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Balakot airstrikes was codenamed by IAF as ‘Operation Bandar’

OpIndia Staff
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Balakot airstrikes was codenamed by IAF as ‘Operation Bandar’

In the wee hours of February 26, 2019, the Indian Air Force sent a fleet of Mirage 2000s to blow into smithereens pre-determined targets across the border, deep inside Pakistan to avenge the loss of 40 CRPF personnel martyred in a terror attack executed by a JeM cadre on February 14, 2019, near Pulwama in Kashmir.

In response to the brazen attack on the CRPF convoy orchestrated by Jaish-e-Muhammad terror outfit, the IAF devised a reprisal attack, homing in on the JeM assets based in Pakistan. The target finalised was the JeM terror camp in Balakot that trained and sheltered around 200-300 terrorists.

The operation was planned and kept under utter secrecy for the fear of losing the ‘surprise’ factor, critical in the successful completion of such operations. To this end, the operation was code-named as Operation Bandar (Monkey). “In order to maintain secrecy and avoid getting the plans leaked out, the operation was code-named as Operation Bandar,” said defence personnel.

Without enunciating specific reasons for the chosen codename, according to the sources, the Monkey codename was chosen as they hold a special significance in India’s war culture as can be seen in Ramayana in which Lord Hanuman, clandestinely entered Lanka and set it on fire.

The attack was carried out at 3:30 am in the morning when the fleet of Mirage 2000s dropped 5 Spice 2000 bombs, out of which 4 penetrated the roof of the terror camp in Balakot killing hundreds of terrorists and wounding and maiming several others. Soon after, the Indian Air Force aircraft departed from the target location leaving the JeM terror camp smouldering.

After heaping atrocities on Sabarimala devotees, communists in Kerala now ask centre for law to protect Sabarimala traditions

OpIndia Staff
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After heaping atrocities on Sabarimala devotees, communists in Kerala now ask centre for law to protect Sabarimala traditions

Taking a U-turn on the Sabarimala temple issue, the ruling CPM party in Kerala has demanded that the Central government should pass a law to protect the ‘customs and traditions’ of the temple.


State Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran today said that it is not appropriate to drag the devotees on the street and requested the Central government to enact a law to safeguard the customs and traditions of the temple. He said that if enacting a law takes time then the Centre should pass an ordinance based on which the government can proceed further.


Surendran’s statements came after Member of Parliament from Kollam and alliance partner of Congress-led UDF, N K Premachandran announced that he would be presenting a private member bill in Parliament today to overturn the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala.


The CPM which had welcomed the controversial Supreme Court verdict allowing the woman of menstruating age to enter the Ayappa temple has suddenly changed its stand on the issue. In a massive crackdown on Ayappa devotees who were protesting against the entry of women between the age group of 10 to 50 in the Sabarimala temple, the Kerala police had made mass arrests by arresting around 2000 people and filed cased against 450 of them. The police had also lathicharged and pelted stones at the peaceful protestors who were gathered outside the temple.

In reference to the Sabarimala issue, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that some customs are meant to be violated. On the contrary, the CPM government that tried every dirty trick to make women of menstruating age enter the Sabarimala temple arrested three women belonging to a Hindu outfit for trying to enter the Vavar Mosque which is located on the way to Sabarimala temple and is visited by pilgrims visiting the temple. But like most of the mosques, the Vavar mosque also does not allow the entry of the women.

Rajasthan: Cattle smugglers attack Gaushala in Bharatpur, flee with three cows after thrashing Mahant

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Cattle smugglers attack Gaushala in Bharatpur, flee with three cows after thrashing Mahant

Cattle smugglers have allegedly attacked a Gaushala (cow-shelter), thrashed the Mahant and fled with three cows on Tuesday in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. The Police has initiated efforts to nab the accused, however, local residents feel that cattle smugglers have become emboldened due to the laxity of the Police.

“Gaushala caretaker Kanhaiya Lal, also known here as Babaji, filed a complaint that some cattle smugglers had attacked him and fled with cows,” said SHO Vinod Savariya. SP (ASP) Deeg Mahesh Meena told Times of India, “The suspects have not been identified. The caretaker said that the accused had come in a vehicle but he was unable to recall the registration number of that vehicle. The caretaker alleged that he was thrashed by the accused when he confronted them. Our teams are looking into the matter and we have registered an FIR under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act.”

Cattle Smuggling has been a huge problem in the area which falls under the Mewat region. It is a hotbed of organized crime, cattle smuggling, illegal Rohingya settlement and mob violence, even against the Police.

Last year too, there have been some incidents in Auraiya, UP, where Sadhus who had worked to prevent cow-slaughter in the area were found brutally murdered inside their dwellings.

In an earlier incident, in the Tijara area of Alwar district, which falls under Mewat as well, police had raided the house of a man named Nishad in the Arandka village and recovered flesh and skin of the cows. The police had found 4-5 suspects in the nearby field sprinting away. When police went there they found about 20-22 kgs of beef lying down and cowhide of 5-6 cows from the well in the nearby field. On Thursday as well, the Police had managed to rescue 18 buffaloes and arrested two culprits.

Five reasons for the decline of the Congress party

mandarsawant
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Five reasons for the decline of the Congress party

The Congress party which was on a high in last December after winning three major heartland states has plunged into a crisis again after the 23rd of May results. Suddenly nothing is going right for the Congress at the national level or in key states. Just eight additional seats as compared to 2014 is certainly not an improvement which the party can tom-tom about. The party is going about looking for scapegoats to blame the 2019 Lok Sabha debacle on.

The prospects in key states like Maharashtra and Haryana where the party was a major force up to 2013, look bleak in the run-up to the assembly elections. The Congress has been reduced to a number four party in Maharashtra and could just win one seat in the Lok Sabha polls. Considering that they had a small base of two seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Congress still managed to suffer a 50% reduction in seats. The solitary seat of Chandrapur was won by an ex-Shiv Sena MLA who joined the party just prior to the polls. The Chandrapur MP Balu Dhanorkar is a liquor baron and probably won due to the anger against prohibition in the district. Top Congress leadership at the centre and state hardly played any role in this win. Two former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde lost the elections, such was the pathetic condition of the Congress. Haryana was much worse with the Congress drawing a blank and even managing to lose Rohtak.

If the reports about the con played by data analytics department head Pravin Chakravarty on the top Congress leadership are true, then it is comical and tragic at the same time. Rahul Gandhi was living in a make-believe world where he was reasonably confident of being the Prime Minister, though the exit polls showed a completely different picture. So where did the Congress go wrong? Will ten years out of power damage the Congress party critically? Many questions have arisen out of the Lok Sabha result. The year which started on a very optimistic note for the Congress seems to have gone horribly wrong and more horrors are expected in the next six months.

The following seem to be the five major reasons for the debacle of the Congress,

Out of step with new age politics of performance

The Congress is still stuck in the mandal era politics of caste mobilisation and religious appeasement. Congress relies upon a loyal vote bank more than administrative performance to win elections. A more recent example is the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh which promised a farm loan waiver to be implemented immediately after coming to power. The promise has not been fulfilled yet. Power cuts are back in MP after a long time. Congress never focusses on basic governance. It seems it has not yet learnt from the success of Modi in delivering basic services and welfare schemes. Congress instead relies on the 15-20% Muslim votebank in various states as their mainstay. Then they look to complement it with the biggest Hindu caste in various states. It could be the Marathas in Maharashtra, Jats in Haryana or the Gujjars in Rajasthan. Congress still attracts a decent number of Dalit voters. But when it comes to looking after their voters, Congress has always fallen short. In fact, Congress seems to believe that keeping the voters poor helps in milking them multiple times. Modi govt has done more for Dalits (along with other Hindu castes and other religions) through schemes like Ujjwala, MUDRA and Saubhagya (electricity connection in any willing household) etc. Congress is yet to realise that we are in the post mandal era and voters of various social groups want delivery of services more than a token representation of ministers from their caste or region.

Preference to seniority and dynasty over talent

Congress has always shown a preference for seniority and dynast over talent. A recent example was the selection of Ashok Gehlot as CM of Rajasthan and Kamal Nath as CM of Madhya Pradesh, over Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia respectively. This is not to say that Pilot and Scindia are not dynasts, but they are much younger than Gehlot and Nath and could have attracted voters with new ideas. Instead, oldies like Gehlot and Kamal Nath who financed the assembly / Lok Sabha election campaign were selected as the chief ministers. Same familiar and worn out faces who have been around for decades and have failed in providing governance have been persisted with by the party. In contrast, Narendra Modi has selected new and younger leaders like Devendra Fadnavis, Yogi Adityanath, Manohar Lal Khattar, Sarbananda Sonowal, Jairam Thakur and Biplab Kumar Deb as chief ministers and central ministers like Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Kiren Rijiju and Nirmala Sitharaman etc. The episode that best epitomizes the Congress fallacy is ex Assam CM favouring his son as his successor, over his long-term deputy Himanta Biswa Sarma. Later Rahul Gandhi insulted him by playing with his pet dog while Himanta was putting forth his views. An insulted Himanta vowed to decimate Congress in the North East and accomplished the task in a short duration. Ignoring talent does not pay to be it a business organisation or a political party.

Inability to look beyond the Nehru Gandhis

Congress has become a Nehru-Gandhi incorporated in the last few decades. Leader outside the family cannot be visualized as leading the party. It is possible that a dummy leader like AK Antony or Ashok Gehlot might be selected to be the party president in place of Rahul Gandhi. But in such an arrangement, it would be the family running the party. Most of the leaders in the Congress know that the rot starts at the top, but no one has the guts not the inclination to blame Rahul Gandhi for the same. Hence the attempts to blame the state chief ministers or data analytics head Pravin Chakravarty or social media head Divya Spandana. In Congress, it has become a race to appear dumber than Rahul Gandhi, lest looking intelligent is taken as a slight. A capable man like Pranab Mukherjee was never trusted by Sonia Gandhi. Nor do Rahul or Priyanka look inclined to put a strong-willed leader at the helm. The Congress workers and leaders too don’t seem to be looking beyond Priyanka Gandhi, in case Rahul Gandhi is to be replaced (that is too strong a word for the Congress. Rahul might be made President Emeritus for life and phased out into retirement).

Arrogance towards allies and party workers

Priyanka Gandhi recently blamed the party karyakartas for the failure in Uttar Pradesh. Even a five-year-old kid would have told that the only possible result for Congress in Uttar Pradesh was a disaster. Priyanka Gandhi was touted by the Congress ecosystem as the ultimate saviour of the party and as the mirror image of Indira Gandhi. Indira was arrogant and treated party workers with disdain, but then she had the aura of having won the 1971 war and having owned her place at the top after fighting with the syndicate. Priyanka and Rahul have got their positions on a platter and their only qualification has that been of a “lucky sperm”. Arrogance does not take a leader much ahead in politics unless you have a remarkable track record in governance. The Gandhi siblings have no achievement. This arrogance was the reason that the success in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh was taken as a sign of anti-incumbency having set against the union government. Rahul Gandhi expected the BJP to roll over and die in the Lok Sabha election. Contrast this arrogance of the siblings with the BJP President Amit Shah who sent out personalised letters to key party workers (not necessarily big leaders) thanking them for their efforts during the Lok Sabha campaign and requesting their co-operation for the journey ahead. Modi and Shah have never rested on past laurels and they have already started work on upcoming assembly elections of the next 2-3 years.

Missing connect with the youth

65% of the Indian population is below 35 years of age. This would translate to about 50% of the voters being below the age of 35. This underlines the importance of youth voters in India. Rahul Gandhi being a youth leader (though he is 49 years old) was expected by the Congress party and friendly ecosystem to have a good connect with the youth and sweep them off their feet with his humility. But ironically the person who won over the youth was the 67-year-old Narendra Modi. Lack of jobs is the biggest problem for the youth and Rahul tried to attack the Modi government on that issue. But like always he could not stick to that issue and get pulled in the national security theme raised by Modi. Rahul focussed more on the Rafale non-corruption case and forgot everyday issues. The young voters acknowledged the lack of jobs as a serious issue but they trusted Modi more to solve the issue. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party simply lacked the credibility with the voters to make an impact. Modi displayed a long-term vision that attracts young voters. But it ideas like “Swach Bharat”, “Make in India” or the vision of Modi linked to the 75th year of Indian Independence, the youth connected with this long term vision. The lesson for the Congress is that only negative things do not resonate with the youth.

Time will tell whether the Congress will take any lessons out of this Lok Sabha 2019 debacle. Right now it does not seem that they are doing any course correction. The same old game of trying to put the failure at the doorstep of some random leader rather than the Gandhis is being played. Though we must give one year to see any change in the approach of Congress. Remember that parties don’t disappear overnight and they can come back from the dead. A prominent example is the BJP in 2009 which was expected to fade away but instead returned to capture power in 2014.

For now, it seems that the Congress has started disintegrating in their remaining strongholds like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana and the North East states. Congress leadership should act now before it is too late and remember that even Kerala and Tamil Nadu are not safe from the BJP onslaught of 2024.

(This article was originally published on the author’s personal blog)

No lessons learnt: Rahul Gandhi not only mocks International Yoga Day but also Indian Army’s elite Dog Unit

OpIndia Staff
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No lessons learnt: Rahul Gandhi not only mocks International Yoga Day but also Indian Army’s elite Dog Unit

On the day the fifth International Yoga Day was celebrated across the world, Congress President insulted the dog unit of Indian army while trying to mock PM Narendra Modi on his Yoga Day initiative.

The Wayanad MP posted two images, where the dogs of the 2 Army Dog Unit were seen doing Yoga alongside their trainers. Along with the pictures, Mr Gandhi posted just two words, “New India”, which was clearly aimed at taking a potshot at Modi. As he is not known for appreciating anything done by Narendra Modi, it is unlikely that there is any other motive behind the tweet.

The Yoga Day is a brainchild of PM Modi who had suggested in his address to the UN in 2014 that 21 June in every year should be declared as the International Day of Yoga. Following this proposal by PM, India had submitted a draft resolution which was adopted by the United Nations.


Rahul Gandhi’s tweet attracted various kinds of reaction on Twitter. One user noted that BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sharma will perhaps disagree, as it is old India. He was referring to an incident narrated by former Congress leader Sharma when Rahul Gandhi was playing with his dog while discussing the political situation in Assam with Congress leaders from the state, including the CM.


After the revelations by Sharma, Rahul Gandhi had himself introduced his dog Pidi on Twitter. This had prompted social media users to refer to Congress supporters as Pidis. Some users took the opportunity to reiterate that point.


Some Congress supporters were disappointed that Rahul Gandhi chose to mock what was probably the most adorable part of the Yoga Day. They commented it shows how the Congress party is disconnected from the ground.


BJP MP Tejasvi Surya noted that Rahul Gandhi has not learnt his lessons, and he has insulted the Army, the Dog unit, the Yoga tradition and the nation in one tweet.


While there are hundreds of reactions to Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, a few of them are given below.


Many people slammed Rahul Gandhi for his comment, and asked him to delete his tweet and apologise for the same.

Delhi BJP accuses AAP of doing political campaigning through Parents-Teachers’ Meet in Delhi schools

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi BJP accuses AAP of doing political campaigning through Parents-Teachers’ Meet in Delhi schools

The Delhi BJP Unit has written a letter addressed to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi complaining about the conduct of the Parents-Teachers Meet(PTM) in government schools where the parents of the children are allegedly forced to swear illegally and arbitrarily to vote in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections.

As per the letter to the LG, whose copy is in possession of OpIndia, the BJP has accused that the Schools run by the Government of Delhi by CM Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia and some erring officials of the Directorate of Education, NCT of Delhi are colluding to pervade AAP propaganda through PTM. The BJP has alleged that the members of the School Management Committee, who are nominated and appointed by AAP, are floating questionnaires to inform the parents about the scheduled meet in the school.

Raising strong objections to the nature of questions framed in the questionnaire, the BJP has asserted that they are unconstitutional and against the fundamental rights of an individual as they force the parents to swear allegiance to the Aam Aadmi Party and forced to cast their votes in favour of the party in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections. The saffron party has also accused in the letter that the Delhi government through School Management Committee has asked schools to not record such sessions.

The signatories of the letter include Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, Leader of Opposition Delhi Vidhan Sabha Vijender Gupta, rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra and other senior stakeholders. In addition to this grievous accusation, the letter states that it is not the first time that PTM has been convened to persuade parents to vote for the AAP.

It mentions that in the run-up to the Lok Sabha 2019 elections, a similar mega PTM was organised by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia to goad parents into voting for the AAP. Arguing that the AAP has been misusing the School Management Committee, the BJP Delhi State Unit has asked for immediate dissolution of the body for its arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional activities.

Kerala: Idol thief’s scooter breaks down after stealing from temple, caught red-handed by locals

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Idol thief’s scooter breaks down after stealing from temple, caught red-handed by locals

In Kodungallur, Kerala a man was caught stealing idols after his scooter broke down near a temple on Thursday. Locals caught him red-handed and handed him over to the police.

On Wednesday night, 24-year-old Vivek had broken into several places before he was caught. He was taken into custody for breaking into he Methala Sree Dharmadaiva Temple, APJ Hardware shop at Eriyad, a lottery shop nearby and the Panangad Higher Secondary School.

Among the items that were stolen were a panchaloha idol, a copper ‘Goloka’ from Annapoorneswari Srikovil, another ‘Goloka’ of Raktheswari kept at the temple office, a ‘Prabhamandalam’ and coins worth Rs 25,000 from the hundi.

Reportedly, the incident happened around 4:30 am on Wednesday when Vivek’s scooter developed a snag while escaping the temple. A local resident had woken up from the sound of the scooter. He came out if his house to question Vivek, in the midst of which his bag of stolen items fell to the ground revealing its contents. On seeing the idols an alarm was raised to wake up the other residents. He was then handed over to the police.

The police had retrieved chilli powder and knives from him. He had also stolen Rs 7750 from the lottery shop, Rs 1000 from the APJ Hardware, Rs 8500 from the school and a Rs 2000 from a charity fund for cancer patients. Vivek had confessed all his crimes.

Hindu idols have always been under a constant threat of being stolen, desecrated or destroyed. Earlier this month, a man was arrested for posting obscene pictures with female idols at Thanjavur temple. Recently, the stolen Ugratara idol was found after months of police search and efforts in Assam. In Ayodhya, a thief returned an idol of Lord Ram after he was rattled by nightmares.

Meenakshi Lekhi demands bill granting denominational status to Sabarimala temple, says that the private member bill is defective

OpIndia Staff
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Meenakshi Lekhi demands bill granting denominational status to Sabarimala temple, says that the private member bill is defective

In the first session of the Lok Sabha after BJP’s victory in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi demanded a bill granting denominational status to the Sabarimala temple. She also said that the private bill tabled by the Kerala MP NK Premachandran in this regard was defective.


While speaking in Parliament, Meenakshi Lekhi said that the judgement of the Supreme Court in September in 2018 denied the special denominational status for the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. As a result, the rituals and practices that were exclusive to the temple have been denied.

She then explains that in the absence of this status, Article 26 which gives exclusive rights to every religious denomination has been denied to this temple.

A Kerala MP from the UDF had earlier moved a private member’s bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to overturn the Supreme Court’s verdict on Sabarimala. Talking about this bill the Delhi MP said that the bill was defective because the bill would still not give a denominational status to the temple.

She said that Hindu religious institutions would suffer due to the Sabarimala verdict. In the Hindi version of the Constitution, the word ‘denomination’ is translated as ‘sampradaya’ which is a Hindu denomination. Meenakshi Lekhi said that if sampradaya can be protected then Hindu institutions can ensure that their practices are protected.

Responding to several MPs who raised the issue of triple talaq with respect to that of Sabarimala, she said that the Constitution talks about ‘Uniform Civil Code’ and not ‘Uniform Religious Code’. She says that religious practices must be differentiated from civil practices and the practices in Sabarimala are religious in nature.

She also said that there are several festivals such as ‘Attukal Pongala’ where men weren’t allowed. If such practices were to be protected then it’s important to define what are ‘denominational practices’.

She said that the defective private member bill “would only serve the optics” creating headlines in the news down south. She finally said that the legislative body must understand this difference and said that with the review petition pending, the focus must be on defining ‘denominational practices’. She then ended her speech by chanting ‘Jai Ayyappa’.

The BJP in its 2019 Lok Sabha election Manifesto had promised to protect the practices of Sabarimala. Prime Minister Modi has also earlier voiced his support for the devotees of Ayyappa, saying that it is a matter of tradition which is different from Triple Talaq.

On 28 September 2018, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict allowing women of all ages entry into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. The verdict had hurt the sentiments of the devotees and triggered a countrywide protest. The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that it would not be filing a review petition and would ensure the SC order is implemented, angering devotees.

In February, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgement after hearing about 65 review petitions.

The man who thought he was Wayanad’s Pavarotti

nandini
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The man who thought he was Wayanad’s Pavarotti

The beaming Star ended his last song with a cocky flourish.

Mighty pleased with his repertoire, which he had personally selected with the help of a few connoisseurs ahead of their game, he waited to bow down to thunderous applause.
But alas, it never came.

A tepid clap here and there, a lukewarm if at all polite murmur & a half smile as the audience seemed more in a rush to get out, collect their cars, catch their buses & metros, head out to their dinners plans & reservations … or as the Star heard later to another show where The Singer had everyone spellbound with his melodious voice.

The promise of more in this show had the audience demand one favourite after the other. Years of practice & hard work of The Singer were evident.

His craft well-honed and superbly tuned, The Singer bowed to accept what seemed like a non-stop applause of appreciation.

~Encore ! Encore !~ The crowds yelled.

And an Encore it was!

Meanwhile, on the dark stage, the Star looked at his Chorus in a white rage.

~You were so bad !~ he spluttered.

~You didn’t back me up adequately. Some of you were so out of tune.~

The Chorus wrung their hands and whined.

~We did our best. We did our best.~

The Star’s sister was on stage too by now. She always swept in at the end as she believed herself to be a Show-Stopper of great value.

Clapping her hands for the staff to wipe her brother’s sweaty brow, she signalled a minion to pour him some champagne.

‘You were very very good’, she said to him soothingly. ‘Very good’.

However, turning to The Chorus ~We were expecting applause as nothing heard ever before and that didn’t happen.

I will find out who among you didn’t do your best. I will find each one out & you will pay for this.~

While The Chorus whinged & whined.
~We did our best. We did our best.~

From the dark shadows of the theatre emerged their Mother.
Everyone stood a little straighter, The Chorus, The Staff, The Minions.
Beady-eyed she looked them all over.
~Someone must be sacrificed~ she thought.
~A head, any head needs to be chopped off. They must live in fear or it’s all over for us.~

To her son she said.

~These stupid people don’t recognise a thing of beauty. How tastes have changed! Their standards have been lowered with that crude music on offer these days. Only those who recognise our lineage of Stars appreciate your voice, your timbre & your choice of music. Take heart. Your sister & I will get to the bottom of this.~

But by now The Star had stomped off and locked himself in the Green Room.

The Sister went running after him and then more slowly The Mother, who in her day had sung her songs too, to a rapturous and fawning audience. But clever that she was, she had a marionette & they together put on quite a ventriloquist show.

~Open the door, my son.
See who has come to see you….~

~Open the door, my brother.
See who has come to see you…~

~No, no. I will meet no one.
I will not sing any more.
I’ve had enough!
Why should I sing for our supper when I could be anywhere in the world enjoying myself.
Find someone else!
Or at least get me a Marionette.~

~I would have my son. I would have.
But all the new ones have a mind of their own & we can’t have that!
Didn’t we put our minds to it & find you a wonderful theatre down South? Next time we’ll make some more appreciative arrangements.…~

Turning to her assistant The Mother hissed.
~Call a meeting of any Three Faithfuls. Immediately.~

~You!~She pointed her gnarled finger.
~We need scapegoats. Fall guys. Anyone to take the blame. Go find names. Spread the word. Let the people talk about them, discuss them & get the attention of my son.~

Faithful One faithfully began laboriously writing a piece on how the music was poorly selected and arranged. How the person in charge missed the mood & what the people wanted to hear.

How the social secretary didn’t help by writing puerile notes & antagonising almost everybody. How both took large sums of money and disappeared.

Faithful Two wrote how the foul mouth percussionist couldn’t get along with the orchestra & just said & did his own thing, lending a jarring note to the entire show. How an eccentric old musician had a tendency to hit the left notes when the right ones would have been more soothing.

This despite The Star being well read, well educated & from an impeccable musical lineage failed to recognise this.

~Good. Good!~ said The Mother,
~We need to shed the dead wood. Find a few others who can be kicked out. This is the time !~

Faithful Three is still writing his …

In days to come, the people will have a hearty laugh, looking forward to the next episodes of the tantrum throwing Star.

Those who had bought the tickets looked a trifle embarrassed or made excuses.
~He wasn’t prepared. He’s young. He was let down.~

While others couldn’t resist saying ~We told you so. He’s no Star material.~

No doubt, a neutered Chorus will return to another poorly attended show.
So will the wily Mother & her daughter, because they believe they’ve handled & sorted the ‘problem’.

But the decision to end it now and make an escape or carry on with this mad burlesque show rests entirely with the ‘well read, well educated, from an impeccable lineage’ Star.

Wait for more.

After lying blatantly about Tribal law, Rahul Gandhi uses the excuse of “free flow of a political speech” while responding to NCST notice

OpIndia Staff
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After lying blatantly about Tribal law, Rahul Gandhi uses the excuse of “free flow of a political speech” while responding to NCST notice

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been in trouble ever since he made libellous remarks claiming that Narendra Modi has legislated a law allowing ‘shooting down’ of Tribals. In response to a notice by National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) over his blatant lie, Rahul reiterated that he made the comments in “free flow of a political speech”, according to officials.

While addressing an election rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol on April 23, Gandhi had peddled an outrageous lie, saying, “The Narendra Modi government has made a new law in which there is a line that says tribal’s can be shot at…They can snatch your land, take away your jungle and water and then say that tribal’s can be shot at”.

He had also alleged that the government seeks to amend the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 “drastically and in a draconian manner”.

Taking cognisance of the remark, the NCST had on May 3 issued a notice to the Gandhi Scion, and now his counsel has come up with this explanation. The statement issued by his counsel claimed that his client summarised the finalised amendment to Section 66 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in which “statutory empowerment is being provided for use of force and highly intrusive prejudicial and physical measures against citizens who are mostly tribal and forest inhabitants”.

However, the NCST rubbished Rahul’s counsel’s claims stating that the proposed amendment is related to “power to prevent the commission of an offence. After the amendment, it will be called the Indian Forest Act, 2019”.

On May 2, the election commission had also slapped him with a notice for the defamatory remark. Then too Rahul had said that he didn’t violate the poll code and claimed that his remarks were part of the current political rhetoric and were “free flow of a political speech”.

In his 11 page reply to the EC, he had then asked them to be ‘fair and non-discriminatory’ in dealing with complaints of poll code breach. He had alleged that the Congress was being targeted unfairly and that the various poll violations of the BJP weren’t been acted upon.

Prior to this, BJP had also sent a legal notice to Rahul Gandhi for his defamatory statements against PM Modi. It had granted Rahul Gandhi three days to respond to its legal notice, failing which a defamation suit was to be filed against him.

However, using the excuse of ‘political speech’ to peddle outrageous lies has been the Congress President’s regular strategy. The SC had sent a notice to him for attributing the ‘Chowkidar Chow Hai’ to the court. Following which he said that the remarks were made in the ‘heat of campaigning’. He was later forced to give an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court.

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