Tag: BJP

  • Right wing Indian leader says there was love triangle involving Trudeau and Nijjar

    Right wing Indian leader says there was love triangle involving Trudeau and Nijjar

    In a surprising twist amidst the ongoing diplomatic standoff between India and Canada, Tejinder Pall Singh Bagga, the national secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), has made a sensational claim regarding the late Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Bagga asserts that Nijjar was gay and suggests a personal connection between him and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

    The assertion by Bagga comes at a critical juncture in the strained relations between the two nations. The dispute erupted when Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in Nijjar’s killing, prompting a swift response from India.

    Meanwhile, the US has urged India to cooperate fully with the Canadian investigations, as was reiterated following the meeting between Minister of External Affairs of India S. Jaishankar and counterpart Antony Blinken.

    Canadian MP from Surrey, Sukhminder aka Sukh Singh Dhaliwal, has meanwhile rubbished allegations of him being close to Pakistani intelligence organisation ISI, saying that as a member of the Parliament, he would not be close to any member of a foreign spy agency.

    Some Indian right wingers have suggested that ISI was behind Nijjar’s killing, but Canada has maintained that the “foreign agent” involved in the killing was from an “Indian agency”.

    Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed outside a Surrey gurudwara on June 18 by unidentified gunmen. India had, in 2020, designated him as a terrorist. Nijjar was involved in networking, financing, and training the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) module, India alleges.

  • ‘Will die here but not go back’: Indians seek asylum in Pakistan

    ‘Will die here but not go back’: Indians seek asylum in Pakistan

    Two Indian citizens who illegally travelled to Karachi last week have asserted that they would rather go to jail in Pakistan than go back to their own country.

    Identified as Mohammad Hasnain and Ishaq Ameer, the father and son want to seek asylum as their lives are threatened in India with increased religious extremism and Islamophobia, Karachi police have said.

    Dawn spoke with Karachi Deputy Inspector General of Police (South) Asad Raza who stated that the two are not suspected spies, “but were considered victims of religious bias and persecution in India”.

    For now, both the Indians have been sent to an Edhi Shelter home. According to IGP Raza, they seem to want to seek asylum here.

    The duo also protested outside Karachi Press Club on September 25 against the Indian government and its persecution of Muslims.

    “We are ready to go to jail but not back to India,” the police quoted them in a statement. “We will be killed as soon as we step on Indian land if we are deported.

    “If you want to kill us, kill us in Pakistan. At least we will get some land (for burial). In India, we won’t even get that,”

    The father-son also spoke with the media.

    The two left New Delhi on September 5 for the UAE and approached Afghanistan embassy for a visa. They then travelled to Kabul followed by air travel to Kandahar where they spent a night.

    Shedding light on the atrocities committed in India against Muslims and the lack of media coverage, Hasnain states that they are not the first ones to flee the country, stressing that many others have left before them but they could afford foreign citizenship in Europe, America, Britain, Germany, or Canada.

    “Those who are well off migrated to Turkey, Azerbaijan, or Malaysia. I did not have that stature. I had less money,” he added.
    They were not allowed to check in a hotel room in Karachi since they did not possess an identification card.

    Hasnain’s son Ameer said that they directly went to the office of IG Sindh on reaching Orangi Town, Karachi.

    “As soon as we reached there, we kept our baggage on the side, raised our hands, and said we are here to surrender.”

  • ‘Anti-Muslim hate speech increases in India around elections’: Hindutva Watch

    ‘Anti-Muslim hate speech increases in India around elections’: Hindutva Watch

    A recent report on Hindutva Watch by Raqib Hameed Naik, Aarushi Srivastava and Abhyudaya Tayagi titled ‘2023 Half-Yearly Report: Anti-Muslim Hate Speech Events in India’ reveals that there have been 255 documented incidents of hate speech in gatherings targeting Muslims in the first half of 2023.

    The watchdog used the definition of hate speech by the United Nations which states, “any form of communication, whether oral, written, or behavioral, that employs prejudiced or discriminatory language towards an individual or group based on attributes such as religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender, or other identity factors.” This definition includes all forms of expression, including speech, writing or behavior, and specifically focuses on any language that is either discriminatory (biased, bigoted, or intolerant) or “pejorative” (prejudiced, contemptuous or demeaning) of an individual or group.

    It also notes that overwhelmingly, 205 (80 per cent) of these hate speech events occurred in BJP-ruled states and union territories. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat witnessed the highest number of hate speech gatherings, with Maharashtra alone accounting for 29 per cent of such incidents.

    Strikingly, seven out of the top eight states with the highest hate speech events are governed by the BJP and its coalition partners. Around 52 per cent of hate speech gatherings in BJP-ruled states and union territories were orchestrated by entities affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal, the Sakal Hindu Samaj, and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Overall, 42 per cebt of all hate speech gatherings in 17 states which includes two centrally controlled territories were organized by groups affiliated with the RSS.

    The report finds that approximately 64 per cent of the events in BJP-ruled states and union territories incorporated references to popular Hindu far-right anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. Overall, 51 per cent of all the hate speech gatherings in 17 states which includes two centrally controlled territories featured anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.

    A concerning 33 per cent of all the gatherings explicitly called for violence against Muslims and about 11 per cent of events included explicit calls for Hindus to boycott Muslims. Disturbingly, 4 per cent of all the events featured hate-filled and sexist speeches explicitly targeting Muslim women.

    Nearly 12 per cent of events featured calls to arms. Notably, 33 per cent of hate speech events took place in states that have already conducted or are set to conduct state legislative elections in 2023. Furthermore, over 36 per cent of these events occurred in states slated to hold legislative elections in 2024. In total, nearly 70 per cent of these events were reported in states with legislative elections either in 2023 or 2024.

    Hindutva Watch tracks the activity of Hindu far-right organizations and their members on social media, scraping data from X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Telegram to find verifiable videos of hate speech events. They also employ data scraping techniques to identify verifiable videos of hate speech events, followed by in-depth research conducted by a team of dedicated journalists and researchers. Additionally, they draw upon credible reporting from established news organizations to compile comprehensive data. To ensure the accuracy of their findings, they conduct verification processes, confirming the authenticity of the videos, their precise location, and the date on which they were recorded.

  • ‘Spread love not hate’: AP Dhillon supports Shubhneet Singh

    ‘Spread love not hate’: AP Dhillon supports Shubhneet Singh

    Canadian-Indian rapper Shubhneet Singh is facing backlash from conservative politicians and social media users accusing him of being a Khalistan supporter, after the rapper’s post from March recirculated around social media. Several cricket players like Virat Kohli, Hardick Panday and KL Rahul had unfollowed the rapper on Instagram following the controversy.

    Singh’s tour in India in September was cancelled, after sponsor BoAt announced they were no longer sponsoring the tour as they announced in a post on their X, formerly Twitter, account.

    “At boAt, while our commitment to the incredible music community runs deep, we are first and foremost a true Indian brand. Therefore, when we became aware of the remarks made by artist Shubh earlier this year, we chose to withdraw our sponsorship from the tour.”

    BookMyShow, the online ticket portal confirmed on their X account that they were refunding customers who had purchased ticket’s for Shubh’s concert in Mumbai and other cities.

    In light of these accusations, Indian rapper AP Dhillon released a lengthy statement on his Instagram stories where he publicly sided with the ‘We Rollin’ rapper, condemning the way artists are targeted by special interest and political groups.

    “As an artist it has become almost impossible to stay focused on your craft and do what you love. I try to be mindful of everyone’s sentiments but it has gotten to a point where we have to second and triple guess our every move due to the fear of unintentionally fueling even more division.”

    “Spread love, not hate,” wrote the ‘Brown Munde’ rapper. “Let’s start thinking for ourselves and not let hateful influences program our beliefs. We are ALL one. Let’s not let man made social constructs divide us. Division has gotten us to this point but unity is the key to the future.”

    Shubhneet Singh addressed the backlash in a lengthy statement posted on his Instagram account and said he found the allegations “extremely disheartening.”

    “My intent in resharing that post on my story was only to pray for Punjab as there were reports of electricity and internet shutdowns throughout the state. There was no other thought behind it, and I definitely didn’t intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments.”

    The backlash to Shubh arrives after relations between India and Canada took a sour turn when Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government for being involved in the death of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been a vocal supporter of setting up a separate state for Sikhs living in India.

    “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” said Trudeau.

    “In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

    READ MORE: Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    After the Instagram post by Shubhneet went viral, the youth wing of the BJP party in India BJYMP filed an FIR against the rapper with the Mumbai Police, calling Singh a Khalistan supporter.

    “Shubh is openly a Khalistani supporter,” the complaint read. “And if he is allowed to hold a concert here, he will be influencing a lot of youth in Mumbai and our country to support his agenda…He has evidently proven that he is a pro-Khalistani activist and openly supports their agenda and [he] is also influencing the youth of the country to do the same and wage a war against the Government of India by posting such absurd and derogatory post about Government of India.”

  • Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    Canadian Punjabi rapper Shubhneet Singh has been targeted by right wing politicians after sharing a cryptic post on his Instagram stories, leading to allegations that he supported the notion of setting up a separate state for Sikhs in India. On Thursday, ticketing platform Book My Show announced on X (formerly Twitter) that they had cancelled bookings for the Punjabi rapper’s shows in cities like Delhi and Kolkata, refunded money to the customers.

    “Singer Shubhneet Singh’s Still Rollin Tour for India stands cancelled. To that end, BookMyShow has initiated a complete refund of the ticket amount for all consumers who had purchased tickets for the show. The refund will be reflected within 7-10 working days in the customer’s source account of the original transaction.”

    This development came after members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM)- the youth wing of the right wing party BJP, launched protests against Shubhneet. On March 23, the rapper had shared a map of India on his Instagram stories, which didn’t show Punjab or occupied Jammu and Kashmir as part of the country, along with the hashtag #prayforpunjab.

    Members of the BJYM wrote to the Mumbai Police, calling for an FIR to be registered against Shubhneet “for waging war against Government of India and posting anti-government posts”.

    “Shubh is openly a Khalistani supporter,” the complaint read. “And if he is allowed to hold a concert here, he will be influencing a lot of youth in Mumbai and our country to support his agenda…He has evidently proven that he is a pro-Khalistani activist and openly supports their agenda and [he] is also influencing the youth of the country to do the same and wage a war against the Government of India by posting such absurd and derogatory post about Government of India.”

    The tensions arrive after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a strongly worded statement about the murder of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Monday, stating that there was credible evidence of the connection between the murderers and the Indian government.

    “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” said Trudeau.

    “In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

    READ MORE: ‘Credible allegations’; Trudeau blames Indian govt agents for Nijjar murder

    Nijjar was a vocal supporter of the creation of Khalistan- a separate state for Sikhs living in India. He was branded as a terrorist by the Indian government, which maintained that he was wanted by the state for his active involvement with the Khalistan Tiger Force (KLF) an organisation declared as a terrorist group by the country. Nijjar was shot outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, which was deemed as a targeted attack by the police.

  • Serious or sarcasm? Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday wish to Indian PM Modi divides social media

    Serious or sarcasm? Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday wish to Indian PM Modi divides social media

    Shah Rukh Khan is fresh off another professional high as his film ‘Jawan’ gets rave reviews from audiences and film critics alike. However, the actor was once again targeted by social media for sending birthday wish to the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi. Many felt the message was a complete departure from the actor’s image as a driving force against extremism. Others felt that the actor was mocking the PM in a subtle manner.

    “Happy Birthday to Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi ji!!! Have a healthy and joyful day. May u get some time off from work and have a bit of fun too. Best wishes.”

    The Bollywood Badshah was slammed for still supporting the PM, whose controversial regime is mirred with extremism, rising Islamophobia, and for jailing the superstar’s son Aryan Khan in 2021 on misled charges, cleared in May 2022.

    “With great success comes great responsibility,yet nobody is cancelling srk for a political stance.We are easily riled up against our artists,” wrote a user.

    Many were critical of how the ‘Pathaan’ actor has remained silent about the ongoing persecution of Muslims in India.

    But for others, many interpreted the actor advising Modi to “ake time off work” as a sarcastic dig implying that he is too old for the position any longer..

    Is King Khan subtly telling Modi to retire completely or actually sending a compliment? We’re not sure either but we’re hoping its the latter!

  • Venkatesh Prasad deletes viral tweet about Jay Shah, abuses Muslim journalist for sharing screenshot

    Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad on Saturday tweeted what many social media users believe was a cryptic tweet targeting Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah, who is also secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

    “It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy to take away the hard work of an organisation that is generally non-corrupt and get a stamp of corruption on the whole leadership, not just on a micro level but at a large level.”

    Prasad’s tweet made many X (former Twitter) users speculate if the former cricketer had targeted BCCI and Jay Shah, son of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah. However, Prasad soon deleted his tweet.

    Indian journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair posted a screenshot of the tweet deleted by Prasad.

    AltNews co-founder Zubair was not the only one who posted a screenshot of Prasad’s deleted tweet. Many news outlets did a story on it as well. However, Prasad chose to target and abuse Zubair in a racist and bigoted tweet.

    Prasad quote-tweeted Zubair and wrote: “Haha.. Says a serial hate- monger, who has put so many lives in danger for his agenda. You disguising as a fact-checker is like Terrorists talking about peace. Now post that you need money to survive and ask for donation for your website, no shame in living off by fooling people.”

    In response, Zubair said that he hopes Prasad will be forgiven for his tweet on BCCI by his “political masters for compensating by abusing and comparing” him to “terrorists”.

    One user pointed out that Venkatesh Prasad’s manager is Amritanshu Gupta, a known right-wing BJP supporter, which is why Prasad’s language is of right-wing trolls.

    Many X users called out the former Indian cricketer for his bigoted and hateful tweet against a Muslim journalist in India.

    Prasad posted a new version of his deleted tweet a day later.

  • India to be renamed soon?

    A proposal to officially change India’s name to Bharat may be tabled by the Narendra Modi-led government during the upcoming special session of the Parliament from September 18-22.

    Speculation about the name change was fuelled amid reports that Rashtrapati Bhawan has sent an invite for a G20 dinner on September 9 in the name of “President of Bharat” instead of the usual “President of India”.

    The Constitution of India currently refers to the country as “India, that is Bharat…”, but there is a growing call among the ruling party’s right-wing support base to amend this to simply “Bharat”.

    Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Parvesh Verma has also prepared a private member’s bill seeking to amend the Constitution’s preamble to remove the word India even as lawmakers have been informed that there will be no private members’ day or zero question hours during the special session.

    Verma’s bill says the name Bharat has been widely recognised internationally as an alternate name for India as reported by Hindustan Times.

    “By officially adopting ‘Bharat’ as the formal name of our nation, we will establish a unified identity in global forums, promoting India’s cultural and historical heritage on the international stage. Renaming India as ‘Bharat’ will reinforce our cultural identity, foster national unity, and project a more authentic representation of our country’s rich heritage on the global stage.” It adds this move will align with the aspirations of the citizens seeking to embrace and “celebrate our cultural roots.”

    There was no official confirmation of the introduction of the renaming bill even as the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc constituents linked the reference to the Bharat in the G20 invite to the BJP’s nervousness over the formidable challenge they pose to the ruling party.

    On the previous Thursday, the government announced a special session, triggering speculation that it has been convened for a Uniform Civil Code legislation, the celebration of India’s G20 presidency, and the new Parliament building, etc.

    BJP’s ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has been pushing for the change in name from India, using Bharat in its communication.

    Congress leader Jairam Ramesh hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rashtrapati Bhawan’s invite for the G20 dinner on September 9 in the name of “President of Bharat” instead of the usual “President of India”. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he cited the Constitution’s Article 1 that “Bharat, that is India, shall be a Union of States” and added now even this “Union of States” is under assault.

    Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the BJP whether it would change the name of Bharat if the opposition alliance INDIA renamed itself Bharat.
    “There is no official information about it but I have heard rumours. Why is this happening? Some parties have come together to form the INDIA bloc. If the INDIA alliance changes its name to Bharat, will they rename Bharat?” Kejriwal said. “This is treason.”

    People took to X to question the alleged decision by the BJP. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K.Stalin, said, “After Non-BJP forces united to dethrone the fascist BJP regime and aptly named their alliance #INDIA, now the BJP wants to change ‘India’ for ‘Bharat.’”

    Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009 and writer Shashi Tharoor and said, “I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with “India”

    Investigative Journalist Saurav Das took a rather humorous take and questioned why ‘Prime Minister of India’ isn’t being called ‘Emperor of Bharat’.

    Journalist Nidhi Razdan questioned whether every stakeholder was contacted in this regard or not stating that India belongs to all instead of one political party.

  • Naseeruddin Shah opens up about ‘love jihad’ accusations on marriage to Ratna Pathak

    Naseeruddin Shah opens up about ‘love jihad’ accusations on marriage to Ratna Pathak

    Bollywood veteran Naseeruddin Shah recently wrote an open letter to the National Herald where he addressed his 41-year long marriage to Hindu wife and actress, Ratna Pathak. He wrote that their bond has remained strong despite accusations of ‘love jihad’ levied by the spouse of an ex-prime minister, who told him “No one said anything when you married outside your religion.”

    “I had no compunctions or hesitation about marrying a Hindu, and vice-versa.” wrote the ‘Masoom’ actor. “I didn’t dream that some put-out-to-pasture spouse of an ex-cabinet minister would, 38 years after my marriage, threaten me with ‘no one said anything when you married outside your religion’, stopping short of accusing me of love jihad but clearly implying that my time was now up.”

    The actor, who met Ratna during the rehearsal for Satyadev Dubey’s play ‘Sambhog se Sanyas Tak’ in 1975. The actor went on to clarify that he was incredibyl supportive of whether the actress wished to convert to Islam or not, and so was his mother:

    “As it happened, the subject of my wife Ratna converting to Islam was brought up just once by my mother and that as enquiry, to which on receiving a reply in the negative, she concurred with a ‘Haan, mazhab kaise badla jaa sakta hai.’ Whether this statement of a woman weaned exclusively on a diet of the Quran makes more sense than the hate-filled rhetoric of ‘Hindus and Muslims cannot live together’, I will leave to the judgement of the reader.”

    The ‘Ishqiya’ actor went on to emphasize how his strong partnership is proof that Muslims and Hindus can live together peacefully:

    “All I can say is that my union (accepted unquestioningly by both families) with a Hindu woman for 40 years so far is proof— if proof were needed—that it is not only possible but desirable for Hindus and Muslims to live together. So, from where did this poison appear? Or were the seeds of hatred planted during Partition slowly germinating all that while?”

    READ MORE: ‘Her parents were against it’: Naseeruddin Shah opens up about obstacles to marrying Ratna Pathak

    The actor had previously gushed about Ratna being a supportive partner who stuck with him through thick and thin, and how the two have remained close friends:

    “I just felt I’d like to know this person. Over the process of rehearsals, we got to know each other. I think she also liked what she saw. It’s been a great blessing because we have stood by each other through thick and thin. She has stood by me rather through thick and thin, through very difficult times, and through very good times. I think the main reason for that is because we have remained friends – that’s the most important thing.”

    “Ratna was a blessing for me. In hindsight, she probably deserved better—I had been married before and was a drug addict when I met her. In fact, her parents never approved of our match. But Ratna being who she was, never paid any heed to it. We never paid any heed to it. We knew we wanted to be together and that’s what we did. And that resulted in this beautiful partnership and friendship that we share to this day. I consider myself very lucky to have had Ratna with me through every thick and thin, and every sadness and happiness. It’s beautiful how we still find something new about each other every day, even after all this time–something more to love and cherish about the other person. More than anything else, that is what I live for.”

  • Sunny Deol wants Pakistan and India to put aside their differences

    Sunny Deol wants Pakistan and India to put aside their differences

    Bollywood actor Sunny Deol wants peace between Pakistan and India. The action star was speaking at the trailer launch of his upcoming film ‘Gadar 2’ where he called for both India and Pakistan to put aside their differences and not allow what he termed “the political game” to keep creating rifts between the two countries.

    “The essence lies in humanity, not in taking or giving. A conflict between the two sides should not prevail. There is love on both sides. It is the political blame game that creates hatred between India and Pakistan, a theme reflected in this film. Both nations comprise of people who seek peace, as we are essentially one and the same.”

    On Twitter, reactions from Indian users were mostly negative, who felt that the actor, who was also a member of the hardliner BJP, had spent most of his career making anti-Pakistani movies but now was flipping the narrative.

    https://twitter.com/dontwannashar3/status/1684314493449297922?s=20

    Yesterday, it was actor Adnan Siddiqui who called for peace between India and Pakistan, while speaking to the Indian Express:

    “Art has no boundaries, but artistes have a certain boundary, which shouldn’t be there. There should be healthy cultural exchange. I believe that the kind of tolerance–pardon me for being so blunt–but our tolerance, in comparison to Indian audience is much higher. We accept Indian artistes, Indian cricketers, we accept everything good about India. But when this thing goes across the border, it becomes very political. I don’t know why.”

    Read more: ‘Our tolerance is much higher’: Adnan Siddiqui thinks Pakistanis are more accepting than Indian audiences