Thursday, November 14, 2024
Home Blog Page 6844

Outrage over ‘raincoat’ comment – how Congress is trying to re-write history

Rahul Roushan
-
0
Outrage over ‘raincoat’ comment – how Congress is trying to re-write history

During 2009-2014, Manmohan Singh presided over a regime that saw scams of all hues and proportions. As a Prime Minister, he didn’t act promptly to stop these scams, and in fact is accused of helping in some cases. What we saw under his tenure is described best by a term he himself coined – organised loot and plunder.

While the loot largely happened during the second term, Manmohan Singh undermined the dignity and constitutionality of the office of the Prime Minister for full ten years where the PMO was reduced to executing orders of NAC under Sonia Gandhi – something that is corroborated by the PMO files.

In his first term (2004-2009), his image was largely blemish free. While there were charges of ‘dual centres of power’ over Sonia Gandhi calling the shots, note that it was cleverly called “dual centres”, as if Manmohan Singh had some power too.

Nevertheless, it can be well argued that UPA came back to power to power in 2009 largely due to personal goodwill of Manmohan Singh. He was seen as a bechara (poor helpless guy) who was not allowed to work by the Left parties and who was unfairly targeted as a ‘weak Prime Minister’ by LK Advani.

But by 2014, except for people living in la la land, Manmohan Singh was no longer a bechara but a besharam (shameless person). The erudition and grace were replaced by avarice and shamelessness.

Manmohan Singh had become a person who brazenly clung on to power, god knows why, despite corruption around him and insults heaped on him, such as Rahul Gandhi tearing the ordinance

Manmohan Singh also knew it. He knew he had become butt of ‘robot’ and ‘puppet’ jokes. All his goodwill was gone. And only he was to be blamed for reducing himself to this. If he didn’t respect himself, others won’t.

His only hope was people who write history. He wished that ‘history will be kinder to him’.

When he placed faith in ‘history’, he actually meant ‘historians’. And journalism is often called ‘the first draft of history’.

Those ‘historians’ had become besotted with Arvind Kejriwal, who looked like a Jawaharlal Nehru of Rahul Gandhi’s age to them, during UPA-2. Many are still besotted, and hope Kejriwal and his party will be the Congress that Sonia and Rahul couldn’t give. Punjab election results will decide which way this love will grow.

But whichever way this love blooms, Manmohan Singh hoped to get sympathy for himself from these ‘historians’. From besharam, he wanted to be bechara again. He wanted history to be re-written.

And this re-writing was attempted in 2015 itself, barely a year after the people of the nation handed over the worst ever defeat to Congress. OpIndia.com spotted this re-writing of history pretty early.

Now there is another attempt to show Manmohan Singh as bechara. Prime Minister Modi likened his tenure as someone who took bath while wearing a raincoat – a metaphor for Manmohan Singh having no corruption charges slapped on him despite being in the middle of a deeply corrupt regime.

The Congress is trying to claim that this is deeply insulting to Manmohan Singh. They are trying to paint him a bechara, poor helpless guy insulted by the powerful.

No, they don’t care for the wish of a non-Gandhi Prime Minister. They hope that in the process, the scams will also be forgotten (because they are not yet sure that the historians will be that helpful to re-write scam as ‘service courage ability modesty’).

You know, it’s like when we remember the days when Sachin Tendulkar used to play, we mostly remember about the great innings he played, and not about how many matches we won in those years. Memories of Sachin hitting a boundary are forever, winning percentages are for boring debates.

Same way, Congress hopes that Manmohan Singh becomes a bechara forever, while the scams under him are rendered boring statistics. This is more than zero-loss theory. Nostalgia over numbers.

Which is why they are making this rather innocuous statement by Narendra Modi a big issue and are hoping that ‘historians’ will be with them.

Will it work? It will, if you allow history to be re-written. It will, if you don’t counter and let them have their way. They will shout, play victim, and they will label you a troll. But in this case, become a besharam, not a bechara.

This is the proof that Rajdeep Sardesai had asked tough questions to Akhilesh Yadav

Liberals of Delhi
-
0
This is the proof that Rajdeep Sardesai had asked tough questions to Akhilesh Yadav

This is disgusting to see Sanghis falsely accuse fiercely independent and impartial journalist like Rajdeep Sardesai of being soft on Akhilesh Yadav in a TV interview. This is another example of how Sanghis have become bigger threat to this nation than ISIS.

This is also an example of how Sanghis have low IQ and don’t understand high level questions that was asked by Rajdeep. It is sad that some people have fallen for this propaganda, and this is why it is important to put facts on the table.

Just look at the following questions that are similar to those asked by Rajdeep, which has been wrongly portrayed as soft questions by Sanghis.

Outwardly they may look soft, but the intention – hidden from low IQ Sanghis – is pretty tough. Look at these:

Question asked: Where do you go for a vacation?

Toughness inside: Since law and order situation in UP is pathetic, As the Chief Minister of the state, where do you go for a vacation to get away from all this?

Question asked: Do you like to watch television?

Toughness inside: Since power supply in the state is erratic and power cuts are routine, as the CM of the state, how do you manage to watch your favourite TV shows or sporting events?

Question asked: You are always working. Do you meditate to keep yourself calm?

Toughness inside: Since there have been several communal incidents in the state during the past 5 years, which have kept the administration busy. As the CM of the state, how often do you meditate to keep yourself calm?

Question asked: Do you miss out on long drives?

Toughness inside: Since the roads in the state are in a terrible situation, as the CM of the state, do you miss out on long drives?

Question asked: How much sugar will you take in the tea, sir?

Toughness inside: Since sugarcane farmers in the state are in great distress, as the CM of the state, how much sugar do you take in a cup of tea?

***

So you see people? The questions were soft from outside, but were very tough from inside. You can call it nutcoco* journalism.

*Nutcoco (soft from outside but tough from inside) is opposite of coconut, which is soft from inside but tough from outside.

A summary of what is going on in the AIADMK and Tamil Nadu politics

Hemant Bijapurkar
-
0
A summary of what is going on in the AIADMK and Tamil Nadu politics

Things on political landscape in Tamil Nadu have changed too fast within a few hours starting last evening. The caretaker Chief Minister Panneerselvam and newly elected General Secretary of AIADMK Sasikala are at loggerheads over who controls the party and the post of Chief Minister.

For those who might have missed all the drama, here is a quick summary:

What was the political situation after Jayalalitha’s death?

Until her death, Jayalalithaa was the Tamil Nadu CM and the General Secretary of the AIADMK, the post she had held since 1989. On 5th December 2016, Panneerselvam was sworn in as the CM following Jaya’s death, and speculations raged over who would be made the next party GS. All this while, there were talks about how the real mover and shaker of the party was eventually going to be Sasikala.

What happened to the party General Secretary post?

After weeks of speculations and supposed urging by party cadre, Sasikala was unanimously elected as the party’s General Secretary on 29th December 2016.

What happened afterwards?

With Sasikala becoming General Secretary, it was speculated if she would want to control the party and the government from behind the scenes, or will play the role that Jayalalithaa had played i.e. lead from the front.

It appears that she decided to lead from the front. On Sunday, Panneerselvam resigned from his post citing personal reasons:

This was followed by Sasikala being unanimously elected the leader of the AIADMK legislature party, paving the way for her to become the new Tamil Nadu CM.

So what went wrong?

Panneerselvam shocked everyone last night after claiming that Sasikala had forced him to resign and his actions were not voluntary. He announced this after he had meditated at Jayalalitha’s burial site for about 40 min and claimed that he was told to speak up by the soul of Jayalalitha.

He also said that he came to know that there was a meeting of the MLAs and that he didn’t have prior info. He also said he would take back his resignation if the people and members of his party wished so.

What is the current situation?

Due to this unexpected revolt by Panneerselvam, he has been removed as the party’s treasurer, a post he has held for a decade. Now he has made a sensational claim that he wasn’t allowed to meet Jayalalithaa even once while she was in the hospital. He further proceeded to announce his intention to order a probe commission that would investigate the doubts over Jaya’s health.

Currently most of the MLAs look like standing with Sasikala and the only prominent leaders who arrived at Panneerselvam’s house were former Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan and Solavandan MLA K Manickam. However, on ground, support for Panneerselvam appears growing.

Sasikala has responded to all these charges by Panneerselvam and has called them baseless. She has accused him of betraying the party and Jayalalithaa and working in cahoots with DMK.

Now what is the way forward?

Ball is in Governor’s court. Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao had accepted Panneerselvam’s resignation but asked him to continue as the caretaker CM. However, with Panneerselvam announcing his intention to withdraw his resignation, Governor’s role has become important. Vidyasagar Rao, though, doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to settle matters as he is not in the state currently.

Some of the options in front of the Governor include asking Panneerselvam to go for a floor test, date of which would be crucial as to how much time Panneerselvam has to get MLAs in his support. Or he can simply administer oath to Sasikala as the new CM. However, things could get further complicated if Sasikala takes oath as CM and ends up getting convicted in the disproportionate assets case, which will be heard next week.

Why does Sasikala want to come into the forefront and not enjoy power without responsibility?

It appears that Panneerselvam wasn’t turning out to be the docile yes-man everyone made him out to be. Just 20 days after assuming the post of CM, he was asserting his authority that included blocking appointment of an IAS officer favoured by Sasikala.

Panneerselvam was also gaining popularity due to his humble nature and cooperation with the opposition and the centre. He showed decisiveness when he visited the victims of the Vardah cyclone and got a state law to legalise Jallikattu with the Centre’s help. Most probably Sasikala saw these as signs of him growing as a leader.

After USA, Saudi Arabia too plans to scrutinise Pakistanis before letting them in

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After USA, Saudi Arabia too plans to scrutinise Pakistanis before letting them in

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is worried over large number of Pakistanis living there involved in various crimes including terrorism. They have deported about 39,000 Pakistanis in the last four months for violating rules and criminal behaviour.

Various Pakistanis, including a woman, have been arrested recently for helping the terrorist organisation ISIS. Last year, one Pakistani, who has been living in Saudi Arabia for 12 years with his family, had blown himself up near the US consulate in Jeddah. In another incident, two Pakistanis were arrested while trying to blow up the Al-Jawhara stadium in Jeddah, where a football match between Saudi Arabia and UAE was going on with 60,000 spectators present in the stadium.

Apart from terrorism, hordes of Pakistanis are involved in theft, drug trafficking, forgery, theft, etc. As a result, the Islamic Kingdom is now worried about the kind of Pakistanis entering their country.

According to a report published in the Saudi Gazette, the security committee of the Shura Council – the advisory body that proposes laws to the King and the cabinet – has called for ‘thoroughly scrutinizing the Pakistanis before they are recruited for work in the Kingdom’.

Abdullah Al-Sadoun, chairman of the committee, is quoted as saying that Saudi authorities should coordinate with Pakistani counterparts in getting more information over the Pakistani nationals trying to enter the Kingdom.

This is similar to the arrangement US has worked with Pakistan under President Trump, where Pakistani authorities are required to share all intelligence and required data related to their citizens trying to enter US.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had recently said that if Pakistani authorities were found lacking in sharing required data or intelligence, Pakistan could also be added to the list of countries that face travel ban under Trump administration.

With Saudi Arabia planning a similar vetting of Pakistanis before allowing them inside the Kingdom, Pakistan has gained the distinction of being the country whose citizens have become security threats even to countries that are directly and indirectly held responsible for creating the monster of Islamic terrorism.

Objection, Milord! India should have a Judicial Disclosure Policy

Kausik Gangopadhyay
-
0
Objection, Milord! India should have a Judicial Disclosure Policy

Earllier this week, Compassion Unlimited Plus Action, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) started by an Englishwoman Crystal Rogers, filed a plea against the website IndiaFacts in the Supreme Court for insinuating the bias on account of the faith of a judge in her judgment banning Jallikattu.

The relevant article (read it here) also talks about the potential conflict of interest that another judge may have in accepting a prestigious award from PETA while delivering a verdict favouring the organisation’s petition (for banning Jallikattu).

The move by the NGO can be argued as an attack on free speech, and unfortunately, the court has accepted the plea. It also raises questions over why IndiaFacts in particular was chosen even though comments against the judiciary and protests against the Jallikattu verdict came from various quarters.

However, this article will like to focus on other aspect that needs attention in wake of this controversy.

Regardless of the merit of the above plea by the NGO, this issue, at a minimum, highlights the need for a proper disclosure policy in the judiciary while pronouncing a constitutional judgment. It is true that a judge can always recuse himself/herself if he/she feels any conflict of interest there. However, this may not be enough in the changing times.

As an analogy, I present the case of the economists who disseminate their scholarly research in the most prestigious American Economic Association journals. They have to abide by a disclosure policy that explicitly states:

Each author should disclose any paid or unpaid positions as officer, director, or board member of relevant non-profit organizations or profit-making entities. A “relevant” organization is one whose policy positions, goals, or financial interests relate to the article.

This AEA disclosure policy demonstrates the possible conflict of interest an economist may have, apart from pecuniary benefits, from non-pecuniary motives such as unpaid positions in a non-profit organisation. AEA correctly recognises the potential human frailty for position, prestige and ideology over their professional understanding, and decides to go for transparency through this disclosure policy to prohibit any kind of malpractice.

Checks and balances are required in every profession. A proper account of checks and balances is healthy for the particular profession, for it inculcates a sense of responsibility for the professionals whose sincerity is also reciprocated by the society through offering respect to the profession.

Judges are professionals too who offer their well-thought out opinions regarding ethics. This is why it will definitely serve positively toward augmenting responsibility of the justice profession and respect for the judges if a proper disclosure policy is pursued.

Judges’ opinions encompass multiple dimension of life, much more than their counterparts in any other profession such as that of an economist. By insinuating an economist’s motives one may simply state an opinion; however, a similar insinuation about a judge means a Contempt of court, a punishable offence. Therefore, the judges are the proverbial Caesar’s wife who must be above suspicion.

In India, judgments often deal with religious groups and religious ideas. This disclosure policy, for that very reason, should not be restricted by declaration of pecuniary benefits alone but should also be explicit about declaration of Faith of the judge to which ethics is closely related. Notably the diversity of ethics among different religious groups is well-documented.

While a secular State that abides by a Uniform Civil Code, say France, can forgo this issue of personal faith by banning personal identity from the public sphere; it is considerably different in case of India. We have seen how a Supreme Court judge refused to attend an event due to his religious beliefs.

The Indian constitution recognises multiple dimensions of ethics and allows India people to retain their personal ethics — defined by religion — in civil and personal matters: Hindus, Muslims and Christian have their own separate personal laws. If we acknowledge this diversity of ethics, does it not automatically imply that a judge needs to state his faith before offering her professional opinion regarding practise of other faiths? Transparency is forever the potent solution to possible corruption.

Moreover, with the rise of the public interest litigations, the judiciary is committed to societal growth. “It is evident that some instances require courts to draw a balance between the competing interests of different sections, each of whom may articulate their claims as those grounded in public interest”, says Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, then Chief Justice of India.

The idea of this balance again requires a transparency regarding faith of the judges. For example, if the court is trying to strike a fine balance between the women seeking equality regarding entry to the Sabarimala temple against the traditional Hindus who run the temple or who are ready to wait regarding entry in that temple, it makes sense to upfront state the faith of the judge concerned.

Can we hope for this judicial reform, milord?

The Hindu editor objects to Modi’s ‘earthquake joke’, Twitter shows him mirror

OpIndia Staff
-
0
The Hindu editor objects to Modi’s ‘earthquake joke’, Twitter shows him mirror

A few weeks ago, Rahul Gandhi had said that there will be earthquake in the nation if he spoke. He claimed that he had “proof” of personal corruption charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later, Rahul Gandhi spoke, only to be revealed that the “proof” that he referred to had already been rejected as subpar by the Supreme Court.

This damp squib added to yet another joke to the already vast depository of Rahul Gandhi jokes, where “bhukamp” or “earthquake” became associated with it. So much so that even NDTV journalists had quipped about Rahul Gandhi and earthquake, as is documented in this report.

Replying to the Motion of Thanks to President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, PM Modi started with updating the house that his government was aware of the earthquake that happened last night and was ready to assist state governments if required. This was factual and as per the latest reports, there have been no major damage or any casualties due to the earthquake.

Then he changed the tone and sarcastically referred to the earthquake again. Anyone with average IQ and who has been following Indian politics, would have known that he was referring to Rahul Gandhi. To make the Rahul Gandhi reference much more obvious, he referred to the new definition of “scam” that Rahul Gandhi had given a couple of days back:


//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It was obvious that he was referring to Rahul Gandhi. And it should definitely be obvious to a journalist who tracks politics.

However, this was too much to decipher for Editor of Mumbai edition of The Hindu, who thought that the statement of PM Modi was “unscientific”:


Or maybe he was also sarcastic when he said “rewrite your science textbooks”? No, he clarified that he was “hurt” at this statement of the Prime Minister:


So Mr. Sachin Kalbag, who had earlier mistaken a fake CBSSE website as the official one, is someone who doesn’t approve of making sarcastic or satirical comments amid natural tragedies. That’s bad news for thousands of people, especially those on Twitter, who come out with earthquake jokes seconds after an earthquake is reported.

Except that Mr. Kalbag himself appears to be one of those. This is what he tweeted on a day an earthquake had jolted North India:


So essentially editor of a newspaper, who made a political comment using earthquake on the same day quake had happened, was “hurt” when the Prime Minister did the same, on the following day after assuring all help.

People pointed out to Mr. Kalbag that it was not the only time he had made light comments around earthquakes, which were perhaps not natural tragedies before Modi took over.


Mr. Kalbag can continue defending his double standards and hiding behind “science”, but his tweet only shows that either he is naïve to not get the political humour that PM Modi indulged in or he is deliberately twisting Modi’s statement in literal sense to nitpick.

And talking of earthquakes and nit-picking:

Social media slams Rajdeep Sardesai for his soft-ball interview of the Yadavs

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Social media slams Rajdeep Sardesai for his soft-ball interview of the Yadavs

A few months back, Rajdeep Sardesai, had conducted a completely lame-duck “interview” of Sonia Gandhi. While India Today promoted it as the ‘Biggest interview of the decade’, it turned out to be the ‘fixed interview of the decade’. Questions were asked to Sonia Gandhi about Indira Gandhi and the various aspects of her life which Sonia remembered with surprising clarity. Rajdeep’s tone and body language remained extremely docile, supportive and probably sycophantic. He even repeated his “fought like a tigress” accolade for Sonia, revealing the tone of the interview.

Come 2017 Rajdeep seems to have repeated this feat with another soft-ball interview. This time it was a PR campaign an  interview with the Chief Minister of poll bound Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav. And to make sure he conveyed the family man image to the masses, Sardesai thought it apt to include Yadav’s wife and kids in the interview as well.

Social media though saw through his act and panned him:


//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js


Rajdeep asked some tough questions like: “Do you get to go on family holidays”, “favourite vacation spot”, “what is your favourite animal”. In all of this, Rajdeep missed out on the environment of the interview, which was an indoor sports facility replete with all sorts of sports gear, while the average Uttar Pradesh resident is still fighting for the basics.


Many on social media reminded Rajdeep Sardesai of his previous outbursts when he slammed other such “love-fest” interviews:


Some even pointed out the obvious difference in tone and tenor between Rajdeep’s above “love-fest” and his interview with Smriti Irani:


Perhaps its time for Sardesai to repeat his tweet from July 2014 once again, this time, targeting himself:

Intolerance on display again at JNU, professors stopped from entering offices

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Intolerance on display again at JNU, professors stopped from entering offices

On one hand, leftists are crying hoarse over legal recourse taken by some groups over controversial talk given by JNU professor Nivedita Menon, and on the other hand they are not even allowing a professor to enter his office, let alone delivering a talk.

This intolerance and hooliganism of the left was witnessed this afternoon when some students did not allow professors to enter their offices in School of Languages at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

These leftist students were protesting over UGC rules and over the disappearance of another student called Najeeb Ahmed, who went missing under mysterious circumstances in October last year. Najeeb had got into scuffle with fellow students and allegedly slapped one student for wearing ‘sacred Hindu thread’ before he went missing.

Police has announced reward for people who can come up with information about the case, and last month they had arrested a man named Shameem who had made ransom calls to Najeeb’s family. However, the arrest could not lead to any breakthrough in the case.

It is not yet clear how stopping professors from entering their offices could have helped in finding Najeeb, but that’s what the students belonging to various left organisations decided to do today.

Professor Paranjape at JNU
Professor Paranjape had earlier addressed students in the aftermath of ‘bharat tere tukde honge’ incident. He was subjected to humiliating comments by leftist lout Kanhaiya Kumar after his speech.

Professor Makarand R Paranjape, who has been teaching at the university for 16 years, was one of the professors who had to face the irrational protests. He was not allowed to go into his office.

Prof Paranjape rued that the security on the campus was ineffective. The security staff backed off when he asked them to help him go to the office, the professor revealed on Twitter.

Prof Paranjape told the protesting students that he too wanted Najeeb to be found, but their form of protest was wrong.

“I tried to reason with so many but they refused to enter into a dialogue, resorting to name-calling and slogan-shouting instead,” he said.

He also shared a video on Twitter where he is seen reasoning with the protesting students who claim they were following “social justice ideology”:



Finally the helpless professor had to sit down on ground and touch the feet of the protesting students in order to access his office. He was the only one who could get inside his office.

The incident comes close to the instance where leftist students had forced the university to cancel invite to a speaker whose views they didn’t agree with.

Leftists insist that they are for free speech, diversity of views, and individual liberty. Indeed.

This TV ad explains the importance of ‘appearing’ liberal

Rahul Roushan
-
0
This TV ad explains the importance of ‘appearing’ liberal

This thought had struck me more than a year ago, when I saw this particular television advertisement. Then the ad slowly disappeared from TV screens. However, I saw it again during the recent India-England cricket series. So hitting a mauke pe chauka, I thought to pen my thoughts finally.

First, take a look at the ad:

So a doctor, who worked hard to earn all his degrees and gain knowledge, was not being accorded respect just because his house was not well painted from outside. The doctor never felt the need to get his house painted as such, but nonetheless had to get it painted as he desperately needed to be respected (who does not want to be respected?).

Now forget the brand and the product. But what you just saw perfectly describes why some people have to align themselves with the “left-liberal” camp. It’s that external paint that gives them the respectability that has been elusive for various reasons (many times because they don’t have any degrees but still want the respect).

I don’t want the “liberals” to start targeting the brand as they had done with Paytm after an ad pricked their guilty conscience. So let me clarify that I think the company didn’t at all think this way, but they have explained the power of left-liberals through their ad.

Left-liberalism is that outer paint that makes the truth (the degrees) redundant. The paint becomes the truth.

And those, who insist that the paint is just an outer façade, are accused of belonging to the “post truth” world.

The biggest beneficiary of this paint is the Congress party; this contract of painting the walls was awarded by Indira Gandhi during the 70s, when almost all institutions were stuffed with leftists (and they continue to run them with mafia like control). It made sure that despite numerous irregularities and excesses, the party, and especially the family, continued to be “respectful”.

This paint makes sure that the family is always shining, despite scams (from Jeep scam to Helicopter scam), attacks on civil liberties (from first amendment to forty-second amendment), massacres, and suppression of dissent.

How effective and magical is this paint can be gauged from the fact that Shabnam Hashmi, whose brother Safdar Hashmi – a communist playwright and theatre personality – was killed by Congress backed goons, has been batting for the party religiously. On the other hand, a random goon slaps a filmmaker and everyone in BJP has to resign.

I come from Bihar and have seen how people belonging to the so-called lower castes were not even allowed to vote by the upper castes (well, this is not the worst of the atrocities committed against them). Almost without fail these upper caste goons and their patron leaders were from the Congress party. Yet, there is not a blemish on the Nehru-Gandhi family for fostering and emboldening such casteist and criminal elements.

In fact, look at the magic. Dalits are presented to be the “natural voters” of Congress, and Lalu Yadav – who rose as the voice of the so-called lower castes and who decimated Congress in the state – is today the ally of the party and has got nothing to say against the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Basically, the paint works.

It is not just politics; it works in academics and media too. In fact, it works there as charm.

Arun Shourie – who these days has become fount of truth for the liberals – demonstrated in his book Eminent Historians how people with dubious academic records and practices became “eminent” just because they had this “paint” on them.

The fact that this paint is needed – else a postman will take your name disrespectfully – was demonstrated recently when some leftist rags tried to run down Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, a computer scientist who led Indian efforts to develop indigenous supercomputer, because he has an RSS association (not the right kind of paint).



This will continue till this particular paint has a monopoly in the market. The tragedy is, this monopoly is tough to challenge due to the mafia like control the left-liberals have on institutions. We have seen – from JNU to UC Berkeley – how they don’t cede an inch to dissenting voices. When you are not even allowed in the marketplace, there is no way you can even imagine to change the market.

Till then, your option is to either get your house painted (stop criticising or cracking jokes on the liberal luminaries, regurgitate whatever they say, join their lynch mobs) or get labelled a “troll” and face disparaging comments from the postman.

Robert Vadra’s relative deletes offensive tweet after Smriti Irani shows it on news channel

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Robert Vadra’s relative deletes offensive tweet after Smriti Irani shows it on news channel

A Twitter user named Tehseen Poonawala, who is brother-in-law of Robert Vadra, who in turn is brother-in-law of youth leader and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, was caught in an awkward situation earlier today when one of his offensive and misogynist tweet targeted at Union Minister Smriti Irani was shown on English news channel CNN-News18.

Tehseen and his brother Shehzad Poonawala come on various news channels, introduced as “political analysts” or “activists”, while both of them are vocal supporters of Congress on Twitter. Both of them are often seen taking moral high grounds on various issues, including on topics like online misogyny and harassment of women.

With Tehseen’s offensive tweet aimed at ridiculing Smriti Irani, then the Union HRD Minister, being shown on TV, both of them were left red faced and embarrassed. The tweet was read out by a shocked journalist on CNN-News18 when Smriti Irani asked her to check out the abuse and harassment she had been subjected to:


//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The crassness of the tweet was acknowledged by a few journalists, most of whom otherwise turn a blind eye towards abuses that are sent out by AAP or Congress supporters:


Realizing that the incident could blow up in his face, an embarrassed Tehseen deleted the tweet, but not before its screenshots were taken by many on Twitter. In fact, the same tweet was pointed out by some Twitter users yesterday itself after a TMC MP tried to defame two private citizens over online abuse:


The most ridiculous and laughable defence came from Teheseen’s brother Shehzad who came up with idiotic arguments claiming that the concerned message was never tweeted by Tehseen, thus it was fake. After acting technologically illiterate, or perhaps being one, he was introduced to a thing called Google cache by fellow Twitter users that proved that Tehseen had indeed posted the offensive tweet:


Both the brothers continued making ridiculous claims and were begging “friendly” journalists to help them out of this situation; meanwhile people found out many more examples of misogynistic tweets composed to humiliate and harass Smriti Irani:


These are only a few tweets among many pointed out by Twitter users to prove how Tehseen has been virtually indulged in targeted harassment of the union minister.

It should be noted that while the mainstream media always highlights any stray incidents of any online abuse that appears to come from the so-called “right wing”, they normally ignore the abuses thrown at right-wing or pro-BJP social media users, including at women.

OpIndia.com had published a report earlier too highlighting how Smriti Irani in particular has been a target of such misogynist attacks and harassment. The mainstream media seems to be waking up to the phenomenon now.

But will the mainstream media ever talk about how pro-BJP or right-wing women are subjected to targeted harassment by political class, which calls itself “liberal”? Perhaps that will be too much to expect from a platform dominated by the so-called liberal class.

1...6,8436,8446,845...6,959Page 6,844 of 6,959

Contact: [email protected]

About us

News and opinion website that brings you reports and narrative from a perspective often ignored or suppressed by the mainstream media of India.

Follow us

© OpIndia.com