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UP Shia Board chief claims Shias are persecuted in Sunni countries, asks HM Amit Shah to include them in CAB

OpIndia Staff
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UP Shia Board chief claims Shias are persecuted in Sunni countries, asks HM Amit Shah to include them in CAB

The Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi has written a letter to the Union Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, asking him to include the Shia Muslims from the Muslim countries within the ambit of the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019.


In a letter addressed to the Union Home Minister, Rizvi has claimed that the Shia Muslims are being harassed in Sunni dominated Muslim countries such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria etc. and has asked him to include the Shia Muslims within the purview of the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, in order to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, who come to India because of religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan even if they do not possess proper documents.

”It is true that Shias are one of the weaker sections of the Muslim community which have always been oppressed by the majority Muslim community because Shia sect refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of rabid caliphs succeeding Prophet Muhammad. Shia community parted their ways as the succeeding caliphs were unworthy of representing Islam and were primarily responsible for murdering the family of Prophet Muhammad,” Rizvi said.

Rizvi further claimed that Shias have been exploited by the dominant Sunni community from the last 1400 years and the exploitation still continues.

“With the aim to relieve the Shia community from the cruelty and excesses meted out by the majority Sunni, it is my humble request to the Union Minister to consider Shia Muslim community alongside other persecuted minority communities which are considered to be included in the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019,” Rizvi has stated.

It is notable here that Sunnis make the majority sect in many Muslim nations. But Shias are in the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and as per some estimates, in Yemen too.

After Siddaramaiah, now Karnataka Congress State President resigns: Another jolt to Congress after BJP sweeps Karnataka by poll

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After Siddaramaiah, now Karnataka Congress State President resigns: Another jolt to Congress after BJP sweeps Karnataka by poll

The counting of votes for the 15 assembly constituencies that went for by-polls in Karnataka are going on and the ruling BJP has won 7 of the 15 seats. Congress has won 2. The BJP, which needed 6 seats to retain the majority, has now attainted it. BJP is expected to win 12 seats in total and Congress ally in Karnataka, JD(S) and scored a zero. Following the results, Congress in the state suffered a massive jolt as Siddaramaiah resigned as the Legislative Party Leader and as the leader of opposition in Karnataka Assembly. Now, the Congress State President has also resigned, delivering another body-blow to the party in Karnataka.


In July, the 14-month-old Congress-JDS government led by HD Kumaraswamy had fallen after it lost the trust vote in the assembly. The coalition government had lost the majority after 16 MLAs from both the parties had turned rebel and resigned from the assembly. After rebel MLAs from Congress and JDS had resigned, 15 out of 17 Karnataka seats had become vacant. The apex court had held the disqualification order but had disagreed on the duration of disqualification and had held that the MLAs will face re-election.

Read: Karnataka: Democracy in danger as 3rd largest party fails to form the government

All MLAs were from Congress and JDS who had later decided to support the BJP. The 15 MLAs were all given BJP tickets. To retain power in the state, BJP needed to win at least 6 seats out of the 15. Following the disqualification, the strength of the assembly was reduced to 208, where BJP held the simple majority of 105. It had the support of independent MLA H Nagesh. Now, the numbers needed by BJP have been attained following the by-polls.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah, the state’s former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader had also resigned from his position as Legislative Party Leader and leader of opposition in Karnataka Assembly.

Madhya Pradesh: Congress MLA extends open support to Indore’s mafia don Jitu Soni

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Congress MLA extends open support to Indore’s mafia don Jitu Soni

As the Indore police tighten the noose around influential businessman and underworld mafia Jitendra Soni aka Jeetu Soni, a Congress MLA from Manawar seat in Dhar district, Dr Hiralal Alawa, has openly come up to extend his support to him. Alawa has openly condemned the action being taken against the alleged underworld mafia by the Indore police.

According to a report by News 18 Hindi, the Congress MLA Hiralal Alawa, speaking at a program organized by the Indian Journalists Association in Manawar said that the Jai Adivasi Youth Organization is “standing with Jitu Bhai Soniji of Indore”.

Alawa said that Jitu Soni’s newspaper published articles in their support when the Ultratech cement factory in Manawar assembly constituency tried to grab lands in 32 villages. Today, he added, the entire Jay Adivasi Youth Organization is standing with Jitu Soni.

Notably, Jitendra Soni aka Jitu Soni or Jeetu Soni, based in Indore, Madhya Pradesh is the owner of the newspaper ‘Sanjha Lokswami’, an evening tabloid which has been brought under the radar for its alleged involvement in the Madhya Pradesh high-profile honey trap racket busted in September.

Jitu Soni has been accused of involvement in several illegal activities. His involvement in the honeytrap racket was highlighted after his tabloid had published transcripts of the sex chats between the honeytrap gang accused and several political leaders of the previous and current government.

Jeetu Soni has several cases against him, including cases of human trafficking, extortion, blackmailing, arms act and forgery. He has been absconding.

After a principal secretary-rank officer allegedly attempted suicide inside the state secretariat, fearing his video would soon find its way into the public domain, the Indore police had sprung to action and raided Sanjha Lokswami newspaper owner Jitu alias Jitendra Soni and his son Amit Soni’s hotel My Home, their house and offices.

According to SSP Ruchivardhan Mishra, during the raids, police had found 67 girls in the hotel ‘My Home’, suspected to have been held hostage for illegal activities. Police had also recovered documents related to the infamous Honey Trap scandal from Soni’s house. Moreover, pen drives, CDs, registry papers of more than 30 plots, whose prices in the market must be more than Rs 150 crores were also recovered in the raid.

After the action, which was jointly taken by 9 departments including administration, excise, municipal corporation, narcotics and Indore police, cases of human trafficking, IT Act, Arms Act, a case pertaining to causing hindrance in government work had been registered against Jitu Soni, Amit, and other family members. Amit had been arrested by the police, while Jeetu Soni has been absconding.

Apart from this, almost 25 criminal cases of various offences, including provisions of the Information and Technology Act, capturing land and properties of others, human trafficking, blackmailing and extortion have been registered against the mafia.

Read: Madhya Pradesh sex racket: 13 IAS officers, a former Chief Minister and Governor possibly honey-trapped by a gang

The Indore Municipal Corporation had recently demolished four illegal structures, including My Home Hotel in Geeta Bhawan, Hotel Best Western in South Tukoganj, O2 cafe in Janjeer Square and Lokswami’s bungalow Jag Villa-a 7,000 square ft structure on a 24,000 square ft plot, built by Jeetu Soni.

According to SSP-Indore Ruchi Vardhan Mishra, while Rs 30,000 bounty has already been declared on the arrest of Soni, a proposal has been sent to the state government to raise the bounty to Rs 1 lakh. “A lookout notice has also been issued to prevent him from fleeing India,” she maintained.

The News 18 report states that Hiralal Alawa’s open support for Jitu Soni is the indicator of the confidence of the MLA that there will be no action against him, as the Kamal Nath government is holding power in the state with a wafer-thin majority. Out of the 116 seats required for a majority, Congress has 115 and is running the government with the support of an independent MLA and other smaller parties.

CAB necessary because Congress divided country on basis of religion, does not violate Constitution: Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
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CAB necessary because Congress divided country on basis of religion, does not violate Constitution: Amit Shah

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was tabled in the parliament earlier today by Amit Shah and that led to a massive debate and uproar. The opposition parties including Congress, TMC and other parties have said that the bill is against the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution, forgetting, that those rights apply only to citizens of India and thus, while it applies to every citizen, it does not apply to say Rohingyas or Pakistani Muslims who are not being given citizenship under the bill.

After the massive furore where AIMIM chief Owaisi even compared the Home Minister to Hitler, Amit Shah presented his counter-arguments. Here are the key statements made by Amit Shah in the parliament after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was tabled and the opposition parties rallied against it tooth and nail.

The Legal Basis for the Bill – Does it violate sections of the constitution?

Home Minister Amit Shah said that he wants to assure the members of the parliament and even the citizens of the country that the Citizenship Amendment Bill does not violate any of the provisions of the constitution. Speaking about Article 11, Amit Shah asked the members of the parliament to read the article in its totality since Article 11 says, “Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Part shall derogate from the power of Parliament to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating to citizenship”.

On Article 14 being violated by CAB, Amit Shah read out the article. Article 14 essentially speaks about equality before the law or equal protection within the territory of India. Article 14 of the Constitution of India provides for equality before the law or equal protection within the territory of India. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal protection of law within the territory of India. However, Amit Shah pointed out that citizenship has been granted in view of special circumstances in the past to specific communities, specifically to Bangladeshi refugees after 1971 and following the attacks on Indians in Uganda by using the provision of reasonable classifications.

The Country was partitioned on the basis of Religion

Most significantly, Home Minister Amit Shah reminded the opposition leaders that the country was partitioned on the basis of religion. “Why do we need this Bill today? After independence, had Congress not done a partition on the basis of religion, then, today we would have not needed this Bill. Congress did the partition on the basis of religion,” Amit Shah said.

Voted in Favour of Introduction of the Bill

After an intense debate on the legal and constitutional merits of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the Lok Sabha has voted in favour of the introduction of the bill in the parliament. The proposal to introduce the bill in the parliament passed with 293 members of Lok Sabha voting Aye and 82 members voting No. Home Minister Amit Shah then proceeded to introduce the Bill in the Parliament.

Watch: The man who was threatened by Karti Chidambaram for asking a question on INX media scam speaks up

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: The man who was threatened by Karti Chidambaram for asking a question on INX media scam speaks up

Prakash Belwade-Patil, the former secretary of ABVP in Maharashtra, has said that the bail of both P Chidambaram and his Karti Chidambaram as they keep threatening people. Patil had received a threatening message from Karti yesterday after he had tweeted to P Chidambaram suggesting him to write an article on “How you made money and skilled your son also.”

After his tweet to P Chidambaram, Karti had sent a direct message to Prakash on Twitter, asking him to come to his office, as he was told that Patil needs Karti’s advice. To this Prakash had replied asking him the give the advice publicly so that everyone can benefit. After that Karti Chidambaram, who is a member of Lok Sabha, sent him another direct message asking his address, saying that he will personally come to give him advice. Prakash said that sending such a personal message amounts to issuing a threat.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Jhd3Li6_4]

Talking to ANI, Prakash said that both father and son are out on bail, and the courts have asked them to not interact with media, not to interfere with evidence, but they keep threatening people like this. “Therefore, I request the court to cancel their bail, and send them back to Tihar jail,” Prakash said.

He said that he is a social worker and uses social media to express his feelings openly, and the Chidambaram family can also use social media openly, but sending such personal messages is not right. Prakash added that if the Chidambaram family takes matter personally forward, he will talk with his guides to decide on necessary action.

Massive jolt to Congress after BJP sweeps Karnataka by polls: Siddaramaiah resigns as Legislative Party leader and Leader of Opposition

OpIndia Staff
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Massive jolt to Congress after BJP sweeps Karnataka by polls: Siddaramaiah resigns as Legislative Party leader and Leader of Opposition

The counting of votes for the 15 assembly constituencies that went for by-polls in Karnataka are going on and the ruling BJP has won 7 of the 15 seats. Congress has won 2. The BJP, which needed 6 seats to retain the majority, has now attainted it. BJP is expected to win 12 seats in total and Congress ally in Karnataka, JD(S) and scored a zero. Following the results, Congress in the state has suffered a massive jolt as Siddaramaiah has resigned as the Legislative Party Leader and as the leader of opposition in Karnataka Assembly.


Siddaramaiah, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka when the Congress was in power and the Legislative Party Leader currently has said that he is resigning because he ‘needs to respect democracy’. He has also resigned as Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly.

Read: Karnataka meltdown: Congress leader Roshan Baig trains guns at Siddaramaiah, calls KC Venugopal a buffoon

According to ANI, Siddaramaiah has said that he has submitted his resignation to Congress party interim chief Sonia Gandhi.

In July, the 14-month-old Congress-JDS government led by HD Kumaraswamy had fallen after it lost the trust vote in the assembly. The coalition government had lost the majority after 16 MLAs from both the parties had turned rebel and resigned from the assembly. After rebel MLAs from Congress and JDS had resigned, 15 out of 17 Karnataka seats had become vacant. The apex court had held the disqualification order but had disagreed on the duration of disqualification and had held that the MLAs will face re-election.

Read: Here’s why the Karnataka elections will signal the end of the road for Siddaramaiah

All MLAs were from Congress and JDS who had later decided to support the BJP. The 15 MLAs were all given BJP tickets. To retain power in the state, BJP needed to win at least 6 seats out of the 15. Following the disqualification, the strength of the assembly was reduced to 208, where BJP held the simple majority of 105. It had the support of independent MLA H Nagesh. Now, the numbers needed by BJP have been attained following the by-polls.

As for Siddaramaiah, when the Congress-JDS alliance had chosen to make Kumaraswamy the Chief Minister, it was considered a humiliating ouster for the Congress leader. There were several rumours of dissent not only from Siddaramaiah but also his supporters from within the Congress party.

BJP wins Karnataka by-polls: Rajdeep Sardesai blames voters, says ‘voters rewarded defectors’

OpIndia Staff
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BJP wins Karnataka by-polls: Rajdeep Sardesai blames voters, says ‘voters rewarded defectors’

As BJP sweeps the Karnataka by-polls by maintaining clear leads in 6 seats and winning 6 seats out of the total 15, controversial journalist Rajdeep Sardesai had a hard time believing the fact that the saffron party would continue to remain in power in the state. The by-polls were scheduled following the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress-JDS MLAs that paved the way for the BJP to form government in the state.

With the results declaring BJP’s victory, Rajdeep Sardesai posted a tweet claiming that the Congress party and JDS continue to remain ensnared in faction feuds while the BJP came out as number 1 party in the state. He further stated that voters in Karnataka rewarded the defectors, insinuating that ‘money and state power’ play a significant role in determining the election results.


Rajdeep’s rumblings come at a time when the BJP recently formed government in the state of Karnataka under the leadership of BS Yediyurappa. About 4 months ago, after 17 rebel MLAs from the previous Congress-Janta Dal (Secular) coalition revolted, the BJP staked a claim at the government in Karnataka. Many of the rebel MLAs fought and won the by-polls elections on the BJP ticket.

The by-polls happened on Thursday last week on 15 of the 17 assembly seats that were left vacant after the MLAs resigned in July, leading to the collapse of the Congress-JDS alliance. The BJP currently has 105 MLAs in the 222-member Karnataka assembly, with the support of 1 independent. It needed to bag at least six seats for scoring a majority in the assembly. The Congress and the JDS hold 101 MLAs between them.

As per latest reports, the BJP has already won 6 of the 15 seats, Congress leader DK Shivakumar has stated that his party accepts defeat.

Peak NDTV Logic: Sreenivasan Jain pulls a shocker, claims Muslims are minorities in Islamic States

OpIndia Staff
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Peak NDTV Logic: Sreenivasan Jain pulls a shocker, claims Muslims are minorities in Islamic States

The introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Bill attracted great criticism from the ‘Secular’ parties. But it’s not just political parties which were opposing the Bill. Their friends in the media were contributing significantly to the hysteria surrounding it as well. Among the many bizarre arguments made against the Bill, the most conspicuous among them, unsurprisingly, came from an NDTV journalist: Sreenivasan Jain.

During the debate in the Parliament on the introduction of the CAB, Union Home Minister CAB said that the Bill wasn’t against minorities at all. Responding to it on Twitter, Sreenivasan Jain argued how could a Bill that specifically “excludes” a “minority community” not be against minorities.


It appears that Jain is arguing that Muslims are minorities in the Islamic States of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The CAB seeks to provide citizenship to the persecuted religious minorities from these three countries. And Muslims, in the countries mentioned, are the majority community. In one stroke, Sreenivasan Jain has far exceeded the most stupid statement Rahul Gandhi has ever made by miles.

Read: NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain desperately tries to portray that Kashmiri Pandits are unhappy with the abrogation of Article 370

Quite obviously, Muslims cannot be considered a persecuted religious minority in an Islamic State. However, Sreenivasan Jain is so blinded by ‘Secularism’ that he cannot see the idiocy of his remark. Furthermore, the CAB has nothing to do with current Indian citizens. It only seeks to provide citizenship to people from neighbouring countries who are being persecuted due to their identity as a religious minority. Therefore, it’s utterly bizarre to argue that the Bill is in any way against the minority communities of India.

Read: Explained: How Citizenship Amendment Bill embraces the history of India

Sreenivasan Jain is known to misrepresent facts in order to peddle a certain narrative. He has done so on several occasions in the past. He has also edited interviews of his guests in order to favour his preordained narrative. He is also known for his false equivalences and equating online speech with actual violence.

Several govt job examinations have seen higher cut-off mark for OBCs compared to general category, here are the reasons

OpIndia Staff
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Several govt job examinations have seen higher cut-off mark for OBCs compared to general category, here are the reasons

A curious phenomenon has emerged in various competitive exams held for government jobs across the country, where the cut-off mark for reserved category candidates was more than the cut-off for general category. In several examinations in various states such as Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi etc, the cut-off marks for reserved category seats, especially OBC category, were more than the general category.

For example, in the recruitment of sub-inspector of Railway Protection Force in March 2019, the Group A cut-off for OBC category was 95.53%, while the same for general category was 94.59%. For group F, it was 87.33% for OBC and 76.99% for general. In the Bihar civil services examination results declared in October this year, the cut-off for OBC category was 595, while the cut-off for general category was 588. Similarly, in Rajasthan Administrative Services and Allied Services examination of 2016, the cut-offs of General and OBC were 78.54% and 94.98%.

This has raised alarm bell among the reservation activists, with a demand to make changes in the law to prevent this from happening. Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel raised this issue during the zero-hour in Lok Sabha on 5th December, and demanded amendments in the reservation laws, so that reserved category candidates who score more than the general category cut-off are given posting in the general category, not the reserved category.

In general, reserved category candidates can migrate to the general category if they score enough mark in the competitive exam. The Supreme Court has also clarified several times that reserved candidates can be posted in general category posts if they have secured the necessary marks. But there is a catch in this rule, which says that if a reserved category candidate avails other benefits of reservation in an examination, like the relaxation in upper age limit, relaxation in the number of attempts, reduced examination fee etc, such candidates can’t migrate to the general category at a later stage. As most reserved category candidates avail these benefits, they are considered not eligible for the general category, even if they score more than the cut-off mark.

Read: Here are 4 lies being spread about 10% reservation to the economically backward section of society

The Supreme Court of India also has upheld this rule. In July this year, a bench of S Abdul Nazeer and Indira Banerjee had ruled the same, dismissing a plea by a candidate who had appealed against a Gujarat High Court order. As a results, those reserved category candidates who have availed such relaxations are are not placed in general category even if they have scored more than the cut-off mark for general category.

Moreover, as many reserved category candidates avail the age relaxation benefit, the number of candidates in the reserved categories go up, which eventually increases competition and the cut-off mark. Adding to this, several states have arbitrarily raised the relaxed age limit for reserved categories over the years, increasing the number of candidates competing for the reserved category posts.

Along with this, the population of OBC category accounts for 50% or more in several states, which means the population percentage is more than the reservation percentage in several states.

As this phenomenon is observed in more and more examinations, it can be said with certainity that the demand for an amendment in the law will increase.

AIMIM chief Owaisi continues his rant: Compares CAB to Nuremberg race laws and Amit Shah to Hitler

OpIndia Staff
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AIMIM chief Owaisi continues his rant: Compares CAB to Nuremberg race laws and Amit Shah to Hitler

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday tabled the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019, in Lok Sabha to amend the six-decade-old Citizenship Act. The amended bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there. Amid strong protests and sloganeering from Opposition leaders, AIMIM chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi once again continued his hateful rant and compared HM Amit Shah to Hitler.

Continuing his rants against the CAB, Owaisi asked the speaker to save the country from such a law and save the Home Minister also. ‘Otherwise, like in Nuremberg race laws and Israel’s citizenship act, Home Minister’s name will be featured with Hitler and David Ben-Gurion, said Owaisi in the Lok Sabha.


“In Israel, the Defence Minister’s name was attached to that of Hitler,” said Owaisi referring to David Ben-Gurion who was the first Prime Minister and defence minister of the State of Isreal.

Since the time the Citizenship Amendment Bill has been brought up for discussion in the Lok Sabha’s winter session, the AIMIM chief has been continuing his tirade against the Modi government. Hitting out at the central government Owaisi had recently rehashed that if CAB is implemented it “will make India Israel.”

Read: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi mocks Hindus for the Nimbu-Mirchi ritual in Nanded public meeting

“The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in itself shows that they want to make India a religious country,” Owaisi told ANI. “India will be in the league of Israel which is the most discriminatory country in the world,” he added.

Nobody really knows what Owaisi’s rationale is considering that India is not making any laws against its Muslim citizens. India is not obligated to give citizenship to Muslims from Islamic nations. The CAB is aimed at giving citizenship to persecuted minorities from Islamic nations like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Unless Owaisi believes the theory of ‘Ummah’ and that all Muslims of the world belong to the same nation based on religion, one is hard-pressed to understand this line of attack.

Read: The conduct of ‘Secular’ parties on CAB shows there’s no difference between them and Muslim communal parties

Owaisi had earlier in another veiled attack said that the Modi government was “reviving two-nation theory” and would “dishonour our freedom fighters” if the Bill was passed. “If we pass this law then it will be disrespect towards Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar”, Owaisi had said.

The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the Bill in its previous tenure and got the Lok Sabha’s approval. But it did not introduce it in the Rajya Sabha, apparently due to vehement protests in the Northeast. That Bill lapsed following the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha.

Paving the way for Parliament to take up the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft law and has been taken up for discussion and passage in the Lok Sabha today.

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