFB signed an agreement with the government promising to abjure the violence and join in peace talks with the government.

Read- Assam: Over 30,000 Bodo people march in Udalguri demanding separate state of Bodoland

A tripartite agreement was signed by representatives of NDFB and the Centre and Assam government. Active members of NDFB including their President B Saoraigwra were brought back from Myanmar on 11 January. Top leaders including ‘Saoraigwra’, it’s general secretary, commander-in-chief, and finance secretary were a part of this group, said an official.

The group carried 25 weapons, more than 50 magazines, more than 900 assorted ammunition and communication equipment. Saoraigwra’s group was active in Myanmar along with the other Northeast insurgent groups.

The demand for a separate state for Bodos has been going on in Assam for about five decades with several Bodo overground and Militant groups raising it leading to several protests, violence, vandalism, and deaths.

A Bodo territorial council under the sixth schedule of the constitution was created in 2003 to meet political, developmental and identity-related aspirations of the Bodos. Agreements were signed in 1993 and 2003 to resolve the vexed issue.

Jharkhand: Islamists pelt stones, petrol bombs from inside the mosque on pro-CAA rally, VHP alleges police inaction

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: Islamists pelt stones, petrol bombs from inside the mosque on pro-CAA rally, VHP alleges police inaction

Stones were pelted from inside the mosque in a rally taken out by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Jharkand earlier today.


In a video shared by VHP on social media, a police officer can be heard saying that the stones were pelted from the mosque on the rally. As per the video, the policemen were also injured in the stonepelting. The VHP alleged that stones and petrol bombs were hurled at the rally targeting homes of Hindus as well as women. “Police was mute spectator. As soon as Soren formed government with Congress support the Hindus are attacked?” VHP tweeted.

Read: Jharkhand: Pieces of meat thrown near Shiv temple causes outrage among devotees, road blocked for 6 hours

The incident happened when the pro-CAA rally reached Amlatoli Chowk area in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district. While the stonepelting at the rally led to communal tension, as per reports, the police force is present there and law and order situation is under control.

Watch: Anti-CAA ‘protestors’ chant pro-Islam slogans inside Delhi Metro

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Anti-CAA ‘protestors’ chant pro-Islam slogans inside Delhi Metro

In a video that has gone viral on social media, a group of anti-CAA protestors could be seen raising pro-Islam slogans against the Modi government inside what appears to be Delhi metro. In the video, it can be seen that Hijab-clad women along with few male protestors have been hurling slogans against the BJP, RSS and PM Modi.


The undated video was posted on 22nd January on social networking site Twitter. The group chants ‘Modi tere naam, Islamophobia, Amit Shah tere naam Islamophobia,’ before asking the government to roll back CAA and NRC. It is pertinent to note here that NRC, which the group is demanding to be rolled back, has not even been introduce in draft form.

After blocking roads and causing public inconvenience in cities like Delhi, the protestors now seem to have resorted to hijacking public space like metro to shout slogans. The occupying of Delhi Metro and chanting slogans inside the train resembles ‘protests’ in Shaheen Bagh where the anti-CAA mobs have also occupied national highways and bus stops causing huge inconvenience to the residents of Delhi.

Coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia: Kerala nurse found infected, several other nurses quarantined

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia: Kerala nurse found infected, several other nurses quarantined

Several Malayali nurses in Saudi Arabia have been reportedly quarantined following exposure to a patient infected with the coronavirus. As per reports, the nurses have now been kept in isolation in a separate ward.

The Virus attack was confirmed initially in a Filipino woman and then spread to the Malayali nurse, an Ettumanoor native when she attended her for treatment. The coronavirus case has been reported in the Al Hayat National Hospital in Saudi Arabia’s Baha.


Fearing the spread of the virus, many employees are not reporting for duty at the hospital. There were also complaints raised that they were not provided with proper food and treatment. The Malayali nurses alleged that the hospital authorities are concealing the information on the disease. They have reportedly lodged a complaint with the Indian Embassy.

Samples of the fluids collected from the quarantined nurses have been sent for examination. The nurses have been shifted to a separate ward and being treated for the last 24 hours. As per reports, the preliminary test results confirmed the virus attack.

Later reports stated that 3 nurses are now quarantined.

It is being reported that the coronavirus outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan with illegal wildlife transportation and sale. The Virus can spread among people through respiratory transmissions.


China has now put Wuhan, a city of over 11 million people, under lockdown following the outbreak. Hospitals in Wuhan have made separate quarantine and isolation zones to treat patients. Health authorities around the world are scrambling to prevent a global pandemic.

China has suspended all public transport, including flights in and out of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. Australia and Britain are among the countries that have advised its citizens to avoid tours to Wuhan, China.

Kerala: Doctor forced to resign, accused of being genocidal and ‘religious fanatic’ for seeking deportation of illegal immigrants

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Doctor forced to resign, accused of being genocidal and ‘religious fanatic’ for seeking deportation of illegal immigrants

The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act has exposed the deep faultlines within Indian society. The anti-Hindu bigotry and Islamic Supremacy that was evident in all the anti-CAA protests have opened a can of worms. Now, it appears that the anti-CAA crowd has progressed from chanting hateful slogans to targeting people in vulnerable locations for their support towards the CAA. Vyas Vishwanathan, a Doctor by profession, was doxxed, accused of being genocidal without any proper evidence and ultimately forced to resign from the hospital he worked in at Palakkad, Kerala.

On the 20th of January, he was given 24 hours within which to submit his resignation and vacate his room. And Dr Vishwanathan had to endure the entire ordeal only because he supported the CAA on social media and voiced his support for measures to throw out illegal immigrants out of the country.

It all began on the 19th of January when a Twitter handle @yehlog published personal details of Dr Vishwanathan online with the primary intention of damaging his reputation and his career prospects. She accused him of being a ‘religious fanatic’ who wants to ‘kick out Muslims’ from the country.

The Doxx Tweet

Soon, people started registering their complaints with the hospital. It was claimed that Dr Vishwanathan was calling for genocide against Muslims on social media. “Please confirm if you share the same views as this employee,” the hospital was told. It was also suggested that the doctor might have caused harm to Muslim patients under his care.

One of the complaints against Dr Vyas Vishwanathan

The Hospital did not make much of an effort to defend its employee. The brand new hospital appears to have been overly keen on avoiding any controversy. Thus, the hospital demanded that Dr Vishwanathan submit his resignation and pack his bags. Ironically, Palakkad is the doctor’s ancestral place of residency and there was significant excitement as the entire family looked forward to him returning to the place from where, several generations previously, their ancestors had moved out from. Unfortunately, his return to Palakkad was short-lived and he had to leave in a rather unceremonious manner.

Read: Rajasthan: Woman attacked over rumours that she was collecting NRC data, let off after proving that she was a Muslim

Dr Vishwanathan says that he has no hatred for Muslims at all, he just doesn’t want illegal immigration into the country and wants them deported. On previous occasions, he has supported Muslims during controversies as is evident from its tweets. For instance, during the whole Zomato controversy, he said that it was wrong to discriminate against a delivery boy on the basis of his religion. However, that hasn’t stopped people from accusing him of being a genocidal maniac.

People of a particular political and religious are celebrating Dr Vishwanathan’s dismissal on social media and are overjoyed by the manner in which his career has been damaged. OpIndia got in touch with him over the matter. He told us that right now, he has not given much thought about how to proceed. He told us that legal processes in the country takes years to complete and it isn’t something he is looking forward to. So, as of now, he has no intentions of pursuing any legal options although he is receiving advice from well-wishers that he should.

Read: Lies, deception and misinformation of anti-CAA protests: How University campuses have wrongly become a battleground

With respect to his career, Dr Vishwanathan told us that he has an exam coming up in the first week of March and for now, he is choosing to focus entirely on getting through it. As for his job prospects, he told us that well-wishers have contacted him and offered to help him with his efforts in finding a new job. But for now, it’s only the exam that he is concerned about. Dr Vishwanathan also informed us that there was a possibility that some people were organizing themselves and targeting politically opinionated doctors. On social media, he said that he may not be the first victim and he may not be the last.

On the 15th of January, Dr Ranjit Vijayahari, an activist with Seva Bharati who runs a Gastro clinic at Trivandrum, again in Kerala, said on social media that certain radical elements were targeting his practice due to his support for the CAA.


In one of the screenshots that were shared by Dr Vijayahari, one Umarool Farooq can be seen saying that a ‘communal doctor’ will not be able to empathize with his patients. Another person from the same community, Ali Afsal, asks people to ‘take care’ when they visit his clinic.

A screenshot shared by Dr. Vijayahari

There appears to be a concerted attempt underway to target people for their support towards CAA and NRC. It appears that radical individuals of a particular religious and political orientation are targeting doctors now in an attempt to force people to submit to their will. The tactics they have resorted to could have terrible consequences for the social fabric of the country as such tactics would cause further deterioration of interfaith relationships.

Read: Assault on RSS man Varun after pro-CAA rally: 6 SDPI supporters arrested, had planned to target Tejasvi Surya

During the anti-CAA protests, we have witnessed a constant barrage of propaganda and imagery that specifically targets Hindu religious sentiments. Considering the fact that these protests have failed spectacularly in swaying the mood of the public and the government, it appears that the more radical elements among them are moving on to more desperate measures.

Pathalgarhi murders: As 7 tribals decapitated in Jharkhand, how long will it take us to chant ‘Communism se Azadi’

Abhishek Banerjee
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Pathalgarhi murders: As 7 tribals decapitated in Jharkhand, how long will it take us to chant ‘Communism se Azadi’

“Chilling and brutal,” to borrow an expression that appeared in The Hindu while referring to some student union clash at JNU earlier this month. But, I don’t want to talk about JNU. I am talking about this. In Jharkhand, bodies of 7 anti-Pathalgarhi tribals were found. Decapitated.

Untitled
Times of India headline

You might have noticed that this is not the top national news item on so-called mainstream media. You might have noticed that it is not even trending on social media.

But why? Were the 7 villagers who were kidnapped and decapitated in Jharkhand only yesterday any less citizens of India? Were they less of citizens than any student union troublemaker at JNU, or some A list Bollywood celebrity, or some frustrated yesteryear movie actor?

Read: Jharkhand: Chief Minister Hemant Soren withdraws sedition cases against Pathalgadi armed separatists

For friends who may not know, Pathalgarhi is an innocent tribal custom in the tribal belt of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Local folk heroes are honoured by putting up a headstone next to their grave and recounting their brave deeds. This innocent custom has been seized upon by Naxals as some kind of assertion of separatism from India. In June 2018, five innocent girls in Khunti in Jharkhand were performing a street play to raise awareness among tribals against such forces. These girls were lured into the deep forest, with the help of a missionary school principal, and then gang-raped as a punishment. So you can imagine the coalition of Break India forces arrayed against us.

Read: The Nexus of Missionaries and Naxals vs India: The horrific Khunti gangrape reveals the conspiracy of Break India forces

The sheer scale and horror of left-wing violence in India is such that it beats every other challenge to us as a nation. Dr Manmohan Singh was right when he said that left-wing terror is the biggest internal security threat to India. The way the Congress party has reduced itself to an appendage of the radical left, I wonder whether he would stand by his statement today.

If there is one thing I have learned from the recent anti-CAA protests and the narrative around them, it is this: imagined fears, based on falsehood and prejudice, are everything. My real history doesn’t matter because it is just ‘whataboutism.’

But this massacre in West Singhbhum district is not from decades ago. I’m not talking about the bygone Communist era in Bengal when 28,000 political murders happened (by the Communist government’s own admission …. imagine what the real scale of the violence was). I’m not talking about the hundreds of lakhs of people left dead in the wake of terrorism across the world.

Read: Revisiting Sainbari, a blot on Indian Democracy: When Communists made a mother eat rice with her dead sons’ blood

I’m talking about West Singhbhum district from yesterday. Still whataboutism? And we all know this horror is going to happen again, possibly even in the next week. It’s like left-wing terror is eating us alive. But we don’t notice it.

But how did we become so desensitized to the left-wing terror that we barely notice it at all? How have we handed over our minds to left-wing media and intellectuals that we barely acknowledge the violence that drives their ideological cousins?

Read: Jharkhand: Three Pathalgadi supporters arrested for abducting and killing the seven tribals in Chaibasa town

What will it take for us to acknowledge the sheer horror of leftism?

What will it take for us to chant “Communism se Azaadi”? How many more decapitated bodies?

The 7 anti-Pathalgarhi activists who were massacred in Jharkhand yesterday were heroes of Indian democracy. They lost their heads defending it. We are the ones who have lost our minds. Unless we speak up. Now.

Jharkhand: Three Pathalgadi supporters arrested for abducting and killing the seven tribals in Chaibasa town

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: Three Pathalgadi supporters arrested for abducting and killing the seven tribals in Chaibasa town

A day after Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe against the perpetrators behind the murder of seven tribals in Chaibasa town’s Gulikera village during the Pathalgadi movement, the Jharkhand Police have arrested three people in connection with the case.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the Jharkhand police have made these arrests on Thursday morning.

The incident took place on Sunday evening but the police, who reached Burugulikera village in Naxal-hit region in Chaibasa Tuesday, could retrieve the bodies only on Wednesday. All seven, police said, had been decapitated by their abductors.

In what transpired, some ‘Pathalgadi’ supporters had kidnapped seven villagers when a dispute had arisen during a meeting over ‘Pathalgadi’ movement at the village, informed West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police (SP) Indrajit Mahata.

The incident is suspected to be a fallout of rivalry between two factions of the village, one led by former Panchayat chief Ransi Budh who is believed to be pro-Pathalgadi while the other being led by the deputy chief James Budh who was allegedly anti-Pathalgadi.

The supporters of Pathalgadi led by former Panchayat chief Ransi Budh had allegedly perpetrated the crime in which lathis and axes were used, the police officer said.

The Pathalgadi movement is decades old and has resurfaced in recent years. This incident occurred days after Hemant Soren government in its first cabinet decision on December 29, 2019, dropped all sedition cases registered against the supporters of the Pathalgadi movement, an armed struggle which dismissed the authority of the state and central government and considered only the gram sabha as the real constitutional body.

Since 2017, in nearly 200 villages in Jharkhand’s four districts: Khunti, Gumla, Simdega and West Singhbum, huge stone plaques known as ‘pathalgadi’ in the local language were put up at the entry points. These stone structures, painted green, warned ‘outsiders’, especially government officials, and prohibited them from entering the villages. Essentially, they had announced that the law of the land does not apply there.

After the BJP-led government came to power in Jharkhand in 2014, Chief Minister Raghubar Das had tried to amend the land tenancy laws. Tribal groups and opposition parties opposed the move. In May 2017, Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu returned the bills for reconsideration and a few months later in August, they were withdrawn. Tribal groups believed that the new laws will undermine the rights of tribal people on forest resources and land.

A total of 19 cases of sedition were registered against over 150 people which stood withdrawn by the Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM) led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. JMM is the ruling party of Jharkhand state with the alliance of Congress and Rashtriya Janta Dal.

Rajasthan: Woman attacked over rumours that she was collecting NRC data, let off after proving that she was a Muslim

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Woman attacked over rumours that she was collecting NRC data, let off after proving that she was a Muslim

A woman, Nazeeran Bano, was attacked by a mob in Brijdham area in Bharatpur, Kota, Rajasthan, over rumours that she was collecting data for NRC. However, she was later let go after proving that she was a Muslim. Bano, who was actually collecting data for the National Economics Census 2019- 2020, was attacked and only let off after she convinced the crowd that she, too, was a Muslim, like them.

The mob, allegedly, snatched Bano’s mobile phone and deleted all the data she collected on an app. She was later asked to recite a verse from the Quran to prove her identity. The crowd was only pacified and let her off after the woman showed them an “Ayat Al-Kursi (The Throne Verse) card” from her wallet, confirmed Borekheds SHO Mahesh Singh.

Bano later told the reporters that the residents in the Brijdham area initially provided all the required data for but later 4-5 families called her back and asked her to delete the data saying they did not want any information about the family to be shared.

“I explained to them that the data collected was related to the economic census and had been uploaded on the portal and that there was nothing wrong in it. But they were not convinced and started misbehaving with me”, confirmed Nazeeran Bano.

Similarly, one Chumki Khatun‘s house was set on fire by a mob in West Bengal’s Birbhum over rumours that she was collecting data for NRC. Chumki Khatun and her family are currently under police protection. The incident happened in Gourbazar village in Mallarpur police station area.

As per reports, Khatun worked with an NGO on a contract where it was training rural women to smartphones effectively. As part of her training, Khatun collected some general data. This fuelled the rumours that she was collecting data for NRC. However, the police have denied that the incident was linked to NRC.

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