With the growing clamour demanding immediate death penalty to be given to the Nirbhaya gang-rape culprits, one of the convicts, Pawan Kumar Gupta, has moved to the Delhi High Court claiming that he was juvenile at the time of the offence in December 2012.
Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the convicts in Nirbhaya case, moves Delhi HC claiming that he was a juvenile at the time of the offence in December 2012 and his ossification test was not done at that point and should be given the benefit of that. The matter to be heard tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/xGzz5FEUOa
Seeking clemency for his crime from the Delhi high court, Gupta, in the plea filed by him, has asserted that his ossification test was not done at that time and he should be granted the benefit of doubt for it. The petitioner cited the provision of section 7A of Juvenile Justice Act lays down that a claim of juvenility may be taken before any court and it shall be recognised at any stage, even after final disposal of the case.
His petition also refers to him as an “innocent boy” who is “falsely implicated” in the case by “anti social elements due to anti revenge full motive” and puts the blame on Delhi Police.
BIG BREAKING: One of the convicts in Nirbhaya case – Pawan Kumar – moves Delhi HC claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident in 2012. Petition refers to the rape convict as an “innocent boy” who is being falsely implicated by anti social elements. ? pic.twitter.com/WUsVri01Kz
The plea filed by convict Pawan Kumar Gupta is listed for hearing on Thursday before Justice Suresh Kumar Kait.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court had rejected the review petition filed by one of the death-row convicts, Akshay Kumar Singh, in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case.
Singh, in his petition to SC, had alleged that there has been an undue haste for hanging of the convicts in this case and submitted the list of death-row convicts in other cases who were yet to be hanged.
A 23-year-old paramedic student was brutally gang raped and cruelly assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in Delhi by six people before being thrown out on the road. After battling for her life for 13 days, the victim succumbed to her injuries on 29 December 2012.
Six persons were arrested in the case and following their trial, they were sentenced to death penalty by the trial abd High Court. The apex court in its 2017 verdict had upheld the capital punishment awarded to them by the Delhi High Court and the trial court in the case.
Last year on July 9, the Supreme Court had dismissed the review pleas filed by the other three convicts — Mukesh (30), Pawan Gupta (23) and Vinay Sharma (24) — in the case, saying no grounds have been made out by them for review of the 2017 verdict.
Amidst the anti-CAA riots in various parts of the country, the Peoples Forum, a consortium of Left-wing and Muslim organisations, has called for a Bandh in Kalaburagi, Karnataka on December 19 (Thursday) in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the alleged police attack on students at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University.
However, later in the day the Kalaburagi Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj held that permission for a bandh will not be granted in Kalaburagi in connection to the recruitment exams of different departments and to maintain law and order in the city.
M N Nagaraj was quoted by news agencies as saying that no bandh will be allowed in Kalaburagi city tomorrow in view of recruitment exams of different departments as well as to maintain law and order and communal harmony in the city.
As a precautionary measure, the Karnataka police have arrested nearly 20 activists who had called for the bandh in Gulbarga today. Among those arrested are Dalit and minority community leaders from the Peoples Forum.
Following the announcement by the Peoples Forum, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao also confirmed that “Section 144 to be imposed throughout Bengaluru including Rural district from tomorrow 6 am for the next 3 days.
A ‘bandh’ has been called by consortium of Left wing & Muslim organisations tomorrow in Karnataka. Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao says, “Section 144 to be imposed throughout Bengaluru including Rural district from tomorrow 6 am for the next 3 days”. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/F9pCfM3xri
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, refused to stay the operation of Citizenship Act. Moreover, Karnataka CM Yediyurappa has also said that the Citizenship Act will be implemented in the state.
Earlier today, Section 144 was imposed in North East Delhi after anti-CAA rioters have been wreaking havoc in the capital city over the Citizenship Amendment Act. As per reports, even after police resorted to lathi-charge and teargas, the rioting crowd in Delhi’s Seelampur where a school bus was attacked last evening, the rioters refused to back off. The Muslim mob had unleashed the violence against public infrastructure and pelted stones at the police injuring many of them.
Last week, the protests held in Jamia Nagar in New Delhi had turned violent following which the police had to use force to bring the situation under control. Communal slogans like ‘Hinduon se azaadi‘ were also chanted during the protests. Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan was also seen leading the protests.
It is being argued that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 compromises the secular character of the Indian State by excluding a particular religious community (Muslims), and that this is unconstitutional. The Opposition and several opinion-makers have said that this will shake the foundations of the Republic. It then becomes necessary to evaluate the political and legal dimensions of this amendment in order to draw a distinction between truth and propaganda. Here, we are trying to address the issues parawise as raised in the Open Letter (published in the web portal, The Leaflet) to Mr. Harish Salve, Sr. Advocate by the Maharashtra Students Law Association (MASLA) and the Maharashtra Students Union (MASU).
Yes, Article 14 is for ‘persons’ and not only for citizens. A non-citizen can claim equality under 14. However, the principle of Article 14 is equals ought to be treated equally and unequals can be treated differently. Therefore, potential violation of 14 can be justified and will stand water if the classification is reasonable, the differentia is intelligible and is in nexus with the object of the law. The classification, with its underlying principle, is religious minorities of theocratic states in India’s neighborhood and object of the law is to prevent their persecution. The classification is reasonable and intelligible, as the basis is structurally laid out, we know theocratic states in our neighborhood, we know the minorities living there, their second class existence by virtue of those nations’ state religion is well established. It is coherently in furtherance of the object of law, which is preventing their persecution. It is not arbitrary since one community is not being chosen whimsically, all religious minorities have been included. Further, it is also not arbitrary since official census records of these nations show systematic and alarming rate of fall of minority population, such as from 23 to 3 in Pakistan since independence and from 22 to 7 in Bangladesh since independence.
Article 15 is only applicable to citizens. Hence, foreigners from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan cannot say religion cannot be basis of classification. Further, the basis is not only religion, but religious persecution. As long as the 3 prongs of Article 14 test are met, equality is not violated.
Leaving out Muslims is not ‘glaringly discriminatory’ since Muslims are not a religious minority in the Islamic nations of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Muslims are not persecuted in these Islamic nations who swear by the Quran in their Constitution.
Ahmadiyas are a sect in Islam, not a religion. Further, this distinction is not to bypass humanitarian principles because in fact they believe in Islam and are practitioners of Islam and the Quran. In the broadest common denominator of world religions, the recognised world religions are broadly considered as Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Judaism. Islam has multiple sects within it in various proportions across nations viz Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyas, Baathis, Bohra, etc. They believe in different forms, expressions, and colours of Quran which does not mean they become external to the religion. Further, a width and scope of classification is determined at the altar of the sovereign, and on the basis of those principles it ought to have the right to determine contours of citizenship to foreigners, as long as the classifications meet the test of Article14. Broadening the principles are also the prerogative of the state, and there is no constitutional basis to say that the state ought to be forced to expand its principle of classification even if it meets the tests of 14. The state can obviously do that later in its own prerogative. In practice, the inner fault lines in Pakistan’s Islamic community can lead to a domino effect wherein an extension to Ahmadiyas shall mean an extension to Shias and Balochs, who constitute a considerable population of the country, the burden of which cannot be forced upon the Indian state because it afforded a beneficial legal structure to others from these countries on an entirely different principle.
The relegation to realm of policy is the basis of separation of powers in our constitutional democracy, the basis of statutes in policy is rooted in the democratic legitimacy of the executive, which if stands the test of constitutional scrutiny cannot be delegitimised as relegation to policy. Our constitutional principles are sound and strong that stands the force of India’s foundational ideas. It begs questioning when policies meeting constitutional ideals are questioned on alternative standards of morality.
Lastly, it is important to note that the CAA doesn’t discriminate against Indian Muslims. It only aims to protect, by fast-tracking the citizenship process, those minorities who are persecuted in their home countries owing to their religious affiliations.
The article is co-authored by Shivam Singhania, Law Student, WBNUJS, Kolkata and Shubhendu Anand, Advocate, Supreme Court of India.
Ladeeda Sakhaloon, the face of the Jamia protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, was revealed to be a rabid Islamic fundamentalist who gave a call for Jihad before violence erupted across the national capital. Not merely that, in the past, she has also glorified the architects of the Moplah Massacre who committed genocide of Hindus in Kerala in 1921.
Now, when ‘Secularists’ have been forced to confront the truth, they have decided that the best course of action is to present Ali Musliyar and Variyankunnathu as ‘freedom fighters’ instead of the genocidal maniacs that they were. Hundreds and thousands of Hindus were slaughtered in the Moplah Massacre and a number many times more were forced to flee Kerala in the wake of the genocide. It is these individuals that ‘Secularists’ have decided to portray as ‘freedom fighters’.
Dear elites, who are calling this post by Ladeeda as “radicalised”, please google Ali Musliyar & Variankunnathu Kunjahammed Haji. I know it’s outside your syllabus, but try.
If being proud of these freedom fighters makes me radicalised, then I am proud of it.
It is not merely Aditya Menon who attempted to whitewash the extremist post made by Ladeeda Sakhaloon. Shehla Rashid appears to have deliberately ignored the reference to the genocidal maniacs in the Facebook post. She instead attempted to focus on the least controversial words in it.
Allah-u-Akbar = God is great.
Inshallah = God willing.
I don’t see what threatens you.
Besides, I don’t think that Modi fans gets to dictate terms to a people’s movement. Stick to sycophancy. https://t.co/xMBbEgienv
Even apart from these individuals, Dhanya Rajendran of The News Minute provided an opportunity to the Islamic fundamentalists to clear their names and did not attempt to ask a single tough question. She willingly absorbed everything that they fed her. During this entire charade, we have repeatedly witnessed the manner in which the ‘Secular’ media gave a free pass to these extremely individuals due to their biases. But there’s only a limit for all of this.
The anti-CAA protests were not peaceful at any moment in time. They were violent from the very beginning. And yet, the secular-liberal establishment went out of their way to whitewash the violence that we witnessed in these protests. Not a whimper was uttered by these individuals when West Bengal was set on fire by violent Muslim mobs. Not a whimper was made when Jamia protesters were airing extremely problematic opinions. But when the Police took action to control the mob violence, every single one of them came to their defense.
It’s disgraceful conduct. But the crimes of the mob cannot be whitewashed and neither can be the extremist opinions of the face of the Jamia protests. Citizens will not forget the manner in which large sections of the country was held hostage by a bloodthirsty mob that set buses and trains on fire and caused immense damage to public property. The nation will not forget those who attempted to whitewash these violent protests either.
The most distressing slogan that was raised in the Jamia protests was ‘Hinduon se Azadi‘. No matter how much time is invested in whitewashing this slogan, it cannot be done. And the nature of the protests was revealed perfectly in this slogan itself. The spirit of the Jamia protests that began with the face of the movement calling for Jihad and transformed into a violent rage mob is perfectly captured perfectly by this one slogan.
When calls for Jihad are made, genocidal maniacs are glorified, slogans such as ‘Hinduon se Azadi’ are raised, we cannot interpret the motivation behind the protests to be anything other than what they say it is. The Secular-Liberal establishment can continue to pretend otherwise but the country will not be fooled. They can continue to pretend that genocidal maniacs were, in fact, freedom fighters but their petulant claims cannot be taken seriously. It’s been evident from the very beginning of the anti-CAA protests that what they really want is ‘Hinduon se Azadi’. By whitewashing these antics, it appears that the secular-liberal establishment wants the same.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha working president Hemant Soren kicked up a storm on Wednesday after he claimed that BJP politician’s clad in saffron outfits “do not marry but rape women”. The chief of the Congress ally made the vulgar remark on the last day of campaigning for the fifth phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections.
Targeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren while addressing a public rally in Jharkhand’s Pakur, said, “Aaj desh mein bahut-betiyon ko jalaya ja raha hai…Mujhe pata chala ki idhar UP CM Yogi ji bhi chakkar laga rhe hain gerua pehen ke. (Many women have been set ablaze recently. I have heard Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi was roaming around here wearing saffron).”
“Ye woh log hain BJP ke log jo shaadi kum karte hain lekin gerua pehen bahu-betiyon ki izzat lootne ka kaam karte hain”, roughly translated as (These are those BJP people who wear saffron clothes, remain unmarried and sexually assault women), Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief, said.
Continuing his veiled attack, Soren said that in Uttar Pradesh, rapists are being given shelter in the hospital while the victim is being punished in jails. “Will we vote for those who have ruined the lives of so many daughters?”, asked the former Jharkhand CM while addressing the public rally.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also in Jharkhand on Tuesday and addressed a rally in Deoghar ahead of the final phase voting in the state.
The incumbent government in Jharkhand is led by the BJP-AJSU alliance. The Congress, JMM and the RJD have stitched an alliance hoping to wrestle the BJP government in the state. Hemant Soren is the chief minister candidate of the alliance. While addressing the rally, Hemant Soren also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of failing to protect women and giving protection to criminals.
Incidentally, in September this year, Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who has a habit of making slanderous statements against the Hindus, had stoked a similar controversy by claiming that people wearing Saffron are committing rapes inside the temples these days.
The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said people wearing Saffron clothes are the ones committing rapes inside the temple and this was not Hindu religion.
He added that it is a matter of concern that people are defaming ‘Sanatan Dharma’. Singh further added that and even god will not forgive those who are doing these things in the name of religion.
The fifth and the last phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections will take place on December 20 and the counting of votes will be held on December 23.
The announcements to gather the Muslim mob to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act was reportedly made on loudspeakers of the nearest mosques in Delhi’s Seelampur, reports India Today.
According to the report, a man who had participated in the Anti-CAA riots on Tuesday revealed that the mosque in the locality had made announcements on loudspeaker asking Muslims to gather on Tuesday to protest against the Citizenship Act. The Muslim mob had unleashed the violence against public infrastructure and pelted stones at the police injuring many of them.
दिल्ली की सड़कों पर दंगाइयों को उतरने के लिए सूचना मस्जिदों के loud speakers से दी गयी थी…
अगर ये हाल देश की राजधानी में है तो हम सिर्फ़ अन्दाज़ लगा सकते हैं की पाकिस्तान, बांग्लादेश और अफ़ग़ानिस्तान में वहाँ के अल्प संख्यकों का क्या होता होगा।
“Announcements were made in the locality since two-three days asking us to mobilise people to protest against the NRC. We were asked to gather on Tuesday,” said a protestor speaking to India Today.
As the reporter asked who gave the call to the mass mobilisation of Muslims, the protestor revealed that they had received instructions from the local mosque.
On Tuesday, Muslim mobs carried out violent riots in Seelampur area of Delhi during their protests against the Citizenship Act. The violent protestors had even attacked school buses in Delhi’s Seelampur area. The rioters were also seen beating up policemen.
Later, the police had to resort to tear gas after the so-called ‘peaceful protestors’ pelted stones at them, injuring police officials including Additional DCP RP Meena. A Police post was also set on fire by the mob along with police and private motorcycles. The mob reportedly taunted the policemen to run after them following which they pelted stones at them.
Responding to the anti-India azaadi slogans made by the hoodlums during riots which took place in Jamia Nagar where Jamia Millia Islamia is situated, the DU students came up with their version of the slogan intoning that they will provide Azaadi to those who are seeking it.
“Hum de ke rahenge azaadi. Arre ye padi hai azaadi! Aao lelo azaadi! Gin gin ke dege azaadi! Chun chun ke dege azaadi! Kasab ko dedi azaadi! Kashmir ko dedi azaadi! Hum de ke rahenge azaadi!” the DU students shouted.
This roughly translates to: “We will provide freedom. Everyone will be granted freedom. Kasab was given freedom. Kashmir was granted freedom. We will give you freedom.”
This derisive sloganeering by the DU students mocking the azaadi seekers came after the video of hooligans at the Jamia Millia Islamia protests seeking azaadi went viral. Amidst raging protests across the country over CAA, the students of Delhi University have come out to extend their support fir the Citizenship Bill.
After the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act, protests erupted at some parts of the country, including at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. Soon, the protest was hijacked by Jihadi rioters who started raising azaadi slogans amidst other jihadist war-cry.
The so-called ‘protesters’ raised slogans of ‘Hinduon se Azadi’ and ‘Chheen ke lengey Azadi’ and ‘Ladh ke lengey Azadi’. The slogans translate to ‘Freedom from Hindus’, ‘We will fight for freedom’.
Besides issuing jihadist clarion calls, the Jamia protests also saw widespread violence where rioters blatantly indulged in arson, vandalism and stone pelting. Delhi Police which responded swiftly to nip the riots in the bud were subjected to blistering criticism for dealing with the ‘protestors’ in a violent manner.
In order to prevent further deterioration of law and order in the city, the police entered the Jamia Millia University and charged the rioters with batons and tear-gas shells. However, they were vilified by left-liberal intelligentsia and partisan media outfits.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, known for having loose control over his tongue, has stirred up a fresh controversy by comparing Jamia riots with the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Adding fuel to the fire over the ongoing Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Digvijaya Singh said, “No Muslim can ever trust both Modi and Shah after the 2002 Gujarat riots. Muslims have lost trust in Modi and Shah.” In 2002, Gujarat was engulfed in communal violence after a mob set a train on fire in Godhra where karsevaks were returning from Ayodhya.
The contentious remarks come at the time when the country is witnessing allegedly manufactured riots in some parts of north India over the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act even as the BJP has accused the Congress and other opposition parties of fanning tensions across the country by propagating distortions and misinformation.
The protests at Jamia Nagar where Jamia Millia Islamia University is located took an ugly turn when scores of protestors indulged in arsonist activities by setting vehicles on fire and vandalising the public property. The riots intensified after the Delhi police initiated its crackdown against the lumpen elements responsible for causing the riots.
PM Modi too appealed the citizens of the country to maintain calm as the raging protests continued for the fifth day. Modi warned that the students that political parties might be firing off their shoulders. Assuaging the apprehensions regarding the CAB, PM Modi said that Congress is spreading lies about the new act which neither takes away the rights of Indian citizens nor harms them in any manner.
“No Indian has anything to worry regarding this act. This act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India,” the prime minister wrote.
BJP general secretary and in charge for the party in West Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya had taken to social media today to point out West Bengal administration’s apathy, working at the behest of CM Mamata Banerjee, towards the members of the Opposition in the state.
Through videoes shared on Twitter, the BJP veteran alleged that his convoy was en route Navgram in Murshidabad district when a frenzied Muslim mob surrounded it. In his Tweet, Vijayvargiya alleged that the West Bengal administration deliberately did not take any action against the mob.
In his first messege, Kailash Vijayvargiya wrote, “On my way to Murshidabad, I am surrounded by a large crowd of Muslims near Navgram. There is a crowd on both sides of my car. The administration is not ready to help. Even SP and DG are not picking up the phones. Anything can happen in West Bengal due to its anarchic government. Nobody’s life is safe here!”, wrote the BJP leader.
मुर्शिदाबाद जाते हुए मुझे नवग्राम के पास मुस्लिमों की बड़ी भीड़ ने घेर लिया है। मेरी गाडी के दोनों तरफ भीड़ जमा है। प्रशासन कोई सुनवाई नहीं कर रहा! SP और DG भी फ़ोन नहीं उठा रहे! पश्चिम बंगाल में अराजक सरकार के रहते कुछ भी हो सकता है! यहाँ किसी की जान सुरक्षित नहीं है! pic.twitter.com/7fjiz9cwpI
Kailash Vijayvargiya followed this with another tweet in which he wrote: “The law and order situation has deteriorated so much that even the lives of opposition cannot be said to be safe!” Thousands of Muslims have surrounded my car near Navgram on the way to Murshidabad. I am still surrounded by the crowd.”
Referring to the same incident in his third tweet, Kailava Vijayvargiya wrote: “On our way to Murshidabad, a crowd of Muslims blocked our way in front of a rickshaw near Navgram. Seeing the fierceness of the crowd, it seems that they have been provoked against us. The negligence of the administration can be understood by the fact that no one is picking up my calls”.
Sharing another video which shows several trucks blocking the roads, Kailash Vijayvargiya said that most of the roads in Murshidabad today have been closed. He alleged that this was not a natural jam, but the administration has stopped trucks to block their way. “It is a conspiracy by the West Bengal government to not let us reach Murshidabad on time”, alleged the minister.
आज मुर्शिदाबाद का अधिकांश रास्ता ट्रकों के कारण बंद है। ये स्वाभाविक जाम नहीं है, बल्कि प्रशासन ने हमारे रास्ते को रोकने के लिए ट्रकों को रुकवा दिया है। ये सीधे-सीधे सरकार की साजिश है कि हम समय पर मुर्शिदाबाद न पहुँच पाएं! pic.twitter.com/lNInCQ5Mn7
The BJP leader shared another video and claimed that whichever detour his convoy tried to take was also blocked by these trucks which stood there at the behest of the West Bengal administration. “There are long lines without any reason. The drivers have been driven away from the trucks so that the jam does not open quick. The whole conspiracy is visible”, said the minister in his Tweet.
Reacting to this series of tweet, former Madhya Pradesh CM Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan took to Twitter to pray for Kailash Vijayvargiya’s safety in Mamata’ “jungle raj”.
Vijayvargiya had finally shared that he managed to reach Murshidabad after much struggle. He had stated that had the home minister not alerted CISF and local administration, anything could have happened to him.
West Bengal has been turned into a war zone after anti-CAA rioters continue to indulge in violence in the state. The rioters have been resorting to endless vandalism and arson attacks. Numerous railway stations and ticket counters in the state have been ransacked, various trains pelted with stones at and set on fire in the name of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, causing immense loss of revenues and badly affecting rail services through the state.
The situation has escalated to such an extent that as many as 700 trains passing through the state have been cancelled since the protests picked up on Friday (December 13). However, CM Banerjee has played down the escalations and attacks on assets of the Indian Railways, rendering them to be “small incidents”.
In fact, the WB CM took out the third march from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade in Kolkata today to protest against the CAA.
Ladeeda Sakhaloon, the face of the Jamia Millia Islamia University protests, has been revealed to be a rabid Islamic extremist who gave a call for Jihad on social media. Not merely that, she glorified the genocidal maniacs who perpetrated the Moplah massacre of Hindus. Thus, it’s quite clear now that the Jamia protests cannot be disassociated from the mob violence that has gripped the national capital.
Furthermore, we see a nexus of Islamic fundamentalist organizations, foreign-funded NGOs and NGOs linked extensively to Maoists and ‘Urban Naxals’ combating hard to nullify the Citizenship Amendment Act. Simultaneously, the Congress party has been involved in instigating protests across Universities as OpIndia exposed in a recent report. Thus, what we see here is a well-oiled machine that is working to nullify the Citizenship Amendment Act using mob violence in addition to legal and political means.
In addition to these three options, country-wide protests by one specific community are being used to draw leverage against the government. In all of this, extremely dubious organizations are involved as well as Islamic fundamentalist organizations. We may choose to ignore the obvious but this is verily the Khilafat 2.0, the movement which led to creation of Pakistan.
Great efforts have been made to whitewash the Khilafat Movement but it’s a fact that widespread sections of the Muslim community supported it. It is also a fact that the Khilafat Movement owes its heritage to the Aligarh Muslim University. It was the founder of the said University that first gave the ‘Two-Nation Theory’. It is in this light that we need to see the role of Jamia Milia Islamia University and the Aligarh Muslim University in these protests.
There is a great nexus at work in these violent protests. Once again, in this report, we shall shed more light on this nexus. It’s important to note that the media has worked extensively to provide cover fire to these protests. These protests reeked of Islamic extremism from the very beginning and yet, the media worked greatly to portray it as a ‘movement’ to ‘Save the Constitution’. Barkha Dutt even called the rabid fundamentalists ‘Sheroes’. And as it turns out, she is not the only person in the media to blame.
The Outlook published a report lionizing the jihadis of Jamia. FirstPost even published a column by Ladeeda Sakhaloon. In the column, she said, “I would like to make two statements in this regard. Firstly, the solidarity and protests should recognise the sentiments of the community which is targeted through this Act. I’m a Muslim woman. A large proportion of protesters are Muslims. So, all those supporting the fight against CAA and NRC should respect the political stand and slogans that reflect their dignity and pride. Secondly, it is clear that the Sangh Parivar is imposing this Act to overturn the Indian Constitution. I believe that all groups who come together to protect the Constitution are basically part of the struggle to preserve the existence of Muslims in India. This is because of the fact that constitutional values are being destroyed by a fascist government, largely on Muslim issues.” She was careful not to make a call for Jihad in the said column or glorify the Moplah massacre of Hindus.
Clearly, the ‘Secular Media’ was hoodwinked by Islamic fundamentalists into peddling their narrative. Or, the ‘Secular Media’ was always sympathetic and supportive of Islamic fundamentalists. One individual who likely played a pivotal part in all of this is Afsal Rahman CA. He is the husband of Aysha Renna, another Jamia Jihadi who called India ‘fascist’ for executing the Mumbai Blast terrorist Yakub Memon.
Afsal Rahman CA has great links within the media fraternity. He is a contributor for the Outlook, Manorama Online and Asianet News. He is a contributor at Maktoob Media, where Shaheen, the ‘journalist’ the two girls ‘saved’ from police in that viral video. He has been a former associate producer for Zee Hindustan. Rahman has worked for a variety of news organizations as per his Linked.in profile. It’s pertinent to mention here that Outlook had published a fawning report on Aysha Renna and her ilk, a media outlet her husband contributed to. The IANS further reported on Tuesday that Aysha Renna is associated with the Fraternity Youth Movement which happens to be the youth organization of the Welfare Party of India, the political wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.
Interestingly, the Jamaat-e-Islami which is part of the United Against Hate that is attempting to involve the NHRC into the CAA debate with help from foreign-funded NGOs and those with links to ‘Urban Naxals’. Thus, Aysha Renna provides a clear link between the Jamia protests, the move to get the NHRC involved and through her friend, who gave a call for Jihad, with the mob violence that was unleashed in the national capital.
The media does have a lot to answer for the manner in which these dubious individuals have been lionized and even defended by the media. Dhanya Rajendran of The News Minute, for example, provided an opportunity for the girls to clear their names and did not ask a single tough question about the extremely problematic worldview of the individuals concerned.
On her call for Jihad, Ladeeda said, “Sabr means patience and jihad in its truest sense means a fight against injustice. But these people are trying to portray it as extremist viewpoint.” We, at OpIndia, reported clearly why it cannot be portrayed as merely a call for struggle against injustice or a non-violent struggle or anything of that sort. In the same Facebook post, Ladeeda mentions the Hudaybiyyah, which is a peace treaty. She also mentions the battles of Badr, Uhud and Karbala. She clearly drew an analogy between breaking a peace treaty and going to war for Islam and yet, Dhanya did not bother to press her on the matter at all.
“Everyone has their opinions and share their opinions. I have shared my opinion, but to portray those as extremist is a fascist tactic. When someone uses an Arabic word, the Sangh has many times been successful in creating doubts among people that this is extremist,” Ladeeda said before attempting to paint her Facebook post as non-extremist. Unfortunately for her, it’s because we are aware of the historical context she has drawn in her Facebook post that we can presume safely that it was definitely not a call for struggle against injustice.
Furthermore, Ladeeda made a post on Facebook that glorified Ali Musliyar and Variyanuannathu who were the main antagonists in the Moplah massacre of Hindus in Kerala in 1921. Thus, we have a call for Jihad, the glorification of those who committed genocide of Hindus and violent protests in Delhi to boost. At what point do we stop pretending that the Jamia protesters had absolutely nothing to do with the protests at all?
The FIR filed by the Delhi Police in the matter also states that some ‘students’ did join the ‘miscreants’ in pelting stones from inside the University on Sunday. Furthermore, people associated with political parties have been named in the FIR as well. Former Congress MLA Asif Khan and Kasif Usmani, who is associated with CYSS, the student wing of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party, were named as accused in the FIR.
AISA member Chandan Kumar and SIO member Asif Tanha, a member of the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), were also named as accused in the matter. We are aware of the AISA but the SIO is an important institution here. Shiyas Perumathura, the husband of Ladeeda Sakhaloon, is a secretary at the SIO.
Ladeeda’s husband is no less- he’s secretary of SIO and Ladeeda started giving religious speeches at SIO. Its a media management group! pic.twitter.com/555URSNXG0
The SIO was founded by Jamaat-e-Islami in 1982 after the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) broke away from it in 1981. A Livemint report from 2008 puts the relationship between the two organizations in this manner, “Blood brothers they may be, but the groups have charted conflicting courses, both in principle and actions. While SIMI is largely underground after the government crackdown, SIO is a gradually swelling student revolution in the making, taking Islam beyond the parodied stereotypes of fundamentalism and violence. Its mission: to prepare students, Muslims and non-Muslims, for reconstruction of a peaceful India on the basis of Islamic principles.”
Regardless of what the report may say, the people associated with SIO have clearly demonstrated that they have a tendency to gravitate towards violence as well. The mainstream media through its ignorance has given a pass to extremely toxic individuals. Due to their inherent ‘secular’ biases, journalists have taken dubious individuals at face value and have made no effort to throw hard questions at them. Even when their bigotry stood exposed, the media has attempted to provide them with an opportunity to clear their names. After all of this is said and done, the mainstream media will have to take a long and hard look at the manner in which it has conducted itself in these turbulent times and if they have a shred of shame, they will make a formal apology to the people of this country.
The Jamaat-e-Islami itself has an extremely turbulent past. After the partition of the country, the organization split itself into independent organizations in the newly created states. It has been described as having undergone an “ideological transformation” and said to have abandoned its goal of transforming India into an Islamic State. But given everything that has occurred in recent times, we will have to revisit this question.
We have to remember here that Muslim politicians from mainstream political parties have contributed to the violence as well. Amanatullah Khan, a prominent leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, was reportedly spotted leading the protests in Delhi that turned violent. His role in the escalation of events will have to be investigated as well.
The conduct of the Congress party during the entire series of events has been most shameful. OpIndia has exposed the manner in which the NSUI, the students’ wing of the Congress, instigated protests across several Universities while simultaneously, working hard to maintain the pretense that these protests were spontaneous. Even the protests by ‘students’ at the University of Madras were actually headed by the SFI, another expose that OpIndia made.
Thus, we see a network of dubious individuals at Jamia Milia Islamia University, who are associated with an organization that is considered the ‘Blood Brother’ of a banned Radical Islamic outfit, giving calls for Jihad following which violence erupted at the national capital. The said individuals were well connected with the mainstream media which soon turned them into ‘Sheroes’. The ‘Blood Brother’ of SIMI, the SIO, has Jamaat-e-Islami Hind that splintered off after the partition of the country.
In the protests, even the Aligarh Muslim University, the founder of which gave the two-nation theory that led to the partition of the country, witnessed great violence and even the protesters of this University were portrayed as victims by the mainstream media. Thus, we witness an elaborate network of Islamic fundamentalist organizations whose people spread across the media and Universities attempted to foment discord within the country. The violence that shook Delhi cannot be disassociated from this network by any means.
The violence, of course, was not limited to the national capital. There was violence all across the country, especially in West Bengal and Assam. The violence in Assam, of course, has a different historical context but the violence in every other corner of the country had a similar background. In West Bengal, public property was damaged, buses were set on fire, trains were burnt and communal strife was created. Meanwhile, the ruling ‘secular’ dispensation watched as mute spectators because they did not wish to hurt their Muslim vote-bank.
We should also remember the slogans that were raised in Jamia. ‘Hinduon se Azadi‘ cannot be wished away in any manner. Glorifying people who committed the genocide of Hindus cannot be wished away in any manner. We cannot afford to ignore the graffiti and slogans that erupted in the Jamia protests. There is an insidious design at work here and we have to confront it. And the country will have to wake up to this sad reality at some point in time and the most opportune time is this.
This is the Khilafat 2.0 and the nation cannot afford to maintain wishful blindness any longer. The ‘Secular’ parties will be judged by history extremely harshly for their deplorable conduct. The Useful Idiots in Universities and the Media ought to understand the role it is playing in encouraging evil designs that seek to wreck the country once again.
