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Kamlesh Tiwari murder: From UP to Gujarat to Maharashtra, the trail of conspirators and perpetrators cuts across state boundaries

OpIndia Staff
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Kamlesh Tiwari murder: From UP to Gujarat to Maharashtra, the trail of conspirators and perpetrators cuts across state boundaries

Following the murder of former Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari, police of at least three states have gotten involved in trying to trace the perpetrators and conspirators. There have been multiple arrests and raids till now in cities across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Even as the investigations continue, few things are clearly emerging that the culprits got help across state boundaries to assassinate Tiwari.

As per reports, while the two murderers were killing Tiwari, they got into a scuffle where one of them, Moinuddin was also hurt. Reportedly, Moinuddin got treatment for the injury in Bareilly. Following this, their location was traced to Lakhmipur. Police was quite sure of catching the culprits, but by the time they reached, they had run away. It is believed that they were on their way to cross into Nepal and escape. In Lakhmipur, it was reported that they borrowed a phone of a local cab driver to talk to a lawyer and offered to surrender. The lawyer then informed the same to the police.

Right now, the police is in Shahjahanpur looking for clues to arrest them where they were last spotted as per reports.


It is reported that the duo met one Mufti in Premnagar area of Bareilly. Police, while investigating, questioned one Mufti Kaif Ali. It is believed that on meeting the Mufti, the murderers passed on the information of murdering Tiwari to Surat and Dubai. However, the police have let him off.

Read: Kamlesh Tiwari murder: Ashfaq forged Aadhaar of his colleague Rohit Solanki to join Hindu Samaj Party, befriend Tiwari

Amidst all this, one shocking revelation has come to light that wherever the assassins went, they found help. Over and above these states, if reports are to be believed, the connection of Kamlesh Tiwari murder can also be traced to states like Haryana, Karnataka and Delhi.

It is reported that the murders stayed in Palia where they used e-rickshaw to board an Innova car. The driver of that car, Tauhid, had told the police that one friend of his boss lives in Gujarat and had taken booking for Rs 5,000 on his recommendation. In Palia they had gathered information. Other than the car driver, four people were detained from Bareilly, and one person from Pilibhit. It is believed that the persona arrested from Pilibhit was also in touch with the murderers though phone.

Read: I would not condemn the killing of Kamlesh Tiwari, he deserved this fate: Political Analyst Abdul Razack Khan

Last night, Maharashtra ATS unit nabbed one Sayyad Asim Ali from Nagpur who is also believed to be a key player in the murder. He had contested 2019 Lok Sabha elections against BJP’s Nitin Gadkari and last year had uploaded a video where he had given a veiled threat to Tiwari stating that his days are numbered. Accusing Tiwari of blasphemy for announcing a movie ‘Rangeela Rasul’ on the life of Prophet Muhammad, Asim had said that no one should forget the sharp blade of Ibn Din, the Islamist who stabbed the publisher of the book Rangeela Rasul back in the 1920s.

According to latest reports, the murderers wanted to escape to Delhi but owing to tight security they were not able to move ahead from Moradabad. From the kind of support and network the murderers are getting from these states, one can say that this was a well-planned murder. The police has increased vigilance at musafirkhanas (guest houses) and madarsas in Shahjahanpur. Local police is also keeping a watch on those who are related to Gujarat, especially those who live near the railway station. It has to be seen when the culprits are finally nabbed.

TikTok removes dozens of ISIS accounts which shared Islamic State anthems, footage of corpses and ISIS terrorists

OpIndia Staff
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TikTok removes dozens of ISIS accounts which shared Islamic State anthems, footage of corpses and ISIS terrorists

TikTok – one of the biggest social media rages in recent years fuelled by China, has now removed two dozen accounts that were posting propaganda from the Islamic State (ISIS) in an effort to appeal to young people, reports the Wall Street Journal.

According to the reports, the Islamic State (ISIS) propagandists are reportedly trying to exploit social media app TikTok as a recruiting tool. Storyful – a social media monitoring agency has recently identified around two dozen ISIS-related accounts, which have been removed from TikTok application.

The accounts which indulged in Islamic terror propaganda by posting videos such as Islamic State anthems and footage of corpses and ISIS fighters. The videos were aimed at recruiting followers and reinforcing support for the terrorist group.

“We pledge allegiance ’til death,” voices sang in Arabic in one of the videos, which may have been posted in recent weeks.

Currently, there is not enough information regarding the nature of presence ISIS and its terrorists on TikTok. The usage of social media platforms to propagate Islamic terrorist ideology has become a perennial issue. Islamic State has focused on online propaganda since its inception, including using social media to spread its message, making it distinct from other jihadist groups.

The postings on TikTok followed after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had released a message last month in which he called on his followers to redouble their efforts to further the cause after losing control over the last of its self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq earlier this year.

Read: Time to act against a threat that can’t be ignored: Here is how Chinese TikTok poses a threat to Indian sovereignty and national security

Reportedly, tech giants like Facebook and Google share a database of known terrorist imagery that can be automatically removed when it’s detected online. These companies have also won several lawsuits for allowing it even temporarily on their platforms. In September, Facebook had said that it removed more than 26 million pieces of global terrorist propaganda over the past two years.

After banning pro-ISIS accounts, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how much terrorist content TikTok finds and takes down.

Read: TikTok flooded with adult-dating scams and fake accounts: Report

Reportedly, the accounts that Storyful had identified also appear to be relatively small. The Journal identifies that some videos had 68 likes while some accounts had as much as 1,000 followers. However, Storyful did not immediately confirm whether that is typical of the accounts’ popularity, or whether these are the first accounts they’ve found on TikTok.

TikTok has rules against terrorist organizations using the app, but even its team of content moderators across the US and China and advanced algorithms could not detect the ISIS accounts until the WSJ flagged them. TikTok videos circulate largely because of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm. In this case, however, it was not clear that the algorithm is promoting ISIS content, just that this content exists on the hugely popular platform.

The Journal notes that TikTok has a young user base and is known for lighthearted, jokey content. So there exists an added discrepancy when it’s used by terrorist organisations. The videos posted by these propagandists were edited to appeal to young people, using flower icons, hearts and catchy music.

In an email, TikTok spokesperson stated, “This is an industry-wide challenge complicated by bad actors who actively seek to circumvent protective measures, but we have a team dedicated to aggressively protecting against malicious behaviour on TikTok.”

Recently, we witnessed the manner in which some TikTok ‘celebrities’ incited violence following the death of the thief Tabrez Ansari. The country witnessed significant violence following the incident and it’s unclear still the extent to which TikTok contributed to it. The Chinese hold on TikTok and their control over data that is uploaded on the app also cannot be ignored.

Hubli railway station blast: Police arrest one suspect with links with banned SIMI

OpIndia Staff
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Hubli railway station blast: Police arrest one suspect with links with banned SIMI

Karnataka Police have arrested one person in connection with the blast at the Hubli railway station yesterday. The man was arrested from Kuppelur in Old Hubli area. Police have said that he is associated with banned organisation SIMI.

The suspect works at the Hubli railway station, where a person was injured in a parcel bomb blast. The blast had occurred when the victim had picked an unclaimed package. The unclaimed package was found inside a bucket in an unreserved coach of a train from Vijaywada to Amaravati. When the train had stopped at Hubli in north Karnataka, a vendor named Hussaini picked up the bucket with the package, and opened the package on the platform, which triggered a blast at around 11.45 AM. Hussaini had suffered an injury on his hand.

Also Read: How the Congress party and its allies supported terrorism in the 1998 Coimbatore blasts case

A report by Livemint says that the bucket was found by RPF personnel and they had taken it to the platform near the station master’s office. The found small plastic boxes inside the bucket. The report says the RPF had asked Hussaini, a local vendor at the station, to open one of the boxes and that’s when the blast happened.

A label stuck on the bucket had the name of “Prakash Abhitkar” and the address as “Budhar Ghad (TQ), MLA Ghargoti, Kolhapur (dist), MS (State)”. The label also contained the message “No BJP, No RSS”.

Police said that it was a minor explosion, and only one person was injured and a glass pane had broken due to its impact. Hussaini is undergoing treatment and is out of danger. Apart from investigating the bomb blast incident, police have also launched a probe on alleged irregularities by RPF in involving an untrained civilian to handle suspected package which caused him an injury.

Ram Leela is like child porn, it creates fear among minorities and dangerous for society: Prakash Raj in viral 2018 clip

OpIndia Staff
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Ram Leela is like child porn, it creates fear among minorities and dangerous for society: Prakash Raj in viral 2018 clip

A 2018 video of actor-turned-politician Prakash Raj is doing rounds on social media in which he compares the much-celebrated Hindu festival of RamLeela to ‘child porn’.

Speaking at a News18 event on February 2018, the ultra-left wing ideologue Prakash Raj launches an attack on Uttar Pradesh government and its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for promoting Ram Leela events. Raj has claimed that the CM of Uttar Pradesh participating in religious festivals is a drama and it instils fear among the minorities. He had stated that whether the CM of UP is expecting ‘Vikas’ by changing the paint on the wall.

Prakash Raj went on to say he ‘found it funny’ when UP CM Yogi Adityanath participates in ‘Rathotsav’. He went on to assert that Yogi Adityanath is not supposed to do such things as a Chief Minister of the state.

Then he makes a shocking comment on the Ramleela event when Prakash Raj claims that he does not want cultural and historical events like Ramleela to happen in the country. Calling it as appeasement, Prakash Raj makes deplorable comments by comparing it with Child Porn.


The anchor asks why shouldn’t the Uttar Pradesh government organise such cultural events as it reflects the will of the people and questions why Prakash Raj has a problem with the event. An agitated Prakash Raj went on to say, “Will you not ask if children watch child porn. Will you leave it? It is dangerous for society. Events like Ramleela are dangerous for society. This is appeasement. It is instilling fear on the minority. What they did (the UP government) instilled fear in us. I am not comfortable with it.”

He further adds, “My understanding is that they going to temple is our culture. In full public view, why are you doing Naatak (Drama).”

When questioned about how he can distribute certificate on what belongs to Indian culture and what does not, Prakash Raj went on to say that he was very clear about what is the culture and what is not. “Bringing Ram, Lakshman and Sita in a helicopter, putting them down is not my culture,” said Raj.

Prakash Raj, the ultra-left wing ideologue, who is often known for spewing venom against the Hindu faith and spreading lies to further his leftist agenda, suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2019 general elections. He had called the defeat a ‘solid slap on his face’.

Read: Prakash Raj concedes defeat after dismal performance in elections, says a ‘Solid Slap’ on my face

In the past, Prakash Raj had stoked a controversy after he had foul-mouthed against the Hinduism stating that he had “no respect” for the religion which “prevents women from worshipping” by falsely bringing reference of age-old custom of Sabarimala temple. With no respects for facts, Prakash Raj had deliberately insulted Hinduism to further his hate towards Hindus.

Kamlesh Tiwari murder: Ashfaq forged Aadhaar of his colleague Rohit Solanki to join Hindu Samaj Party, befriend Tiwari

OpIndia Staff
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Kamlesh Tiwari murder: Ashfaq forged Aadhaar of his colleague Rohit Solanki to join Hindu Samaj Party, befriend Tiwari

The prime accused in Kamlesh Tiwari murder case, Ashfaq, reportedly used his colleague, Rohit Solanki‘s Aadhaar card and assumed his identity to become part of Hindu Samaj Party, founded by Tiwari and gain his trust. As per reports, Ashfaq worked as a team-lead/manager in the Surat office of Mumbai-based pharma company. He had forged his colleague Rohit Solanki’s Aadhaar card and replaced Solanki’s picture with his own while keeping rest of the details untouched. He even opened a Facebook account in Solanki’s name.

Rohit Solanki’s forged Aadhaar (image: IndianExpress.com)

He then met Jaimin Dava aka Bapu, Gujarat President of Hindu Samaj Party expressed desire to join the party. On 3rd October, he was inducted into Hindu Samaj Party and made the Varachha ward IT cell pracharak. As reported by Indian Express, Ashfaq met Tiwari in June this year. He had also called up Tiwari before leaving Surat for Lucknow and confirmed that he would come and meet him the next day.

Read: Bigotry pays: Sayyad Asim Ali arrested in Kamlesh Tiwari murder case had fought Lok Sabha elections against Nitin Gadkari

Dave has revealed that the party leaders collect Aadhaar card and other details of those wiling to join the party. When Ashfaq posing as Rohit Solanki sent him a friend’s request on Facebook, it did not raise any alarm because a lot of people from Hindu Samaj Party were already on his friends’ list. Dave has now submitted the documents given by Ashfaq to the Gujarat ATS.

Reportedly, Ashfaq would talk to Hindu Samaj Party workers across the country through Facebook.

Read: Dara Hua ‘Murtad’? Two days after Kamlesh Tiwari’s death, ‘communist atheist’ Umar Khalid prostrates as a ‘believer’

Tiwari, a former Hindu Mahasabha leader, was assassinated at his Lucknow office by one Ashfaq and one Moinuddin who are still absconding and on the run. The Uttar Pradesh police and Gujarat ATS sprung into action to blow the lid off a Surat-based Jihadi group that was indoctrinated by one of the accused who planned the murder, Maulana Mohsin Sheikh. Two other conspirators, Rashid Pathan and Faizan have been arrested. The Gujarat ATS has declared the names of the murderers as Moinuddin and Ashfaq who are still absconding. Director General Police of UP has announced a reward of Rs 2.50 lakhs each (total Rs 5 lakhs) for the apprehending of the two murder accused.

Dasna Devi Mandir Mahant Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati booked after meeting Kamlesh Tiwari family and giving ‘hate speech’

OpIndia Staff
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Dasna Devi Mandir Mahant Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati booked after meeting Kamlesh Tiwari family and giving ‘hate speech’

Dasna Devi Mandir Mahant Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati has been booked for allegedly ‘inciting hate’ in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh on Monday night. Swami Saraswati had visited Kamlesh Tiwari’s grieving family and allegedly, delivered a 2-minute speech that ‘incited hate’ against the Muslim community after Kamlesh Tiwari was brutally slain by Islamists for speaking against the Prophet of Islam.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the station house officer (SHO) of Mahmoodabad police station in Sitapur Arun Kumar said, “Saraswati and his followers met the family members of Kamlesh Tiwari in the afternoon. After that, he gave a speech which was very inciting and its video was also posted on social media”.

Several people on social media had tagged the Uttar Pradesh police to the video and demanded action against the Mahant. Among those who demanded action, many were Islamists who regularly threaten and mock Hindus and some others who thought the 2-minute speech by the Mahant could inflame passions. Another person who demanded action against the Mahant was a prominent BJYM functionary, Amrita Bhinder.

Read: Let Kamlesh Tiwari’s death not go waste, can we do one of these two things?

According to the report, Dasna Devi Mandir Mahant Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati has been booked by the police under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 298 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) for his speech after meeting family of Kamlesh Tiwari.

Read: Prime Minister Modi, Hindus are under siege, and now is the right time to speak up

Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati is the Mahant of Dasna Devi Mandir in Gaziabad and he had met the family of Kamlesh Tiwari after his murder. He is widely accepted as a revered figure. Earlier in September 2019, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati had ensured that a fight between the Yadav and Gujjar communities from Ghaziabad was resolved.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFzTV79-W80]

The clashes between the two communities had broken out and lasted for weeks over a road rage incident till Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati stepped in. In the video, Swami Saraswati is seen pleading with both the communities to stop fighting. He says that Gujjars and Yadavs are like two arms of the same mother, the two sons of the same mother and them fighting will only help other communities to annihilate Hindus.

He says he is willing to touch the feet of anyone and plead with anyone to stop the fight. He also says that the few elements who start such fights are sold out to other communities who want Gujjars and Yadavs to fight so other communities benefit. He goes a step further and says that if that would assuage the anger, he will to suffer two gunshots from the Gujjars and Yadavs respectively but they should stop fighting. In the video, then the representatives of both the communities can be seen urging punishment for the ones who fought and vow to end the enmity that had lasted for weeks.

Read: Dara Hua ‘Murtad’? Two days after Kamlesh Tiwari’s death, ‘communist atheist’ Umar Khalid prostrates as a ‘believer’

Mahant Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati also got threats from Saudi Arabia in 2015 for his activism and fight for Hindu rights. In a 3-minute conversation, the man from Saudi Arabia and abused the Mahant and threatened him with his life.

Not just Ayodhya, hand over the 11 Mosques that are built over demolished temples, says Shia Waqf Board chief

OpIndia Staff
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Not just Ayodhya, hand over the 11 Mosques that are built over demolished temples, says Shia Waqf Board chief

Uttar Pradesh Shia central Waqf Board chief Waseem Rizvi has stated that not just Ayodya but Muslims should hand over all the 11 Mosques that were built by Mughal emperors after demolishing temples on prominant places of worship for Hindus.

Rizvi stated that Muslims should give up their claim on all such disputed sites and hand them over to the Hindus to “corect the mistakes of ancestors”.

Rizvi has stated that the need for such an appeal has risen after the reports of Sunni Muslims seeking permission to offer Namaz at the disputed structures.He added that if all such issues were not resolved, the disputes will not end with the verdict on Ayodhya but fresh issues and disputes will arise.

In video shared on social media, Rizvi stated that there are 11 such disputed sites where Mosques stand on important places of worship for Hindus. The Mosques at Kashi, Mathura, Jaunpur and the Qutab Minar.

Rizvi stated that while all the churches that were destroyed to build Mosques have been reconstructed and restored, now is the time to give back the temple lands that were taken away by the Mughals.

He asserted that Muslims to rectify the mistakes made by ancestors and restore peace in the country.

Read: Shia Waqf board chief calls ‘Babri Masjid a blot to India’, says it is a ‘crime to call it a mosque’

It is notable here that Rizvi has been a supporter of building a temple at the Ramjanmabhoomi site. The Shia Waqf Board under him had also claimed that the Mosque was built by Babur’s Shia commander and it belongs to the Shia Waqf Board. He had announced that Shia Muslims are ready to hand over the land to Hindus to build a Ram Temple.

Bigotry pays: Sayyad Asim Ali arrested in Kamlesh Tiwari murder case had fought Lok Sabha elections against Nitin Gadkari

OpIndia Staff
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Bigotry pays: Sayyad Asim Ali arrested in Kamlesh Tiwari murder case had fought Lok Sabha elections against Nitin Gadkari

The Maharashtra ATS has arrested fourth accused, Sayyad Asim Ali from Nagpur, in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder case on Monday, October 21. He is a hardware shop owner and was reportedly constantly in touch with the three accused Rashid, Mohsin and Faizan already detained by the UP Police, UP ATS and Gujarat Police. As per reports, Asim Ali played a key role in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder case.

India Today report that Sayyad Asim Ali has been arrested by Maharashtra ATS

Who is Sayyad Asim Ali?

Sayyad Asim Ali contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Nagpur constituency from ‘Minorities Democratic Party’ against BJP’s Nitin Gadkari.

Sayyad Asim Ali getting congratulated for contesting 2019 elections from Nagpur (Image: facebook.com/syedasimalisyw)

He got over 600 votes.

Nagpur constituency results for Lok Sabha elections, 2019

A year ago, he had threatened that Kamlesh Tiwari is now nearing his death. The video was uploaded on his YouTube channel on 24th October, 2018.

https://youtu.be/H_FpFbcTBes

In the video, he refers to Tiwari as ‘Kamlesh Harami’ and is angry at him for having insulted the Prophet. He says Kamlesh ‘Harami’ had two fathers and he was born out of their relationship. Anyone who is a ‘harami’ will only blaspheme against Rasulallah he says. Asim plays a clip where Tiwari could be heard saying how he is planning to make a film on the Prophet, his life, his character titled ‘Rangeela Rasul’.

In his video, he alleges that Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS came together to be slaves of the British and betray the Indians. He further says how Tiwari has blasphemed and was jailed for insulting the Prophet and now he is insulting again. “You killed us in Gujarat, we were silent. You killed us in Godhra, we were silent. You killed us in Muzaffarnagar, we remained silent. We remained silent when you took away our reservation. You tried to break up the laws of Islam, we were still silent. We even tolerated when you tore down Babri masjid. But if you will blaspheme against our Prophet, we will kill you,” he says. Asim adds that ‘mujahids’ know how to fight for the cause.

Read: Dara Hua ‘Murtad’? Two days after Kamlesh Tiwari’s death, ‘communist atheist’ Umar Khalid prostrates as a ‘believer’

He further adds that this ‘qaum’ is made of soldiers of Aurangzeb and should not mess with them. “Do you want to destroy the peace in India?” he asks. In a veiled threat to Tiwari he says, looks like you don’t love your life, otherwise you should tell openly what you want. “We are neither afraid to die nor afraid to kill,” he says. We will not abuse your religion but if you abuse our religion, we will remind you of your ‘aukaat’.

“Kamlesh harami tu yaad rakh ki Rasulallah ki shaan mein tu movie banane ki baat kar raha hai, tere din to mukammal ho chuke hai. Aur woh film banane wale director, writer, producer, jitne bhi log hai, ek ek log yaad rakhiye… hum log, MDP, Sunni Youth Wing. Tumhara mukabla karne ke liye taiyar hai. Hum tumse mukabla karenge, chun chun ke mukabla karenge. Tum movie to bana kar dekho, maine pehle bhi kaha hai Ghazi Ilm-ud-din chale gaye, chhura abhi bhi baaki hai. Yaad rakhna us chhure ki dhaar ko bhoole na,(Kamlesh, remember, you are making a movie blaspheming against Rasullah, your days are numbered. That film director, writer, producer, whoever is involved, remember, we MDP, Sunni Youth Wing, we will fight you. We will fight with each of you. You just make the movie once. I have told before also and I’m saying it again. Ilm-ud-din may have gone, but the knife is still there. Never forget the sharp blade of the knife” he threatens.

To put things in perspective, Alim was angry because Kamlesh Tiwari had announced he’d make a movie ‘Rangeela Rasul’, chronicling life of Prophet Muhammad. Rangeela Rasul was a book published in the 1920s by one Pandit MA Chamupati as a retaliation to the book written by a Muslim depicting goddess Sita as a prostitute. Ilm-ud-din or Ilm Din was a carpenter who stabbed the publisher of the book, Mahashe Rajpal with a dagger.

Read: Let Kamlesh Tiwari’s death not go waste, can we do one of these two things?

On 18th October, Kamlesh Tiwari, who had once announced he would make a movie titled Rangeela Rasul, was stabbed by a man who was allegedly in touch with Asim who had invoked Ilm Din last year.

Reports suggest that Ilm Din proudly claimed that he killed Rajpal over Rangeela Rasul. He was represented by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Lahore High Court and appealed to the court that Ilm Din was only 19 or 20 and hence he should not be given capital punishment. However, he was given death penalty for the murder.

Now, in Kamlesh Tiwari murder case, reports have emerged that like Ilm Din, whose reference Asim makes in his YouTube video, Kamlesh Tiwari’s murderers also wanted the world to know that they killed him. An Aaj Tak report states the accused Ashfaq and Moinuddin took sim card, booked hotel rooms in their real names, giving real identity proofs. They have also not made any effort to conceal their faces in the CCTV footage. It shows that they not only wanted to stab Tiwari (like Ilm Din who stabbed Rajpal, publisher of Rangeela Rasul, the book), but also wanted to be known that they did it.

Bengal: Female BJP worker murdered by TMC goons in Birbhum district

OpIndia Staff
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Bengal: Female BJP worker murdered by TMC goons in Birbhum district

Another BJP worker has been murdered by TMC goons in West Bengal. As per reports, Sankari Bagdi, a 47-year-old BJP worker in Bengal’s Birbhum was shot dead by TMC workers on Monday afternoon.

As per reports, Sankari Bagdi was a BJP worker from the Hatsalandi village under the Nanoor police station area in Birbhum district. She was shot dead by TMC goons in a clash between two groups.


Bagdi’s son Uday had reportedly fought with his neighbour Aditya Bagdi who is a TMC supporter in the area. On the day of the incident, dozens of TMC workers holding guns and weapons had allegedly surrounded Sankari Bagdi’s house.

West Bengal BJP has claimed that TMC goons were upset because BJP was gaining popularity in the village.

As a clash erupted between TMC workers and BJP workers in the area, TMC workers allegedly started firing. Sankari Bagdi was hit with a bullet. 6 other BJP supporters have also been injured in the clashes.

Reports say that the TMC goons had targeted Uday Bagdi but hit Sankari instead. Uday is a BJP worker too. As per a report in Hindustan Times, Uday has stated that TMC goons in the area were angry on him because he had quit the party and joined BJP. They had cooked up the story of an illicit affair and targetted Uday over it, claiming that he is involved in a relationship with a married woman in the village.

As the TMC workers started firing during the clash, Sankari reportedly came in the way of a bullet that was fired to kill Uday. Sankari Bagdi died on the spot. The police reached the crime scene and have taken the body away for postmortem. An investigation has been initiated but no one has been arrested so far.

Read: West Bengal: Another party worker killed in Nadia, ‘Debnath shot dead by TMC criminals’, says BJP

The TMC has reportedly stated that Bagdi was not associated with the BJP. But Birbhum district BJP president Shyampad Mandal has stated that Bagdi was associated with the local BJP office. Abhijit Singha, TMC district unit vice president has claimed that the clashes were due to the infighting between two groups of villagers over Uday’s affair and not political in nature. The TMC has also claimed that Bagdi was not associated with the BJP.

It is notable here that West Bengal has been witnessing rampant political violence as the BJP slowly gains a foothold in the TMC ruled state. Dozens of BJP workers have been killed so far by TMC goons.

Deoband: Maulana Abdul Waqeel Qasmi issues fatwa: Bursting firecrackers ‘un-Islamic’, profit earned from firecracker business ‘haram’

OpIndia Staff
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Deoband: Maulana Abdul Waqeel Qasmi issues fatwa: Bursting firecrackers ‘un-Islamic’, profit earned from firecracker business ‘haram’

A Muslim cleric based in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh has issued a fatwa ahead of Diwali. Maulana Abdul Waqeel Qasmi has issued a fatwa saying that bursting firecrackers in un-Islamic and any profit earned from the business of firecrackers is ‘haram’.

Maulana Abdul Waqeel Qasmi, who has declared firecrackers as haram through a fatwa is the state-secretary of Ittehad Ulema-I-Hind.

Read: Muslim clerics issue fatwa to stone Nida Khan if she doesn’t leave the country within 3 days

Maulana Qaseem said, “What others are doing is none of our concern, but for Muslims, it is certainly haram. Bursting crackers is nowhere mentioned in our religious texts. To burn crackers is like burning your own money. This money can be used for better things like education”.

Interestingly, this fatwa comes only days before Diwali, perhaps in a bid to ensure that Muslims stay away from participating in the Hindu festival.

Firecrackers also form a large part of Shab-e-Barat celebrations. Shab-e-Barat is what the Muslims celebrate once a year to seek forgiveness from their God. After staying up all night, it is often followed by sweets and the bursting of firecrackers.

The Ittehad Ulema-I-Hind has a long history of pronouncing fatwas. Recently, the Vice-President of Ittehad-Ulema-I-Hind had targeted Nusrat Jahan, the TMC Member of Parliament who married into a Hindu family.

Read: TMC MP Nusrat Jahan gets death threats and a fatwa for celebrating Durga Puja, Rajdeep Sardesai rues hidden ‘Islamophobia’

The cleric slammed Nusrat for celebrating Durga Puja and said that it was un-Islamic for her to do so. In fact, the cleric also said that Nusrat Jahan should change her name and religion because while being a Muslim, she cannot participate in Durga Puja.

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