Police today fired tear gas shells in Athwa lines area of Surat city in Gujarat to control a mob of Muslims who tried to take out a rally against the alleged mob-lynching incident of Tabrez Ansari of Jharkhand. Despite being denied the permission by authorities they tried to proceed with the rally.
The mob allegedly went on a rampage and pelted stones at police officers leaving 4-5 officers injured. They also damaged two public buses.
The area had been cordoned off for sometimes and section 144 (prohibits an assembly of more than 4 people in an area) has been imposed. Police said extra police personnel have been deployed in the area where the situation is tense but under control.
DCP Surat: 4-5 policemen injured after a clash broke out when police tried to stop people from taking out rally in Nanpura area, today. Section 144 (prohibits assembly of more than 4 people in an area) has been imposed in the area. The rally didn’t have permission. #Gujaratpic.twitter.com/25uTxliRFc
Eye-witnesses said the rally from Chowk bazar area as today is Jumma (Friday), a holy and auspicious day for the Muslim community. However, when the rally reached near Vivekanand circle police tried to stop them as it was not authorised. The crowd then became violent and started pelting stones at the police.
Satish Sharma, Commissioner of Police said a group of Muslims had handed over a memorandum on the same issue to the district administration two days ago and after that, another group also sought permission to take out a rally from Chowk Bazar area to the collector office in Athwa-lines.
“But they were denied permission as it was a working day and the matter was not of Gujarat. Despite that they were adamant on taking out the rally, so police had to fire at least 8 tear gas shells to control the mob, which had resorted to stone pelting injuring 3 to 4 police personnel and also damaging vehicles including a bus,’ he added.
In the video of the rally posted on social media, the crowd is seen holding a banner of Versatile Minority Forum, which also says ‘President: Advocate Babu Pathan’. It may be noted that according to the Twitter profile of advocate Babu Pathan alias Ishtiyaque Pathan, he is the Vice President of Suat City Congress Committee.
An alleged bike thief Tabrez Ansari was caught and beaten up by a mob in Dhatkidih, Jharkhand who then died some days later in police custody. However, protests and politicization over his death have continued across India.
Recently, similar protests over Tabrez Ansari’s death were reported from Meerut and Agra.
After protests in one locality of Meerut was reported on June 30 another locality in Meerut was engulfed in similar protest the next day.
As per reports, hundreds of protesters had gathered on June 30 evening near Faiz-e-Azam college, protesting against the alleged mob lynching of Ansari.
The police had to lathi charge on the crowd to control the situation as the mob started to pelt stone. The police had stated permissions were not sought for the gathering and the protests.
Similarly, the next day in Meerut’s Mawana area, hundreds of people had gathered near the Mosque at Mill road to hear Maulana Nafees Ahmed, who had organized a meeting for the members of Muslim community over the death of Ansari. Several hundred people had gathered near the mosque to hear Maulana’s speech and soon they started altercations with the police, which resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowd.
Agra too witnessed similar protests. As per reports, on Monday, several Muslim groups took out protests in Agra demanding justice for Ansari. Like in Meerut, the protests had begun after a gathering at the Royal Jama Masjid. The protests were reportedly organized by Indian Muslim Action Committee and Bharatiya Vikas Parishad.
Despite the implementation of section 144 of the CrPC and police presence, one section of Muslim protestors soon turned violent and proceeded towards the city’s Sadar Bhatti and Kashmiri Gate areas where they tried to shut down the local market. Here too, police stated that no prior permission was taken for the gatherings and protests.
Ansari was caught by the locals in the Dhatkidih village in Jharkhand on suspicion of bike theft on 18 June. He was beaten up by them before being arrested by the police. He had died on June 22. An investigation team set up by the government had concluded that Ansari might have died due to stress-induced cardiac arrest. Medical reports had established that no internal injury was found on his body. Therefore, the police had dismissed the allegations of ‘mob-lynching’ as a cause of his death.
Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram has promised to bring an iPad for the Union Budget if the party comes back to power. Chidambaram was addressing a press conference where he took a dig at the traditional ‘Bahikhata’ that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had brought along for the presenting the budget, instead of a briefcase that earlier Finance Minister had carried.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman keeping budget documents in four fold red cloth instead of a briefcase: Take it from me, our Congress’ finance minister will in future bring an iPad. #UnionBudget2019pic.twitter.com/SpmEikVAhY
The preference conference of the Congress party was held in response to the Union Budget that was presented today.
The iPad first began its production in 2010. The UPA-2 government had four full years to bring an iPad for presenting the budget. It never did. Perhaps, they were waiting for the Akash tablet that never saw full production.
This morning, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam surprised all by appearing without the usual leather briefcase for the budget session. Instead what she had in her hands was a traditional ‘Bahikhata’, wrapped in red cloth and tied with a gold string. The Indian national emblem shone brightly on it. The idea was to represent the country’s departure from the slavery of western thought.
Prime Minister Modi has hailed 2019 budget as a balanced one. He said, “This budget will lead the country towards prosperity and make every citizen competent. This budget will provide strength to the poor and a better future to the youths of the country”.
Meanwhile, Indrani Mukherjee’s plea to turn approver in the INX Media corruption case involving former finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram was accepted by a Delhi CBI court yesterday. Last year, Indrani Mukerjea had made a sensational revelation accusing Chidambaram of trying to use his influence to get Indrani to pay a bribe to Karti to the tune of 1 million dollars.
The mainstream media, for quite some time, has been working extra hard to provide a cover to the most toxic elements of Islamic society. The instinctive reaction has always been to shield the Muslim community from any criticism and whitewash the crimes committed by the extremists in their society.
The Hindustan Times, consistent with the above-mentioned approach of the mainstream media, has claimed in a report that Kashmiri Pandits fled the state and settled in other regions because of violence between “militants” and security forces. It says in its report, “According to state government figures, at least 154,080 people moved out of the Valley in 1990, choosing to settle in safer parts of the country or in Jammu after violence escalated between militants and security forces.”
Kashmiri Pandits did not flee after violence erupted between “militants” and the Army. They were made to flee because Kashmiri Muslims committed genocide on them. The Hindus of Kashmir were raped, murdered and pillaged by their own neighbours. Calls for their genocide were made from Mosques and bloodthirsty mobs went on a rampage wreaking devastation in their wake.
To absolve Kashmiri Muslims of their sins is a cardinal sin mainstream media regularly commits. Even now, they never fail to humanize terrorists and their families. They provide platforms for such people to demonize the Indian Army and create a wave of sympathy to feed the persecution complex of the Muslim community.
Such conduct has become extremely normal for mainstream media. In an earlier article, we had elaborated on how the media appears to serve as the propaganda wing of Islamic extremists. They invent fake hate crimes, suppress actual hate crimes against Hindus, deny Love Jihad and run dubious initiatives to paint Hindus as aggressors and Muslims as perennial victims when the reality is starkly different.
Yet another historic budget in the NDA’s era. Breaking the age-old tradition of carrying a usual leather briefcase, Nirmala Sitharaman was seen carrying a traditional ‘Bahikhata’ (Wrapped in red cloth and tied with a gold string) with India’s national emblem shining on it. That was the moment of realization that we have finally moved ahead from the slavery of westerners and their customs.
From the past few months, the NDA government is putting ahead the vision of India for being a $5 trillion economy. This budget added more power to this vision. This budget definitely shows the commitment of the Government towards ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vishwas’ theme. This budget has a universal appeal from poor to rich, from small stores to big businesses. From environment protection to promoting Gandhian principles, from rural infrastructure to harnessing India’s space abilities.
Though, there has been a lot of outrage on social media about “Inheritance Tax”. As per some sources Government was about to introduce the new Inheritance Tax in the Budget 2019-20 but nothing goes usual in the NDA Government. No Inheritance Tax has been added. It just came out as a rumour.
Today, India is the fastest growing major economy in the world. From the 11th largest economy in 2013-14 to 6th largest economy in 2019-20 we have taken a big jump. Aiming for a $5 trillion economy is most feasible in such a scenario.
Now, let’s look into the Budget 2019-20 and what’s in it for everyone:
Middle Class:
No income tax for less than 5 lakh per annum income.
To enhance the ease of tax-payers, PAN and Aadhaar to be made interchangeable. ITR can be filed without PAN by quoting Aadhaar.
Enhanced interest deduction up to Rs. 3.5 lakh for purchase of an affordable house.
Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme proposed for quick closure of service tax and excise related litigations.
Tax benefits for corporate taxpayers.
Schemes like Mudra, Ujjwala, Saubhagya etc. to continue and expand their beneficiaries base.
Additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans for EVs.
It is proposed that several reform measures will be taken up to promote rental housing
MSMEs & Corporates:
The lower rate of 25% is applicable to firms with an annual turnover of Rs 400 crore, earlier it was up to 250 crores. This will cover 99.3% of all companies.
Measures are being rolled out to ease filing returns and tax compliance. Taxpayers with an annual turnover of less than Rs 5 crores will have to file only quarterly returns now.
350 crore rupees allocated for 2% interest subvention for all GST-registered MSMEs on fresh or incremental loans.
To promote digital payment, now the business establishments with an annual turnover of Rs 50 crore will offer a low-cost digital mode of payments to customers and no charges or merchant discount rates shall be imposed on customers as well as merchants.
To discourage the practice of making business payments in cash, the Government proposed to levy TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore a year from a bank account.
An electronic invoice system is proposed by the Government that will eliminate the need for a separate e-way bill.
Start-Ups:
Start-ups and investors who file requisite declarations and documents will not be subjected to tax scrutiny. An e-verification mechanism will be added.
Government has proposed a TV program for the start-ups & stand-up India Scheme.
Women Empowerment:
An overdraft of 5,000/- INR will be allowed to every verified woman SHG member having a Jan Dhan account.
Rs. 1 lakh loan under MUDRA scheme for one woman in every SHG.
To further encourage women entrepreneurship, Women SHG Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India
Agriculture, Rural, Labour & Poor Class:
95 crore houses proposed to be provided under PMAY Grameen by 2021.
“Four Labour Codes” Government proposing to streamline multiple labour laws.
By 2022, 100% Power & LPG connections to every single rural family.
Pradhan Mantri Man Dhan Scheme: Pension benefits to 3 crore shop owners with an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore.
Jal Jeevan Mission – To ensure Har Ghar Jal by 2024.
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana: The department of fisheries will address critical gaps in the value chain, including production, quality control etc.
100 business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in Agro-rural industries.
Pradhan Mantri Grameen Digital Saksharata Abhiyan – Internet connectivity to all.
100 new clusters to be set up in 2019-20 under SFURTI. It will enable 50,000 artisans to join the economic value chain.
Ease of doing business to extend to farmers and they should not face state-level arbitrages
Upgrading Education System:
World Class Institutions in 2019-20 – 400 crore Rs. allotted, which is more than 3 times the revised estimates of the previous year.
Gyan Initiative has started.
Study in India initiative will be started for the exchange of foreign students.
Increase efforts to improve the skills of youth in the current trends such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics etc.
Focus on Global Education Model.
A Gandhipedia is being developed to sensitize youth and society at large on positive Gandhian values
Railway Infrastructure:
Investment of Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 and 2030.
PPP (Public-Private Partnership) for faster, efficient and proper development of railway infrastructure.
Special Purpose Vehicles (PSVs) will be encouraged for the suburban railway network development.
Development of inland waterways will reduce the pressure on Indian Railways.
Vision of faster, more punctual and safer trains journey and thus focus on modernisation of the railway infrastructure.
Elimination of all manned level crossings in the coming years.
Infrastructure for all:
Rs 100 lakh crore for infrastructure development for the next 5 years.
To bridge the urban and rural gap – Bharatmala Project to enhance road connectivity, Sagarmala for waterways connectivity & Udaan for air connectivity.
“One Nation, One Grid” for power availability to states at affordable rates.
We are facing a severe water shortage in many areas. To improve the condition Jal Shakti Mantrayala has been constituted. 1592 critical blocks over 256 districts identified for Jal Shakti Abhiyan.
Harnessing the space power: New Space India Limited, a public sector enterprise, has been incorporated to tap the benefits of R&D carried out by ISRO.
25 lakh KM of roads will be upgraded
Few other major decisions by the government:
To popularize sports at all levels, National Sports Education Board for development of sportspersons to be set up under Khelo India.
The government will develop 17 iconic tourism sites as world-class tourist centres.
The government is setting an enhanced target of Rs 1,05,000 crore for disinvestment during FY20.
Proposed to SEBI to increase the threshold of public shareholding in listed companies from 25% to 35%.
Propose to increase special additional duty and road and infrastructure cess on diesel and petrol by Re 1.
3% Increase in the surcharge for individuals with incomes between 2 to 5 cr. 7% increase in the surcharge for incomes above 5 cr.
A new series of coins will be made available for public soon.
Import of defence equipment is being exempted from basic customs duty. It is important for modernization of the defence system
Along with all this, the Government highlighted achievements of the NDA in the last 5 years and how they have been successful in making India fastest growing major economy in the world. One of the key success of this government is able to hold the inflation rates in single digits consistently from the last 5 years. Government is able to attract a whopping amount of FDI in the country. Central Govt. Debt as a percentage of GDP has been falling from the last 5 years. India’s sovereign external debt to GDP ratio is amongst the lowest globally at less than 5% now. This shows the Government’s intent to take the country to the new heights and we are pretty much sure that this budget is one more positive step towards the big vision of $5 trillion economy and at the same time maintaining the ideology of “Sabka Sath Sabka Vishwas”.
The Madras High Court on Friday granted one month parole to S. Nalini Sriharan who is India’s longest-serving woman prisoner, convicted in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
A division bench of Justice MM Sundaresh and Justice M Nirmal Kumar granted a 30-day ordinary leave to Nalini after she argued her plea in person for seeking the relief to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding.
The Madras High Court had on June 25 allowed Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict S Nalini to argue her parole case in person and ordered the Vellore Central Prison authorities to produce her on July 5.
However, the relief came in with the condition that Nalini would not give interviews to media, not entertain politicians and observe all other regulations listed under the Tamil Nadu Prison Manual.
The judges directed the Tamil Nadu government to finalise the process for her release within ten days. It also asked the government to bear the expenses for providing escorts to her as she had no means to pay for the facility on account of her incarceration for over 27 years.
Nalini, who is lodged in the Special Prison for Women in Vellore for the last over 27 years, had sought six months leave to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding. However, State Public Prosecutor A Natarajan submitted that according to rules a grant of leave for a maximum period of 30 days is permissible.
Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at Sriperumbudur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu in May 1991 and a special court for Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) cases had sentenced Nalini, who was then the only surviving accused present in the assassination, and other convicts to death in January 1998.
The Supreme Court had confirmed the capital punishment in May 1999, however, the punishment was commuted to life sentence by the State government in April 2000.
In an affidavit filed in support of her petition, the convict stated that since April 2000, over 3,700 life convicts were released from various prisons in the State on completion of 10 years of incarceration but she was not accorded the same benefit.
On September 9, 2018, the State Cabinet recommended the release of all seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi case by according them the benefit of a 1994 Government Order, which provides for the release of prisoners after 20 years.
The BJP-led central government did not agree to their release and informed the court that it would set a ‘dangerous precedent’ and have ‘international ramifications’.
The recommendation is still pending with the Governor.
Nalini is one of the seven life convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The other six are V Sriharan alias Murugan, husband of Nalini, AG Perarivalan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and Ravichandran.
I grew up watching cricket. I would watch all of India’s matches ball by ball. Even though India would be clearly loosing, I would still be optimistic about its win; maybe a batsman becomes the hero by hitting the fastest hundred or a bowler makes a hat-trick.
But it rarely happened with India, although similar things did happen with Australia. I always envied Australians for such a brilliant team. In other words, I grew up watching Australians dominating world cricket and they still continue to do so. And they dominated International Cricket at the time when most of the teams were doing better than what they are doing today.
The ongoing cricket world cup in England shows the deteriorating cricketing standards. I am not talking about rain washing up the complete matches. I am talking about the teams who have been brilliant in the past but have deteriorated over the time and not the teams that joined the test cricket in 21st century like Afghanistan and Bangladesh, which are still in their learning curves.
Half of the teams participating in the tournament are struggling with their internal issues so badly that they have become a mere punching bag for a few teams like Australia and New Zealand. In fact, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are the only teams that are performing better than expected.
The South African authorities introduced 54% reservation for the players of color in their national team i.e. a total of six non-white players including two African black players. Reservation and Competition are mutually exclusive i.e. either you could have reservation or you could compete, you can’t do both. Although, this kind of reservation was always there at the domestic level, but in 2016 they introduced it in their national team as well. You could look at the SA’s performance in Champions trophy 2017 and World Cup 2019. If the players were good enough, would they need reservations to play for the national team? I don’t think so. If you are playing with six average players, your team would also be average and is obvious to be at the receiving end.
Sri Lanka who produced players like Sanath Jayasurya, Kumar Sangakara, Mahela Jayawardane, M. Muralidharan, C. Vaas etc. etc. has never been able to fill their shoes. A poor team culture has been cited as the underlying reason by the Sri Lankan cricket board for such a predicament. A culture of privileges and entitlements for the senior players in the dressing room, which India also suffered a decade ago.
Pakistanwhich had always been a side with the strongest bowling attack has now left with only one consistent bowler in the name of Mohammad Amir. In fact, they are playing with only two reliable players Babar Azam and M. Amir. Pakistan lost to Afghanistan in a warm-up match. Pakistan does not have the necessary ecosystem to sustain good cricket any more. Ever since the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Pakistan ten years ago, there is very little cricket in Pakistan. The condition is so bad that they conduct Pakistan Super League (an IPL like tournament) outside Pakistan. They tried to host PSL final in Karachi last year, the city was put on curfew for two days. Terrorism and entertainment don’t go together. Terrorism is eating up that country from the inside like termite. They rely on two players which is why they are called an unpredictable team.
West Indies have limited themselves to the T20 cricket. They are all in for the entertainment factor, be it the hard-hitting or signature moves of different players. They are in their own fantasy world. When it would be a T20 tournament, they would be the top contender for the trophy. But now, it is not their game. Their ODI ranking is 9 at the moment.
Now coming to the point, I am writing this:
India is a country where cricket is considered as a religion and players as Gods; then what is stopping India to dominate International Cricket when the other countries are already struggling?
The problem is not with the players, it is with the selection criteria. India never goes on in a big tournament with the best of the cricketers available at its disposal. I guess you would agree to the fact that unless the best cricketer is injured he should be in the 15 player squad representing team India in World Cup. Wouldn’t you?
Now, look at our current team. How does Vijay Shankar fit even in the 15 player squad let alone the playing 11? The man debuted in Jan 2019 and has played 8 matches before the world cup, his personal best score was/is 46. What did the selectors see in him to deem him eligible for the big tournament? It is not that World Cup was announced a few weeks ago, the selectors did not have enough time to choose the players. Same goes with Rishabh Pant, he has played 5 one day internationals so far. What happened to the players who debuted after 2015? World Cup is not a tournament to test your new players. Is it?
India’s only bowler who had played more than 60 ODIs and can bowl consistently at 150 kmph is sitting outside; Umesh Yadav. Why is it that all other countries value their fast bowlers but India does not? Not only him, there are other more deserving players not selected for the world cup, for example, Ajinkya Rahane, or Axar Patel just to name a couple. India has three wicket-keepers in its fifteen member squad. Why?
A player’s glamour quotient and his performance in IPL can’t be a benchmark for his selection in the national team in a different game format. There have been a few players who are in the team because of their IPL connections. Wicket to wicket bowling or hard-hitting for a couple of overs might be sufficient for winning a T20 game but is not sufficient to win a 50 overs game.
The other problem with Indian selection has been that they shortlist mediocre players in the name of all rounders. The specialist players are kept out whereas unreliable players are kept in the team, just because they can ball as well as bat. This makes the team strong on paper, however, it collapses like a pack of cards on ground. You must have seen or even better you could observe yourself, whenever the Indian top three batsmen fail, the rest of the team struggles with even a score of 150-200. Same goes with the bowlers, if the two strike bowlers fail, the rest of the bowlers fail to get even a single wicket. India is currently playing with two all-rounders in the team, Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya plus Ravindra Jadeja in reserve. They would not perform when they would be needed the most.
This is not just today’s Indian team. It has been the case forever. India has always supported all rounders against specialists. You could choose the time frame of your liking and you will find a couple of players playing in the team who are/were not reliable and were in the team and more deserving specialist players were benched.
If India has to dominate world cricket, it has to rely on the specialists, be it specialist batsmen or specialist bowlers. If you keep on doing the same thing over and over again you would get the same results over and over again. India has to let go of its all-rounder fetish.
In the ongoing world cup too, if India has to win the cup, it needs to change its playing XI. There should be a full-time seamer in place of Hardik Pandya i.e. a total of three pacers in the team. And there should be one full-time specialist batsmen in place of Vijay Shankar or Rishabh Pant. Two changes! Otherwise, don’t get too optimistic about India’s performance. India’s game against NZ was washed, it actually has played only two games with good teams (Australia and England), and lost one of them. Others teams are not in a good state at all. The other good game would be against England. I hope Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar get fit by the time knockout games begin.
It’s hard to imagine a single politician other than Rahul Gandhi who has served at the highest echelons of one of the biggest political parties in the world and yet, doesn’t have a single significant victory to his credit. His entire political career is a series of misadventures one after the other with no victories in between. Despite that, the leaders of the party are kneeling at feet begging him to continue as President.
During his time in the Congress as a General Sectrary (2007-13), Vice President (2013-17 and eventually the President (2017-19), the party oversaw the biggest corruptions the country has ever seen while in power. During his tenure as Vice-President, the Congress was reduced to its lowest ever tally in Independent India and as President, he cemented his party’s utter decimation in electoral politics and he himself lost the traditional bastion of the Nehru Parivar to Smriti Irani in Amethi. His political career has been a catastrophe no matter what the standards of measurement are.
That he is unfit to hold public office in any capacity was amply demonstrated when he tore up an ordinance which was passed by Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, a Prime Minister from his own party. He showed complete disregard for the institutions of the country. It became evident, that his entitlement as a scion of the Nehru Parivar clouded his judgment and had made him extremely arrogant.
The scams that Rahul Gandhi’s party oversaw during the UPA represent one of the darkest moments in India history. Vast sections of the population had completely lost faith in the government and India teetered on the brink of anarchy. He, along with his mother, is an accused in a scam himself, the National Herald scam, and currently out on bail. All his close aides, from Chidambaram to Ahmed Patel to Motilal Vohra are either directly accused in scams or linked to one.
Rahul Gandhi’s commitment toward his party, let alone the country, is a matter of never-ending speculation. After every defeat in elections, he was off to some vacation in some foreign land. Death, taxes and Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trips, some things in life never disappoint. That he was never serious about politics was proven beyond all doubts when he was reduced to winking and hugging in the Parliament.
When anti-national slogans were raised in Jawaharlal Nehru University, slogans which declared a vow to wage war against India until its disintegration, Rahul Gandhi was the first politician to reach the institution and lend his support to the slogans. When people from his party questioned the Surgical Strikes and insulted the Army, he took no action against them. In spite of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s numerous transgressions, he suffered no consequences.
Even in his resignation letter, there was the penchant for avoiding responsibility written all over it. While he claims to take responsibility for his actions and step down, he alleged that the BJP had captured all the institutions of the state and that it wasn’t really a free and fair election. How is he taking responsibility for the defeat if he claims that the election was rigged against the Congress party in the first place?
The idea perhaps came from his mentor Sam Pitroda who has spent a lot of time in the USA. Pitroda must have gotten the idea of rigged elections from the Russian collusion delusion the liberal establishment has been peddling against Donald Trump. Rahul Gandhi isn’t famous for his intellect, therefore, there is a good chance that the idea came from elsewhere.
In doing so, he has insulted the people’s mandate and denied an opportunity for the party to conduct some honest introspection. The Congress party has been rejected throughout the country, in 17 states it couldn’t win a single seat. The party’s performance in the South which helped them win more seats than in 2014 was primarily due to regional alliances and the arrogance and suicide committed by the Left. And in Punjab, it was entirely due to Captain Amarinder Singh’s individual calibre.
And this is after ignoring the spate of bloopers he keeps making at regular intervals. No one could argue that his reputation as Pappu is not well earned. From waking up in the morning at night to Potato-Gold converters, he has regularly shown that his clarity of thought is utterly non-existent.
And yet, despite all of this, the senior leaders of the Congress party still want him to carry on as President. Exactly what are Rahul Gandhi’s achievements that if he doesn’t carry on, the party will be worse off? If the fear is that without a Gandhi at the helm, the party will disintegrate, then the Congress party, plain and simple, doesn’t deserve to exist. If a politician as incompetent as Rahul Gandhi is the only person keeping the party together, not even the Gods can save such a party.
The Congress party, for the foreseeable future, will be unable to occupy the corridors of power. And it is a testament to their decline that they are begging the person who oversaw the decline as the party president to carry on regardless of the fact that he doesn’t have a single victory to his credit.
Rebel Gujarat Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor has said that Congress used to mentally harass him. “I am now free from this torture,” he said after he submitted his resignation to the state assembly speaker.
“I used to be mentally harassed. Because of which my people suffered. Today I am free from that mental harassment. Only time will tell what is stored in next. But one thing I can say that I feel relieved from a huge weight I used to carry. I have come here to work for the people and I will put a logical end to the work I have started,” he said.
When asked who he voted for, Alpesh said Congress observer tried to create a ruckus when he cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections. “You can figure out from that. I have said earlier also that I have voted for national leadership. Since a few months, Congress leaders have been trying to insult and trying to kick me out of the party but even yesterday they had accepted I am a Congress MLA. I was also given a whip. But today instead of voting for Congress, I voted for national leadership,” he said.
Congress MLAs Alpesh and Dhavalsinh Zala both cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections held in Gujarat today. Both have later submitted their resignations to the Assembly speaker.
The bypolls were necessitated after Smriti Irani and Amit Shah vacated their Rajya Sabha seats after they were elected from Amethi and Gandhinagar respectively. BJP has fielded External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Juglalji Thakor while Congress candidates are Chandrika Chudasma and Gaurav Pandya. The counting of votes will begin at 5 pm today.
Dilsher, a 55-year-old Muslim man from Aligarh, was thrashed by people from his own community for reading the Ramcharitmanas and Bhagavad Gita in his own house. Sameer, Zakir and some unidentified men barged into his house, thrashed him and took away the sacred books of the Hindu community.
A case has been registered against the accused under sections 298 (uttering words etc with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace)and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the Delhi Gate Police station. Superintendent of Police Abhishek told TOI that the matter is being investigated and action will be taken against the accused.
The incident reportedly occurred on the 4th of July, Thursday, at 9 a.m. in the morning when Dilsher, who works as a security guard, returned to his home. The crime occurred in the Shah Jamal area of Aligarh.
According to Dilsher, he has been reading the sacred books for 38 years. He has added that his religion does not prohibit him from reading the sacred books of other religions.
On 30th June 2019, in the very heart of Delhi, the ugly truth of ‘Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb’ was exposed. A strong Muslim mob proceeded to desecrate a temple in Hauz Qazi, break the idols, and allegedly, urinate in the temple. The fight apparently escalated from a fight over parking space. The Hindu community of the area says that the Hindu man, with whom the parking argument happened was thrashed and the women of his house were dragged and harassed too.
Amidst the palpable communal tension, the news of a 17-year-old Hindu boy going missing was painfully suppressed. When this correspondent reached Hauz Qazi on 2nd July, 3 days after the communal tension peaked in the area, the Hindu community in Hauz Qazi was terribly distressed. The mother of the missing boy sat in one corner clutching the FIR she had filed. The father wailed, threatening to commit suicide if his son was not found.
This correspondent spent the better part of the day in the area and reported the Hauz Qazi violence, the nuances of what the Hindu community was facing living in a tiny bylane surrounded by a Muslim dominated area and what the Muslim community claimed of the event.
The reportage of the missing boy, however, did not go down well with several sections of the media. NewsLaundry, a publication that has a history of whitewashing crimes against Hindus, published a report today that cast aspersions on the reportage of the missing boy. The article headlined “Media reports on a Muslim mob ‘abducting’ a boy turn out to be a dud”, the report, written by one Veena Nair questioned the motivation of OpIndia in reporting how the boy was ‘abducted’ when things were finally calm in Lal Kuan.
NewsLaundry headline
The report in NewsLaundry said that OpIndia had claimed that the boy had been abducted and that, the report turned out to be a dud as the boy had returned.
Further, in a terribly insensitive comment, NewsLaundry goes on to say that
Firstly, OpIndia did not ‘claim’ anything. This correspondent merely reported that details of the FIR without embellishments.
FIR filed by Keshav’s parents
NewsLaundry admits that they visited Hauz Qazi on 3rd. In a communal situation, the reportage has to be sensitive to the evolving situation almost every hour. NewsLaundry’s claim that OpIndia reported the case of the missing boy “just when everything seemed to be under control” is idiotic. On 2nd itself, when this correspondent was on the ground, a fight between the Muslims and Hindus was just about averted. While the father of the missing boy was wailing, the Muslim community congregated and started chanting ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ and the already agitated and distraught Hindu community, started chanting Jai Shree Ram in response. The Laal Kuan lane was cordoned off for vehicles completely and there were several barricades along the way. The Muslim community, that is a majority in the area, stood in groups discussing nothing but this situation. The Hindus, behind a separate barricade, right at the mouth of the Durga Mandir Wali Gali where the temple was desecrated, protested in their own way.
Secondly, it is a fact that the boy was missing. Keshav Saxena was not to be seen by the parents, well into the third day of the communal tension. The boy was finally home on 3rd evening, on the 4th day. Even if NewsLaundry is right (which they aren’t) that the situation was limping back to normal in Hauz Qazi, was OpIndia supposed to ignore the case of a missing boy just like the rest of the media did?
The NewsLaundry article’s main purpose not only seems to mock the platforms that diligently reported the situation at Hauz Qazi but also, shameless, cast aspersions on the parents of the missing boy themselves. The report says, “The FIR clearly states the mob vandalised the temple and “abducted” the boy at 11.30 am. According to the police and eye-witnesses, the temple was vandalised after midnight. The boy says he left the lane of his own accord at 10.30 pm. None of the media platforms focused on these discrepancies”.
One has to remember the situation that the FIR was filed in. There was a strong mob of hundreds of Muslims baying for blood. They vandalised the temple, allegedly urinated there, broke idols and the local Hindus say that if the main shutter of the lane was not shut on time, the Hindus of the locality would have been found dead. Amidst this, a 17-year-old boy goes missing. The NewsLaundry report mentions discrepancy in the timing mentioned by the parents as a marker that the parents might have been either lying about the disappearance of the child or that portals like OpIndia did not bother to verify facts. The insinuation here also is that if OpIndia had focussed on the “facts”, it would not have reported the disappearance at all.
Now, it stands to reason that the parents did not have eyes on Keshav Saxena the entire day. He was not a toddler. Sometime during the communal tension, the parents realised that the child was missing and for a mother and a father, panicked for their lives and that of their child, the timeline, the exact timing is going to be least of their concerns.
The NewsLaundry report possibly uses the angst of the mother and her worry for her child as a tool to say that media should not have reported the disappearance at all.
Further, the NewsLaundry report itself mentions that Keshav Saxena was beaten up by Muslims that day itself. As OpIndia reported too, the boy said that some Muslim men started asking him whether he stayed in the Durga Mandir Gali and whether he was a Hindu. When he said he was a Hindu, he was thrashed. In fact, the NewsLaundry report also mentions that when the crowd started building up after the parking scuffle, some of the boys (presumably Muslims) beat Keshav up. It is at this point that he ran away.
According to the facts mentioned in the NewsLaundry report itself, his disappearance was certainly related to the communal tension in Hauz Qazi. When the mother filed the FIR, her assertion that his disappearance was related to the communal tension was not incorrect. But when a child goes missing amidst a bloodthirsty mob, NewsLaundry needs to ask itself what the obvious conclusion of a mother would be in the situation. That he ran away on his own? That he must be playing with his friends? Why would it not be normal for any parent to assume that the mob might have taken him away?
NewsLaundry shamelessly questions the mother of Keshav, Mona, and asks why she assumed that he had been kidnapped by a Muslim mob. What else was she supposed to say? Think? And that later, Keshav’s statement was different, was it the media’s job to not report the disappearance at all? How does the media use the return of the child to claim that his disappearance of the FIR thereof should not have been reported preemptively?
Let me ask a pertinent question here: If a mob of Hindu men had desecrated a Mosque and in that process, a Muslim couple had claimed that their child had been abducted by the mob and filed an FIR to the same effect, would the media shy away from reporting the FIR as is?
Interestingly, in a report that trashes OpIndia reporting an FIR about the missing Hindu child, NewsLaundry has no qualms reporting an FIR lodged by Muslim organisations, namely, All India Students’ Association (AISA), Aman Biradiri and Karwaan-e Mohabbat.
The NewsLaundry report says:
As a result, representatives from the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Aman Biradiri and Karwaan-e Mohabbat filed a complaint at Hauz Qazi police station against media houses spreading misinformation. The complaint specifically lists the Organiser report, accusing it of promoting “disharmony and feelings of enmity and ill-will between Hindus and Muslims”. The complaint mentions platforms like Times Now, Business Standard and Hindustan Times, stating they’ve “exaggerated” the number of people involved in the vandalising of the temple.
The complaint was submitted to DCP (Central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa, who assures them that everything is under control. “I don’t know about the communal angles, all I know is there is truth on one side and lies on the other. I am here to find out the truth, which we will,” he says.
Interestingly, according to NewsLaundry, therefore, reporting that an FIR has been lodged by the parents of missing Hindu child becomes “communal” and in the same report, then reporting some faff complaint that talks about over-exaggeration of the number of people who desecrated a temple become “reportage”?
The downright asininity of saying that a report that spoke of the temple desecration by a Muslim mob and presenting the version of the Hindus is “sowing disharmony between Hindus and Muslims” is staggering. A temple was desecrated. What harmony are we really talking about here? NewsLaundry, of course, doesn’t question this. They report it. Just like OpIndia reported the FIR and the wails of parents looking for their 17-year-old son.
Did NewsLaundry want this correspondent to walk away after watching this? What the parents were saying? The mother, the father? Was this correspondent supposed to shut her eyes like the rest of the “secular” media and ignored the cries of pain and loss? Was this correspondent supposed to walk off? Was this correspondent supposed to tell the mother that her FIR and her quest to find her boy is worthless because hey, “things are calm now” so let’s just forget it?
Here are the videos this correspondent captured of the wailing parents. These were captured while right there, journalists came and went. They made a face and ignored these parents crying for their son. The media cabal expected this correspondent to do the same and their angst today is that she didn’t.
Keshav’s version of events now itself raises several questions. Like, if his relative indeed did find him in some station on his way to Haridwar, is it even possible that the relative did not call the parents? Why was he at the railway station? Is there something which is being hushed up?
But that is an investigation for another day. The police will have to try and do their job honestly and investigate where the boy was for 2 days. But casting aspersions on media reporting the missing boy is just another ploy to ensure that crimes against Hindus stay hushed up. This correspondent and this portal will not oblige.
