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26 CRPF jawans martyred: When will anti-Maoist operations reach logical end?

OpIndia Staff
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26 CRPF jawans martyred: When will anti-Maoist operations reach logical end?

One more Maoist attack on security forces and this time again in Chhattisgarh. In one of the deadliest attacks by Maoists in the recent times, at least 26 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred and six others were seriously injured in outh Bastar’s Sukma district of Chhattisgarh today.

The jawans, who are from the 74th battalion of the CRPF, were deployed in the area for the anti-Maoist operations. The CRPF patrol was sanitising the area where a road was being laid between Burkapal and Jagargunda when the attack happened.

“The incident took place when the road opening party of the 74th battalion of CRPF were out on patrol at Burkapal near Chintagufa. The jawans were deployed for security at an under construction road. The Maoists ambushed CRPF personnel and started indiscriminate firing,” Jitendra Shukla, additional superintendent of police, Sukma was quoted as saying.

These CRPF jawans were were attacked by the 300 Maoists at around 12.25 pm. The Maoists have reportedly looted all weapons, wireless equipment, and ammunition belonging to the slain jawans.

An injured jawan brought to the hospital was quoted as saying by this PTI report, “The Maoists first sent villagers to check our position… I also saw some women Maoists. They were all wearing black uniforms and had sophisticated weapons like the AK series assault rifles.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the attack “cowardly” and “deplorable”, adding that the sacrifice of the slain jawans won’t go in vain. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said he is “extremely distressed” over the incident.

Sukma, considered among India’s worst insurgency-hit regions, has seen Maoist violence for the last several decades. On March 11 earlier this year, Maoists ambushed a similar CRPF road opening party and killed at least 12 jawans. It is to recall that in 2010, the Maoists killed 76 CRPF personal in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada.

The Maoists ruthlessly and systematically kill countless men in uniform and civilians. According to an estimate, more than 13,000 people were killed since the beginning of Maoism in India in 1980. The number of casualties have been on decline recently, but this attack has now raised new questions:


Maoists have always been anti-development. In the recent past Sukma has seen a huge infrastructure boost. A newly built bridge over Sabari river has reduced the distance between Sukma and the Odisha’s Malkanagiri from 120 kilometres to only 3 kilometre. The attack last month and today’s attack are being seen as Maoists’ “revenge” for this development.

But was there any specific intelligence alert sounded by Central intelligence agencies about a possible Maoist strike given similar strike was carried out last month?  What is going to be our response now? These questions beg to be answered.

The Maoists, who are waging a war against the nation, are terrorists. It is high time the war on Maoists terror reached its logical conclusion. The despicable attack should not go unpunished and the sacrifice of our brave jawans must not go in vain.

₹ 10,000 cr via Digital screens: How Indian Railways is eyeing higher non-fare revenues

Hemant Bijapurkar
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₹ 10,000 cr via Digital screens: How Indian Railways is eyeing higher non-fare revenues

Traditionally, any hike in passenger fare by Indian Railways is termed “anti poor” by most political parties and even commentators, which has often meant that Railways fail to exploit its revenue generation capacity to the full potential. This has led the Railways to think of other ways of earning revenues.

Latest reports indicate that in order to achieve that, Indian Railways is planning on setting up 2 lakh video screens at various places, mainly to be used for advertising. Via this initiative, the organisation plans to generate a revenue of Rs 10,000 crores in the next 10 years.

Via this scheme, major railway stations would have giant digital screens to showcase passenger information, and also show advertisements. This “Rail Display Network” would initially be installed at 400 A category stations and reportedly companies like Microsoft and Reliance have shown an interest in this scheme.

Apart from this, the railway has also planned other assorted schemes to increase its non-fare revenues. In January, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had unveiled the Railway’s non-revenue policy which eyed revenue of Rs 16,500 crores in the next 10 years. In order to achieve the said goals, the Railway had created a non-revenue Directorate in the Railway Board in May 2016.

Some of the measures being planned are:

  • Branding of premium trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi like calling the train something like XYZ Shatabdi if the brand XYZ decides to go on board with this scheme. The clients would reportedly be decided through an auction and the railway is eyeing a revenue of about Rs 1000 crores annually.
  • The Railway has also decided to lease its platforms as wedding venues. Platforms of Surat and Navapur were initially identified as the former’s platform is huge and very few trains pass via the latter making them prospective venues.
  • The Railways is also planning on setting up 2,400 ATMs and plans on offering entertainment services like content on demand.
  • Advertisement on stations, trains, hoardings, land along tracks, offices and other area
  • Commercial utilization of vacant railway land, farming alongside railway tracks
  • Parking of vehicles on railway land apart from stations
  • Operation of Pay and Use toilets in land outside railway stations
  • Tourism

This push by the Railways appears to have started showing initial results. Reports indicated that the share of non-fare revenue rose by 6.17% in 16-17 financial year and stood at Rs 10,181 crores. A rise of 70% as compared to the last fiscal year if one goes by absolute terms.

BJP reminds Kejriwal that State Election Commissioner is a man of his choice

Hemant Bijapurkar
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BJP reminds Kejriwal that State Election Commissioner is a man of his choice

Arvind Kejriwal now a days has picked up a new obsession passion which involves alleging faults in EVM’s which might hinder elections from getting conducted freely and fairly.

He has already spread an outright lie about EVM’s registering wrong votes. He had also claimed that 25% of AAP’s votes during the Punjab polls were shifted to other parties due to faulty EVM’s and had demanded that the Election Commission count the VVPAT slips for the truth to come out. The EC did the same and came to the conclusion that there was no fraud.

Also in the buildup to the MCD elections, Kejriwal had taken an aggressive stance when it comes to EVM’s.

First Kejirwal wanted EVM’s substituted in favour of ballot papers. This request was denied by the State Election Commission in March. The State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava had claimed that for allowing Kejriwal’s request, the rules needed to be amended first which was a time consuming exercise. But Kejriwal then demanded a postponement of polls if needed.

After this episode, on 12th April Kejriwal wrote to S K Srivastava the State Election Commissioner, asking for a withdrawal of all the EVM machines which were brought from Rajasthan alleging that they were tampered. In the letter Kejriwal had expressed his shock over the possible usage of Generation 1 EVMs which he claimed were the most insecure.

After the voting yesterday Kejriwal again pulled up the SEC for a supposed chaos which was unfolding during the voting:


So going by Kejriwal’s behaviour till now, it might be safe to assume that Kejriwal is completely dissatisfied with the SEC and its commissioner’s way of functioning. He had also cast possible aspersions on the organization and its chief when he alleged that they had procured insecure EVM’s. Maybe the State Election Commissioner is a “Modi agent”?

But for many, including those with the BJP, it was shocking to know that Kejriwal had cast aspersions on an organization’s functioning which according to them is being led by Kejriwal’s ‘own man’:


So the SEC is currently being led by a man called, Sanjay Kumar Srivastava who took over as the Commissioner in November 2016. Srivastava a 1980 batch IAS officer was the former Chief Secretary of Delhi.

Incidentally Srivastava took charge as Chief Secretary in January 2014 replacing D M Spolia after he was recommended to this post by Arvind Kejriwal. It was also reported that Kejriwal had sent a letter to the Union Home Ministry requesting for Srivastava’s appointment.

The story does not end here. Not just was Srivastava Kejriwal’s choice, during his tenure as Chief Secretary, he was also allegedly biased against the BJP. According to reports, senior BJP leaders like R P Singh had alleged that Srivastava was working at the behest of AAP leaders.

Singh had claimed that he kept asking Srivastava to spare him some time for a meet, but Srivastava didn’t meet him for as many as 45 days. All this resulted in him and others escalating the matter to the Home Ministry which in August removed Srivastava from the post.

So not just was Srivastava appointed by Kejriwal, according to BJP leaders, he also had a somewhat sympathetic tilt towards the AAP. So if all this is true then why is Kejriwal casting aspersions on the SEC which as reports suggest should be a ‘friendly’ organization. Maybe a statement by the AAP would clear matters.

This is why mobile internet connections are suspended in Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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This is why mobile internet connections are suspended in Kashmir

Remember, the animated outrage by many on the suspension of mobile internet in the trouble-torn Kashmir valley. They argue that such a move is “bad for democracy.” Further, they mock at the Digital India for the suspension of internet services in the valley.

Government has blocked the mobile web access in response to the violent protests in the Kashmir valley. The move was triggered by worries that dangerous rumours could spread with people posting inflammatory messages, which would incite violence and could exacerbate an already volatile situation.

It has been come to the light that as many as 300 WhatsApp groups were being used to mobilise stone-pelter mobs against security forces in Kashmir. And each of these WhatsApp goups had around 250 members.

“We identified the groups and the group administrators, who were called in by police for counselling. We have had a good response to this initiative,” a police official was quoted as saying in while explaining how “determined attempts” were being made to disrupt the operations of the security forces by mobilising stone-pelters.

More than 90 per cent of these WhatsApp groups have been shut down in the past three weeks, the official said adding that the government’s policy of suspending internet services appeared to be showing positive results in curbing stone-pelting.

“With no internet services, the mobilisation of mobs has almost become impossible. Earlier, we would see youth from as far as 10 kilometres from the encounter sites joining the protesters to pelt stones at security forces to disrupt the anti-terror operations. But that could not happen in the absence of internet on mobiles,” the official was quoted as saying.

“With the internet facility withdrawn, the activity on these social networking groups and other micro blogging sites like Facebook has come down drastically,” he added.

Stone-pelting on security forces near the encounter sites in Kashmir has been causing major operational problems for the law enforcing agencies over the past one year.

Ever since the recent bypoll to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, a fresh spurt violence broke out in the valley. There is a palpable tension in the valley with the separatist forces call for a 2016-like protests.

Amid all these a video in which a youth was allegedly tied to an Army jeep as a human shield against stone pelters has recently gone viral on social media.

In the wake of renewed protests in the state, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 24 April. The PDP and the BJP, which are running the coalition government in the troubled state, are not on the same page as far as the issue of dealing with the stone pelters are concerned.

Seventy-six people and two police personnel were killed during the five month-long unrest in the Kashmir valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces in an encounter on 8 July, 2016.

Digvijyay Singh doubts Rahul Gandhi’s decisions? Goa Congress chief’s statement suggests so

OpIndia Staff
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Digvijyay Singh doubts Rahul Gandhi’s decisions? Goa Congress chief’s statement suggests so

Last month, the Goa election results provided a lot of fodder for media nationally. Congress with 17 and just 4 short of majority, failed to form the Government while BJP with just 13, cobbled up the numbers. There were many reasons thrown about by the Congress leaders for this failure. Some said BJP had paid Rs 1000 crores to the smaller parties to gain support. While others within the Congress lashed out at the Congress itself.

Now, after one month has passed, the skeletons are tumbling out of the closet. Before we get into what has happened now, we need to refresh ourselves about the games which were played before the elections.

As we had explained here, the Goa Forward Party (GFP), which has now allied with BJP, was in fact keen on allying with Congress before the elections. Vijai Sardesai, the GFP’s supremo was an ex-congressman who had initially asked for a grand alliance in Goa against the BJP, but he had reportedly demanded far too many seats. This is why Congress did not take his proposals seriously.

This prompted GFP to declare that they would contest only on 4 seats, to prevent any division in non-BJP votes. In response, Digvijay Singh announced that a seat-adjustment formula had been struck between the Congress and GFP, where-in Congress would not field candidates in 3 of the 4 constituencies where GFP had fielded its candidates. These 3 included the prized seat of Fatorda, which Sardesai was contesting from.

That should have been the end of the matter, but on the last day of filing nominations, towards the closure of the process, Fatorda block Congress committee president filed his papers as a Congress candidate, blessed by papers signed by none other than Goa Congress President Luizinho Faleiro.

So there was now a Congress candidate against Sardesai, with whom Digvijay had announced a “seat-sharing” arrangement. In the end, the sham of seat-adjustment was shattered, and the same Digvijay Singh announced that the party would now support other candidates in the remaining 3 seats where they were supposed to back GFP. Sardesai too in the end backed an independent candidate in the constituency of state unit president Faleiro.

From the above, it appeared as if Faleiro had broken the “seat-sharing” alliance with GFP. And just a few days back, the same Digvijay who initially claimed that he had done no wrong in Goa, admitted that breaking the alliance was indeed a mistake:


This could have been an indirect salvo fired at Luizinho Faleiro since he was largely seen as the culprit. In fact even after the results, the only reason why GFP did not ally with Congress was that GFP wanted Faleiro removed as the state chief and as chief ministerial candidate, because he had back-stabbed them.

Now, Faleiro too has broken his silence. In an interview given to a local channel in Goa, Faleiro claimed that he was not to be blamed for the alliance being broken. He clarified that vice president of AICC Rahul Gandhi had ordered to field candidate in Saligao and Fatorda in the last minute.

He said that the Goa Congress had informed Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the Central Election Committee that the Goa Congress had candidates at all 40 seats, and the decision to go for an alliance was left to the central leaders. He further said that he was instructed by Digvijay Singh to have a seat-sharing arrangement in 4 seats, and hence initially, Goa Congress backed off from the four seats. But, he adds, later Rahul Gandhi, the Vice President of AICC spoke to him, and he merely followed his orders and broke the seat-adjustment pact.

He also stated that when the results were out, and the Congress was in pole position to form the Government, the state unit wanted to stake the claim for the Government. But, he claims, Digvijay Singh stopped him from approaching the Governor, in spite of having a letter ready. He said Digvijay Singh felt that the Governor should come to them, and they should not approach the Governor. He stated that Digvijay wanted to wait a bit so that they had 24 MLAs on their side. Faleiro then admitted that the Congress itself had erred in the entire process.

However, Digvijay Singh on his part has always defended his strategy and had earlier blamed ‘own leaders’ for sabotaging alliance with GFP. Most probably he meant the state leaders, but now with state president saying he was merely following Rahul Gandhi’s orders, will Digvijay Singh stick to his guns?

‘Focus on Caste’- Deputy Editor of Huffpost India advises Left Liberals on how to counter Right Wing

OpIndia Staff
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‘Focus on Caste’- Deputy Editor of Huffpost India advises Left Liberals on how to counter Right Wing

May 2014 was the wake-up call for Left Liberals in India. In a polarised election, a controversial state leader who had been branded as “anti-minorities” by the leftists in Indian media, had done the impossible. He had managed to unite a hitherto fragmented Hindu vote to get the largest mandate in recent times, and certainly the largest for a Right of Centre party. Of course, his election rhetoric was also based on issues like corruption, his development record, his will to shake up the system, but one cannot deny the Hindu consolidation.

The key to this unprecedented victory was of course Uttar Pradesh where the BJP swept 71 seats out of a possible 80. This, when the party’s strength in the state assembly was a mere 47 seats out of a possible 400 odd. The reason for the party’s horrible performance in the past was the fact that elections in UP were always fought on caste lines, with SP and BSP at the forefront. In 2014 BJP defied the caste arithmetic, achieved an across the board consolidation and won comfortably.

In Bihar too BJP did reasonable well in 2014, getting 22 out of the 40 seats. Most just 18 months later, BJP was decimated in Bihar in the face of the Mahagathbandhan: BJP on its own could win just 53 seats out of the 240 odd seats up for grabs in the state assembly elections. The combined voteshare of RJD and JDU was too much for the BJP to fight against, but there was one more factor: In the run up to the elections, we saw many instances of fake news being run by the media where Dalits were shown to be victims of upper caste atrocities.

Come 2017, we saw the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. BJP was pitted against a gathbandhan, not a “maha”-gathbandhan and the media had all but given the elections to the SP Congress combine. But this time, the chatter in left liberal media was not about caste, but more about nationalism vs anti-nationalism, ABVP vs Leftists organisations etc. The result was clear, BJP once again waded through the caste chakravyuha with ease. Compared to Bihar, UP did not see a truly formidable Mahagathbandhan, nor did it see any caste-based polarisation.

The second part of the above is key. A few days before the UP results, one person in the left-liberal sphere had identified this weakness. Shivam Vij, formerly associate editor with left leaning site Scroll. in and now Deputy Editor on HuffPost India, wrote a Facebook post coaching left liberals. In the post titled “Change the conversation. Set the agenda”, Vij advised fellow left liberals to avoid getting into the debates set by the right, instead he asked them to do this:

To counter Hindutva, left-liberals need to focus on caste. Nationalism, secularism, Kashmir, Pakistan are only going to help saffron grow bigger. By putting Hindutva on a backfoot, left-liberals would be able to create space to raise all their issues.

Yes, the deputy editor of a mainstream site, which claims to be progressive, wanted his fellow mates to use caste to divide Hindus, and thus thwart the Right Wing surge, which he branded as Hindutva. The same people who curse caste as a regressive and divisive force, felt it fit to advocate caste as a means of achieving petty political gains.

He did not stop at a Facebook post. A few days back during the issue regarding Sonu Nigam’s tweets, Vij wrote a post titled “When Will Indian Liberals Stop Falling Into The Right-Wing Trap?” on Huffington Post itself. He repeated his casteist strategy here, by saying that in response to issues like the one raised by Sonu Nigam, left liberals should talk about caste atrocities.

 

We know that when Hindutva polarised India along Hindu-Muslim, communal-secular lines, what stopped it in its tracks was Mandal. Is caste no longer an issue in India?

Why do liberals see Hindu-Muslim as the only narrative worth fighting for? Hindu-Muslim polarisation seeks to unite Hindus against Muslims. The politics of Mandal served to fragment the Hindutva cause. We have known this since the ’90s, but our liberals never learn.

Great that liberals spoke up for Pehlu Khan, but if only they had raised their hashtags for Jaysukh Madhad, a Dalit who was recently killed in Gujarat for the crime of winning a panchayat election.

Shockingly, this outright sectarian, bigoted and divisive post was shared by some “respected” individuals:


Change the sections of society targeted in this blog. Let someone write about breaking another religious group based on their inherent fissures. And watch how the left-liberals cry in agony over the “Idea of India” breaking apart. In fact, Prime Minister Modi had hinted at this sinister game played by the media, albeit via a joke. He stated that in the current scenario, media brings in the caste angle even in vehicular accidents, even when it is obvious that the person driving the car did not the caste of the victim.

But to be fair to Vij, this idea of using caste fissures is not his own invention. The Pakistani senate, in a policy paper drafted by a 13 man committee, advocated exactly this: India’s own fault-lines in their alienated groups such as Dalits, must be highlighted. And this is not merely a policy document, it appears Pakistan is implementing it too. Only last month, Pakistan declared Dalits as different religion from Hinduism in their census.

In short, people in the media, in the Congress party, from the “civic society”, are endorsing the bigoted, divisive strategies of a columnist, who seems to be parroting the lines of Pakistan! Fears of Pakistan infiltrating Indian discourse may not be far-fetched.

Having said all this, one cannot deny that a section of dalits in India are still facing atrocities. One cannot wish away a social evil. PM Modi himself has spoken on this issue many times. But the difference is that instead of being genuinely concerned about the plight of dalits, left liberals are planning to use dalits as a tool to further their political agenda. Their motive of raising such issues is just one: Break the Hindu vote-bank in order to defeat a political party. A sinister game is at play.

WATCH: AAP leaders give the most amazing reason for exit polls favouring BJP in MCD elections

OpIndia Staff
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WATCH: AAP leaders give the most amazing reason for exit polls favouring BJP in MCD elections

In the run up to the hotly contested MCD elections, AAP and Arvind Kejriwal have tried all sort of stunts to deflect blame, but have been thwarted at every stage. This is not new to Kejriwal who is adept at spreading outright lies for any sort of political gain. But things were taken a bit too far today.

As the voting ended for the MCD elections, exit polls began running on TV channels. The India Today-Axis exit poll predicted that the BJP could win between 202 and 220 seats, with AAP and the Congress securing around 23-35 and 19-31 seats. The CVoter-ABP exit poll gave very similar results, predicting that the BJP was likely to sweep Delhi with 218 seats, with the AAP and the Congress at 24 and 22 seats. The average of two exit polls gave the BJP 216 seats, AAP 25 seats and the Congress 26 seats.

Normally, politicians and political parties who are not given a favourable prediction by exit polls, blame the sample size, the method of collection of data and eventually deflect the issue to the actual counting day since they claim they do not believe in such predictions etc. But being “normal” just doesn’t cut it for AAP.

The first gaffe was made by AAP National Executive Member Preeti Sharma Menon. Menon is best known for her role in shielding and providing moral and legal support to Barun Kashyap, a creative director from Mumbai who had faked a Gau-Rakshak attack.

When the managing editor at ABP News Milind Khandekar tweeted out the exit poll results, Menon responded saying “Jai EVMs”, trying to allude that EVM’s, which are owned and controlled by EC, had somehow played a role in distorting the Exit Poll results, which have absolutely nothing to do with EVMs.


Perhaps Menon does not know that Exit polls are based on surveys conducted with voters and have no relation to EVMs.  The Exit poll results would have been same irrespective of the mode of polling. Unfortunately, Menon does not get election results very well. 

If that was no enough, AAP leader Ashish Khetan made matters worse, that too on national television. Last time he was confronted by journalists, he had threatened a few journalists with dire consequences. Luckily, he was calmer today but the idiocy just would go. In a TV debate about the exit polls results, Khetan said:

A suspicion arises as to why the exit polls are showing such (unfavourable to AAP) results. Is it because the EVM’s were tampered?

A video of the statement is here:

It appears both Menon and Khaitan had been taught the same response by their supremos in AAP. And the one who taught this response had not though it through.  As expected, social media users tore apart AAP for this hilarious excuse. This is what BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had to say:


Other reactions:




God Bless AAP leaders for always providing timely comic relief.

Kalkaji incident: Gau Rakshaks or Maneka Gandhi’s People for Animals NGO?

OpIndia Staff
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Kalkaji incident: Gau Rakshaks or Maneka Gandhi’s People for Animals NGO?

Today, it was reported by many media houses that “Gau Rakshaks” had thrashed three men, who were transporting buffaloes in a truck. The reports were largely based on an ANI report. As per the police, the victims were being treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre.

But there is a doubt about the identity of the attackers. While initial reports as above labelled them as “Gau rakshaks”, later reports suggested otherwise. R Baaniya, the DCP of South East Delhi, said that the victims ended up in a scuffle with members of the People for Animals, an animal rights group.

The report states that at around 11.45 last night, Delhi Police received a PCR call from animal rights activists who complained about cattle being transported illegally. The call was reportedly made from the mobile phone of Gaurav Gupta, an animal activist and office bearer an office bearer of People for Animals (PFA). Union minister Maneka Gandhi chairs the animal rights group.

The occupants of the truck too claimed that they had been roughed up by a group of animal rights activists led by Gupta. A few PFA members were also present at the spot, but they left without lodging a formal complaint.

But, Maneka Gandhi’s office issues a statement denying the involvement of PFA:

PFA has nothing to do with the incident. Three men transporting buffaloes in truck (were) allegedly roughed up by members of an animal rights group in south east Delhi’s Kalkaji. We have no PFA unit in Delhi. We have 10,000 volunteers across the country. Whoever acted did so in his individual capacity.

Contrary to the statement from Gandhi’s office, a look at the Facebook page of the main accused Gaurav Gupta, indicates that he is very much a part of PFA. His past posts also show that he has been involved in many raids involving various animals. Two years ago, a court had also summoned him on charges of extortion.

Further, a look at PFA’s website shows that contrary to Gandhi’s office’s statement, PFA does have a Delhi unit and Gaurav Gupta’s name features prominently:

Adding to the mystery, soon after the above screenshots were taken, the entire website of PFA “https://peopleforanimalsindia.org/”, went offline:

Further, another report claimed that the PFA workers said that they did not beat up the victims. They stated that they had reached the spot after locals had already beaten up the victims. However, they also claim that the first person to stop the truck was a PFA worker by the name Vandana Sharma.

The above version has been repeated by a Mr Rajeev Kaushik, who claims to be an office-bearer of PFA, He said that their society had got a tip-off that the three men were transporting animals for slaughter and they stopped the vehicle. Kaushik said they did not beat the men, but people who had gathered around them did.

Gaurav Gupta, the main person said to be involved in the incident too stuck to this version denying that they had beaten up the men. “We had information regarding inhumane transportation (of the buffaloes) and followed the truck.Then we called the police,” said Gaurav Gupta, who claimed to be a member of PFA.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has registered two FIRs in connection with the incident; one based on the complaint of PFA members alleging animal cruelty and the other against unknown persons for assaulting the three men. The police claimed  that the buffaloes were ‘in bad shape’ and that the victims had faced “superficial” injuries.

Why this Muslim organisation wants Ram Temple be built at Ayodhya

Saswat Panigrahi
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Why this Muslim organisation wants Ram Temple be built at Ayodhya

In  what could be a surprising move for many, a Muslim group called Muslim Karsevak Sangh (MKS) is extending its support for the constriction of Ram Temple at the centuries-old disputed site at Ayodhya.

MKS has been constituted under the patronage of Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organisation. MRM preaches the Sangh’s ideology among the Muslims.

MKS, a one year old organisation, has been formed to mobilise Muslims in favour of the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Azam Khan (not the Samajwadi Party leader you think) is the national president of the organisation.

“Don’t confuse me with another Azam Khan who talks about breaking up the country into pieces. I am here for uniting the country,” said the MKS president.

Khan believes that the disputed structure at Ayodhya was once the site of Ram Temple. “The government can pass a resolution for the construction of the temple. It is a good thing that the Supreme Court has decided to step aside in this matter. Supreme Court cannot decide the fate of a God like Ram”, he said.

On 20 April, Azam Khan along with his group of “kar sevaks” reached at the disputed site in Ayodhya to have a darshan of Ram Lala. They brought a truck load of bricks for the constriction of Ram Temple. They were stopped by the security forces at the entry point of the disputed site.

Emphasising that Lord Ram was from the community of warriors, Khan said, “I am a Pathan. Our ancestors were Kshatriyas. Lord Ram was also a Kshatriya.”

Vociferously backing for the construction of Ram Temple, the MKS president said, “The Muslims must support the demand for construction of grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya to eradicate the feeling of hatred and spread the message of love, harmony and unity.”

“Ram Temple is crucial for a healthy nation building. Construction of Ram Temple is essential for the development of the nation,” Azam Khan said.

The organisation has put up huge billboards in Faizabad and Lucknow backing the construction of Ram Temple.

“Desh ke Musalmaanon ka yahi hai maan, Shri Ram Mandir ka ho wahin Nirman (Muslims of India want Ram Temple be built there),” reads one of the hoardings.

Azam Khan-led organisation has also conducted a signature campaign among Muslims for the construction of Ram Temple.

Muslim Karsevak Sangh is not the only organisation trying to mobilise Muslims for the construction of Ram Temple. Muslim Mahila Foundation (MMF), an organisation of Muslim women, is also trying to create a similar environment on the Ram Temple issue. MMF president Nazneen Ansari, who is credited for translating Hindu texts such as Hanuman Chalisa and Ramcharitmanas into Urdu, said, “There can be no two opinions on the fact that Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram. Hence a Ram Temple should be built in Ayodhya without any further confusion and controversy.”

On the Ram Temple-Babri dispute, Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) advocated an out-of-court settlement.

“Various Muslim organisations are confusing the Muslims. They are trying to make them brush aside the historical facts. MRM will try bring both the parties under one roof,” said Girish Juyal, Convener of MRM.

The Supreme Court, on 21 March, said that the parties involved in Ayodhya tangle must find a solution to the dispute, sort out the issues amicably as it involves sentiments and religion.

A Supreme Court Bench comprising of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said while hearing a petition filed by senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, “These are issues of religion and sentiments. These are issues where all the parties can sit together and arrive at a consensual decision to end the dispute”. Chief Justice JS Khehar further said that if the disputing parties agree, he could assign a judge or he himself could mediate.

Following the Supreme Court’s observation on Ayodhya issue, a meeting was organised in Lucknow on 23 March under the banner of Muslim Karsevak Sangh to garner the support of Muslims for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

In a related development, the Supreme Court, on 19 April, restored conspiracy charges against veteran BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister Uma Bharti and Rajastan Governor Kalyan Singh in the Babri demolition case. On 6 December, 1992, the disputed structure in Ayodhya was pulled down by kar sevaks.

Undoubtedly the Ram mandir-Babri masjid issue is the longest pending case in Indian judiciary. The dispute dates back to the Colonial British era of early 1900s. In independent India, a law suit on the dispute was first filed in 1951.

Historically, the razing of the Ram temple — built in the honour of Lord Ram on Ramkot hill, which happens to be the Janmasthan (birthplace) of the revered Hindu deity — dates back to 1528. Mir Baqi, a general in the army of invader Babar demolished the temple on his order and erected a “mosque” on its ruins. The “mosque” came to be known as “Babri Masjid”. The so-called mosque was originally called Masjid-e-Janmasthan, thus establishing the fact that it was built over the birth place of Lord Ram.

Kejriwal is making waves globally, no its not what you think

OpIndia Staff
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Kejriwal is making waves globally, no its not what you think

After reading the headline some of you might have wondered whether AAP supremo Kejriwal is going international with his politics by possibly contesting the seats in London during UK’s snap general elections on 8th June. It might be a bit plausible considering Kejriwal does have some fascination with that city after he promised to develop Delhi along its lines.

This though isn’t the case and the Kejriwal we are going to talk about predates the existing one by decades and it involves Eggs and not Raita.

We are talking about a dish called Eggs Kejriwal.

In 1960’s Mumbai, a man named Devi Prasad Kejriwal was the member of the Exclusive Willingdon sports club in Mumbai. Devi Prasad was a Marwari businessman who could not eat eggs at home. One fine day he asked the Chef at the club to prepare a dish with fried egg on a toast, topped with cheese and green chilies. He then started doing it with a frequency which ensured that other club members took notice. Soon they stated demanding ”what Kejriwal was eating” and the name morphed to eggs Kejriwal.

For long the dish was prevalent only in small pockets of South Mumbai but in the last five years its popularity exploded. Now it boasts a presence globally with Dishoom in London and Paowalla in New York including it in their menu.

Its meteoric rise is complemented with its high popularity. At Dishoom they apparently sell a hundred of these per day across all branches. The dish has also been sited at menus in San Francisco and Bali.

A story summed up the dish as a reliable cure for a hangover which is solid enough to pass for breakfast but compact enough to morph as an in-between meals snack.

Adding another feather to its cap, the dish was featured among the Top 10 restaurant dishes of New York with the dish available at Paowala described as:

It’s a fried egg on toast under melted Cheddar that stands out from all others because of a throat-catching green chutney that has a glossy underpinning of coconut oil

In the 60’s when Devi Prasad Kejriwal would have first got up to request the in-house Chef at Willingdon to conjure up a dish with he had in mind, he would have hardly imagined that some 50 years later the exact same dish with his name would be a sensation across the ocean.

A nice way to leave behind your legacy. Time for a Raita-e-Kejriwal now?

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