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Home Ministry cancels registration of Infosys Foundation over FCRA violations

OpIndia Staff
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Home Ministry cancels registration of Infosys Foundation over FCRA violations

The Home Ministry has cancelled the registration of NGO Infosys Foundation for alleged violation of norms in receiving foreign funds, according to reports. All NGOs receiving funds from abroad are mandatorily required to be registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), and violation of this rule leads to action against the NGO, including cancellation of licence.

After coming to power, the Modi government has started to crack down on NGOs operating in the country in violation of laws. As part of that, Infosys Foundation was served a show-cause notice last year for failure to submit annual income and expenditure statements on foreign funding. A total of 1775 entities were served similar notices in November 2018, and Infosys Foundation was part of that.

The notices were issued by the home ministry after these NGOs failed to file income and expenditure statement, receipts and payment account, balance sheet for up to six consecutive financial years from 2011-12 to 2016-17 despite regular reminders. The notice had said that if they fail to submit the returns for the said period by December 1, 2018, appropriate action will be taken under the FCRA.

The registration of Infosys Foundation has been cancelled as the NGO did not file its return on income and expenditure statement for the last several years within the given deadline.

When contacted by media, Infosys Foundation said that its de-registration from the FCRA as done after it had proactively requested for the same with the Ministry of Home Affairs. An official of the foundation said, “this was done as the Infosys Foundation does not come under the purview of the FCRA following the amendment made to the act in 2016. We had approached the ministry to consider this, and thank them for granting our request.”

FCRA registration is required to obtain foreign funds, and once registered under FCRA, an entity have to mandatorily file annual returns, even if it gets no foreign fund in a year. Therefore, if an NGO stop receiving fund from foreign countries and do not intend to receive foreign funds in future, it may request for de-registration from FCRA, which eliminates the paperwork needed for annual returns under the ACT. In this case, instead of submitting the pending returns as a response to the show-cause notice, the Infosys Foundation requested for de-registration from FCRA instead.

Established in 1996, Infosys Foundation is headed by Sudha Murthy, the wife of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy. The foundation supports programs in the areas of education, rural development, healthcare, arts and culture, and destitute care.

Kamal Haasan calls Godse Independent India’s first ‘Hindu terrorist’ while campaigning in a Muslim dominated area

OpIndia Staff
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Kamal Haasan calls Godse Independent India’s first ‘Hindu terrorist’ while campaigning in a Muslim dominated area

On Sunday, Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM) president Kamal Haasan, while speaking at an election rally for his party candidate in Aravakurichi assembly constituency stated that independent India’s first terrorist was a Hindu and his name was Nathuram Godse.


Haasan said, “I am not saying this because many Muslims are here. I’m saying this in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue. The first terrorist in independent India is a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse.” He claimed that he was seeking answers for Gandhi’s assassination in 1948.

“Good Indians desire for equality and want the three colours in the tricolour to remain intact. I am a good Indian, I will proudly proclaim that”, he added.

Kamal Haasan has a history of ascribing terrorism to Hinduism and has been severely criticised for his statements in the past too. His statement on Godse comes at a time when just recently Islamic State (ISIS) is claiming to have established its province in India and the Indian subcontinent has been recovering from the Easter Sunday attacks in Sr Lanka where ISIS supported terrorists have claimed over 300 lives.

Haasan’s remarks have caused a widespread reaction on social media where many have slammed the blatant Hinduphobic statement that too at a political event seeking votes.


Many have called out Haasan’s deliberate attempt to brand Godse a ‘Hindu terrorist’ pointing it out that Godse’s act was an assassination and not terrorism. They have also asked whether Haasan felt compelled to give such a statement because he was in a Muslim-dominated area.


6 phases of the Lok Sabha elections have been over and now in the last leg, many politicians are showing their desperate sides. The Model Code of Conduct bt the election commission of India bans seeking votes in the name of religion. As per latest reports, the BJP has demanded the immediate arrest of the actor.

Ex army-man endorses a coup against the government of India if Modi is elected to power again

OpIndia Staff
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Ex army-man endorses a coup against the government of India if Modi is elected to power again

As the 2019 Lok Sabha elections reach its final phase of voting, everyone seems to be getting jittery and nervous. More than Modi supporters, the ones who hate him seem to be losing their mind and sanity over the prospect of him returning to power as the prime minister again.

Amidst all this, Lt General H S Panag, a retired army-man has suggested that a coup may be a good option if PM Modi returns to power.

He took to Twitter earlier today to share an article by the leftist propaganda website ‘The Wire’ which read ‘The Great Divider of India is Now Dividing its Armed Forces’


The article was an extension of the Hinduphobic article of TIME magazine.

Responding to his tweet, a Twitter user expressed his concern that if Prime Minister Modi returns to power on the 23rd, a revolution, perhaps a coup will be needed to remove him. Lt Gen Panag (R) endorsed his views.

Lt General Panag (R) endorsing a coup

However, he deleted his tweet after he was called out for his endorsement of a coup against a democratically elected government, just because he may not like the leader elected. Lt Gen Panag (R) then backtracked and said how he meant the term ‘revolution’ in ‘modern context’.

Lt General Panag (R) shifting goal post

He even tried to justify his ‘coup’ statement by saying how he actually meant to use it as Bhagat Singh’s slogan, ‘Inqlab Zindabad’. Which is strange since Bhagat Singh led a revolution against forceful occupation and Lt Gen H S Panag (Retired) was suggesting a ‘revolution’ of a coup against a democratically elected government.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time this retired armyman has resorted to such shallow behaviour to score political points. In October 2017 after the Indian Air Force chopper crashed in the harsh terrain of Arunachal Pradesh, the mortal remains of the martyrs were airlifted. Lt Gen Panag, who once served as a Commanding Officer with the Indian Army shared misleading images of the coffins to insinuate that the government and the army deliberately disrespected the martyrs.

Guess when it comes to toeing a political line, the respect for the uniform you once donned gets thrown out of the window.

Arrest over a caricature: A curse has befallen Mamata’s Bengal

Ashish Shukla
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Arrest over a caricature: A curse has befallen Mamata’s Bengal

This is a poser for you, readers. Please tell us what’s common amongst Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu, Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejaswi Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal, Ashutosh, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, Barkha Dutt, Shekhar Gupta, Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Swara Bhaskar, Pritish Nandy, Vir Sanghvi, Karan Thapar, Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Raveesh Kumar, Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi, Ramachandra Guha, Harsh Mander, Apoorvanand, Faizan Mustafa, Siddharth Vardharajan, Sadanand Dhume, Christophe Jaffrelot etc. Stumped?

Ok, let me try to suggest a few alternatives to you: (a) They all are anti-Modi; (b) They all stand for “freedom of speech”; (c) They all are for democratic, secular values; (d) they all are against totalitarianism; (e) They all are for feminism and stand for equality and dignity of women; (f) for freedom of press; (g) they are all of the above.

One option which you all must have missed and I would name now is that they all are mostly SILENT on the arrest of BJP’s young leader Priyanka Sharma by the totalitarian government of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal.

Like they were silent when CBI officers were held as hostages; police officers under probe being shielded; violence in elections; opposition candidates unable to file their nomination papers; TMC goons forcing voters favourably in polling booths; arrests on mere chants of “Jai Shri Ram”; scuttling of Ayushman Bharat only because it’s BJP’s scheme; Refusing to pick up Modi’s phone on Fani cyclone because she doesn’t consider PM a PM; refusing to let BJP land helicopters for scheduled rally; preferring Ramzan over Durga Puja; custom officials harassed only because they found 2kg gold in the bags of wife of Mamata’s nephew; number of alleged scams etc.

I cite these instances to show how fake are these forces and the ethical and moral cloak they use to hide their agenda. But at a more urgent level, this has probably encouraged Mamata Banerjee to go berserk. Look at the issue of Priyanka Sharma. She circulates a caricature of Mamata Banerjee, imposed over the latest picture of actress Priyanka Chopra. A complaint is filed and she is sent to 14-day judicial remedy. Mind you, Priyanka Sharma hasn’t created the image, only shared it. Yet amongst thousands of such shares, she alone has been made to bear the brunt of suppression. The clear corollary is that she is made to suffer because of her political affiliation which Mamata can’t stand.

Yet these forces are silent. Even as the hashtag #ISupportPriyankaSharma on twitter is building up considerable steam. Twitteratis are so upset that they are changing profile picture with the one which has landed Priyanka Sharma in trouble. “Arrest me, if you must,” is an assertion by many twitter-users under the above hashtag. Yet none of these forces taking note. A BJP worker is jailed for sharing a photo yet it’s Modi who’s a “Hitler.”

Newspapers are wrongly defined as a bridge between people and the government. In Lutyens Media, people don’t matter. Or only a certain kind matter.  A Modi is hauled for uttering “Bhrashtachari No.1” while a Mamata Banerjee can get away literally with murder.  Remember, she recently said she would put pebbles in soil and present it as rasogoolas so it breaks Modi’s teeth? How did these forces react? Silence.

I remember an instance when RSS ideologue Prof. Rakesh Sinha had a non-bailable warrant issued against him by West Bengal police for posting a picture of his with his mother in Mahakal temple in Ujjain. The West Bengal police acted on the complaint of an individual who felt Sinha’s “provocative” picture spoilt the communal harmony in the state! An aghast Sinha didn’t know what hit him. “I haven’t even visited West Bengal in the last two years,” a baffled Prof. Sinha had said. Where was the outrage from these soldiers of “democracy”?

The sixth phase of 2019 General Elections would be over on Sunday. Election Commission, worried over the history of violence in West Bengal during elections, spread the one in the state to all seven phases. Yet, even the cover of central armed forces haven’t been much of a help. In each of the six phases so far, violence has happened; cases of rigging have been reported. Yet the names mentioned above haven’t bat even an eyelid. Shekhar Gupta, head of Editors’ Guild, instead is drooling over Mamata “fighting fire with fire, venom with venom.” A Rajdeep Sardesai is gushing and asking Mamata Banerjee the secret of her energy.

A real Mamata Banerjee is very different from the Mother Teresa-like sari she wears.  Her autobiographyconveys the image of a woman who likes to play the victim card. She is deeply insecure about losing control. She is also extremely star-struck. Just look at the number of MPs, MLAs and ministers who are stars and starlets in West Bengal. A whole lot of them were recruited in 2014 General Elections. Many more have been made candidates for the 2019 General Polls. Why, she even got a few from across the border to do her bidding.

This piece is just not about naming game. The most troubling is the intimidation which any Indian citizen in any state could be subjected to by the longest arm of the law in West Bengal. Judiciary hasn’t been much of a help. Nor the Centre who many believe should’ve imposed President’s Rule in West Bengal seasons ago. Even Islamic State declaring they have an emir in West Bengal hasn’t brought home the horrible truth that West Bengal could be a beehive of Islamic/Jihadists designs today.

West Bengal is slipping. All the ideals enshrined in our holy book, the Constitution, are being butchered today. The worry is, we are all being reduced to spectators. Some by design, some by helplessness. Time for a saviour. Maybe, May 23 could throw up light.

India does not need a statesman right now but a seasoned politician like Prime Minister Narendra Modi

vigoe
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India does not need a statesman right now but a seasoned politician like Prime Minister Narendra Modi

After rattling the opposition, particularly Congress, with his “Brashatachari No.1” remark for Rajiv Gandhi; Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the attack further to talk about the different acts of corruption that happened during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure and gave an open challenge to the Congress to fight the elections in the name of Rajiv Gandhi.

The royal family members, their Darbaris, left-liberals, basically the entire ecosystem came down heavily on the PM for insulting another former PM, a ‘martyr’. Some of the BJP sympathizers also seemed to be upset with the PM for dragging a dead person into the political debate. All of them were often seen comparing Atal Bihari Vajpayee, another PM from NDA, with the current one, Narendra Modi and crying about how Atal ji was a statesman but Narendra Modi is not.

Well, it is true. Atal ji was often called a statesman; due to his ability to take everyone along, careful selection of words while attacking his opponents, his soft and cold approach vis-a-vis Pakistan (with fighting a war with them but also indulging in talks and peace initiatives) and multiple other reasons.

But that can also be seen as the reason for his downfall in 2004. He became PM due to his core vote bank of Hindus and Nationalists, who had fought all their life against the hegemony of the Lutyens’ ecosystem on the idea of India.

He might not have realized the forces he was up against. He thought his work would speak for itself. His ‘India Shining’ was nothing but today’s ‘Sab ka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ with a different slogan. But still, he lost. Perhaps because he believed that the ecosystem would simply wither away under the weight of the good work he was doing for the country.

Congress’ narrative today is not different from what it was in 2004. If you listen to the speeches of Congress leaders from that time, you can hear the same words as today; “Secularism”, “Communal forces”, “Social Injustice”, “increase in communal disharmony”, just the lie of ‘Coffin Scam’ has been replaced with the lie of ‘Rafale Scam’.

We need to understand the forces you are up against. Where the very politicians who preside of scores of scams can still get away with accusing a squeaky clean PM of corruption despite a Supreme Court order. Where a leader can impose emergency and openly declare India as their kingdom but she is still called ‘Iron Lady’ and no comparisons are drawn with Hitler. Where thousands of communal riots take place in states ruled by the Dynasty but still they remain ‘secular’. Where in spite of no communal riots happening in any of the BJP ruled states for a long, long time, they can still be labelled as ‘communal’ without the media questioning the Congress.

This family and its ecosystem never really had India’s interests at heart. They did not think twice before killing thousands of Sikhs in a state-sponsored genocide justified by none other than the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi himself. They did not blink an eye before forgetting the deaths (and the severe effects on the livings for decades to come) of Bhopal gas tragedy while making a deal to save Anderson and his ilk. They were happy to let go of the actual terrorists to invent fake ‘Hindu Terror’ theory for votes.

Books can be written how they systematically looted India, undermined its national security, created communal disharmony, and practised socialism that ruined the country. They whitewashed their crimes by co-opting media and civil society. And then they have the audacity to give lectures about corruption to others by calling a sitting PM a “chor”. They have no shame left. Absolutely none.

Congress made this country the personal fiefdom of a handful of families who thought themselves as the new age Kings and Queens. Whether it is Lalu Yadav in Bihar, Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, Deve Gowda in Karnataka, Abdullahs in Kashmir, or the DMK in Tamil Nadu. A handful of families were ruling India and its states under the over-arching umbrella of the “first family” – The Nehru-Gandhi family. All of their next generations are now fighting elections in 2019 to reclaim their ‘birthright’.

If you want to fight such a dispensation which has become so evil that it can now stand with the statements like “Bharat tere tukde honge”; can openly declare support for special status of J&K; term the oldest civilization of the world as “intolerant and lynchers”; and disrespect our armed forces every now and then; you need a politician and not a statesman.

A politician who can give it back to them; who can expose them for what they truly are by removing the masks off their faces; who is not afraid of speaking the truth no matter how ‘disrespectful’ some might think it is; who does not give any importance to this ecosystem; who is not afraid or apologetic about his identity.

India has seen only 4 nationalist leaders in its Independent history who were not apologetic of their Hindu identity – Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now, Narendra Modi. We lost one soon after independence, lost another one under mysterious circumstances, and sacrificed the third one at the altar ‘Statesmanship’.

We cannot afford to lose another leader to the same fake narrative. Those who do not allow their former Prime Minister’s dead body in their party headquarters do not have the moral right to talk about respect.

Remember, even Lord Krishna had to take a few ‘questionable’ decisions to win the “DharamYudha”; even he had to take up arms and end Sishupal’s life when he made his 100th mistake. How many are we going to allow?

We do not need a statesman but a politician right now who can fight this evil and take them head on, unafraid of his personal image. And who better than the one who has been at the receiving end of their evil games for the last 17 years.

Rajasthan: Congress government decides to change school curriculum to portray Veer Savarkar as a traitor

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Congress government decides to change school curriculum to portray Veer Savarkar as a traitor

The Congress government in Rajasthan has decided to change the class 10 school textbooks in the state, reversing the previous BJP Government’s decision to include the contribution of freedom fighters like Veer Savarkar in the school curriculum. Now, class 10 history textbooks would not portray Veer Savarkar as a patriot, in fact, it would depict Savarkar as a traitor who begged for clemency from the British government. This has been done under the state government’s decision to revert the ‘unnecessary’ changes made in the curriculum during the previous government.

Hitting out at Congress for this decision, BJP has said that they were insulting Savarkar by ignoring the suffering he had undergone and the truthful motives behind all his actions.

Vasudev Devnani, former education minister in the Vasundhara Raje government, claimed that the Ashok Gehlot government was trying to indulge in ‘Congressisation’ of education and following a policy of minority appeasement.

The BJP government had reviewed the school curriculum in Rajasthan and as part of “curriculum re-structuring” by the State Institute of Education Research and Training, had (SIERT) included Indian personalities like “Veer Savarkar, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Suraj Mal and Mahatma Gandhi” in History books, who they felt, have not been given their due in Indian textbooks.

The Congress had then lashed out at the Vasundhara Raje government alleging that the BJP government was attempting to saffronise Rajasthan’s education system.

Moreover, two weeks after Congress ousted BJP in Rajasthan, the Ashok Gehlot-led government had declared that his government would infuse new thoughts into the education system and review textbooks and other reference material that were revised by the Vasundhara Raje-led dispensation.

However, the fact remains that the Congress ecosystem, which blamed BJP of saffronizing the education system have themselves distorted Indian history by exaggerating the work and achievements of Jawaharlal Nehru and giving less importance to the work of other freedom fighters like Vallabhbhai Patel and Bhimrao Ambedkar and  Veer Savarkar.

Congress has on several occasions attempted to malign Veer Savarkar’s contributions to India’s freedom by branding him as a “loyal colonialist”. Such is the deep-seated hatred, that Congress President Rahul Gandhi had tried to slander the freedom fighter sacrifices by portraying him a ‘traitor’ and a ‘British stooge’. A few days back, in the Congress plenary, Rahul Gandhi commented that the Savarkar begged for clemency to the British, unlike Gandhiji who spent 15 years in jail.

Notably, Gandhi’s arrests and unconditional releases by British shows that the jail experience of Savarkar and Gandhi cannot be compared. Savarkar spent 27 years in jail and under prison-restrictions between 1910 to 1937. He was sentenced to 50-years imprisonment and transported to the infamous Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (“Kaalapaani”) on July 4, 1911.

Unlike other British jails where Gandhi spent his time, the Andaman’s cellular jail had the worst conditions. It was reserved for the worst enemies of the British empire in India. Gandhi was never sent to cellular jail. And thus, Gandhi and Savarkar can never be compared as far as their jail experience is concerned. Moreover, Gandhi was arrested and let off on several occasions and was not put through the kind of torture Savarkar was.

Nevertheless, with all facts being there on the public platform, for Congress to still peddle lies and mislead people about Veer Savarkar by calling him a ‘traitor’ and now insulting the freedom fighter further by distorting facts in the school curriculum reeks of nothing but hypocrisy. The Congress’ self-absorption pulls them back from crediting India’s evolvement to anyone else apart from its own ancestry.

More Congress leaders may quit the party after 23rd: Former Congress leader makes explosive revelations

OpIndia Staff
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More Congress leaders may quit the party after 23rd: Former Congress leader makes explosive revelations

Congress District President, Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, Dr Neelam Mishra who tendered her resignation from the grand old party on Saturday after Congress General Secretary for East Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi reportedly insulted her and other office-bearers has revealed that more Congress leaders may quit the party after the Lok Sabha elections results are out on 23rd May.

Speaking to Republic TV, Mishra said that the cracks appeared in Bhadohi unit when Ramakant Yadav, former Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party as well as BJP leader, was announced as Congress’ Lok Sabha candidate for Bhadohi. “We wanted a local Bhadohi leader to be a candidate but we went with the party decision keeping in mind our devotion to the party. However, Ramakant Yadav made anti-Brahmin comments which did not go down well with the people of Bhadohi. We can’t help it if there are more Brahmins in the district unit,” she said.

Mishra said that throughout the campaigning, Yadav boycotted the party and even had his autocratic way of handling things. “The worst part is that the party was accepting this behaviour,” she said. Mishra added that while she had written to the Pradesh committee as well as to party president Rahul Gandhi, no one paid any heed to the sentiments of the leaders.

In an event on Friday, May 10, which was also attended by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Mishra alleges that Yadav did not let anyone from the district party unit come. Mishra took up the matter to Priyanka to tell her how the district unit is feeling sidelined and insulted. To that, Priyanka, retorted by saying that it is okay if she and others feel insulted. “Aap apmanit mehsus kar rahi hai to karte rahiye (if you are feeling insulted, then continue feeling so),” she said.

This was the last straw, following which Mishra revolted and quit the party. “Expect many more resignations after the 23rd,” she said. She added that no one in the party is open to feedback and that the internal democracy that Congress harps about is nothing but a farce.

How Prime Minister Modi hauled Indian Express over the coals in his interview

Ashish Shukla
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How Prime Minister Modi hauled Indian Express over the coals in his interview

Two gone, three to go. In this election season, I was waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interviews to Ananda Bazar Patrika, Indian Express, The Hindu, NDTV and India Today (Rajdeep Sardesai). The first two in the list are through. The other three might actually avoid one-to-ones. If they missed the underlying theme in the ABP interview, the one against Indian Express would’ve absolutely hit them in the face. 

The media outlets mentioned here have anti-Modiism, some call it anti-Hinduism, in their genes. Some dub it ‘Left-Liberal’ cabal, some term they as Left’s errand boys and some others still see foreign hands as their remote control. All of this shouldn’t concern us here: insinuations are conjectures and instances are the real deal. The “real deal” is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi served up to Indian Express in their own backyard. Hostages in own home would be an apt analogy.

Modi’s words must be hot oil in the ears of Indian Express loyalists. I don’t know whether they cried for help since neither of the two Indian Express interviewers (Ravish Kumar and Raj Kamal Jha) could challenge Modi’s verbal onslaughts. Let me list out the excerpts of the interview for readers:

The Alwar Rape: Your paper has always been at the forefront of raising issues relating to crime against the backward community. (But when) A Dalit girl is raped in Alwar, it doesn’t become a headline in The Indian Express till May 6 (when polls are concluded in Rajasthan). It will raise questions on the neutrality of the Indian Express. It was not there until May 6 because there was polling till then. Can you listen to it? Whether you like it or not? You can also all the questions to me but if I make a counter-question, we are called offensive (and you champion of freedom of speech).

Hate speech: Someone shares one’s experience of custodial torture (or just saying `I am not a terrorist’) its considered hate speech. But when someone calls Hindu terrorists, it’s not a hate speech. When a terrorist receives death from the Supreme Court of India, there was a headline (in your newspaper) “And they hanged him.” But that was free speech, wasn’t it? Yeh jo do taraju hai na, mera neutrality se jhagda is baat ka hai(my quarrel is with the different scales of neutrality).

Democracy in peril: Like you must ask some questions to us (government) for the sake of democracy, similar probing questions should be asked to others also for democracy, isn’t it? This is my quarrel. It was a remote-controlled government for 10 years. How many in press conferences did you ask from those holding the remote control? An illegal institution was created which could overrule the PM. Did you ask them about democracy (being in danger)? Questions like what you are asking me? …A cabinet decision was torn (by Rahul Gandhi in public. Loktantra aap mujhe sikhaoge kya? Kabhi poochha kya(You will teach me democracy? Did you ever ask them?)

Freedom of Speech: Chor has been a democratic word for the last one year but corrupt is a derogatory word for you. What is the dictionary of yours? Ek aadmi ki chhavi chor-chor-chor-chor chal raha hai, appko us par kuchh nahin hai.  Your paper is at the forefront of protecting freedom of speech. But when people ar booked by police in MP for chanting “Modi, Modi”, it missed your front page. You are free to highlight Rahul Gandhi if you want to help him. It’s your call.

Journalism of Courage: Did the Indian Express, which does investigative journalism, write that 100 per cent electrification has been achieved after Governor’s rule (in J & K). Isn’t it news? Not a single incident of violence during elections in Jammu and Kashmir (Not a news)? More than 100 killed in violence during the panchayat elections in West Bengal (not news)? Meri deshbhakti Jammu and Kashmir mein dikhti nahin aapko kya? Bundles of notes have begun resurfacing (in the states Congress has come back to power). This may not have been a corruption for Express which does investigative journalism. The (missing) money meant for feeding the poor kids in Bhopal. Farm loan waiver, unemployment allowance for unemployed youth (the promises for which are still pending).

Now you cannot frighten us with the veil of media…Earlier when I used to pick up the Indian Express it wouldn’t matter to me whether a report is by Ravish or Rahul or someone else…but with the advent of social media, I can look at 50 tweets of Ravish and make an impression. Aaj aap benaqab ho gaye hain, sabhi patrakar(Today the masks are off all journalists). Isliye aaj aapki pratishtha jo daaon pe lagi hai, iske kaaran lagi hai(That’s why if your reputation is on the line, it’s because of that).

But you have made an image of me as someone who will censor. If someone is casteist, you have no problem.

And the final nail in the coffin to the question:

What was not possible for your government even with 282 (seats)

The answer? ‘Getting the Indian Express to be objective in criticism of Modi’.

How Aatish Taseer, who is playing the victim now, had dragged Vasundhara Raje’s personal life into politics in 2017

Abhishek Banerjee
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How Aatish Taseer, who is playing the victim now, had dragged Vasundhara Raje’s personal life into politics in 2017

Aatish Taseer is the man behind TIME magazine’s now-infamous headline describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “Divider in Chief”. The other day I wrote a piece bitterly criticizing TIME magazine for this, the agenda, the propaganda, the half-truths and the thinly disguised Hinduphobia. I believe I did not even name Taseer in my article, keeping my criticism strictly within the realm of ideas.

Now the internet being the internet, some people dug up the fact that Aatish Taseer’s father was a powerful Pakistani politician and tried to link his criticism of PM Modi to his parentage. Perhaps unfortunate, perhaps not.

What I do know is this: Aatish Taseer does not seem too pleased with people talking about this.

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It is only a matter of time before the “victimhood” of Aatish Taseer becomes a full-fledged national tragedy and part of the liberal lore of “intolerance” in Modi’s India. Who knows, it may even become fodder for another article in TIME or NYT or Economist or something like that.

This reminded me of something that Aatish Taseer had written about another person in the New York Times back in 2017. Here is an extract:

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First, one aside: If smoking is one of the alleged benefits of liberal values, let me just hope that all of humanity, men and women are forever protected from the scourge of such liberalism.

Can you imagine if the possible smoking, drinking habits and the relationship history of a female politician from a ‘secular’ party had thus been raked up and published in an international newspaper?

Could Aatish Taseer have made a case for “liberal values” (whatever those are) without discussing the personal life of Vasundhara Raje in public? For the sake of those much vaunted “liberal values”, let us at least hope so.

But then, perhaps when you grow up in an atmosphere of Lutyens palace intrigue, gossiping about other people becomes your only way to try and make a point.

At that time in 2017 when this NYTimes piece appeared, I wrote about it, asking Barkha Dutt if she would call Aatish Taseer a “troll”.

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This was done in response to something that Barkha had asked the public around that time.

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Good point Barkha. Indeed, why does the scrutiny of female public figures involve their marriages, divorces and affairs? I agree with your sentiment. I just wanted to know if you would like to describe Aatish Taseer and the New York Times as “trolls” for discussing Vasundhara Raje’s personal life.

I don’t think Barkha responded to my question.

But now that Aatish is on Barkha’s show, I am guessing her answer is “NO”.

It appears that the current wave of sympathy in Lutyens for Aatish Taseer is yet another attempt to establish a double standard in public life. It would appear that all forms of “ethics” exist only to protect the sentiments of the privileged liberal elite. Should you dare to associate with the party of the cultural subalterns, everything is suddenly fair game.

Except it isn’t. Unless you are willing to speak up for the freedom of expression of those you do not like, you don’t really believe in free speech at all. Unless you are willing to take an ethical stand for the dignity of your political opponents, you don’t believe in ethics at all.

But they wouldn’t understand. They have gone so far down the wrong path that it’s become a way of life for them.

Amit Shah denied permission to hold Jadavpur rally and land his chopper in Mamata’s West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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Amit Shah denied permission to hold Jadavpur rally and land his chopper in Mamata’s West Bengal

BJP President Amit Shah’ rally in West Bengal’s Jadavpur area, in the run-up to the last phase of Lok Sabha elections, stood cancelled, as he was denied permission to hold the rally.

Furthermore, Amit Shah was also denied permission to land his chopper in West Bengal.


Mamata Banerjee, jittery of losing her grip on her state has been resorting to such dirty tricks earlier too. In January this year, in her attempt to restrain the BJP president from carrying through his rally scheduled in West Bengal’s Malda district, she had blocked Amit Shah’s chopper landing in the Malda Airport. She turned to a flimsy excuse as the Airport being under construction to bar Amit Shah.

Moreover, the begrudging Trinamool goons who operate freely under Mamata’s protection had on January 29 vandalised several vehicles used for Amit Shah’s rally in East Midnapore.

Public properties, private bikes and buses were in flames as violence enraged. After the incident, BJP blamed the ruling TMC in West Bengal and held the party responsible for the attack.

Soon after Shah left the spot, supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had clashed with each other. The two sides pelted stones at each other and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) had to be called in to control the situation.

Mamata, wary of her opponents, had earlier denied permission to BJP to carry out their proposed ‘rath yatra’, which the party had planned to flag from Cooch Behar on December 7 2018, citing threats of ‘communal disharmony’ in the state.

In yet another attempt to impede political rallies of Bharatiya Janta Party in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress-led government of the state had denied permission to UP CM Yogi Aditiynath’s rally in February.

Mamata Banerjee’s government had denied permission to BJP leaders Shahnawaz Hussain and Shivraj Singh Chouhan to hold rallies in her state too. Recently, Mamata Banerjee had lied that the PM did not call her after Cyclone Fani. The lie was busted by the PMO when they had revealed that the PMO had tried to get in touch with her twice on behalf of the PM but Mamata had never returned the call. The TMC government had also declined to hold a review meeting with the PM over the relief and reconstruction works after Cyclone Fani.

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