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I-T dept clarifies that no notice was sent to Durga Puja committees in West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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I-T dept clarifies that no notice was sent to Durga Puja committees in West Bengal

In response to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s protest against the Income Tax department’s alleged notice to Durga Puja committees, the Bengal BJP has accused a section of TMC leaders of hiding black money, allegedly looted in chit fund scams, in the puja committees.

“Nothing should be read into the Centre’s move to tax the Puja committees. It is just being done to prevent money laundering,” Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said adding it was common knowledge that the chit fund often cash got routed through Puja committees.

“After all they are dealing with public money. They collect cash and donation from the people of the society and they must account for that money,” Ghosh said.

“Lakhs of rupees earned through chit fund are often looted and laundered in this manner and it is the Government’s duty look into this entire business,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP national secretary, Rahul Sinha also accused the chief minister of opposing the IT Department’s move to shield the corrupt TMC leaders. “What is the harm if IT looks into the money flow in Durga Puja committees. In some puja committees, senior TMC leaders and ministers occupy important positions and use it to launder their black money looted through cut money and chit fund scams. The TMC is afraid that this link might be revealed,” he said.

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee has tweeted that the Income Tax Dept has issued notices to many committees who organise Durga pujos, asking them to pay taxes. “We are proud of all our national festivals”, she had added.

Slamming BJP at the centre for targeting the Kolkata Durga Puja committees with income tax notices, Bengal Chief Minister on Saturday said that the Centre was trying to intimidate the local clubs so that they could be forced to work for the BJP in future.

“I want the centre to stop bringing the Puja committees in the tax net,” Banerjee said showing how the sentiments of lakhs of people were involved with the Durga Puja which was the biggest festival of the Bengali people.

She took to Twitter to express her anger against the centre, “The Income Tax Dept has issued notices to many committees who organise Durga pujos, asking them to pay taxes. We are proud of all our national festivals,” Banerjee tweeted. The Trinamool Congress Banga Janani Wing will sit on dharna on Tuesday, August 13 at Subodh Mallik Square (Opposite Hind Cinema) 10 am-6 pm,” she furthered.


She also said: “These festivals are for all and we do not want any pujo festival to be taxed. This will be a burden on the organizers. Bangla government withdrew tax, which was earlier there, on Ganga Sagar Mela. We protest and demand no taxation on Durga Pujo and Durga Pujo committees.”


“Even we have withdrawn tax from Ganga Sagar Mela because it involves sentiments of lakhs of devotees. The Centre will only earn people’s ire by taxing the Pujas,” she said furthering only about 25 Puja committees out of 2,800 have a budget beyond Rs 50 lakh.

“Most of them have a budget of Rs 15 lakh or so and that too is collected through donation and sponsor,” she maintained.

Meanwhile, mocking the CM for shedding ‘crocodile tears’ for the Durga Puja committees, Rahul Sinha questioned, if she is so concerned about these committees, then why did the TMC Government on several occasions try to stop Durga Puja rituals, in order to allow Muharram in the State?

It is pertinent to note here that Mamata Banerjee’s government had in 2017 imposed restrictions on Durga Puja idol immersion timings, as the date had coincided with Muharram. Meanwhile, Sinha furthered “what is the harm if IT looks into the money flow in Durga Puja committees. In some puja committees, senior TMC leaders and ministers occupy important positions and use it to launder their black money looted through cut money and chit fund scams. The TMC is afraid that this link might be revealed.”

In a latest development, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, (CBDT) has informed that no I-T notice has been sent to the Durga Puja Committee Forum. As per an ANI report, the taxation body has stated that the media reports regarding Durga Puja Committees being isseued I-T notices in the last few weeks are wrong and no notice has been sent this year.

Big boost to BJP in Sikkim as 10 MLAs of Sikkim Democratic Front join the party

OpIndia Staff
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Big boost to BJP in Sikkim as 10 MLAs of Sikkim Democratic Front join the party

In a major political upheaval in the north-eastern state of Sikkim, 10 MLAs of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party have joined the BJP in presence of BJP President JP Nadda and General Secretary Ram Madhav.


There are two significant political parties in Sikkim-Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) headed by Prem Singh Tamang and Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), headed by Pawan Kumar Chamling. Sikkim Legislative Assembly has 32 seats and is currently governed by SKM with 17 seats with Prem Singh Tamang as the Chief Minister. SDF is the only opposition party which won the remaining 15 seats. But the party has actually 14 MLAs as Pawan Kumar Chamling contested and won from two seats.

The induction of 10 MLAs into the BJP is hailed as a major shot in the arm for the saffron party as it focuses its effort to increase its foothold in the north-east region. Sikkim was the only state in the region where BJP has no presence until today. BJP has its government in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura while it is in alliance with the ruling parties in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

With the inclusion of 10 MLAs in the BJP, the SDF has been reduced to a historic low of 5. There are reports suggesting that remaining party MLAs will soon follow the suit and join the BJP leaving only the former chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling.

Pawan Kumar Chamling was the Cheif Minister of Sikkim for 25 years for 5 five consecutive terms, from 1993 to 2019. He finally lost the assembly elections to SKM in assembly elections held this year along with Lok Sabha polls.

Supreme Court refuses re-verification of NRC process in Assam, orders exclusion list to be published online on August 31

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court refuses re-verification of NRC process in Assam, orders exclusion list to be published online on August 31

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of India ordered that the list of those excluded from the final NRC in Assam should be published only online on August 31.

Hearing a plea of the government, the Supreme Court refused to re-open the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam and conduct a sample re-verification of data collected, especially in the border districts of the State where cross-border “infiltration” from Bangladesh is high.

Reportedly, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R F Nariman said that like Aadhaar data, an appropriate procedure should be enacted for securing the Assam NRC data.

The apex court directed the government that only hard copies of lists of inclusions and exclusions should be provided at the district offices and the list of exclusions should be published only once.

On 17 July, the Centre and Assam government had approached the apex court seeking direction for 20% sample re-verification of names included in the final NRC draft in the districts of Assam bordering Bangladesh and 10% sample re-verification of names included in the final draft in the remaining districts.

Appearing for the Central government and the government of Assam in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) case, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed the Supreme Court (SC) that India cannot be the refugee capital of the world.

Earlier in July, the Supreme Court had extended its July 31 deadline to August 31 for publication of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The Supreme Court had extended the deadline after NRC coordinator sought more time to ensure that draft lists and the list of new names are published.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register containing names of all genuine Indian citizens. It was first prepared in 1951. The 1951 NRC list is being updated for Assam, which has had a longstanding illegal foreigner problem, to remove out illegal migrants and stop further inflow.

The first draft of the NRC for Assam was published on the intervening night of December 31, 2017, and the second draft was published on January 1, 2018, in line with SC’s direction. Names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore applicants were included in the first draft, while 2.9 crore people were included in the second draft, leaving around 40 lakh people out.

Rapper Hard Kaur joins hands with banned terror outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice’, threatens to hoist Khalistani flag on Independence day

OpIndia Staff
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Rapper Hard Kaur joins hands with banned terror outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice’, threatens to hoist Khalistani flag on Independence day

Taran Kaur Dhillon, better known by her stage name Hard Kaur, is back in news. This time, she has shared a video of herself with hardcore Khalistanis and leaders of banned terror outfit Sikhs for Justice Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.

In the video, Hard Kaur can be seen openly hurling abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah along with her Khalistani supporters and making obscene gestures. She threatens to hoist Khalistani flags on our Independence day, August 15, 2019, and carry forward referendum 2020 campaign being run by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for a separate homeland for Sikhs.


They are seen challenging PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. “You’ll not be able to silence Taran Kaur, she’ll raise her voice again. Amit Shah, it is very easy to stand and speak in the Parliament, since the government, police and law, everything is under you. Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, this is for you. On 15 August, we’ll hoist our Khalistani flag in 15 nations. Stop us if you can legally.”

She further says, “Amit Shah and Modi and all other politicians, you all use people for your personal agenda. Come and fight me. Being a girl, I challenge you. Stop doing these girly things, like sedition charges, rape threats, death threats. What is the meaning of threatening my family, my fans?”

Kaur had recently extend her support to the banned terror outfit, Sikhs For Justice and called for a separate country Khalistan. In the video, one of the supporters standing next to Hard Kaur is the SFJ leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. Pannu is currently in the USA. Besides helping the Nabha Jailbreak incident mastermind, Romy in Hongkong, Pannu has been instrumental in providing financial and all other kinds of support to the separatist elements in India in order to advance his devious agenda for Referendum 2020 which aims to balkanize the country. Punjab government had sought Centre’ intervention to expedite Pannu’s extradition to India as he has several FIRs registered in Punjab against him.

Besides, Taran Kaur Dhillon had also been booked for her abusive remarks on social media against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on June 20, 2019.

The FIR against Hard Kaur was lodged under sections IPC 124A – attempt to excite disaffection or hatred, IPC 153A – promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, IPC 500 – defamation, IPC 505 – intent to incite, Section 66 of IT Act – sending offensive messages.

Hard Kaur had referred Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as an ‘OrangeRapeMan’. In one of her posts, she had even become part of Pakistani propaganda, where she had accused RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat of being the main man behind the Mumbai and Pulwama Terror Attacks, thereby, absolving Pakistan of all its guilt.

Apart from Mohan Bhagwat and Yogi Adityanath, Kaur has also spread malicious lies about the origin of the word Hindu.

Pakistan bets on Arundhati Roy, Mamata Banerjee, Congress and Communist parties to drive their agenda over Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan bets on Arundhati Roy, Mamata Banerjee, Congress and Communist parties to drive their agenda over Kashmir

As the Indian government pushes Pakistan into isolation globally, the terrorist country is now hopeful of garnering support from certain Indian political class and intelligentsia to destabilise Kashmir furthermore as a reaction to the abrogation of Article 370.

Mushahid Hussain, a Pakistani politician, journalist and geo-strategist, appearing in a debate on Pakistani news channel Geo TV revealed that people like writer Arundhati Roy, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and political parties like the Congress were “sympathisers” of Pakistan, who can be helpful for the cause of Pakistan.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6T2iEsAa5k?start=1003]

At around 17 minutes 40 seconds into the video, as the news anchor asked about how will the problems of those in Kashmir end, Hussain said that India is a large nation and not everyone supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We will have to approach this [Kashmir] issue in a serious and sustained manner. And this is a long battle. India is a huge country. And many people from India are sympathisers [of Pakistan] also like Arundhati Roy, Mamata Banerjee, Congress party, Communist party, Dalit parties. All of India is not with Modi,” Hussain said.

Following India’s historic move to strip Article Article 370, which granted a separate status to Jammu and Kashmir state and a subsequent bill aimed to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories, Pakistani establishment seems to have lost their mental balance as they attempted to push Kashmiri Muslims to resort to committing genocide against Hindus.

Earlier, an ‘intellectual’ from Pakistan has endorsed genocide against Hindus in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370. A video had gone viral in which self-proclaimed Pakistani intellectual Tariq Pirzada can be seen instigating Kashmiri Muslims to resort to genocide against Hindus if they settle in Kashmir. He further added that Indians have illegally ‘occupied’ Kashmir just like Jews occupied Palestine.

A large number of Pakistanis resorted to hate-mongering and exposed their genocidal tendencies in social media after the Indian government decided to abrogate of Article 370.

Days after Article 370 was taken down, unknown miscreants vandalise Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s statue in Rajasthan

OpIndia Staff
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Days after Article 370 was taken down, unknown miscreants vandalise Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s statue in Rajasthan

In a hateful incident, unidentified miscreants in Shahpur town of Bhilwara, Rajasthan has vandalised and damaged the statue of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee following the abrogation of Article 370.


According to reports, a case has been registered against unidentified miscreants for vandalizing the statue of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in Shahpur town of Bhilwara district on Monday.

“The effigy of Mukherjee was vandalised by unidentified persons late night on Sunday. Teams have been formed to investigate the matter,” Shahpura police station in-charge, Bhajan Lal told ANI.

District collector Rajendra Bhatt, police officer Harendra Magawar and other officials also conducted a recce of the area.

According to the locals, the statue of Mukherjee could have been demolished as Mukherjee was the first person to protest against the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mukherjee was known for his staunch opposition to Article 370, which he had perceived as a threat to national unity. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder had died in Srinagar prison on June 23, 1953, under mysterious circumstances, after being detained during his agitation opposing special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Narendra Modi government fulfilled the wishes of its founding father Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee after a historic decision to scrap Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Modi government also bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Terrorities: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Fabricated reports on Kashmir: Govt asks BBC and Al-Jazeera to produce raw footage of their reports

OpIndia Staff
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Fabricated reports on Kashmir: Govt asks BBC and Al-Jazeera to produce raw footage of their reports

On Friday, a section of international media had claimed that over 10,000 people had held protests in Srinagar opposing the government’s decision to abrogate article 370. The central government had already declared that the reports of the protest were fabricated and there were only stray incidents comprising not more than 20 persons at a time.

After that, there were reports run by Al-Jazeera and BBC claiming that the Indian Army has resorted to violence and has been firing at protestors in Jammu and Kashmir. The reports were subsequently picked up by many Indian and international channels.

The government of India has called these reports fabricated. The government has taken strong objection to such footage being run by media channels. As per a report published in the Economic Times, the government of India has asked both Al-Jazeera and BBC to produce the raw footage of the incidents they claimed happened in Jammu and Kashmir. The government has asked the channels whether they have any evidence to prove their claims were real.

As per the report in ET, the I and B Ministry, the Home Ministry and the Intelligence Bureau are keeping a close watch over the national and international media reportage over Jammu and Kashmir. So far 4 videos and 7 reports have been flagged as misleading or fake.

Home Ministry officials have stated that they are awaiting a response from the foreign media outlets but so far they have not received any raw footage or any evidence to prove the veracity of the videos. The ET report quoting Home Ministry officials also stated that MEA officials have been informed to ensure that unverified footage from Jammu and Kashmir does not get uploaded by any foreign media outlets.

The videos claiming that 10,000 protestors took part in the protests and Indian security forces fired bullets on them has been vehemently refuted by the authorities. J and K chief secretary BVR Subramaniam has stated that only stray protests with not more than 20 people have happened in Srinagar and Baramulla. He also confirmed that not a single bullet has been fired in the last week.

Home Ministry officials have reportedly found that the video claiming the protests and violence by security forces was first uploaded by Al-Jazeera then was picked up by BBC. 3 hours later, it was broadcast by all regional channels of BBC.

It is notable here that BBC has been known for its biased coverage of the Kashmir issue. Earlier in March, after the Pulwama attack and India’s retaliatory strike, BBC was exposed for selectively airing only anti-India views in their Kashmir segment.

BBC was exposed by OpIndia last year over their shoddy, blatantly biased claims which they had termed as ‘research’ and peddled that the rise of Hindu nationalism in India is the reason behind increased instances of fake news. BBC’s ‘research’ on fake news had proved to be the biggest fake news itself.

Kashmir will not be part of India on 100th Independence Day, says Congress ally MDMK chief Vaiko

OpIndia Staff
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Kashmir will not be part of India on 100th Independence Day, says Congress ally MDMK chief Vaiko

Denouncing the historic decision of abrogation of Article 370, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko on Monday issued a controversial statement claiming Kashmir would not be a part of India on the 100th Independence Day, reports ANI.

“Kashmir will not be in India when India will celebrate its 100th year of freedom. They (BJP) have smudged Kashmir in mud,” said the MDMK chief.

He also blamed the Congress party for the current situation in Kashmir. “I have attacked Congress 30 per cent and BJP 70 per cent on the Kashmir issue,” he said.

MDMK Chief V Gopalaswamy or Vaiko, who has been held guilty of sedition, had opposed the scrapping of Article 370 on the floor of Rajya Sabha. Vaiko, while speaking in Rajya Sabha on the same day, had called it a “day of sorrow”. And now he has very casually talked about secession.

Vaiko, an ally of the Congress party had also pointed out that when Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah decided to go with India, he placed one condition that the individuality and originality of the state of J&K would not be compromised.

“Today is a day of sorrow because we have not kept our promise. When the Pakistani troops entered the terrain of Kashmir, then Maharaja Hari Singh sent an emissary to Jawaharlal Nehru… The Instrument of Accession was signed,” he had said.

On August 5, the Narendra Modi government in a historic decision scrapped provisions of Article 370 that gave separate status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Since then, some in the opposition parties have expressed their unhappiness over Jammu and Kashmir being made an integral part of India without any riders.

Soft porn writer Shobhaa De calls herself “patriotic Indian” after writing about “plebiscite in Kashmir”, rejects Abdul Basit’s claims

OpIndia Staff
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Soft porn writer Shobhaa De calls herself “patriotic Indian” after writing about “plebiscite in Kashmir”, rejects Abdul Basit’s claims

Responding to allegations made by former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit, that he influenced her writings on Kashmir, on Monday popular erotica writer Shobhaa De rubbished the claims made by former envoy calling it “dangerous, malicious”.

Earlier, in an interview with one Pakistani blogger Farhan Virk who calls himself a part of ‘Team IK’ (Team Imran Khan), former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit had revealed that he had managed to influence Shobhaa De into writing an article in 2016 where she “advocated plebiscite” in Jammu and Kashmir after Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was shot dead.


Reacting to the allegations, popular soft-porn writer who likes to identify herself as a journalist Shobhaa De said she is a “patriotic Indian” and feels “deeply insulted” by the claims made by Basit, who was appointed as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India in 2014 and served in the post for four years.

In a two-minute-long video, Shobhaa De said the only time she met Basit was during the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2019, when the former envoy attempted to make a conversation at a “publishing party” but was “almost as good as asked to leave”.

“The only time I met him, or rather he came and imposed himself and intruded into a small group was in January of this year at the Jaipur lit fest at a publishing party. He came and joined a small group, attempted a conversation, was snubbed and almost as good as asked to leave,” said Shobhaa De.

“In those three minutes, yes, he tried to bring in various issues but the only issue that actually chased him away was China. That was the first and last time I ever encountered this man,” she added.

She added that what Abdul Basit doing was dangerous, malicious and absolutely unfair to anybody who believed in the truth. Shobhaa De also claimed she’s a “proud, patriotic Indian” and feels “deeply insulted and upset that he could dare to say something like that about a person who has built a career on credibility and good journalism for over 40 years.”

The article Abdul Basit was referring to presumably was written by Shobhaa De in July 2016. The article was titled ‘Burhan Wani is dead but he’ll live on till we find out what Kashmir really wants’. The article could only be accurately described as serving as a defence for Kashmiri Jihad. In the article, Shobhaa De even called for a referendum on the matter, a pivotal Pakistani talking point.

Shobhaa De also attempted to put the Indian security forces and the terrorists of the valley who pelt stones and indulge in rampant terrorism on the same pedestal. She unhesitatingly uses words like ‘martyr’ to describe terrorists Burhan Wani, thereby subtly peddling Pakistan’s agenda.

Pakistanis in Bahrain face legal action for holding anti-India rally after Eid prayers on Kashmir issue

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistanis in Bahrain face legal action for holding anti-India rally after Eid prayers on Kashmir issue

The Bahrain authorities have taken legal action against Pakistanis who held anti-India protests after the Eid prayers. The protests in Bahrain were held against the Indian government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.


Bahrain’s Ministry of Interiors, in a tweet, urged the citizens to not exploit religious occasions politically.


The Indian government on 5th August abrogated Article 370 that gave separate status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. While most people have welcomed the decision, the separatists and the Pakistanis have been opposing the move. A few Congress leaders were also not too happy with the idea of Jammu and Kashmir being fully integrated into India without any terms and conditions and riders attached.

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