Officers and 30 policemen just watched as 4 Muslims were lynched in Jharkhand: Indian Express Report

May 23, 2017

Two officers and 30 policemen were mute witness to the lynching of four Muslims in Jharkhand on May 18. Evidence of the same is video clips of the killing which have surfaced and have been accessed by the Indian Express.

Jharkhand lynching: Video grab shows ASI Gope, his face to camera; Gope at station (right) and in-charge T P Kushwaha. Subham Dutta

According to the report in the Express, as the four were lynched over five hours during the early hours of May 18, present on the spot alongside a mob was a Deputy Superintendent of police, a Circle Inspector, two Assistant Sub-inspectors and at least 30 policemen.

The Indian Express tracked down two of the policemen who are seen speaking to the mob in videos of the incident and also spoke to several of the eyewitnesses to piece together the sequence of events that ended with the deaths in Shobhapur of Naim (35), Sheikh Sajju (25), Sheikh Siraj (26) and Sheikh Halim (28).

It’s not a case of the police looking the other way; they were in fact watching the lynching unfold in front of their eyes.

“Please, I beg you. Don’t talk to me. I am just a small officer. I was there but I cannot talk to you. Please contact my superiors”, Sashibhusan Gope, the ASI on duty at the Rajnagar station pleaded with the Indian Express correspondent.

Anta Tudu, the mukhiya of Shobhapur, said, “We rushed out of our homes on hearing that the child-lifters had been caught. Police arrived in time and spoke to the villagers for a while, but there was no action on their part. It is sad that such an incident happened.

Meanwhile taking suo moto notice of the lynchings, the National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to Jharkhand's Director General of Police calling for a detailed report within four weeks.

Read the full Indian Express report.

Also read: Adivasis lynch 7 persons in a day in Jharkhand over child abduction rumours.

Yogi effect: RSS men convert 43 Muslims in Uttar Pradesh to Hinduism

May 23, 2017

Once Adityanath became the chief minister, convincing members of the minority community to change their faith was easier, says RSS activist.

With Adityanath’s elevation as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh creating a climate of uncertainty among the state’s minorities, activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are finding greater success in their programme to persuade Muslims to convert to Hinduism.

Over the past month, at least two instances of Muslims being converted to Hinduism have been recorded in Faizabad. Hindutva organisations refer to the conversions of members of minority communities as “ghar wapasi” – home coming.

Nineteen Muslims were converted on April 23, while 24 more were converted on May 20. Both sets of conversions took place in a temple in Faizabad, even though all the converts were from Ambedkar Nagar, said Surendra Kumar, an RSS worker in Ambedkar Nagar district, who helped organise the ceremony.

Himanshu Tripathi, the manager of the Arya Samaj Mandir where the conversions took place, said that he was in contact with nearly 100 Muslims who would be converted to Hinduism “in due course”.

“We have successfully accomplished two events of ghar wapasi after Yogiji became the chief minister,” Tripathi said. “I am in touch with about 100 more Muslims who have shown inclination to get back to Hinduism. You will hear of more such cases in the time to come.”

Tripathi insisted that the conversions were voluntary. “Though Surendra Kumar brought these Muslims to the temple and I organised ghar wapasi ceremonies, there was no element of force in it,” he said. “We organised ghar wapasi because they expressed their desire to become Hindus.”

Said Kumar: “I had been working on them for several years, but once Yogiji became the chief minister, convincing them that they could live without fear…if they converted to Hinduism became easier for me.”

Kumar belongs to the Nat caste, which is listed as a scheduled caste in Uttar Pradesh. While one section of this caste follows Hinduism, another practises Islam. All new converts belonged to the Nat community. “As I myself belong to this caste, I could easily explain to Muslim members of the community about the risk of continuing to follow Islam,” Kumar said, “and the benefits they might get by becoming Hindus.”

RSS worker Surendra Kumar, who was instrumental in organising the recent conversions.

This article was first published on Scroll.in

Yogi Adityanath to scrap quota for Muslims in UP

May 23, 2017

Photo credit: Indian Express

The Yogi Adityanath government in UP has decided to scrap the 20 per cent quota for Muslims provided under various schemes launched by his predecessor, Akhilesh Yadav.
The Yadav led Samajwadi party government had provided for this quota in some 85 different government schemes.

The move is in with Adityanath’s apparent bid to revert many of the schemes started by Yadav. The BJP government has also knocked off the word “Samajwadi” from many of the schemes, renaming them with “Mukhyamantri”.

"We are in the process of studying all the schemes. We will continue those which we consider are important but scrap others," deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya told the media.

The BJP justifies the proposed move on the ground that its government is committed to end all schemes that are aimed at “appeasement of specific castes or communities.

The decision of the proposed move comes within days of a decision by the government not to distribute some 60 lakh ration cards printed by the previous government.

This is because these ration cards had photographs of Akhilesh Yadav.
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For greeting UP CM Adityanath with black flags, case registered against 500 Dalits in Moradabad

May 22, 2017

Dalits protesting atrocities against the community under watch of UP chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, over 500 of them blocked the roads, raised slogans against the CM and greeted him black flags in Moradabad on Sunday, ABP news channel has reported.

Also read: Dalit Assertion; Bhim Army at Jantar Mantar

The police have registered a case against 500 persons who are incensed over the growing “discrimination” and “unjust practices” against UP Dalits in general and in particular at the atrocities against the community in Saharanpur district by Thakurs on May 5.

The case has been filed on a complaint lodged by the police station in-charge of Majhora police station, Hoshiyar Singh.

The protestors also alleged that a police officer had tried to hurl a shoe at a protesting Dalit.

Demanding justice from the chief minister the protestors alleged that Dalits were being mistreated by the upper castes since his taking over the reign in the state.

Dalit charges Karnataka BJP chief Yeddyurappa with practicing untouchability

May 22, 2017

A Dalit youth has filed a complaint with the Mandya district police against Karnataka’s BJP chief, BS Yeddyurappa for practicing untouchability, the Indian Express has reported.

According to the report, Venkatesh D has complained that during his visit to Chitradurga district last Friday, the BJP leader put up a show before the media of eating at a Dalit home but it wasn’t food the family had prepared. It had been ordered from a hotel.

The complainant said such action from the BJP leader would send a wrong message to society, in particular in his own home district Mandya which has already seen several honour killings in recent marriages.

The police confirmed they had received the complaint and would take necessary action after looking into the matter.

Yeddyurappa is already faced with a similar controversy on social media following photographs showing him eating “tatte idli” at a Dalit house in Tumkur district.

Following the allegations leaders from the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) have lashed out at Yeddyurappa alleging that he has dishonoured Dalits wth his “stunts”.

In response, Yeddyurappa has accused his detractors of dishonouring Dalits and demanded that they apologise to the Dalits in whose homes he had breakfast.

Will accept SC verdict on triple talaq: AIMPLB general secretary Wali Rahmani

May 22, 2017

The general secretary of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Maulana Wali Rahmani has told the Urdu daily Inquilab that the Board will accept the Supreme Court’s verdict on the issue of triple talaq.

He added that the Board will consider its future course of action after the apex court’s judgement which has been reserved after a weeklong hearing by a Constitution bench which concluded on May 18.

He said the Board has clearly spelt out its stand on the issue before the Constitution bench and was confident of a favourable outcome.

Reiterating that the Board will accept the SC’s ruling whatever it may be, he added that after all its not as if the court is going to pass its judgment “eyes closed”. The issue, he said was straightforward and the Board has already acted on the court’s suggestion.

The bench, he said, had suggested that a model and modern nikahnama may be adopted to which the Board was readily agreeable. The Board, he said, will be issuing an advisory to all qazis (who solemnize marriages) in this regard.

Asked whether a court order contrary to the Board’s stand was likely to recreate the scenario following the Shah Bano judgment (1986), Maulana Rahmani said it’s too early to comment on that.

However, he added that the conditions prevailing in India then were very different from how things are today.

Commenting on the media coverage of the triple talaq debate in and out of court, the maulana said from the media coverage (the electronic media in particular) of the issue during the past 18 months it would seem as if triple talaq was the biggest problem before the country.

Farewell to Hinduism? Now, 2,000 Dalits from Aligarh threaten to embrace Islam

May 22, 2017

What could be more embarrassing for the self-proclaimed Ambedkar bhakt, PM Modi, the UP CM Yogi and the sangh parivar than this?

Moradabad Dalits: Symbolic farewell to Dalits.

Earlier it was Moradabad and Sambhal. Now, over 2,000 Dalits from Aligarh alleging police inaction in the face of continuing upper caste Thakur atrocities against them have threatened to embrace Islam. In some other instances, Dalits have already converted to Buddhism or declared their intent of doing so in the near future.

The threat to turn to Islam was triggered by a clash last Tuesday over construction of a Bhai Baba temple near an abandoned well which was opposed by local Thakurs, according to a report in the Times of India.

On Sunday they immersed pictures of Hindu gods in a rivulet close to their village in a symbolic goodbye to Hinduism.

Bunti Singh, a Dalit leader and resident of Keshopur Jhopri village told the Times of India they had decided to convert to Islam in protest against “discrimination and harassment: by upper caste Hindus.

Also read: Attacks on Dalits in UP: Valmikis say 'farewell' to Hinduism, threaten to convert to Islam.
Threat to convert to Islam helps: Barbers in Sambhal give haircuts to Dalits under police protection.

Alleging political opportunism, Singh said that the upper castes treated Dalits as fellow Hindus at the time of elections but after that reverted to treating them shabbily.

“They don’t consider us as part of Hindu community and use derogatory language against us. It is better for Dalits to convert,” said Bunty.

He alleged that since the coming to power of Yogi Adityanath as UP’s chief minister, the upper castes have started flexing their muscles. “Atrocities against Dalits have been on the rise, with the active participation of rightwing Hindu organizations”.

Another Dalit from the village, Jaiveer Singh alleged that the Thakurs have dug up drains from their toilets towards the spot where the Dalits were planning to install their idol with obvious intent.

While admitting that some Thakurs had done so, Devendra Chauhan husband of the village Pradhan, told the Times of India that the matter had since been resolved and that some local Dalit leaders were creating disharmony for their own vested interests.

Aligarh’s senior superintendent of police, Rajesh Pandey told the Times of India that adequate police force has been deputed and attempts were afoot to resolve the issue amicably.

Police case against Yeddyurappa for practising untouchability

May 22, 2017

Former Karnataka chief minister and veteran BJP leader, BS Yeddyurappa, has landed himself in a spot of bother after a Dalit youth filed a police complaint against him for practising untouchability.

In his complaint, Venkatesh D alleged that, during his visit to Chitradurga district on Friday, Yeddyurappa had visited a Dalit family in Kelakote, where he had breakfast.

Venkatesh said that the Idli consumed by the former chief minister and other BJP functionaries were not prepared by the Dalit family adding that it was ordered from a hotel.

Venkatesh has also lodged a complaint with the Home Minister G Parameshwara who visited the family the family on Saturday.

The complainant said that Yeddyurappa’s action amounted to discrimination and untouchability.

Also accompanying Yeddyurappa in Gubbi taluk of Tumakuru district was KS Eshwarappa, Ananth Kumar.

Reacting to the news, the JDS’s state president, H D Kumaraswamy, had said, “Why did Yeddyurappa not eat the pulao prepared in their home?”

The incident has left the BJP red-faced given that the state goes for polls in less than a year’s time.

“The complaint is politically motivated and lodged by those who have been shaken by the dalit outreach programme.Their frustration is palpable,” Times of India quoted a BJP spokesperson.

As for Yedyurappa, he demanded apology from both the JDS and Congress for ‘disrespecting’ the Dalit family.

He said, “All the leaders who raised the issue must apologise to Dalits at whose homes I had breakfast.”

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter

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Officers and 30 policemen just watched as 4 Muslims were lynched in Jharkhand: Indian Express Report

Yogi effect: RSS men convert 43 Muslims in Uttar Pradesh to Hinduism

Once Adityanath became the chief minister, convincing members of the minority community to change their faith was easier, says RSS activist.

Yogi Adityanath to scrap quota for Muslims in UP

For greeting UP CM Adityanath with black flags, case registered against 500 Dalits in Moradabad

Dalit charges Karnataka BJP chief Yeddyurappa with practicing untouchability

Will accept SC verdict on triple talaq: AIMPLB general secretary Wali Rahmani

Farewell to Hinduism? Now, 2,000 Dalits from Aligarh threaten to embrace Islam

What could be more embarrassing for the self-proclaimed Ambedkar bhakt, PM Modi, the UP CM Yogi and the sangh parivar than this?

Police case against Yeddyurappa for practising untouchability

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