Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chowkidar’ jibe against him and used it in the BJP’s poll campaign, it has instantly struck a chord with the masses and an overwhelming majority of the people have come out and openly supported PM Modi in his #MainBhiChowkidar campaign.
This has obviously caused ripples among the politicians in the opposition political spectrum with many indulging in outrageous racial attacks against Nepalis in their endeavour to belittle Prime Minister’s Chowkidar campaign. Latest to join this list is Congress party’s Navjot Singh Sidhu.
In an attempt to take a swipe at PM Modi and run down his Chowkidar campaign, Siddhu posted a tweet urging Indians to elect a Prime Minister this time while an honest Chowkidar can be acquired from Nepal as well. Siddhu also attached a video in the tweet slamming PM Modi and glorifying Pandit Nehru.
Before Sidhu, AAP MLA Alka Lamba had posted similar disparaging tweet perpetrating racism against Nepalis with an intention of taking on the PM Modi’s Chowkidar campaign. However, facing a severe backlash from various Twitter users including Nepalis, she had promptly taken down the tweet.
It is not the first time that Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has stirred a controversy. A few weeks back, Sidhu had made a controversial remark about the Pulwama attack. He also faced severe flak for posing with known Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla for photographs during his visit to Pakistan.
While it is absolutely fine to attack politicians, their campaigns, but it is outrightly unacceptable to indulge in casual racism. By doing this, Sidhu is normalising racism and stereotyping Nepali community. Implying that people of Nepal can be only good security guard is among the worst examples of racism. Racism can be eliminated when legislators and politicians display no-tolerant policy towards it. But when a legislator himself indulges in passing racist slurs, racism will only gain ground. It is unbecoming of a politician to resort to racism in order to take on his ideological adversary.
Aam Aadmi Party today was caught running donation ads in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman other than in India.
AAP seeking donations from various Middle-Eastern countries
In the above ad seeking donations for funding the election campaign, AAP has drawn a cartoon which points to a red-coloured building with a speech bubble, ‘Govt School Wahin Banayenge’ (will build government school there only).
The text for the ad reads:
“Dear friends,
Some people can give time, others can give money.
If you’ve not donated this election, please DONATE NOW.”
AAP ad seeking donation in India
Interestingly, their India ad had the caption,
“Elections are here. Come forward to support the Politics of Education, Health and Infrastructure. Your –
Rs. 500 will help us get 100 Posters.
Rs. 1000 will get us 250 Caps.
Rs. 10000 will help us get a sound system for a rally.
Step up and donate generously.”
This was followed by a link to donation for AAP.
AAP is asking for donations to purchase campaign material like posters and caps.
Aam Aadmi Party has a dubious relationship with donations in the past. 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 wrong with running ads in Middle-Eastern countries to seek political donations, the fact that Aam Aadmi Party, a political outfit which came to power promising transparency, is not coming out clean leaves us with more questions.
Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, has seemingly revolted against his party which has come to be headed by Tejashwi Yadav, the convicted RJD supremo’s other son. As per reports, Tej Pratap has decided to float the ‘Lalu Rabri Morcha’ following his resignation from the Youth Wing of the party.
Lalu Yadav’s son Tejpratap Yadav to launch Lalu Rabri Morcha.
Speaking at Zee News’ India Ka DNA conclave, he said, “I will not form a new party. I will contest from Saran as an independent as this seat is a bastion of Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. I will contest from Saran even if RJD has a candidate from Saran.”
However, Tej Pratap has made it clear that the Morcha will be supporting independent candidates across 20 seats. “I have formed a Lalu-Rabri morcha and I will tour 20 seats in Bihar. We will support independents and contestants who can work for the country. I have got in touch with independents in the 20 seats and Lalu-Rabri morcha is a part of RJD,” he stated.
The elder son of Lalu further stated Tejaswi’s advisers were deliberately trying to create a rift between the two brothers. He said, “I will fight for RJD workers. Those with Tejashwi are giving him the wrong advice. They are instigating our fight. Tejashwi is my younger brother. He has my best wishes. I want to warn Tejashwi to be beware of his adviser. They are giving him the wrong picture.”
Context
The alleged rift between Tej Pratap and Tejashwi has been brewing for quite some time. In June 2018, he had asserted that he would quit politics, only to change his decision in a matter of hours and ended up blaming the RSS for reports of a rift with Tejaswi. Later, in October, Misa Bharti, Lalu’s daughter, had also confirmed the rift between the two brothers only to call it a ‘media twist’ later.
Tej Pratap’s primary contention is that no one listens to him within the party. Over time, he had made a habit of attracting media attention, although for rather unusual reasons. His marital life has been going through a rough patch as well and he can be often seen at various places dressed up in colorful attire.
National Conference (NC) leader and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah has revealed his Party’s true colours few weeks ahead of Lok Sabha elections by demanding a separate post of Prime Minister and hence more autonomy for the State of Jammu and Kashmir as reported by News 18 India.
Abdullah has demanded that pre-1953 position should be restored in the state when there used to be a Prime Minister of the state in place of Chief Minister. Greater autonomy for the state of J&K has been an old demand of the National Conference. The Party had tried to fulfil this demand in the year 2000 when there was an NC government in Jammu and Kashmir. A resolution was adopted by the majority in the J&K Assembly, amidst opposition from BJP, Congress and Panthers’ Party, in which the report of State Autonomy Committee (SAC) was accepted. The committee had recommended sweeping changes in the Centre-State relations and greater autonomy for the State. However, the resolution was rejected by the Central government.
#WATCH Omar Abdullah in Bandipora says, “Baaki riyasat bina shart ke desh mein mile, par humne kaha ki humari apni pehchan hogi, apna constitution hoga. Humne uss waqt apne ‘Sadar-e-Riyasat’ aur ‘Wazir-e-Azam’ bhi rakha tha, Inshallah usko bhi hum wapas le aayenge.” pic.twitter.com/mPPoELKT8G
Making a reference to a statement of BJP National President Amit Shah where he allegedly said that Article 35A will be removed by the year 2020, Omar Abdullah warned that the State is being attacked in various ways and several conspiracies are being hatched by some powers who are trying to erase the identity of the State.
National Conference will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress Party.
Rahul Gandhi, who was on a hunt for a safe seat after Union Minister Smriti Irani laid siege to the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar bastion of Amethi, has decided to contest from Wayanad in Kerala as his second seat.
Despite what some would have you believe, the truth of the matter is that Wayanad is a Hindu minority constituency which is believed to be a safe bet for the Congress President due to its demography even by Congress leaders.
Prime Minister Modi, too, remarked on it in his speech at Wardha. He said that the Congress party branded the Hindu community as terrorist which has accepted the entire world as its family. Narendra Modi, who is making his bid to become the first non-Congress politician to complete two successive terms as Prime Minister, then proceeded to assert that it’s because of this that the Congress President had to run away from a ‘majority’ seat and take shelter at a ‘minority’ seat.
With this, the tone of the elections appears to have been set. Narendra Modi, in his campaign, will not focus only on ‘Vikas’ alone but also on the civilizational narrative. The Prime Minister’s comments on Rahul Gandhi’s constituency is the biggest attempt to lend a civilizational narrative to the Battle for 2019 after BJP President Amit Shah compared it to the Third Battle of Panipat.
During his first term as Prime Minister, although the NDA government has been unable to assuage too many ‘core’ concerns, a credible effort has been made towards emphasizing on India’s Hindu identity.
The biggest legislative push towards addressing Hindu concerns came not on the Ram Mandir issue but on guaranteeing citizenship to Hindus and other minorities from neighbouring countries where they face great oppression. A crackdown has been conducted also on foreign-funded NGOs that seek to undermine India’s territorial integrity and culture.
Narendra Modi’s own constituency, Varanasi, is one of the most sacred cities for Hindus. Although Modi himself is unlikely to emphasize the contrast between the constituencies he and Rahul Gandhi will contest from, the symbolism of it will not be lost on those who pay close attention to details.
It was also during the tenure of Narendra Modi that the sacred Kumbh Mela was conducted in the most efficient manner. The administration was hailed widely for its conduct and the visuals from it only augmented the already enchanting aura of the Hindu festival.
The appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh itself was perhaps the greatest shift of the Overton Window in India. It is hard to imagine any other era in independent India when a saffron-clad Mahant of a sacred Hindu Temple with an unapologetic commitment towards preserving the Hindu identity of India could be appointed as the Chief Minister of a state. It was also a subtle hint towards Hindus that their concerns are heard and their sentiments respected.
In his personal capacity, Narendra Modi has never shied away from celebrating his Hindu identity. His visit to the Kumbh merely a couple of days before the airstrikes at Balakot, his visit to auspicious Hindu Temples with world leaders, making Yoga an international phenomenon, the revival of Ayodhya and the grand celebration of Diwali there under his able lieutenant Yogi Adityanath all points towards his commitment towards his Hindu identity.
As we get closer to the elections, Prime Minister Modi is likely to emphasize the distinction between the two parties in their commitment towards the Hindu community. Narendra Modi is an astute politician and he realizes that the BJP’s thumping victory in 2014 ought to be credited to the United Spectrum of Hindu Votes (USHV) that his party succeeded in knitting together, although he may not say it in public. If the BJP is to repeat the magic of 2014, then it has to repeat its earlier feat, which has been made considerably more difficult with the alliance of caste-based political parties in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.
Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority is likely to have repercussions elsewhere and the BJP will look to hone in on the message. Moreover, the state unit of Kerala is particularly infamous for anti-Hindu acts it has committed in the past. Members of their Youth Congress slaughtered a calf in the middle of the street and ate its flesh, an MLA from Kerala posted a video of himself consuming beef to express solidarity with cow slaughter. It is unlikely that the BJP or the Prime Minister will forget to mention these transgressions combined with Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from a Hindu minority constituency.
Wayanad has also been battling Islamic radicalization as there are many youths who have joined ISIS. There have been multiple cases of youths joining the Islamic terrorist organization to realize its ambition of establishing an Islamic caliphate around the world. Habeen Rehman, from Kalpeta which falls under Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency, was arrested by the NIA in connection to the Kasargod module case. On the whole, Kerala has seen great radicalization among its youth and a great many have left India to join the Islamic State. Therefore, the respective constituencies that Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi would represent are fundamentally different by their very nature. One is a flourishing site of the Hindu Civilization while the other is battling the menace of Islamic radicalization.
‘Vikas’ is important but so is identity, especially when one has to navigate through the minefield of caste-based alliances. Moreover, at various junctures during his tenure, as illustrated above, Prime Minister Modi has given subtle hints that he is aware of India’s position in the world and respects his Hindu identity. Therefore, going into 2019, the Trump Card for the BJP again will be evoking the Civilizational consciousness Narendra Modi has carefully nurtured during his first term as Prime Minister.
Few days after Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani faced a penalty of Rs 14 lakh imposed by the Enforcement Directorate under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for illegally possessing foreign exchange of $ 10,000, now a property belonging to Geelani located at Khirki Extension, Malviya Nagar has been attached by the Office of Tax Recovery Officer.
#Delhi: Office of the Tax Recovery Officer attaches Kashmiri Separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s Khirki Extension, Malviya Nagar property. Prohibits him from transferring the property as he has failed to pay Rs 3,62,62,160. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/wVbUXWUDn8
Geelani is prohibited from transferring the property as he failed to pay a tax amount of Rs 3,62,62,160. Last month Separatist Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son Naseem Geelani were issued summons by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to appear in New Delhi for interrogation in relation with a terror funding case.
As per reports, the I-T officials have sealed the house for failure to pay income tax for the assessment years 1996-97 to 2001-02. The action taken by the TRO is reportedly in accordance with section 222 of the I-T Act.
In a massive crackdown on the separatist Hurriyat leader in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, the security cover of 18 Hurriyat leaders was withdrawn by the government calling it a wastage of resources. Residences of Hurriyat leaders including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Naseem Geelani, and Mohammad Yasin Malik were also raided.
According to the NIA, among other incriminating evidence like property papers, financial transaction receipts and bank account details, letterheads of different terrorist organisations and documents related to recommendations for a visa for admission in Pakistan educational institutions were also recovered.
Opposition parties and a section of media keeps trying to project that the economy has suffered badly during the Modi government, but the data keeps proving them wrong. Today two different data points reveal a state of the economy which does not match with the narrative that opposition is trying to build up.
Total gross GST revenue collected in March, 2019 is ₹ 1,06,577 crore of which CGST is ₹ 20,353 crore, SGST is ₹ 27,520 crore, IGST is ₹ 50,418 crore (including ₹ 23,521 crore collected on imports) and Cess is ₹ 8,286 crore (including ₹ 891 crore collected on imports).
The total gross GST collection in March 2019 was ₹1,06,577 crore, which was highest since the introduction of GST. Out of total GST collection of ₹1,06,577 in March, CGST is ₹ 20,353 crore, SGST is ₹ 27,520 crore, IGST is ₹ 50,418 crore and Cess is ₹ 8,286, finance ministry informed.
An official statement issued by finance ministry said that this reflects an increase of 15.6% over GST collection in March 2018, which was ₹92,167 crore.
Collection in March, 2019 has been highest since introduction of GST. Revenue in March, 2018 was ₹ 92,167 crore & revenue during March, 2019 is a growth of 15.6% over revenue in same month last year. Revenue for last quarter in 2018-19 is 14.3% higher than same period last year.
The average GST per month during the financial year 2018-19 was ₹ 98,114 crore, which is 9.2% higher than the average for FY 2017-18. These figures indicate that the revenue growth has been picking up in recent months, despite various rate rationalization measures.
Source: Ministry of Finance
The fact that GST collection has gone up despite the reduction in rate on various items, means that the business activities in the country are increasing at a steady rate, and more businesses are being brought under the tax regime.
The BSE Sensex also hit an all-time hit today, reaching the 39,110.68 and crossing the 39,000 for the first time. In the last 5 years, Sensex has gone up from 22000s to the current level, growing steadily over the years. The share markets are displaying bullish trends due to a positive outlook about the economy. The country has also experienced strong FII inflows, reflecting in the stock exchange indices. The Rupee has also recovered in recent times, and markets are expecting a rate cut from RBI.
Rahul Gandhi was on the hunt for a safe seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections after Smriti Irani laid siege to the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar bastion of Amethi. To that end, he chose Wayanad in Kerala as his preferred second seat.
Many have commented on the significance that the Congress President had chosen to compete from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority. Even a party leader had made the admission on a sting tape that the great share of the Christian-Muslim vote in the electorate made the constituency very much a safe bet for Rahul.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, too, was flummoxed by Rahul’s candidature from the constituency and suggested that he should have contested from a constituency where the BJP had a serious chance of winning. Other Communist leaders have expressed similar sentiments and remarked that by contesting from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi is fighting the Left and not the BJP.
On social media, many people have made the same observation. That Rahul Gandhi was contesting from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority, especially since his party is infamous for inventing the myth of Hindu Terror, was the subject of endless discussion and debate.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, the spokesperson of the Congress party, intervened on her party’s behalf to defend her party President’s choice for a safe seat. In her reply to the Executive Editor of News18, who had asserted that Hindus are in the minority in Wayanad, Chaturvedi accused him of lying.
Hello Amish ji,
Someday I hope to see you speak , tweet and debate on facts. Someday.
As it turns out, Chaturvedi was obviously either misinformed or completely ignorant of the actual demography of the Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency. The data she mentions in her tweet states the demography of the Wayanad District which is different from the Wayanad Parliamentary constituency.
The Wayanad Parliamentary constituency is comprised of 7 Assembly constituencies drawn from three districts: Thiruvambady from Kozhikode, Mananthavadi, Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta from Wayanad, Eranad, Nilambur and Wandoor from Malappuram. Therefore, quite clearly, the demography of the Wayanad constituency is different from the demography of Wanayad district as mentioned by Priyanka Chaturvedi.
The actual demography of the Constituency has Muslims as the majority making up 56% of the electorate while Hindus are only 34%. The Christian community is 9% of the electorate. Therefore, it’s factually correct to assert that the Congress President has chosen to contest from a constituency where Hindus in the minority after his party peddled the Hindu Terror narrative for years.
Source: TOI
Thus, we have a situation where a Congress leader admits during a sting that the high share of the minority vote in the constituency made it a safe bet for Rahul Gandhi. People realize that the demography is heavily skewed in favour of Congress by virtue of its composition. The party spokesperson then attempts to peddle a false narrative by twisting facts.
The Islamization of the Congress party has been happening for a while now, over the course of a couple of decades perhaps, and with the Congress President choosing a Muslim majority constituency as a safe seat marks the completion of the process. As is to be expected, the ‘Pliant Media’ will try very hard to shield the Congress President and deny the obvious by twisting facts on the matter. However, Rahul’s candidature from Wayanad is as significant a moment as the crossing of the Rubicon.
The path for Rahul Gandhi towards contesting from a Hindu minority constituency was obviously laid when the Hindu Terror narrative was invented by the Congress for political gains. It’s a natural consequence of the Hinduphobia that Congress and its ecosystem generated that the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has been relegated to contesting from a Hindu minority constituency. Not long back, it was even reported that Rahul Gandhi had claimed that Congress was a Muslim party.
The troubling part of the matter is the Congress has always sided with the fundamentalist sections of the Muslim community that is a significant threat to communal harmony. Senior leader Kapil Sibal represented one of the Muslim petitioners in the Ram Janambhoomi dispute and actively tried to delay judgment on the matter. They are often seeing toeing the Pakistani line. When in power, the Congress party tried to pass the Communal Violence Bill which maintained that members of the Hindu community could not be victims of communal violence. They passed the 93rd amendment which puts Hindu-run schools at a serious disadvantage.
Digvijay Singh, another extremely senior party leader, attended the launch of a book that blamed the RSS for the Mumbai Terror attack. They framed Hindus for terror attacks which were most probably committed by Islamic terrorists. They opposed the Triple Talaq Bill which seeks to liberate Muslim women from a terrible tradition. They opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill which would give the horribly oppressed Hindus from Pakistan the opportunity to lead their lives with their dignity intact in India. A toxic combination of Hinduphobia and Islamic fundamentalism has become the identifying feature of the Congress party despite its shrieks of allegiance to Secularism.
The Kerala unit of the Congress party is even more extraordinary in its opposition to respecting Hindu sentiments. Who could ever forget that members of the Youth Congress slaughtered a calf in the middle of the street and ate its flesh? They claimed to have the approval of the state President! Merely days later, a Congress MLA from the state posted a video of himself eating beef for the sake of mere politics.
The toxic and radical mixture of Hinduphobia and Islamic fundamentalism, the brand of politics which the Congress party has adopted over the years, finds its natural culmination with their party president contesting from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority. Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from a Hindu Minority constituency is only testament to that fact.
A day after PM Modi called out a CEO of a news channel for having deep-rooted hatred towards him, a journalist with the same news channel was caught parroting Congress’ campaign line live on television. A journalist with TV9 Bharatvarsh, the Hindi channel of TV9, was caught referring to the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign as ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ campaign.
As can be seen in the above clip, the said journalist referred to ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign as ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ campaign not once, but twice. Group Editor with TV9 Bharatvarsh claimed that it was a slip of tongue on the journalist’s part and apologised for the same.
This is completely slip of tongue. Still , I regret and apologise on her behalf. https://t.co/gr6OE2cFTs
However, Twitter users then questioned Kapri on how it could be a slip of the tongue when usually the lines which the reporter reads out are fed on a teleprompter.
This is not the first time Kapri has been caught on the wrong foot. Earlier during the Kumbh Mela, Kapri had posted a picture of Jawaharlal Nehru claiming that Nehru had taken a dip during the 1954 Kumbh Mela. However, the image was actually of the time Nehru took a dip in the river after the immersion of the ashes of his father in 1931. Kapri was so adamant that he refused to believe a book which was in fact written by a Congress leader. Prior to that, Kapri was caught spreading fake news about Bulandshahr. When caught, he unapologetically went on to attack Uttar Pradesh Police.
Yesterday, at an event of the same news channel, TV9 Bharatvarsh, a video had emerged showing PM Modi talking to TV9 founder and CEO Ravi Prakash. In the video, Modi says, “You have filled your new channel with such people who have abuses for me in their blood”. Shocked, Ravi Prakash replies, “We are bringing change in that”. To that, Modi laughs and says “Don’t do this, let the poor people live, let it continue as it is. If their soul dies, it will not be fun”.
Alert social media users also noted that when PM Modi was making the comment, the channel’s editor Vinod Kapri was present right there, who is known for his hatred for Modi. It has been speculated that PM Modi’s comments were directed at Kapri, who is a known fan of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and whose hatred for Modi is out in open through his social media posts.
Known for making contentious statements, Mehbooba Mufti, the chief of PDP, has stirred yet another furor by inducting controversial ‘activist’ Talib Hussain into the fold of PDP. Taking it to Twitter, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir posted a tweet welcoming Hussain into the party and hailing him as an upright tribal activist who fought for rape victims in the state.
Happy to welcome well known tribal rights activist Chowdhary Talib Hussain into PDP today. He fought tirelessly to ensure justice for Rasana rape victim at the cost of his personal safety. Im confident he will work tirelessly towards our vision for a khushaal J&K. pic.twitter.com/CQRSgO5n4a
However, the man hailed as a conscientious rights activist by Mehbooba Mufti has a chequered history of grave allegations leveled against him. Talib Hussain, who came into the limelight after spearheading an agitation seeking justice for the eight-year-old girl, brutally gang-raped and murdered in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, was himself booked for alleged domestic violence and attempt to kill his wife over dowry.
Talib’s wife, Nusrat Begum, with her two little daughters, went with a written complaint along with court orders to the police station along with her father, Mohammad Tahir and nearly a dozen neighbours last year alleging that her husband used to physically assault her for dowry.
However, this is not the only incident where Talib is accused of a serious crime. Talib was arrested by the police last year in August on the charges of rape by his own cousin. He is accused of raping the woman while she was grazing her cattle in the forests of Chawda. According to the complainant, armed with a knife, Hussain had intercepted her, thrashed and raped her in the forest.
After almost a month and a half, she shared her ordeal with her husband following which a complaint was lodged in the police station. Talib was arrested from Tral in Jammu and Kashmir and a case had been registered against him under section 376 (rape) of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and 4/25 Arms Act.
Talib was arrested by the police and had been lodged in the Samba jail for a time. He was later released on bail.
In another incident, a student of JNU had alleged that “The hero of Kathua protests” had brutally raped her in Delhi on 27th April 2018. The victim states that ‘the activist’ insisted on the victim coming to meet him and when she did, (after 40 phone calls), took her to an apartment in the Batla house area where he raped her brutally, despite her repeated attempts to fight him off. The victim had alleged, without taking Talib’s name, that he had not only caused her great physical harm but also profound mental trauma.
With such grave allegations levelled against the so-called ‘rights activist’, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s encouraging welcome for such an allegedly notorious miscreant into her party displays that she has little sympathy for the victims of domestic violence and rapes who have raised their voice against the injustice meted out to them by this so-called ‘activist’.
In an attempt to take a swipe at PM Modi and run down his Chowkidar campaign, Siddhu posted a tweet urging Indians to elect a Prime Minister this time while an honest Chowkidar can be acquired from Nepal as well. Siddhu also attached a video in the tweet slamming PM Modi and glorifying Pandit Nehru.
