Ahead of Gujarat state assembly elections, a video of Mahudha MLA and Congress leader Indrajit Parmar has gone viral on social media where he is addressing local Muslim residents of his area where he likens them to ‘Allah’. The video was shared Pradipsinh Vaghela, BJP Gujarat General Secretary.
મારી માટે તમે અલ્લાહ સમાન છો, મા-બાપ છો.
આ દવાખાનું પેલી બાજુ (હિંદુ વિસ્તારમાં)જાય તો કોઈ કામનું નથી. એમને દવાખાનાની જરૂર જ નથી! હું મુસ્લિમ સમાજના લીધે ધારાસભ્ય બન્યો છું.
હું બાંહેધરી આપું છું કે હિંદુ વિસ્તારમાં દવાખાનું નઈ જવા દઉ – ઇન્દ્રજીત પરમાર (કોંગ્રેસના ધારાસભ્ય) pic.twitter.com/d7c5aToDwa
In the video, Parmar can be heard speaking in Gujarati where he said, “Many Muslim people, women spread this false rumour that our MLA is not with us. But for me you are like Allah, my parents. If this dispensary goes in that area [Hindu dominated area], then it is of no use. They [Hindus] will go to private hospitals only. Only this Muslim community which goes to ‘Aarogya’. I have become MLA because of you. Muslim community has given me a lot of votes. I am giving you guarantee that I will not let a dispensary come up there.”
However, Parmar has claimed that the video is from 2017 and denied religious discrimination.
This video comes close on heels of another video by Congress leader Chandanji Thakor, who had claimed that only Muslim community can save the country and that only Muslim community can vote Congress to power.
Shameful words!
Fearing defeat, Congress yet again resorts to minority appeasement.
But Congress should know that no one will be able to save Congress Party from defeat! pic.twitter.com/cr6cL4QFYA
Thakor had claimed how not a single political party other than Congress has spoken for Muslim community. He claimed that only Congress listens to Muslim community and provides for them and even protects them.
The Samuel Bankman-Fried and FTX scam saga is anything but a joke, and a cruel one if that. But anyway, I will start with a favourite quote from one of my favourite TV serials – Blackadder. As I mentioned before, it is an endless reservoir of quips, quotes and put-downs suitable for any occasion. In one episode, the dialogue goes like this:
Baldrick: What a man! They say he’s halfway to being the new Robin Hood. Blackadder: Why only halfway? Baldrick: Well, he steals from the rich, but he hasn’t gone around to giving it to the poor yet.
Liberal US media has been portraying Sam Bankman-Fried as a modern-day Robinhood. That did not change much even as his empire collapsed, vaporising billions of dollars, money that belonged to ordinary people albeit with extraordinary greed. He is still a good boy. You will see why. Read on. But what lesson, if any, is there for Indians?
The real danger from the saga that is sweeping through the crypto world is not the financial losses incurred by a few Indians. Given the secretive ways the crypto world operates, we will never know how much Indians lost in that scam.
The REAL danger is that we Indians don’t wake up to the so-called liberal Western media, their agendas, and their powerful propaganda apparatus that can turn charlatans, frauds and scamsters into poor man’s heroes and act as enablers of their loot and destructive agendas. More troubling is that it is an ecosystem that can be easily bought off. Often with your own money paid as taxes. They can, with their money and control over airwaves, create heroes out of zeroes. And destroy not just your wallet but your nation, if only you let them.
In the Indian context, they have always promoted dynastic dacoity and fringe left ideologies packaged as progressive or pro-poor. Just as they packaged Sam Bankman-Fried as a messiah of compassionate capitalism.
If you were to read NYT or WaPO coverage of SBF and his spectacular collapse, you will think some great hero of the masses has slipped on a banana peel thrown by fate and needs our sympathy. It is no different from the fawning coverage that corrupt fascist dynasts attract in Indian mainstream media or for that matter Western liberal media.
In case you are not familiar, it is universally agreed by anyone with any sense and integrity that what SBF was doing was clear fraud and a Ponzi scheme. From day one. Madoff went to prison for it.
Gizmodo features an excellent piece on the fluff journalism of NYT, so I will not repeat its contents, please read it yourself. Just to cite one example, NYT “paint the corporate 3-card-Monte as some kind of innocent investment move gone wrong”. SBF helped himself to customer money, treated it as his own, and moved it to a company owned by himself for speculative investments. Outside of the leftist ecosystem, and NYT’s “fearless independent journalists” that is known as fraud. We Indians have seen that, of course. Just a Google Karvy scam.
WaPo did even better! It painted the SBF collapse as some sort of humanitarian disaster that will set back our efforts to manage future pandemics! That shouldn’t surprise anyone that has seen the “religious scholar” headline on ISIS caliph Al-Baghdadi. The same rag that employs the likes of Rana Ayyub as “journalists”.
Now the logical question is, what buys this servility? The answer is simple. SBF was one of the biggest donors to Democrats and leftist causes. Try to find mention of that in any liberal media article covering the scandal. The omerta is total. In fact, there is near zero coverage of the real victims of the scam – ordinary Americans that blew their savings. Exactly what they should have done and would have done if only SBF was not a leftist. “Joseph (name changed) was dreaming of return from his savings to fund his kid’s college and his first real vacation” with pictures of a dejected victim prominently displayed. You know their tricks.
And now just imagine if SBF had donated Re 1 to the Ram temple or to BJP and see what the coverage will be. The entire blame would be laid at the foot of Hinduism and Brahmanist patriarchy!
Although this article is about him, I would not want to spend too much time on SBF as it is a largely US or Western problem. However, what we should focus on is the power at the disposal of these forces and their ability to influence our decisions through selective omerta and carefully controlled outrage. And their ability to recruit corrupt Indians to do their bidding. All the while maintaining a fake moral façade of fearless independent journalism and speaking truth to power. Or “independent think tank” etc.
We have seen this power exercised to demonise Modi and the BJP and play up “suppression of dissent”. When most “dissenters” have much bigger bank balances, juicy awards, Amnesty gigs, scholarships, frequent flyer miles and 5-start Hotel stay nights than in 2014. We have seen this power used to cover up blatant lying, falsification of documents and emails and deliberate fraud in the name of journalism. “Move on, there is nothing to see here” was their mantra. So that the elite liars could easily throw a low-level underpaid staffer under the bus and walk away clean, ready for more lies.
That is the same powerful ecosystem at work to save SBF and protect the politicians he paid off.
We have far more leftist media portals than we ever had all seemingly flush with funds. All trying to lick the same boots, and pander to the same narratives, employing “journalists” hoping one day to become famous, write for WaPo or BBC and become Harvard Professors. If you recall the classic movie Pakeezah’s last scene, a nameless girl wistfully looks at Meena Kumari joining her husband, with hopes that one day she too will be lucky. Until then it is the low-paid drudgery of singing the praise of shehzade and abusing Hinduism or anyone that speaks for it and retweeting each other’s hit jobs and birthday cakes.
Some are so powerful they have the temerity to ask the PM of Britain to help with pickpocket incidents. In fact, even in the worst of the recession or COVID disaster, anti-Modi or anti-Hindu hate had been a well-paying career. You could snap a picture of a Hindu funeral and sell it for thousands of dollars. But posting their picture is “hate”. NDTV, for example, keeps declaring newer record quarterly profits. Hey! If this is a chilling climate for dissent, I wonder why I am not making a quick buck being a prominent dissenter.
We have seen them turn a megalomaniac, a potty mouth serial liar, phoney as a $3 bill charlatan into an avatar purush on the strength of their donation dollars and biased media coverage. We have seen this power used to pimp costly Western COVID vaccines, use dirty tricks to try to destroy Indian efforts to come out with cheaper alternatives and carry out campaigns to demonise it, spreading FUD when we did. Today their despot handlers are locking cities while we are largely better off. We have seen who gets selected for lucrative ‘fellowships’ from liberal American foundations when there are deserving doctors that gave away their very lives protecting you and me from COVID, not busy giving press interviews and anti-Modi soundbites.
Now the very same forces have set aside $1 billion to promote their brand of politics, money earned from speculation that destroyed people’s lives like SBF did. If you don’t agree ask Dr Mahathir Mohammad, a moderate Islamist and a liberal icon. For what purpose? To destroy our democracy and return us to the days of fascist dynastic dacoity when our wealth ended up in their banks and our dynasts studied and partied in their beautiful cities. Just how many brown-nosed lickers can that $1 billion buy? How many more liar news portals? How many anti-India articles or Op-Eds? How many leftist academicians and intellectuals? Your guess is as good as mine!
If I were to summarise the lessons Indians need to learn from this and other sagas it is this: Whenever you see Western liberal media doing fluff pieces promoting some Indian just assume that he is a fraud out to destroy you, your country or at the very least your wallet. If you have lots of time to kill you can try and check if that initial assumption could be wrong. May there is a small chance it is. For the most part that would be a waste of good time.
Less than 36 hours after it suspended all activities on Twitter, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) News returned to the micro-blogging platform on Sunday (November 20).
In a statement, the American commercial broadcast TV network said, “After pausing for much of the weekend to assess the security concerns, CBS News and Stations is resuming its activity on Twitter as we continue to monitor the situation.”
The U-turn came less than 2 days after CBS News suspended the use of Twitter, citing ‘uncertainty’ around the social media site.
After pausing for much of the weekend to assess the security concerns, CBS News and Stations is resuming its activity on Twitter as we continue to monitor the situation.
Earlier on Friday (November 18), the network’s national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti confirmed the decision during an episode of ‘CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell.’
The segment named ‘Twitter turmoil’ highlighted the mass resignation of Twitter employees after Elon Musk reportedly asked them to commit to an ‘extreme hardcore’ work regime or leave the social media giant.
While speaking about the development, Jonathan Vigliotti said, “Tonight, as questions mount over Twitter’s future, Elon Musk offers little reassurance he has a permanent plan, tweeting, ‘What should Twitter do next?’”
🚨#BREAKING: CBS News and local CBS-owned stations have suspended their use of Twitter. CBS has just confirmed that they are no longer posting updates on Twitter pic.twitter.com/sSxKOS5GKI
The CBS News segment thereafter featured a quote from an ex-Twitter engineer who accused Elon Musk of fostering a “culture of fear and uncertainty, of anxiety.”
And then, Vigliotti announced that CBS News will cease all activities on the social media platform in light of ‘uncertainty’ following the takeover of Elon Musk.
He remarked, “In light of the uncertainty around Twitter, and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News is pausing its activity on the social media site as it continues to monitor the platform.”
The sudden U-turn by CBS News was ridiculed by Twitter users and even Elon Musk. “Our love will never die”, wrote Musk after the American news network decided to resume its activities on the micro-blogging site.
Twitter users could it funny that after declaring to ‘cease all activities on Twitter’ over some alleged moral high ground, CBS News came back to Twitter within 48 hours.
Donald Trump
Elon Musk had reinstated former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account after a dramatic poll saw millions of people vote in favour. However, even after more than a day, Donald Trump has not tweeted anything or acknowledged the reactivation of his account.
Donald Trump was “permanently banned” from Twitter’s earlier leadership following the Jan 6 2021 protests at the US Capitol. Elon Musk had been opposed of bans and ‘muzzling of voices’ over ideology and politics and since he bought the platform, speculations have been rife over whether he will reinstate the handle of the former president.
However, after the dramatic Twitter poll and the reinstation, things so far have been a bit dull because Trump is yet to tweet anything, despite gathering over 87.2 million followers, way ahead of Joe Biden, in a matter of 24 hours.
Musk has been teasing Trump about it in his usual quirky meme style.
Sharing a hilarious meme based on a medieval painting, Elong Musk tried to hint that Trump may be itching to tweet, but he is somehow resisting the temptation, acting all aloof.
On November 20, it came to light that Twitter had killed two of the most used hashtags for child sexual exploitation-related content on the platform. A Human Trafficking Survivor Advocate and critic of child sexual exploitation (CSE) said that Twitter is taking child exploitation seriously. In a tweet, Eliza Bleu said, “Wow! The most popular hashtag used to sell child sexual abuse material on Twitter is almost completely cleaned out.”
Wow! The most popular hashtag used to sell child sexual abuse material on Twitter is almost completely cleaned out.
In a reply to a tweet that suggested Twitter has started addressing the problem of CSE content on the platform, Elon Musk said it is the “priority #1”.
In an exclusive interview with Teslarati, Bleu said under Elon Musk, things are changing, but a lot of work is still to be done. Bleu further pointed out that when Musk took over Twitter, there was already a lawsuit against the social media platform in the matter. She explained how videos of two minors, plaintiffs in the case, were sexually exploited, and their videos were leaked on Twitter. The social media platform refused when the victims approached Twitter and begged to remove the content. The content that the now-adult victims wanted Twitter to remove gained over 1,67,000 views and 2,223 retweets.
Blue has been vocal against the CSE material on Twitter. She noted that until Musk took over, the platform was slower to remove most of the content. Speaking to Teslarati, Bleu said she was happy to see the new changes the platform has been implementing.
In a follow-up tweet, she noted that three of the “biggest hashtags used by child abusers selling child sexual abuse material on Twitter have virtually been eliminated”.
Correction, the THREE biggest hashtags used by child abusers selling child sexual abuse material on Twitter have virtually been eliminated!
Calling it a huge development, Bleu further added, “To those who aren’t aware yet, last week Twitter did add a direct reporting option for child sexual exploitation. (ONLY on tweets with content images/videos) this was not previously available and was a separate form that wasn’t easy to find.”
She shared screenshots of the options added by Twitter to report CSE material directly. OpIndia confirmed that such options are indeed available. Notably, the options mentioned by Bleu only appear for tweets with media in the form of an image or a video. These two specific options, where you can specify the video contained “non-consensual nudity” followed by “Child sexual exploitation” in the next step, make it much easier to report such content. Here is how you can report CSE content on Twitter.
Please note that this process is for tweets that contain images or videos. First of all, click on the three dots in the top right corner of the tweet to open the dropdown menu. In the menu, click on “Report Tweet”.
Click on the three dots in the top right corner and click “Report tweet”. Source: Twitter
In the next step, click on “Start report”.
Click on “Start report”. Source: Twitter
Twitter will ask if you are the victim or someone else or everyone. Choose accordingly and click on “Next”.
Choose the option according to the requirement. Source: Twitter
Now select the option that says “Shown sensitive or disturbing content” and click on “Next”.
Choose “Shown sensitive or disturbing content”. Source: Twitter
In the next step, choose “Child sexual exploitation” and click “Next”.
Choose “Child sexual exploitation”. Source: Twitter
Now confirm that you are reporting ‘child sexual exploitation on Twitter. Click on “Yes, continue”.
Click on “Yes, continue”. Source: Twitter
Now Twitter will reconfirm what you have selected and mention the Twitter handle you are reporting. If you feel there are more such tweets from the specific account, click “Add other Tweets”, or if you want to explain and provide more context to the report, click “Add additional context”. Click on “Submit”.
Add other tweets or additional context if required. Click on “Submit”. Source: Twitter
Now the report has been submitted, and Twitter will review it. Click on “Done”.
Click “Done”. Source: Twitter
Bleu pointed out the need for a separate tab for adults experiencing sexual exploitation. She said, “It needs to be crystal clear for both adults and children experiencing sexual exploitation, and the reporting options need to be separate.”
Hashtags are being removed from the platform
Several hashtags are allegedly used to sell CSE material on social media platforms. In a video shared by Teslarati, two attorneys, Lisa Haba and Peter Gentala, representing the victims in the case against Twitter, explained how such tags were being used.
OpIndia investigated a couple of hashtags known to be used in CSE content. A similar search was carried out by Teslarati as well. It was found that Twitter is removing the majority of the content. However, new accounts and content keep popping up that needs to be dealt with. Some accounts were seen posting requests for such content.
OpIndia also noticed that while some of the content was visible in the “top” tab, other tabs like “photos”, “videos”, and “latest” were either empty or had only a couple of tweets. Some of the hashtags were still in use but seeing the way Twitter is actively removing CSE content, it is very much possible that the engineers at Twitter will find a way to curb the new content effectively. It must be noted that such updates are coming at a time when some “experts” have claimed that in the lack of a moderation team at Twitter, it would be hard for the platform to moderate explicit content.
Most used hashtags for CSE content are now showing zero results. Source: Twitter
Speaking to Teslarati, Bleu said the predators on the social media platform would continue to use a variety of hashtags. However, the same hashtags could also help the authorities to catch criminals. Bleu said, “After years of advocating for the minor survivors of Twitter, I’ve never been as hopeful as I am right now. I don’t expect perfection from a platform. All I’ve ever wanted was to see a sense of urgency around such a serious matter. In many of these cases, this is a matter of life or death for each victim, so every second matters.”
Bleu mentioned in a tweet that curbing content for three prominent hashtags does not mean the fight was over. She said, “Some of the other hashtags (outside of the main three) are still actively engaging in sharing and posting illegal child exploitation. Please be mindful of this. It’s not over yet.”
Update: Some of the other hashtags (outside of the main three) are still actively engaging in sharing and posting illegal child exploitation. Please be mindful of this.
It is notable that since October 2020, Twitter has had a separate section for reporting CSE content on the platform. However, as per experts like Bleu, minimal effort was made by the platform until Musk took over the company. In October 2022, OpIndia detailed how, under ex-Twitter employee Vijaya Gadde, who was removed soon after Musk took over along with other top officials, Twitter had refused to take down child porn content even as the victim begged to remove it. Gadde was head of legal, policy, and trust at Twitter. Her role included handling issues such as harassment, misinformation, and harmful speech. Her failure to address repeated requests to take action against CSE content was heavily criticised by experts, victims and the public in general. Not only Gadde’s department, other teams, including human rights etc., failed to address the issue.
Disclaimer: OpIndia became aware of some of the hashtags used for CSE material through the lawsuit-related document(s). We investigated the hashtags explicitly used for such content. However, we have decided not to publish the hashtags for safety concerns. We are trying to contact Bleu for more information on the matter.
Jewish organisations have said that Qatar has backtracked from promise of offering kosher food to visitors at the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup the Gulf country is hosting. According to The Jerusalem Post, Qatar will not allow any cooked kosher food be sold or offered to visitors. As per the report, Doha had promised to allow Jewish prayer services during the games but has backed out claiming they could not ‘secure’ this type of activity and proceeded to ban it completely.
Citing a representative of Jewish organisation, TJP reported, that they were promised they would be allowed to create their prayer space for those religious Jews who come to watch the games. About 10,000 religious Jews from Israel and around the world are expected to come to Doha during the World Cup. They were informed they would be able to cook kosher meat but are now informed that they will only be allowed cold bagel sandwiches. Kosher foods are food that conform to dietary regulations of the Jewish community. Food that are fit for consumption as per Jewish law are only permissible.
A lot of wealthy American Jews were planning to visit Doha, but now have cancelled as they do not feel secured about kosher food, Shabbat meals and no public prayer services. Jerusalem Post has reached out to Qatari Foreign Ministry for comments but have not heard back from them yet.
Earlier on Sunday, The Jerusalem Post was informed that the Jewish people will be able to buy kosher sandwiches in Qatar. In fact, opening of first ever kosher kitchen in time for the games was also announced recently. The kosher kitchen is under the supervision of Rabbi Mendy Chitrik of Istanbul, chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, and his son Rabbi Eliyahu Chitrik. This kitchen will bake bagels and other ethnically Jewish delicacies. It will sell challah for Shabbat, bagel sandwiches with hummus, vegetables and smoked salmon. However, twarm kosher food will be served to Jewish visitors in Qatar only if they come in large groups.
Fiji, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, is under the spotlight over reports of persecution of the Hindu community. At the epicentre of the controversy is Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the Fijian Minister for Economy, Civil Service and Communications. Hindus in Fiji comprise about 27.9% of the total population and the minority community is faced with increasing cases of inequitable treatment and racial prejudice.
Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum is one of the most important Ministers in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. He is accused of having close ties with the intelligence agency of Pakistan, ISI, and fuelling the ongoing persecution of Hindus.
The allegations stem from his role in onboarding NADRA, the national database registration authority of Pakistan for conducting the 2018 elections in the island nation. This is despite the claim of the agency that it landed the Fiji contract in 2016 via a competitive bidding process.
In 2017, NADRA came under the scanner for tampering with voter registration in its home country of Pakistan. As per a report by ABC News, the agency was accused of ballot stuffing, corruption and giving identity cards to terrorists.
According to Hindu Post, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum used NADRA to allegedly tamper with the 2018 election results and ensure the victory of Frank Bainimarama.
Screengrab of the article by the Hindu Post
“Critics allege that Bainimarama gave Khaiyum a free hand in return for the victory, and Khaiyum turned all his attention against the Hindu population in Fiji. Not only temple attacks became more frequent, but also Hindu intellectuals are regularly picked up by the police and slapped with false cases,” it stated.
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyume has been accused of ‘stuffing’ Pakistani-origin Muslims in key positions of power by flouting rules. One of the controversial appointments has been that of Saud Minam as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Fiji Development Bank (FDB).
Saud Minam, a former Pakistani citizen, was originally eyeing the position of Fiji National Provident Fund. When he was made the CEO of FDB, questions were raised about the manner in which Fijian citizenship was granted to him.
“What a shame…Naturalising someone to become a Fijian citizen after only seven years or so of him being in Fiji. Is this for real? The deception to use their job to gain citizenship in Fiji makes me very very nervous,” legislator Aseri Radrodro pointed out last year.
Screengrab of the news report
Under the ‘supervision’ of Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Muslims have been appointed to crucial positions of power including the Reserve Bank, Broadcasting Commission, Financial Intelligence Unit, Accident and Compensation Commission, Supervisor of Elections, and Permanent Secretary Trade (government).
It must be mentioned that Muslims comprise only 6% of the population and their appointments have been disproportionate to their population. Khaiyum’s aunt, Nur Bano Ali, controls the Fiji Chamber of Commerce and is the Chairperson of Women in Business (Fiji).
She is said to have tremendous influence in the private sector of the country. Fiji also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a ‘bankrupt’ Pakistan, leading to the constitution of the Pakistan Fiji Business Council.
The unceremonious ouster of Hindus from positions of power, change to Fijian Hindi on Radio Mirchi
Mohammed Saneem, who was appointed as the Supervisor of Elections by Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, had allegedly been involved in recalling the High Commissioner-Designate of Fiji to India, Namita Thakar.
He had accused her of being anti-Muslim after Saneem insisted on having non-vegetarian food during Diwali. “…Khatri was supposed to take Saneem out for a meal. But she said since Diwali was near she won’t eat meat but Saneem said he wanted to eat meat,” reportedFijileaks.
“So Khatri’s deputy and Saneem said “Ok we will go and eat meat”. On that Khatri said “Oh you two Muslims, go and eat meat”. Saneem allegedly told Khaiyum that Khatri “is anti-Muslim”; she was later recalled from India,” the news portal added.
Namita Khatri presenting her credentials to President Mukherjee in 2016, image via Digital Photo Library of Rashtrapati Bhavan
Saneem has been accused of facilitating the wrongful termination of ‘devout’ Hindu, Sharvada Sharma as the Solicitor general of Fiji. He had served in that position for 10 years. After a fallout with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, he was unceremoniously ousted by the Fijian Prime Minister.
Reportedly, his termination letter came when he was prepping for Puja on the occasion of Diwali. Although Sharma had challenged the matter before the Court, Khaiyum is accused of compromising the independence of the Judiciary and prolonging the case.
Coupled with the sacking of Hindus from key positions and the growing proximity with Pakistan, Aiyaz is paving the way for the Islamisation of the Christian-majority nation.
His brother, Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, has been accused of severing the Indic roots of Hindu Fijians. Riyaz, who serves as the CEO of Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, even changed the medium of instruction on Radio Mirchi from pure Hindi to an adulterated version called ‘Fiji Hindi’.
Screengrab of the news report
While speaking about the development back then, Hindu politician Mahendra Chaudhry said, “It is not only demeaning, it sounds absolutely ridiculous when one hears Radio Mirchi announcers expressing themselves in this medium.”
“It is a gratuitous insult hurled at the Indians, particularly the followers of the Hindu religion. To dilute one’s language effectively means diluting one’s culture because language is so intrinsically tied up with the practice and preservation of one’s culture and traditions,” he had emphasised.
Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had however defended the move and claimed that it would help preserve ‘Fiji Hindi’ for decades and generations to come.
Systemic attack on the Hindu Indo-Fijian community
According to the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), Indo-Fijians belonging to the Hindu community have been subject to systemic violence since the first military coup in May 1987.
“In the months following the coup, racial tensions escalated and indigenous Fijians attacked Indians in widespread violence. In one bout of violence in May 1987, nearly 200 Indians were injured by a rampaging mob of thousands of coup supporters,” it stated while citing a New York Timesreport.
Another coup, which took place in the same year, witnessed the exodus of 30,000 – 40,000 Indo-Fijians from the island nation. According to HAF, systemic violence had seen a change in demographics with the Indo-Fijian community now accounting for only 37% of the population (from 50% in 1987).
Screengrab of the article by the Hindu American Foundation
The Hindu advocacy group pointed out that the first two coups in Fiji paved the way for a new constitution in 1990. The said constitution reportedly created a race rift, wherein the majority of Parliamentary seats were allocated to indigenous Fijians.
This soon escalated to real-life violence against the Hindu community and arson attacks on temples and sacred shrines in October of 1991. A year after the island nation had its first Hindu PM (Mahendra Chaudhary) in 1999, he was held hostage and toppled from his position of power.
“Subsequently, violence against Indian Hindus increased and threatened their fundamental right to practice their faith,” HAF said. Despite the secular nature of the Constitution adopted by Fiji in 2013, the targeting of Hindus continues unabated.
This includes cases of vandalism and theft at multiple temples across the country. Here is a comprehensive list of such incidents:
June 2016 – Vandalism of Hindu temple in Lautoka, desecration of Hindu symbols and hate graffiti targeting local Indian students.
December 2017 – Vandalism of Tirath Dham temple (Nadi), theft of donation boxes, desecration of Hindu murtis
January 2018 – Vandalism of a temple near Suva.
July 2019 – Theft at Sita Ram Mandir (Calia) and Hindu temple at Malolo
August 2019 – Vandalism of temple doors and windows of Kaliamman Temple in Lautoka.
September 2019 — Theft at a temple in the Suva city of Fiji.
The Hindu American Foundation pointed out that Indo-Fijians still have less land ownership [pdf] compared to indigenous Fijians and the former is dependent on leased lands for farming from the latter.
Besides the threat of Islamisation, Hindus in Fiji also face challenges from the hegemony of the Methodist Church of Fiji and its resolve to make the island nation a ‘Christian State’.
In 2012, the then Fiji Methodist Church’s President Tuikilakila Waqairatu claimed, “Fiji was given to God…When we say that Fiji is a Christian state … we say it was decided by our chiefs who ceded Fiji to Great Britain that Fiji be a Christian country.”
“When it was given to God, it has already established its covenant relationship with God, and that covenant relationship is eternal – it cannot be withdrawn,” he had asserted then
Fijian Prime Minister cries foul
Meanwhile, Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has reacted strongly to the article posted by Hindu Post.
In a video, he said, “The Fiji I lead does not tolerate antagonism against any faith. Christians, Hindus, and Muslims are all loved, accepted and protected in Fiji, that is the character of our country, that is the security provided by our constitution.”
“What is really quite sad is that no other politician has condemned this nonsense for what it is, even though they know it is a lie,” the Fijian Prime Minister dismissed the allegations.
“Ordinary Fijians know exactly who is most responsible for the communal and religious division that nearly tore our country apart in the 1980s and 1990s. These same people want to drag us back to the darkness,” Frank Bainimarama claimed.
The history so far is such that the fight in the Legislative Assembly elections in Gujarat has always been between the two main parties BJP and Congress. This is the first time that a third party as the Aam Aadmi Party is participating in such a significant manner. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM party is also fielding candidates on several seats this time.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), headed by MP Asaduddin Owaisi, has fielded candidates across 14 seats in the assembly elections. Of these, 12 candidates are Muslims. Since two seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes, the party has fielded a Hindu Scheduled Caste candidate there.
All India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen party will contest with 14 candidates in gujarat assembly election 2022. Inshaallah they will win with a good margin.@asadowaisipic.twitter.com/VUyu2KfocJ
AIMIM and MP Asaduddin Owaisi are notorious across the country for their communal politics and controversial statements. We tried to find out the impact of his communal politics on the minds of Muslims in Gujarat by talking to local Muslims in some of the above-mentioned seats.
Owaisi’s meeting has been canceled as the crowd did not gather in Danilimda.
The AIMIM has fielded a woman named Kaushika Parmar for the Danilimda seat, which is considered to be a Muslim majority in Ahmedabad but reserved for scheduled castes (SC). Shailesh Parmar of the Congress has been elected as an MLA for the last four terms. This time too, the Congress has fielded its sitting MLA. AIMIM has fielded Kaushika Parmar as a Hindu Scheduled Caste candidate from the seat.
It is worth mentioning that Shailesh Parmar has got the backing of a Muslim strongman family living inside the Shahalam Darwaza in Danilimda. Therefore, he has been continuously elected by getting Muslim votes. This is the same area where Muslims had fatally attacked security personnel and police in the name of anti-CAA protests and on the charge of which many people were detained including local corporator Shahzad.
Congress has been winning this Muslim-dominated seat for the last 20 years with the support of the Muslim community. This is the first time in the form of AIMIM that a Muslim party is challenging them from here. In this regard, OpIndia went to Danilimda and tried to know the opinion of local Muslims.
On Friday, November 18, our team reached a tea shop called Fakira near Pir Kamal Mosque in Danilimda. There are always 100-150 people sitting here and a large number of them are Muslims.
Near Pir Kamal Mosque, Danilimda
Speaking to OpIndia, a local man named Sohail, who works as an electrician, gave his opinion. He said, “In Danilimda, things happen the way that Shahzad Baba says. Owaisi will not work here.”
Speaking further, Sohail said, “A few days ago, Owaisi had a meeting in Danilimda, but he had to cancel the meeting and leave as there were no people gathered for the meeting. Who will vote for those whose meetings are not attended by people?”
Another person named Farid Mohammad Atari said, “There is talk among Muslims that Owaisi is not the leader of Muslims. He is a BJP-RSS agent. So no Muslim will vote for him.”
Apart from this, our team spoke to many people whose responses were mostly similar to the above-mentioned ones. Also, one thing was prominently noticed. Since this seat was reserved for scheduled castes, here the AIMIM had fielded a Hindu woman. If this seat were non-reserved and there was a Muslim male candidate from AIMIM, perhaps there would have been a difference in the response of the people and the outcome of the election.
A battle of Chhipa vs Chhipa in Jamalpur
Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur seat is also a Muslim-dominated assembly constituency where Imran Khedawala of the Congress is currently an MLA and this time he is also the Congress candidate. Here too, AIMIM has fielded its own candidates. Gujarat AIMIM state president Sabir Kabliwala has been made the candidate of Owaisi’s party here.
Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur seat is dominated by Chhipa Muslims, which is a caste of Muslims. The history so far is such that Chhipa Muslims have given direction to the politics here with their votes. In 2012, Congress fielded another Muslim, Samir Khan Sipai, who was a Pathan, instead of the Chhipa Muslim here. Sabir Kabliwala, who belongs to the Chhipa community, had filed his nomination as an independent candidate here. And the entire Chhipa community came together and gave him over 30,000 votes and as a result the Congress candidate lost to BJP candidate Bhushan Bhatt by just 6000 votes.
The Team of OpIndia reached the famous Lucky Tea Stall in Jamalpur. Here we tried to find out for the local Muslims. In a conversation with OpIndia, Ajaz Akhtar Sheikh, who does a private job, said, “This time there is a battle of Chhipa versus Chhipa in Jamalpur. Imran Khedawala of the Congress and Sabir Kabliwala of the AIMIM both come from the Chhipa community.”
Lucky tea stall in Jamalpur
He further said, “These two leaders have a good influence over their community and it is not possible to know from now on whom the society will vote for them. But one thing is certain whatever votes Kabliwala gets will be in his own name and not in the name of AIMIM. Because in the past, he has got more than 30,000 votes even by contesting independently.”
Another person, who did not wish to be named, said that on the day before polling in every election, fatwas are issued by the Chhipa community as to whom they will vote for. And the candidate named in the fatwa is almost certain to get the votes of the entire community. Now it remains to be seen whom the community supports in this fight between two Chhipas.
A man named Anas Patni told OpIndia, “AIMIM will not do well anywhere in Gujarat. It will only work to break a few votes of Congress. This will only benefit the BJP.” We tried to talk to many other Muslim citizens but most of them were avoiding talking to us and expressing their opinions.
What is the Owaisi effect in Surat?
Apart from Ahmedabad, AIMIM has also fielded candidates for two seats in Surat. These two seats are Surat East and Limbayat. Both these seats have a sizeable Muslim population.
OpIndia had recently reported that Owaisi had faced opposition from Muslims during a public meeting at Surat East seat. When Owaisi came to speak on stage, some Muslim youths protested against Owaisi with slogans of ‘Modi-Modi’ and ‘Wapas Jao, Wapas Jao’.
This is not the first time that Owaisi has been opposed by the Muslim community in Gujarat. Earlier in May, members of the Muslim community had gathered in Limbayat in Surat to protest against the AIMIM leader, who was on an election tour.
During the protest, people called Owaisi an agent of the BJP-RSS. And not only surat but a large section of Muslims across Gujarat believe that Owaisi is working as an agent of the BJP. This was also coming to light in the ground research by Opindia.
AIMIM removes Bapunagar candidate to help Congress
There is talk in the Muslim community that Owaisi is an agent of the BJP and the RSS and his party is the B-team of the BJP. It is also prevalent among Muslims that AIMIM has come to help the BJP by breaking the Congress vote in Gujarat.
On the other hand, the AIMIM candidate from the Bapunagar seat in Ahmedabad, Shahnawaz Pathan, has withdrawn his candidature to help the Congress candidate. Now it will be more difficult for the Muslim community to decide whose B-team Owaisi and AIMIM really are.
Apart from this, the locals do not believe that Owaisi will be able to make any big impact even in the seats where AIMIM has fielded candidates. So now it remains to be seen whether the Muslim community of Gujarat will actually reject Owaisi’s communal politics or follow the ‘Aapna Wala Hai’ rule at the last moment.
The wedding reception of interfaith marriage in Vasai in Maharashtra was rumoured to be cancelled after Suresh Chavhanke, the editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News, shared the wedding invite via his Twitter handle. Now, the parents of the couple in this new interfaith wedding in Vasai confirmed that they limited the ceremony because of the death of a relative.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, the parents of Divya Dudhrejiya informed the Manikpur police station in Vasai about this change in the program. Their daughter Divya and Imran Mukadam married a month before the marriage registrar and planned a reception on November 20. Due to a loss in the family, they decided not to have the reception at Vishwakarma Hall in Anand Nagar. Instead, they held a small ritual with close family members in a temple where they exchanged garlands.
Suresh Chavhanke mentioned in his tweet that Shraddha Walkar was brutally killed by her husband Aftab Amin who also hailed from Vasai. As the wedding reception program in Vasai was cancelled, it was speculated that Suresh Chavhanke’s tweet led to this cancellation.
Suresh Chavhanke shared their wedding reception invitation on 18th November 2022 from his Twitter handle. Chavhanke wrote in his tweet, “Imran and Divya are now going to get married in murderer Aftab’s Vasai. Wedding invitations are public. How is this going to happen in Vasai even after Aftab from the same place committed the heart-rending crime of cutting shraddha into 35 pieces?”
हत्यारे अफताब के वसई में ही अब “ इमरान और दिव्या” का होने जा रहा है निकाह/ विवाह का निमंत्रण सार्वजनिक हैं। उसी ग्राम के “अफताब ने श्रध्दा” के 35 टुकड़े करने के ह्रदय विदारक अपराध के बाद भी यह कैसे होने जा रहा हैं ? #LoveJihad_ActOfTerrorism#LoveJihad#Shraddhapic.twitter.com/8gwmwYVkzm
— Suresh Chavhanke “Sudarshan News” (@SureshChavhanke) November 18, 2022
Over 12000 Twitter users were engaged on this post by Suresh Chavhanke. The post also had a hashtag of love jihad. When the news spread that the wedding reception ceremony is cancelled, at that time, there was a buzz in social media that this has happened because of this tweet by Chavhanke. But on Saturday, 19th November 2022, the parents of the couple made it clear that the wedding reception was converted to a limited program because of the death of a relative.
On Sunday 20th November 2022, the Karnataka police identified the suspect in the Mangaluru blast case. The name of the suspect is Mohammed Shariq and he has been previously arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A blast took place in an autorickshaw in Mangaluru on Saturday, 19th November 2022, in which Shariq has now been identified as the main suspect.
The explosion in the moving autorickshaw in Mangaluru resulted in flames and copious smoke. Burn injuries were suffered by the autorickshaw driver and the passenger who was carrying a pressure cooker with him that exploded. The passenger has now been identified as Mohammed Shariq. He is currently receiving treatment in a local hospital after being injured in the explosion.
It is notable that Mohammed Shariq had earlier been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for graffiti on the walls in Mangaluru. He was granted bail in the case. In addition, the police were searching for him in another terror case as well.
In September, two persons Maaz Muneer Ahmad (22) of Mangaluru and Syed Yasin (21)were arrested for their alleged links to the banned terrorist organisation Islamic State. In the same case, Mohammad Shariq was a suspect and he was on the run from the police.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, two senior officials who are investigating the case said, “The name of the bomber in the Mangaluru blast case is Shariq. He is one of the three men who is wanted for his links to the Islamic State and executed trial bomb blasts on the bank of Tunga River earlier this year.”
The explosive device was inside a pressure cooker
Mohammed Shariq was carrying a pressure cooker, and police found that there was an improvised explosive device (IED) inside the cooker which exploded. He was also carrying a stolen Aadhar card of a 24-year-old Hindu person named Premraj, who is a resident of Hubballi. As per a News18 report, police sources said that the suspect was already on the radar of the police. The suspect was reportedly planning a similar attack two months ago in Shivamogga, however, could not succeed as the plan was busted by the police.
The owner of the house where the suspect rented a room has also confirmed his identity, according to intelligence agencies. M Mohan Kumar, the house owner from Mysuru, stated that the suspect was paying Rs 1,800 per month for a single room. Kumar produced a copy of the rental agreement, which listed the suspect’s name as Premraj, S/o Sri Maruthi, with a Hubballi address.
Explosives, circuit boards, sulphuric acid, other chemicals, small bolts, batteries, mobile displays, wooden powder, aluminum foil, multimeter, wires, mixer jars, pressure cookers and whistles, and other items were discovered in the room by intelligence agencies. A mobile phone, two fake Aadhaar cards, one PAN card, one debit card, an unused SIM card, and a notebook with circuit drawings have also been recovered.
As the probe into the death of Shraddha Walkar continues, surprising evidence emerges revealing that accused Aftab and Shraddha were in a toxic relationship and that the latter was psychologically traumatized by the former. Aftab allegedly assaulted Shraddha Walkar for consuming non-vegetarian food, according to a new disclosure by Shraddha’s neighbour Poonam Bidlan.
“When she came to me, she was very much frightened. She was severely beaten by someone. Then I asked her what happened to her. I could see bruises all over her face. That day they fought over eating non-vegetarian. She told me that she lived in a live-in relationship and her boyfriend had beaten her severely,” the neighbour told reporters.
“She said that whenever her boyfriend got angry, he used to beat her and leave her alone. He used to come back the other day,” she further said. Poonam said that she used to tell Shraddha to not stay with Aftab and instead stay with her. The neighbour said that she also insisted Shraddha make a police complaint.
Poonam said that when Aftab assaulted Shraddha, his parents visited them and spoke to them. According to Poonam Bidlan, the relationship was very abusive as Aftab assaulted Shraddha almost on a regular basis.
OpIndia has reported on WhatsApp talks between Shraddha and her friends from 2020, in which the victim described the event wherein Aftab viciously assaulted her.
Shraddha Walkar murder case
On November 14, the Delhi Police solved the six-month-old murder case of Shraddha Walkar and arrested Aftab Poonawala for murdering her, and then chopping her into 35 small pieces. Aftab executed the murder on May 18 and stored her body parts in the refrigerator. He then disposed of the body pieces in Delhi’s Mehrauli forest during the next 18 days.
The accused was arrested based on the complaint filed by Shraddha’s father on November 10. He stated in the complaint that the accused and the deceased had rented an apartment in Delhi and were staying in an unhealthy live-in relationship. He said that he had always opposed their relationship as Aftab used to physically assault Shraddha.
The girl, a resident of Palghar was adamant about continuing her relationship with accused Aftab and shifted to Delhi with him. Three days after they shifted to Delhi, they engaged in a quarrel and Aftab happened to kill Shraddha. He confessed his crime on November 14 and stated that they used to fight a lot. He said that he murdered Shraddha on May 18 as she was forcing him to get married to her. They also fought over who would manage the domestic household expenses.
The accused has been arrested and a case under IPC section 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed) have been registered. Further investigations into the case are underway.
