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West Bengal Governor calls for all party meet in view of the ongoing post-poll violence in the state

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal Governor calls for all party meet in view of the ongoing post-poll violence in the state

As the post-poll violence in West Bengal reaches its highest point, Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has called an all-party meeting on June 13, Thursday at 4 pm at Governor’s house. Tripathi has sent a letter to all prominent political parties in Bengal including ruling party TMC, BJP, Congress and Left, urging them to attend the meet.


Earlier, disregarding the Governor’s standing, Mamata Banerjee had reacted to K N Tripathi’s suggestion, that, President’s rule be imposed in the state saying that a plan is being hatched to turn Bengal into Gujarat. Tripathi had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised them about the deteriorating conditions in Bengal.

The poll violence in Bengal has aggravated after BJP made successful inroads by bagging 18 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. Several reports of BJP workers and supporters attacked in Bengal have emerged as a result of the political slugfest.

The West Bengal police have also been working hands in gloves with the ruling party to torment the BJP workers in Bengal. Kolkata police today used water cannons and tear gas on BJP workers who were protesting against the killings of their party workers across the state.

They also stopped a group of BJP workers marching peacefully towards Kolkata Police headquarters in Lal Bazar. The Kolkata police have arrested several BJP workers including five supporters of BJP Mahila Morcha for violating CrPC Section 144, which was imposed near the headquarters. Roads to and from Lal Bazar were barricaded. Rapid Action Force (RAF) was along with about 3,000 personnel from Kolkata Police were also deployed.

Reportedly, the Kolkata police also charged BJP workers with batons on Bipin Behari Ganguly Street.

On Sunday, clashes had erupted between TMC and BJP workers in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas, killing several BJP workers. Today, another BJP worker from Malda was reportedly found brutally murdered.

Welcoming the Governor’s initiative, West Bengal BJP unit president Dilip Ghosh said the state government should have taken the initiative. “We welcome the decision. We have received Tripathi’s letter. We would be attending tomorrow’s meeting,” he told PTI.

The Trinamool Congress leadership, however, said it was yet to receive any letter. “Once we receive the letter, we would take a call on it,” said a senior TMC leader.

Trinidad and Tobago: Trespassers set idols ablaze in an attempt to burn the Shree Ram Dhaam temple

OpIndia Staff
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Trinidad and Tobago: Trespassers set idols ablaze in an attempt to burn the Shree Ram Dhaam temple

According to a Trinidad Express report, three intruders sneaked into SWAHA Shree Ram Dhaam temple and set ablaze the idols situated inside the temple in the Diego Martin town of Trinidad and Tobago. The three arsonists were armed with bolt cutters and a flammable liquid to set the temple on fire.

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island country that is the southern-most nation of the West Indies in the Caribbean.

Pandit Manideo expressed his anguish over the incident and was bemused over the plausible motive to attack the temple.

CCTV camera installed at the temple premises will aide probe agencies to investigate the matter and home in on the culprits. The CCTV footage reveals that the miscreants broke into the temple with the singular purpose of setting it on arson.

Hinduism is a popular religion in Trinidad and Tobago with over 18% of the population following it. It is the second-largest religion in the region. People of Indian origin were forcibly transported by the Britishers as indentured labourers to work on the plantations.

3 CRPF soldiers martyred in terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag, one terrorist gunned down

OpIndia Staff
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3 CRPF soldiers martyred in terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag, one terrorist gunned down

3 CRPF jawans were martyred and several others were injured when a patrol team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) came under terrorist attack in Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to reports, the CRPF patrol team was attacked by terrorists on the busy KP road in Anantnag using automatic rifles. After that, grenades were also hurled at the CRPF team. Three CRPF personnel were killed in the attack, while three others were injured, which included an inspector of the Jammu and Kashmir police.

The security forces immediately returned fire reacting to the attack, and one terrorist and one unidentified person were killed in the gunfight. Station House Officer of Anantnag Police Station Arshad Ahmed was injured in the attack, and he has been shifted to Srinagar for treatment. His condition is said to be critical.


The injured CRPF soldiers are being treated a government hospital in Anantnag.

The incident took place near the general bus stand at KP chowk when terrorists in a vehicle opened fire at the security forces, CRPF sources said. According to reports, terrorist organisation Al-Umar Mujahideen (AUM) has claimed responsibility for the attack. AUM is a frontal organisation of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and it was founded by Mustaq Zargar who was released by the Indian government after the IC814 hijack. Al-Umar Mujahideen has also threatened to carry out more terror attacks in the near future.

The entire area has been cordoned-off and additional security forces have been sent to the area. The search operation to nab the other terrorists have been started.

This attack has happened months after 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.

Koregaon Bhima violence: Pune cops raid ‘activist’ Stan Swamy’ house, seize a hard disk, dongle, take email and social media details

OpIndia Staff
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Koregaon Bhima violence: Pune cops raid ‘activist’ Stan Swamy’ house, seize a hard disk, dongle, take email and social media details

A special team of Maharashtra Police continuing to stake-out the Elgaar Parishad funding which allegedly triggered the Bhima-Koregaon violence last year, conducted searches at the home of human rights activist Stan Swamy in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, Wednesday, as part of an ongoing investigation.


An eight-member team of the Pune city police led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Swargate division, Shivaji Pawar, searched Swamy’s house around 7 am on Wednesday and seized electronic devices and details of Swamy’s social media and email accounts.

“We have not taken him into custody. We conducted this operation following a new development in the case,” said Pawar, refusing to elaborate on what the ‘new’ leads were that led to the police raid on the activist’s house for a second time.

Social activist, Stan Swamy, is a prominent critic of the Jharkhand government and an accused in the  Bhima Koregaon/Elgaar Parishad case.

The Pune police have so far booked 23 people accused in the Bhima Koregaon/Elgaar Parishad case, which include prominent activists and intellectuals. Among those who have been imprisoned in connection with the case are Dalit rights activist Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, activist Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut, retired professor Shoma Sen, activist Arun Ferreira, academic Vernon Gonsalves, poet Varavara Rao and civil rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj.

Prior to this Pune Police had on August 28, 2018, conducted raids at Father Swamy’s residence along with raiding residences of eight individuals with suspected Maoist links in connection with the Elgaar Parishad conference on 31 December 2017, which is suspected of playing a key role in inciting the violence the next day.

This conference was held to mark the 200th anniversary of a British victory over Peshwas, which has been spun by leftist historians as a ‘Dalit victory’ owing to the belief that the British army was supposedly comprised of Dalits and other lower castes while the ruling Peshwas were Brahmins.

The people raided with regards to this conference were Republican Panthers members – Sudhir Dhawale, Harshali Potdar, Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) artists – Jatiantachi Chalwal, Sagar Gorkhe, Deepak Dhengle, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap, activist – Rona Wilson and lawyer – Surendra Gadling.

On November 15, 2018, the police filed a 5,160-page chargesheet against 10 accused namely, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, lawyer Surendra Gadling, Professor Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and five absconding Maoist operatives Milind Teltumbde, Prakash alias Ritupan Goswami, Manglu, Deepu and Kishan alias Prashant Bose.

Meanwhile, a senior police official said, “Our team conducted a search at Swamy’s residence in Ranchi as part of the ongoing probe into the Elgaar Parishad case.”

Police suspect that Swamy has links with the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation, which it claims instigated Dalits into violence a day after the Elgaar Parishad event on December 31, 2017, at Bhima Koregaon in Pune. Swamy has, however, denied these charges emphatically.

Kerala: Communist govt to withdraw award given to cartoonist for mocking rape accused Bishop Franco

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Communist govt to withdraw award given to cartoonist for mocking rape accused Bishop Franco

The ‘liberal’ Kerala communist government led by Pinarayi Vijayan has created a massive controversy after it chose to withdraw its decision to award a cartoonist, who had expressed his opinion on rape accused Bishop Franco through his art form.


According to a report in Times Now, cartoonist KK Subhas had published a cartoon depicting rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal as a cockerel, while a ladies’ undergarment is seen at the end of the bishop’s staff. The Kerala Lalit Kala Academy had awarded him with the best cartoonist award for the cartoon yesterday.

However, the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council was not amused, and the KCBC spokesperson Varghese Vallikkat, a priest, said the decision to give the award to the cartoon was “highly provocative and objectionable”. The KCBC had also alleged that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had undermined priesthood in a vulgar manner.

The KCBC also questioned the LDF government whether they were taking ‘revenge’ on the community after their humiliating loss in the Lok Sabha elections. The CPM had just won one seat out of 20 seats from Kerala in the recent elections.

As supporters of the rape accused Bishop Franco has begun to criticise the government for awarding a cartoonist for expressing his opinion, the state government has now decided to withdraw the award given to the cartoonist Subhas. State Culture Minister AK Balan has examined the cartoon and confirmed that it hurts religious sentiments and that he does not agree with it.

“The state government has no role in it as the award winners were selected by a group of experts. After protests surfaced, we examined it and we found it was not right to hurt religious sentiments,” said Balan.

Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, was accused of raping a 44-year-old nun at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and subsequent sexual exploitations afterwards. The nun had registered a complaint in June 2018 and has also claimed that despite her complaints, the church took no action on the bishop.

The congregation had also stood by the rape accused and referred to him as an “innocent soul”. The Malankara Orthodox Church had been supporting the rape accused Bishop and attempts were also made to vilify the victim nun.

Despite the initial delay in the arrest of the Bishop, Kerala police acted subsequently upon the incriminating pieces of evidence present against Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Archdiocese of Jalandhar, Punjab, for allegedly raping a nun from Kerala on multiple occasions. Rape accused Bishop Franco was granted conditional bail in the case on October 15 in the case.

After his release, Bishop Franco was given a grand welcome in Jalandhar where people had arrived in large numbers. Since his release, the Missionaries of Jesus has attempted to silence those four nuns for supporting the victim nun who had accused Bishop Franco of rape.

The four nuns who had supported the rape survivor nun were asked to leave the Kuravilangad convent, and go to convents, previously assigned to them. Shockingly, apart from threats and intimidation, Father Kuriakose who had testified against Bishop Franco was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 to be launched on 15th July, ISRO releases first pictures

OpIndia Staff
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India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 to be launched on 15th July, ISRO releases first pictures

ISRO today released the first pictures of Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the moon and have scheduled July 15 as the launch date. ISRO’s Chief K Sivan announced that launch would take place at 2:51 am on 15th July from Sriharikota. Earlier ISRO had kept a launch window from July 9 to July 16 open for the launch.


The Chandrayaan-2 would comprise of three parts namely: the Orbiter, the Lander (Vikram) and the Rover (Pragyan). The Rover would be housed within the Lander. The Orbiter and the Lander would be an integrated module weighing about 3.8 tonnes. This module would be launched using a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV MK III) designed to launch satellites into geostationary orbit.

Once launched the integrated module would propel towards the moon after which the Lander will detach and land on the South Pole on 6th September as per schedule. The Rover would then conduct experiments on the lunar surface.

Earlier this month ISRO tweeted the challenges of the Moon landing procedure.


The agency had also released the first pictures of the Chandrayaan-2 mission today.


Reportedly, the Chandrayaan-2 mission would cost Rs 603 crore while the GSLV MK III would cost Rs 375 crore. There are also reports that the mission would carry several foreign payloads as well, including that of NASA.

Chandrayaan 2 being prepared by ISRO

Talking about the mission, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said: “The 15 minute operation that will see the Lander (Vikram) make the final descent will be the most terrifying moments for the agency as it has never attempted such a complex mission.”

Once launched by the GSLV rocket, the composite structure—Orbiter, Lander and Rover together—will use five orbit raising manoeuvres over 16 days. “The propulsion systems of the orbiter will be used for manoeuvres. Then we will have the translunar burns to take the composite structure closer to the Moon. After this the spacecraft will cover 3.5 lakh-km and travel there for five days,” Sivan said.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission which was launched 10 years ago was credited for the discovery of water on the lunar surface.

ISRO recently signed an MoU with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to select and train astronauts for India’s first manned mission, the Gaganyaan project. An all-weather earth observation spy satellite RISAT-2B was launched greatly boosting the country’s space capability.

No Deepika, you have no right to talk about the Kathua victim, you should hang your head in shame and shut up

Nirwa Mehta
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No Deepika, you have no right to talk about the Kathua victim, you should hang your head in shame and shut up

It requires special kind of talent to be as shameless as Deepika Singh Rajawat, the ‘celebrity’ lawyer who shot to fame for taking on the Kathua rape case last year only to be kicked out by the victim’s family for not attending the hearings in Pathankot sessions court.

The day Kathua verdict was pronounced, convicting six and acquitting one accused, Deepika Rajawat took to Twitter to make a little announcement for herself.


In November last year, in an affidavit filed at the Pathankot sessions court by the victim’s father Mohammad Yousaf, who is also the main complainant of the FIR, said Deepika will no longer be his advocate in the case and he is withdrawing the power of attorney issued to her.

Kathua rape case was top news for several weeks in the country, and Deepika was hailed as a hero of the case. It was argued that if Deepika Singh had not joined the case, the victim would have never got justice. And she became a superstar after she got a thumbs up from Hollywood star Emma Watson. In April this year, Watson tweeted “All power to Deepika Singh Rajawat”.


Deepika also had won the ‘Woman of the Year’ award by the Indian Merchants Chamber of Commerce & Industry Ladies Wing.

However, in November last year it came to light that Deepika had attended only 2 hearings in the case that was being heard by Pathankot session court. Sessions Judge Dr Tejwinder Singh was hearing the case on a daily basis as per Supreme Court order, and a total of 110 hearings had taken place already in the five and a half months. But the celebrity lawyer, who was supposed to lead the fight for justice of the victim, attended only 2 of these hearings.

According to Yousaf, the victim’s father, Deepika Rajawat had said that there was a threat to her life in Pathankot, which was why she could not go there for hearings. In view of this, Yousaf had informed the court that he was removing Deepika Rajawat from the case.

Interstingly, when the Supreme Court had moved the case to Pathankot, Deepika had projected it as a victory for her. She had also expressed her happiness at the case being transferred to a ‘safe and peaceful’ place and thanked the top court for the same. However, suddenly Pathankot became ‘unsafe’ for her.

It may be noted the Kathua rape and murder case was a criminal case, and as per law, the state fights the case against the accused. The victim need not appoint any lawyers. But often victims choose to engage private lawyers if they feel that the public prosecutors may not be able to present the case properly. But even in such cases, the private lawyers work only as assistants of the public prosecutors, they can’t work in the case independently.

Mohammad Yousaf had retained his other private advocates assisting in fighting the case but removed Rajawat. To top it, Deepika shamelessly said that she did not betray the Kathua victim and her family but her family betrayed her (for firing her for not doing her work properly).

Deepika Singh Rajawat blaming parents of Kathua victim for removing her from the case

Deepika showed off her magnanimity by claiming how she was there with them “when no one was” but now “since the rainy days have passed”, they are winding up with her “just because” she could not regularly attend the trial. She attended 2 out of 110 hearings, skipping 108 hearings. Perhaps she was too busy collecting awards and giving interviews to international publications for her ‘great work’ of skipping hearings.

And “rainy days have passed” in the above tweet probably meant the compensation from the general public who donated out of the goodness in their hearts as well as government. She very generously put up another disclaimer that she does not blame the grieving parents for removing her owing to her lack of attendance. Because it is “the human tendency which travels in genes.” Extremely classy way of blaming the victims for not doing your own duty. Wonder if all this is also covered in her book.

And now, after all this, she has written a book where she talks about her ‘journey as a lawyer who took up Kathua case as challenge in the face of threats and intimidation.’ She says the book comes out next month. We shall wait and see if she mentions the part where she abandoned the family. Or the part where she went on a wanderlust collecting awards across the world in name of Kathua victim while she could not go to Pathankot to attend the hearing.

The entire Kathua case was mired in controversy from the word go where the self-proclaimed champions of human rights took it upon themselves to get justice for the little girl. Except, the said crusaders ended up being shady characters themselves.

Advocate Talib Hussain, who was a prominent activist demanding justice for the victim, was  later accused of rape by two women. He was also accused of domestic violence and attempt to kill his wife over dowry. And then there was Rajawat, who played victim after she was fired for not doing her work.

Massive ‘surprise’! Rahul Gandhi to remain Congress president and not take responsibility for the 2019 Election debacle

OpIndia Staff
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Massive ‘surprise’! Rahul Gandhi to remain Congress president and not take responsibility for the 2019 Election debacle

In a massive “surprise”, Rahul Gandhi is set to continue as the Congress President and not take any responsibility for the 2019 Election debacle that saw Congress being wiped out in the Modi wave that gave BJP 303 seats. According to reports, the Congress Core Committee had been dissolved after the rout in the Lok Sabha elections.

After weeks of speculation regarding whether or not the Congress party will finally mend its ways and assign blame to the reluctant Dynasty who has managed to reduce the party to ashes, Randeep Surjewala clarified to the media that Rahul Gandhi was, is and will remain the President of the Congress party.

These remarks were made after the party met, under the leadership of AK Antony to discuss the party’s strategy and preparation for the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi, who wanted to resign as the party president earlier and had tendered his resignation to the Congress Committee, of which, he is the Chairperson too, was not present at this strategy meeting and neither was his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjuna Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal, Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh and Anand Sharma were present in the meeting.

For weeks after the Congress failed to stop PM Narendra Modi’s electoral march, Rahul Gandhi had played out an elaborate drama where he had pretended to want to take responsibility for the poll loss. He had tendered his resignation which was rejected. He had then reportedly said that he was steadfast in his decision to resign. However, now it is apparent that the Congress party doesn’t seem to mind sacrificing its electoral relevance as long as a member of the Gandhi Dynasty is spearheading the loss.

CBI raids 22 locations connected to mining scam, Ex-UP minister Gayatri Prajapati, SP MLC raided

OpIndia Staff
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CBI raids 22 locations connected to mining scam, Ex-UP minister Gayatri Prajapati, SP MLC raided

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at 22 locations in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi connected with the mining scam. Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh Minister Gayatri Prajapati, and Samajwadi Party’s MLC Ramesh Mishra were raided. The raids were conducted in connection with an illegal mining case.


The CBI also conducted raid at the residence of Samajwadi Party MLC Ramesh Mishra situated at Hamirpur. As per reports, Prajapati’s residence and office in Amethi were raided too.

Prajapati held the mining portfolio in Uttar Pradesh under the previous Samajwadi Party government. A case was registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the FIR was filed by the CBI against eleven people including former CM Akhilesh Yadav for alleged illegal allotment of sand licenses in Hamirpur between 2012 and 2016.

Prajapati is lodged in prison since March 2017 on the charges of the gang rape of a woman. The woman had accused Prajapati of inviting her and her daughter to his residence on the pretext of granting a mining contract and instead raped them both along with his men.

The Allahabad High Court had ordered an investigation in the illegal mining cases in 2016 during the Samajwadi Party government. The Allahabad High Court had received a complaint of illegal mining in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Kolkata: Police uses water cannons and tear gas on BJP workers protesting peacefully against political violence in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Kolkata: Police uses water cannons and tear gas on BJP workers protesting peacefully against political violence in the state

Kolkata police used water cannons and tear gas on BJP workers who were protesting against the killings of their party workers across the state this afternoon. Police stopped a group of BJP workers marching peacefully towards Kolkata Police headquarters in Lal Bazar.


The protestors were marching peacefully until they were stopped by police barricades. As the protestors attempted to climb over the barricades, police resorted to water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse the crowd resulting in chaos.

Several BJP workers have been arrested including five supporters of BJP Mahila Morcha for violating CrPC Section 144, which was imposed near the headquarters. Roads to and from Lal Bazar were barricaded. Rapid Action Force (RAF) was along with about 3,000 personnel from Kolkata Police were also deployed.

Reportedly, the Kolkata police also charged BJP workers with batons on Bipin Behari Ganguly Street. Now, leaders including Kailash Vijayvargiya, and Locket Chatterjee among others have started a sit-in protest near Kolkata Police headquarters.

The BJP had previously announced they would protest against the TMC government for the dismal failure of ensuring law and order in the state. The state has been witnessing a spate of post-poll violence. On Sunday, clashes erupted between TMC and BJP workers in Basirghat killing several BJP workers. BJP leader Mukul Roy has accused Mamata Banerjee of giving a go-ahead to TMC workers to attack BJP workers. In the wake of recent incidents of violence in the state, Roy had demanded Banerjee’s resignation as Home Minister of West Bengal.

Today, another BJP worker from Malda was reportedly found brutally murdered.

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