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On Delhi govt’s recommendation, Delhi LG Anil Baijal grants early release to Jessica Lal murderer Manu Sharma

OpIndia Staff
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On Delhi govt’s recommendation, Delhi LG Anil Baijal grants early release to Jessica Lal murderer Manu Sharma

Manu Sharma, who was convicted for the murder of model Jessica Lal in 1999, has been granted release by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal. Baijal granted early release on recommendation of Delhi state home minister Satyendra Jain.

Sharma is the son of former Congress leader Venod Sharma. News agency ANI reported that a seven-member Sentence Review Board (SRB) had a meeting last month to decide on the release of 34 convicts who are eligible for early release. The list included the name of Sharma as well.

As per the law, any convict excluding one found guilty of heinous crimes such as rape and murder, murder and robbery, murder in cases of terrorism and murder while out on parole, who has completed 14 years in prison, is eligible for an early release. SRB recommended in their report sent to Baijal that Manu Sharma is eligible for such release.

Amit Sahni, Sharma’s lawyer, filed a petition in Delhi High Court and asked for his release in November 2019. He said that Sharma had spent 23 years in Jail, including remission. He has a record of good conduct in prison, but SRB denied his release four times. The lawyer added that it is unfair and unlawful behaviour. The court asked SRB to consider his case for release in the next meeting on 11th May.

Delhi State home minister, who is the chairman of the board along with director-general of prison, home secretary of state, law secretary of state, a district judge, and chief probationary officer of the government along with a joint commissioner rank officer of Delhi Police were part of the Sentence Review Board.

Jessica Lal murder case

43-year-old Siddharth Vashishta, known by his alias Manu Sharma shot dead model Jessica Lal on 30th April 1999 for refusing a drink at a party. She was tending an unlicensed bar at a private party and refused to serve Sharma a drink past midnight, after which Sharma shot her dead. Haryana politician Venod Sharma is his father and has an influential political background.

In February 2006, Sharma was acquitted by a city court, which had triggered protests all over the country. Delhi high court took up the case and reversed the order. They mentioned in the judgment that the lower court ignored or misread material evidence. Sharma was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2006. The judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court, but the court upheld the conviction in 2010.

When Sabrina Lal, sister of Jessica, was approached last month after the board’s decision, she said that she had forgiven Sharma. According to the prison officials, Sharma’s work inside the prison supported his case in front of the SRB. He runs a non-government organization by the name Siddhartha Vashishta Charitable Trust that helps in funding the education of children of prison inmates. The NGO started working in Tihar around eight years ago.

Pakistan: 13-year-old Hindu girl kidnapped and raped by armed men in Sindh province

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: 13-year-old Hindu girl kidnapped and raped by armed men in Sindh province

In yet another deplorable act a 13-year-old Hindu girl has been brutally raped by six armed men in Pirbux Jarwar village falling under the jurisdiction of Dilber Khan police station in Mirpurkhas, Sindh province of Pakistan.

As reported by Pakistani Human Rights activist Rahat Austin on Twitter, six armed men entered the 13-year-old Hindu girl Permi Bheel’s house, beat up her family and took her away. The Hindu girl was brutally raped the entire night on gunpoint by these 6 men while her family kept searching for her, crying for help.

Brutalities against minorities in Pakistan

The brutalities against minorities continue unabated in the terrorist state of Pakistan as multiple instances of atrocities, especially against Hindus and Sikhs have been reported recently.

In October 2019, a young Hindu girl had been allegedly abducted and converted to Islam. The Hindu victim was later forcibly married by the abductor.

This horrific news came just a month after the killing of Namrita Chandani, who was found dead in her hostel room in September last year. She was found lying on a cot with a rope tied around her neck while her room was locked from inside. The college administration tried to pass it as suicide. However, her final autopsy report had revealed that she was murdered after being raped in her hostel room in September 2019.

Prior to this, following an allegation of blasphemy against a Hindu school principal, Hindu temples, shops and homes of minority Hindus were ransacked by Muslim rioters. However, later it was revealed that the attack on Hindus was a pre-planned event to cover-up a child abduction incident. The school principal had thwarted the Islamists’ efforts by giving refuge to one of the Hindu girls, who was abducted by associates of radical Islamist leader Mian Mithoo.

Pakistan is notoriously known for its persecution of not only religious minorities but also ethnic minorities within their own country. The forceful conversion programmes have often been unleashed against the minorities especially Christians, Sikhs and Hindus living in Pakistan with utmost brutality.

Earlier, Jagjit Kaur, a Sikh girl was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Nankana Sahib which had caused a huge uproar. In another horrific incident, a 13-year-old Pooja Sotahar Kumari, daughter of Fatan Rathore, resident of village Bakhsho Laghari in Hyderabad district’s Hosri Taluka, was kidnapped, forcefully converted and subsequently married off to a man identified as Syed Irshad Shah.

13 staffers at Delhi Lieutenant Governor secretariat test positive for Coronavirus, contacts being traced

OpIndia Staff
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13 staffers at Delhi Lieutenant Governor secretariat test positive for Coronavirus, contacts being traced

Thirteen staffers working at the secretariat of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal have been tested positive of Wuhan coronavirus.

An official told IANS, ‘Total 13 people have tested positive for the infection. We are tracing the close contacts. The remaining staff members are being scanned for the symptoms. The office is being sanitised as per the government”s guidelines.”

Earlier, four staffers at Raj Niwas were tested positive on May 29. Several coronavirus cases have also been reported from the office of Health minister Satyendra Jain in Delhi Secretariat and the office of District Magistrates as well.

On May 29, two floors of Parliament Annexe building was sealed when a Director level officer attended work on May 28 and was later tested positive of coronavirus along with his family.

Prior to this, a housekeeping staff of parliament who works in the lower house was tested positive with coronavirus. The staffer was posted at the Lok Sabha secretariat at 36 GRG road.

Also, The daughter-in-law of a sanitation worker who works in Rashtrapati Bhawan was found coronavirus positive. Given that effect, 125 families associated with Rashtrapati Bhavan were sent to strict self-isolation.

The Building of Aviation Ministry was also sealed after a staffer of the ministry was tested positive for coronavirus.

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh attacked over casteist remark on Yuzvendra Chahal, netizens demand apology

OpIndia Staff
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Cricketer Yuvraj Singh attacked over casteist remark on Yuzvendra Chahal, netizens demand apology

A couple of month old video clip has emerged on social media where cricketer Yuvraj Singh was seen using a derogatory term for fellow cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal. In the video, that looked like an Instagram Live session, Yuvraj and Rohit were have a friendly conversation during which Yuvraj pointed out that Chahal is posting regular videos on Tik Tok and Instagram and said “In Bha****on ko aur koi to kaam hai nahi. Video dekha tune jo Yuzi ne dala family ke saath” (They have nothing to do. Have you seen the video posted by Yuzi with his family) to which Rohit replied, “maine usko wohi bola yeh apne baap ko nacha raha hai pagal to nahi hai” (I asked him why he was forcing his father to dance).

Yuzvendra Chahal’s active social media life

During the lockdown, Chahal has been active on social media platforms, including Tik Tok and Instagram. He has posted many videos with his family members as well that became famous quickly among the fans.

Outrage over social media

Many people, including fans of Yuvraj, were angry over the derogatory remarks he has used during the conversation. A hashtag promoted by Dilip Mandal #युवराज_सिंह_माफी_मांगो (Yuvraj Singh Apologize) was trending on Twitter and received more than 30,000 tweets quickly.

Many users countered the controversy and said that such terms are common among friends during conversation and there is no need to make a mountain out of a mole. Those who came in support of Yuvraj also faced backlash.

Yuvraj and history of controversies

Yuvraj Singh seems to have become a favourite child of controversies. In a short span, he has found himself in soup for one or the other reason. A few days back, he supported Shahid Afridi’s NGO and asked for donations, and it backfired because as Afridi was seen provoking the people of Kashmir. He had to come forward and apologise for supporting Afridi.

OpIndia reports cited in fact-finding report on the Delhi anti-CAA riots submitted to Home Minister Amit Shah. Read details

OpIndia Staff
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OpIndia reports cited in fact-finding report on the Delhi anti-CAA riots submitted to Home Minister Amit Shah. Read details

A report on the Delhi anti-CAA riots (Delhi anti-Hindu riot) submitted by NGO Call for Justice has blamed radical groups such as Pinjra Tod and Jamia Coordination Committee and organisations such as PFI for the communal violence that claimed the lives of 53 individuals. The report was submitted to Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday.

A leading forensic pathologist, who has previously assisted the CBI in the Gujarat Riots case and the Ishrat Jahaan encounter case, and a public prosecutor for the NIA were part of the six-member group. Other members included retired civil service officials and high court judges. OpIndia happens to be the most cited website in the said report. OpIndia has been cited 10 times in the 70-page report.

The report says, “Various radical groups such as Pinjra Tod, Jamia Coordination Committee, Alumni Association of Jamia Milia Islamia, Popular Front of India (PFI), etc., and the local politicians from AAP, suddenly, after election in Delhi, accelerated misinformation, hate speech campaigns using Anti-CAA as a basis.”

“Further, in order to augment the hate speech narrative and map it with emotions, fear and religion, these radical groups managed to get the narratives delivered from the Mosques in daily meetings through Imams and also through the Azaan, broadcasted from loudspeakers in these localities multiple times daily,” it adds.

The report further stated, “The objective of the attack was to create a permanent atmosphere of hostility between the Hindus and Muslims and since the entire CAA episode was painted as an Anti Muslim campaign, these radical groups had no choice but to exploit the Muslim community for their ulterior objective of dividing the country on communal lines.”

It added, “The Hindu community was totally unaware about the attacks while the attackers belonging to the Muslim community meticulously planned. The testimonies of a few of the witnesses/ victims reveal that on 24/02/2020, Muslims school were closed and even the parents of Muslims children withdrew their wards from Hindu schools at around 10:00 a.m., prior to the attacks.”

The report recommends that an investigation be launched into Islamic outfits who were behind the riots and trial of the riot cases be expedited in the designated courts. It also implores the government for effective monitoring of social media so that misinformation can be countered in real time. It recommends that fake news websites which circulated hate speech and misinformation campaigns ought to be prosecuted. The report seeks an NIA investigation into the matter citing the involvement of PFI and ISI and other interstate and international groups.

The NGO Call for Justice was established “To promote by all appropriate means within its purview the social, economic, and cultural development and uplift the socially, economically and educationally weak, disadvantaged and marginalized sections of society.” It also works to create awareness in the areas of law, health, education and human rights among others.

OpIndia reports in fact-finding report

As many as nine reports including ground reports carried out by OpIndia in its extensive coverage were cited by the NGO. One report was cited twice. Here is a list of the reports that were cited:

1.     Delhi Riots_ ‘Women’s rights group’ Pinjra Tod accused of inciting violence
2.     Watch: Delhi riots pre-planned? Umar Khalid seen inciting people to take to the streets against Modi govt while Trump visits (cited twice)
3.     Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA protests funded by Islamist PFI, chief Mohammad Parvez Ahmed’s links to AAP’s Sanjay Singh and Congress’ Udit Raj emerge
4.     Shiv Vihar ground report: Tale of two schools, one owned by a Muslim used as a war base, the other, owned by a Hindu, gutted by Islamists
5.     Barkha Dutt’s ‘shero’ Ladeeda gave call for Jihad, Aysha Renna called India fascist for executing terrorist Yakub Memon
6.     AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan spotted leading the protests which turned violent in Delhi: Reports
7.     Chronology of events that led to the Delhi Riots and the Khilafat 2.0: The call for a Direction Action Day next?
8.     AAP leader Tahir Hussain’s goons attacked him, says family of IB officer murdered in Delhi riots
9.     Nexus between Congress and Islamists in stoking anti-CAA riots? PFI spent over 120 crores, transferred huge sums to Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising: Read details

Bihar government distributes free condoms to migrant workers returning home after quarantine

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar government distributes free condoms to migrant workers returning home after quarantine

The Bihar Health Department has been distributing contraceptives, condoms among migrant workers who are going to their homes after completing 14-day institutional quarantine and those under home quarantines, a health official confirmed on Tuesday.

Health coordinators are distributing two packets of condoms at quarantine centres, while ASHA workers have been handing them out during door-to-door screening of people under home quarantine.

An official of Care India said the NGO is providing technical support to the Bihar health department in this initiative.

Until now, 28 to 29 lakh migrant workers have returned to the state, out of which, 8.77 lakh people have been discharged as they have completed their 14 day quarantine period.

“Migrant labourers are going to their homes after completing the 14-day institutional quarantine. Since there are chances of unwanted pregnancies, we properly counsel them and give them tools (such as condoms) to avoid unwanted pregnancy,” a senior Health department official told PTI.

“As a health professional, it is our responsibility to control the population. We have been taking the support of our health partner Care India to implement the initiative.”

The official said that there has been a sudden surge in the cases of unwanted pregnancies, throughout the world, during the lockdown and it was against this backdrop that the initiative was launched. The initiative will continue till the quarantine centres are functioning, the health official added.

Bihar government closes migrants workers’ registration or quarantine

The Bihar government has, however, announced, that from today, June 2 (Tuesday), migrant workers returning to Bihar will not be registered for placing the into institutional quarantine. Those who returned to the state till Monday had been registered and quarantined in more than 5,000 centres, which together host around 13 lakh migrants. These centres will be closed after June 15, when the 14-day quarantine of the last batch of registered migrants ends.

“We have carried out the biggest-ever evacuation exercise by bringing back over 30 lakh migrants. We are closing registration on Monday evening. In any case, maximum people have returned,” said Pratyaya Amrit, principal secretary at Bihar’s Disaster Management Authority. Amrit said door-to-door health monitoring would continue, and that medical facilities would remain the same from primary health centres to Level I and Level II hospitals.

South Korea reports spike in Coronavirus cases after a cluster of cases linked to church emerge in Seoul

OpIndia Staff
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South Korea reports spike in Coronavirus cases after a cluster of cases linked to church emerge in Seoul

South Korea is hit by another string of coronavirus infections that were found emerging from 13 churches situated in and around Seoul. The country announced a major spike in the number of cases on Monday.

As per reports, the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported 35 cases on Monday taking the toll to 11,503 in the country. The origin of infection of 23 cases out of 35 was linked to 11 churches in Incheon and two churches in Gyeonggi province.

KCDC has mentioned on its website, “It is presumed that transmission occurred between participants through events such as prayer meetings and praise meetings which the churches took turns hosting.”

It further added, “Contact management and investigation on the source of infection is underway.” The capital Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon provinces are the home the half of the South Korean population.

As per reports, another cluster found infected was linked to the Church’s pastor’s group in Gunpo and Anyang area of Gyeonggi province. KCDC mentioned, “It is presumed that transmission occurred through a gathering Jeju Island from May 25 to May 27, (which) 25 members from 12 churches participated. The investigation is underway for contacts of each church of the ministers.”

In the month of May, there was a surge of 74 cases in South Korea that was related to various groups in the church. The agency added, “In light of the recent ongoing spread of COVID-19 through bible studies, weekday meetings, and other religious gatherings, KCDC urged faith communities to refrain from gathering and switch to non-face-to-face meetings.”

A senior health official, Sohn Young-rae told Yonhap News agency, “Large-scale infections are feared to come in the Seoul metropolitan area, but we can succeed in containing the virus spread when citizens raise their guards against the pandemic to break the chain of virus transmissions.”

Reportedly, after the South Korean administration lifted social distancing measures and opened schools, night clubs, e-commerce warehouses, the country faced a series of mass infections. Till Sunday, 270 cases were found linked to night clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon district. Till Monday, 112 cases emerged that were linked to an e-commerce warehouse centre in Gyeonggi. As a result, South Korea re-imposed restrictive measures on last Thursday. 272 casualties due to coronavirus have been reported in South Korea.

“Indians are unaware of their rights,” Vinod Dua takes inspiration from US riots and urges people in India to follow suit

Dibakar Dutta
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“Indians are unaware of their rights,” Vinod Dua takes inspiration from US riots and urges people in India to follow suit

On Monday, controversial journalist and MeToo accused, Vinod Dua in his daily show provoked Indians to protest and riot in the same manner as witnessed in the United States, following the extra-judicial killing of George Floyd by a white police officer.

He began his rant by making a sweeping statement, “Humara yaha dharam ko lekar hai nafrat aur udhaar nasal ko leakr nafrat hai (We have religious hatred in India whereas in US, there exists hatred between races).” 9 minutes into the video, he narrated how mobs hit the streets, amidst the lockdown, to ‘protest’ against the homicide of a black man.

“40 cities are under curfew in America. Lakhs of people have hit the streets. Some of them even turned violent”, Vinod Dua observed. He stated that the large presence of protestors on the streets, in the US, exemplified the empathy and humanity in them. “But, Indians are unaware of their rights,” he sighed.

Taking inspiration from US riots, he lamented how the Indian civil society did not react the same when migrant workers had to walk a thousand kilometres to their native villages. In a bid to whitewash violent mobs that had vandalised and looted shops under the pretext of protests, Vinod Dua called them ‘crusaders of human rights.’ “Even Trump had to shift to the basement,” he emphasised.

Taking cue from how violent protests could even make the elected US President hostage in his Presidential estate, Dua said, “We will want to see such people here too. We have 130 crore people after all. America does not even have that much population.” In his concluding remarks, he reiterated how the people in India had failed to display their anger against the mistreatment of minorities.

The contentious video by Vinod Dua

Riots in the United States

After Floyd’s death, violent protests have broken out in several US cities. Frenzied mobs had set the 3rd precinct offices of the police in Minneapolis on fire. On Friday night, US President Donald Trump was reportedly escorted to a special bunker after the violent protests had spread to outside of the White House in Washington, DC. Protestors had gathered outside the Presidential Estate on Friday night and clashes took place between the rioters and the President’s Secret Service. On Saturday, rioters had also desecrated the 142-year old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan in New York, fin the aftermath of the George Floyd Case. Shops have been looted, vehicles have been burned and businesses have been attacked in the violent frenzy rapidly gripping the entire nation. 

Dua not first to seek US like violence in India

Vinod Dua is not the first who is saying that US like violence should erupt in India. Earlier, Ashok Swain, professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, said that the kind of protests that were witnessed in the United States of America and Canada regarding ‘Black Lives Matter’ needed to be replicated in India to “oppose extra-judicial killings of Muslims in the country”. While he was careful to not explicitly incite violence, the implication of the tweet is clear. While the US riots are being justified openly and even incited by leftists on social media, some want such violent protests to be replicated in India.

Several other Indian ‘intellectuals’ also voiced similar desires. They wanted Muslims in India to take to the streets for so-called ‘Muslim Lives Matter’ protests.

BMC asks hospital incharges to coordinate with members of radical Islamist outfit PFI for burials of Muslim coronavirus patients

OpIndia Staff
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BMC asks hospital incharges to coordinate with members of radical Islamist outfit PFI for burials of Muslim coronavirus patients

On Tuesday, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took to Twitter to slam Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for giving legitimacy to a radical Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). He further stated that the said organisation was connected to anti-national and anti-social activities in the country.

Fadnavis had posted a notice issued by the Public health Department on May 18 wherein it had directed all hospital in-charges to contact the local police, local medical officer and four coordinators of PFI, namely, Iqbal Khan, Saeed Ahmad, Saeed Choudhary, and Sadique Qureshi, in case of death of Muslim coronavirus patients. The notice further said that a task force constituted by the radical Islamist organisation would facilitate the burial of such dead bodies. Devendra Fadnavis asked CM Uddhav Thackeray whether he agreed with the notice. He reiterated, “If not, will you take action?”

PFI members’ involvement in murder and radicalisation

The Popular Front of India has a long history of its members indulging in violent crimes, including murder, and terrorism. In 2016, Rudresh who used to be an RSS and BJP leader was brutally murdered by two bike-borne youths in broad daylight at the heart of Bangalore. In the aftermath, the NIA described the murder as a terrorist act and the police arrested five individuals including a PFI leader in connection with the crime. Two former members of the radical Islamist organisation were also among 10 Keralites who joined the Islamic State (IS) in 2018.

In 2019, the Kumbakonam Police in Tamil Nadu had arrested a PFI member for his involvement in the brutal murder of a 42-year-old Ramalingam who opposed religious conversions. In December last year, the Uttar Pradesh police had arrested the state head of PFI, Waseem, and his two aides for allegedly masterminding the violence during the anti-CAA protests held in Lucknow last week. In a shocking incident, the hands of Professor TJ Joseph, a faculty of the Newmans College at Thodupuzha in Idukki, was chopped off by the members of Popular Front of India, for alledged derogatory remarks on Prophet Mohammed.

PFI and Delhi riots

Several members and leaders of the PFI have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, and previously the anti-CAA violence in UP and Delhi.

In earlier reports, it was stated that the cops are investigating the Whatsapp chats, speeches, and funding allegedly received from PFI and abroad by the 9 people arrested in connection to the case. According to the Delhi police, the 9 accused had asked local leaders to mobilise women and children and also discussed “arrangements for protests.”

The Delhi Police had arrested two PFI members, Parvez Ahmed and Iliyas for instigating and funding the anti-Hindu riots in the national capital earlier this year.

Communists in Kolkata burn US President Donald Trump’s effigy, raise slogans against his govt over the killing of George Floyd

OpIndia Staff
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Communists in Kolkata burn US President Donald Trump’s effigy, raise slogans against his govt over the killing of George Floyd

While leftists in the USA are running rampage and wreaking havoc in several US cities, an Indian leftist group on Monday blocked the Esplanade area in central Kolkata and set fire to an effigy of the US President Donald Trump. They also raised slogans against the Trump Government. The group was allegedly protesting against racial discriminations in the USA.

According to a PTI report, the leftist protestors, identified as Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communists), carried flags of Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communists) and raised slogans against the Trump administration, reportedly demanding immediate action against alleged racial atrocities in the USA.

The Kolkata police confirmed that the protest which lasted for about 15 minutes did not disrupt traffic movement, as only a few vehicles were plying the streets at that hour.

Violence in USA over George Floyd’s death

Violent protests, looting and attacks have been ravaging several US cities for days after a 46-year-old black man George Floyd was brutally killed due to police atrocities in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The violent rioters have been setting fire to vehicles, breaking and looting shops and even attacking police personnel in a rage that is rapidly engulfing several states of the USA. In New York and Washington, old churches and cathedrals have been attacked. A synagogue in Los Angeles was desecrated earlier. Several stores of luxury bags, watches and shoes have been looted across the country.

US President Donald Trump has called upon the national guard to establish law and order and has ordered governors to take strict action against rioters.

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