Home Blog Page 7247

TMC, which objected to ceremonial weapons during Hindu festivals, carries weapons during polls

OpIndia Staff
-
0
TMC, which objected to ceremonial weapons during Hindu festivals, carries weapons during polls

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday decided to exhibit its muscle power in full public view by brandishing weapons in a rally, ahead of the state Panchayat polls. The upcoming Panchayat polls have already been riddled in controversy with serious violence being reported against BJP workers from various parts of the state.

Things seem to have become so bad that the TMC is winning various Panchayat seats unopposed, owing to opposition candidates failing to file their nomination papers. It was reported a while back that the TMC has been accused of using violence to prevent other parties from filing nomination papers. Wherever the opposition has managed to file the nomination papers, the elections will be held on either 1st, 3rd or 5th May.

Yesterday the West Bengal State Election Commission gave some form of relief to the opposition party by extending the date for filing nomination papers by one day, which has now been rescinded.

The TMC party workers though now seem to have decided not to keep their “intentions” clandestine by openly brandishing weapons during a bike rally in the state’s Bolpur region:


As per reports, this brandishing took place at about 10:30 AM on Tuesday, about 30 minutes before the commencement of nomination filing for the Panchayat polls. The alleged TMC workers were seen carrying weapons like swords, axes, daggers and knife.

Reports claimed that the said TMC workers numbering in the hundreds, congregated outside the Sub-Divisional Officer’s (SDO) office in Birbhum. Despite this heavy presence of armed TMC party workers, there was no police official in the area, nor was any suo moto cognisance was taken in this matter.

Besides shedding light on the possible violent means adopted by the TMC workers in West Bengal, the Mamata led party might have also exposed its hypocrisy when it comes to the issue of carrying weapons, especially ceremonial ones, during Hindu festivals like Ram Navami and Shastra Puja.

While the TMC seems to have been largely seen encouraging brandishing serious weapons during the polls, its outlook was totally different during the recently concluded Ram Navami, when BJP state president Dilip Ghosh was booked for brandishing a bow and arrow. A non-bailable case was registered against him for violating the arms act.

A few months prior to that the Mamata government had outright banned arms at Ram Navami rallies but had later relented by allowing it for the organisations which had been taking out traditional arms processions for the last 10-12 years.

The contempt of the state administration when it came to armed rallies during Ram Navami was visible when CM Mamata questioned whether Lord Ram has asked anyone to take out armed processions.

A similar distaste for ceremonial armed procession was noted during last year’s Ayudha Puja which is performed during Navami-Dashami of the Navaratra festival. With regards to this, CM Mamata had reportedly directed the police administration to “thwart” any attempt to celebrate Shastra Puja or any weapon worship on Dashami. Despite this various Hindu groups had defied her order and performed it across the state.

Priest who once served in India, arrested by Vatican on charges of child pornography

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Priest who once served in India, arrested by Vatican on charges of child pornography

Vatican Police has arrested a former leading papal diplomat, who had even served in India, on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. Carlo Alberto Capella was taken into custody after an investigation. He was ordained in 1993 and joined the Vatican’s diplomatic corps in 2004 which brought him to India and Hong Kong followed by a brief stint in the US when he was recalled in 2017 after the US authorities told the Vatican about a possible violation of child pornography laws.

The arrest comes in light of Pope Francis’s efforts to snuff out child abuse in the Catholic Church where he has pledged zero tolerance. However, he has been criticised for ‘not doing enough’ to hold bishops who allegedly cover up the cases.

Child abuse in Indian churches is not unheard of. In March last year, a Kerala priest who spoke against child abuse, was himself arrested for allegedly raping a minor which led to pregnancy. The 17-year-old gave birth to a baby in a private hospital and the accused had allegedly shifted both, the mother and the baby, to an orphanage to hush up the incident. In July later that year, another Kerala priest was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing minor boys. In July, too, a Missionary school father was arrested for allegedly trying to molest a class 8 boy in Madhya Pradesh.

Modi government to change Nehru Memorial to Museum for all Prime Ministers of India

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Modi government to change Nehru Memorial to Museum for all Prime Ministers of India

In a move that has miffed the Congress, the Modi government is set to convert the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) to a memorial for all Prime Ministers of India. Under the new initiative, the memorial, which his residence and till now has only been associated with Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, will highlight lives of all Prime Ministers of India, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Not only this, it is also reported that it will show the childhood struggles of Prime Minister Modi. The Congress has termed the move as government’s attempt to meddle with the legacy of India’s first prime minister.

The memorial is likely to be opened to the public in October this year. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has reportedly already begun groundwork on the same. Last week, CPWD created a separate ‘Teen Murti Project Division’ to implement to ‘Museum for Prime Ministers of India’ project. It is reported that there would be no change in the internal structure of Teen Murti Bhavan.

Built in 1929-30, Teen Murti Bhavan became Nehru’s official residence after independence from 1948 onward, where he lived until his death in 1964. Post his death, the then President of India, Dr S. Radhakrishnan, dedicated the Teen Murti Bhavan to the nation to perpetuate Nehru’s memory and legacy. It will now carry forward the legacy of all Prime Ministers of India.

On Point with Nupur Sharma: Interview with the man who exposed Congress party links to Cambridge Analytica

OpIndia Staff
-
0
On Point with Nupur Sharma: Interview with the man who exposed Congress party links to Cambridge Analytica

A few weeks ago, the Cambridge Analytica controversy blew wide open. There were speculations as to which political party might have engaged the services of this extremely intrusive data firm, to manipulate the election process and basically, subvert the natural process of democracy.

While it was an open fact, that Cambridge Analytica worked on the Donald Trump campaign back in the USA, here in India, many of us had a tough time wrapping our heads around what really had happened, what data was breached, how it was used, and more importantly, who used it.

The whistleblower in this case, Christopher Wylie, specifically mentioned the Congress party. Soon after, a video of Jamie Bartlett, journalist and author, interviewing Cambridge Analytica’s CEO, Alexander Nix surfaced. In that video, a poster of the Congress party was seen hanging on Nix’ wall. While Congress tried to refute the charges with fantastical explanations, we got in touch with Jamie and tried to understand what that poster meant, how Cambridge Analytica functioned, and what this massive privacy breach meant for democracy world over.

Jamie rubbished the charges of the photograph being fabricated. He said that the only reason he had filmed the posters, was because it was interesting how Cambridge Analytica was working internationally. He also said that the chance of Congress’ poster being there because they might have been ‘potential clients’ seemed far-fetched considering Nix wouldn’t hang a potential clients poster, in his chamber, right above his head, in the same line as Donald Trump who they very openly campaigned for, in fact, they had 13 Cambridge Analytica people embedded in the Trump Campaign.

The conversation also revolved around what implications of technology are, and how perhaps the current form of democracy is not compatible with the digital age and the method employed by Cambridge Analytica.

Jamie was of the opinion that perhaps the Cambridge Analytica issue shook the world because of the fact that millions and millions of data points of millions of people were accessed without the consent of the users. Such data was then used to gain insight into the personality of users in order to target them more effectively with political campaigns.

Jamie explained how Cambridge Analytica makes something called a “universe” and each “universe” contains a certain section of people that can be targeted. For example, one universe would contain users who are mothers concerned about child safety. The other might contain a subsection of people who for example, buy American made vehicles since that also gives them an insight into who they may be likely to vote for.

The most concerning part was that the messages directed at “universe” and the other set of messages directed at a different “universe” may be completely contradictory. The subsections would never know what the others are being told by these political parties. Democracy functions on the notion that people largely receive the same message on the basis of which political decisions can be made. He feared that perhaps this style of political campaigning is the most detrimental to democracy.

He explained how innocuous data like facebook likes is collected to get unprecedented insight into every user’s personality. This insight is then used to appeal to basic instincts, fears, hopes, insecurities, etc, to target politically.

In the absence of privacy laws, Jamie also believed that we might be heading towards a surveillance state where a person, without even committing a crime might be in the government radar because all of this data profiling points towards the fact that the said individual might have the propensity to commit a crime.

While Jamie was unfamiliar with the political dynamics of India, when asked if the current Congress strategy, as it seen today might indicate Cambridge Analytica’s functioning, while maintaining caution, he did concede that if the assessment of Congress’ strategy was accurate, it might point towards exactly that considering Cambridge Analytica believes in breaking the population into easy to target factions too.

The entire interview can be heard below :

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZbS9W-8dnU]

We thank Jamie for his precious time, and highly recommend reading his upcoming book “The People vs Tech”.

Hizbul terrorist declared traitor by devastated mother who vows to not accept his dead body

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Hizbul terrorist declared traitor by devastated mother who vows to not accept his dead body

Qumer-Uz-Zaman, an Assamese youth in his late 20s, who is suspected to have joined the terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, has incurred the wrath of his mother who has declared him a traitor.

As per reports, Zaman had gone to Kashmir a few years back to start a business. There he was living with his wife and kids till April 2017, after which he sent them back to Assam. He, the report claims, even worked in the US as a labourer for four years from 2008 to 2012. His family lost contact with him last July.

Since then, a theory has emerged regarding him joining terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, after the Home Ministry wrote a letter to the Assam Police with regards to Zaman. It has been reported that photos of a man believed to be him wielding AK 47 rifles have gone viral on social media, with his code name “Dr. Hurairah”. The police are investigating the authenticity of these photographs.

Reports, though, have quoted Zaman’s mother Tahera Begum as confirming the identity of her son. The devastated mother has condemned the action of the son by stated that he should be shot dead, if he has joined the Hizbul ranks. After calling him an enemy of the country, she declared that she didn’t need such a son.

She also stated that “such a person shouldn’t be living”, and added that she was willing to give her statement in writing. Apart from completely disowning him, the mother has also vowed to not accept his dead body:


Zaman’s brother too holds views similar to that of his mother, who wants his brother to be killed for being a traitor.

Apart from Zaman, four-five other people from Assam’s Jamunamukh region had gone to Kashmir but a majority are believed to be in touch with their families. The residents of Jamunamukh have demanded that the credentials of these youths should also be checked.

Incidentally a similar reaction by a terrorist’s family was witnessed in Kanpur last year, when the father of Saifullah, a terrorist with suspected links to the ISIS, had refused to accept his dead son’s body. While explaining his actions, the father announced that a traitor can’t be his son.

West Bengal Election Commission withdraws order extending date for nomination papers for panchayat polls

OpIndia Staff
-
0
West Bengal Election Commission withdraws order extending date for nomination papers for panchayat polls

The violence prior to the West Bengal panchayat polls seems to have escaped the attention of all those who are concerned about democracy in India. Goons, allegedly linked to the ruling TMC (Trinamool Congress), have assaulted the political worker who was accompanying her partymen to file nomination papers. The police remained mute spectators to the assault on political workers of non – TMC parties.


The situation in West Bengal was heard by the Supreme Court as well. But no order was passed to curb the excesses against BJP cadres. The request seeking CRPF deployment was also turned down by the Supreme Court. In a move that intended to provide an opportunity for BJP to file its nomination papers, the state election commission had extended the date for filing nomination papers by one day.

However, this notification has now been recalled. The state election commission has withdrawn its earlier notification citing possible legal ramifications of the order.


Panchayat polls in West Bengal are scheduled to be held in three phases on 1st, 3rd and 5th May.

Remembering Arya Samaj – A pioneering initiative in reviving Hinduism

Nithesh S
-
0
Remembering Arya Samaj – A pioneering initiative in reviving Hinduism

Recently, there was an outrage about a village in Andhra Pradesh because it had banned Christian evangelists from entering. The contention here is, that Hindu’s are ‘intolerant’ and ‘regressive’. There is a kind of victim mentality among Hindus who complain against religious conversions. Similarly, among secular-liberals, there is a vehement defence of ‘right to religious freedom’ as it is a fundamental right assured in the constitution.

Article 25(1) of the constitution says : Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion

The concerns of right wing regarding fraudulent conversions are real and worth attending to. At the same time, defenders of Hinduism have probably forgotten that they too have the right to propagate and convert people of other faiths to Hinduism using the same fundamental right provided in the constitution. Rather than arguing for a ban on conversions, they must make use of the level playing field provided by the constitution.

Dayananda Saraswati’s Arya Samaj laid foundations to Hindu Revivalism

The way forward had been shown by Dayananda Saraswati, a Swami who managed to miff Hindus, Muslims and Christians with his mission to revive Hinduism. 10th April is supposed to be the foundation day (another source claims that the foundation day was 7th April) of Arya Samaj. The goal of Arya Samaj was to revive Vedic Hinduism and also help Muslim and Christian converts to return to their parent faith.  On this occassion it is apt to remember the work of Arya Samaj.


Dayananda Saraswati started the Shuddhi movement through which Muslims and Christians could return to their original faith after performing certain rituals. His movement was strongly opposed by Muslims. The Arya Samaj website says the following about the Shuddhi movement.

The first recorded shuddhi of a born Muslim was reported in 1877, when Dayanand Saraswati performed the shuddhi of a Muslim man from Dehra Dun, The first attempts by the Aryas at mass conversions of Muslim groups dates back to 1908, when Arya missionaries began touring certain area of India calling upon newly converts to Islam to renounce Islam which had been forcibly imposed on them. Arya missionaries found that some who claimed to be Muslim but still followed several Hindu customs and beliefs, as their ‘ancestral religion’.

Arya Samaj did excellent work on taking the depressed classes back into the Hindu fold during that period. The Arya Samajis never cut themselves aloof from the main stream of Hindu thought. There was vast difference in the scriptural authorities of these religions as Islam and Christianity claimed divine authority from their Quran and Bible respectively while Vedas of Hinduism didn’t put up such claims until the founder of Arya Samaj, Maharishi Swami Dayananda strived to give the Vedas the similar degree of supernatural authority.

Those who talk of Hindu intolerance must note the fate that an Arya Samaj follower Swami Shraddhanand met for converting Muslims back to Hinduism. He was assassinated by a Muslim man named Abdul Rashid. In stark contrast, the Andhra village has restricted itself only to banning evangelists.

In my opinion, the right wing can very well use the provisions provided in the constitution to its advantage as well. In fact the attempt had got the tag ‘Gharwapsi’, which had met with severe backlash from ‘secular’ brigade.

The hypocrisy of secular gang on Gharwapsi

Whenever the secular gang wants to criticise the ‘Hindutva’ agenda, it does not forget to raise the issue of ‘Gharwapsi’. In an article titled : When all else fails, Yogi Adityanath pushes the Hindutva button, a writer says

Over the past  seven months since he rode to power, the saffron-clad inimitable BJP leader has been coming up with subtle ways of keeping the Hindutva flame alive. Having created much hype with volatile issues like “love jihad”, “ghar wapsi”, “cow slaughter”, with which he skillfully served his political purpose of polarising Hindus.

In another article published in Firstpost another votary of secularism says the following :

However, political analyst and writer Anand Pradhan is against making the “nonsense of ghar vapsi” an agenda of public debates. “Instead of talking about important issues like elimination of poverty, creation of jobs, development and bringing back black money which were the prime minister’s pre-poll promises, we are discussing nonsense like ‘love jihad’ and ‘ghar vapsi’, which are lowering public discourse. It is most unfortunate and even dangerous. All these controversies are being fuelled with an aim to divert people’s attention from the promised development,” he said.

Thus, the liberal logic is, when Hindus try to convert, it is an instrument of polarisation. If other religions try to convert Hindus, it is freedom to propagate one’s religion as per the constitution. This hypocrisy needs to be fought and an active mechanism for converting non-Hindus to Hinduism can be set up in order to bring about a parity between all faiths as far as conversion by free will is concerned.

Farooq Ahmed Dar – A manufactured victim?

Nithesh S
-
0
Farooq Ahmed Dar – A manufactured victim?

The narrative set by secular liberal media on Kashmir is one of chicanery and typical minority appeasement. A stone-pelter is never portrayed as a criminal by our media. Someone who comes out of his home to protest against the killing of terrorists and gets hurt or killed during the operation is portrayed as a victim. A community that was responsible for the exodus of Hindus from their homeland is still a ‘victim’ in the eyes of the media.

In the case of Farooq Ahmed Dar, the weaver who was used as a human shield when cornered from all sides by mobs, the narrative of media is no different. The larger question here is, why is the army expected to behave in a fair manner if the public is behaving in an unfair manner?

In an article published in ‘The Hindu’ titled – One year on, life in shreds for ‘human shield’, the newspaper manufactures a victim and blames the army for his current plight. The article says (emphasis added) :

“What was my mistake? Going to the polling booth and casting my ballot? Mr Dar asked with tears rolling down his cheek.

“I am unable to sleep. Even medicines are ineffective. No one is giving me any work. The government is silent and the judiciary is moving at its own pace,” Mr Dar told PTI in a video interview.

Prodded to speak about his life after the incident, Mr Dar said he faced a social boycott as people in his village Chill, in Budgam district, had distanced themselves after they learnt he had participated in the election process. [..]

“No one is giving me any work. I decided to work as a labourer but my human shield tag walks a pace ahead of me. At times, I wonder whether such an act of cowardice could be rewarded by the Army. Is this the message that India wants to send to Kashmir?” he asked, referring to Mr Gogoi being commended by the Army chief for his act.

Firstly, if people are not giving him work and mocking him for his ‘ordeal’ , is it not the fault of the society in Kashmir? Isn’t it a shame that his fellow Kashmiris are treating him so badly? Mr Dar must be cursing his society along with the army for putting him through his ‘agony’.

Has Farooq Ahmed Dar become a pacifist and campaigned in Kashmir to stop stone pelting? No. He continues to play the victim card and fails to criticise his fellow Kashmiris for pelting stones and throwing petrol bombs at the Army personnel. I reiterate, why is the army expect to behave in a fair manner if the public is behaving in an unfair manner?

Secondly, had Farooq Ahmed Dar really gone to vote? Though his supporters claim otherwise, what is the evidence to prove that he voted? Does he have the indelible ink mark on his finger? In the video above, NDTV journalist talks to Farooq Ahmed Dar and asks about his ordeal. He does not ask for any evidence to prove that he had voted. How can we take Mr Dar’s statement at face value?

Lastly, if we are ready to take Dar’s account at face value, why can’t we accord the same importance to Major Leetul Gogoi’s account. Gogoi, in his press conference had said that Farooq Ahmed Dar was instigating stone pelters before he was caught. In fact, Gogoi should be congratulated for his presence of mind and saving lives of many protestors who would have died under defensive fire.

The one sided and faulty narrative that is being set in favour of Farooq Ahmed Dar is not only dangerous for future of Kashmir but also the morale of Indian armed forces which are operating in worst conditions in Kashmir. There is a need to understand the politically motivated campaign of the media in reporting incidents from Kashmir.

Intolerant about art: Is Congress stifling the voice of those mocking Rahul Gandhi?

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Intolerant about art: Is Congress stifling the voice of those mocking Rahul Gandhi?

When it comes to legacies, it might be well accepted that few of the things Congress President Rahul Gandhi will be remembered for would be his gaffes and his untended sense of humour. This has prompted various comedians and bloggers alike to create spoofs and mocking posts of Rahul Gandhi. The Congress party though now seemingly has decided to try and forcibly erase this legacy of Rahul.

As per a twitter user and TEDx contributor Vikas Pandey, the Congress party is trying hard to take down less than glorifying videos of their party President:


As per the image shared by Pandey, the “I Support Narendra Modi” YouTube channel had received a copyright take down notice, which was issued by Indian Nation Congress (INC) for their video titled, “Mil Gaya Rahul Gandhi Ke Pappu Hone Ka Saboot – Singapore Video Question & Answer Session”.

As a result of this notice, the video was rendered unplayable on YouTube. Owing to this act by Indian Nation Congress (INC), the channel also received “One copyright strike” and in case of such multiple notices, the channel might get pulled down by YouTube.

Also in what some might call a “peculiar coincidence”, the news of the twitter account of @NKDeewan getting suspended was also reported today:

Intolerant about art: Is Congress stifling the voice of those mocking Rahul Gandhi?
Twitter user suspended

Deewan a witty twitter user incidentally had achieved quite a bit of online fame in the recent past by creating hilarious spoofs of Rahul Gandhi. His suspension provoked an outcry with people using the hashtag #bringbackdeewan to demand the restoration of his account:


This suspension incidentally comes after recent suspension of RW accounts for “technical” violation of terms such as suicide. Incidentally it might also be argued that when it comes to getting videos removed from YouTube, the Congress is taking a leaf out of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) book, which is in line with what OpIndia has predicted.

The “persecution” of those mocking Rahul Gandhi incidentally also extends beyond social media. It was reported about a week how a Yakshagana (traditional folk skit) artist from Karnataka was suspended after he imitated Rahul Gandhi. The artist in a skit had mocked Rahul Gandhi’s pronunciation of “Ivanarva, Ivanarva. Iva Namva Iva Namva” at a campaign rally in the state.

The Kateel Durgaparameshwari Temple whose member the artist was, was forced to suspend him following a notice by Moodbidri Returning Officer V Prasanna, owing to the temple falling under Karnataka government’s endowment department.

BSP leader paints the recently repaired statue of Ambedkar blue, evades questions

OpIndia Staff
-
0
BSP leader paints the recently repaired statue of Ambedkar blue, evades questions

A local BSP leader in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh has re-coloured a statue of Ambedkar, which was repaired after it was vandalized and painted in in saffron colour, to blue.


The government had repaired the vandalised statue and painted it saffron from its earlier blue colour. The statue, which is located in Ambedkar Park, Durgaiya village was earlier vandalised by unknown miscreants on 7th April. The police had covered it with cloth and later started a probe after registering FIR against unidentified persons.

The local authorities had repaired the spot and put a statue of Ambedkar. However, the new statue was saffron in colour.

The BSP leader Hemendra Gautam, who did the repainting in blue, however, evaded questions and did not answer when he was asked by ANI reporter why did he change the colour as there have been no objections from the villagers regarding the saffron colour. He tried to leave the place even as the reporter asked further that he had earlier stated that even Lord Buddha wore saffron, then why had he painted a saffron-robed Ambedkar into blue. However, Gautam had no answer.


There have been several statue vandalisation incidents in UP’s Firozabad, Etah, Siddharthnagar and Allahabad. UP CM Yogi Adityanath had issued directives to district magistrates and SPs to take steps against vandalisation incidents and ensure the safety of public properties.

1...7,2467,2477,248...7,675Page 7,247 of 7,675