Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has been inducted into ICC Hall of Fame as soon he became eligible for this prestigious elite group. Tendulkar was inducted along with former South African pacer Allan Donald and former Australia’s woman pacer Fitzpatrick.
Sachin Tendulkar has scored most number of runs in Test Cricket (15,921), ODI cricket (18,426), most number of hundreds in Test cricket (51), in ODI cricket (49). He is also the first male batsman to score an ODI double hundred (200 not out against South Africa in 2010). Tendulkar has many more world records in cricket was an automatic choice as soon he was eligible to receive the honor.
Speaking in the ICC’s event, Sachin Tendulkar said, “It is an honor to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, which cherishes the contribution of cricketers over generations. They have all contributed to the growth and popularity of the game, and I am happy to have done my bit.”
In his speech, Sachin Tendulkar said, “On this occasion, I would like to thank all of those who were by my side over a long international career. My parents, brother Ajit and wife Anjali have been pillars of strength while I was lucky to have someone like coach Ramakant Achrekar as an early guide and mentor.”
Allan Donald, famous as white lightning and also the first South African to take 300 test wickets was shocked to receive the award.
Donald, who was overwhelmed, said, “The biggest shock when you open an e-mail like that – it says congratulations Allan Donald, you have been inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame! It hits you; it hits you quite hard because it is a prestigious award and something that you can’t take lightly. I thank the ICC for the huge honor.”
Fitzpatrick the 8th woman to be inducted in ICC Hall of Fame, helped Australia to win 2 World Cups and was the fastest bowler of her time.
Talking about the induction, Fitzpatrick said: “To gain recognition alongside many of the games’ giants is a huge honor. I look at the list of past inductees and what stands out most is not only their outstanding talent but that they were game-changers. They took the game on and changed the way it was played.”
The criteria for induction into the elite league are as follows.
Players must have retired at least five years before the current date.
For a batsman to qualify, he should have recorded at least 8,000 runs and 20 centuries in any of the two major formats (Tests and ODIs) or should average over 50 in either.
Bowlers must have more than 200 wickets to their name in any one of the formats – however, their strike-rate in Tests should be 50, and 30 in ODIs.
Stumpers may qualify if they have accounted for 200 dismissals in either or both the formats.
A captain must have led his side in at least 25 Tests and 100 ODIs with a win% of 50 percent or more in either or both.
Tendulkar is the sixth Indian after Bedi (2009), Gavaskar (2009), Kapil (2009), Kumble (2015), Dravid (2018) to be inducted in ICC Hall of Fame.
Twenty-eight players from England are inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame, the most from any nation. The list is followed by 26 from Australia, 18 from West Indies, six from India, five from Pakistan, three from New Zealand, three from South Africa and one from Sri Lanka.
Mrs Salma Ansari, the wife of former vice president Hamid Ansari had hogged limelight recently when she had declared that she wants to build a temple inside the ‘Chacha Nehru Madarsa’ that she runs in the Aligarh Muslim University campus.
Salma Ansari had declared that the students in her Madarsa, which reportedly has many pupils from Hindu families too, often go outside the campus to pray, which makes her worried for their safety. Ansari had stated that she plans to build a Hindu temple and a Mosque inside the premises.
Salma Ansari’s announcement has reportedly drawn the ire of the AMU administration. As per a report in Amar Ujala, the AMU administration has stated that Salma Ansari’s Madarsa stands on land that is on lease from AMU. The lease was for 10 years only and no construction will be allowed without the express permission of the AMU authorities.
The AMU officials have also added that Salma Ansari has not sent any official request for construction yet.
Reports say that even if Salma Ansari initiates the paperwork for the construction, the AMU will have difficulties in granting the permission because, as per court orders in 2017, there has been a ban on construction of religious structures of worship inside educational institutions.
Salma Ansari has reportedly written to the AMU authorities to extend the lease period for the Madarsa from 10 years to 30 years.
Following Salma Ansari’s announcement, SP MLA Zamir Ullah Khan had stated that it is a bad move and if a temple is constructed inside the Madarsa premises, there will be further demands to construct temples in other Madarsas.
Professor Mufti Zahid, an AMU scholar and professor of theology had stated that Muslims are not allowed to propagate idol worship, let alone construct a temple inside Madarsa.
It is notable here that Salma Ansari’s announcement had come soon after a Sunday Guardian article about claims by former RAW officers that her husband, former vice president Hamid Ansari had endangered the lives of RAW officers stationed in Iran, and exposed the RAW set-up there when he was stationed as the Indian Ambassador.
The International Cricket Council has suspended the Zimbabwe cricket due to political interference in the country. The apex of cricket will not fund or finance any cricketing activities or functions in the country.
ICC chairman Shashank Manohar said, “We do not take the decision to suspend a Member lightly, but we must keep our sport free from political has happened interference. What in Zimbabwe is a serious breach of the ICC Constitution and we cannot allow it to continue unchecked. The ICC wants cricket to continue in Zimbabwe in accordance with the ICC Constitution.”
The ICC board decided that Zimbabwe had failed to fulfill their obligation to provide a process for free and democratic elections and to ensure that there is no government interference in its administration for cricket.
ICC funding will be suspended, and Zimbabwe will be barred from participating at ICC events, putting Zimbabwe’s participation in October’s Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in question.
ICC has also changed the rule for suspending the captain for slow over-rate. Now all the team members will be equally responsible for the quiet over-rate. The rules will be followed from August 1, the day on which the Ashes will start.
Captains will no longer be suspended for repeated or severe over-rate breaches.
All players should be held equally responsible for slow over rates, and as such will be fined at the same level as the captain.
In World Test Championship matches a team that is behind the required over the rate at the end of a match will have two competition points deducted for each over it is behind.
In a huge setback for the Congress-JDS government, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, the main accused in the multi-crore IMA Ponzi scam also being called the Halal investment scam, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi at about 1:50 AM today.
According to the reports, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, allegedly backed by Congress leaders had escaped from the country after multi-crore IMA Ponzi surfaced into the public. On Friday, Mansoor Khan returned to New Delhi from Dubai
Both Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued a lookout notice against Mansoor Khan while trying to persuade him to return to India and join the investigation.
“An SIT team located IMA founder-owner Mohd Mansoor Khan in Dubai, through its sources, and persuaded him to come back to India and submit himself before the law. Accordingly, he has travelled from Dubai to New Delhi. SIT officers are in Delhi to secure and arrest him,” said Ravikanthe Gowda, chief of the Special Investigation Team probing the matter.
Earlier, on Monday, Mansoor Khan had released a video message, “God willing, I will return to India in the next 24 hours, I have full faith in Indian judiciary. First of all, leaving India was a big mistake, but circumstances were such that I had to leave. I don’t even know where my family is.”
This video comes in the backdrop of another video he had released addressing the Bengaluru police commissioner that he wished to return to India and expose all those involved in the downfall of his business venture.
In the video, released on June 23, two weeks after the IMA scam broke, Mansoor had also claimed that “the real culprits” behind the scam included some big names at the state and central levels”.
The Enforcement Directorate, which is currently questioning Mansoor Khan, had filed a case of money laundering against IMA Jewels and later summoned the businessman to appear before the central agency’s zonal office in Bengaluru on June 24. It had requested the Interpol to issue a Blue Corner Notice, used to locate suspects.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) began its probe in the matter and found that Congress Karnataka minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan had some involvement in the IMA Ponzi scam. He was later summoned by ED for questioning in the case.
Prior to this, senior Congress leader and MLA Roshan Baig’s name had surfaced in the case after he was accused by the IMA founder of taking Rs 400 crore from the latter and not returning. The absconding ‘halal’ investment owner, Mansoor Khan had released an audio clip, in which he had accused Baig of arm twisting and refusing to return Rs 400 crore.
Mansoor Khan, the owner of I Monetary Advisory (IMA), which provided investment options keeping with Islamic laws, fled India in June. He had left behind an audio clip threatening to commit suicide.
More than 30,000 complaints were filed against the firm and many held protests at the Bengaluru Freedom Park. Mansoor Khan has maintained that his financial venture was no Ponzi scheme, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that the investors are compensated.
The recent spate of fake cases where it was reported that Muslims have been forced to chant Jai Shree Ram after being beaten up have raised alarm bells in Uttar Pradesh. The UP DGP spoke to the media and said that such cases of communal strife usually turn out to be false and that certain elements are trying to fan communal tension in Uttar Pradesh.
UP DGP OP Singh said that incidents that were reported from Aligarh, Unnao and Kanpur had nothing to do with anyone forcing to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’. OP Singh appealed to the people not to pay attention to communal reports, as in the recent times’ attempts have been made to spark tensions in the state. He also added that they should try to understand the facts of the situation.
Appealing to the media too, digital and conventional, the UP DGP said that such rumours should not be fanned without facts.
Muslim being forced to chant Jai Shree Ram in Unnao
However, this incident turned out to be fake. As it turns out, according to the enquiry conducted by UP police, it has been found that a fight had broken out between two groups while playing cricket. In a press conference where ADG (LO) P V Ramaswamy and IG (LO) Praveen Kumar were present, they denied that anybody was forced to chant any religious slogan, and said that it was a fight between two groups on the playground that had turned violent.
UP DGP OP Singh mentioned this incident as an example of fake cases where elements are trying to fan communal tension by alleging that they were forced to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’.
Muslim being forced to chant Jai Shree Ram in Kanpur
Alluding to this incident too, the UP DGP said that this incident of a Muslim man being asked to chant Jai Shree Ram turned out to be fake.
Reports had emerged that a Muslim auto driver in Kanpur, Aatib, was allegedly thrashed for not chanting Jai Shree Ram. It was reported that he was locked up inside a public toilet by three people for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’.
However, the allegations that Aatib was forced to chant Jai Shri Ram are false. According to Police, the men who boarded Aatib’s auto were drunk and matters escalated when they refused to pay the fare and got into a heated argument. However, Aatib was not forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as claims made by Aatib. SP South Raveena Tyagi had confirmed to OpIndia that the news of Aatib being forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is false.
Aligarh incident where Muslim alleged his cap was removed
Recently a person who used to study at a Madrasa in Bareilly claimed in Aligarh that his cap was removed and he was allegedly tortured in a train, but after an investigation was initiated the case was found to be fake, he said.
There has been a recent spate of fake incidents being reported where Muslims have been allegedly beaten up and asked to chant Jai Shree Ram. These cases have mostly turned out to be completely fabricated.
There is a network of left-leaning so-called fact-checkers worldwide which has formed a monopoly over fact-checking by organizing themselves under one banner. They pretend that they are the only fact-checkers that exist on the planet and hand out fact-checking certificates which are then used by tech giants like Facebook to further strengthen the hold of Left in mainstream discourse.
This has become obvious in the manner in which AltNews was treated by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). The ‘International’ in IFCN ought to have been replaced with the word Globalist since it captures their motives and objectives much more effectively.
The IFCN had earlier announced that it was looking into potential violations committed by self-proclaimed fact-checking website AltNews, which is one of its Indian partners. The latter had violated IFCN guidelines which state that staff associated with an organization that seeks accreditation cannot be directly involved in advocacy groups or political parties.
AltNews founder Pratik Sinha and directors Nirjhari Sinha and Murlidhar Deomurari are members of the Jan Sangharsh Manch which is a civil rights organizations with obviously political objectives. The organization was founded by Mukul Sinha and Nirjhari Sinha, the parents of Pratik Sinha. The leadership of the Jan Sangharsh Manch also founded the New Socialist Movement which was registered as a political party with the Election Commission in 2007. Mukul Sinha had also contested elections in the past and lost horribly.
Moreover, their entire series of protests were directed against Narendra Modi who was elected Prime Minister for his second term recently and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Their activism has been consistently directed, with little or no exceptions, against the ruling political party.
Therefore, it ought to have been obvious to anyone that AltNews was violating IFCN principles by virtue of its membership being associated with advocacy groups and political parties. However, Baybars Orsek, director of IFCN, announced on Twitter yesterday that they had asked AltNews a set of questions and after being satisfied with their response, they concluded that there was no ground for any action.
.@AltNews has been able to demonstrate that the organization in question is not a registered body or a political organization linked to a political party in India. https://t.co/OQA4dSSqJT
Interestingly, IFCN appears to have made no efforts to verify the claims made by AltNews. Even a cursory investigation would have punctured the narrative AltNews was trying to create in less than half an hour.
It isn’t surprising at all considering the fact that the objective of the entire exercise from the very beginning was to absolve AltNews of all sins. The entire exercise was a sham. It was an official exercise involving a cover-up by the IFCN so that it can carry on with its charade of neutrality. Because, after all, who are these people accountable to? No one. Who do these people answer to? Absolutely no one.
It was an exercise in abject mockery of any semblance of neutrality. They are telling us that right to our face: “We are lying. We know that you know we are lying. But what are you going to do about it? What could you possibly do about it?”
The answers by AltNews on the basis of which IFCN cleared them of all charges of political partisanship amply demonstrate this fact. AltNews told IFCN, “JSM’s activities are mainly concentrated in the following areas: Right to Shelter, Environmental Protection, Right to civic amenities, Protection of historical monuments, Minority Rights, Gender Equality and Women’s rights. As part of these activities, many Public Interest Litigations (PIL) have been filed by JSM in support of the affected parties. JSM also organises demonstrations, rallies and seminars to raise awareness in the aforementioned areas of activities. All the work carried out by JSM is pro-bono in nature and JSM members connected with various activities do not receive any monetary benefits or remuneration. The activities of JSM have often been highlighted by mainstream media in India.”
The IFNC also accepts AltNews’ claim that JSM is a civil rights organization and not an advocacy group and is thus politically neutral without a shred of scepticism. It appears the IFCN could not recognize an advocacy group if the members of one dancing in front of them screaming their favourite slogans. And how could a civil rights organization ever be politically neutral? It is an oxymoron by its very definition. Moreover, the leadership of the organization concerned formed a political party. But the IFCN does not see any political partisanship here. None.
The IFCN did not ask AltNews any questions about the New Socialist Movement. AltNews founders are directly related to this political party, in fact, Nirjhari Sinha is a founding member of the party. Even the address and phone numbers of the political party and a propaganda website run by Pratik Sinha are same, but IFCN didn’t feel it was necessary to ask them about it.
Address of New Socialist Movement on EC websiteAddress of Pratik Sinha’s website
It’s not surprising because it is an act of partisanship that is too much to whitewash even in an official cover-up. That Baybars Orsek does not find anything remotely partisan about any of AltNews’ conduct isn’t too surprising when one considers his own past record.
Orsek has been a politician in the past. He was the member of the Turkish Guclu Turkiye (Powerful Turkey) party. In October 2010, leaders of the party including Orsek were told by Armenian authorities to leave the country after they claimed to have crossed the Turkey-Armenia border amidst tensions between the two countries. The party was officially disbanded in 2012.
The Epoka University describes Orsek as “one of the most successful young politicians and entrepreneurs in Turkey”. Understandably, the post on its website was written sometime in or before 2014. It says further, “he has always been an energetic and passionate activist, project initiator and coordinator in many non-governmental organizations, alongside his participation in politics. In 2010, Baybars Örsek attended a one-month program on ‘Preventing political conflicts’ at the University of Maryland, USA and in this respect, he pioneered in organizing a workshop on citizen diplomacy between Turkey and Armenia with the participation of Turkish and Armenian university students. Baybars Örsek attended two different political exchange programs covering Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and shared ideas with the leading characters of these countries in politics, economy and social issues.”
Orsek is a member of the board of trustees at TESEV, Turkey’s oldest think tank. His linked.in profile says, “The new TESEV longs for a democratic Turkey that fully respects human rights and the rule of law; that sees others not as adversaries but as potential partners for cooperation; that has internalized the culture of reconciliation; that has embraced accountability and transparency as an essential principle at every stage of public life; that has ensured the efficient functioning of advanced mechanisms to guarantee, rather than merely imagining, the broad and effective participation of citizens in the government of the country; that has prioritized the principle of equal opportunity; that has rendered the sensibilities of contemporary civilization as the foundation of public morals; and that is open to all beliefs and ideologies. The full force of its efforts is to make sure that scientifically-based recommendations are shared with anyone or any organization that wants to achieve these objectives. Our doors are open to all those who long for the same principles.”
It does sound like TESEV indulges in advocacy, doesn’t it? Does Orsek violate the norms of IFCN itself by being a member of the board of trustees of this particular think-tank? Apart from all of this, Orsek has a BA degree in international relations and MA degree on conflict resolution.
The Point Conference, which lists Orsek as one of its speakers but rather unusually doesn’t feature his photo on his profile further elucidates his own biases and confirms his long history in activism and politics. Orsek is supposedly the founder of The Dialogue for a Common Future Association as well. As per the Conference’s website, the organization “was established on January 16, 2014. The association was established to further Turkey’s democratization process and to mobilize Turkish youth in favour of a participatory and plural social and political environment in Turkey. Through national and international projects, The Dialogue for a Common Future Association aims to satisfy the demands of Turkey’s youth for more democracy, participation and dialogue for “common future” ideal.”
Thus, quite clearly, Orsek has a long history of activism. And given the information that we are now aware of, it appears his activism has always leaned towards a very particular brand of politics. In light of this new information, it’s not really surprising at all that IFCN does not find AltNews to be a partisan organization. After all, how can an organization that has a long-time activist who was even the member of a political party as one of its directors find AltNews in violation of its guidelines on neutrality?
It’s not the first time that a fact-checking initiative accredited by IFCN has found itself in a controversy. Earlier in May, Greece had threatened to raise the issue of Facebook partnering with a fact-checker at the EU level. According to Greece, the social media giant had partnered with a fact-checker that had political biases and motives. Facebook defended itself by claiming that the said fact-checker was verified by IFCN.
Poynter Institute, IFCN’s parent organization, has itself been accused of political bias. In May, it had listed the Daily Signal as an “unreliable news website”. The list was eventually taken down for its inaccuracy. When contacted by the Daily Signal over the matter, Orsek admitted that there was no debate to exclude any liberal outlets from the database.
Under such circumstances, it’s quite obvious what is happening here. We have a bunch of globalists who have formed an extensive network of organizations in various countries and have an effective monopoly on fact-checking so that their globalist agenda can be pursued. The government of India ought to consider the vast influence international companies such as Facebook, which are using these unaccountable networks to determine how millions of Indians access information and conduct an investigation into whether these companies are undermining India’s national interests.
AltNews, quite transparently, was trying to influence the results of the Indian general elections. They have every right to because they are Indian citizens. However, Facebook could have appointed AltNews as part of their fact-checker initiative due to accreditation by IFCN. The IFCN is a globalist organization completely unaccountable to the Indian population. AltNews could have then used the IFCN accreditation to further its own agenda. Thus, albeit indirectly, IFCN would have been influencing Indian general elections.
In the extremely complicated world of complex technology, the Indian government needs to address these issues urgently. Global tech giants like Facebook and Google are already trying to influence US elections, there’s no reason to assume that they haven’t tried that already in India. In addition, we have globalist organizations such as the IFCN who have the capability to subvert Indian elections as well. These issues need to be addressed immediately.
Earlier this month a 55-year old Muslim man in Aligarh was brutally thrashed in his house by the people of his community for reading Hindu religious texts, Ramayana and Bhagwad Geeta. The victim named Dilsher Khan who works as a security guard was returning home from duty when the incident happened. A case was registered against the accused under sections 298, 323, 452, 504 and 506 of the IPC.
According to a report of Swarajya, two accused named Sameer and Zakir who were arrested in this case recently were let out on bail. The accused live less than a hundred meters away from Khan’s residence. The victim reportedly is now feeling unsafe after the accused got out on bail. However, they have not yet approached Khan after being released on bail.
As per the report when Khan was asked whether he informed the police about his safety concerns he replied in negative. Khan who earns less than Rs 10,000 said that he could not afford security at his house. “I earn less than Rs 10,000 which barely supports my family of wife and five children. I have no money to sustain full-time guards deployed at my house who would need to be fed and served tea from time to time,” he asserted.
Khan alleged he was still being harassed by his neighbours. He said two men have been harassing him for some time now and that people from his neighbourhood have been confronting him on streets in a mob. “It is always a mob. At times they confront me in the streets and get violent and abusive. However, this was the first time they went so far as to barge into my house.”
Calling his neighbours as illiterates, he pointed out their intolerance towards Hindu texts. “It is good to learn about other religions,” he added.
Fed up with the repeated harassment, he wants to sell his two-room house in Mehfooz Nagar and move to his native village Kailora in Hathras District. “Ours is a Brahmin-Thakur village. My late father Phool Khan is a highly respected figure there. The only problem is the lack of employment. That’s why I moved out in the first place. But people in this colony (Mehfooz Nagar) are too repulsive to live with,” he asserted.
Khan said that he had visited his native village a couple of days ago to inquire the land rates and the possibility of employment.
In a bizarrely sardonic comment against the BJP, TMC leader Subrata Mukherjee suggested that Bengal unit of the BJP shun organising small agitations in the state and do something big wherein police is forced to open fire and kill 20 people. Mukherjee’s statement trivializing the death of protestors in a movement was in the context of BJP’s state-wide agitation.
Since the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has been organising campaigns across West Bengal to increase their presence and make people aware of TMC’s false promises and maladministration. The party made deep inroads in the state by winning an unprecedented 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats.
Mukherjee himself lost Lok Sabha elections from Bankura to a BJP candidate. Perhaps he is still nursing from the poll drubbing, which is why he tried to mock the sustained campaigns carried out by the BJP in the state, particularly in the cut money issue.
“Low-intensity protests can’t take you too far. Instead, try something big. In small agitations, police will only stop, there will be anarchy and lawlessness, some photos will be clicked and that’s it. The end result is not very inspiring. Do something such that police opens fire and 20 people die,” Mukherjee said.
Citing the food protest that shook the state nearly five decades ago, Mukherjee claimed that particular event had led to the change in the government. However, Mamata Banerjee’s ascension to power was a result of the uproar and tumult following an incident during the Nandigram movement when police fired on protestors leading to the deaths of many farmers.
In many parts of the state, police have been up in arms against the BJP workers who have organised a state-wide protest regarding giving back the cut money taken for government work, and law and order situation in the state. Mukherjee’s comments come at a time when the TMC government in the state has been accused of sponsoring deaths of their political adversaries by allegedly employing state machinery.
Recently, in the violence-stricken Bengal, 3 BJP workers, including a 14-year-old boy were shot for chanting Jai Shri Ram. Last month, in a clash between BJP-TMC workers, 2 people were killed and 3 injured. In the post-poll violence, a BJP leader was shot at and his office was vandalised and cars set ablaze.
Violence has perhaps, become a leitmotif in the state of West Bengal because leaders like Mukherjee insensitively trivialise deaths of political workers.
The 16th-century Brindavana (tomb) of Saint Vyasaraja Swamy, Rajaguru of Vijayanagara Emperor Krishnadevaraya was desecrated and vandalised in Anegundi near Hampi on Thursday. It was one among the nine Brindavans (of the nine saints of the tradition) at the Nava Brindavana Gadde (island) premises on the bank of River Tungabhadra in Karnataka.
The incident came to light when some followers visited the site for performing rituals on Thursday morning, a day after the lunar eclipse.
Taking into account the manner in which the site was dug up, the police suspected it to be an act of searching for hidden treasure buried in the ground. The incident was doubted to have occurred during the lunar eclipse early on Wednesday.
Renuka K. Sukumar, Superintendent of Police, Koppal, told The Hindu, “As we received the information, our teams rushed to the spot. We prima facie feel that this is the act of treasure-hunters. We found some puja material on the spot. It is evident that some kind of puja was offered to the seat of the saint. Our scientific investigation team, including the forensic experts, are already at the spot, collecting the samples for further investigation. The dog squad is also there. I have constituted a special team headed by Circle Inspector of Police attached to Gagavathi Rural circle to crack the case. I am confident that we will lay our hands shortly on the guilty.”
This incident comes as a big jolt to the Madhwa community as this tomb belonged to one of the most celebrated saints of the Madhwa tradition. As the news of desecration spread, seers of different maths and followers of the tradition started rushing towards Nava Brindavan.
Many Twitter users have condemned the act and called it a deliberate attempt to provoke and humiliate Hindus.
Got very disturbing news from Hampi, #Karnataka. The Navavrundavanas of Anegundi, the location for the Jeeva Samadhis of Hindu Madhva saints, including Shri Vyas Raj Teertha have been descreted and vandalised. This is clearly an attempt to provoke and humiliate Hindus. pic.twitter.com/y7409W3rUN
Hampi was witness to the golden era of Vijayanagara Empire that showcased the Hindu civilization’s rich spiritual heritage & knowledge through its architecture.
This attempt to destroy our heritage sites in Hampi, is an attempt to insult and destroy our cultural heritage. pic.twitter.com/EhOrvlMpkD
Meanwhile, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, condemning the incident instructed Koppal SP to immediately arrest the miscreants and provide security to the holy place.
It’s shocking and disheartening that the holy Vrindhavan of Sri Vyasraja is demolished in Anegundi, Navavridhavan. I have instructed Koppal SP to immediately arrest the miscreants and provide the security to the holy place. pic.twitter.com/NJ36CiFQJa
The Nava Brindavan, located on an island in the Tungabhadra River comprises Brundaavanas of nine Hindu Madhva saints who belong to the Uttaradi Mutt, Sri Raghavendra mutt, Sri Vyasaraja mutt and the Sri Sri Padaraja mutt. These mutts amongst other prominent Madhwa mutts are located in an open space without any security. This place is considered to be the holiest spots for Madhwas. These premise witnesses religious activities only when followers visit them during Aradhana.
Saint Vyasaraja Tirtha, whose tomb has been vandalised, was the spiritual guru for Sri Krishnadevaraya, the mightiest emperor of the Vijayanagar Empire. He entered the Brindavan in 1539. He was the 12th Yati in the Madhwacharya lineage. His Aradhana (death anniversary) is celebrated by the Sosale Vyasaraja Mutt.
According to social media posts, by evening devotees have started reconstruction of the site.
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In a similar incident, a UNESCO world heritage site in Hampi was vandalised in February 2019. In a video that went viral on social media, three men were seen wrecking the pillars of 14th century Vishnu temple and the subsequent exultation by the trio after the pillars were broken down.
Later, the four accused reportedly admitted their guilt and were subsequently released after they remitted ₹2.8 lakhs fine and assured to re-erect the pillars in the presence of Archaeological Survey of India officials, the Hampi police inspector, and other officials.
Telangana’s Home Minister Mahmood Ali might be heading into choppy waters as his grandson’s Tik Tok video has gone viral on social media.
In the video, his grandson Furqan Ahmed, along with his friend, is seen daring the police as they perch themselves on a car belonging to none other than the Director-General of Police (DGP) himself.
Ahmed has identified himself as an engineering student and also the managing director of a TV channel on social media.
Watch #Telangana Home Minister Mehmood Ali’s grandson, Furqan Ahmed, sitting atop a police vehicle and making a Tik Tok video. This, even as the security personnel is standing right beside the official car. Would a common man get away, if he ever did this? pic.twitter.com/K60yQqVDbS
Despite being the grandson of state Home Minister, Ahmed, in the video, is seen disrespectfully sitting on the car (TS09PA 9999), belonging to the Police Transport Organisation, while his friend is seen jumping down and daring the Inspector General of Police (IGP). Furqan Ahmed also has posted several photos of him with this vehicle on his spcial media accounts.
He is seen lip-syncing the dialogue, “Apun ke dost se tameez se aur zaban sambhal ke baat karne ka nahi toh kaat ke rakh denge,” which roughly translated as “better behave and talk properly with my friend, otherwise I’ll chop you into pieces”.
While reciting the dialogue, he is seen enacting the same by sliding his hand across his neck, indicating that he will slice his throat.
Ironically, Ahmed’s grandfather and Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali is very much a part of the government that recently transferred some employees for doing the same.
On July 17, employees of the Khammam Municipal Corporation (KMC), who recorded fun Tik Tok videos in their office premises and uploaded them on social media were disciplined by the Telangana government. Taking serious note of this, the state government had cracked a whip by transferring the employees and reducing their wages.
It would be interesting to how Telangana Home Minister reacts to the discourteous behaviour exhibited by his own grandson.
