Social media was abuzz after Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s latest gaffe in Britain where he compared the Rashtriya Swayamswevak Sangh with the Muslim Brotherhood. Those unaware, the Muslim Brotherhood is a global Islamist Sunni organization that was founded in Egypt. The group which has been labelled a terrorist organization in various countries managed to capture power in Egypt before it was removed from power through a coup and was subjected to a severe crackdown.
The history of the Muslim Brotherhood’s close proximity to Jihad and use of violence to achieve its political objectives since its inception in 1928 is well documented. The interesting part, however, is that the group abandoned the use of violence in the 1970s and decided to embrace electoral politics to achieve its objective. When the group did manage to capture political power in 2012 after Mohamed Morsi became Egypt’s first elected President, massive demonstrations broke out following which the military carried out a coup within a year and put him under house arrest.
Given this context, it is rather troubling that the leader of India’s largest opposition party is making a comparison between the Muslim Brotherhood and the RSS. It is quite well known that after a long struggle, the RSS finally managed to capture power through its political wing, the BJP when Narendra Modi exceeded all expectations by securing a majority for the party on its own.
The Muslim Brotherhood is considered a terrorist organization by countries such as Egypt, Syria, UAE, Saudi Arabia. By comparing a cultural organisation like the RSS with a terrorist organization like the Muslim Brotherhood, is Rahul Gandhi hinting towards a possible crackdown on the organization should the UPA return to power in 2019?
The significant efforts of the Congress party to conjure a narrative of Hindu terror is quite well known. It is also known that a senior leader of the Congress party attended the release of a book that blamed the RSS for the 26/11 attacks. Whistle-blowers have revealed since then that there was pressure from within the ranks of the Congress party to frame Hindus in order to prove their narrative of Hindu terror. Thus, keeping in mind the track record of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi’s comparison of the RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood cannot be dismissed as the ramblings of a confused mind.
Comparing RSS to ISIS and other terror organizations is nothing new. It is fashionable among people from a certain political background to wax eloquent on how RSS is similar to ISIS. But coming from the President of the Congress party, it’s certainly much more troubling. By demonizing the RSS and comparing it with the Muslim Brotherhood on foreign soil, the Congress President appears to be laying the groundwork for a severe crackdown on the RSS should they ever return to power. Muslim Brotherhood suffered a severe crackdown following the coup for its Islamist activities, the comparison with them appears to suggest that RSS might be subjected to a similar crackdown should the Congress ever return to power.
The Congress party has propaganda outlets under its wing which it can use to further the narrative that a crackdown on the RSS is necessary, the same outlets which currently whitewash the murders of RSS and BJP cadres in Bengal and Kerala. Furthermore, by suggesting that the RSS looks to capture power and institutions like the Muslim Brotherhood, it appears that even political leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party might not escape the possible persecution either. Keeping in mind the events that unfolded during the ten years of UPA, the very real possibility of the Hindu terror narrative being resurrected cannot be ignored.
In a display of complete lack of empathy and accountability, Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Germany on Friday failed to recognize the involvement of the Congress party in the 1984 genocide which claimed thousands and thousands of Sikh lives across the country. Responding to a question posed by a CNN-NEWS18 journalist about the involvement of Congress in 1984 Sikh genocide, Rahul Gandhi said:
“I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don’t agree. Certainly, there was violence, there was tragedy.”
Since Rahul Gandhi has conveniently forgotten the bloody history of his party, it is imperative that he is made aware of the atrocities faced by Sikhs in 1984. On the morning of October 31st 1984, the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was fatally shot by two of her bodyguards, who happen to be Sikhs. In the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi targeted killings of Sikhs across the country and especially around the now NCR region ensued.
The killings started on the night of November 1 and went on for three days. Rajiv Gandhi famously gave a statement which instead of condemning the actions of the violent mobs, encouraged it. Senior advocate H.S. Phoolka released the video of the statement after 31 years of the incident, Phoolka spearheaded the legal battle in support of the victims.
Rahul Gandhi comment absolves the Indian National Congress of any responsibility for this heinous crime against Sikhs. This is outrageous if we compare the findings of the various commissions and countless eyewitness accounts of what had actually happened during those three days.
The Nanavati Commission recorded the testimony of a witness namely, Jasbir Singh who stated that on 03-11-84, he was passing by the TB hospital gated after taking dinner at the house of Sucha Singh situated at Outram lane he had seen Jagdish Tytler coming there in a car. Sing furthered that he heard Tytler “rebuked the persons who were standing there that his instructions were not faithfully carried out and therefore his position was greatly compromised and lowered in the eyes of the central leaders. He has alleged to have further stated that there was only nominal killing in his constituency compared to East Delhi, Outer Delhi, Cant. etc. and it would be difficult for him to stake a claim in future as he has promised large-scale killing of Sikhs. He had complained to those persons that they had betrayed him and let him down.”
This is not the only time the name Jagdish Tytler is mentioned in the eyewitness accounts of the Nanavati commission’s report. It is important to note, Jagdish Tytler was given subsequent tickets to contest election by the Indian National Congress and also made Union Minister of Civil Aviation first and then labour department.
He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. He was again re-elected in 1991 when he was made the Minister of State of Surface Transportation. He again contested in 2004 and won, all these while allegations of his involvement in the massacre of 1984 was a matter of public debate. The Congress party continuously gave him and other accused such as Sajjan Kumar, R.K. Anand tickets to contest elections. It was only after a shoe was hurled towards P. Chidambaram on 7th April 2009, the Congress party dropped Tytler from the candidate’s list in 2009. Tytler continues to be in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) which is the highest governing body of the Indian National Congress.
The Nanavati commission also stated – “As stated by Shri Gurbachan Singh (Witness -137) involvement of Shri Jagdish Tytler was also disclosed by the affected persons to the ‘Citizens Commission’ during the inquiry which it had made within a short time after the riots. That inquiry was made by eminent persons of unquestionable integrity.
Shri Govind Narain (Witness-150) who had assisted the Citizens Committee, whose Chairman was Mr Justice Sikri, has also stated that witnesses had told the Committee about participation by Shri H.K.L.Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler in the anti-Sikh riots. Relying upon all this material, the Commission considers it safe to record a finding that there is credible evidence against Shri Jagdish Tytler to the effect that very probably he had a hand in organizing attacks on Sikhs. The Commission, therefore, recommends to the Government to look into this aspect and take further action as may be found necessary.”
This report was submitted in 2005 which means after a formal commission of inquiry stating that there is “credible evidence” against Tytler and he “very probably” had a hand in organizing the attacks on Sikhs, the Congress party went ahead with giving him a ticket to contest elections in 2009.
Here is a video posted by Manjit Singh GK, the President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and Delhi State President of Shiromani Akali Dal- Badal. In this video, Tytler can be seen casually talking about killing 100’s of Sikhs in 1984 riots.
Not only Tytler, Sajjan Kumar also is accused of being complicit in the killings of 1984. The CBI prosecutor for the case against Sajjan Kumar and five others, R.S. Cheema in his final arguments, stated:
“There was a conspiracy of terrifying proportion with the complicity of police and patronage of local MP Sajjan Kumar,” The prosecutor furthered by arguing that Sajjan Kumar instigated by telling a crowd that “not a single Sikh should survive”. Sajjan Kumar is a former MP and a councillor of the INC. The case and evidence are more concrete and his name has come up regularly in almost every inquiry commission in 1984″.
A key witness namely Kaur, identified five accused, including Sajjan Kumar who are facing the trial for the killings of six people in Delhi Cantt area during the riots. She also stated at that point in time, that she came to know of the “collusion” between police officials and the accused during the trial which led to the initial acquittal of the accused in the murder of her father Nirmal Singh who ran a transport service.
The police at that point in time were under the administrative control of the central UPA government. The police’s role can be best described as non-existent. As the Indian express journalist Joseph Maliakan reported that when he approached the Block 32 in Trilokapuri, where more than 400 Sikhs have been killed and burned, he was appalled and wanted to help the victims. That is why he along with his colleagues went to the Police Commissioner’s office and what happened next is very telling of the role of the police in the 84 massacre. Maliakan writes:
“In spite of our accounts of the Trilokpuri massacre, the commissioner maintained absolute peace prevailed in Delhi. On our request, however, commissioner Tandon agreed to visit Trilokpuri. Rahul and I followed in our car. However, instead of turning right for Trilokpuri after crossing the ITO bridge, Tandon turned left and disappeared. Even the commissioner, obviously, was avoiding trouble spots and in no hurry to stop the killings.”
“Around 8 pm, deputy commissioner of East Delhi Sewa Dass arrived. I urged him to send the injured to the hospital in his vehicle. He obliged and left promising to arrange vehicles for survivors. I took a few steps into a narrow lane in Block 32 and was horrified to see a huge bonfire of bodies. It dawned on me only later that the police were in Trilokpuri in the afternoon to ensure that the bodies of those killed were burnt so that no evidence was left. In fact, all over Delhi, the pattern was the same. The killings began in east, west, south, and north almost simultaneously on the first evening and continued till the third. Everywhere the bodies were disposed of by burning.”
According to him, the massacre was planned meticulously and executed with military precision. The mobs were armed with weapons, kerosene, petrol and other inflammable material. “They also had copies of the voter’s list to identify Sikh homes. The involvement of Congressmen in power in organizing the mass murders was very evident. Also evident was the connivance of Delhi police.”
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also formally apologized for the massacre of 1984 in 2005. He stated-
“I have no hesitation in apologizing to the Sikh community. I apologize not only to the Sikh community but to the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution,”
Which was later reciprocated by the then Congress party president Sonia Gandhi. In fact, when Rahul Gandhi was interviewed by Arnab Goswami, he had also admitted that ‘some Congressmen were involved’.
This is not the first time, in 2014 Rahul displayed similar ignorance about his own party’s history and a complete lack of accountability when he hesitated to apologize for 1984 riots. He subsequently did a reverse and rectified by saying that he shares the then Prime Minister of the UPA and the president of the Congress party has expressed regrets and he shares their sentiments.
This statement by Rahul Gandhi is nothing but an insult to the victims of the 1984 massacre, who lost their loved ones to politically patronized killings.
The Kerala floods have been an eye-opener on many fronts. While the entire nation united to help those affected by the devastating floods, certain section on social media backed by the intellectual elite have been using the tragedy and the misery of people to further their agenda of dividing Indians along regional lines and fan separatist sentiments.
Others have used a false claim that the UAE had promised funds to the tune of 700 crores rupees as an aid to Kerala to attack the Central government and further cause resentment in the hearts of Keralites against North Indians. Meanwhile, the Kerala government tried to shift blame for their poor management of dams and accused the Tamil Nadu government of being responsible for the floods while totally ignoring the massive exploitation of the Western Ghats in collusion with the Church that has contributed enormously towards the floods according to experts.
One such divisive story that has been doing the rounds is that of a man called Suresh Kochattil who has been accused of claiming that only the rich and middle class have been affected by the floods in an audio clip that has been circulating on WhatsApp.
In the audio clip, Kochattil does not claim that only the rich and the middle class have been affected. He says that “5-10%” among those affected are poor. In the audio clip, Kochattil warns people about scammers who are lurking around every corner seeking to make quick bucks from the calamity and asks people to exercise some caution while donating resources for the victims. He mentions a couple of charities that he approved of and expressed reservations about the Chief Minister’s Relief Funds. He stated that it may not be the best avenue for service at the present moment.
In the audio clip, Kochattil, who claims he has been working on the ground to provide relief to those affected, asserts that money is not the foremost priority at the present moment. He suggests that carpenters, electricians, doctors and other such professionals are more of a priority. His audio clip revolves around the assertion that materials are being sent to Kerala which is not entirely needed currently and professionals are more of a priority at the moment than money. Suresh Kochattil had also written posts on Facebook documenting his opinions which have attracted a lot of criticism and abuse. It is also pertinent to mention that Kochattil did not ask anyone to stop contributing towards the relief work underway in Kerala.
The following is the Facebook post in contention.
The Hindu has reported on the audio clip and dubbed it ‘Fake News’. The News Minute, on the other hand, published an entire analysis of the contents of the audio clip and insinuated that Kochattil had done a lot of harm. They wrote, “Help Kerala. Ignore Kerala. But please don’t cause us more harm than we have already suffered.” Suresh Kochattil is associated with the BJP and the RSS and certain media outlets have used his political affiliations to cast aspersion on his motivations.
Suresh Kochattil has since then been forced to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India seeking protection for him and his family claiming danger to their lives after his audio clip went viral. His petition, which has been accessed by OpIndia, states, “the petitioner by way of this instant writ petition seeks protection for the life of his family members and his own, as the petitioner faces immediate and imminent danger of being lynched and be subject to mob justice for a misunderstood and misrepresented comment made by the petitioner on a social media platform.”
The petition goes on to assert, “The petitioner explained the entire content of the post to a close friend with an audio message wherein the petitioner questioned the distribution and outreach of CM Relief fund to the victims. The petitioner in his audio message also cautioned the people across the country and abroad donating funds through numerous NGO’s and stated such help might not even reach those in need. This post made by the petitioner along with the audio recording was picked up by the media houses and without understanding the meaning and context thereof, it was circulated that the petitioner has asked people to not extend their help to the flood victims. The petitioner begs to clarify that it was never his intention, not even in his dreams, to stop people from helping and supporting the people and state of Kerala in this hour of need.”
In the petition, Kochattil has claimed that he has received threats over calls and texts and messages on his phone and social media account. Kochattil also claims to have received an email from the cyber crime wing of the Kerala Police who accused him of causing ‘disharmony amongst different sections of the society’ which is a punishable crime under the IPC. The Kerala Police have also summoned him to report before the Inspector General of Police in Tiruvanantpuram. Kochattil now fears persecution by the state police for his political affiliations. Kochattil claims that the controversy is created solely because of his association with the BJP and the RSS.
He has also mentioned several media houses by name in his writ petition. The petition says, “On 19-08-2018, the media houses The Quint, News Minute, NEWS 18 started circulating articles with the fake and ill-motivated news and branding the petitioner as a BJP and RSS worker with anti-establishment leanings. Surprisingly News Minute which had severely condemned the petitioner for his RSS affiliations and the Facebook post made by the petitioner on 18-08-2018, published an article on 19-08-2018, repeating the required assistance as highlighted by the petitioner in his post. Surprisingly, on 20.08.2018 The News Minute also published a news article stating closure of a fake SBI account in the name of Kerela CM Relief Fund”.
He says that it was owing to the mass circulation of misrepresentation that he started getting threatening calls and had to switch his phone number off.
Kochattil has appealed to the Court to issue directions to the central government and the state governments of Kerala and Telangana to ensure his safety and that of his family and after a fair assessment of the threat, provide security if necessary. He has also appealed to the Court to direct Kerala Police to not pursue any action against him for his posts on social media. Kochattil claims he has been scared for his life and was forced to switch off his phone after receiving innumerable threats via calls and texts.
When injustice begins to go unchallenged, it shapes into a norm, and the state starts using it unrestrained to keep in check the voices of dissent. Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of King Salman and his heir (Deputy Prime Minister) Mohammed bin Salman is reaching a crescendo in proving, that for the country, ‘human rights’ is just a gimmick.
Saudi Arabia adheres to the strict Islamic law of Sharia and follows the Hanbali Islamic code of conduct for its people. Saudi bars its people from exercising the right to assemble and protest, make a quorum and question the government, and participate in politics. It can incarcerate anyone on basis of being involved in activities against state and brand anyone questioning state as indulged in acts to overthrow the state.
It has been reprimanded by many human rights organizations for awarding punishments like amputations and flogging to deviants. The Gender Apartheid disallows women from being involved in workforce and is advised to stay at home and make domestic ends meet.
Saudi Arabia has an even stricter law to punish sexual crimes. It requires women to prove the rape, and bring physical witnesses to the crime, upon failing which victim herself will be tried for adultery.
It has hired world top PR companies to hide the tyranny, extremism and despotism of state through a billion dollars contract.
Ensaf Haider
Ensaf Haider is fighting all odds along with her children, to free her 34-year-old husband from clutches of Saudi Arabia. Raif Badawi was imprisoned by authorities for 7 years (later increased to ten) along with 1000 lashes over 20 weeks. He was found guilty of apostasy and “maligning Islam through electronic portals”, for his satirical blogs against Saudi Regimes and vocalizing about human rights.
Raif Badawi’s wife has taken refuge in Canada along with their children. She participates in human rights forum to vocalize atrocities meted out to his husband and constantly urges the Canadian government to take tough diplomatic measures against Saudi Arabia, since 2014.
The Canadian government, finally paid heed to her queries, recently and called for “immediate release of Badawi”.
Saudi Arabia was rather quick to respond. It accused Canada of interfering in internal matters and labelled Canadian ambassador as persona non grata and put to hold all its trade deals with immediate effect.
What more horrendous was that a Saudi Linked verified account posted a picture with the caption:’As the Arabic saying goes: ‘He who interferes with what doesn’t concern him finds what doesn’t please him’. The background of the image shared showed a plane heading towards CN Tower in Toronto, reminding Canadian authorities of a 9/11 like attack, if it keeps meddling with human rights in Saudi. The post was subsequently deleted after few hours. Maybe, it was an attempt to remind the world that 15 of assailants involved in 9/11 attacks were Saudi citizens.
Saudi Arabia threatens Canada with 9/11 like attack
After Raif Badawi, and dozens of other human right activists, Saudi Arabia is now planning to publicly execute a female human rights activist in very similar charges, as reported by Saudi Human Right group ALQST.
Saudi Arabia is monitoring al-Qatif region of the eastern province, after heavy protests it witnessed during Arab Spring. It has been tough on Shia population throughout the country for being involved in resurging Arab Spring and being hand in glove with its bitter rival Iranian regime.
Israa al-Ghomgham was arrested and tried for very similar grounds. Saudi has executed women in past too, but this time Ghomgham seems to be the first activist tried under terrorism charges.
Israa al-Ghomgham is rapidly becoming the face of Women Rights throughout the world for standing hard against the Saudi regime
Crown prince Salman has in past been praised for advocating dozens of reforms for women in the country and received lauds from liberals around the world. But, all these reports of curbing free speech through death, evidence against that image.
As the world watches in horror, UN and other countries who claim to champion the human rights in Palestine and Kashmir are maintaining an eerie silence. UN, which has many Arab countries in its human rights forum, has turned its deaf ears and a blind eye towards these developments. It just shows, the might and privilege Saudi enjoys.
After the Arab Spring, not only did the regimes change, but it also irked and ignited the debate around many topics in Middle-East and Islamic countries that continue to bring voices of dissent to fore.
Even Iran is witnessing similar eruptions of dissent through women activists, discarding hijab and safeguarding free lives for all Iranian women. Even there, many activists have received the same response as Saudi.
To expect from other countries to stand up to the might and heft of Saudi is perhaps futile. Countries like the US is itself involved with Saudi in crushing Iran’s presence in Yemen’s long civil war by launching offensives against Houthis, which according to US and Saudi are Iranian proxies. The US is aiding Saudi though defence technology, since Obama administration times. It has claimed a great number of lives after the commencement of Civil War.
However, one waits for the world to wake up to the gross human rights violations happened right under the world’s nose.
Rahul Gandhi is on a multi-nation tour to Europe. In London, he spoke at the International Institute of Strategic Studies over a number of issues. The Doklam standoff of 2017 has been one of the constant issues over which Rahul Gandhi and his party have been attacking the central government, especially PM Modi and EAM Sushma Swaraj. Over the months, there have been many debates and noise in the parliament and many speeches and statements. At IISS too, Rahul mentioned the Doklam standoff between India and China and stated how PM Modi had ‘failed’.
At a crucial point, when asked how he could have handled the Doklam issue differently, Rahul, surprisingly, stated that he does not have any details on the Doklam issues and he cannot answer how he could have handled the issue differently. Clearly, for the President of the main opposition party who has been attacking the government over that specific issue relentlessly on national and now international platforms, this was a major embarrassment. At that point, for any careful observers, Rahul Gandhi ought to have had lost all the credibility to question the government ever again on the Doklam issue. Sadly, a major chunk of Indian media chose to ignore and even omit it.
NDTV, on its report of the event, Titled ‘Chinese still in Doklam, Rahul Gandhi says, Targeting PM Modi in London’ has carefully crafted the report over the utterances of Rahul around the parts where he attacks PM Modi and has also included his questions and attacks on EAM Sushma Swaraj over the issue.
Its headline too aims to obfuscate the basic fact that the Doklam is a large plateau and the Chinese are constantly present ‘on their own territory’. As explained here, China’s presence in that area was never an issue as long as they remained in their territory. The Doklam standoff was about the change in status quo which has since been established again after India’s tough stand. Somehow, Rahul Gandhi and some news outlets never bother to mention the fact. The NDTV report has carefully chosen to totally omit the part where Rahul Gandhi said he had ‘no details’ on Doklam and he cannot say how he could have handled the issue differently.
NDTV report dated August 24
Sadly, NDTV was not alone in such ‘selective’ reporting. The Deccan Chronicle report of the event dated August 24, also has no mention of the fact that Rahul had ‘no details’ of Doklam. In fact, the report started detailing his statements ‘after’ that portion where Rahul diverted the question and started speaking about Doklam not being an ‘episode’ but a part in the sequence of events.
Deccan Chronicle report
As if omitting the pivotal part of Rahul’s talk was not enough, leftist propaganda website The Quint went a step ahead and made a fancy video of Rahul’s statements at the London event. In that video, they even carefully edited the part where Rahul says he has no details of Doklam and made their report about Rahul’s statements where he criticises PM Modi’s ‘handling’ of the issue and where he equates RSS with Muslim Brotherhood. The irony of a PM hopeful expressing his utter ignorance over the very issue over which he has been attacking the government and then going ahead to criticise PM Modi over the same issue is not lost on anyone, but unfortunately for certain media outlets, the glaring irony holds no importance over propaganda peddling.
The report on Outlook was no different. It stated that Rahul Gandhi has ‘come down heavily’ on PM Modi over the Doklam issue but had no mention of the ‘no details’ part.
The fact is, going by Rahul Gandhi’s incessant attempts to corner the central government over the Doklam issues and his activities during and after the standoff period, he had projected a picture of himself as a person who has a great insight over the issue. As mentioned by the report in The Times Of India, Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on external affairs which had examined the situation of the military standoff between India and China last year.
In fact, as per reports, Rahul Gandhi had been the member with the maximum number of queries when the parliamentary standing committee was briefed by the then foreign secretary S, Jaishankar. It was a meeting over India China relations with a focus on the Doklam standoff. In February this year, the parliamentary panel was again briefed by the external affairs ministry and the panel had even called former Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, former ambassador to China Nalin Surie and other defence experts. If after all these meetings and briefings Rahul still claims he has ‘no details’ of Doklam, it is either a lie or a really big question mark on his credibility as a critique of the central government’s handling of the situation.
Over the months Rahul had criticised PM Modi, the EAM, MoS VK Singh and even the foreign secretary repeatedly over the Doklam issue. He had met the Chinese ambassador during the ongoing standoff. He has even defended his meeting the Chinese ambassador when it was criticised.
Rahul Gandhi’s Tweet during Doklam standoff
Earlier this month, the standing committee refrained from adopting the draft report on the Doklam issue because many members, including Rahul Gandhi himself, was not present in the meeting. On August 1, EAM Sushma Swaraj had clarified once more that there has been no change in status quo at Doklam.
The fact that Rahul Gandhi is contradicting himself and his admission of the fact that he cannot state how he could have handled the issue differently may not surprise many, for the Congress Prince is known for his goof-ups. But Rahul Gandhi has developed a habit of taking his goof-ups to a global level and it is unfortunate for the nation that a major portion of India’s media chooses not only to ignore his blunders but goes the extra mile to cover it up with a carefully crafted garnishing of spinning and fake-narrative building.
Four people, including the owners of an unauthorized orphanage in Tirumullaivoyal, Chennai were arrested on charges of child sexual abuse after boys and girls approached the members of the child welfare committee during an awareness program on sexual harassment and child welfare organized by a government school.
Based on the accounts of the children, the accused have been identified as Jacob and Vimala Jacob, owners of the home, Muthu (28), Baskar (40) and another warden Samuel (54), who is absconding. The children apparently broke down in front of the members of the committee before they were taken into a private room and questioned. The children claimed that they were being sexually harassed by the owners and workers of the home and were also being threatened.
The Police raided the private home based on the accounts of the children and confirmed the sexual harassment of children. It was also discovered that sexual abuse occurred in the orphanage irrespective of gender. The Police also found that the private home is unregistered and their license had expired in 2015. 44 children have been rescued from the place and sent to various government homes.
The Police have registered a case against the accused under Section 5 (Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault); Section 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and Section 17 (Punishment for abetment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The National Investigation Agency has arrested Manipur Congress MLA Yamthong Haokip on Friday in connection with a missing arms case. Haokip was remanded a 15 days judicial custody by a special NIA Judge on the same date.
The court observed, “Considering the nature of the case and the stage of the investigation, judicial remand of the accused is necessary for the sake of proper investigation of the investigation agency,”
Haokip was arrested for having a connection with the theft of 56 pistols and 58 magazines from Director General of Police’s armory located within the premises of 2nd Manipur Rifles Battalion, Imphal between September 2016 and early 2017. Haokip was arrested alongside the chairman of Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) an underground organization, David Hangshing. NIA probe has revealed that Haokip provided pistols to Hangshing.
Haokip is a representative of the Kuki-dominated constituency of Saikul in the newly set-up district of Kangpokpi district. NIA last month discovered one of the 56 stolen 9mm pistols along with some cash and gold biscuits during a two-day raid which started on 30th July. On the first day of the raid, Haokip complained of chest pain and was subsequently taken to Imphal and later shifted to a hospital in New Delhi for a health check-up.
The NIA revealed that several accused have informed them about Haokip receiving several consignments of the stolen 9mm pistols. It is suspected Haokip also delivered a portion of those consignments to a former Congress minister, Ngamthang Haokip, and David Hangshing.
The missing arms case first came to light when the new commandant of the 2ndManipur rifles, P Manjit who upon joining in March this year, conducted an examination of the arms and ammunition holdings in the unit and the Police headquarters pool. It was after this thorough examination, the army found that 56 pistols of the auto 9mm variant and 58 magazines were missing from their collection. The missing pistols and magazines were a part of the 570 pistols that the army received from the state police headquarters on September 11, 2014.
NIA started investigating this particular case after the Home minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh wrote a formal letter to the NIA for taking charge of this probe. The NIA spokesperson stated their confidence in the collected evidence, which they believe is adequate to prove the MLA’s complicity in this case.
The NIA on Thursday also recovered nine of the missing 9 mm pistols from the Mantripukhri residence of Chief of the United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF). Both UKLF and KRA, are signatory under the suspension of operation agreement signed with the Government of India and Manipur Government. NIA has recovered 14 of the missing 9 mm pistols so far. Four police officers, including an IPS officer, have also been suspended in connection with this case.
It was in 2002 when the dinner table discussions at home started becoming incomprehensible to 8 years old kid that I was back then. Vaguely do I remember, the words like ‘coalition government’, BJP, Kashmir, etc started bombarding the chats during every family gathering we had which always passed tangentially to my head.
My childish mind was so troubled and distraught over the question of why everyone keeps talking about Atal Bihari Vajpayee and not about my favourite superhero, Superman even on my birthday! What is he doing so miraculous in the nation that people are in an awe of him? Only to realise later that he was no less than a superhero for India when I took my first metro ride in Delhi. Yes, metro train in our very own country which all of sudden changed the outlook of the country from a poor nation which I used to read in social science textbooks to a prospering nation.
As I grew up and happened to pursue economics as my majors in graduation in 2012, I started reading about the economic trajectory that India achieved in the past two decades. That became a moment of political awakening for me and I could connect the dots of all the past discussions that I used to scoff at as a kid. The biggest deprivation that we millennials suffer is of not witnessing the strategic developments revved up by Atal Bihari Vajpayee that transformed the very face of India that we boast of now. This enlightening brouhaha moment made me delve deeper into the recent history of Indian politics.
Attempting to read scores of books and articles on the political regime of 1998-2004, I realised that India heralded a new era under the aegis of Shri Atal Bihari. What made me adore his leadership is his well-articulated economic policies that sustained the growth of 6%-8% amidst the chaos of Gulf war, Asian financial crisis, Indo-Pak terror attacks and Dot Com Bubble. He took the nation out from the shackles of dampening and a sluggish economy and provided a sturdy backbone for India’s future endeavours by investing robustly in human development and most notably, “Education for All”. The Golden Quadrilateral and other National Highways that we are travelling on seamlessly today are all his legacy. Despite these breathtaking developments, the puzzle that why he assumes massive respect of people got solved the day I learnt that he was the first ever India leader to render UN speech in the Hindi language.
His words “Quiet diplomacy is more effective than public posturing” still echoes in my head. His pioneering foreign diplomacy with the United States and attempts at resolving the troubles with the West post-cold war era deserve head bows. History is a testimony to the fact by imbibing the slogan of “Insaniyat, Jhamuriyat and Kashmiriyat” for the disturbed valley of Kashmir, he laid the foundation of a new Kashmir. I still doubt if any other leader before and after him could take on the challenge of this stature.
He was a leader who was much ahead of his time and dared to lay grounds for nuclear capacity and space technology for future India which would lead India towards the league of the leaders of the world. His dedication towards the service of nation is evident from the fact that despite massive backlash for his nuclear and space program at home and abroad, he shunned his short-sighted political gains for the larger interest of the country, and steadfastly carried on the development whose benefits we are reaping today.
All during my teenage I senselessly cribbed for being politically unaware during those times, and obviously, how could a child be! The years that followed 2004 had lost all the enthusiasm and passion that India had built during preceding years. The lull that followed made me more uncomfortable as the robustness in progress of the nation was nowhere to be seen and soul of the country was having a slow demise. There were no more family discussions in praise of India and soon my inquisitiveness dissipated too. The spirit of nation-building and nationalism which was invoked by Atal Ji was all of sudden missing until Narendra Modi took over the reign of the country.
The present government proved as a respite and seems like compensating on those good old days. Fortunately, the present government is treading on the footsteps of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and we once again got an opportunity to re-live the past days. Atal Ji’s vision of New and Transformed India is meticulously carried forward by Narendra Modi’s government by taking the nation on a fast-track mode as was done back in 1998. I just hope that today’s leadership does complete justice to the sacrifices and foundation laid down twenty years back.
India was truly blessed to have a statesman like him, whose tenure is marked as eventful and historic. He redefined Indian secularism, diplomacy and democracy. He was a man of charisma with the deepest understanding of his nation and its pupil as he always said, “India isn’t India if it is not Secular.” In the ending note from a fangirl, I must also admit that he, as a human being and as a leader has left an indelible mark in my life and has been my inspiration to pursue public policy as a career for myself.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia seem to have landed in a controversy, as a criminal complaint has been lodged against Sisodia, who is supposed to attend an event organized by a Christian organization which is allegedly involved in religious conversions.
The incident came to the fore when the rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra tweeted about the dubious nature of an event organized by a Christian organization called ‘Family of Lord Jesus Church (FOLJ)’, led by Evangelist Rambabu which openly declares to ‘harvest one million souls’ by conducting large crusades and gospels. Incidentally, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was allegedly set to be the Chief Guest for this controversial event which was to be scheduled for August 25 and 26 in Talkatora stadium.
Exposed
Rambabu converting one million hindus & sikhs to christianity every year
After the complaint was lodged by Kapil Mishra, NDMC has reportedly revoked its permission to hold the event.
Kapil Mishra in his complaint said, “The website of the organizers, Family of Lord Jesus Church, itself declares that its objective is to ‘harvest one million souls every year’ and the objective of this event is the same. It is illegal to give permission for organizing such an event in the stadium”. He has also accused Manish Sisodia of colluding with the organizers to propagate religious conversion”.
Mishra also questioned Arvind Kejriwal over Sisodia’a participation, “Does Kejriwal want to convert Hindus into Christians?”
Criminal complaint against Manish Sisodia, Rambabu and organisers
1.झूठे मेडिकल दावे करके टिकट बेचना
2. अंधापन, बहरापन, गूंगो का इलाज, किडनी, हार्ट का जादुई इलाज़ का दावा
The controversial Christian organization FOLJ is led by Church Apostle PS Rambabu is also the president of New Creation Ministries and Senior Pastor of Holy Spirit Generation Church, Bangalore, along with his son Evangelist Ankit Rambabu.
The website claims that “The ministry has been taking the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ to every corner of the world. NCM has a vision of ‘Reaching the un-reached’ and also to harvest ‘one million souls’ every year by conducting large Crusades and Gospel gatherings.”
FOLJ claims in several videos that it has cured severe ailments of not only smaller health problems, but of a severe kind like cancer, polio and even disabilities after people converting to Christianity. In such videos, people from different religious groups can be seen disposing of their erstwhile religion as they did not find truth in their religion and the reasons for their conversion to Christianity.
However, FOLJ member Karan Anand rejected Mishra’s allegations. “This is an event only for Christians, therefore, who will we convert? Manish Sisodia gave us last-minute confirmation of his presence and that too is for only around 15 minutes. Mishra is only creating a ruckus,” he said.
Update: Kapil Mishra tweeted that the High Court has issued a stay on the cancellation of the event and the evangelical event will be taking place as usual. The rebel AAP leader also said that he intends to protest outside the venue of the event.
URGENT –
just now HC given stay on ban on event
Event will happen
कल 11 बजे से मैं तालकटोरा स्टेडियम के बाहर धरना करूँगा
कल सारा देश देखेगा राजधानी में कैसा झूठ, पाखंड, अंधविश्वास बेचा जा रहा हैं @DelhiPolice – Pls video record the entire event
As reported by The Economic Times, the government has withdrawn the Al Jazeera’s English television channel’s security clearance, because of which the channel will need to stop its broadcast in the country.
As per reports, the Home Ministry and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting haven’t officially given a reason for the cancellation of security clearance. Per Economic Times, however, the decision could have come after the channel aired a documentary on Kashmir which was deemed to be biased.
The channel’s unapprehended destiny depends on the ruling of the Home Ministry on the review petition filed by Al Jazeera. For any channel to broadcast in India it needs a security clearance from the Home Ministry while the broadcasting license is issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
According to official documents, Al Jazeera English, run by AJI International Pvt Ltd, had received a security clearance from the Home Ministry on the 3rd of December 2010, during the Congress regime, which was later withdrawn on 29th May 2018 during the PM Modi led NDA regime.
Previously too, in 2015 the channel was suspended for five days because it showed an incorrect map of India with respect to Jammu and Kashmir. Al Jazeera was suspended because it was a repeat offence, an official said. The channel showed a blank screen for five days with a message to this effect: “As instructed by the ministry of information and broadcasting, this channel will not be available from 00.01 hours on April 22 till 00.01 hours on April 27, 2015.”
Al Jazeera English is an offshoot of the Qatar-based Arabic Al Jazeera channel, which has often been a target of ire in the Middle East. It’s been described as one of the factors in the ongoing Saudi Arabia-led blockade of Qatar.
Until June this year, India has given 867 private satellite TV channels permission for uplinking and downlinking contents. However, Permissions for 236 have been withdrawn due to various reasons such as the channel owner seeking cancellation, non-operationalisation of the channel, non-submission of documents and other reasons, out of which 147 channels were cancelled between 2015 and June 2018.
Last month, after much prodding by the Information and Broadcasting ministry, thirty television channels which carry Islamic and Pakistani content, including Zakir Naik’s Peace TV, have been banned in Jammu and Kashmir, following the issuance of an order by the Additional District Commissioner of Srinagar.
