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Supreme Court refers plea challenging recitation of Sanskrit prayers in KVs to Constitution bench

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court refers plea challenging recitation of Sanskrit prayers in KVs to Constitution bench

The Supreme Court has sent a plea challenging the mandatory recitation of Sanskrit and Hindi hymns during the morning assembly in Kendriya Vidyalayas to its Constitution bench.


The proceedings in the Court witnessed a confrontation between Justice Nariman and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared on behalf of the Union Government.

“It is a universal truth, recognised by all texts, all paths of religion. It cannot become religious only because it is in Sanskrit. You have Christian schools saying ‘Honesty is the best policy’. Will that make the statement religious? I don’t think so,” Mehta said. Justice Nariman, who headed the two-bench Judge on the matter, replied, “But this hymn ‘Asato Ma Sadgamaya’ is directly from the Upanishad.”

The SG retorted saying, “The logo, which is there behind every judge of this Court says ‘Yato Dharmas Tato Jaya’, meaning where there is Dharma, there is a victory. There is nothing religious or communal about it.” The Court, however, was not convinced and referred the matter to a Constitution bench.

The petition was filed by one Veenayak Shah who is reported to be the father of children who received their education from Kendriya Vidyalaya. In the petition, he claimed that reciting prayers “creates a lot of obstacles in developing a Scientific Temperament” and that it was imparting religious instructions.

PM Modi to address students at the ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ program on January 29

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi to address students at the ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ program on January 29

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to interact with over 2000 students, parents and teachers prior to the examination season at the second edition of ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha 2.0’ scheduled to be held on January 29 in the national capital.

The government earlier invited students to register on ‘MyGov.in’ and participate in the ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ contest and get an opportunity to interact with the prime minister.

PM Modi said at his ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio programme on Sunday, “It was suggested that I talk about exams warriors, however, I am happy to inform you that I will hold a special session ‘Pariksha par Charcha’ to address the students of the country.”

A student named Anshul Sharma residing in Himachal Pradesh registered on ‘MyGov.in’ had requested the Prime Minister, to speak about ‘exam warriors’, stated PM Modi.

The interaction will revolve around issues related to examinations and the stress connected to them.

For the first time, students from all over India and also Indian students residing abroad are participating as the last year only Delhi/NCR students had been called for participation.

Indian students residing in countries like Russia, Nigeria, Iran, Nepal, Doha, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore will be participating in the interaction.

According to a statement of Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, the participants also include college students from 24 States and Union Territories. So far 675 students from different States and Union Territories have already arrived in Delhi.

A short 10-minute cultural program has also been included this time in which winners of Kala Utsav contest, their parents and teachers will be performing. Along with this, a short film on initiatives taken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development will also be screened. This would highlight the steps taken since last year’s ‘Pariksha Par Charcha’ to reduce examination-related stress.

The ministry in the statement specified that “The arrangements are being made for live telecast of the programme on January 29 in all government and CBSE schools, higher education institutions and colleges of the country and abroad.”

For the last three years, through his Mann Ki Baat address, PM Narendra Modi has always shared some motivational thoughts and several anecdotes on appearing for exams with a positive attitude. Last year, he had also penned a book titled “Exam Warriors”, which has several positive notes and motivates children helping them to fight exam related stress.

Javed Akhtar defends Ram Guha after his hypocrisy gets exposed, turns out, he is the biggest hypocrite of them all

OpIndia Staff
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Javed Akhtar defends Ram Guha after his hypocrisy gets exposed, turns out, he is the biggest hypocrite of them all

When lyricist Javed Akhtar is not busy penning songs for films, he spends his free time on Twitter labelling people on Twitter as ‘cockroaches‘ and ‘creeps‘ and asking them to stay in their ‘auqat’. Recently, a Twitter user disagreed with Leftist ‘historian’ Ramchandra Guha and referred to him as a hypocrite.


Javed Akhtar took it to heart and immediately jumped into the conversation and attacked the Twitter user Gorakh Nath Chaubey, referring to him as a ‘creep’.


He then went on to praise Guha and said that while anyone can disagree with Guha, but calling Guha a hypocrite is ‘an insult’.


Akhtar then justified his liberal usage of the term ‘creep’ to someone who was not even talking to him by saying that they should know they are not the ‘only ones’ who can cross the line.

Meanwhile, scientist and columnist Anand Ranganathan, armed dangerous with his legendary Twitter threads took it upon himself to expose Akhtar’s hypocrisy.


Akhtar has stood up in solidarity with MF Hussain but has never once condemned Hussain’s portrayal of Hindu gods which many found offensive. He had said, “There may be a difference. But please understand. This is a difference not within Husain. It is the difference of historical traditions and he is painting certain traditions. There are different traditions, there are different value systems, there are aesthetics in different parts of society; in different segments of the society; in different schools.” However, when it came to Salman Rushdie, Akhtar said, “You cannot speak in a derogatory manner; write dirty things about those who are revered by billions.”

Read also: Javed Akhtar abuses a columnist who expressed a politically incorrect opinion

Anand Ranganathan further says how Akhtar preaches the world about misogyny, fundamentalism, bigotry and even refers to Manusmriti, but never speaks about the Quran. He adds how Akhtar preaches on poverty but then mocks the same by giving his wife a cake depicting a slum with icing detailing open sewage.


He reminds Akhtar of his own contradictory tweets on freedom of expression.

Javed Akhtar’s contradictory tweets on freedom of speech

Anand Ranganathan then reminds Akhtar how some days he condemns bigotry and religious fanaticism but refers to Tipu Sultan who destroyed temples and forcibly converted lakhs of Hindus and Christians as ‘secular and courageous’ and hails him.

Read also: Javed Akhtar’s Twitter meltdown should not be missed

This is not the first time Akhtar has had such a public meltdown. Earlier he was visibly angry when his hypocrisy on free speech was pointed out. Ironically he tried to justify his rage against a female cop or using one line from his song, but had gone on a Twitter rampage when earlier some Twitter users had tried to point out to him that his movie Sholay was almost entirely lifted out of Hollywood movie plots.

Javed Akhtar has in the past been called out for being a radicalism apologist, Rohingya terrorist sympathiser and he had even defended Triple Talaq. He had also abused people and has mocked legendary sportspersons as ‘hardly literate’, just because they had a different opinion than him.

TIME’s article on fake news: A biased, insidious piece against a political party they despise

Jinit Jain
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TIME’s article on fake news: A biased, insidious piece against a political party they despise

The TIME has come up with an inherently biased article against the BJP claiming the saffron party is upping the ante to spread fake news through Whatsapp with the help of ‘volunteers’. Though the article intends to explain how Whatsapp is being employed by the parties across the political spectrum to push their agenda among the masses, it makes superficial references to falsities pervaded by the opposition parties and weighs their entire article only on the perceived shenanigans of the BJP IT machinery without any credible evidence.

The TIME has based their entire article around the premise that the BJP president Amit Shah, who has prepared a comprehensive “booth action plan” which is to drive the party’s extensive WhatsApp-based campaign for parliamentary election, circulating specially designed campaign material –video, audio, text, graphics and cartoons will be used by the BJP to spread fake news. Not for once the TIME considers this as an innovative attempt by a political party to woo its voters and establish a direct connection with them.

As per the Hindustan Times report, BJP party president Amit Shah has asked state units to compile the list of smartphone-carrying voters in every polling station. Once this list is ready, BJP MPs, MLAs, other elected representatives and officials will be asked to identify these cell phone pramukhs in the first round; the pramukhs will then create three WhatsApp group for each polling station, each group consisting of 256 persons (the maximum allowed on the platform).

Once the party has created uniquely designed campaign materials, on the party’s welfare programme, Modi’s personality, triple talaq, Ram temple and a range of other issues deemed appropriate by the high-command, they will then be shared with the respective state machinery for passing it on to the nodal persons at the booth, who will share them on the WhatsApp groups operated by them.

This is nothing but an extension of what BJP used to do in the pre-WhatsApp era. The party earlier appointed a booth manager to manage a booth, identified voters on paper and then reached out to them on a house-to-house basis. So by adopting a new means to communicate their message to the masses, the BJP is simply harnessing the penetration of the new technology to achieve its electoral ambitions. However, this ingenious method of using Whatsapp by the BJP has not been palatable to the liberals working at TIME who deem it spreading of ‘fake news’ without any evidence to back their claim.

The country, as well as the world, is marred by the scourge of Fake news. So instead of running a biased piece against the political party they despise, the TIME should rather direct their energies in exploring ways to curb the spread of fake news on various Social Media platforms. Whatsapp, on the other hand, is taking stern action against users who indulge in dispensing fake news and rumours.

In fact, IT ministry under the Modi government was the first one to wake Whatsapp from its slumber to curb dissemination of fake news on its portal. It also warned the company that platforms used for propagation of rumours are accountable to be treated as ‘abettors’ and can face legal consequences if they remain “bystanders”. While the article claims that the BJP volunteers fuel the fake news on Whatsapp and give a free pass to the opposition fake news peddlers, but the reality is that the BJP and its leaders are themselves victims of fake news peddled by IT cells of Congress and other opposition parties.

The list of Congress lying is interminably long and so wide-ranging that the TIME can routinely publish an article on their lies till the general elections, without repeating any of them and still be perplexed with the preponderance of the remaining instances of their lying. The Congress backed ecosystem has been equally culpable of circulating the fake news to support its favoured party and paint the BJP and its leaders as corrupt. The contentious online portal, the leftist propaganda website, The Wire, spun a web of lies around the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, accusing him and his family of having business ties till date with a defaulting company. This lie was comprehensively debunked by OpIndia here.

In another instance, the Wire carried out a hit job on Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, claiming financial irregularities in Jay Shah’s businesses after 2014. The scandalous allegations levelled by the Wire were promptly dispelled as gross discrepancies were highlighted in their analysis. Nevertheless, the Congress President Rahul Gandhi continued to repeat their lies multiple times over in a desperate bid to lend credence to the Wire’s baseless story. The Wire is already facing Rs 100 crore defamation suit for the same.

Another organisation, in cahoots with the Congress party in spreading fake news, is the NDTV. Nidhi Razdan of NDTV conducted an entire debate show based on unverified news. Such is the fondness for Rahul Gandhi among NDTV scribes that Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statements regarding Jobs in Railways were twisted to perpetuate Rahul Gandhi’s narrative of ‘Jobless Growth’ to the masses.

There have been myriad instances when Congress president Rahul Gandhi has blatantly lied in public speeches and press conferences and the same being lapped up by the Congress IT cell to circulate them on their Whatsapp groups. Recently, Rahul Gandhi lied about how the Modi government is destroying MGNREGA. He also lied saying PM Modi is making different sections of the society fight while Congress MLA Alpesh Thakore who is responsible for inciting hatred and violence against UPites and Biharis in Gujarat still enjoys patronage from the Congress President. Rahul Gandhi also lied about a secret meeting he did with Chinese authorities, during his visit to Mansarovar, which was earlier denied by the Congress.

Rahul Gandhi is even accused of exploiting the deaths of Sterlite protestors by lying about it and using the deaths of protestors to attack PM Modi and RSS. A Periyar statue was found vandalised by unknown assailants in Tamil Nadu, but Rahul Gandhi lied about it, blaming BJP and RSS responsible for it. To score political brownie points, Rahul Gandhi has lied several times about the Modi government’s loan waiver to top 15 industrialists.

A scam regarding the Rafale deal was contrived by the Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s fertile imagination spread like a wild-fire in the country. From mainstream media to social media platforms, the story of an assumed scam was run like an authentic scam. Even the Supreme Court’s dismissal of any wrongdoing in the Rafale deal couldn’t stop the proliferation of the fake news pertaining to the Rafale deal by the Gandhi scion. Even the Dassault CEO had rubbished Rahul Gandhi’s lies about the Rafale deal.

These lies manufactured and peddled by Congress and its pliant media were generously shared on Whatsapp groups and Social Media pages to confound unsuspecting users and create doubt in their minds. The TIME was then not critical of the ill-effects of such fake news being liberally circulated on the Social Media and the Mainstream media and promptly swept them under the rug.

Fake news is an all-pervasive menace that has diseased the society. A more nuanced discussion on the issue is imperative. The TIME would do well to highlight how mainstream media is being co-opted to spread lies, perhaps, the greatest purveyor of fake news, instad of focusing on BJP, the one political party they despise.

Patiala House court extends interim protection for P Chidambaram and Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case, again

OpIndia Staff
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Patiala House court extends interim protection for P Chidambaram and Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case, again

Patiala House Court has again extended interim protection to Congress leader P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram, from arrest in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case.


Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation has been demanding custodial interrogation for the former finance minister in the case for a long time. Special CBI Judge O P Saini, on 11 January, had extended the protection ’till February 1 and had also scheduled the hearing on the same date. However, citing his absence on February 1, judge constituted the hearing today and extended protection to father-son duo ’till February 18.

As per reports, in another development, the Supreme Court has asked the ED to inform it about the dates on which they want to interrogate Karthi Chidambaram by Wednesday. Karthi has reportedly sought permission to travel abroad from February 21 to 28.

The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in grant of FIPB approval in Aircel-Maxis deal, while the ED is probing alleged money-laundering related to the deal. It is accused that Chidambaram misused his capacity as finance minister in the UPA government to illegally grant FIPB approvals to Malaysia based firm Maxis for buying Indian telecom company Aircel for ₹3,500 crore in 2006 and in exchange his son, Karti Chidambaram was given kickbacks. The CBI had obtained permission to prosecute Chidambaram in November 2018.

The father-son duo is not only getting cornered in Aircel-Maxis scam, but also in the similar scandal of INX media case. Both P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth Rs 300 crores to INX Media (Now, known as NewsX), which was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. He was grilled by ED in the case, earlier this month.

On January 25 in the case, CBI had opposed his anticipatory bail plea and demanded his custody. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the High Court that custodial interrogation of Congress leader is necessary as he was not cooperating in the probe and had given false information during his questioning by the agency.

Rahul Gandhi legitimises distasteful attacks against Goa CM Manohar Parrikar with his false narrative about dubious tapes

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi legitimises distasteful attacks against Goa CM Manohar Parrikar with his false narrative about dubious tapes

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has developed a habit, it appears, of repeating a lie over and over again the hope that it starts gaining traction among the voters with some assistance from ‘pliant media’.

Earlier in the month, the Congress party had released an alleged conversation between Goa Minister Vishwajit Rane and a journalist where the former is claimed to be saying that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has Rafale files in his bedroom. Both Rane and Parrikar had rubbished the tape and called it doctored.

Then, Rahul Gandhi attempted to play the doctored tape in the Parliament but Lok Sabha Speaker ordered him to authenticate it first. He refused to do so and instead tried to brazen it out.

Now, the Congress President has tweeted about the tape again and claimed that it’s “obvious that the tapes are authentic” despite the fact that he refused to have it authenticated.


After the Supreme Court declared that there was no need for a court-monitored probe into the Rafale deal, Rahul Gandhi has been clutching at straws.

Over the course of many months, he has been spreading many canards about the deal. He had falsely claimed that the government had removed the CBI Director Alok Verma to stop him from probing the Rafale deal. On another occasion in the Lok Sabha, he claimed that he was told personally by the French President that there was no secrecy pact between the two countries which prevented the government from discussing the terms and price of the Rafale jets. His lies prompted the French government to issue a statement where it was said that the secrecy pact was signed when UPA was in power.

Rahul Gandhi had also alleged that Reliance will benefit by US$ 4 billion. Later, he added another US$ 16 billion for “Rafale lifecycle Contract” out of thin air. Needless to say, these figures have no basis in fact. We have comprehensively busted all of Rahul Gandhi’s lies on the matter, which do not appear to end. The articles can be read here and here.

The Congress party’s attempt at targeting a critically ill Manohar Parrikar appears to be part of a desperate and distasteful strategy to gain electoral benefits from a person’s poor health.

After the release of the dubious tape, Goa Congress Chief had demanded increased security cover for Parrikar claiming that attempts may be made on the Goa CM’s life due to the Rafale files knowing fully well how ill he is. Considering the fact that he is suffering from Pancreatic Cancer, it is incredibly insensitive on the part of the Congress to indulge in such crass politics.

Congress leader Jaipal Reddy had commented that Parrikar is ‘sticking to his chair like a leech.’ Before that, state Congress spokesperson Jitendra Deshprabhu had demanded that the BJP should either ‘show’ Parrikar is alive or they should conduct his ‘Shradh’ (death rituals).

Now, the Congress President has legitimized such disgusting attacks on the ailing BJP leader with his own false narrative based on doctored tapes. With ‘pliant media‘ in his corner, it appears Rahul Gandhi is arrogant enough to believe that he can get away with such kind of politics as well.

We should quit India if Citizenship Amendment Bill is passed: threatens activist Akhil Gogoi

OpIndia Staff
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We should quit India if Citizenship Amendment Bill is passed: threatens activist Akhil Gogoi

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti leader Akhil Gogoi while addressing a rally at Panitola in Assam’s Tinsukia district has issued a secessionist statement over the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Gogoi said that if Assamese sentiments are not respected than the state will have to secede from the Union Of India.

“If the government gives us the respect we deserve, we are with the nation but if the sentiments of the indigenous Assamese are ignored and the bill is passed, then each Assamese must have the courage to say that they will not be a part of India.” Gogoi was quoted by reports. He was addressing an agitation by 70 organisations against the bill.

The organizations have also alleged that bill violates the basic fundamentals of 1985 Assam Accord, which says anyone who came to the state after March 1971, has to be marked and deported from the state. Organisations, which now includes BJP’s former ally AGP, have alleged that Amendment Bill is a ploy to alter the demographics of the region.

The north-eastern part of India, especially Assam, has witnessed widespread protest and agitation by political parties and pressure groups, after Lok Sabha on 8th January passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The bill’s aim is to provide citizenship to people belonging to persecuted minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parisi, Jains and Christians, of countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and who have come to India. The move has been labelled to be against the interests of the people of Assam, as it will allow non-muslims from foreign countries, mainly Bangladesh, to settle there.

Akil Gogoi was already slapped with a sedition case on January 7, after he organised a rally and issued secessionist remarks at Guwahati on January 7, along with Sahitya Akademi winning litterateur Hiren Gohain and senior journalist Manjit Mahanta. The three were booked under sections of 120 (B), 121, 123 and 124 (A). The new comments by him will certainly invite more legal trouble for him.

Akhil Gogoi is a Marxist peasant leader, who started his public life with anti-corruption campaigns. He formed the left-wing organization Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti in 2005. It was also part of India Against Corruption, under the leadership of Anna Hazare. But recently he activities are mainly targetted towards BJP. He is trying to follow the same path as Arvind Kejriwal, starting with an anti-corruption movement against Congress government but gradually turning to become mainly an anti-BJP organisation. He is also suspected to have links with the Maoists.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill is the brainchild of Bharatiya Janta Party and the party has vehemently backed the bill and rubbished the campaigns going on against it. The Architect of Bhartiya Janta Party’s rise in north-east and Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that only way to stop Assam from becoming like Jammu and Kashmir is Citizenship Amendment Bill along with enforcement of clause 6 of the Assam Accord. He said that Hindus have already lost the power to decide in 14 districts of Assam and 30 Assembly seats have already gone. If the bill comes in, Hindus can at least hope to save 17 seats, he added.

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal has also stated that groups with vested interests are spreading misinformation about the bill and it will in no way bring an influx of immigrants into Assam, contrary to what is being spread among the people.

Dr Ganayanda Barman, a prominent educationist of Assam, has also slammed Gogoi for spreading misinformation regarding the bill. He said that Amendment Bill will provide respite to Bangladeshi Hindus, escaping persecution from the Hands of Bangladeshi Muslims. He added that Hindus of Bangladesh, including women, have been subject to innumerable torture and it is the state’s responsibility to extend help.

“Government is going to implement Clause 6 very soon. We welcome the decision of the government for implementation of Clause 6,” Dr Barman, added. Clause 6 of Assam Accords, seeks to “protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”. Government jobs, as well as assembly seats, will be reserved for indigenous people under this clause, which will ensure that illegal immigrants can’t occupy power in the state.

However, BJP has also been facing opposition from its own allies like Janta Dal(United) of Bihar, and Shiv Sena of Maharastra. Assam Gana Parishad had also exited NDA, in the wake of the announcement of the bill. AGP has also been successful in convincing other parties of BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance, to come forward and oppose the bill. National People Party’s Supremo and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma has in clear words, opposed the bill.

Kashmir: The three block war

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Kashmir: The three block war

In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, we are battling a multi-pronged hybrid war against terror. Thirty years of bloodshed and still a clear path towards peace and stability in the region is far from sight. As we have seen in the recent decades that most of the modern battles have been hybrid in nature so is the Proxy War of Kashmir. It shows the multidimensional nature of modern military missions. Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq are class examples of the western world’s ‘hybrid war’ or ‘three blocks war’ concept being put into action in the war against terror.

The Indian Army’s much-praised initiative ‘Operation Sadbhavna’ combined with ‘Operation All Out’ and simultaneous Disaster Relief Operations is one such successful implementation of the ‘Three block war’ wherein, the Armed forces are fighting in Block One, while simultaneously helping secure, stabilize and nation-build in Block Two, and all the while, you are also helping people through disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping in Block Three to try and win the hearts of common Kashmiri people and to create an atmosphere of harmony amongst all, ever since the year 1998.

It can be said without twitching an eyelid that the Indian Army’s Operation Sadbhavna is the best humanitarian aid for the terror-stricken people of the valley. The olive branch extended by Operation Sadbhavana rates amongst the best humanitarian aid and nation-building operations ran by any military in the world but, is not found sufficient. The humbling efforts, by the uniformed men and women, are winning hearts, but people are still being radicalised, stones are still being pelted and pro-Pakistan slogans are still being shouted.

The reason: There are other blocks too in the battle zone, like fighting the Jihad, the separatism, the religious extremism but they are left undefended. Thus, the continued losses since last three decades. We have not put sufficient intellectual energy, and resources, and work towards the other Blocks specifically and then all the Blocks together. Successful counter-insurgency must involve several dimensions including all blocks.

While implementing western concepts in India we tend to forget that those powers have invaded those nations on the pretext of fighting the ISIS and the Taliban. They are using brutal force and weapons of mass destruction which includes; guns, missiles, tanks and drones to eliminate the so-called bad terrorists. They are rank outsiders for the regions yet indulging themselves in a bloodbath and creating havoc amongst the common people with a sole aim to keep winning the first block. The efforts in the other two blocks are for show off and making a balancing act so that the heinous bloodshed and destruction can be justified with their namesake humanitarian aid work.

The ‘three block war’ concept has many flows, as the battle gets fierce and bloody due to collateral damage, the soldiers become more and more unpopular. The guerrilla fighting with the terrorists has forced the soldiers into taking a heavily armed posture, many times against Kashmiri local boys who have become mujahidin under influence of Pakistan sponsored proxies.

The Kashmiris don’t see the evil of their own people. But, the military fighting the satanic Jihadi forces as a part of their duty to keep the society free from evil forces is finding itself in the line of abhorrence of the local people. We must open our eyes towards a fact that we are losing it socially in Kashmir. The olive green has become a symbol of hatred for a vast majority of people from five terror-infested districts of the valley.

The US and their coalition forces have bombed Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to stone-age. No regime in India can ever afford to bomb its own lands – the godly valley of Kashmir and bring it to ruins. The Jungles of Pine and Deodar and oak, the apple orchards, the towns, the landscapes, the Himalayas, its inhabitants and the whole valley itself are as much Indian as we all are. India’s wish in the Kashmir conflict is nothing less than a thumping win in all the Nine blocks which will ensure the return of ‘Jamhuriyat, Kashmiriyat and Insaniyat’. A pyrrhic victory in Kashmir is not something, we Indians wish for.

There can be no winners in a civil war. The idea of India must be religiously, socially and politically assertive in Kashmir but, to be able to achieve the desired insolence. We will have to abolish Articles 370 and 35A, from the constitution of India. These separatist provisions of our constitution have been established to be the Achilles heel for India as far as Kashmir is concerned.

When a government spends so much of money and efforts into rehabilitation and reform of civilization and gets pelted with stones, the signs are worrying and warrant immediate course correction and strict disciplinary actions against the society concerned. We have failed to take a single step for de-radicalization of unruly people of the valley. For an avid reader of India’s military history, one is disappointed with the lack of innovative thinking from the Indian think tank, while battling Kashmir issue.

Matter of fact is that the troops fighting on the front can only march ahead if their rear is secure. Stone pelting, terrorism, separatists, ceasefire violations, infiltrations from across the border, BAT attacks and the unholy spread of Jihadist propaganda through mosques, processions and cyber Jihad clearly shows that our backyard is not safe & secure. The barrage of attacks by bombs, bullets, stones and abuses from the rear, make the soldiers vulnerable. A soldier never fears the enemy from outside but, it is the enemy within that makes one’s knees weak in a war.

A hybrid war lurking in our own backyard can be won only when all ends are secure. While deploying the Armed Forces to battle it out upon all the fronts of the Kashmir Chakravyuha, we are falling prey to cons of the western way of war fighting on foreign lands. As the struggle of Kashmir is happening in our backyard, our biggest strength should be our own people, who actually are our major weakness in the valley.

We must remember that Kashmir to India is not what Gaza is to Israel. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India.

Tulsi Gabbard, first Hindu to run for US president, slams media for maligning her for her religion

OpIndia Staff
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Tulsi Gabbard, first Hindu to run for US president, slams media for maligning her for her religion

The presidential aspirant, Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat representative from Hawaii, who was the first Hindu to enter the US Congress in 2012 has claimed that she has been made a ‘victim of religious bigotry’ as some media outlets have targeted her over her Hindu name and accused her supporters, who have Hindu names, of being ‘Hindu nationalists’.

Gabbard in her op-ed written for a local publication, the Religious News Services, described the campaign against her and her supporters and donors as “profiling and targeting of Hindu Americans and ascribing to them motives without any basis”.

Talking about she being slammed for her meeting with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, she wrote in her article that, “My meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s democratically elected leader, have been highlighted as ‘proof’ of this and portrayed as somehow being out of the ordinary or somehow suspect, even though President (Barack) Obama, Secretary (Hillary) Clinton, President (Donald) Trump and many of my colleagues in Congress have met with and worked with him.”

The Hawaii lawmaker said in the article that she would be contesting for the 2020 Presidential elections. “I am proud to be the first Hindu-American to have been elected to Congress, and now, the first Hindu-American to run for president.”

“And, while the headlines covering my announcement could have celebrated this historic first, maybe even informed Americans at large about the world’s third-largest religion, some have instead fomented suspicion, fear and religious bigotry about not only me but also my supporters,” Gabbard said.

Gabbard was the first Representative to use Bhagavad Gita at her swearing-in ceremony.


Tulsi Gabbard does not have direct links to India or any ancestry with Hinduism. It was her mother who embraced Hinduism, and later her father followed. Her family gave her and other siblings the Hindu names. Tulsi is a strict vegetarian from childhood and follows the Gaudiya Vaishnavism sect.

Gabbard has always been very vocal about her affection for India and has regularly defended India against elements in the States who accuse our country of religious bigotry while excusing the real bigotry displayed by Islamic countries.

Gabbard stressing on the strong ties between the US and India wrote, “The strategic partnership between our two countries has been a priority for several decades now. To question my commitment to my country, while not questioning non-Hindu leaders, creates a double standard that can only be rooted in one thing: ‘religious bigotry’. I am Hindu and they are not,” she said.

Gabbard, in her article, has also made references to the attacks made against her by her political opponents during the 2012 and 2014 elections, when her Republican opponent had stated publicly that a Hindu should not be allowed to serve in the US Congress and that Hinduism is incompatible with the US Constitution. In the 2016 race for Congress, her Republican opponent said repeatedly that a vote for her was a vote for the devil because of her religion, Gabbard wrote.

Earlier too, in 2017, the Hindu Lawmaker had blasted CNN for reinforcing stereotypes about Hindus and Hinduism through a series it broadcasted, titled “Believer”. She had also claimed that the show virtually painted entire Hindu community as “cannibals” and that Reza Aslan, the host of the show, was behaving as if he was touring a zoo. She feared that the show will increase Hinduphobia and people’s misunderstanding about Hindus.

No UN, just because Rohingyas hold a refugee card, India is not obligated to accept them

K Bhattacharjee
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No UN, just because Rohingyas hold a refugee card, India is not obligated to accept them

As we have reported earlier, 31 refugees who were stranded between the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura were handed over to the state police after talks between the BSF and their Bangladeshi counterparts did not yield any fruitful results.

Now, the UNHCR has claimed that 27 of the 31 arrested are registered with the global agency as refugees and that they had been living in Jammu for the last several years. Urging the Indian government to not detain or deport the refugees, the agency remarked that “a family of five Rohingya was returned to Myanmar in January 2019” despite being “registered with UNHCR as asylum seekers”.

As is most obvious, India is not obligated to heed the urges of UNHCR as we are not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee convention. Moreover, there are serious security threats associated with Rohingyas in India which the agency conveniently chooses to ignore.

Rohingya refugee camps have been strongly suspected to be breeding grounds for radicalization and terror activities. Rohingyas have been arrested in the past for involvement in human trafficking. They have been arrested for involvement in dacoities. There has also been the suspicion that there is a deliberate attempt to Islamicize Hindu-majority Jammu by settling Rohingyas. Rohingyas are known to have committed massacres of Hindus. It has been confirmed by Amnesty itself.

Under such circumstances, it appears bewildering that the UNHCR would insist that India take no against the demographic invasion. Take a moment to consider the duplicity of the global agency in its treatment of Saudi Arabia and India. The Sunni Islamic country deports hundreds of Rohingyas and the UNHCR utters hardly a whisper while India deports a handful of them and yet the agency wastes no time in expressing their ‘dissatisfaction’.

The global agency builds no pressure on Islamic countries to offer help to the Rohingyas, who are part of their ‘Ummah’, and yet wants a country that has suffered a partition due to Islamic intolerance to offer shelter to a population that is strongly suspected of being radicalized.
The global agency also sees nothing wrong with Rohingyas settling in Jammu illegally, a state that witnessed the exodus of Hindus and their genocide. One wonders why is it that the global agency cannot appreciate the valid humanitarian concerns that India has for its own citizens, the people that the Indian state is primarily responsible for.
The UNHCR has to understand and appreciate the fact that India is a sovereign country and its primary responsibility is to ensure the security, safety and the prosperity of its own people. It is incredulous that while India is unfairly accused by international organizations of treating its minorities harshly, the UNHCR wants to use India as a dumping ground for Rohingyas while giving Islamic countries a free pass.
In the same manner, as it is acceptable for Americans to elect a President who proudly declares “America First”, for the Indian government, it should always be “India first”. The demographic invasion of the northeastern regions of India has already resulted in communal disharmony in these regions. India cannot afford to allow these tensions to escalate further by providing shelter to illegal Rohingya immigrants.
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