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Ae mere pyaare watan.. Ae mere bichde chaman..

nandini
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Ae mere pyaare watan.. Ae mere bichde chaman..

In 1986, a much awaited and planned wedding of a friend was postponed because his grandfather couldn’t get an Indian visa in time. Where was his grandfather coming from we wondered? And wasn’t his grandfather the elderly gentleman who often came visiting from Dehradun? No, we were informed that was the grandfather’s brother but grandfather himself was coming from Pakistan. Which to be frank, took us by surprise.

In North India, especially among Hindu Punjabis and Sikhs, we’ve grown up with the stories of how our parents, grandparents and sometimes even their parents had to flee with what little they could gather and run with. How their homes, land, villages, towns held through generations had overnight morphed into what was to be now Pakistan.

Some with small bundles, others with gold coins stitched into their turbans or hidden in a baby’s clothing – fled, leaving the rest behind. In the chaos and the fires, people lost beloved members of the family, womenfolk to kidnappings, rape and sometimes killed by one’s own to escape shame and stigma. Several thousand were slaughtered on the trains and never managed to reach the safety of the arms waiting to hold them on the other side or, an unknown refugee camp teeming with the shattered and the displaced.

One of greatest speeches of the 20th century delivered by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru was on the eve of India’s independence. Tryst with Destiny was poignant, brave, full of a hope to a people that had won their Independence after a largely non-violent struggle but followed by the horrific bloodbath of Partition that killed more than a million and displaced 15 million.

That landmark oratory transfixed people and those who heard it still find it difficult to explain and describe that surreal moment when freedom became a reality after nearly 1000 years of subjugation. Not only the yoke of British colonization but subjugation under one tyrannical invader after the next.

The mind couldn’t wrap itself around the idea, I’m told. But the business of getting on with life in a newly, free country was of utmost importance.

In the early days of Partition, there were often frequent references to those who were left behind. Some stayed by choice. Some didn’t have the means. Some to protect land and hearth. Some who didn’t quite understand the import of the happenings around them and held the belief that this madness was but temporary and like all riots of the past, things would return to normal and everybody would come back. Others because they chose not to abandon an elderly person who couldn’t have survived the dangerous and violent journey and in the bargain endangered the chances of the others. As was the case of Grandfather who was then a young, strong, recent widower in his 30s, having handed over his two baby boys to a brother. With the intention, of course, to cross over – later.

So, were the words of the new Prime Minister a balm to his unimaginable wounds? This man who opted to stay behind for his beloved mother in the ashes & dust of what was once a flourishing life. Did these words give him hope that India understood his compulsions and would wait for him?

“We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, & we shall be sharers in their good (or) ill fortune alike”.

Around the same time, MA Jinnah did say – “You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State”

That sigh of relief, however, was shortlived, because the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan, Khawaja Nizamuddin stated- “I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste faith or creed be”.

As expected, in 1956, Pakistan became the Islamic Republic. The Muslim, who decided to cross borders post-Independence, took it for granted that the Land of The Pure awaited him. Pakistan, after all, is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam for the Indian Muslim.

At this time the ‘hostage theory’ had been espoused. According to this theory, the Hindu minority in Pakistan was to be given a fair deal in order to ensure the protection of the Muslim minority in India.

Nonetheless, the two countries chose distinct and different paths. One ancient, imperfect, embracing & recovering from a recent amputation. The other new and petulant, eager to cast off old associations and sift in the sands of the Middle East for some connection that could tie them to a history more to their liking.

Our Minorities grew in numbers and rose to succeed in politics, the armed forces, the judiciary, business, the media, the film industry, sports, art, literature, music. Whereas theirs simply, slowly vaporized or were done to death.

This was the time, Grandfather attempted to return. His mother had long passed and he had taken a new wife and had two daughters with her. What was left unsaid, as if she was of the same faith? Regardless, India turned him and his family away.

Since India is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention it refuses to recognize the Pakistani Hindu Migrant as refugees & is not bound to offer them citizenship.

This has been said before and must be repeated again and again.

13 countries have Christianity as the state religion. 26 countries have Islam as the state religion, including Pakistan which was specially carved out for the Indian Muslim. 2 countries have Buddhism as their state religion. The State of Israel is the Promised Land for the Jewish people who have a Right to Return no matter where they come from. And there is not one country that has Hinduism as a state religion despite 988 million.

It is said nearly 5000 Hindus leave Pakistan for India every year.

Some rot in refugees’ camps, as they are doing now in Delhi.

Some enter surreptitiously and lie low in the deserts of Rajasthan & Saurashtra. Many leave Bangladesh to escape religious persecution.

It is time a distinction is made between one illegal immigrant and the other. Between one refugee and the next. The Hindu is persecuted, suffers the violence of an unimaginable kind, can be put to death because of his faith in our two neighbouring countries. A man and his family of this religious denomination cannot be heartlessly sent back to a burning ship from which he jumped off, risking his life, swimming to a shore expecting safety and succour. Only to be turned back by Secular India, forgetting her Eternal Tradition, her Eternal Way, beyond human history to which this Hindu is connected.

Grandfather did finally arrive for what was to be a brief visit. A frail man in a suit which had definitely seen better days, clutching his drink while family and old friends gathered around him. With the boisterous Sangeet in the background and the dholki keeping beat, young boys and girls were introduced to the broken branch of the family tree. Not quite here. Not quite there. Fallen between the cracks…

Leaders splurged during Kumaraswamy swearing in, Kejriwal ordered food and beverages worth 70,000

OpIndia Staff
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Leaders splurged during Kumaraswamy swearing in, Kejriwal ordered food and beverages worth 70,000

Documents obtained by Times Group media outlets show that the newly formed Karnataka government had spent an extravagant amount of money to host the CMs of other states and other political leaders during HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony. According to a report in Bangalore Mirror, while the state hospitality department had not spent any money during the swearing-in ceremonies of two former CMs, Siddaramaiah and BS Yeddyurappa, it had spent a whopping 42 lakh rupees to host political leaders for the 7-minute swearing-in ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy.

The documents reveal that the political leaders from other states were hosted in two 5-star hotels in Bengaluru, Taj West End and Shangri-La. The state hospitality department had also spent Rs 4,35,001 on the tea and snacks buffet organised at the Vidhana Soudha, catered by Taj West End.


The report in Bangalore Mirror has also provided a break-up of the amount spent on many political leaders individually. According to the report, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, who was hosted at Taj West End, was the most expensive guest with a bill of Rs 8,72,485 in four different invoices.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who came to power on the plank of being an ‘aam aadmi’ or a ‘common man’ and was under scanner for exorbitant food bills as well as extravagant samosa expenses to the tune of Rs. 1 crore, cost the Karnataka taxpayers Rs 1,85,287. In this, the cost of food and beverages alone for an in-room service during a short window of 2 hours at Taj West End is reportedly above Rs 70,000. It should be noted that Arvind Kejriwal’s love for food and beverages at taxpayers’ money is not new. An RTI in April this year had revealed Kejriwal had spent over Rs. 1 crore only on the refreshments in the 3 years he has been in the office.

Among other leaders, the Karnataka government has paid Rs 1,02,400 for Tejashwi Yadav, Rs 1,67,457 for Sharad Yadav, Rs 1,02,400 for SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, Rs 1,02,400 for Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Rs 1,41,443 for BSP supremo Mayawati and Rs 1,02,400 for Congress leader Ashok Gehlot respectively. Actor Kamal Hasan, CPI leader Sitaram Yechury, AIMIM chief Owaisi, former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Babulal Marandi were hosted too. Their bills too reportedly run in lakhs of rupees collectively. The Bangalore Mirror report states that the state Hospitality Department has refused to provide information on the money spent to host Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

The alliance government in Karnataka is yet to come up with a farm loan waiver scheme and municipality workers have reportedly not been paid for months. In such a time the extravagant expenses incurred by political leaders who claim to care for the poor and downtrodden in the country is being widely criticised.


Earlier, the Kumaraswamy government was also criticised for wasting taxpayer’s money for sending expensive gifts to MPs from the state. Ironically, Kumaraswamy had told media after taking the oath that he will not be staying in the official CM residence as he does not want to waste people’s money. Later it was revealed that he was doing it for ‘Vastu’ reasons.

Indian Express and India Today owners rubbish claims of Modi govt asking owners to fire journalists

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Express and India Today owners rubbish claims of Modi govt asking owners to fire journalists

Speaking at a media event in Delhi earlier this week, Anant Goenka, Executive Director, Indian Express and Aroon Poorie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group, rejected the conspiracy theories that the NDA government is pressuring the media houses and arm-twisting them into following a narrative.

When commenting on the recent exit of journalists from a media house, where a journalist had reportedly indulged in peddling fake news to build a narrative, Goenka said that if at a ‘phone call’ (from the government to arm-twist the management) would have come through, it would have happened in case of either of the governments. He said that it is up to the proprietor (Ananda Bazar Patrika group based in Kolkata) how they tackle such a ‘phone call’. Purie, too, agreed with Goenka and said, ‘It is the proprietor’s phone call, it is up to him.’ Goenka then asked Purie if it is possible that the proprietor might be of the belief that the story should not have been done? To that, Purie shrugged and he has been reading all sort of stories, so he does not know.

When asked whether they have been asked to let go of journalists from their team because of their supposedly anti-government stories, Purie and Goenka both replied in negative. Purie said that this government lets you (proprietors) know that they are unhappy, unlike the previous governments, who ‘would do sneaky things and otherwise try and make life difficult for you’. But this government (Modi-led NDA government) ‘says okay, you’ve done this story, you haven’t done this and that, but it is up to you to decide how much you want to yield or not yield.

Speaking of cutting off of access to journalists, Purie narrates how on one of their events during the UPA, they had invited Salman Rushdie, when he was banned to come to Jaipur Lit Fest, back in 2012, a whole lot of UPA ministers pulled out of the event and even the President of India, who had already accepted the invite, had pulled out of the event. Without naming the media house, Purie said that the UPA ministers had pulled out of another media event as well.

Purie recalled the time when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was upset with India Today for having covered the Nellie Massacre in Assam in 1983 when an event showcasing her was taking place around that time. According to Purie, she was embarrassed by the coverage of the massacre. When an India Today reporter asked her a question in a press conference in Kolkata, she came down heavily on him and called the reporter ‘anti-national’ and ‘traitor’.

When Purie was asked which government has been the most controlling in trying to get into the narrative, he dismissed it by saying it depends on how much one lets the government get into the narrative. He said that the current government is the one which watches them closely and reacts to things which they find are wrong and the publisher needs to be able to defend themselves. Beyond that, Purie said, they (all governments) are the same.

Agreeing to what Purie said, Goenka said, ‘I feel there is a lot of talk about how intolerant this government is or how thin-skinned they can be to the press… but it is not new, it has always happened. We have had our editors in jail. It has also got to do with the strength of the government.’ The current NDA government in power is the first party with the majority number in power in recent years.

Towards the end, Puri reiterated that the pressure from government is as much as one lets the government pressurize them. He said that pressure on media is not so much from the government as it is from the social media which sometimes leads to demonstrations and protests outside the offices. He said that what worries him the most is that in the newsroom, which is ‘greenhouse journalism’ where people are planting stories on the journalists by the sources who would never stand up for them. He urged the journalists’ fraternity to have enough checks and filters to check these plants which are usually based on partial information.

This is not the first time journalists have poked holes in the conspiracy theory that Modi government is clamping down on the media. Earlier in March, Supriya Prasad, the Managing Editor of the Aaj Tak and India Today news channels, too, had said that he never faced any kind of pressure from the government regarding news broadcasts or running ‘favourable news’. Amusingly, many ‘celebrity’ journalists, like NDTV’s Ravish Kumar and India Today group’s very own Rajdeep Sardesai, while trying to raise the bogey of ‘undeclared emergency’ or while commenting on CBI raids against NDTV promoters, have tried to insinuate that the Narendra Modi government was trying to muzzle voices in media by putting pressure.

Hyderabad youths planning terror attack on ISIS’ instruction arrested for questioning by NIA

OpIndia Staff
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Hyderabad youths planning terror attack on ISIS’ instruction arrested for questioning by NIA

The National investigation agency (NIA), has been interrogating eight youths from Hyderabad for allegedly planning terror attacks on instructions from suspected Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) handlers. Suffering major defeat in the Middle East, leading to almost 10 months of placidness, the ISIS is again trying to re-establish its grip, making it imperative for the NIA to keep a vigil on its growing activities.

The NIA, on Monday, had conducted raids at seven locations in Hyderabad and seized laptops and mobile phones of eight men suspected to be part of this cartel. “The mobile phones and the laptops have been sent for forensic examination while the youths are being questioned. They have been apprehended because it was suspected they were going to execute some terrorist act. They will be arrested if any evidence is found against them,” said a senior NIA officer.

During interrogation, it came to light that three youths out of the eight were associated with a group of three who were arrested from Nagpur airport way back in 2015 while attempting to flee to Srinagar from where they allegedly planned to fly to Syria to join the ISIS.

A security establishment officer affirmed that “These eight youth were put under surveillance since that time as they had been in touch with the arrested IS recruits and had been participating in online activity associated with Islamic State. However, their online activity recently suggested they were probably in touch with someone outside and were planning to execute some attack. That is why they have been detained and are being examined.”

The security establishment is looking at this Hyderabad case as an attempt by ISIS to reclaim its presence despite the fall of the Caliphate in the Middle East. After December 2017, when NIA took over a case from Kerela police and confirmed that 6 youths from Kannur, who allegedly worked with the radical group Popular Front of India (PFI), had joined ISIS in October 2017, this is the first time the NIA has questioned suspects allegedly part of an ISIS syndicate.

The raids conducted by the agency on Monday at Shaheennagar, Balapur and Wadiaumar colonies in Hyderabad, was related to a 2016 case, in which a key ISIS recruit from Karnataka, Adnan Hassan Damudi, who in January 2016 along with J&K-born Azhar Al Islam and Mumbai-born Farhan Sheikh were deported from Dubai for allegedly propagating ISIS ideologies and recruiting people for the terrorist outfit.

According to NIA investigations, Damudi was suspected of recruiting close to a dozen Indians for the outfit since his stay in Dubai beginning 2012 and had helped send many to Syria. He was among the few who were in direct touch with chief ISIS recruiter for India, Yousuf-al-Hindi, who was later identified as former Indian Mujahideen operative from Bhatkal, Shafi Armar.

Insurgency issues in Kashmir are often spoken about, however, people seldom talk about the radical Islamic issues encompassing the country. Nation chooses to remain closemouthed about ISIS taking root in the country, and the silent battle India is fighting on that front.

The warning signs about ISIS and its poisonous ideology gaining a foothold in this country have been out there for quite some time. Not long back, Gujarat ATS (Anti Terror Squad) has filed a charge sheet an Ankleshwar court which reveals the intention of an individual, Ubaid Mirza, an aide of an alleged ISIS operative, arrested earlier, to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a sniper rifle.

A month after this, it was reported that an FIR was lodged by an Allahabad-based youth who was allegedly contacted by members of terrorist organization ISIS on WhatsApp and was promised $5,000 in exchange for sensitive information about Indian intelligence agencies.

Reports had emerged that ISIS has prepared a blueprint for the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in the Kashmir Valley. In recent times, ISIS flags have started appearing in the valley as well, in addition to the Pakistani flags which are sighted quite often enough. Reports had also suggested that ISIS supporters and sympathizers have started a group in Kashmir, Ansarul Khilafah, to further the agenda of the terrorist organization. To make matters worse, it’s not just isolated areas in the country which are affected by the ISIS threat. ISIS flags have been hoisted even in the northeastern state of Assam. The greatest threat of ISIS is their ability to influence young minds through the effective use of the internet.

The unique circumstance in India that make it more susceptible to the ISIS threat is the fact that many political parties are quite willing to sacrifice national interests for electoral benefits. Although the Indian security forces have kept these threats relatively at the check, it’s time the country awakens to this rising hazard and the so-called guardians of the country spring out, keeping the Nations rationale before their personal benefits.

Former Sahitya Akademy President claims Award Wapsi was a politically motivated organised act

OpIndia Staff
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Former Sahitya Akademy President claims Award Wapsi was a politically motivated organised act

Famous Hindi poet Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, who was the president of the Sahitya Akademi from 2013 to 2018, has recently claimed that the ‘Award-wapsi’ movement of 2015 by Sahitya Academi Award winners was politically motivated and not spontaneous. According to a report in The Economic Times, Tiwari has stated that he has evidence to support the claim.

Tiwari has reportedly claimed that the whole movement was orchestrated by Marxist writers and poet Ashok Vajpai to create controversy and defame the Modi government. More than 50 writers and Sahitya Academy Award winners had returned their awards in what they claimed as a ‘protest against growing intolerance’.

Tiwari has reportedly published his claims in a 10-page article in the literary magazine ‘Dastavez’. Tiwari is the founder-editor of the magazine which is published from Gorakhpur. The article, titled ‘The truth of Award wapsi and the hypocrisy behind it’ reportedly claims that the campaign was motivated by mainly 3 types of writers, the ones who had a personal hatred against PM Modi for various reasons, the ones whose friends in politics wanted to defame the government and around 25 writers who merely wanted publicity for themselves. He states that he has written the article to bring out the real faces of the writers who declared themselves ‘champions of free speech’.

Tiwari has reportedly stated that he has evidence that shows the five writers, including Vajpai, led the campaign in an organised manner and it was not spontaneous. He has reportedly added that many of those writers were holding anti-Modi events even before PM Modi came to power. Vajpai, he added, led the campaign for his personal hatred against PM Modi, the Sahitya Academy and Vishwanath Tiwari himself. In the article, Tiwari has reportedly published the letters and text messages he had received from writers during the campaign, which mention that they were being pressurised by their peers to return their awards.

He said that in November that year, many of the Award wapsi writers were seen celebrating the victory of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s party over the BJP in a Lucknow literary event. Mentioning writer Virendra Singh, Tiwari reportedly stated that he ironically did not return the award received from the UP state government after the Dadri incident. He has stated it is ironical that many writers who had no problems in receiving awards during the emergency were claiming ‘raising intolerance’ in 2015. He has also mentioned that leftist inclined writers had tried to create a friction between the academy and the writers.

Claiming that the same group of writers had met at the house of JD(U) leader KC Tyagi in July 2016. He further added that in claiming ‘rising intolerance’ the writers were expressing their own mental block against the Modi government and it was rather their own intolerance to the public mandate which was striking.

Tiwari has also alleged that Vajpai had a score to settle with the academy as it had refused to associate with his ‘Raza’ foundation for an event. Adding that Vajpai had even tried to get Tiwari to resign from the academy and he repeatedly had tried to hide the fact that the Sahitya Academy had organised a huge prayer meeting in Bengaluru after the murder of Kalgurgi. He has added that some writers were opposed to the idea of organising an event in Delhi. Tiwari has also reportedly written that in the Hindi literature, not to be a Marxist is to invite isolation. He condemned that the campaign of Award wapsi was solely targeted towards the Bihar assembly elections and it played around with the dignity and honour of an institution like the Sahitya Academy.

It is notable here that the ‘Award wapsi’ campaign was started after the murder of Kannada writer Kalburgi and many writers, eventually, cinema awardees too had made a show of returning their national awards in protest of the ‘rising intolerance’ in the country under the BJP government. Numerous authors and artists had slammed the campaign calling it politically motivated and attention seeking.

Hyderabad: Lecture by Pro Aurangzeb ‘historian’ cancelled after protest against her anti-Hindu views

OpIndia Staff
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Hyderabad: Lecture by Pro Aurangzeb ‘historian’ cancelled after protest against her anti-Hindu views

The Hyderabad Police have denied permission to Historian Audrey Truschke to deliver a talk which was scheduled for August 11 in the city.

Audrey Truschke who is known to be controversial and an apologist for the Islamic Mughal invaders has been schooled several times for her ignorance on the subject of Indian history. The controversial writer was supposed to talk on a topic “Unpopular Stories: Narrating the Indo-Islamic Past and Navigating Present-day Prejudices” organised by Krishnakriti foundation.

Truschke who claims to be an expert on Indology has been caught several times for spreading false information. She is best known for whitewashing the crimes of barbaric Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. Recently, she even used derogatory words against Hindu gods and received severe backlash for her ignorance on the subject. She has indulged in inane glorification and humanisation of a genocidal ruler by talking about how he liked mangoes and Rumi.

Truschke’s was supposed to talk on the Mughal history and Sanskrit literature. She was supposed to talk on Aurangzeb and his assaults on Sultanates in the Deccan in the 1680s. It is reported the talks also included some topics about the end of Buddhism in India.

The organizers have confirmed the cancellation of the event which was to be held on August 11. The foundation said, “There are various complaints about the scholar, especially her social media posts have been viewed as anti-Hindu. The public was not happy to have her speak at the function. The Hyderabad police informed us and we have called it off. There is no other place to hold it.”


Truschke soon took to social media to vent anger against the cancellation of her talk and accused the connections to RSS and BJP as the reason for the cancellation of her account.

“The organisers took this decision after being informed by the Hyderabad Police that several individuals had written letters protesting my appearance. I saw only one such letter and it was from an individual with self-admitted connections to RSS-BJP and BJPM” said Truschke in a Facebook post.

Congress spokesperson refuses to shake hands with JNU VC, media paints it as student protest

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV and many other media outlets like Business Standard published a PTI report on the 8th of August about a JNU student who had refused to shake hands with the Vice-Chancellor as a mark of protest. “The way the image of JNU has gone down, the VC has a huge role to play in it. The decisions, policies which are enacted by the Vice-Chancellor are against the inclusive, democratic, progressive and secular credentials of our JNU,” the media-outlet reported the student, Anoop Patel, as saying.

However, the media houses forgot to mention a significant detail of the story. As per Anoop Patel’s social media profiles, he is a spokesperson of the Congress party.

Admittedly, social media profiles are not enough to prove that Anoop Patel is indeed a Congress spokesperson. However, videos are available on his YouTube channel where he can be seen arguing on news channel debates as a spokesperson for the Congress party.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6ALiCfIMos]

Moreover, the website of Uttar Pradesh Congress also mentions Anoop Patel as a member of their media team.

Source: Here

Considering Media’s track record, it will not come as a surprise to anyone that they conveniently ‘forgot’ to mention that the student who unceremoniously refused to shake the hands of the Vice-Chancellor was a Congress spokesperson. Therefore, the real story is this: A Congress politician deliberately sought to cause affront to the Vice Chancellor of his educational institution and turned the convocation ceremony of his university to a political platform to further his own interests. Further, he disrespected the Vice-Chancellor of his University due to spite borne of political differences.

Thus, the story of a JNU student associated with the Congress party who exhibited his lack of manners by turning the convocation ceremony of his University into a political platform was conveniently turned into a news of a student righteously protesting against the Vice Chancellor by refusing to shake hands by the media.

This is not the first time that the Media has deliberately tried to hide the political affiliations of “activists”. When Amit Shah’s convoy was disrupted in Allahabad, the media had tried to hide the fact that the disruptors were SP workers.

Terrorist neutralised by security forces shortlisted for post of Sub-Inspector in JK Police

OpIndia Staff
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Terrorist neutralised by security forces shortlisted for post of Sub-Inspector in JK Police

As per reports, an engineer-turned-terrorist who was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Baramullah district has been short-listed for recruitment as sub-inspector in Jammu and Kashmir Police four days after his death. Khurshid Ahmad Malik, a resident of Arabal village in Pulwama, featured at the serial number 1913 in the list of 2060 names of short-listed candidates released by J&K Police on Wednesday.

The 26-year old slain terrorist had appeared for the written and physical examination for the post in June. According to Police officials, Khurshid was given the opportunity to surrender during the encounter. However, he refused despite desperate pleas from his brother.

Khurshid had graduated with a BTech degree from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University of Jammu last year and had cracked GATE as well. He also intended to appear for the test for Kashmir Administrative Services. Khurshid’s record is a slap on the faces of people who believe Jihad is inspired by a lack of education. It appears that Khurshid’s education did not stop him from becoming a terrorist.

The case of Khurshid Ahmad Malik also raises the very serious concern of infiltration of J&K Police and the Army by people with an inclination towards terrorism. It is a great cause for worry that people who share the same ideological beliefs as terrorists might already be in the Police.

AAP, which was embarrassed by Lalu hugging Kejriwal, wants Rahul to hug their supremo

Nirwa Mehta
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AAP, which was embarrassed by Lalu hugging Kejriwal, wants Rahul to hug their supremo

The Aam Aadmi Party is upset. They are upset that the man-child Congress President Rahul Gandhi could hug the Prime Minister but not reach out to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to ask him to support their candidate for the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman’s elections which were held earlier today. It is amusing to see the party which was embarrassed for embracing the fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav would throw a virtual hug challenge to a party which has repeatedly snubbed them in their attempt to forge an alliance.

Taking on Congress’ prime ministerial candidate, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that if Nitish Kumar could call Naveen Patnaik and Arvind Kejriwal and request to support their candidate, then why can’t Rahul Gandhi, who has no qualms in hugging the Prime Minister, call up AAP supremo and request him to support his candidate?


He further said that if he (Rahul Gandhi) could not ask for AAP’s support to win an election, how will he lead his party to victory? He accused Gandhi of not keeping an open heart and taking other parties for granted that when Congress will issue the summons, other parties will bow down and follow orders. He said how AAP appreciated Rahul Gandhi spreading the message of love by hugging the PM, but you (Rahul Gandhi) have a problem with reaching out to Arvind Kejriwal?

Singh further said that AAP had voted for Congress candidate for the President and Vice President elections without them asking for it, but Congress party didn’t even thank them in return. In fact, he added, that AAP had supported Congress candidates during the political crisis in Goa, Uttarakhand and Mizoram, but all AAP got in return was opposition from Congress. He further accused Congress of distributing sweets when 20 AAP MLAs were disqualified. He said when the party leaders held a dharna at LG office, all opposition parties supported AAP except Congress.

In the elections for deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha elections which concluded earlier today, NDA’s Harivansh Narayan Singh was elected even as AAP abstained from voting.

Hence, even as Congress is trying to reach out to regional parties to have a united opposition against the NDA in the upcoming polls in 2019, Congress seems to have pushed away a very vocal anti-Modi ally. All because Rahul Gandhi didn’t hug Arvind Kejriwal, at least virtually. On one hand, they don’t want Lalu to hug them, on the other, they are dying to be in the arms of Rahul Gandhi. Seems like it is time for Rahul Gandhi to take some hugplomatic steps towards the estranged AAP supremo.

Muslim mob running illegal cow slaughterhouse attacks journalist, Editors Guild remains silent

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim mob running illegal cow slaughterhouse attacks journalist, Editors Guild remains silent

A Journalist from India Today group has been attacked by a Muslim mob in the Ramnagar district of Karnataka. The incident took place during a search operation conducted by the animal activists and the police officials in Kodipalya village of the district.

India Today has reported that a reporter from the media group had accompanied few activists to the raid on an illegal slaughterhouse. Reportedly, the police initially refused to provide any protection to the animal activists to enter the slaughterhouse and the police officer cited lack of force to contain the law and order situation after the raid. But later he provided two men to carry out a raid on the next day on the illegal slaughterhouses run by few by Muslim men.

The activists raided the slaughterhouse next day to find out a large number of bones, skulls, calf intestines on the ground along with the blood. Reportedly, more than 200 newborn calves are being slaughtered at that place every day. Animal rights activist Joshine Anthony was also on the site when the raid was conducted.

Picture via IndiaToday

The place is believed to be an illegal slaughterhouse, but no calves were found at the spot. The villagers nearby had seen some animals roaming inside the campus of the slaughterhouse. After an intense operation, the activists were able to find the calves within the premises of slaughterhouses which were hidden in dense bushes. The activists found that the newborn calves were tied to their feet so they could not run or make any sound. The activists have rescued more than 70 newborn calves from the slaughterhouse.

Picture via IndiaToday

Soon, the situation near the slaughterhouse become life-threatening for the activists, as an angry Muslim mob started gathering outside the slaughterhouse despite the presence of the officials. They started attacking the journalist and started pelting stones at the activists and the journalist.

The Muslim mob also broke his phone and threatened the journalists, as the police were just mute spectators. It is alleged that there is some nexus between the meat mafia and the police, as the information about the raid got leaked as soon as the activists had informed the police.

The goons are identified as Gazipeer, Khasi, Syed, Mubarakhan, Noor, Imthiaz and Tabrez, all hailing from Ramnagar district. The police have lodged FIR against all the seven accused under IPC sections 428 and 429 (mischief by killing or maiming animal). The police are yet to register FIR for attacking the journalist.

It is strange to see that none of the fellow journalists has condemned the attack on the journalist. The Editors Guild of India has also remained silent. It also came under severe criticism lately for ignoring many such attacks on journalists carried out by specific minority groups.

The critical aspect when it comes to the issue of the protection of cows in the country is the sheer amount of crimes committed by groups who are into cow smuggling and illegal slaughtering. The intensity of the illegal cow smuggling and slaughtering in the country is on the rise. Some state governments like Uttar Pradesh has taken steps to ensure that there is no illegal cow slaughtering by banning them. It is unfortunate that the mainstream media has deliberately ignored to present these facts relating to crimes committed in the name of the cow.

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