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Election Commission confirms that EVMs used for demo in MP were not faulty

OpIndia Staff
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Election Commission confirms that EVMs used for demo in MP were not faulty

Election Commission has confirmed what OpIndia.com had been reporting about the alleged tampered EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) that was used during a demonstration in Bhind region of Madhya Pradesh ahead of an assembly bye-poll.

The commission has found that the media reports claiming some fault in the EVM were ‘completely false’. Some reports had claimed that the VVPAT machine attached with the EVM was printing only the lotus symbol (BJP’s election symbol) when different buttons were pressed.

As we had reported initially, such reports were erroneous and the mainstream media deliberately ignored some other local media reports that had confirmed that pressing different buttons on the EVM were printing different symbols through the VVPAT machine.

“The technical examination of the ballot unit and control unit and VVPAT of 31st March demonstration, oral examination of the officials present during the demonstration, data retrieved from the control unit have conclusively established that… on pressing of various buttons on EVM during the demonstration, corresponding symbols were displayed,” the Election Commission said by issuing a statement.

Earlier, the Election Commission had also rubbished media reports that suggested that the EVM used during demonstration in Bhind was earlier used during Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. In reality, only the VVPAT printing machine was used during the UP elections, but the clueless media reported it as EVM.

Although this entire controversy appeared contrived and malicious from the very beginning, the Election Commission had formed a special inquiry team headed by the Chief Electoral Officer of Andhra Pradesh to look into the matter.

“The accuracy of functioning of the EVMs and VVPATs including the said EVM/VVPAT is beyond doubt,” the EC report stated.

Regarding the light-hearted banter by the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Saleena Singh, where she joked about putting journalists in jail, the Election Commission said that senior officers should avoid casual remarks when on duty, and the sanctity of the electoral process should be maintained.

Now it remains to be seen if politicians like Arvind Kejriwal will respect this sanctity and apologise for his nearly crazy outbursts that were based on erroneous reporting by the media, and also if the mainstream media will accept that some in their fraternity are incompetent and apologise for creating this controversy.

Husband gives triple talaq in anger, regrets, but divorce stays unless 80 yrs old wife marries someone else

OpIndia Staff
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Husband gives triple talaq in anger, regrets, but divorce stays unless 80 yrs old wife marries someone else

In a bizarre incident that has come to light now, a man now 90 years old, had pronounced triple talaq on his now 80 years old wife in a fit of rage back in 2013, and ever since then they are living separately even though now the man regrets his act. This incident occurred in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

The man named Habib Shah used to stitch coats for a living. He got paralyzed in 2013, after which his wife started looking after him. One day, possibly because he was frustrated with his illness, he started demanding a coffin cloth for himself. When his wife Ziab-un-Nisa did not oblige to this weird demand, he gave her triple talaq in a fit of rage.

After he realised what he had done, he escalated the matter to the local Mufti. But the solution suggested by the Mufti left them shocked. According to the Mufti, both can live together again like married couple only if they take the route of Nikah Halala, according to which the wife has to marry another man, consummate her marriage with him, and then take talaq from him. Only after this, would she be able to remarry Habib.

All this shocked Ziab-un-Nisa as this is virtually impossible to do at her age, and now she is forced to live separately even though her husband needs her company. She now believes that this practice of triple talaq should be abolished, so that no other woman has to undergo what she had to.

Now Habib lives with his son in a separate house and his wife lives with their younger son in utter poverty. The couple had 11 children out which only 6 are alive.

Habib insists that the divorce was a wrong decision but is not willing to start living with his ex-wife again, regardless of the difficulties he is facing. He claims that traditions should be honoured come what may.

Congress supporters use fake BBC report to claim Rahul Gandhi as world class leader

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Congress supporters use fake BBC report to claim Rahul Gandhi as world class leader

Rahul Gandhi, the 46 years old youth leader of the Congress party, apparently has added another feather to his cap after being voted the 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the world by no other than the BBC.

This alleged news is being shared with huge pomp and show by Congress supporters and those associated with the party:


Their claim is based on this picture below, which is also getting shared on other social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp:

The photoshopped image being circulated on social media to improve the image of Rahul Gandhi.

According to this picture, in a survey done by Win/Gallup International, Rahul Gandhi finished 3rd behind US President Obama and Canadian PM Trudeau. PM Narendra Modi though finished a distant 69th tied with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. As one can clearly make out, this alleged report is dated 11th Jan 2016, hence the reference of Obama as the US President.

If you are wondering as to why did you not hear about this incredible feat by Rahul Gandhi, it is because its fortunately or unfortunately not true. To confirm that, if one Google searches the whole headline, nothing remotely close to the alleged report appears in the results:

As the fake news is from Jan 2016, it is shared periodically by the Congress supporters, this apparently is the latest cycle. Last it was shared by the Congress people in June 2016 – Rahul Gandhi’s birthday month incidentally – so it might have been a birthday gift:


This was also shared on a Facebook page of Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress, which has about 82,000 likes on Facebook.

Whosoever did the photoshop, does have some knowledge about market surveys as Win/Gallup is a legitimate association that carries out market research and polling. Though even on their website, there is no information of such a survey conducted by them where Rahul Gandhi came out with flying colours.

This isn’t the only time propaganda has been peddled in the name of the BBC. Recently we had reported how a news clipping about the Congress being the 4th most corrupt party was doing the rounds. The news called ”Top 10 most corrupt political parties in the world” was actually published by a website called ”BBC news point” which had no relation with the British broadcaster, but it was enough to fool most people. This fake BBC report too is an attempt to fool people, though this time in favour of Congress.

But not all were fooled. People were amused at the efforts of the Congress supporters and reacted accordingly:

Shia families attacked for opposing Triple Talaq and for wearing ‘Hindu-like’ sacred thread on wrists

OpIndia Staff
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Shia families attacked for opposing Triple Talaq and for wearing ‘Hindu-like’ sacred thread on wrists

On Wednesday, the personal law board of the Shia Muslims had passed a resolution calling for a stringent law against the practice of triple talaq and had also issued a fatwa against the act of cow slaughter. Now this move is attracting violent opposition from some groups.

Yesterday some Shia families living in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, who echo similar views on the issue of triple talaq, had to face a violent attack from the members of the Sunni community. Four Shia families living in the Saiyadbada region of Babri mandi, which is inhabited both by Shia and Sunni families, were reportedly attacked on Thursday afternoon.

According to Manjir Haider, one of the Shia members whose house was attacked, he and his community is in favor of the central govt’s stand of opposing the triple talaq. Thanks to their stance on this issue, they were regularly teased and taunted by their neighbours who are Sunni.

Manjir claimed that when his brother-in-law named Anwar Haider went to the Imambara (which is taken care of by the family) on Thursday morning, youths from the Sunni community started taunting and mocking him using PM Modi’s name. They also got into a verbal duel over Shia board’s stance on triple talaq, which soon escalated into a physical fight, thankfully quelled by locals.

Though in the afternoon, some associates of a noted criminal allegedly named Rashid came from Kasim Nagar and attacked the four Shia families. The goon threw stones from rooftops, fired 8-10 rounds and even barged into their homes and started vandalism. They didn’t even spare women and beat up Anwar’s wife and their daughter-in-law Shabnam. This has resulted in many people getting injured.

A heavy police force later arrived at the scene who took control of the situation. Some reports claimed that initially the police even tried to hush the whole matter up, which allowed the criminals to escape. Now the police is carrying out inquiries using a CCTV footage, which has helped them mark a few individuals on bikes for identification.

Police has also recovered cartridge shells from the scene, and has raided some regions but to no avail. Manjir’s version of the events were recorded in late evening at the police station. Manjir used to work as a tailor but has now retired due to old age.

As claimed by Anwar, Rashid had even alleged that Anwar and his family had voted for the BJP and thus they were infidels. Rashid’s associates had also cast aspersions on the competence of the judiciary in delivering a verdict in the triple talaq matter and proclaimed that whatever’s written in Islam is correct. As Anwar protested, the issue got out of hand and the violence ensured.

Triple Talaq isn’t the only issue because of which these Shia families have allegedly irked their Sunni coreligionists. Manjir’s family believe in wearing a sacred thread on their wrist called kalawa. This results in them reportedly getting called Kafirs (non-believers) and they regularly get harassed for their beliefs, the family claims.

This incident in Uttar Pradesh comes close to a similar, but fortunately non-violent, development in Rajasthan, where the spiritual head of the Ajmer Dargah was dubbed a non-muslim and removed from his post after calling for a ban on cow slaughter and urging Muslims to give up beef.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes orders arrest of Ravish Kumar’s brother

OpIndia Staff
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National Commission for Scheduled Castes orders arrest of Ravish Kumar’s brother

Bihar & Jharkhand office of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has issued orders to arrest Brajesh Kumar Pandey – the former Vice President of Bihar Congress and brother of NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar – who has been accused of sexual exploitation by a girl belonging to the Dalit community.

The girl was minor when the crime is alleged to have taken place in Patna. She had accused a businessman named Nikhil Priyadarshi of sexually exploiting and blackmailing her last year in December. She also accused Nikhil of running a sex racket and made Brajesh Kumar a co-accused in the case. She filed yet another case against the two after they made her identity public and started questioning her character and motives. She claimed to have received death threats too after she went public with her charges.

On Wednesday, National Commission for Scheduled Caste wrote a letter to the Inspector General of Police (Weaker Section) CID Bihar, and asked for immediate arrest of Brajesh Kumar and framing charges against him. Brajesh Kumar has been absconding after the victim took his name and accused him of being an accomplice of Nikhil and sexually exploiting her after mixing sedatives in her drink.

Commission found Brajesh prima facie guilty of these charges and has asked police to arrest him within 15 days and submit a report about the same. The commission has also ordered rehabilitation and compensation for the victim, as per latest reports.

As we had reported earlier, this sex racket is believed to be sensitive as it involves high profile people from Bihar politics and administration. The main accused Nikhil himself is son of a former IAS officer while one of the alleged victims who committed suicide was reported to be daughter of a bureaucrat.

Even the current complainant is daughter of a former state minister and Congress leader. Despite being belonging to a high profile family, she claimed that the police was not registering FIRs against the well-connected accused. There have been reports about political pressure in the case, especially about going slow on Brajesh Kumar, because he is brother of an influential journalist (Ravish Kumar of NDTV India).

Nikhil Priyadarshi and his father were finally arrested last month, but Brajesh Kumar is still on the run. Some reports indicate that he is hiding in Delhi. Nikhil is reported to have accepted that he and Brajesh were friends and both of them knew the victim, though he is denying charges of sexual exploitation and running a sex racket.

Nikhil and his father are currently lodged in Patna’s Beur Jail after courts rejected their bail applications on more than one occasion. Now it remains to be seen if police can finally arrest Brajesh Kumar after the National Commission for Scheduled Caste has asked them to do so.

Shiv Sena to launch an Airline to fly people like Ravindra Gaikwad

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Shiv Sena to launch an Airline to fly people like Ravindra Gaikwad

The Shiv Sena has just announced its intention of entering the aviation business by launching its own airline, chiefly to fly Gaikwad and other like minded people.

Ravindra Gaikwad, the Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad, on 23rd March had hit a 60 years old Air India official 25 times using a slipper and later boasted about it to the media. This led to him getting subsequently banned by other airlines. Thanks to the ban, the MP had to travel in a train and by road, until today when the Shiv Sena arranged a private jet for him.

Gaikwad’s reaction when he was told that he would soon fly normally again

This announcement about launching the airline was made by a senior Shiv Sena minister after he inaugurated a slipper manufacturing factory in his constituency.

Sources told OpIndia that even though the main purpose is to ensure Gaikwad and other like minded Shiv Sena politicians fly unhindered, other people would also be allowed.

Unconfirmed sources suggest that people with utter disregard of the law and questionable moral ethics would be the preferred passengers.

We managed to speak with a senior Shiv Sena leader named Uddhav Gaikwad for more clarity of the matter, “We are starting this to end the monopoly of those who think they can define rules for rest of us. We ask everyone to join us in this revolution. Say, if that guy Kanhaiya from JNU wishes to fly, he will be allowed and he will be free to beat up people to get the window seat.”

The airlines will have only aisle and window seats with mannequins seated in the middle seat, which can be slapped and beaten up by the liked-minded passengers.

“Our in-flight entertainment system will have computer games like Mortal Combat and Counter Strike. We would also offer flicks like Rambo, Terminator, Bollywood ones starring Sunny Deol, and TV series like Game of Thrones,” Uddhav  further revealed.

When asked as to would the whole venture be funded by the Shiv Sena from party funds, he answered in negative, explaining, “This is a step to fight monopoly, to seek aazaadi from Air India. This is fight against gundaism, so why should we pay from our pockets? As Arvind Kejriwal had successfully argued, such expenses should be borne by the taxpayers. So we have decided to set aside some amount from the BMC by introducing a new tax.”

(umm.. obviously, this is satire)

How this ‘progressive’ man won hearts after sexually harassing a woman

Nirwa Mehta
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How this ‘progressive’ man won hearts after sexually harassing a woman

You are a pervert who harasses a woman when the relationship goes through a rough phase. You have private pictures of the woman and you threaten her that those pictures will be sent to her conservative parents if the woman doesn’t come back to you. You even threaten the woman with physical violence.

The woman doesn’t come back, because she has now realised that you are a prick. But your male ego can’t take this refusal and insubordination. So you send her pics to the woman’s parents, and now her mother is traumatised. You even try to hurt her professionally, as both of you also worked together.

You are indeed a prick. In fact, you are a criminal, guilty of sexual and mental harassment of at least two women, apart from breach of privacy, voyeurism, and abuse of power. You are a villain.

But what if you are a left-liberal activist fighting for equality and justice, and world peace?

Obviously, it doesn’t matter what you actually do till you claim to fight for such grand causes. Things will be alright. I had read about this phenomenon in this OpIndia.com article earlier, but I witnessed that first hand on Facebook today.

Facebook post about sexual harassment by Kumar Sundaram
The deeds of the harasser

So this guy called Kumar Sundaram was accused of doing what I described above after a woman couldn’t take it anymore and came up with a public post on Facebook.

The guy, a leftist claiming to be an anti-nuclear weapon activist (yes, unlike the right-wingers who want to do everything themselves, the left-wingers choose a focus area) writes on various left-leaning blogs and websites such as Scroll and edits a website called IndiaResists.

First, he refuted all charges, and claimed he was in depression.

Denial of Kumar Sundaram
Strongly refuted all allegations, there was some truth, and people waited…

With the influx of mental health related articles and news these days, you are bound to get an empathetic shoulder to cry. After all, if you are depressed, your crimes like harassment and blackmail are null and void. Because a depressed person can be absolved of such crimes.

umm… but this may not go down well. That’s not how it works.

More people will stand up for the one you harassed, hence the public sentiments are more likely to go against you.

So what do you do now?

You go for the second-best escape route. You write an unconditional apology as your Facebook status.

Admission of crime by Kumar Sundaram
After strongly denying all allegations, the truth comes out.

Because, that’s how it works. And it does work. You will be hailed as a hero who was brave enough to accept he made a ‘mistake’.

Left-liberals, who are the champions of equality and justice and feminism, will hail you are a hero for not only committing the crime but also accepting it. (after all, not everyone can trend how #निर्दोष you are on Twitter every alternate day!)

You will become “brave”:

Liberal reaction to sexual harassment
Kumar Sundaram had just ‘offended’ the woman

There may be some “trolls” asking you to be jailed, but their views doesn’t matter. You will be saluted for your bravery and “integrity”:

Liberal reaction to sexual harassment
Asking for law to step in is ‘baying for blood’ and ideological battles are ‘far more important’ than sexual harassment by colleagues

At some point, someone will also tell you and the one who accused you of harassment and blackmail, not to wash ‘dirty linen in public’ (because till the time the woman didn’t go public, things were just all right, no?) because ‘ghar ki baat ghar mein rahe to hi achchha hai‘.

Liberal reaction to sexual harassment
Not cool of the woman to go public as it hurts the larger cause. Interestingly, linen is wrongly spelled as Lenin.

Entire left is a ghar, you see, unlike the right, which is more like footpath – koi bhi aa jaaye, so jaaye, aur kabhi Kerala se koi communist aa ke gaadi chadha de.

But let’s not talk about crimes here. Let’s be progressive. Let’s forget and forgive.

Why are intellectuals like Ram Guha so lopsided in their views?

Amrit Hallan
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Why are intellectuals like Ram Guha so lopsided in their views?

Yes, the Indian society can be quite racist. Yes, there are fragments of intolerance in the nooks and corners of the country. Yup, how ‘fair’ you are, can decide at many places whether you are going to be liked or not. Yes, among 1.25 billion people there are bigots, fundamentalists, opinionated and criminal-minded people.

There have even been instances of calls to “throw out” Nigerians due to various mistaken perceptions (drugs, crime, ‘unethical’ acts, etc.) that our biased minds eagerly lap up. And yes, just like almost all the places in the world, we have our very own xenophobic streak we don’t seem to be able to get rid of.

But how fair is it to tar the entire population with the same gloomy brush based on a few instances of unfortunate acts of racism often triggered by some local incident gone awry? How fair is it that the issues of racism, homophobia and religious intolerance are raised only selectively to send only a particular section of the population on a guilt trip? Again, yes, there are some cultural problems, but show me one society where such problems don’t exist.

It doesn’t mean these problems shouldn’t be pointed out or they should be brushed under the carpet and we should refuse to acknowledge them. No, these are serious problems in need of serious, prolonged solutions with multiple approaches.

Take for example the recent spate of attacks on African students in Noida. The tension has been brewing for some time. Even in Delhi and other parts of the country there have been attacks on African students, especially from Nigeria, that can be easily defined as hate crimes or racist attacks.

Because of the way our conventional media highlights these news (I’m not saying these crimes should be ignored or the news should be suppressed) understandably there is lots of worry and anger among the African countries from where these students come to get better education, and this is a topic that the writer Ram Guha has covered in his recent article titled ‘The racist in the mirror‘, indicating that as a nation, as a community, we need to look ourselves in the mirror and question our values. He has quoted text from the joint statement issued by senior African diplomats, severely deploring what has recently happened.

The statement rightly says that such incidents have been happening frequently and the problem hasn’t been taken seriously by the law enforcement agencies. The African diplomats, Ram Guha quotes, “unanimously agreed that those accumulated attacks against Africans are xenophobic and racial in nature.”

According to a statement made by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the Parliament, any formal investigation still has to establish that the attacks are actually “xenophobic” and “racial”. But if these attacks are proven to be xenophobic and racial, special punishment should be given to the culprits to send a very strong message not just to the prospective criminals, but also to the countries from where students and professionals come to India.

Oddly, Sushma Swaraj has said that only premeditated crimes can be termed as racial, a statement that seems to have no logic, because even sudden, spontaneous attacks can be racial due to cultural conditioning.

Even last year some African students were attacked in or near Vasant Vihar. And who can forget that midnight raid by Somnath Bharti of AAP during which he made African women nationals pee on the road to check if they were taking drugs?

Here, I’m using the name of Ram Guha as a generalisation of a particular group of authors and intellectuals who find their muse only for certain topics and social, political and religious events, and when something happens that doesn’t carry forward their leftist agenda, they turn a blind eye and don’t find the topic worthy of their eminent attention.

Did anyone belonging to this leftist group of intellectuals and writers write an article or even a blog post shaming entire India while lamenting the attack on those poor African women who were made to publicly pee in the open and humiliated? Why is this “ashamed as a society” guilt reserved only for instances where a particular political point can be scored?

The true benefit of writing and publishing such articles accrues only if the BJP and the rising Hindu consciousness somehow can be blamed for the violence. No article was written on the racial attacks in Delhi because there is no BJP government in Delhi and the public of Delhi had done a holy deed of voting for the AAP.

The instances of intolerance and racism become a serious issue only when somehow the BJP and its associated organizations can be dragged in and blamed for them. Otherwise, it’s not worth the exercise.

The landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and the sudden elevation of Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of the State gives perfect opportunity for raking up issues such as xenophobia, religious intolerance and racism. To make the matter totally clear, Ram Guha writes:

“This societal racism has been intensified by a politically induced xenophobia, which stokes a suspicion, and even hatred, of those whose culture, faith, ways of life, and (not least) skin colour is different from ours. There is a familial resemblance between the demonisation of Muslims and Christians across the country, the harassment of students from the Northeast in Bengaluru and Pune, and the attacks on Africans in Greater Noida.”

If you have been sensitised towards this legerdemain, you will be easily able to understand that the entire article has been written to write this particular portion.

Despite the fact that there is no major religious strife in any of the states where the BJP has formed governments, despite the fact that there is no data to prove any law and order deterioration when the BJP forms governments (and I’m not canvassing for the BJP, I’m just stating the facts), and despite the fact that the BJP mostly implements the laws set up by non-BJP governments (and then they become controversial), people worry about the rising incidence of intolerance only when the BJP is in the picture and only when Hindus can be squarely blamed for what’s happening. Otherwise, let the hell break lose in other parts of the country (say the killing fields of Kerala) and nobody cares.

It’s a very clever play on words. In the article, Ram Guha covers the all of India. He talks about our inherent bias towards colour and skin. He also mentions incidences of intolerance and racism in other non-BJP states. He also brings in Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi to make sure he is not writing a one-sided article. And then BANG! All the minorities are feeling insecure. There is a general air of intolerance. Why? The answer is obvious.

People like Ram Guha will never write articles and give speeches on religious persecution of Hindus in West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (under Samajwadi party) and even as blatant a case as the exodus of Kashmiri pandits. No. You can search for yourself. There’s not a single article by Ram Guha on the plight of Kashmiri pandits.

What about Hindus not being allowed to celebrate their festivals because it offends Muslim sensibilities or those Hindus who happen to be living in Muslim-dominated areas? No, not a single article. What about Hindus in West Bengal having to take permission from the High Court to celebrate Ram Navmi? What about a school teacher being beaten up for singing Vande Mataram? Your guess is as good as mine. And this is just a minuscule representation of all the outrageous things happening in the country and not being taken up by Ram Guha and his buddies.

Due to decades of following just a single agenda, some of these intellectuals are not able to understand that they have totally destroyed their credibility by expressing their outrage selectively. After all you can milk a tactic only to a certain level. The problem is that they don’t even pretend to be unbiased and try to intellectualise their bias with theories like ‘majority communalism is more dangerous than minority communalism’.

The rapid growth of the BJP shows that what these intellectuals want, exactly the opposite is happening. While they try to polarise the country against the BJP, the country is getting polarised in favour of the BJP. Their micromanagement is being beaten by Narendra Modi’s macro-management. While sweeping all the indiscretions of the various minority groups and political entities that benefit from a divided and backward India under the carpet, they blow out of proportion even the small mishaps that have the possibility of having the BJP’s back against a wall. They go on globetrotting missions talking about how minorities are being targeted and the backwards are discriminated against while totally defenestrating objectivity and sense of fairness.

They still think that, or don’t want to accept that the public is well informed these days and even if not well informed, it has access to numerous opinions on the same topic and then consequently, have the ability to formulate their own opinions. They still think that they are the big uncles and aunties of conscience and morality in India, ever ready to preach the unwashed and unreformed masses.

Shia body calls for a ban on Triple Talaq and issues fatwa against Cow Slaughter

OpIndia Staff
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Shia body calls for a ban on Triple Talaq and issues fatwa against Cow Slaughter

The All India Shia Personal Law board (AISPLB) on Wednesday called for a stringent law against the practice of triple talaq, and also issued a fatwa against the practice of cow slaughter. The board in the meeting in Shia PG college in Lucknow also called for an out of court settlement for the Ram Mandir issue.

The fatwa against cow slaughter was issued after consulting with a top Shia cleric from Iraq. The AISPLB had reportedly written to the Shia cleric who asked them not to slaughter cows or eat beef. The main reason being given is to avoid the communal tension, which generally accompanies the issue of cow slaughter.

The Shia law board has in the past also called for the abolition of Triple Talaq and has asked for the adoption of a modern nikahnama.

The stand by the the Shia board on the Ram Mandir issue is along similar lines to what the Supreme Court had suggested, with the CJI offering to act as a mediator between both parties. Spokesperson Maulana Yasoob Abbas said that in the interest of the nation, both the Hindu and Musim groups should sit together and settle the matter through talks.

This isn’t the only instance of prominent Muslims speaking out against the act of cow slaughter and triple talaq. The spiritual head of the Ajmer Darga, Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan had recently supported a ban on cow slaughter and had urged Muslims to give up eating beef in order to respect the sentiments of their Hindu brethren.

He had also pledged that he had his family had taken a pledge to never eat beef for the rest of their lives. This though didn’t go down well with many and he was removed from his post by his own brother who also declared him a non-Muslim for his views.

The outrage that was not – legal sharaab vs illegal kabab

Nupur J Sharma
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The outrage that was not – legal sharaab vs illegal kabab

Uttar Pradesh assembly election of 2017 was one of the most fiercely fought polls after the general elections of 2014, where Media almost acted like a participant rather than a medium of reportage. So the circus that we see today was expected when BJP won, and especially after the party chose Yogi Adityanath to lead the state.

During election campaigns, a poll promise repeatedly emphasized by BJP was that of closure of illegal slaughterhouses. Rightfully so, post victory, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh got right to the task of shutting down illegal slaughterhouses that functioned in the state, which, per an APEDA report, is the highest producer of meat with 19.1% share in the country.

While I watched the media circus unfold, I couldn’t help but notice the kind of canards being spread by the media regarding a legitimate action initiated by the UP government and juxtapose the outrage with that during an actual ban on alcohol imposed by the Bihar government not too long ago.

The variance in protest was staggering. But what was more horrifying, was the utter lack of interest among the ‘intellectual’ class to dig deeper and perhaps debate on facts.

In this article, I have decided to compare the impact and reasons the two decisions taken by two different political dispensations, in two different states. The action against illegal slaughterhouses that per our intellectual class, spells the doom of Uttar Pradesh, and the ban on alcohol, a largely legal and regulated industry, that was termed a revolutionary move.

Legal aspects:

Perhaps the two main laws that one needs to understand with respect to slaughterhouses is, a) Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001 and b) The Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 (pdf). While for the Alcohol ban in Bihar, the Nitish Kumar government enacted the Bihar Excise (amendment) act, 2016.

The laws governing the two decisions, juxtaposed together, point to the glaring mismatch in critique.

Uttar Pradesh:

Laws regulating slaughterhouses have been in existence since time immemorial. it deals with aspects such as the manner in which animals are to be slaughtered, the physical facilities mandatory for slaughterhouses, disposal of waste material etc.

Some of the various provisions in the above laws:

  1. An animal that is pregnant, or has an offspring less than 3 months old cannot be slaughtered.
  2. There needs to be a reception area or resting ground in the slaughter house with adequate food and water for the veterinary doctor to examine the animals.
  3. The blood drain and collection in a slaughter house shall be immediate and proper.
  4. No person who is suffering from any communicable or infectious disease shall be permitted to slaughter an animal.
  5. Each floor drain, including blood drains, shall be equipped with a deep seal trap (P-, U-, or S-shape) (ii) Drainage lines shall be properly vented to the outside air and be equipped with effective rodent screens.
  6. Drainage line from toilet pans and urinals shall not be connected with other drainage lines within the plant and s6l not discharge into a grease catch basin and such lines shall be installed so that if leakage develops, it shall not affect the product or the equipment.
  7. Prohibition of import of cattle, etc., into city without permission.
  8. Butchers and persons who sell flesh of animals to be licensed.

The “ban” on illegal slaughterhouses, as being phrased by the media, is for the entities that don’t adhere to regulatory laws that have been enshrined for the safety of the animals, environment and consumers.

Bihar:

The alcohol ban in Bihar, was the result of an amendment being passed to the Bihar Excise Act. The basic tenet that all laws are based on is the assumption of innocence until proven guilty. The Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016, on the other hand, assumes guilt until proven innocent.

This legal conundrum is proved by the provision that prescribes the arrest of all adult members of the family if alcohol is consumed by one member of the household (holds true even if alcohol is found in the premises). Some of the other provisions are:

  1. The offender, company owner or unit head also to be held accountable for consumption, storage and distribution inside company premises.
  2. District collector can impose a collective fine on a village or town if a group of people is found violating liquor law frequently.
  3. If a person consumed alcohol in a public place, the accused can be thrown in jail for a term not less than 5 years which may extent up to 7 years.

Most offences attract a minimum punishment of 5 years and a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. This “Tughlaqi” law breached all the basic tenets of judicial jurisprudence; from assumption of guilt, to collective punishment, to imposing the alien concept of vicarious liability to shifting the burden of proof to the accused to horrifyingly defying the doctrine of proportionality when it comes to punishment.

Legally, while the closure of illegal slaughterhouses focuses on implementation of well thought out laws, the Bihar alcohol ban focused on introducing a highly draconian law to compensate for the lack of implementation.

Rationale behind the two actions:

Uttar Pradesh:

Slaughterhouses are listed under the “Red category” which means they are among the industries that are considered heavily polluting. in 2015, of the 129 industrial units (deemed very hazardous for the environment) that have not installed anti-pollution devices, 44 units were slaughterhouses (pdf). The impact unregulated slaughterhouses have on the environment are tremendous.

Many slaughterhouses run without Rendering Plants. The generated useless fat, bone and mass is meant to be disposed in the rendering plant. Illegal Slaughterhouses end up dumping it in water bodies thereby contaminating the water bed.

Situation in Meerut was so bad that National Human Rights Commission had to issue notices to the municipal commissioner of Meerut and chairman of the State Pollution Control Board to appear in front of the commission in 2009 for non-compliance of its recommendations on closure of illegal abattoir and about 200 furnaces used for extraction of animal bone fat in the city.

It is said that Meerut will face a severe water crisis by 2030 because of water contamination due to industry effluents and particularly, pollutants generated by slaughterhouses. The hand pumps were drawing unclean and unfit to drink water in 2015 itself.

Another complaint seems to be how some licensed slaughterhouses seem to be getting temporarily shut as well. Just because the slaughterhouse is legal, doesn’t necessarily mean the norms are being followed. There was a slaughterhouse in Ghazipur that was electrocuting animals before slaughter (I would suggest viewer discretion since the video embedded can be disturbing).

In this scenario, the arguments against closure of illegal slaughterhouses sounds shallow and unintelligent.

Without going into religious arguments of the sacredness of Cows, the practical aspects of cow slaughter also need to be discussed.

“Cows provide approx 100 million tonnes of dry dung a year costing Rs 5000 crores which saves 50 million tonnes of firewood. It is calculated that if these 73 million animals were to be replaced, we would need 7.3 million tractors at the cost of 2.5 lakh each which would amount to an investment of 180,000 crores. In addition 2 crore, 37 lakh and 50 thousand tonnes of diesel which would mean another 57,000 crore rupees. This is how much we owe these animals, and this is what we stand to lose by killing them.”

These statistics were given by Mrs. Maneka Gandhi in 2012. I would conclude that the greatest disservice to the environment and to the cows themselves has been them being considered sacred by Hindus. Were they not revered, perhaps the intelligentsia would be more receptive to dangers of indigenous cow breeds being slaughtered.

Bihar:

The reasons cited for the Bihar alcohol ban were flimsy and didn’t hold ground. They justified their draconian law by saying that an alcohol ban would reduce crimes and also provided some wishy washy moral argument for this move. While the results were far from expectations.

Post alcohol ban, cognizable crime – which the police can investigate without a magistrate’s order – rose 13% between April and October 2016, from 14,279 in April to 16,153 in October. The complete analysis of Bihar Police Crime Records can be read here.

Essentially, there were compelling reasons to stop illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh while no such pressing reason was apparent to shut down legal alcohol business in Bihar.

Impact of the decisions:

Uttar Pradesh:

The self-proclaimed intelligentsia and guardians of “liberal” values claim that this crackdown against illegal slaughterhouses is against the Muslims. Now I won’t assume to analyse why these people insist on seeing everything through communal prism, but their argument is as factually incorrect as is myopic.

According to an office-bearer of the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters’ Association, “Except butchers, who are specialised in ‘halal’ (Islamic) slaughter, the rest of the workers in almost all abbattoirs are Hindus.”

So if the the AIMLE officials claim that a vast amount of workforce in slaughterhouses are in fact Hindus, the argument of it being “Anti-Muslim” fails to prove its worth.

Another critique of the crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses is how it would affect the employment in the state. Yes, I do concede employment would take a hit for the ones employed in illegal slaughterhouses. But, citizenry can’t possibly expect the state to not follow the law because it will cause an inconvenience to the ones indulging in illegal activity. The liberal argument unfortunately defies basic principles of common sense.

Bihar:

The staggering hypocrisy is also evident from the fact, that these very people failed to see the job losses when Nitish Kumar banned a largely legal and licensed trade and imposed a draconian law because of which over 44,000 people currently languish in Bihar jails.

The situation of citizens being incarcerated is so appalling, that the Bihar government was contemplating increasing space in their jails to accommodate the recent arrests. The alcohol ban has cost the state of Bihar 5500 crore and has rendered at least 35000 people jobless.

Nitish Kumar had once wooed Carlsberg to set up plants in Bihar convincing them to set up a $25 million plant near Patna. Bihar had almost become a hub for the brewery industry and post the alcohol ban, most companies like Carlsberg, Cobra, Diageo Plc, United Breweries and Molson Coors are mulling exit as their licenses may not be renewed.

Strangely, people talked more about revenue losses in Uttar Pradesh (where revenues were actually denied due to illegal business) while not caring about losses in revenues that was being earned through taxation of a legal business in Bihar.

It is indeed tragic that not only our political dispensation, but even the opinion makers of this country choose to support banning a largely legal industry but oppose action taken against illegal businesses of an industry classified under the red category.

These are the very people who talk of animal rights, the rights of citizens to live in a clean unadulterated environment and lament the rise of lawlessness in the country. Nothing but an inherent bias against a man in saffron explains this inconsistency.

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