Home Blog Page 6489

‘Neutral’ blogger Dhruv Rathee gets satirical video deleted which shows him “exposing” Arvind Kejriwal

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Neutral’ blogger Dhruv Rathee gets satirical video deleted which shows him “exposing” Arvind Kejriwal

On January 19 this year, pro-AAP propaganda video blogger Dhruv Rathee had uploaded a video on his Youtube channel to explain how politicians circumvent difficult questions asked in TV debates. To explain this behaviour of politicians, he had one person with him performing the role of a politician. This actor had a large saffron tilak on his forehead, and a beads necklace around the neck which looks like rudraksha. The appearance of the actor leaves nothing to the imagination which politicians are targeted by Dhruv Rathee while explaining the logical fallacies of politicians, and the ‘politician’ is a big Modi supporter named Andh Bhakt Banerjee. Several clips of the interview of the ‘sanghi’ politician taken by ‘journalist’ Dhruva Rathee were inserted in a monologue by Rahtee who explains various logical fallacies of politicians. The interview clips were used as examples of what Rathee is explaining.

Politicians of all ideologies and parties use the logical fallacies like strawman argument, slippery slope, circular argument, red herring etc, but the video implied that only BJP politicians indulge in such tactics.

To drive home the point that such tactics are used by politicians from other parties also, another Youtube channel edited the video and uploaded the same on Youtube. In this video, the monologue by Dhruv Rathee was retained but the fake interview used in the video as examples of the fallacies were removed, and they were replaced with actual interviews and speeches of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Although the clips were replaced, it didn’t change the narrative of the video, the clips of Kejriwal exactly matched with the arguments made by Dhruv Rathee in his video. The clips used in the edited video shows Kejriwal using the same tactics which were presented in the video as used by only BJP leaders.

The edited video made it look like that Dhruv Rathee was exposing the AAP supremo while explaining logical fallacies, and as Dhruv is known for his pro-AAP stand, it came as a big embarrassment for him. Hence he has got the video deleted from YouTube citing copyright violations, which had more than 50 thousand views before deletion.


The owner of the channel also informed that the channel was suspended by Youtube for getting a copyright violation strike. Hence he has uploaded the video on other websites. The video can be seen below.

[googleapps domain=”drive” dir=”file/d/1DMlQN42eDjeDCRbsQ4uQCNoYOYKrP5S8/preview” query=”” width=”640″ height=”480″ /]

It can be seen that the video was edited as satire to make a point, to prove that Arvind Keirwal also uses the same tactics as explained in the original video. The edited video actually proved Dhruv Rathee correct, as there were real-life examples of his explanations. Moreover, the use of original work for analysis, review or satirical purposes is not illegal, but he still got the video deleted.

Read also: Dhruv Rathee speaks the same language as the terrorist who killed 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama attack

2019 General Election in Odisha: A round up and analysis of 21 parliamentary constituencies

Sambit Nayak
-
0
2019 General Election in Odisha: A round up and analysis of 21 parliamentary constituencies

Odisha is among the 4 states going for simultaneous assembly and general elections on April 11, along with Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunanchal Pradesh. Hence, the general elections hold special significance here as voting pattern will be an amalgamation of local as well as national issues. After the coalition between BJP and BJD broke in 2009, BJD has been quite sturdy in holding their fort. At peak Modi wave in 2014, which saw a single party passing the simple majority mark after 30 years, Naveen’s charisma and electoral acumen totally steamrolled all competition and anti incumbency whatsoever. BJD won 20 out of 21 seats and the only seat that BJP’s Jual Oram won saw a slender margin of 18,829 votes.

After Modi government came to power, they have been trying to gain grounds in Odisha and West Bengal which can make up for seats they may lose elsewhere in North and Western India. With both parties claiming the Lion’s share in the upcoming general elections in Odisha, we have tried to provide you a constituency wise ring side view.

South And Central Odisha

Nabrangpur

Nabarangpur possibly can be one constituency where Congress may have a little edge. Traditionally a Congress stronghold, it went to BJP in 1999 and 2004. It came back to Congress’s Pradeep Majhi in 2009. Incumbent, Balabhadra Majhi won by a margin of a meagre 2042 votes against Pradeep in 2014. However, Balabhadra Majhi was denied a ticket by BJD this time.

He resigned from the party and joined BJP. He is contesting on a BJP ticket. Pradeep is said to be close to central leadership and Rahul Gandhi. It is rumoured that, Pradeep is the one calling the shots on party ticket distribution in South Odisha. Many party biggies including veteran and MLA from Jeypore, Taraprasad Bahinipati are not happy with Pradeep for alleged unfairness in ticket distribution.

Koraput

Koraput has the distinction of having its ex-MP, Giridhar Gamango, winning 9 Lok Sabha election on Congress ticket. In 1999, Hema Gamango, wife of Giridhar Gamango won on a BJD ticket. However, the Congress strongman has now shifted his camp to BJP, though he isn’t contesting the election.

Last time, he lost to BJD candidate Jhina Hikaka by 20,000 votes. BJD has given ticket to incumbent Jhina Hikaka’s wife Kaushalya Hikaka. Congress’s candidate is former Rayagada MLA Late Rama Chandra Ulaka’s son Saptagiri Ulaka. BJP has brought in disgruntled ex BJD MP Jairam Pangi who represented Koraput between 2009-14, with active support from Gamango.

Kalahandi

Kalahandi PC has been an equal opportunity provider in terms of triangular contest that Odisha sees. It was a BJP stronghold during the times of Bikram Keshari Deo, royal and father of incumbent Arka Keshari Deo. In 2009, it went to Congress’s Bhakta Charan Das. After the death of Bikram Keshari, son Arka joined BJD and won in 2014. He has been denied a ticket this time.

BJD has brought in Dharamgarh MLA and royal Pushpendra Singh Deo. BJP has reposed faith in state president Basanta Panda while Congress has put up its old warhorse Bhakta Charan Das.

Kandhamal

This PC is going to see an interesting battle. Achyuta Samanta, educationist, philanthropist, current Rajya Sabha MP and social worker – I just stopped from naming Toni Stark – has been propped up by BJD. BJP has brought in 3 times MP from coastal district up North Balasore who was a former Indian Railways officer. Swain fell out with BJP in 2010, formed his own party “Utkala Bharata”, and joined back BJP as recently as last week. Achyuta Samanta is the chairman of the largest private deemed university in Odisha which also runs Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). It’s a free schooling and boarding facility for 25,000 underprivileged tribal kids; runs a mega kitchen, which was featured in a Nat Geo series with the same name; provides free food and boarding to the students.

He recently courted controversy by announcing to open a Christian only school in Kandhamal. Kandhamal is the hotbed of missionary activities in Odisha. in 2009, missionary activists killed Swami Achyutananda Saraswati, who was working against conversion. This started  wide spread riots. Sangh has been quite active in this region working against rampant conversion. Kharabela’s nomination has Green signal from Sangh as well as Jalaspeta Ashram, which was established by Swami Achyutananda.

Aska

CM’s home turf. BJD’s stronghold since 1998. Naveen Patnaik himself was MP from Aska for 3 terms before he became CM. Incumbent Late Ladu Kishore Swain died of a Kidney ailment in February this year. BJD has sprung a surprise by nominating Pramila Bisoi, a women Self Help Group worker as its candidate.

This also cements BJD’s position on 33% women quota. BJP’s Anita Subhadarshini is also making her election debut; however, she isn’t new to politics. She hails from a political family being daughter of Rama Krushna Patnaik, ex minister and MLA. Congress has not decided on any candidate till now.

Berhampur

Geographically, next to Aska. In fact both belong to Ganjam district. The only district in Odisha to have 2 parliamentary constituencies. BJD denied ticket to its 2 time MP actor-turned-politician, Siddhant Mahapatra. BJD’s Chandra Shekhar Sahu was ex Congress MP in 2004. BJP’s state secretary Bhrugu Baxipatra, who is also ex MLA of Jeypore has been given the party ticket from Berhampur. 

West and North Odisha

Balangir

Battle Royale. BJP’s Sangeeta Singh Deo is Kalikesh’s sister-in-law. She won Balangir PC in 1998, 1999 and 2004. Since then, it has been Kalikesh’s fiefdom. Her husband KV Singh Deo is ex BJP state chief and a party senior while Kalikesh’s father AU Singhdeo is a BJD stalwart. Incidentally, Kalikesh is the only sitting MP of BJD from Western and Souther Odisha who has been given ticket in 2019.

Bargarh

Prasanna Acharya is a BJD veteran. Won Sambalpur Lok Sabha PC in 1998 and 1999. Bargarh PC didn’t exist then. Was elected to Odisha assembly from Redhakhol which comes under Sambalpur PC, in 2009. Is part of RS since 2016. His nephew is contesting Bargarh assembly seat this time. CM Naveen Patnaik is contesting Bijepur AC which comes under Bargarh PC. BJP did spring a surprise in Bargarh and Sambalpur, which some term as a disastrous move. VHP long timer Subash Chauhan, who lost Bargarh on BJP ticket in 2014, had the narrowest margin among all BJP candidates in Odisha. Polled 33.12% vote and lost by a mere 11,178 votes.

In fact, he polled maximum votes among all BJP candidates in Odisha, more than the only BJP candidate who won, Jual Oram. However, BJP decided to field Suresh Pujari, who contested from Sambalpur in 2014 from Bargarh this time. He is a national secretary of BJP. Subash Chauhan has since joined BJD and has took 9 zilla parishad chairman along with him. One reason political observers are attributing behind this surprising move is, Sambalpur AC candidate Jay Narayan Mishra and Suresh Pujari don’t gel very well. To avoid any possible infighting, BJP decided to shift Suresh Pujari to Bargarh. May 23 will tell us if this precautionary move will backfire or not.

Sambalpur

Nalini Kanta Pradhan is a ex Secretary, works department, who joined BJD in 1st week of March. He is attributed with some of the major infrastructure work BJD government has undertaken including 2 bridges over Mahanadi river in Sambalpur district. He also drew flak for the inordinate delay in Bomikhal over bridge in Bhubaneswar which caused couple of deaths due to poor workmanship.

BJP has moved Deogarh royal and incumbent MLA Nitesh Gang Deb to Sambalpur PC. He was earlier with Congress and had moved to BJP before 2014 general elections. He is considered to be very popular in Deogarh and adjacent areas. Polled around 50% votes in 2014 assembly elections.

Sundargarh

This seat is going to see a triangular contest. While BJD true to its 33% women reservation plank has given ticket to Congress strong man and former CM Hemanand Biswal’s daughter Sunita Biswal, Congress has brought in Birmitrapur MLA George Tirkey. George, earlier an independent who also contested from Samata Kranti Dal, recently joined Congress. He has major influence over Christian votes. BJP has again reposed faith in union minister Jual Oram. While Jual is strong in Bonai and Talasara, George will influence Birmitrapur. Sunita’s father Hemanand is a Sundargara town local and enjoys popular support there.

The 2 urban constituencies in Rourkela city, Rourkela and Raghunathpali can well be the decider in this hotly contested PC which incidentally is the only PC which BJP won in 2014. BJP MLA from Rourkela, Dilip Ray resigning from the party on non fulfilment of promises made by PM himself on super speciality medical college and hospital and Brahmani Bridge upgradation are issues that may play spoiler to BJP’s plan in Rourkela. Dilip’s recent visit to Naveen Nivas has set the rumour mills spinning.

Keonjhar

Mineral rich constituency where the most affluent MLAs of Odisha come from. In fact, during mining boom, 3 of India’s top 4 tax payers where from Keonjhar. Even with so much money in play, the district has not seen any major turnaround in its fortune. Last time, BJD surprised everyone by announcing Shakuntala Laguri as its candidate at the last moment who went on to win this seat for her party.

BJP still reposes faith in Anant Nayak who won Keonjhar in 1999 and 2004 but has not seen any political success since then though he continues to contest election from the same seat. BJD is still undecided and holds its card close to its chest though it’s rumoured that Champua MLA Sanatan Mahakud has convinced Naveen Patnaik to field Chandrani Murmu. She is the grand daughter of Congress ex-MP from Keonjhar Harihar Soren.

Mayurbhanj

Scam tainted BJD MP Rama Chandra Hansdah, who spent several months in jail after he was arrested by CBI in 2014 for the chit fund scam has been dropped. BJD has brought in Dr. Debasish Marandi, who joined BJD in 2017 after quitting NALCO as senior medical officer. BJP has named RSS activist Bisweswar Tudu as its candidate.

Coastal Odisha

Baleswar

The northern most coastal district of Odisha which shares its boundary with Bengal. BJP has again fielded long time RSS man and twice Nilagiri MLA Pratap Sarangi, widely seen as a very honest and upright man. BJD, despite facing anti incumbency has gone ahead with Rabindra Jena. Congress has fielded state president Niranjan Patnaik’s son Nabajyoti Patnaik after ex MP Shrikant Jena was dismissed from the party.

Bhadrak

BJD has fielded a new face in Bhadrak this time, Smt Manjulata Mandal. After 6 time MP  and one of the founding member of BJD, who worked closely with Biju Patnaik, Arjun Sethi was denied to meet CM at Naveen Nivas, he in a scathing letter, submitted his resignation from the party. Hours later, he joined BJP and the party rewarded him by fielding his son Abhimanyu Sethi from Bhadrak.

This is going to be a battle between BJD’s organisational power with a new comer vs a disgruntled 6 times MP who is now with BJP. The equation has changed considerably in last few days after BJP’s announcement.

Jajpur

Jajpur always had a BJD MP since the party’s inception in 1997 and most of party’s stalwarts including current generation of MLAs who call the shots within the party are from Jajpur. Rita Tarai, current MP from BJD has been denied ticket and a new face Sharmistha Sethi has been nominated. Ex-MP Mohan Jena, who was expecting a ticket has quit BJD alleging irregularity in ticket distribution. BJP’s Amiya Mallick, who came 3rd in 2014 has been asked to contest from Jajpur again.

Kendrapara

One of the most interesting battle of Odisha that has the nation’s eye set on it. The fall out of Baijayant Panda with Naveen Patnaik grabbed massive media limelight. After 9 months of delay, Jay Panda joined BJP and was appointed national vice president as well as national spokesperson. Baijayant Panda has been touring the district extensively through out his tenure. His joining of BJP was followed by induction of some senior disgruntled BJD party members. Naveen being as vindictive as he is known to be, will definitely try to obliterate Panda’s political career. He has brought in current Rajya Sabha MP and a very popular actor across the state, Anubhav Mohanty to contest against Panda.

Though, some say the battle is not evenly poised as Anubhav has never contested a direct election and has no base in Kendrapara, knowing Naveen, he must have given it a lot of thought before fielding him. Also, star powers have done wonders in Indian elections before and can not be overlooked. Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra, a local strongman, who recently left BJP has rejoined after much cajoling from Panda and adds to his firepower.

Jagatsinghpur

Sitting MP Kulamani Samal has been denied party ticket as BJD, sticking to its 33% women’s quota, has fielded Tirtol MLA Dr. Rajashree Mallick from Jagatsinghpur. Jagatsinghpur is also a Congress stronghold where the Biswal brothers duo, Ranjib Biswal and Chiranjib Biswal, son of ex Dy CM Basanta Biswal have entrenched their roots. This remains the only constituency where BJP is yet to announce their candidate.

Dhenkanal

After current MP Tathagata Satapathy resigned from the party and announced that he won’t be contesting elections henceforth, BJD is still undecided on Dhenkanal. BJP is depending on ex Rajya Sabha MP Rudra Narayan Pani while Congress has brought in its old war horse, ex MP and former union minister KP Singh Deo. It will be interesting to see how the 2nd innings in Deo’s political career plays out.

Cuttack

One of the most prestigious seat of Odisha. BJD, after an inordinate delay, has reposed faith on 5 times MP Bhartuhari Mahatab. BJP has deployed former IPS and Odisha DG Prakash Mishra. Mishra shares an interesting history with Naveen Patnaik. While serving as Odisha Police DG, he was all set to be CBI’s chief after Ranjit Sinha’s retirement when Naveen’s government filed a vigilance case against him.

Mishra moved to HC against this and HC gave government a severe dressing down to Naveen’s government to have harassed officer of Mishra’s stature without any prima facie evidence. But by then, it was too late and Mishra missed the bus. He was appointed CRPF DG later before he retired. Prakash Mishra enjoys a clean image while Bhartuhari is a long timer and experienced politician.

Bhubaneswar

This is going to be a face off between ex bureaucrats. BJD has fielded former IPS and Mumbai top cop Arup Patnaik, who joined BJD last year and has been given the charge of Biju Yuva Vahini, BJD’s “Youth Volunteer” programme. BJP has brought in former IAS Aparajita Sarangi, a well known face in Bhubaneswar urban household.

Before moving to central cadre, known as a no-nonsense officer, she brought in some visible change in public sphere while serving in different roles as BMC commissioner, secretary of mass education department and director of mission Shakti, BJD’s government’s flagship scheme for women emancipation.

Puri

Apart from Kendrapara, this is another PC in Odisha, which is getting some national attention, courtesy, BJP national spokesperson and a familiar face on TV, Dr. Sambit Patra is contesting against BJD’s Pinaki Mishra, senior advocate in SC and 2 times MP from Puri. Congress has fielded ex-journalist and anchor Satya Nayak. Among all ACs, BJP is weakest in Puri and Pipili. Yesterday’s assembly ticket announcement from BJD cemented that further when BJD yet again gave ticket to Pipili strongman Pradip Maharathi despite some serious allegations against him for which he had to resign from his minister post. Maheswar Mohanty, MLA from Puri enjoys good popularity among the Jagannath sevayat community and the Telugu fisher folks.

Jayanta Sarangi, ex-chairman of Puri municipality and BJD party member, has joined BJP and may be able to salvage some pride for BJP in Puri town. The other 5 ACs are equally poised. If Lalitendu Mahapatra and Pratyusha Rajeswari can tilt the game in favour of BJP from Bramhagiri and Nayagarh, Puri might be a close contest.

With leaders from both BJP and BJD going all guns blazing, a hot, humid and long summer awaits Odisha’s electorate who will decide the fate of 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Vidhan Sabha seats between 11th to 29th April. We wish all the candidates all the luck and more importantly good health who are going to campaign in the blistering heat for the next 1 month.

Actress who played Sonia Gandhi in Bollywood movie was ‘checked’ by Facebook for political content

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Actress who played Sonia Gandhi in Bollywood movie was ‘checked’ by Facebook for political content

Suzanne Bernert, the actress who played the role of Sonia Gandhi in the film The Accidental Prime Minister, today has revealed that Facebook had ‘checked’ her Facebook account for ‘political content’.


Bernert was responding to MyNation Editor Abhijit Majumder who was voicing his protest against Facebook for taking down MyNation Facebook page with over a million followers in what could be seen as one of the biggest purges the social networking giant has undertaken just ahead of the 2019 General Elections.

Bernert said that someone from Facebook physically went to meet her and verify her address despite her writing to them that she is just an actress. She had played the role of Sonia Gandhi in the film ‘The Accidental Prime Minister‘ which was released earlier this year which took the audience through the ten-year journey of the UPA era.

While Bernert’s account was not taken down, MyNation’s account was, even though it was a verified page for the media outlet. In his tweets, Majumder mentioned that MyNation’s Facebook account was verified just two weeks prior and asked if the page was violating any rules, how come it was not flagged back then itself.


He added how the purging which comes just days before the general elections along the Cambridge Analytica baggage Facebook carries with itself and the political ideology it follows, raises quite a few questions.

Yesterday, Facebook had announced that it had brought down hundreds of pages for alleged violation of policies by engaging in ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour’ and ‘spam’ from India and Pakistan. Various pages and groups were removed which violated Facebook policies and rules. Among them, MyNation Facebook page was also brought down without notice or trial.

Bigger bindi on forehead means frequently changing husbands: Congress ally’s vile remarks against Smriti Irani

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bigger bindi on forehead means frequently changing husbands: Congress ally’s vile remarks against Smriti Irani

As Smriti Irani is all set to take on Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party and its allies have already begun to abuse her with crass sexist slurs.

This time it is Congress-ally Jaydeep Kawade of the People Republican Party, who has now resorted to a deplorable sexist remark against Smriti Irani.

“Smriti Irani sits next to Nitin Gadkari in the Parliament and says that they will change the Constitution. Let me tell you something about her. I have heard that the bindi gets bigger as she changes husbands” said Jaydeep Kawade.

The rant reportedly continued as Kawade added that changing Ambedkar’s constitution is not as easy as changing husbands.

Jaydeep Kawade s the son of People’s Republican party president Jogendra Kawade. Kawade’s PRP is part of the anti-BJP grand alliance in Maharashtra, which includes the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress and Peasants and Workers Party of India.

However, Smriti Irani is not a new victim of such personal abuse as it appears that the political rise of Smriti Irani in recent times has given a scare to the opposition parties, especially the Congress. As soon as she announced that she would be contesting against Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party and their ecosystem have been targetting her.

The Telegraph, a controversial leftist media organisation had in the past tried to defame Smriti Irani by deliberately misinterpreting statements made by her against Congress President Rahul Gandhi and had claimed that Smriti Irani had actually questioned the Congress party’s ‘manhood’.

Last year, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh had shockingly resorted to a sexist slur against Union Minister Smriti Irani by calling her “Hatti-Katti gai” (a well-built cow).

Sensing a defeat in his bastion of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh from Union Minister Smriti Irani, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a backup plan.

The speculations of Rahul Gandhi contesting from a minority dominated constituency was on the cards as some of the senior Congress leaders had hinted that Rahul Gandhi might find it hard to secure a victory in Hindu majority constituency like Amethi. The Congress president was reportedly looking for a safe seat for that reason. Hence, Congress Party is on a contingency plan to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, which has 29% Muslim votes and another 21% Christian votes.

Communal Violence Bill 2.0? Congress promises new law for ‘hate crimes’ in manifesto

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Communal Violence Bill 2.0? Congress promises new law for ‘hate crimes’ in manifesto

In recent times, a concerted effort has been launched by the ‘intellectual elite’ to paint Hindus as aggressors and Muslims as victims of hate crimes even if the crime was not motivated by religion. IndiaSpend’s faulty ‘hate tracker‘ is one such initiative. The MASUKA was another.

Speculations have been made that ‘civil society’ was laying down the foundations for Communal Violence Bill 2.0. The Congress manifesto, it appears, confirms such speculations.

It says on page 42:

“We will pass a new law in the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha to prevent and punish hate crimes such as mob-engineered stripping, burning and lynching. The law will contain provisions to compensate the victims and to hold accountable the police and district administration for proven negligence.”

Although the manifesto does not make any references to religion, the past conduct of the Congress party in this regard is abundant confirmation of where it’s heading. Considering the extremely anti-Hindu nature of the Communal Violence Bill, it appears almost certain that any Violence Bill proposed by the Congress will follow along the same lines.

The MASUKA is a draft legislation that was created to address exactly the issues mentioned in the Congress manifesto. It casts a wide net to cover offences under such Acts, including defining victims as those who have suffered even ‘mental and psychological harm’, the goal is to make it extremely tough to even protect oneself from actual crimes in these scenarios. An excellent critique of MASUKA has been made here.

Considering the fact that the Congress party charged a group of individuals from foreign funded NGOs to draft the Communal Violence Bill and that the grounds for new legislation on the specific issues were laid by these same sections of ‘Civil Society’, it appears certain that the new law will have the same anti-Hindu slant as the previously touted Bill. Moreover, the Congress party has also laid strong emphasis on strengthening ‘Civil Society’ in its manifesto.

Most significantly, the victims of ‘hate crimes’ invariably turn out to be members of the minority community according to ‘civil society‘ even when the motivations aren’t religious. Similarly, Hindus are not called victims of hate crimes even when the motivations are religious.

SC declines urgent hearing of Hardik Patel’s plea against conviction, 2 days left for nomination filing deadline

OpIndia Staff
-
0
SC declines urgent hearing of Hardik Patel’s plea against conviction, 2 days left for nomination filing deadline

In yet another jolt to the political career for the newly inducted member of the Congress party and Patidar leader, Hardik Patel, the Supreme court has declined a plea seeking an urgent hearing on his conviction in a riot case Tuesday.

On March 29, the Congress leader had received a major blow from the Gujarat High court, which, by declining his plea seeking the suspension of his conviction in a rioting case in 2015 had put his political aspirations in jeopardy.

Patel had sought the suspension as due to his conviction he is barred under the Representation of People Act, 1951, from contesting the Lok Sabha elections.

Now, with barely two days left for the last date of nomination filing, the Supreme Court’s decision to not hear his plea leaves Hardik Patel in a tight spot. He may have to give up his hopes of contesting from the Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat.

The last day to file nominations before the country goes in for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is April 4.

Patel had moved the Supreme Court on April 1, challenging the Gujarat High Court order rejecting his plea to stay his conviction so that he could contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra.

“If the conviction is not stayed, the petitioner may lose the right to contest upcoming Lok Sabha elections of 2019,” Patel had reportedly contended in his petition.

The bench comprising justices M M Shantanagoudar and Navin Sinha told the counsel appearing for Patel that there was no urgency in hearing the matter as the High Court order was passed in August last year.

With this Supreme Court order, Patel, who had started preparing to contest from Jamnagar on a Congress ticket after joining the party on March 12, may not be able to file his nomination before the last date.

Patel had applied for a stay on his conviction in the rioting case earlier this month. He had led the Patidar agitation in Gujarat in 2015 bringing the State to a standstill to demand reservation for Patidars. Around 9 people had lost their lives in the ensuing violence and the Army had to be deployed to take control of the situation.

Last year, a Sessions Court in Visnagar had found Patel guilty of causing a riot in Mehasana and sentenced him to 2 years in prison. He was convicted of offences of arson and creating ruckus at the office of BJP MLA Rushikesh Patel. Out of 17 accused, only three were found guilty by the court including Hardik Patel. Apart from the jail term, they were also fined Rs 50,000 each. But the court had granted them bail against bonds of Rs 15,000.

Other than the riot case where he has been convicted, Hardik Patel is also facing a sedition case in Gujarat which carries the maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The case was filed after he had called for ‘killing cops’ in 2015. A case of insulting the national flag was also leveled against him, which was later withdrawn.

Soon after the dates for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were announced, Patel had joined the Congress Party to “serve 125 crore, people of the country”, as claimed by him.

Flashback: When Sonia Gandhi appealed to Muslims to reject Narendra Modi

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Flashback: When Sonia Gandhi appealed to Muslims to reject Narendra Modi

After Congress part decided to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala, there have been lots of talks about how the party considers that a seat with Muslims and Christians as the majority is a safe seat for the party president, who is staring at a possible defeat at Amethi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reminded how the Congress party had coined the term “Hindu Terror”.


He said that Hindus can never be terrorists, and when Congress labelled Hindus as terrorists, they had insulted the crores of Hindus, he had said. Congress committed a sin by calling Hindus terrorists, now they are forced to contest from a seat where Hindus are not in majority, the PM had added.

It is not a secret that although the Congress party indulges in soft Hindutva during elections, like visiting temples and wearing a janeu, the party considers non-Hindus as their main vote bank. This mentality of the Congress leadership had come out in open before the last Lok Sabha elections, when then party president Sonia Gandhi had appealed the Muslim community to help in defeating Narendra Modi.

Sonia Gandhi had made this appeal during a meeting with Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, who is an influential Muslim leader. Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders had met several Muslim leaders in a desperate attempt to mobilise Muslim votes for the party. The party had appealed to influential Muslim leaders to ensure that Muslim votes are not split, so that BJP can be defeated in the elections.

Not just that, Sonia Gandhi had also issued a direct appeal to Muslims in a video message, asking the community as a whole to vote for Congress. She had said that if the Hindu nationalist party BJP wins the elections, India’s core values will be ruined. The video appeal of Sonia Gandhi was played in Hindi TV channels during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

With Rahul Gandhi running away from Amethi to Wayanad, the Congress party seems to have gone back to depending on Muslims to defeat Narendra Modi,

Congress promises review of AFSPA in Kashmir, blames Army of immunity in ‘forced disappearances, torture and sexual violence’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Congress promises review of AFSPA in Kashmir, blames Army of immunity in ‘forced disappearances, torture and sexual violence’

The Congress party, with much fanfare released its election manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, 2nd April 2019. Among several lacklustre promises like NYAY, which in itself is questionable and would end up crippling the economy, Rahul Gandhi’s vision with respect to Jammu and Kashmir is perhaps most unsettling considering they have decided to toe to separatist line to a large extent.

Following is a portion of the manifesto that talks about their Kashmir vision.

Congress’ Kashmir vision in their 2019 Lok Sabha manifesto

Among all the fluff of fancy words, the Congress party makes some dangerous promises in their manifesto as far as Kashmir is concerned.

Dialogue with all ‘stakeholders’ in Kashmir

In the manifesto, Congress says that it believes only dialogue is the way forward and that it promises to appoint 3 interlocutors to facilitate unconditional talks with all “stakeholders”. It has nowhere in their manifesto clarified that these proposed talks will not be held with separatists of Hurriyat who are currently under investigation or even separatists like Yasin Malik etc.

With Congress including that the talks are going to be without any “preconditions” is all the more worrying. It appears like Congress is willing to indulge in talks even with elements who indulge in fuelling terrorism in the valley.

Review deployment of forces in the valley

The Congress party has promised to review the deployment of forces in the valley. Essentially, the Congress has said that they don’t believe in “vascular approach” and they will reduce the deployment of armed forces in the valley and move them towards the borders.

It is no secret that Kashmir valley is distraught with terrorism and the Army’s aggression operation clean out helped curb terrorism in the valley. With this step, the Congress party ensures that the progress made as far as weeding out terrorists, Burhan Wani and Ahmed Dar for example, is curbed and the terrorists get enough time to regroup and attack with renewed energy.

Amend Armed Forces Special Powers Act

The Congress has also promised to amend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that is application in disturbed areas like Kashmir. It says that it will change the law to ensure that security and human rights are balanced. By this point itself the Congress has conveniently cast aspersions on the army insinuating that they army indulges in human rights violation. Reducing the power and reach of AFSPA can also be an unmitigated disaster for the valley as in dealing with extraordinary circumstances such as in the valley, the Army needs extraordinary powers. Congress Kashmir centric manifesto seems to be one that would only re-energize and re-fuel insurgency and terrorism in the Valley.

Congress blamed the Indian armed forces of sexual violence

If the promise about amending AFSPA left a little to the imagination when Congress was talking about Kashmir, in the later portion of the manifesto, Congress toes an all out separatist line of accusing the Indian Army of heinous crimes like sexual violence in the Valley owing to AFSPA.

The Congress manifesto says that the AFSPA would be amended to strike a balance between security and human rights. It then goes on to say that it would “remove immunity for enforced disappearances, sexual violence and torture”. 

The Congress thus implies that the Indian Army indulges in torture of the innocent, enforced disappearances of the innocent and rape of women in the Kashmir valley.

Incidentally, this is the exact propaganda that is spread by Pakistan to ensure disenchantment in the Kashmiri population towards India and is also the same line toed by Kashmiri terrorists and separatists to justify terrorism.

Reiterates the lie about Kashmiris being ill-treated in the rest of India

After the Pulwama attack, the left-liberal cabal had tried its best to shift the narrative and peddle a lie that Kashmiris were being attacked by the rest of India. Several such lies were debunked by not only the police but also citizens. This narrative was peddled almost to give covering fire to the terrorist who had carried out the suicide attack killing 40 CRPF soldiers. In his video, Ahmed Dar had vowed to kill “cow-piss drinkers”, which basically means he wanted to annihilate Hindus. This narrative of ensuring that the murder of 40 CRPF soldiers were over-shadowed by the “Kashmiris are the victims” is furthered by Congress as a mention in their manifesto.

No mention of Kashmiri Pandits

The entire manifesto makes no mention of Congress working towards ensuring that the Kashmiri Hindus can return to the valley. In 1990, Islamists had raped, murdered and chased Hindus away from the valley. That the Congress has chosen to demonise the Army but not talk about righting a historic wrong where Muslim extremists of the Valley carried out a genocide against the Hindus, is an indication in itself of Congress’ intentions with Kashmir.

A day after AAP was caught seeking donations from Saudi, UAE, it is found seeking donations from tax havens

OpIndia Staff
-
0
A day after AAP was caught seeking donations from Saudi, UAE, it is found seeking donations from tax havens

A day after OpIndia revealed that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking donations from Middle-Eastern countries by running Facebook ads in those specific countries, AAP has ‘expanded’ the scope of countries from which they are now seeking donations.

As per the new schedule, AAP is seeking donations from 62 countries including India and the four Middle-Eastern countries we reported earlier, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

AAP donation list part 1
AAP donation list par 2
AAP donation list 3

Curiously, the first country on the list is Åland Islands, which has a total population of fewer than 30,000 people as per 2017 estimates and has about 38 Indian immigrants on the cluster of islands. Similarly, another country on the list is Guernsey. With an estimated total population of 63,000 people (2016 estimates), Guernsey is a tax haven. Similarly, Andorra, where AAP is running its ad seeking donation, also enjoys a partial tax-haven status. Other countries where AAP is running its ad seeking donations, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo are also tax-havens.

Other obscure countries AAP is running its donation ads are Montenegro, Moldova, Liechtenstein among others. Moldova is quite popularly known as ‘Europe’s forgotten corruption heaven’. Quite a few rich people have reportedly applied to Moldova for citizenship for money.

Amusingly, the last country where AAP is Vatican City. With a population of 1,000 people, it is an independent city-state in Rome, Italy.

AAP has had a turbulent and shady relationship with donations.

In May 2017 it was alleged that AAP allegedly received crores of funding from shell companies through hawala transactions. Prior to that, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare had written a letter to AAP chief to come clean on the donations received by the party.

It was even alleged that before the 2014 general elections, Kejriwal had received money through dubious channels. AAP rebel leader Kapil Mishra had alleged that one Hem Prakash Sharma, was the key to Kejriwal’s demonetisation drama. Mishra had alleged that on 5th Apil, 2014, a week before Kejriwal filed his nomination for 2014 General Elections from Varanasi, Rs 2 crore had been deposited in AAP’s account from four shell companies. Of these 4 companies, Hem Prakash Sharma is a director in 3. During an ED raid after demonetisation, carried out in GK in Delhi, Rs 13 crore worth currency was found. One of the directors of this company is also one Hem Prakash Sharma.

He further said that Hem Prakash Sharma is a fake director, who probably does not even exist. He went on to add that the only reason Kejriwal was on a back foot about contesting elections is the demonetisation, which has hurt him the most. This was bewildering for someone like Kejriwal, who hailed himself as an anti-corruption crusader and formed the political outfit on the plank of fighting corruption.

When OpIndia investigated into the mysterious Hem Prakash Sharma, we found that according to this report, the official records show that the four companies that had donated to AAP in April 2014, have no revenue to show. These companies have three common directors, Hem Prakash Sharma, Dharmender Kumar and Mukesh Kumar. The addresses listed in the registrar house a post office, a grocery store with shutters down and a small sewing factory. From the details, it would seem like these were shell companies.

Moreover, DNA was able to track down one of these directors, Mukesh Kumar, who denied donating anything to AAP, ever. He admitted to owning these companies, which exist only on paper, but denied donating to AAP. As per DNA, when they visited the address of Hem Prakash Sharma as mentioned in the official records, they found the two-storey house. There resided a lady in her 60s and a woman named Deepika Sharma, who was living with her family. She denied knowing Hem Prakash Sharma.

So who are these mysterious men? Are they fictitious? If so, who is funding these operations? Is there something the ‘anti-corruption crusader’, Arvind Kejriwal, hiding from us?

When the Aam Aadmi Party stormed into Indian political scenario, it arrived with a promise of changing the way political parties operate in India. It promised complete honesty and transparency in its operations, and most people believed in it. One the innovative thing the party did was to publish a list of donations it receives on its website, as proof of the transparent nature of its financial activities.

Towards the year 2016, the party removed the donation list for its website. During that time, the webpage for the list was still there, but it showed a message “under construction. New Version coming soon..”. But that new version never came.

It was reported that the page listed many donations above ₹ 20,000, but those were not reported to the Election Commission as per rules, and thus the party removed the list itself from the public domain.

This removal of the donation list was questioned by many people, including Yogendra Yadav and Anna Hazare. Former party member Yadav had alleged that the party was collecting cash donations which were not recorded.

They have relaunched their donation page on their website, but with a significant change. They have changed the web address for the page, it was donate.aamaadmiparty.org earlier, but now it is donations.aamaadmiparty.org. Along with standalone donations, the party now have provided the option of monthly donations also.

Meanwhile, the fact that AAP is running donation ads in the Middle Eastern countries also raises eyebrows. In November last year, as Delhi grappled with toxic pollution, Kejriwal was found taking a private trip to Dubai. It was also reported that Delhi’s health minister Satyendra Jain had also taken a week-long trip to Dubai just a week prior. Earlier too, Kejriwal has made trips to Dubai including that on a business class, drawing criticism.

It was also reported that the Indian-community based in Saudi Arabia is one of the major supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party. In February 2015 it was reported that they celebrated when AAP beat BJP in Delhi state assembly elections. In fact, a year later, they even celebrated one-year completion of AAP government in Delhi.

While there is nothing prima facie illegal or wrong in running Facebook ads in countries which are considered tax havens or where the rich and the criminals apply for citizenship in lieu of money, it does come as a surprise that AAP would seek a donation from these countries. Especially the one where the total population is less than the number of people who voted for Kejriwal in 2014 elections in Varanasi.

‘Urban Naxals’, Congress hacks and ’eminent historians’: What Media won’t tell you about writers who signed the anti-Modi statement

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Urban Naxals’, Congress hacks and ’eminent historians’: What Media won’t tell you about writers who signed the anti-Modi statement

Over a hundred little-known filmmakers, only a few days earlier, had issued a joint statement urging people to ‘Save Democracy’ and vote Prime Minister Modi out of power. Now, it appears, over 200 writers have come forward with a statement of their own against the incumbent government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The list features names which would be quite familiar to our readers due to their left-leaning divisive politics. Here, we take a look at some of them.

1. Anand Teltumbde

Teltumbde is the same alleged Urban Naxal who was arrested by Pune Police in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon. Special Judge KD Vadane, while rejecting his anticipatory bail plea, had remarked that there was sufficient evidence collected by the investigating officers to show his involvement in the alleged offence.

Public prosecutor Ujjwala Panwar had argued in court that the police have sufficient evidence to prove Teltumbde’s involvement in insurgent activities to destabilise the government through banned Maoist organisations. His name had surfaced during the course of the crackdown on alleged ‘Urban Naxals’ by the Pune Police last year.

2. Mrinal Pande

Mrinal Pande is the group editorial advisor of National Herald, the Congress mouthpiece, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006  and the chair of Prasar Bharti in 2010 by the UPA government.

She is known to make bigoted remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and recently, she made transphobic remarks against Prime Minister Modi as well.

3. Harsh Mander

Mander was earlier appointed a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Committee. He has advocated for evangelical conversion in the past and ridiculed laws that prevent conversion. Mander is also a known Ishrat apologist, the female LeT operative who was killed in an encounter along with three others by Crime Branch Officials in Gujarat.

In an article that was shared by the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, Mander writes, “Muslims are today’s castaways, political orphans with no home, for virtually every political party. This despite India being home to a tenth of the world’s Muslims, around 180 million people, making it the largest Muslim country after Indonesia and Pakistan. There has never been a harder time to be a Muslim in India, not since the stormy months that followed India’s Partition.” He was also a member of the group that drafted the anti-Hindu Communal Violence Bill.

As per DeshGujarat, Mander’s NGO, Center for Equity Studies (CES), has received significant amount of financial contribution from foreign organizations over the years. Interestingly, another member of the Governing Board of CES features in the list of the 200 writers, Zoya Hasan.

4. Romila Thapar

The ‘Eminent Historian’ had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court in the case of the arrests of five ‘Urban Naxals’ for their alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence. She had filed a review petition seeking a review of the Supreme Court order of rejecting a SIT probe into the arrests of Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferriera, Sudha Bhardwaj, and Gautam Navlakha. The court rejected the plea and further permitted the Maharashtra Police to continue with the investigation.

Historian and Archaeologist, Ramachandran Nagaswamy, a Padma Bhushan awardee, had said about the alleged Historian, “Historians like Romila Thapar hold a view that Asoka expounded an idea new to Indian political and social theory, that Asoka did not see dharma resulting from the good deeds that were inspired by formal religious beliefs but as conformity to social ethics. According to these historians, Asoka’s dharma is not Buddhist in nature but it was a new and original idea to which he gave a definition. It is a distorted idea as Asoka himself repeatedly says (in his edicts) that what he thought was not his own, but the ancient paurani prakriti.”

Thapar is known to peddle anti-Hindu propaganda in her writings and has been accused of distorting authentic Hindu history.

5. Arundhati Roy

The writer once famously, or rather infamously, opined that Maoists who are responsible for the deaths of so many civilians and soldiers are ‘Gandhians with Guns’.

While speaking at an event at Northwestern Law School in Chicago in 2013, she described the event of Godhra train burning case as: “A train full of pilgrims coming back from the destruction of this Ayodhya mosque which was disputed. The train caught fire; nobody knows who set fire to the train and 57 pilgrims were burnt…”. The demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Godhra massacre happened 10 years apart.

Arundhati Roy had infamously said that Kashmir was never an integral part of India and claimed that India had become a colonizing power as soon as it won its independence from the British. “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this,” Roy had claimed. She had said it in the same event where Gautam Navlakha, one of the arrested ‘Urban Naxals’, made contentious remarks which would be regarded by many as seditious and inflammatory.

The above-mentioned statement was made at an event organized by the JKCCS, the same organization which had published the report demonizing Amarnath Yatra in collaboration with a foreign-funded organisation that received grants from Christian organisations abroad.

It is also pertinent to mention that the JKCCS is affiliated to the CDRO, an umbrella organization that has intricate links to alleged ‘Urban Naxals’ and has an organization from Manipur with separatist inclinations coordinating under its banner as well.

6. Other Notable Mentions

T.M. Krishna, a musician whose show was cancelled by organizers for ‘exigencies of work’ after protests accusing him of ‘bigotry and Hinduphobia’, is a signatory to the statement as well. He had also admitted once that he feels no empathy when RSS workers are killed by communists or Islamists.

“Nehru’s Niece” Nayantara Sehgal, who returned her Sahitya Akademi award during the Intolerance Drama, was a signatory as well.

Conclusion

Thus, we see that the most prominent signatories to the statement that urges voters to oust Narendra Modi from power are an assorted consortium of foreign funded NGO members, Congress stooges who benefited greatly under Sonia Gandhi’s patronage and those with links to alleged ‘Urban Naxals’ or worse, accused of being one themselves.

1...6,4886,4896,490...7,607Page 6,489 of 7,607