Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir lobbed a grenade outside the deputy commissioner’s office in Anantnag leaving at least 10 persons injured today morning. As per news sources, the terrorists flung a grenade on a security patrol outside the heavily protected complex in Anantnag town, 55 km from Srinagar, at around 11 am.
However, the grenade exploded along the roadside, missing its intended target and injured 10 people. Among those hurt include a 12-year-old, a traffic cop and a journalist. 3 persons have sustained critical injuries in the attack. The injured were immediately rushed to district hospital Anantnag for treatment. One of the injured has sustained splinter injuries in the chest and is in critical condition.
The security personnel have sealed off the area and an operation is underway to find and apprehend the terrorists behind the attack. No terror organisation has so far claimed the responsibility for the attack.
This is not the first time terrorists have targeted security forces following the abrogation of Article 370. On September 28, terrorists had hurled grenade at CRPF personnel in downtown Srinagar but they had missed the target then.
After the government scrapped the separate status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories-Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Intelligence Agencies have flagged alarm about possible terror attacks in 7 Indian states including Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, even the United States has warned India of possible terror attacks in India from Pakistan sponsored terrorists.
In the wake of revocation of Article 370, there has been heightened activity from the terrorists across the border in Pakistan to stoke unrest in the Valley. Asserting that the situation in Kashmir is rapidly coming back to normal, JK governor’s advisor, Farooq Khan said on Sunday that the number of active terrorists in Kashmir has come down to 150-200 from several thousand earlier.
There’s a great churn happening in the Indian ‘rightwing’ today. Social media is rife with arguments that reveal a difference in opinion on the most fundamental of issues. Such differences have always existed but didn’t receive as much traction due to the prevailing political climate. However, as Narendra Modi’s hold over power strengthened more and more, such differences have come to the fore.
It’s not really a secret that there are multiple shades of ‘rightwing’ which, in reality, is much more aptly described as Non-Left. There is the ‘Cultural Right’, the ‘Liberal Right’, the ‘Economic Right’, the ‘Core Right’ and so and so. Broadly speaking, the Cultural Right and Core Right can be clubbed under one category as there is great overlap between the two while the other two can be clubbed together. For purposes of simplicity, we shall call the former ‘Mainstream Right’ and the other ‘Vikas Right’.
Then, there’s the ‘Reactionary Right’ which shares a lot in common with the ‘Mainstream Right’ but has a radical approach to politics and culture itself. It rejects the fundamental basis of modernity itself and lays the emphasis on traditional values and customs. Amidst all this chaos, there’s also the ‘Trad Right’, a prominent subsection of the Reactionary Right that has caused numerous arguments on social media. Often, the ‘Trad Right’ is also involved in virulent arguments with sections of the ‘Cultural Right’ itself and other sections of the Reactionary Right.
There are numerous other divisions as well but for the purpose of simplicity, we shall limit it to these three divisions: The Mainstream Right, The Vikas Right, and the Reactionary Right. The churn in the rightwing is primarily driven by the confrontation between the Reactionary Right and the Vikas Right because both these factions largely agree with the concerns of the Mainstream Right.
The Vikas Right does harbor great sympathy and wishes to live according to western values such as liberalism and secularism. Their main grouse with the Left is that they do not adhere to ‘True Liberalism’ and ‘True Secularism’. They are not against liberalism or secularism per se. The Reactionary Right, on the other hand, completely rejects liberalism and secularism. They consider these to be deeply Christian values that should have no place in India.
The same goes for ideologies such as Feminism. While the Vikas Right voices its support for ‘True Feminism’, the Reactionary Right rejects it completely. Feminism, in all its forms, is considered to be a malaise to society. The same goes for individual liberty. While the Vikas Right believes in the rights and liberty of the individual, the Reactionary Right emphasizes on duty and believes that individual liberty cannot be the basis of a functional society.
There’s also a great difference between the two factions in the manner in which they view Hinduism. The Vikas Right views Hinduism as a free-for-all laissez-faire affair where individuals are free to pursue spirituality however they deem fit. The Reactionary Right, on the other hand, considers Hinduism, like all other religions, to have a strict code of dos and don’ts that must be respected.
The fundamental differences between the two factions were captured perfectly during a recent exchange on Twitter. The argument followed from an article published in Swarajya Mag where the author argued that we should attempt to maximize the economic benefits of our festivals. The essential argument was we should use our festivals as an engine to boost our economy.
Critics of monetising festivals and culture
The Reactionary Right, obviously, treated it with derision and was downright disgusted by the suggestion that our festivals which have deep religious significance should be treated as mere occasions to boost profits.
While the Vikas Right continues to dominate the rightwing intellectual space in the media and elsewhere, the churn in the rightwing and its narrative is dominated greatly by the Reactionary Right. While calls have been made to ostracise the Reactionary Right altogether, such efforts have proven to be utterly futile.
Despite objections from certain quarters, the narrative on the Right has continued to shift in favour of the Reactionary Right. For instance, it is nearly impossible now to be a ‘beefeater and proud’, unlike how it was only a couple of years ago or so.
One reason for this is that the opinions of the Reactionary Right are much more similar to the overwhelming majority of Hindus in India. It is a fact that most Hindus couldn’t care less about liberalism and secularism. It is a fact that such ideas have popularity only among a specific class of people. The vast majority of Indians do not care about such things.
The reasons for these differences go much deeper. The Vikas Right is made up mostly of people who grew up in an era of Western dominance. On the other hand, most of the Reactionary Right are younger and have grown up in an era of Western decadence. The manner in which Western society today is on the verge of collapse has had a great impact on how the Indian youth today perceives values such as liberalism and secularism.
The Reactionary Right has often been compared to the ‘AltRight’ in the United States, however, that is a wildly wrong comparison. The comparison isn’t justified for the same reason that clubbing Hinduism and Christianity together isn’t justified. One is based strictly on race while the other is based on religion and culture.
While there may be a significant difference of opinions between the Reactionary Right and Vikas Right, the fact of the matter is, the latter has paved the way for the former in more ways than one. It is as much due to the scathing criticism of the Left by the Vikas Right that the Reactionary Right got the opportunity to introduce more radical opinions into the debate.
While some people on the Vikas Right may be loathed to admit it but the fact of the matter is, the Reactionary Right has succeeded in shifting the ‘rightwing’ narrative further to the right with each successive turn. The ‘rightwing’ of today is much much further to the right than it was a couple of years ago.
The clearest evidence of it is the rise and rise of Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Until 2015, he was a fringe figure often dubbed a Hindu extremist. In quite a remarkable turn of events, the same comments which resulted in him being branded as fringe by even the Indian rightwing were responsible to him becoming one of the most popular leaders of the BJP at the national level, arguably the third most popular leader after the Modi-Shah duo. And the one group on social media which played the biggest role in mainstreaming him was the Reactionary Right. Everyone else eventually came around to supporting him later on.
Going forward, one would hope that there will be a synthesis of sorts between the two camps. However, that appears to be unlikely. It remains to be seen how things pan out in the next few years or so. But one thing is for certain, these differences are irreconcilable.
Having said that, the Reactionary Right isn’t one uniform tent either. There are lots of separate and divergent factions within the ranks. Just as the rightwing at large can be defined by its opposition to the Left, the Reactionary Right can be defined by its opposition to the Vikas Right.
A cyclist from Kota, Rajasthan has reportedly received death threats over a Whatsapp call from Pakistan. According to a Times Now News report, Nikhil Pal Singh, a cyclist, who is planning a group cycle tour from Kanyakumari to Kashmir has been threatened not to go to Kashmir. He had made a written complaint to Jawahar Nagar police in Kota that the caller threatened him of dire consequences if he ventured into Kashmir.
“Kashmir cycle chalane ke liye nahi hai. Agar aap Kashmir mein gaye toh aap udda diye jaoge (Kashmir is not for cycling. If you go to Kashmir, you will be killed),” the caller told the cyclist on WhatsApp.
While speaking to Times Now News, Nikhil said that he had first received a WhatsApp call on September 25, which he ignored. Today again he received a call from the same number which asked him to call off the group cycle tour which he intended to organise from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. The person threatened him by saying that if he dared to go to Kashmir, he will be eliminated.
Irked by the threat, Nikhil said that he retaliated by saying, “Kashmir tere baap ki nahi hain”, (Kashmir is not your personal property). However, he was unsure whether he should now continue or call off the road trip, he said.
The identity of the caller remains to be established and it is unclear as of now whether the cyclist will embark on the journey after receiving the threats.
The Kota Police has, however, said that the complaint has been registered and the police will be investigating the phone number to reach a conclusion about the credentials of the WhatsApp caller or the number.
Pakistan, which has been rattled ever-since India has gone ahead to repeal Article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir has been trying every possible way to create unrest in the Valley. Be it from spreading fake and malicious news through fake social media accounts or by pushing terrorism into the valley to by attempting to internationalise the issue, Pakistan has tried every trick up its sleeves to pressurise India but unfortunately has succeeded in none.
Meanwhile, the government has assured that Jammu and Kashmir are returning to normalcy after restrictions were gradually lifted in several parts of the state. The government had taken preventive measures to avoid any kind of violence after the former read down parts of Section 370 of the Constitution which granted special status to the state.
The controversial journalist and former AAP member Ashish Khetan, accused of planting stories in the Tehelka magazine favouring Essar in the 2G scam case, has now joined the group as the Vice President (legal). The 2014 Lok Sabha candidate of AAP, Ashish Khetan updated his Twitter bio confirming his new post in one of India’ biggest multinational conglomerate group based in Mumbai, infamous for its alleged involvement in a case arising from a 2G scam.
Ashish Khetan’ updated Twitter bio
Ashish Khetan, who was fielded as the AAP Delhi constituency candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, was brought into the party by another former member of AAP and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan. Soon the two had a fall out when Khetan’s name was embroiled in the Essar diaries. Bhushan accused Khetan of planting stories in the Tehelka magazine favouring Essar. “Ashish Khetan planted stories for Essar in Tehelka. He wrote stories in favour of 2G accused. Essar paid Tehelka Rs 3 crore for its Thinkfest,” Prashant told CNN-IBN in 2015.
The CBI had named Essar group promoters in its charge sheet on December 12, 2011, alleging they had cheated the Department of Telecommunication by using Loop Telecom as a “front” to secure 2G licences in 2008.
Khetan, who wrote for Tehelka, a media face which talks about morality and ethos had defended Essar in 2G scam case. DNA had in the year 2015, revealed the alleged nexus between various eminent journalists and Essar group which had tried to get its name cleared from the 2G scam case by getting these journalists to write in favour of the company in exchange of aids.
In 2015, DNA India had questioned whether it was a coincidence that the Essar group was also sponsoring media events in Tehelka soon after the magazine printed stories in favour of Essar. In October 2011, Tehelka published a cover story ‘The inconvenient truth of Soni Suri’, written by Tehelka’s then managing editor Shoma Chaudhary on the allegations of the tribal teacher turned Aam Aadmi Party leader Soni Sori having received money from Essar on behalf of Maoists.
Subsequently, in November 2011, Essar group also sponsored Tehelka’s first think fest, held in Goa. Essar chief Prashant Ruia was also a speaker at this event in a session on the second day.
Meanwhile, Ashish Khetan, who was a journalist in 2011, had also defended Essar during the same period by calling CBI’s enquiry a Mad Conspiracy. Khetan had written, “The story was based on meticulous research and brought out the conflicting government records to show how the CBI was adopting different yardsticks for different accused thus making a mockery of a sensitive investigation like a 2G scam.
In a tragic and shocking incident in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, a 30-year-old woman jumped from the 13th floor of a building in Khokhra to commit suicide at 7 am on Thursday. However, she landed on top of a 69-year-old man on the ground, who was returning from his daily morning walk.
As per reports, 30-year-old Mamata Hansraj Rathi, a resident of Surat, had come to stay in her brother’s house for her treatment. Mamata was reportedly suffering from multiple illnesses. Her brother Rajendra Bhutda lived on the 13th floor of the Parishkar Apartments building.
Mamata had arrived with her husband and 4-year-old daughter seeking treatment in Ahmedabad and had stayed at her brother’s house. Among other physical ailments, she was reportedly suffering from severe insomnia and had not slept in the last fortnight. She is also said to have been in a disturbed mental state. Mamata’s husband owns a clothing store in Surat. Mamata’s family have informed that she was fed up of her illness and may have been driven to the edge in despair.
As Mamata jumped from the 13th floor, in a terrible turn of fate, she landed on top of one Balu Gamit, a 69-year-old retired teacher who lived on the second floor of the same building. Balu was returning from his morning walk.
Inspector RT Udavat from the Amraiwadi police station has informed Times of India that while Mamata died from the impact, Gamit suffered serious head injuries and died at the spot.
The police had sent both bodies for post-mortem and registered a case for accidental death for now till the investigation completes. They added that while Gamit’s family has been in deep shock, Rathi’s family have locked their house and left for Surat. The police are also examining the CCTV footage from the building.
As per reports, several people have been detained by the police after they tried to stop the authorities from carrying out their job.
Last night, amidst ruckus by activists, Mumbai metro authorities began cutting the trees for proposed car shed. Activists and citizens gathered on the spot to protest against the felling of trees. Some even took to Twitter to spread falsehood that there is a 15-day wait period before the authorities cut the trees.
These claims, however, are incorrect. Although it is true that the Tree Authority did impose a waiting period of 15 days, that period is already over. Activists are saying that the waiting period starts from the date of upload, which is completely false, because the waiting period starts from the date the order was issued.
The US Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack three days ago, his campaign confirmed on Friday. The Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate was released from the hospital.
The 78-year-old Senator was at a campaign event in Nevada on Tuesday when he experienced chest discomfort and was rushed to a hospital. He was transferred to Desert Springs hospital medical centre where he was diagnosed with blocked artery leading to a heart stroke.
“Sen. Sanders was diagnosed with myocardial infarction,” his doctors said in the statement on Friday, using the medical term for a heart attack. “Two stents were placed in a blocked coronary artery in a timely fashion. All other arteries were normal. His hospital course was uneventful with good expected progress,” furthered his doctors.
Soon after his discharge, Bernie took to Twitter to thank all his well-wishers and confirmed that “he felt great”.
“After two and a half days in the hospital, I feel great, and after taking a short time off, I look forward to getting back to work,” he said.
Hello everybody! We’re in Las Vegas. I’m feeling so much better.
Thank you for all of the love and warm wishes that you sent me.
He is expected to return to Vermont and has said he plans to appear at the next Democratic debate, on 15 October.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is running for the President 2020 of the United States as a Democratic candidate. Americans will elect the next president of the United States on November 3, 2020. Twenty-three notable elected officials and public figures, 19 Democrats and four Republicans, are running for president. The most popular amongst the Democrats being Tulsi Gabbard and Donald Trump from the Republic.
Recently, he had issued a statement on Kashmir where he had castigated the Indian government for the restrictions on communication and claimed that India’s actions were “unacceptable”. The Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders further called for a “UN-backed peaceful resolution that respects the will of the people of Kashmir.”
The event where Sanders spoke was organized by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which was listed as a co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) Case by the US Government. The HLF and five of its prominent members were convicted by a Texas jury in 2008 for securing funds for the terrorist group Hamas.
The Far-Left Communist’s stance on Kashmir, where he appears to be toeing the line of the Jihadist state of Pakistan, ought not to surprise anyone. In the past, he has praised several violent dictatorships. In the 1980s, the praised Fidel Castro for his inhumane crimes, for which he was slammed by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democrat Primaries.
In another bizarre incident, an environmental activist group ‘Extinction Rebellion’ activists on Thursday brought an old fire engine filled with 1800 litres of ‘fake blood’ with an intention to spray the 100-year-old building of British Finance ministry. The fire engine had a giant banner reading ‘Stop Funding Climate Death’.
They wanted to convey that the UK treasury has ‘blood on its hands’ for, as Greta Thunberg says, ‘not doing enough’.
However, the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ activists were perhaps unprepared for the challenges a giant hose would possess for untrained hands. As soon as they tried to spray the building, the force of the spray made the hose slip out of the hands of the clueless eco-warrior and instead of painting the building, it started going ROFL, yes, it literally started rolling on the floor.
?♂️? I love the way he keeps talking like it wasn’t a total failure. They can’t operate a machine, can’t plan an operation, didn’t think to practice first. Its almost like these people have never had a proper job ? pic.twitter.com/uXrsNH3L1i
— The James O’Brien Parody Account (@JamesOBonkers) October 3, 2019
As seen in the video above, one eco-warrior did try again to tame the hose but it seemed to have a mind of its own and the climate-change denier hose refused to pay attention to the activist.
The sight of the menacing building in central London being drenched in blood might have made an impressive sight and would probably have filled cover pages and social media timelines all over the world for the next few days, but sadly, the violent hose manufactured by evil corporates had other plans.
The result was a central London street filled with hundreds of litres of ‘fake blood’. The Metropolitan Police eventually seized the engine and had it removed from the scene. They have arrested 8 Extinction Rebellion activists, five men and three women. One of the arrested activists is an 83-year-old man named Phil Kingston, who said, “I fight with all my being for my four grandchildren in this situation of existential danger. Kingston has been arrested 6 times for his environmental activism.
The group was live-streaming the demonstration on Facebook. One of their demands was for the UKEF(UK Export Finance) work towards zero emissions globally by 2050.
The group is planning an ‘International Rebellion’ in four days. It is a two-week-long climate action protests that Extinction Rebellion says it has coordinated with allied movements across 60 global cities to “rebel against the world’s governments for their criminal inaction on the Climate and Ecological Crisis.”
The ‘Extinction Rebellion’ has been known for similar unique protest stunts. Last month, they had members covered in fancy clothes and masks who had held a ‘funeral’ at the London Fashion Week. They had held an elaborate funeral march with coffins and fancy costumes. Ironically, they were demanding for the fashion industry to ‘change everything it does’ because the clothing industry is a major factor in the climate crisis.
“Not to die for.”
Extinction Rebellion @boycottfashion Funeral Procession heads down The Strand to London Fashion Week. #LFW.
Environmental activists have long been coming up with creative ideas to make their point. While it is unclear as to whether they work to make their protests ‘zero-emission’ or think about the waste they are going to generate, but they sure hog a lot of limelight.
Bombay High Court dismissed pleas against BMC decision to cut trees to make way for metro car shed
Which is very good, because the original “crusaders” were a bunch of religious zealots anyway. The environmental activists who are “crusading” for Aarey Colony are just as brainwashed.
How foolish do you have to be to protest against the construction of a mass transit system, that too in a city like Mumbai? When you build the metro, you are allowing literally lakhs of people to switch from polluting autos, cars and two-wheelers to a clean, environment friendly form of transport. You are stopping a whole lot of CO2 from being pumped into the atmosphere.
In terms of the environment, mass transit is always better than private vehicles. On top of that, the Metro runs on electricity. As yet, we do not have a sustainable means of producing electricity from renewable sources, but electricity is a much better bet than others. Most renewable sources: solar, wind, tidal, etc all produce energy in terms of electricity.
And for what it’s worth, the Metro Authority is also planting forests elsewhere. It is not ideal to cut down trees. But the facts are completely clear: building a Metro is a net positive for the environment, even if you have to cut down a tiny part of the forest in order to do it.
But the “activists” who are protesting refuse to understand. Because they are no longer activists at all. Actually, News18 used the term correctly. They are crusaders, with a quasi-religious motive and a level of reasoning that is indistinguishable from religion.
You will notice that the “activists” are not talking numbers or facts. They only talk of cutting down an “ecosystem.” The pitch is based on emotion, not calculation. They are humanizing the birds and animals and even the trees of the forest. They are demanding that we should preserve those exact trees in their exact spots out of some religious sense of duty.
The environment is a practical concern. We cannot survive as a species if we can no longer breathe the air or if we can no longer drink the water. Or if climate change sends most of our cities under water. To stave off disaster, we all need to cooperate with each other.
By turning this practical concern into a quasi-religious form of bigotry, the left (and glamor seeking celebrities) are only enhancing the danger to the environment. The theatrics is only turning people against real concerns over the environment. Who would miss the optics of BMW hopping elites telling common folks they can’t have a metro?
There we have it. An issue that should have united everyone becomes a wedge issue. It becomes all about X vs Y. And the thing we know about wedge issues is that they get stuck in the crossfire between egos on all sides. The problem is that the environment is an issue on which we cannot afford to get stuck.
So everybody loses. Well, except for some celebrities who are looking for fifteen minutes of fame.
This is what the left has done to the environmental movement across the board. What did Greta Thunberg’s speech at the UN actually achieve? It probably pissed off many more people than it won over. So what, the leftists ask? Didn’t Greta Thunberg mobilize millions of people to become conscious about the climate crisis?
It is a fallacy that a cause can succeed simply when there are more people supporting it. You have to account for how many people are arrayed against you and take the difference. This is simple to understand : suppose there are two people pushing a car. Would it be easier to move the car if there were 10 people pushing it in one direction and then 9 others pushing back in the other direction?
So that’s what Greta Thunberg did: she polarized the issue of climate change even further. Getting just as many people to push the car backwards as forwards. And that’s what Aarey “activists” are doing, getting people to hate them. How much longer before we all start fighting over our individual egos, political biases, rich vs poor and all that? Recipe for stalemate.
Within hours of getting the go ahead from Bombay High Court to cut trees in Aarey colony in Mumbai for proposed Mumbai metro car shed, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) swung into action.
Activists and citizens gathered on the spot to protest against the felling of trees. Some even took to Twitter to spread falsehood that there is a 15-day wait period before the authorities cut the trees.
There is supposed to be a 15 day waiting period after permission is granted and notice has been uploaded on official website. But there is no waiting here. Our trees are being cut as citizens desperately plead to STOP this! @moefcc@PrakashJavdekar#Aareyhttps://t.co/nmVP7WllI7
These claims, however, are incorrect. Although it is true that the Tree Authority did impose a waiting period of 15 days, that period is already over. Activists are saying that the waiting period starts from the date of upload, which is completely false, because the waiting period starts from the date the order was issued.
At around 9 PM last night, despite the protests, the Mumbai metro authorities started cutting the trees. Soon, the ‘activists’ started getting rough with the authorities and removed the barricades put up by them. As per latest reports over 800 out of about 2100 trees have been cut by the authorities through the night. About 500 trees will be transplated (uprooting and replanting elsewhere).
The police have blocked roads leading to the proposed site for metro car shed and no one is allowed within 3 km radius. As per reports, around 100 activists have been detained and taken to different police stations.
On Friday, the Bombay High Court dismissed all petitions against the Bombay Municipal Corporation decision to cut 2,700 trees in the Aarey Colony to make way for the Mumbai Metro car shed. The Bombay HC also dismissed the plea to declare Aarey an ‘ecologically sensitive zone and floodplain’.
Mumbai Metro is an ambitious infrastructure project which attempts to connect every nook and corner of the city. A city clogged with traffic and people this comes as a mode of quick, safe and cheap transit. By reducing vehicular traffic the metro de-clogs the roads and an independent UNFCC study points to the fact that it shall reduce CO2emission by 2.6 lakh metric tons every year.
Aarey is spread over 1278 hectares of land, out which, the metro car shed will be only built on 30 Hectare of Aarey land and even within that, 5 Hectare has been kept intact for greenery. So in a nutshell, only 2% area of the entire Aarey Colony will be utilized for the proposed metro car shed.
The proposed metro shed had triggered widespread protests, where assorted NGOs and film stars joined hands to oppose the shed. The protestors argue that the present government is killing the lungs of the city and destroying forests and that the move is anti-environment. However, the fact is that Aarey is not a forest but ‘grazing land’.
The campaign against the Metro project has been ridden with several lies and inaccuracies. It has almost become the professional demand of certain NGOs to stall development work by citing ‘environmental reasons’. Recently, Mumbai High Court imposed a fine of rupees one lakh on an NGO for filing a frivolous petition to stall development project in Navi Mumbai. The court noted that the PIL filed by Abhivyakti, the NGO, was motivated to somehow stall development work in Navi Mumbai.
