On October 4, two persons were found offering namaz at the Panchkula Bus Stand. Shlok Aggarwal, a resident of Panchkula, Haryana, shared a tweet on social media where he raised objection against the practice of using government property for religious activities. He wrote, “Today, two persons of the Muslim community were offering Namaz at Panchkula Bus Stand. What will be the justification of government property if government property starts being used as a religious place like this?” He also urged the Commissioner of Police, Panchkula, to take action against such activities.
आज पंचकूला बस स्टैंड पर मुस्लिम समुदाय के दो व्यक्ति नमाज अदा कर रहे थे। अगर सरकारी संपत्ति को इस तरह धार्मिक स्थल के रूप में प्रयोग किया जाने लगा तो, सरकारी संपत्ति का क्या औचित्य रहेगा। @CP_PANCHKULA इस पर संज्ञान लें। pic.twitter.com/BXZkfsfuop
Speaking to OpIndia, Aggarwal said, “I was with my friend Jayant Sharma at the Panchkula Bus Stand when we noticed these two people were offering namaz right inside the premises. When we objected and asked them not to do so, they refused to adhere and completed their prayers. Meanwhile, we approached the Police Beat Box located inside the Bus Stand and urged the Police personnel present to take action against them. However, they said there was no rule against it.”
Jayant Sharma said, “What if Hindus start using public places and government properties for offering prayers like this? Won’t they stop us? Such practices must be stopped. We are law-abiding citizens. There are places of worship where they can offer namaz.”
It is noteworthy that Maheshpur Jama Masjid is a just little over two kilometres away from the Panchkula Bus Stand.
Map of Bus Stand to Jama Masjid. Source: Google Maps
Namaz in public places
This is not the first time the issue of offering namaz in public places has become an issue. In recent times, the issue became a reason for communal tension between Hindus and Muslims in Gurugram, where Muslims in large numbers would travel to public places to offer namaz. The matter resulted in clashes between the two communities, and the authorities had to revoke permissions to offer namaz in public places.
Ahead of tomorrow’s significant announcement by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on the formation of a national party, TRS leader Rajanala Srihari was seen giving out liquor bottles and chicken to Warangal residents.
The general body meeting of the TRS will take place at Telangana Bhavan on Dussehra, October 5, according to a formal announcement made on Monday by K Chandrashekar Rao’s office. Although the agenda was not mentioned in the press release, it is anticipated that the TRS president would discuss it with his party’s grassroots members and disclose more information about how he approaches national politics.
#WATCH | TRS leader Rajanala Srihari distributes liquor bottles and chicken to locals ahead of Telangana CM KC Rao launching a national party tomorrow, in Warangal pic.twitter.com/4tfUsPgfNU
The statement reads, “The Chief Minister reiterated that, as announced earlier, the party general meeting will be held at 11 AM on 5 October in Telangana Bhavan. Leaders are requested to attend the meeting within the specified time.”
According to insiders, The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) may change its name since the plan’s specifics are still being worked out. It’s possible that the revived organisation won’t immediately be accepted as a national party. The party will discuss the welfare programmes currently in place in Telangana, such as the “Rythu Bandhu” investment support programme for farmers and the “Dalit Bandhu” scheme, a Rs 10 lakh grant to every Dalit household to start any business or trade.
The next Lok Sabha elections are scheduled for the first half of 2024. Home Minister Amit Shah has already hinted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain the PM candidate for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the situation is tense on the other side. There are a number of leaders among the opposition parties who want to break the shackles of state politics and want to enter national politics, including Nitish Kumar, KCR, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal.
We do not accept you as the daughter-in-law of the house. We will not consider you the daughter-in-law of our house until you convert to Christianity.
This is the story of Abha Mirae, a victim of forced conversion. Abha now resides in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Ashish Patre, a Bilaspur resident, approached her masquerading as a Hindu. According to Hindu customs, they married in a temple. Ashish Patre later revealed his true identity after the marriage and began pressurising Abha to convert to Christianity. He married her again in a church. This, however, was not the end of the atrocities and sufferings Abha endured.
Abha is currently residing in her father’s home with her 10-month-old daughter. She is struggling in the hope that the law will one day provide her justice. However, the Chhattisgarh Police Department has removed the sections of forced conversion and torture from the complaint she lodged against Ashish Patre and his family and converted it to a mere dowry case. According to Abha, no action has been taken against the accused in this case either.
Abha came in contact with Ashish Patre through Facebook
“Ashish approached me over Facebook,” Abha told OpIndia, “I’m a Hindu, he also identified as a Hindu. On February 13, 2019, we married according to Hindu traditions at the Arya Samaj Mandir in Baijnathpara, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Following my marriage, I moved in with my in-laws. There, I learned that my in-laws had become Christians. They started torturing me as well to get me to accept Christianity.”
Notably, OpIndia has videos, photos, and documents related to the couple’s first marriage, which took place according to Hindu customs in Raipur’s Arya Samaj Mandir, and their second marriage, which took place in a church.
Photo and document related to the couple’s first marriage which took place according to Hindu customs in Raipur’s Arya Samaj Mandir
Abha was coerced into converting to Christianity and compelled to remarry Ashish in the church as per Christian traditions. Her in-laws, however, continued to harass her despite this. “After I converted, I was tortured and made to go to church,” Abha told OpIndia. I was abused and compelled to approach my parents for money. Demand for Rs 8 lakh was placed before them. All of this happened to me because I am a Hindu,” the despondent victim of forced conversion claimed.
On December 22, 2021, Abha filed an application with the IG and Civil Lines police station in Bilaspur, detailing her ordeal. According to her petition, a week after her wedding at Arya Samaj Mandir on February 26, 2019, her mother-in-law Vimla Patre told her, “We do not see you as the house’s daughter-in-law. We will not consider you the house’s daughter-in-law unless you accept Christianity.”
Following this, her father-in-law, Lakshman Das Patre, mother-in-law, husband, and sisters-in-law began pressurising her to convert, according to Abha. She was assaulted and abused by her husband and his family members, she recalled.
On March 23, 2019, she was forcibly taken to a place called Nipaniya. Nipaniya is a village in Bhatapara Tehsil in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. There, she was held hostage in the home of a pastor named Sunil David for three days. While she was held in captivity, the pastor forcefully took her to a church named God’s Forgiveness Church in the village and converted her to Christianity. After this, on 15 May 2019, she was remarried to Ashish at the IPC Church in Om Nagar in Jarahbhata, Bilaspur.
Abha remarried Ashish in a church after being forcefully converted
The torture continued even after forced conversion to Christianity
When the abuse continued even after all this, Abha returned to her mother’s house in 2020. Ashish, however, paid her a visit in January 2021 and emotionally blackmailed her. He apologised for everything she had to endure in his house and offered to take her home as quickly as possible. Abha walked directly into his trap. He persuaded her to have a physical relationship with him. Then in March 2021, when Ashish learned that Abha was pregnant, he again abandoned her. Here Abha recounted what Ashish told her when he learned about her pregnancy, “I am not the father of your child. I have already left you.”
Abha further told OpIndia that Ashish was in relationships with multiple girls. She further recalled how on June 11, 2021, she filed a complaint against Ashish in the Mahila Thana, but only a dowry case was registered by the police.
Opindia has copies of all complaints and FIRs submitted by Abha to police officials.
She told OpIndia, “I want to share my experience with the world so that Hindu girls can be cautious. I want to warn them about the dangers they may be in for as well as the level of deception being devised to exploit vulnerable Hindu girls. Despite my education, I fell prey to this conspiracy.”
Over the years, India has seen an increase in incidences of forced conversions through marriages, in which men from other religions conceal their true identity and target vulnerable Hindu women. They then lure and brainwash them before forcibly converting them, torturing and raping them before killing or abandoning them. Christians in Chhattisgarh have recently adopted the same strategy, except that it is arguably easier for them because most of their names are similar to those of Hindus in the area.
Abha stated that she considers herself fortunate because her parents did not abandon her even during the most difficult times, but we all know that there are many Abhas out there who are still not heard. Their stories invariably end in death or abandonment. Abha wished her voice could reach such susceptible and vulnerable Hindu women.
Note: The above report was originally published in Hindi. You can read it here.
On October 4, the Election Commission of India (ECI) came down heavily on political parties over freebie culture. In a letter written to the officials of political parties, ECI not only criticised the political parties for offering freebies without explanation over how they would fulfil them but also proposed a proforma to fill where the parties have been asked to explain the roadmap which they would use to raise funds for the freebies offered in the manifesto.
Termed as ‘standardised disclosure proforma’, it contains sections that political parties will have to fill to explain the financial implications of the promises made and provide possible ways to fulfil them. The ECI has asked the political parties and candidates to reply with their views by October 19. In case no reply is received, ECI will assume that the parties or candidates do not have anything specific to say on the proposed amendments in the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
In its letter, ECI said that it is the right of eligible voters to exercise their vote with ease and have authentic and adequate information at each electoral stage. ECI said, “The choice to cast the vote, i.e. the most precious gift of democracy is directly and intricately linked to access to timely and reliable information. It is in this background that timely availability of data points to assess the financial viability of the promises made to voters in the election manifestos assumes criticality.”
Furthermore, ECI said that though it recognises the right of the political parties to make promises in the manifesto, “it cannot overlook the undesirable impact of some of the promises and offers on the conduct of free and fair elections and maintaining a level playing field for all political parties and candidates”.
Based on the directions given by the Supreme Court in the Subramaniam Balaji Case and Article 324 of the Constitution that mandates the Election Commission to conduct elections inter alia to the Parliament and the State Legislatures, the ECI has issued guidelines via amendment in MCC in 2015. for the Political Parties and Candidates to adhere while releasing the election manifesto. These guidelines talk about the promises that political parties make in their manifesto.
Notably, the guidelines direct the political parties and candidates to “avoid making those promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise.” Further, it also directed the parties and candidates to “reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it.”
Excerpt from the ECI’s letter
However, despite these guidelines in place, ECI found that the declarations made by the political parties and candidates do not provide adequate information to the voters. The ECI said, “The Commission notes that the consequences of inadequate disclosures by political parties get attenuated by the fact that elections are held frequently, providing opportunities for political parties to indulge in competitive electoral promises, particularly in multi-phase elections, without having to spell out their financial implications more particularly on committed expenditure. These declarations are also not submitted by most of the political parties in time.”
The ECI further proposed that the parties should disclose the financial implications of the promises in terms of the “financial resources required and the ways of financing them on the one hand and the effect thereof on the fiscal sustainability of the State’s or the Central Government’s finances, as the case may be”. The ECI added, “Given that the major objective of the disclosures is to facilitate informed choices, greater importance has been given to simplicity.”
Proposed proforma’s Part A.
The commission proposed to prescribe a proforma for the recognised National and State Political Parties to provide details of the financial implications of promises made in the election manifesto and the ways and means to finance them. ECI said, “To make the disclosures more meaningful, the proforma provides for certain fiscal information being prefilled by the respective State/Central Government.”
Proposed proforma’s Part B.
SBI warned against freebies
In a recent report, the State Bank of India warned against the increasing trends of offering freebies during elections. In the report penned by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, the group chief economic advisor for the State Bank of India, three poor states were cited as examples that were Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, in terms of pension liabilities that tune to three lakh crores. The report suggested that the pension liabilities of these states were quite high at 217, 190 and 207 per cent, respectively.
Coming to the loans raised by state-owned entities and guaranteed by the states, the report noted that based on the latest information, the off-budget borrowing of the states had reached 4.5% of the GDP. It further noted that the extent of freebies or welfare schemes had achieved a major portion of GDP in many states.
As per the report, financial assistance or cash transfers, utility subsidies, loan or fee waivers and interest-free loans announced by the states in their latest budgets, the estimated expenditure on freebies range from 0.1 per cent to 2.7 per cent of GSDP of several states. In the case of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, which are under high dept, the freebies have exceeded over 2 per cent of the GSDP.
Amid the celebrations of Hindu festival Navratri, a venue in Vesu of Surat got heated up as Bajrang Dal activists turned up to protest against Muslim bouncers hired for the event.
According to sources, the organisers were asked to hire only Hindu vendors for the Navratri celebration as it is a Hindu festival and people’s religious sentiments are associated with the same. However, when they got to know some bouncers were hired from Muslim community at a venue, they got to know that they were lenient towards not checking identity proofs of those entering the venue.
“If they can keep Halal economy only limited to Muslims, we can too, since Navratri is a Hindu festival and garba dance is a form of worship for our goddesses,” said a Bajrang Dal activist in the know of the events.
For a meat product to be halal, the animal must be slaughtered only by a Muslim. In order to achieve economies of scale, the meat industry ends up operating large-scale abattoirs to produce all their meat. They end up using only Muslims at these abattoirs as it has simply become cheaper to produce all their meat together, instead of running separate abattoirs for halal and non-halal meat. In such a scenario, many Hindu communities, especially some Dalits, who were traditionally butchers, miss out on employment opportunities in the sector. Considering the meat industry is worth several billion dollars, this is a huge sector where only people from one religion are finding jobs because of halal policies.
Bajrang Dal activists were tipped off that the Muslim bouncers were allegedly not checking identity proofs properly of those entering the venue. Idolatry is the biggest in Islam and is punishable with death. Hence, for those who do not believe in the Hindu gods and goddesses and think the dance form, a form of worship for the Hindu goddesses for Navratri, is sin, in an ideal scenario they should not be partaking in the celebrations.
Meanwhile, the Bajrang Dal activists descended upon the venue and insisted the non-believers in the deity leave the venue. They also allege the Muslim bouncers had given Hindu names when asked by Bajrang Dal activists. However, things got heated up.
Surat. Some Muslim men entered garba venue under different name… Based Bajrang Dal activists asked them to leave venue. 🤲🏻 pic.twitter.com/vaEa5sVRi1
Bajrang Dal activists also alleged that some revellers had entered the venue under fake Hindu names while in reality they were believers of Islam. The deceitfully entering the venue irked them even more.
In past few days, multiple incidents have come up in various parts of country where some Muslim men have entered venue under different Hindu names. In Gujarat, some places also witnessed stone pelting from Muslim mobs who did not want the Navratri being celebrated.
The farmers in the State of Punjab have commenced their annual exercise of burning stubble and choking the National Capital with thick smog.
As per reports, Punjab accounted for 147 farm fires between September 15 and 30. An additional 128 farm fires were recorded on October 1 and October 2. With 75 new incidents of farm fires on Monday (October 3), the number of cases has reached 350.
Amritsar and Tarn Tarn districts of Punjab have become major hotspots of farm fires, with the former accounting for 284 cases (80% of total incidents). Farmers in these two districts grow potatoes, which need to be sown in early October. As such, they begin burning paddy stubble from mid and late September onwards.
Data of farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh via CREAMS
With farmers in Amritsar pacing up their usual activity, the air quality in the district has begun to deteriorate. On Monday (September 3), Amritsar’s AQI was 138 while it was 104, and 119 in Ludhiana and Jalandhar respectively.
Low wind movement, with unfavourable meteorological conditions, has trapped particulate matter on the air surface and is likely to wreak havoc in the Delhi-NCR region soon. According to Gufran Beig, the founder and project director at SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research), Delhi is likely to witness the impact of the farm fires from October 10 onwards.
There is, however, no hope of immediate resolution of the problem. Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB)’s member secretary, Krunesh Garg, informed that it would 4-5 years for a complete cessation of stubble burning activities.
Screengrab of the news report
“Crop diversification is not a long-term solution as biomass will be produced by other crops as well,” he said. “We need both in situ and ex situ solutions and they are already being implemented on the ground at the block and village level. But it will still take four or five years for a complete resolution,” he further added.
Discussion on farm fires dropped in Punjab Assembly
Despite the burning issue of farmer fires, the Punjab Assembly shelved the discussion on the topic. “The issue was not taken up as most of the sitting went into discussing the alleged usurping of SC scholarship funds to the tune of ₹64 crores by the previous Congress party government,” reportedHindustan Times.
Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa squarely blamed the Aam Aadmi Party-led-Punjab government for not discussing key issues such as stubble burning, GST and power shortages.
AAP MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar has pinned the blame on the Opposition. “When the matter (of paddy stubble burning) was listed but the opposition does not allow the house to function smoothly and the matter lost in sloganeering by the Congress MLAs,” he claimed.
When AAP blamed the Punjab government for stubble burning menace
Back in 2018, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal would blame the Punjab government for failing to control farm fires in the State. “If you see honestly, then there are just a few places of Haryana in it. In Punjab, stubble is being burnt in the entire area, especially Bathinda and Amritsar,” he had said back then.
However, the same district of Amritsar is a major hotspot of farm fires under the AAP regime. With the government having failed to contain the problem, people in Delhi are left with no hope but to pray for monsoon rains in the State of Punjab.
Screengrab of the 2018 Indian Express news report
According to the data compiled by the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS), farmers took a break from stubble burning between September 24 and September 29 this year.
“We saw a spell from September 24 to 29, when no fire counts were recorded. This was mainly due to rains in Punjab and the fields remained wet for the next few days, so that paddy stubble could not be burnt,” informed Professor VK Sehgal of CREAMS.
As such, only late monsoon rains can only provide a breather to the residents of the Delhi-NCR. Such a spell is expected between October 5 and 9 this year. He said, “We may again see a spike in the activity from October 10 onwards or a little later than that.”
On Tuesday, October 4, the Bombay High Court granted bail to former Maharashtra Home Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh in the money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Anil Deshmukh will however continue to be in the Arthur Road jail as he is being probed in a corruption case as well by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
According to the reports, Justice NJ Jamadar pronounced the bail order which will be effective from October 13, allowing the ED time to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. “We have held that the first two components of credit in the Trust do not form proceeds of crime. The third component depends on the statement of (dismissed Mumbai cop) Sachin Waze which in the discussion falls in favor of the applicant (Deshmukh). Apart from this, the applicant is also given the benefit under the proviso under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)”, the judge was quoted. The bail has been granted on a surety amount of Rs 1 lakh.
Former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh has been granted bail in the case registered against him by ED. Even after bail in the ED case, he will remain behind the bars in the CBI case registered against him.
Anil Deshmukh and his colleagues are being probed for possible corruption between 2019 and 2021. The CBI arrested Deshmukh and others based on the findings of a preliminary inquiry into a complaint filed by counsel Dr. Jaishri Patil. The probe was initiated following a directive given by the Bombay High Court on April 5, 2021, in response to a plea submitted by Param Bir Singh, former Commissioner of Mumbai Police.
Based on the CBI’s FIR, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a case against Anil Deshmukh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and detained him in November 2021. He was remanded to ED detention, which the High Court extended until November 15. He was then sent to judicial detention, where he remains to this day.
The CBI later nabbed Deshmukh in the first week of April of this year. The CBI held him till April 16 before remanding him to judicial custody. Deshmukh applied for ordinary bail in March 2022, after a special PMLA Court denied his release application. In April 2022, the ED filed its response, stating that Anil Deshmukh had failed to explain the source of huge wealth and proceeds of crime.
During the former minister’s 8-month detention, Justices Revati Mohite Dere, PD Naik, Bharati Dangre, and Prithviraj K Chavan of the Bombay High Court recused themselves from reviewing his bail plea. On September 27, the High Court started hearing the bail petition, a day after the Supreme Court urged the High Court to take up the issue this week and dispose of it swiftly. On September 28, after hearing both sides extensively, the Court had reserved the plea for orders.
Bollywood singer and music composer Kshitij Tarey is going through a rough time due to his bitter divorce battle that has been going on for a few years now. The singer revealed that he has been physically abused by his estranged wife and her family members, who are also forcing him to stay away from his kids now.
The singer, on September 18, took to his social media accounts to share his ordeal during this time. He said that he is a victim of domestic violence and that he is not allowed to meet his twin sons, Advay and Advik. He also said that his wife had taken the children forcefully with her and was torturing them mentally, further affecting their childhood.
“I tried for long that these things should not come out in public, but now I am left with no option but to do this. I am going through a very bad and violent divorce case”, he said adding that he and his wife were facing several issues and so had decided to apply for divorce mutually. However, the singer noted that he was blamed for the divorce and his wife accused him of demanding dowry, having an extramarital affair, and abusing her.
The couple got divorced in December 2019. According to Tarey, his wife left his children with him in Mumbai and went to her home with her Brother and sister-in-law. “One month later in January 2020, my wife came on the pretext of celebrating our children’s birthday and blamed me for a lot of wrong things and forcefully took the kids away from me with the help of a couple from my building”, his social media post read.
5) That couple created lots of issues and defamed me in every sense possible, so I had to send legal notice against that couple and only then the couple sat quiet. All this was done in between the school session and my kids` education was also hampered.
He added that the couple in his building helped his wife in attaining her malicious intent and defamed him in every sense possible. “I had to send legal notice against that couple and only then they sat quietly”, Tarey added. He stated that his wife took his kids to Hyderabad first and then to Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh and treated them badly. She also did not allow Tarey to meet the twins.
Kshitij Tarey tried to reconcile with his wife for the betterment of the children but to no avail. She instead demanded huge money and falsely accused the singer of wrongdoing. His wife took the kids to Ujjain in February 2020 and abused Tarey when he went there to meet them. “In Feb 2020, I went to Ujjain to meet my kids where she (wife) created a lot of drama and tried to implicate me. When I went to their home, things got heated and eventually, I had to tell her family that she has been violent with me and hit me. (Yes, Man can be victim of physical Abuse) thinking that now”, he said on September 18.
The singer alleged that the family members of his wife also supported her in filing fake complaints against him and accusing him of dowry and violence. “Her cousin brother told me that I will face huge consequences and said ‘ise to main dekh lunga (I’ll see him)’. To my shock, her mother also supported her. Her whole family didn’t seem to find anything wrong in my wife being a physical abuser”, he stated. He also shared one incident when his estranged wife beat herself and accused him of domestic violence. She also asked him to get court orders to meet his children.
“Kids were very very happy and always asked me to come to meet them. The things my children used to tell me about their mother and her family during visits were no less than any shock. But I believe in the Indian law and judiciary, so I kept convincing the kids that everything will be fine. My children many times pleaded with me that I should take them with me because their mother and her family are treating them very badly but since the court cases were going on I decided that I will fight it legally”, he said.
17) so I kept convincing the kids that everything will be fine. My children many times pleaded me that I should take them with me because their mother and her family is treating them very badly but since the court cases were going on I decided that I will fight it legally.
Recently, in May 2022, the singer attained the Court orders to meet his children but was barred from meeting them by his wife and sister-in-law. “The duo gathered the people from the locality and asked me to leave. They created pressure upon me but I exposed my wife and her violent behaviour. The duo also threatened me with my life and didn’t allow me to meet my sons though I had the court orders”, Kshitij Tarey said.
The singer has filed a complaint against his wife and his sister-in-law and the investigation into the case is underway. According to the reports, the singer was being troubled for refusing to worship his father-in-law who believes himself to be an avatar of God. “I worship God and not a man who pretends to be an avatar of God”, Tarey noted.
Later, Kshitij Tarey took to social media to comment on the Parental Alienation suffered by him and said that he was worried about his children. He also reiterated that he was the victim of domestic violence and that men can also be the victims of bad marriages. He said he missed his children and that they were not being treated in a good manner by his estranged wife who forcefully took his children away from him. “She brainwashed my children against me and she and her family interfered in the father-son relationship”, he said.
According to the singer, his estranged wife demanded Rs 2 lakh per month for maintenance and Rs 2 lakhs monthly for children and other related expenses. She also demanded Rs 3 lakhs per month as an interim expense under the domestic violence case.
Kshitij Tarey is a playback singer in Bollywood known for singing popular numbers like Tose Naina Lage (Anwar), Aye Khuda (Dev D), Bandeya (Murder), Madno (Lamhaa). He has also published a lot of music videos on YouTube including the one on parental alienation in which he expressed his feelings towards his children through vocal music.
On Tuesday (October 4), BJP MP (Chandigarh) Kirron Kher issued a statement of clarification after netizens alleged that she wore a mask in the vicinity of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann due to his alcohol breath.
The controversy began last month after the duo was spotted talking to each other at the renaming ceremony of the Chandigarh airport. In a video that went viral on social media, Kher was seen putting on a mask after Mann tried to talk to her from a close distance.
The Chandigarh MP was seen putting on an unpleasant look, prior to covering her face with a grey-coloured mask. Netizens were left wondering whether it had something to do with Bhagwant Mann’s breath.
Given that the Punjab CM has run into several controversies in the past due to public intoxication, some social media users assumed that Kher must have been taken aback by Mann’s alcohol breath.
“Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher put on her face mask sitting next to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann as his breath stinks of alcohol! A video from the moment has led many to speculate that the AAP leader’s excessive drinking problem is hurting AAP’s reputation,” wrote one user.
Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher put on her face mask sitting next to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann as his breath stinks of alcohol! A video from the moment has led many to speculate that the AAP leader’s excessive drinking problem is hurting AAP’s reputation!@AamAadmiParty@ArvindKejriwalpic.twitter.com/OTg28mzdFw
Kirron Kher re-uploads video with controversial lyrics, deletes and issues a statement
On Tuesday, Kirron Kher took to Twitter to clarify about the raging controversy surrounding her and the Punjab Chief Minister. However, she uploaded the viral video that was juxtaposed with the song ‘Peg di Waashna’, sung by Amrit Mann.
“Jattan de na nede lagdi, Kehndi peg di waashna aundi (Girl doesn’t come close to Jatt because she says he smells of alcohol),” reads the lyrics of the song. After realising her mistake, Kirron Kher quickly deleted the tweet.
Screengrab of the deleted tweet by Kirron Kher
The BJP MP then issued a statement, excluding the controversial video. She stated, “It is unfortunate to see a video going viral where I am putting on a mask while talking to the Hon’bleCM of Punjab BhagwantMann ji at a public meeting!”
I do so because of low immunity! Please don’t use it for derogatory remarks toward him. Whichever party someone belongs to, we must give them the dignity the office commands! Thank you,” Kirron Kher emphasised.
With her statement, she put all theories, about Bhagwant Mann’s alcohol breath being the reason for wearing the mask, to rest.
It is notable here that Kirron Kher was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2021 and had to undergo prolonged treatment. The actress turned MP had returned as a judge in the talent show India’s Got Talent in November 2021 and was seen sitting with a full face mask. She had clarified to fans that though she had continued working from home to perform her duties as an MP, she had been advised by doctors to avoid public places as cancer treatment makes patients immunocompromised.
To find answers to the Congress party’s hypocritical standards, one should go to Hariharpur village, which is located in the woods of the Sarguja district, Chhattisgarh. An OpIndia team visited Hariharpur and spoke to tribals in Hasdeo Aranya to evaluate the difference between Congress’ promises and deeds.
This area is also called Hasdeo Aranya. Even in the month of September, some villagers were sitting under a thatched roof in the middle of the fields. Not in the hope that the Bhupesh Baghel government will take care of them, but fearing that the administrative staff might come to cut the trees. To save themselves, they were lodged here since 02 March 2022. Villagers claim that so far, more than 430 trees have been cut, but no administrative action has been taken yet.
Many tribals in villages such as Hariharpur, Salhi, Fatehpur, Ghatbarra, Charpada, and Madanpur have been on a dharna since March against the Chhattisgarh Congress government and the Adani group under the banner ‘Save Hasdeo.’ They are opposed to the new mining permit in this protected region. According to villagers, authorization to mine in Parsa was obtained by arranging fake village panchayats. They allege that the mining resulted in the destruction of 4.5 lakh trees.
Tribals protesting in rain.
The residents sitting on dharna are concerned that mining would destroy their villages. “My maternal home is in Kete,” Sampatiya from Hariharpur told OpIndia. “All of the trees and vegetation were taken down when the mine started there. All the families got scattered. We shall not be leaving this village and settlement now. We ask Adani not to seize our land. We shall not abandon it. We will not leave this spot even if we lose our lives. We will not let the forest be destroyed,” she further added.
One cause for their dissatisfaction with the Congress administration is Rahul Gandhi’s promise in 2015. Rahul Gandhi addressed a gathering in Madanpur, around 15 kilometres from Hariharpur, in June 2015. During this time, the villagers were guaranteed that mining would be prohibited in this region if the Congress government was formed in the state. He gave the assurance that the government will prevent the destruction of the villages. On the premise of this commitment, they supported Congress in the 2018 local assembly elections. The Congress party won in the state as well, but this commitment was forgotten by Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi addressed the gathering.
To remind the promise, some 300 people began a padayatra on October 4, 2021. It arrived in Raipur on October 11th. It was to remind the Bhupesh Baghel government of Rahul Gandhi’s pledge. They received assurance, but nothing happened following that. After this, a delegation of locals travelled to Delhi and met with Rahul Gandhi. He apparently also comforted them but no action was taken. The villagers then staged a dharna under the banner of the ‘Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti.’ Interestingly, the Chhattisgarh Parsa coal block has been assigned to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited. Adani Group has been awarded a mining contract by the Rajasthan government.
Bhuneshwar Singh Porte of Fatehpur village is also associated with ‘Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti’. He told OpIndia, “It has been around 190 days since we sat on the dharna. But till date, no person from the administration has come to look after us.” “The licence issued by the government for mining on the basis of fake gram panchayat was annulled by the NGT in 2014,” said Ram Lal Singh Kariyam of Salhi village. “However, this government is going forward. We walked all the way to Raipur and the governor also ordered an investigation into the fake panchayat, however, the district administration is deafeningly mute.”
“With the Congress administration coming to Chhattisgarh, we believed that when it talks about Narva, Garua, and Ghurva, it will rescind the mining allotment,” Nandram of Salhi told OpIndia. ” Instead, this regime is decimating Narva and Ghurva. We can lose our lives, but we will not abandon the forest. We will continue to fight. The administration should not believe we are helpless. We are not helpless. Today, people from all over Chhattisgarh are uniting behind our cause,” he further added.
Board outside Hariharpur.
The question isn’t only whether mining should take place there or not. It is if the approach used for this is valid or not. A democratically elected government must interact with its citizens. The Congress government has shown no interest in the Hasdeo Bachao Andolan. On the contrary, several people have had criminal charges against them for protesting against the move.
The most absurd aspect is that the Sarguja unit of Congress itself supports the movement. TS Singhdev, a Baghel government minister from the same district, also had come to the protest site to express his personal support for the agitators. The state government has the option of withdrawing the mining order, but this is unlikely since the protestations of Hasdeo and its tribal children appear inconsequential to Congress, Rahul Gandhi, and the individuals involved in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
