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Now ED raids Lalu’s daughter Misa’s residence – find out the details

OpIndia Staff
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Now ED raids Lalu’s daughter Misa’s residence – find out the details

A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at 12 premises of the RJD supremo over irregularities in awarding tenders for hotel maintenance during his tenure as the Railway Minister, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday raided three farmhouses in Delhi owned by Lalu Prasad’s daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti in connection to a money laundering case.

The central probe agency swooped on Bharti’s farmhouses in Ghitorni, Bijwasan and Sainik Farms early this morning.

The raids were connected in connection to a racket involving two Delhi-based businessmen Surendra and Virendra Jain and others. The Jain brothers, who were arrested by the ED under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, allegedly laundered a whopping Rs 8,000 crores using shell companies.

It could be noted that one of the firms that the arrested duo dealt with was Mishail Printers & Packers Private Limited, a company together owned by Bharti and his husband Shailesh Kumar.

According to the ED, 1,20,000 shares of Mishail Printers & Packers Private Limited were bought at a rate of Rs 100 per share by four shell companies – Shalini Holdings Limited, Ad-Fin Capital Services Private Limited, Mani Mala Delhi Properties Private Limited and Diamond Vinimay Private Limited – between 2007 and 2008. These 1,20,000 shares were further bought back by Bharti and his husband at a cost of Rs 10 per share, the agency said. The firm was registered at the address 25, Tughlaq Road, New Delhi till the shares were bought back by Bharti, the ED said.

Earlier, the ED had arrested Bharti’s chartered accountant Rakesh Agrawal in connection to the money laundering probe. Reports suggest that it was Agrawal who provided accommodation entries or black funds of about Rs 60 lakh to Mishail Printers & Packers Private Ltd.

Last month, the Income Tax Department had seized the benami properties of Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar, her brother and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav in Gurugram, Delhi and Rewari.

Lalu’s family is also at the centre of another scam involving three-acre slice of premium land in Patna where “the biggest shopping mall of Bihar” is being developed by Meridian Construction Limited, a firm owned by RJD MLA Syed Abu Dojana.

According to an Indian Express report, quoting CBI records, a purported contract between Dojana and Lalu’s younger daughter Chanda shows that 57 per cent of the complex under construction on this land at Saguna More in Danapur would be owned by her while 43 per cent would be allocated to the developer.

Amid standoff with China, India to invite heads of ASEAN nations for Republic Day parade

OpIndia Staff
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Amid standoff with China, India to invite heads of ASEAN nations for Republic Day parade

Amid the ongoing standoff with China at India-China-Bhutan tri-junction, India has decided to invite the heads of 10 ASEAN nations for the Republic Day parade, 2018. The move will give a further boost to India’s Act East policy.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is for the first time ever that leaders of so many states will be the chief guests in Republic Day, which showcases India’s military might.

It could be noted that 4 ASEAN countries – Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei – are currently engaged in disputes with China in the South China Sea. Philippines dragged China to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague over the dispute. The ICJ ruled against China in July last year and observed that China had violated international law in South China Sea.

India and ASEAN countries are marking 25 years of dialogue partnership, 15 years of summit-level interaction and five years of strategic partnership through “shared values”, and “common destiny”, reads a statement by Ministry of External Affairs.

India and ASEAN nations have successfully forged strong strategic partnership in areas of economy, defence and security. The Modi government has been emphasising on a “dynamic” and “action-oriented” relations with ASEAN countries.

At the India-ASEAN Delhi Dialogue, held in 4 July, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India and ASEAN share a common geographical space where they face common traditional and non-traditional security challenges.

“Freedom of navigation and respect for international law is therefore imperative in this context. Equally, we remain committed with ASEAN to enhance our maritime cooperation, to realise the full potential of our ocean economy. We will continue to step up cooperation in countering terrorism, piracy and other transnational crimes,” Swaraj had said.

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh in his reply to the Parliament on 23 December, 2015 had said that there was a clear intent to engage with the ASEAN countries not just to promote economic cooperation and cultural ties, but also to develop a “strategic relationship”.

“On strategic issues, we have increasing convergence on security interests with key partners both in bilateral and multilateral format. Closer cooperation in combating terrorism, collaborating for peace and stability in the region and promotion of maritime security based on international norms and laws are being pursued,” Singh had said.

Mob threatens to kill Bihar advocate who had accepted Hinduism after renouncing Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Mob threatens to kill Bihar advocate who had accepted Hinduism after renouncing Islam

Recently it was reported how Mohammed Anwar, a lawyer from Bihar’s Begusarai region had converted to Hinduism along with his sons, after he was being threatened by some radical Muslims for failing to follow the tenets of Islam. A few radicals were also unhappy with him because he didn’t eat beef and used to donate money for the construction of temples.

His house was reportedly attacked on 2nd July by a mob, which accused him of not performing the Namaz 5 times a day. They also reportedly expressed displeasure over the fact that his kids used to study in English medium schools and not in a madrasa. The mob had also reportedly beaten up his sons aged 9, 11 while they were there.

This prompted Mohammed Anwar to convert to Hinduism and become Anand Bharti, with the conversion ceremony taking place in a Shiva Temple.

Anand might have thought that after conversion he won’t be bothered by radical Muslims calling for him to be more pious, but as it appears that problems have only increased for him and his family after their religious conversion.

According to reports, soon after his conversion, tension increased in the area which has resulted in Anand getting continuous death threats from radical Muslims.

On Friday, a mob of 15-20 people surrounded Anand and his client at a town square. They proceeded to threaten them and the Bajrangi Dal’s District Chief Subham Bharadwaj with death. Bharadwaj was the one who had organised the conversion ceremony of Anand. The mob also hurled vile obscenities.

Soon the police came to know about the incident and dispatched station head Mohammed Ali Sabri to the spot. Seeing the police, the mob reportedly fled.

This has resulted in Anand being provided a bodyguard by local SP Ranjeet Kumar. The SP has also assured action against the mob if Anand provides a written complaint.

This isn’t the only time converted Muslims have received threats for converting from their religion. In 2015, a Muslim family from Uttar Pradesh who had converted to Hinduism in the infamous “Ghar-Wapsi” program had to accept Islam again, after facing threats and boycott from the Muslim community.

It needs to be seen how long “Anand Bharti” can retain his new religious identity.

Cow vs Kaaba – the missing spine of ‘liberals’ when it comes to Islam

Rahul Roushan
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Cow vs Kaaba – the missing spine of ‘liberals’ when it comes to Islam

When a man was killed in Dadri on suspicion of cow slaughter and beef consumption, it elicited, and rightly so, concern and outrage from many. The leading outragers were those who self-identify as “liberals”.

Apart from absolving the state government and taking selfies outside the house of the murdered man, these liberals decided to attack the belief that supposedly was the central reason why the man was killed – the belief that cow is a sacred animal which shouldn’t be slaughtered for food.

In fact, they decided to attack the cow itself, even as they desperately tried to paint every crime as cow related violence.

If you are active on social media, you would remember that many of these liberals had changed their display pictures to that of a cow with blood on her mouth – the way lion’s mouth looks after a kill.

In fact, the expression on a lion’s face after a kill is that of a contentment, for the big cat has just satisfied its hunger, but that picture of the cow had a sinister look in its eyes with its nostrils blowing out anger, as if it were hungry for more. You know, a bloodthirsty cow.

Cow, the only being who can legitimately say ‘not in my name’, was made a symbol of hate.

This hate campaign resulted into a public slaughter of a cow by the Congress party workers in Kerala. If one is liberal enough to consider speciesism as a form of discrimination, what happened in Kerala was a ‘hate crime’.

It didn’t end with public display of hatred by killing of a cow. Only a few days back, “Cow is food” posters were flashed in ‘not in my name’ protests, because liberals were on a mission to drill some rationalism into the thick head of stupid people who think that cow is mother.

I don’t find it entirely wrong to attack a belief, if that belief is the central reason behind a crime. Except that I never find these liberals attacking Islamic beliefs when a crime has been committed due to that.

Where are “Kaaba is just a building” posters on the lines of “Cow is food” posters? Or worse, if the cow can be drawn as a man-eater, how exactly should one draw Kaaba or the Prophet? A man has died, just like a man had died in Dadri.

I’m referring to Muslim mobs going on rampage, destroying government and private properties and desecrating Hindu temples in the Basirhat region of West Bengal. All because the mobs believe that Kaaba is sacred and a Facebook post didn’t show it in good light.

But there is no outrage at all from the “liberals” directed at Kaaba the way they got all creative and aggressive with the Cow. The spine to take on a belief that leads mobs to indulge in violence is missing.

To be fair, this anatomical mystery is not unique to the Indian liberals. When Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and satirists were killed, even their western counterparts too largely focused on the cartoons rather than the belief that led to the killing. Similarly, a teenager’s Facebook post is being blamed than the belief that makes a mob bay for blood.

We don’t really know what exactly was the nature of the Facebook post that offended the Muslims so much. Some claim that Kaaba was shown as Shiva temple or Shivalingam.

Regardless of whether that Facebook post did show Kaaba as Shivalingam or not, it is anybody’s guess how many “liberals” will endorse such imagery. They will condemn it as “provocative”. The image will be argued to be “supremacist” as it would show Muslims bowing to a Hindu symbol.

Bad to tinker with the sacred of one by inserting another religion’s symbols, no?

How about a painting that shows Hindu god Krishna taking part in Eid celebrations?


That is apparently shared heritage.

Liberals can continue to dodge these questions by dismissing them as “whataboutery” (which is why I used “how about” – so smart of me) but they have to ask themselves why do they employ these double standards when it comes to the faith and beliefs of Muslims.

When a belief leads to violence, why do they choose to counter Hindu beliefs with rationalism (and not much quarrel I have there personally) but choose to avoid countering the Muslim beliefs?

Cow gets their tongue? Or the spine genuflects in sajda?

I can think of only four reasons why they have such glaring double standards:

First. They are scared of the repercussions. If they choose to change their display picture to a cartoon of Kaaba, their own picture will be seen garlanded with flowers the next day. In that case, for god’s sake, and for Allah’s sake, stop your “all religions are the same” nonsense. Clearly some religions are more intolerant and violent; have the guts to acknowledge that without false equivalences.

Second. They actually believe that considering a building or place sacred is more logical and rational a belief than considering an animal sacred. You know, that is not liberal, but Abrahamic belief; or a Hinduphobic belief. And in this case again, stop your “all religions are the same” nonsense as you clearly believe that Hinduism is a lesser religion. Again, have the guts to acknowledge that and be honest like the Jihadis who say the same openly.

Third. They believe that some acts are provocative enough to attract violence. In the current case, they believe that hurting religious sentiments through an image is more provocative than stealing cattle (one of the key reasons leading to cow related violence). Well, you should stop calling yourselves liberal then, for it is very conservative a thought to put religious beliefs over economic considerations.

And the fourth one. They are deluded hypocrites. In which case, you don’t need to do anything. Continue being the same, as you’re only helping your enemies.

Allowances paid to Jawans deployed in Siachen and Maoist areas hiked by more than double

OpIndia Staff
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Allowances paid to Jawans deployed in Siachen and Maoist areas hiked by more than double

The risk and hardship allowances for armymen posted in Siachen and forces deployed for counter-insurgency operations in Maoist infested areas have been more than doubled. The increased payments are among the higher allowances the government notified in the Gazette on 6 July.

According to an official statement, the allowance paid to soldiers deployed at Siachen – the highest battlefield in the world – has been increased from Rs 14,000 to Rs 30,000 per month and for officers it has been hiked from Rs 21,000 to Rs 42,500 per month. Similarly, the High Altitude Allowance has been raised from Rs 810-16,800 to Rs 2700- 25,000 per month.

The Counter Insurgency Operations Allowance has been hiked from Rs 3,000-11,700 to Rs 6,000-16,900 per month. The Command Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) Allowance, paid to CRPF personnel deployed in Maoist-infested areas, has been increased from Rs 8,400-16,800 to Rs 17,300-25,000 per month.

MARCOS and the Chariot Allowance, paid to marine commandos, has been increased from Rs 10,500-15,750 to Rs 17,300-25,000 per month.

For Sea Going Allowance, the conditionality of 12 hours has been reduced to four hours and the allowance has been increased from Rs 3,000-7,800 to Rs 6,000-10,500 per month.

The allowances for Modified Field, Field and Highly Active Field Area have been hiked from Rs 1,200-12,600 to Rs 6,000-16,900 per month. Flying Allowance has been raised from Rs 10,500-15,750 to Rs 17,300-25,000 per month and this has been extended to the BSF Air Wing also.

Aeronautical Allowance now has been extended to the Indian Coast Guard, Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence Personnel, Test Pilot and Flight Test Engineer Allowance, Ceilings of Deputation (Duty) Allowance for Defence Personnel, Detachment Allowance and Para Jump Instructor Allowance.

Lalu in fresh trouble as CBI raids his Patna home: Here’s all you need to know

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Lalu in fresh trouble as CBI raids his Patna home: Here’s all you need to know

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family literally woke up to to a shock today after they found the CBI at the doorstep of his Patna home. A similar raid was being carried out at 11 other locations.

This trouble follows similar scrutiny of Lalu’s family members by other investigative agencies. Recently Income Tax officials had seized an alleged benami house and plot of land owned by Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharti.

Even Lalu’s son Tej Pratap Yadav who is the current  minister for Health, Minor Water Resources, Environment and Forest in the Bihar government, had received a notice from BPCL for falsely claiming ownership of a land to start a petrol pump. He is also involved an a Patna Zoo Soil scam in which he allegedly gave a Rs 90 lakh contract via Patna Zoo to a company in which he, his mother and siblings were shareholders.

Now that the past has finally caught up with Lalu again, lets look at the whole development:

Why did the raids take place:

According to the CBI, this case pertains to Lalu tweaking a tender process in order to benefit certain hoteliers while he was the Railway Minister in the UPA government. CBI says that it could make out a case of conspiracy and fraud based on the evidence it has so far.

Apparently three acres of land in western Patna was transferred in 2006 to a company called Delight Marketing Private Ltd, which is known to Lalu’s family. The land was subsequently transferred to another company called Lara projects, which reportedly is owned by Lalu’s family. Even though the land was valued at about Rs 32 crores, it was transferred to Lara at just about Rs 65 lakh.

The CBI is also examining tenders that were awarded to private firms for operating railway hotels near stations. A tender awarded for the maintenance of IRCTC Hotels/BNR Hotels in Delhi and Puri in 2006 is also under scrutiny.

BNR hotels, which were dubbed as Heritage Hotels of the Indian Railways, were taken over in 2006 by IRCTC. But these were then transferred to M/s Sujata private limited for maintenance and upkeep. The transfer was done while disregarding the set guidelines.

So who all are accused in the case?

As reported by ANI, various big shots are under the radar of the CBI. This includes Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi and his son Tejashwi. PK Goel, the former Managing Director of IRCTC, the promoters of Hotel Chanakya and Hotel Sujata, and Saira Gupta, the wife of RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta are also among the accused.

Which places were raided by the CBI?

A total of 12 places were raided by the CBI today from 7:30 in the morning. These include Lalu’s Patna residence, residence of RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta, the New Friends colony in Delhi, Chanakya BNR hotel in Ranchi and residence of former IRCTC MD PK Goyal. Locations in Puri were also raided.

What does Lalu have to say about it?

Initially, nothing. He wasn’t even at his house when the raids took place. He was in Ranchi to appear in his fodder scam case, and said that he would speak later. Later he dubbed everything as a political vendetta.

What did alliance partner Nitish have to say?

Alliance partner Nitish doesn’t seem to have reacted yet and was reported to have had a meeting with Senior Officials. This comes at a critical juncture for him as he has already aggrieved his “Mahagathbandhan” partners by formally backing NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.

Things might have turned especially tricky for Nitish as BJP is calling for him to sack Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and he won’t want to create an image of someone who shelters the corrupt.

The Congress though tried to provied full support for Lalu by questioning the silence of 13 years regarding this matter, thereby also possibly blaming their own government for inaction.

What next?

The news has broken that CBI  questioned Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav so it remains to be seen if they do the same with Lalu.

Amit Shah confident about installing BJP government in Odisha in 2019

Saswat Panigrahi
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Amit Shah confident about installing BJP government in Odisha in 2019

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has charted the party’s Mission Odisha during his three-day-long tour to the eastern state. The master-strategist presented a road map for ousting Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in the 2019 Assembly elections.

Shah’s Odisha visit aims at reviving the party’s infrastructure in the state at the grassroot levels. It was part of his 110-day-long countrywide whirlwind tour to galvanise the party cadre and expand the BJP’s footprints in the birth centenary year of party’s ideologue Deendayal Upadhayaya. 

Amit Shah’s tour across the nation focuses on taking stock of the party’s organisational strength, further expansion of ideology and electoral appeal. Odisha is the fourteenth state the BJP president has toured as part of his 110-day-long countrywide tour.

Odisha features prominently in BJP’s scheme of things. So far the state has been one of the unconquered territories. But the BJP president is confident of winning the state in the next Assembly elections in 2019.

“The BJP will secure two-third majority in the 2019 Assembly elections and form the next government in Odisha,” a confident Shah said while addressing party workers in Bhubaneswar as he winded down his three-day-long Odisha tour on Thursday. The BJP president exhorted party workers not to rest till the party captured the power in Odisha.

Shah travelled more than 400 km by road in three days. Taking on BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is considered as a “high-flyer” in politics, the BJP president said, “I have travelled to various places in Odisha in these three days. But it was not like an aerial visit by Naveen Patnaik. I sensed the mood of people of Odisha in favour of the BJP.”

“The high-flying Chief Minister has failed to grasp and address the people’s problems,” he added.

Amit Shah launched his three-day-long grassroot connect drive from Patnaik’s home turf Ganjam on 4 July to deliver a message to the Odisha Chief Minister and his BJD. Ganjam is the district where Patnaik’s Hinjili Assembly constituency is located. Shah took part in the Mo Booth Sabuthu Majboot (My Booth is the Strongest) programme in Hugulapata village in Ganjam. He interacted with locals, addressed a public meeting and had lunch with at a Dalit household in Hugulapata village.

Shah went on a door-to-door campaign at Hugulapata village of Kukudakhandi Block in Ganjam district. He discussed with the villagers about various welfare programmes implemented by the Narendra Modi government.

At Berhampur, Shah addressed a huge gathering of party’s booth level workers from Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts.

At Hugulapata in Ganjam, the BJP chief launched a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik government. Shah lashed out at the BJD government for the migration of labour force from Odisha to other States.

“It is unfortunate that this labour force, which is helping in the development of other States, is not used for the development of Odisha,” he said.

On the second day of his Odisha tour on 5 July, the BJP president visited the historical Biraja Temple in Jajpur and offered prayer. Later addressing public meetings at various places, including Arei and Panikoili in Jajpur district, Shah attacked the “misrule” and “inefficiency” of the Naveen Patnaik government for the under-development of Odisha despite the State being endowed with rich natural resources.

“The BJD dispensation in Odisha has failed miserably to ensure development during its 17-year rule. It is a paradox that Odisha, which is endowed with abundant mineral and natural resources, is left far behind in terms of development,” Shah said.

At Panikoili in Jajpur, Shah addressed BJP’s booth level workers of north Odisha districts.

The BJP present said during the last three years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the grants for Odisha has increased many fold, but Naveen Patnaik government has failed to utilise the funds, leaving the state in the grip of poverty and backwardness.

On the last day of his Odisha tour, Shah held a massive road show from Kalpana square to Basantpur in the state capital of Bhubaneswar.

Later he visited Basantpur village – under in Ekamra assembly constituency – which is located at the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The BJP president was given a traditional welcome there. Shah met people from different social and economic strata in the village. He went to Booth No-191 in Basantpur village and spent some time at a Dalit house and had famous Odisha snacks moodi.

Addressing a huge public rally in Bhubaneswar, Shah said, “BJP alone is capable of pulling Odisha out of the morass and steer the state on the path of rapid development.”

In Odisha, this time Naveen Patnaik is staring at a strong anti-incumbency as there are a galaxy of issues – ranging from corruption, to misgovernance – plaguing the state. In the last Pachayat elections, the BJP succeeded in making a giant stride in Odisha politics, leaving Patnaik’s BJD in a tailspin. With renewed hope and new vigour, the BJP is sanguine about riding a saffron surge in the land of Shree Jagannath and Amit Shah was seen wearing that confidence during his three-day tour.

Cricket and Dog – latest reasons of Hindu-Muslim clashes at two places in Meerut

OpIndia Staff
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Cricket and Dog – latest reasons of Hindu-Muslim clashes at two places in Meerut

In two separate incidents in the last couple of days, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh has witnessed communal clashes between Muslims and Hindus that were triggered by petty fights between a few individuals. Police deployment had to be made in both the cases to stop the situation from getting uglier.

In the first case, a cricket match that took place four days back has now resulted into communal clashes with both group accusing each other of making targeted attacks. The incident happened in Sardhana area of Meerut where an altercation took place between two groups while playing cricket.

Youths belonging to the Muslim and Dalit communities were reported to have come to blows during the match, but the fight was contained on that day. However, a day later, Muslim group is alleged to have attacked the homes of Dalits and even fired at the youths from country made pistols.

Banti, one of the those injured in the attacks and firing, has claimed that the Muslims had organised a panchayat, where they decided to attack them in a planned way. Around 10 persons, including a woman, suffered injuries in this attack and they are being treated in a local hospital.

After this attack, Dalits are also reported to have carried out counter attack on the homes of Muslims, causing injuries to the other side. With situation turning worse, police forces had to be deployed in the area and cases have been registered.

Both the groups are accusing each other of starting the fight and denying any organised or planned violence on their part. The situation is reported to be tense but under control after police intervention.

Meerut Hindu-Muslim clash
Injuries after communal clashes following a cricket match (source: Amar Ujala)

In another incident that took place in Indira Chowk area of Meerut, police had to be deployed to contain communal clashes that happened after a hotel owner objected to a dog littering the area outside his hotel.

The Hotel is owned by two brothers Satish and Pramod, who were frustrated with one guy Nadeem who used to bring his dog daily outside his hotel leading to littering in the area. When the brothers objected to this, Nadeem went away but returned with a mob of 20-25 people from his locality.

Armed with sticks, the Muslim mob not only attacked the hotel owners and damaged the hotel property, they beat up others too who were in the hotel or in the vicinity. This led to the other group respond to the attack and the soon the incident took communal colours.

Police was informed as groups started stone pelting and soon the situation was brought under control. Police is reportedly scrutinising the CCTV footage of the hotel to identify the culprits and have registered cases against 24 people. Two have been arrested though Nadeem is still on run.

Police has claimed that while people are angry, situation is under control and police deployment has been done to stop any further violence.

65 years old Kartik Ghosh stabbed to death by Jihadi mobs in Basirhat, West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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65 years old Kartik Ghosh stabbed to death by Jihadi mobs in Basirhat, West Bengal

The mob violence in Basirhat in West Bengal over a Facebook post has now taken a life. 65 years old Kartik Ghosh became the first casualty of the violence being perpetrated in the region.

The Basirhat region in West Bengal has been on the boil since Monday, after Jihadi mobs decided to go on rampage, burning and looting Hindu establishments, assaulting villagers, and burning vehicles as a form of protest against the Facebook post, which allegedly denigrated their religion.

Even though Jihadi mobs were wrecking havoc all around, which also included the desecration of Hindu temples and symbols like Lord Jagannath’s Rath, the only consolation people were holding on to, was that there were no casualties yet reported due to the clashes.

This too diminished on Thursday morning after it was reported that 65-year-old Kartik Chandra Ghosh had succumbed to his injuries. According to his son, Kartik was stabbed multiple time by unknown assailants on Wednesday.

Clashes had broken out in their Bhayabla locality which is a part of ward number 20 of Basirhat sub-division. Around 1 PM Kartik was walking back to his home when the area was attacked by “members of the minority community”.

The mob stabbed Kartik multiple times and fled the spot. He was rushed to a local hospital which in-turn referred him to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Kartik unfortunately didn’t respond to the treatment and breathed his last on 8:07 AM Thursday.

Kartik was described as a small businessman who used to sell chicken and groceries to earn a living for his family. His body has now been sent for autopsy.

This death has drawn political reactions. The BJP claimed that Kartik was their party member, which was disputed by the family, either as a fact or possibly in fear of further repercussions by radicals.

West Bengal’s top BJP leadership of Dilip Ghosh and Locket Chatterjee were denied entry into the Kolkata hospital by TMC members when they came to meet Kartik’s grieving family. This resulted in a scuffle between the BJP and TMC workers outside the Hospital, which reportedly resulted in a BJP worker getting dragged inside and then getting beaten up.

Apparently 21 people have been injured till now in the Basirhat violence and 8 are undergoing treatment in the Kolkata hospital.

The situation in Basirhat continues to be tense with police having to use tear gas shells and batons for calming things down.

What could be Pakistan’s response to the deepening India-Israel friendship?

Hemant Bijapurkar
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What could be Pakistan’s response to the deepening India-Israel friendship?

On 4th of July, India and Israel embarked upon a new historic chapter, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first ever Indian Prime Minister to touch down on the shores of Israel.

The Israeli establishment left no stone unturned in providing the best possible welcome for PM Modi. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his whole cabinet were at the airport to welcome him and there were a lot of inter-personal touches given to the communication and events.

India as a nation has a whole lot to gain from Israel. Today Israeli startups are leading the tech world, Israel leads the world when it comes to agri-tech and has been also dubbed as an agricultural superpower in recent years. Its military is considered one of the most highly trained in the world and Israel has also been called a key to solve global terrorism.

So there is lot to learn from Israel as we try to find solutions to India’s job, agriculture and national security woes.

Also in an interview to Arnab Goswami, PM Netanyahu stated that the way to eliminate terrorism was by sharing intelligence and by cooperating in classified ways. He, in the same interview, stated that India and Israel are natural allies and a great partnership would come out of the visit.

All this would be music to the ears of million of Indians, but obviously it is not going to amuse many in Pakistan.

Pakistan as a nation has always thrived on internal conflict, socio-political instability, and compromised national security of India. With Israel possibly helping India in rectifying it, the response of Pakistan to this new relationship would be one to watch out for.

As it turns out, Pakistan hasn’t been sitting idle and as a response to this shift in India’s policy towards Israel, has decided to rake up the one and the only issue it can think of that it feels can be the proper response to the development – Kashmir.

Even as PM Modi hasn’t yet left Israeli soil, Pakistan’s leading daily The Dawn has come out with an op-ed regarding the the Indo-Israeli embrace. The article cited Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni’s decision to ask for support for the ‘oppressed Muslims in Kashmir’ on Monday, which the article speculated was a reaction to the impending visit by PM Modi to Israel.

The article then tried to draw similarity between oppressed Palestinians and the so-called oppressed Kashmiris, who have been denied the ‘freedom and dignity they desire’.

The report tried to see a silver line in by arguing that Indo-Israeli partnership has provided an opportunity for Pakistan to ‘highlight the Kashmir issue with Iran and others’. Pakistan appears to be in a hurry and reports suggest that it is already planning to escalate the Kashmir issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Now there aren’t as such many options in front of Pakistan. Knocking on the doors of ICJ in itself might not do any good as it has been time and again reiterated by India that both the countries are bound by the Shimla and Lahore agreement to find a “Bilateral” solution to the unresolved issue. Also external-affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has just a month back stated that, no third party can be involved in the Kashmir talks.

What Pakistan hopes to achieve is an anti-India nexus of Islamic countries thanks to the friendship with “Jewish” Israel. And there are some reasons why Pakistan’s hopes might appear real and reasonable.

For example, normally Saudi Arabia and Iran’s diplomatic relations are steeped in conflict and disagreement, which is fundamentally based on the Shia-Sunni divide, but when it comes to Israel, both the countries have similar views.

Saudi Arabia hates Israel. So much so that both the countries have no diplomatic relations and even don’t have any direct air-routes. When US President Donald Trump took a direct flight – in the dedicated airline for the US president – from Saudi Arabia to Israel, it was touted as a great symbolic step. Going a step ahead of Saudi, Iran’s Ayatollah has laid out legal and religious justifications to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel.

It might be a dream scenario for Pakistan if such unbridled hatred could be directed towards India, because India and Israel are now friends. But would it happen?

Even though Modi’s critics like to paint him anti-Muslim and some in Indian media tried to link his Israel visit as extension of his alleged anti-Muslim politics, he has always received very warm receptions from Saudi Arabia and Iran during his official visits there, with no Israel type hostility ever being on display. This will end just because Modi got a rousing welcome in Israel may remain a wishful thinking of Pakistan.

The next stop for Pakistan might be to turn the UN against India. When it comes to Kashmir the UN has largely favoured India, as evident by Nawaz Sharif’s disappointment with the UN’s non interfering stance when it comes to Kashmir.

But when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict, UN continues to pass resolutions like Israel’s settlements in the so called Palestinian territory having no legal validity. The resolutions even called the settlements “a flagrant violation under international law”. This is at a time when PM Netanyahu had called for “direct bilateral negotiations with Palestine”.

This means that Pakistan will need to do a lot to equate India with Israel on the Kashmir issue, which it has been trying, though without success.

One of the major reasons why Pakistan has failed is because that country is increasingly being seen as a terrorist-friendly nation. There has been a marked departure in US policy regarding Pakistan, and it is no longer a ‘natural ally’ in the ‘war on terror’.

This means, that Pakistan needs new ‘agents’ to push its narrative where terrorism in Kashmir is whitewashed and stone-pelting is romanticized as Intifada (Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation), for which it would need the help of its accessories in the media and in the establishment.

Ironically, some in the Indian media and ‘intelligentsia’ are doing this job better than Pakistan in whitewashing Islamic terrorism in Kashmir, through acts such as equating Indian Army chief with General Dyer. No wonder, Pakistan had decided to reach out such sections in India as part of its new Kashmir policy.

Overall, all these options in front of Pakistan might not even take off if India plays its cards right and maintains the right balance between the Islamic countries and Israel, which it appears to be doing by being in favour of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Even if India forsakes this balance, it might not have anything to worry about as Pakistan itself has virtually no credibility in the eyes of Middle Eastern countries. This was evident after Saudi Arabia planned to scrutinise Pakistanis before letting them in or Pakistan being utterly humiliated during Donald Trump’s recent Islamic summit.

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