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Kashmir: 12 CRPF jawans martyred in a terrorist attack claimed by Jaish-e-Muhammad

OpIndia Staff
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Kashmir: 12 CRPF jawans martyred in a terrorist attack claimed by Jaish-e-Muhammad

In a gruesome terrorist attack on the CRPF soldiers in Awantipora in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir, 12 soldiers have lost their lives.


A high-intensity IED blast targeted a convoy of 70 vehicles of the CRPF carrying 2500 personnel which was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.


Two vehicles of the convoy were targeted in the IED blast. Pakistan backed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed the responsibility of the cowardly attack.


Police sources say that the attack was likely carried out by a suicide bomber, who rammed an explosive-laden car into the CRPF bus, which was part of the convoy.


The terrorist attack has left dozens of jawans injured and as per reports, the death toll is expected to rise.


According to Zulfiqar Hassan, IG CRPF (Operations), an investigation on the attack has been taken up by the Jammu and Kashmir police.


This is being called as the deadliest terrorist attack on security forces in Kashmir since 2004 when 28 BSF personnel were killed in a terrorist attack. More details are awaited on the incident.

The Left Can’t Meme: Congress party’s cringe worthy tweets on Valentines Day appear desperate rather than funny

K Bhattacharjee
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The Left Can’t Meme: Congress party’s cringe worthy tweets on Valentines Day appear desperate rather than funny

The General Elections are fast approaching and the Great Meme War has officially commenced in the country. On Valentines Day, the Congress party tweeted a series of images mocking top BJP leaders.


Unfortunately for the Congress party, the jokes are neither funny nor smart enough and come across as rather obnoxious. Especially its joke on Union Minister Smriti Irani that was rather crass.


The Congress’ Valentines Day tweets only confirm what has long been known in the online community: The Left can’t meme. The tweets, instead of tickling one’s funny bones, come across as a desperate attempt to appear ‘hip’ and sway the online youth.

The worse part is the ‘jokes’ or the rather desperate attempt at it make no sense at all. For instance, the one featuring Nirmala Sitharaman reads “The Silencer: You say it best, when you say nothing at all!”, featuring a cartoon of the Defence minister with tapes on her mouth, when the fact is that Sitharaman has been a vocal minister, and has been demolishing Congress lies.


https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsCould you imagine any girl wanting to date you after you said something that cringe-worthy? If Rahul Gandhi has been using those lines on women, it’s no wonder that he is still unmarried.

Contrast this with memes from the online community that leans towards saffron. They are much more ‘in touch’ with public sensibilities and are much more ‘natural’ when it comes to humour.

The conduct of the Congress party on social media also shows a gradual shift of the top echelons of the party towards the far-left. The people who run their social media accounts also appear to be thoroughly westernised in their sensibilities and their sense of humour do not quite capture the imaginations of the vast Indian population. Their audience appears limited to certain sections of the millennial urban youth who have more in common with the Western millennial crowd than they do with their own fellow Indians.

It’s no wonder that the vast majority of the Indian online meme community leans towards saffron politics. In an earlier article, we have elaborated on how Hindutva has become a very prominent subculture on the internet.

There’s a more fundamental reason why the Left can’t meme. In the entire Western world and in India as well, Leftism is the ideology of the establishment. And humour has traditionallly been anti-establishment. Humour has always been a tool at the hands of the less powerful to take potshots at establishment ideas. In time, the establishment has co-opted even the mainstream comedy scene.

The ‘Meme culture’, as we understand it today, developed as a revolt against political correctness and other liberal ideas. Thus, the fact that the Congress party is absolutely terrible at memes is not their fault. The ideology of the party and the people it is associated with as a consequence makes it impossible for them to be very good with memes. It’s not something they understand or even capable of appreciating.

‘Meme culture’ is furtive, chaotic, extremely creative, innovative, willing to cross the line and often, they do cross lines that shouldn’t be crossed. But regardless, the main purpose of it is to upset the status quo. Now, if you represent the status quo, can you really appreciate and emulate it? The best you can do is come up with a cheap imitation of it which will only embarrass you further.

The Congress party’s election campaign thus far appears to be faring even worse than their social media strategy. While the fate of the Mahagathbandhan is still unclear and the Congress party is being snubbed by several regional parties, the BJP has been sending its top leaders all across the country already. Under such circumstances, they should perhaps focus more on their strategy in the real world than the virtual one where they are only embarrassing themselves further.

Fact check: Did Modi lie about hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk in 1992?

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Did Modi lie about hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk in 1992?

On February 14, propaganda website The Wire published a story claiming that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has fact-checked Narendra Modi over an undated video where Modi is seen delivering a speech. The 2:20 minutes video shows a portion of a speech by Modi which seems to be old, where Modi is heard talking about the Ekta Yatra that BJP had taken out in 1992 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

From just around 2 minute part of the speech, The Wire concludes that Modi is claiming that he alone went to Kashmir in defiance of terrorist diktats, unfurled the flag himself and came back unharmed. The report then informs that the Ekta Yatra was conducted by the then party president Murli Manohar Joshi, and the Yatra is associated with him only. It claims that Modi was just one of the party workers who accompanied Joshi in the Yatra, but he is taking full claim for the same.

Swati Chaturvedi, the writer of the report, then goes on to make a sensational claim that Murli Manohar Joshi is furious after seeing the video, and he has complained about the same with the RSS. The report claims that Joshi has asked RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat why the prime minister is indulging in fantasy and effectively re-writing BJP’s own history.

Narendra Modi with Murli Manohar Joshi at the Ekta Yatra in 1992

There are several problems with the report by Wire.

First, there is absolutely no proof that veteran party leader Murli Manohar Joshi is actually angry over an old speech of Modi and went to the extent of complaining about the same to RSS chief. As the article quotes no source to back that claim, we can’t tell whether it is a fact, or actually Swati Chaturvedi herself is indulging in fantasy. There is no evidence that RSS has fact-checked Narendra Modi over the speech, as the Wire report claims.

Second, the video shows only around 2 minutes of the speech, not the entire speech. Hence to claim that Modi took full credit for the Ekta Yatra based on this short clip is questionable. We have seen numerous examples of using short clips of speeches to spread fake news to claim that the person was saying something while actually, that was not true. Without listening to the full speech and without knowing the context, it is incorrect to pass such judgements.

Third, although it is true that Murli Manohar Joshi led the Ekta Yatra in 1992 – after all he was the party president and one of the top three leaders of the party at that time – Narendra Modi was not just an ordinary party worker hitching a ride on the yatra like Wire wants to suggest.

The Ekta Yatra stared at Kanyakumari on December 11, 1991, and it was scheduled to conclude on 26 January in Srinagar with the hoisting of the tricolour at the Lal Chowk. And this yatra was conceived, planned and organised by Narendra Modi, then an active party worker and a member of the National Election Committee of the party. He was designated as the convenor of the Yatra, not just a party worker participating in the same. Modi had also worked on organising the Rath Yatra of L K Advani two years earlier.

Murli Manohar Joshi and Narendra Modi hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on 26-01-1992

When Murli Manohar Joshi finally unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk on the Republic day in 1992, Narendra Modi was there just next to him, joining him in hoisting the flag. After the hoisting the flag, the party president had introduced Narendra Modi as an “energetic and promising” party leader in front of the press, recognising his role in organising the Yatra. Therefore, Narendra Modi was playing a leading role in the Yatra, instead of being just a participant.

The Wire report also embedded a video from 2011 where Murli Manohar Joshi is seen talking about the Ekta Yatra. But the video is from January 2011, and Joshi was talking about Rashtriya Ekta Yatra of 2011, a completely different event. This Yatra was led by then BJYM president Anurag Thakur, and unlike 1992, BJP leaders were prevented from hoisting the national flag at the Lal Chowk by the state government during this Yatra. Senior party leaders like Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Anant Kumar and others had tried the enter J&K, but they were stopped and detained at the border by state police. Neither Joshi nor Modi went to Kashmir during the 2011 Yatra, so it is not clear why Wire included that video in the story.

“He is not letting people wear helmets,” Puducherry Lt Governor’s exasperation at CM protesting against road safety rules

OpIndia Staff
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“He is not letting people wear helmets,” Puducherry Lt Governor’s exasperation at CM protesting against road safety rules

After the Puducherry CM  V Narayanswamy started his absurd dharna protesting against the implementation of Helmet-rule by Governor Kiran Bedi calling it ‘abuse of power’ and ‘interference’ in day-to-day practices of the government, Bedi has said that the CM did not mention anything about the dharna in his letter addressed to her.

Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said that she received the letter of the CM dated February 7 on 8th of February and on 13th he sat on dharna while nowhere in the letter was it mentioned that if the letter was not replied by 13th he would sit on a dharna.


The Governor even wrote back to the CM inviting him to meet her on 21st of Feb as she is on a tour which ends on 20th February.


Bedi expressed her displeasure over CM Narayansamy continuing his Dharna even after being granted a formal appointment.

CM Narayanswamy has been sitting outside Raj Bhawan, along with his ministers, since yesterday wearing black clothes as a sign of protest alleging that the Governor was enforcing rules on the law-abiding citizens of Puducherry by mandating them to wear helmets.

This is interesting to see how the Congress CM is protesting against something as basic and important for road safety as wearing helmets to settle political scores. Unfortunately, he is not the only one who appears to have lost all sanity. He is joined by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs who broke helmets in the assembly premises to protest against the road safety rule.


The MLAs condemned the helmet rule calling it arbitrary. The CM who is apparently highly upset with the road safety rule has alleged that the Governor was acting on the instructions of PM Modi to create troubles for the State government. He has urged the Central government to recall her.

The fourth Battle of Panipat: 2019

Guest Author
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The fourth Battle of Panipat: 2019

When the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee called for a new movement of Independence, she completely overlooked, nay violated, the dignity of her constitutional position through this comment. And, Independence movement against whom? Against the popular government of India with solid majority and mandate? It was unthinkable before but today it has become a grim reality. An impartial analysis of this situation tells us that this belligerence of Banerjee is not an isolated statement but rather demarcates a civilizational struggle for India. This should rather be known as The Fourth Battle of Panipath (2019).

The barbaric assault on the pluralistic Indian civilization is not a new thing and the defenders of Indian civilization are fighting the barbarians to protect this civilization for the last few centuries. This Indian resistance is found in the battles of Panipat in which the Pro-Indic Forces (PIF) time and again met the Breaking India Forces (BIF).

The leader of the PIF was Rana Sanga during the first battle of Panipat. They wanted to dislodge Ibrahim Lodi, the leader of the barbaric forces and to achieve that goal, they invited Babur from Kabul to India. Babur came and won the first battle of Panipat against Lodi. But, then he turned against PIF. The destruction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya was just one sign of his anti-pluralistic attitude. Rana Sanga raised his sword against Babur at the battle of Khanwa. But then it was too late against deeply entrenched Babur.

Overall, the first battle of Panipat was an absolute disaster for the PIF.

In the second battle of Panipat, the PIF chose Hemchandra Vikramaditya or Himu as its leader. The Pathans joined him. He captured Delhi in the preliminary battle.

Bayram Khan was the commander-in-charge of the BIF after the demise of King Humayun. In the military power, Himu was well ahead of Bayram Khan. Bayram Khan understood the message of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), “War is deceit” (narrated by Bukhaari, 3028, Muslim, 58). Bayram strategised to assassinate Himu on elephant-back. This strategy worked, and Himu’s head was decapitated after falling from an elephant’s back.

The second battle of Panipat was still disappointing for the PIF but less as compared to the first battle of Panipat. Had Himu lived a bit more, perhaps PIF could have won. Perhaps emperor Akbar, who was very much present in the battlefield, realised this and embraced the Indic pluralism in his administration.

The tide turned during the rule of Aurangzeb who decided to destroy Indic civilization. There came Shivaji who, in the words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, aspired to bind together fragmented India into a Kingdom of Dharma. During the reign of Nanasaheb Peshwa, the successor of Shivaji’s movement, the PIF conquered Lahore and Peshawar. General Raghunath Rao won over the fort of attock and saffron flag fluttered in the first after centuries in 1758.

The BIF hit back under the military leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Both the armies of PIF and BIF faced each other in the field of Panipat for months (Interested reader may go through Uday Kulkarni’s “Solstice at Panipat”). Finally, the day after Makar Sankranti, the battle broke out. The core Maratha cavalry, the Hujurat, nearly vanquished Abdali’s army at noon. However, Abdali gathered the remnant of his fleeing soldiers and offered a decisive blow in the afternoon to finish off the Marathas. General Sadashiv Rao Bhau and Vishwas Rao, the Peshwa’s son, died fighting.

The PIF lost again by a whisker. But a pyrrhic victory for Abdali who left India within months and the British took over India.

The ideological consolidation of the PIF again started. Now, Bengal was the centre. However, PIF, imbibed by the thinking of Vivekanand-Aurobindo-Shyamaprasad, could not take over India. The public mandate was hijacked by Nehru who self-admittedly was “Muslim by culture, English by education and Hindu by an accident of birth”. The rule was then passed over to Nehru’s family. Once a while independent Indians like Lal Bahadur Shastri, P.V. Narasima Rao, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, did become prime ministers but they could not liberate India from the clutches of Nehru’s Lutyens. The plot changed in 2014 again with the arrival of a powerful leader Sri Narendra Modi as India’s Prime Minister. The BIF is afraid now, very afraid. The journalists on the payroll of the BIF have regularly peddled fake news to prove “intolerance”, “Rafale corruption” and what not! All in vain. BIF knows it well that another full term for Sri Modi means the collapse of “Bharat tere tukre honge” gang, the disappearance of Maoist violence, no big brother attitude of China, no tolerance of Pakistan-backed insurgency, an end to corruption and empowerment of the weaker sections of the population.

CM Mamata has received the historic anti-red mandate of West Bengal in 2011 and once again in 2016. But instead of rising of WB from the communism-induced abyss, people observed an even bigger fall of WB to hellish pits. CM has shown her exceptional capacity in minority appeasement, criminalisation of political space, corruption and intolerance. Education and health of the marginalised sections is not her concern and she would not let the Federal government assist the poor too for petty politics. She recently commented that the Federal Government should be concerned only about external affairs, finance and defence. The last time a Bengali CM made such a comment, was in 1946. That person was Shaheed Sohrawardi of “Direct Action Day” fame.

The patriotic people in Bengal are feeling that Mamata is acting as the mouthpiece of the BIF. Having said that, I am also confident that the Bengal of Tagore and Netaji Subhas will not make any mistake now.

The original article was written on bongodesh.com by Debjit Sarkar, an adovate by profession and President, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, West Bengal.

On Valentine’s day, Bajrang Dal marries off a couple in Hyderabad

OpIndia Staff
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On Valentine’s day, Bajrang Dal marries off a couple in Hyderabad

A couple’s Valentine rendezvous was interrupted by uninvited Bajrang Dal members who reportedly forcibly married them off at the Kandlakoya park in Medchal, Hyderabad. The Bajrang Dal members had forewarned of such an eventuality if the couples were caught dallying with each other on Valentine’s day.

”We are against the celebration of Valentine’s day, which is against the Hindu traditions and not a symbol of our country’s culture,” asserted the Bajrang Dal men after performing the marriage. No complaint or FIR has been registered against the saffron-clad activists since the marriage is deemed to have performed with the couple’s consent.

Bike rallies and protests against the celebrations of Valentine’s day were carried out since the first week of February for sending people a message of the consequences they might have to endure should they are caught celebrating the lovers’ day in public. They had also urged people against going to the pubs for celebrating Valentine’s day.

A week back, the Bajrang Dal had issued a warning that if any couple is found on Valentine’s day anywhere in the Telangana, their parents would be called and they’d be given counseling. Various public places are being raided and Hotels ransacked by the Bajrang Dal activists to stop people from celebrating the V-day. The Hyderabad police have initiated an action against the Bajrang Dal members and taken a few sloganeering and outraging members on preventive custody.

‘SC verdict against Constitution and Democracy,’ AAP alleges collusion between SC and PM Modi

OpIndia Staff
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‘SC verdict against Constitution and Democracy,’ AAP alleges collusion between SC and PM Modi

We have earlier reported on the Supreme Court’s verdict on an assortment of petitions pertaining to the power tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party government and the Lieutenant General of Delhi. The verdict, by and large, asserted the supremacy of the LG over the Delhi government on a variety of issues in the Union Territory.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the verdict was against “Constitution and democracy” and that it would seek legal remedies. “If a government can’t even transfer its officers, how is it supposed to function? The party that has 67 seats doesn’t have the rights but the party that won 3 seats has those rights,” he said.

Kejriwal added, “What sort of democracy is this? Why is Delhi government not powerful? How can the opposition run the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB)? How can the government function without power?”

On the matter of Opposition alliance, Kejriwal stated that the Congress party has almost rejected such a possibility. He said that his party is lusting after an alliance with Congress because they are genuinely concerned about the country.


The Aam Aadmi Party’s official Twitter handle, too, mocked the Supreme Court with a Bollywood clip featuring Sunny Deol. In the famous court scene, Deol can be heard telling the Judge, “Tarikh par tarikh, tarikh par tarikh, tarikh par tarikh, tarikh par tarikh milti rahi hai … Lekin insaaf nahi mila my lord, insaaf nahi mila … Mili hai toh sirf yeh tarikh (We have just got dates… But we haven’t received justice my lord, no justice … All we have got are these date).”


Spokesman of the party, Sanjay Singh, has been insinuating on social media that the Supreme Court is colluding with Narendra Modi.


He said, “Does the Supreme Court not give a verdict without Modi ji’s permission? There was open corruption in the Rafale deal, the Central government lied in the Court but the SC was silent? Did the SC deliver a verdict or a joke in the CBI matter?”

‘He is an old man, keeps forgetting what to say,’ Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi on Mulayam Singh’s endorsement to Modi for PM in 2019

OpIndia Staff
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‘He is an old man, keeps forgetting what to say,’ Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi on Mulayam Singh’s endorsement to Modi for PM in 2019

The Samajwadi Party patriarch, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s statement in the 16th Lok Sabha, that he wished to see Narendra Modi back as prime minister has taken many a political leaders and commentators by utter surprise.

Amongst all others, Rabri Devi, the former CM of Bihar said Yadav’s statements have no relevance. “Unki umar ho gayi hai. Yaad nahi rehta hai kab kya bol denge. Unki boli ka koi mayene nahi rakhta hai. (Roughly translated as “He is old now. He can’t remember what to say when. His statements bear no relevance.”)


On a day when the opposition leaders had gathered in Delhi to try and stitch together a grand alliance to take on Narendra Modi in the upcoming general election, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav created a political storm by praising the prime minister, and even wishing him a second term.

This remark was not received well by senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan as well who even said that words were put into Yadav’s mouth. “Bahut dukh hua hai ye sunkar. Ye bayan unke munh me daala gaya hai. Ye bayan Mulayam Ji ka nahi hai, ye bayan Neta Ji se dilwaya gaya hai, (I am upset after knowing this. These are not his words. Someone has put these words in his mouth.)”

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav should accept the truth which his father spoke in Parliament.

“This is the truth, and truth always wins. What Mulayamji said in the Parliament is the truth, I am sure like Mulayamji, his son should also accept this truth,” Adityanath said.


Soon after Mulayam Singh’s remark posters thanking the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister were put up in Lucknow for his support to Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister.

The 16th Lok Sabha session was the last session before the country goes into the 2019 general elections. At this important juncture, Mulayam Singh’s remark might prove to be a game changer, especially for his son, Akhilesh Yadav who like several others, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, has been eyeing at the PM seat.

Kerala: Family reaches out to Communist government after mosque bans them for ‘allowing women to sing and dance’ at family wedding

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Family reaches out to Communist government after mosque bans them for ‘allowing women to sing and dance’ at family wedding

In a bizarre incident, a Muslim family of Thrithala, Palakkad district in Kerala has been boycotted by a local mosque committee as women of the family posed publicly for photographs during a wedding function in the family and for organizing a musical programme at the event.

The wedding reception of Abdul Hai, a native of Aloor in Thrithala, was held in an auditorium in Edappal town of Malappuram district on December 28. On Monday, a month after the wedding, Abdul’s brother Danish Riyaz in his Facebook post has alleged that Aloor Mahallu has imposed a ban on his family after the wedding. The mosque committee has penalised Danish Riyaz and his family for not only hosting a wedding reception but also letting women pose for photographs and sing at the wedding, a practice they claim went against their mosque rules.

In his Facebook post, Riyaz has alleged that Mahallu committee (mosque committee) has boycotted his family citing four reasons as women and girls posed for photographs during reception function, children were dancing on stage, a musical programme with the orchestra was organized during the function and women and girls spoke at the function using a microphone.

He further added that the Mahallu committee is yet to lift the ban despite family members apologized before the committee. Demanding the Kerala government to take a proper step in the issue, Danish said that his family respects all believes and customs of the religion and traditionally follows all decisions of the committee.

“It was my brother’s wedding party and I knew that our Mahallu has some traditional rules which are not followed in most other parts of Kerala, including in our neighbouring village. We shifted the wedding reception to Viva Palace in Edappal, Malappuram, which is nowhere close to Aloor or the mosque to avoid any conflict with the Aloor Committee,” Danish wrote in a Facebook post.

Danish added that the mosque has boycotted the family completely and has also stopped collecting monthly maintenance free from the family. Further, the family has also been disallowed from entertaining the Ustads of the mosque for lunch, a practice held every three months.

The mosque has also summoned both Danish and his brother to inform about the punishment. Disturbed by the boycott, Danish has now decided to take full responsibility for the wedding reception, stating that his family was not aware of the arrangements made for the celebrations and hence, must be exempted from it.

Meanwhile, secretary of the Mahallu Committee Azees Aloor contended that there was no ban for the family instead there was only non-cooperation from the mosque committee. “We cannot agree with the violations of the instructions regarding the wedding functions, given by the committee. The committee has its own decisions as a religious institution and we cannot change it for a single person or a family”, he said.

’80 percent of Vatican Priests are gay’, new book blows the lid of rampant homosexuality within ‘homophobic’ Vatican

OpIndia Staff
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’80 percent of Vatican Priests are gay’, new book blows the lid of rampant homosexuality within ‘homophobic’ Vatican

According to a new book, 80 percent of priests at the Vatican are gay. The book by Frédéric Martel, In the Closet of the Vatican, that is a detailed account of homosexuality within the Catholic Church, is a “startling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican” according to its publisher, Bloomsbury.

Martel, a non-Catholic and a gay man himself, conducted around 1,500 interviews with clergymen and diplomatic officials while researching for the book. According to the Catholic Website The Tablet, 41 cardinals, 52 bishops and monsignors, 45 papal ambassadors or diplomatic officials, 11 Swiss guards and more than 200 priests and seminarians were interviewed. This piece of investigative writing is based on four years of research, including extensive interviews with those in power.

Cover of In the Closest of the Vatican (source: Amazon)

Martel’s research reportedly reveals that while some priests accept their orientation and maintain discreet long term relationships, there are others who take it to the extreme in living a double life through casual encounters and hire male prostitutes. There are still others who are in denial of it.

The book also asserts that more the homophobic a priest is, the more likely it is that he is gay. According to Bloomsbury’s promotional material, Martel’s book “reveals secrets” about celibacy, misogyny and plots against Pope Francis. It uncovers “a clerical culture of secrecy which starts in junior seminaries and continues right up to the Vatican itself”.

“The celibacy of priests, the condemnation of the use of contraceptives, the cover-up of countless cases of sexual abuse, the resignation of Benedict XVI, misogyny among the clergy, the dramatic fall in Europe of the number of vocations to the priesthood, the plotting against Pope Francis – all these issues are clouded in mystery and secrecy”, says the promotional material of the book.

One of the most explosive claims in the book is about deceased Colombian Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo. Trujillo, a former President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, is presented as both an arch-defender of the Church’s teaching on contraception and homosexuality while also using male prostitutes.

The book is to be released February 21, on the same day as Pope Francis’ sexual abuse summit. It will be released in 8 languages across 20 countries, and the book already available on e-commerce sites for pre-order.

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