Wrestler Virender Singh Yadav was recently conferred the Padma Shri award for his achievement in sports. A deaf and mute athlete, he then went on to do something that may make a loud noise in the days to come, especially if the mainstream TV media reaches him soon.

Yadav, wearing his many hard earned medals, and holding the scroll containing his Padma award citation, is now sitting in protest outside Hayana Bhawan in Delhi. He took to Twitter to share the news that he will sit in protest till Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar recognises the state’s hearing impared sports persons as para-athletes. Singh, who was born in Sasroli near Jhajjar in Haryana, cannot speak or hear, but has already made a brave and loud statement with his act of demanding the rights for others like him. He asked the Haryana CM, “Sir, I am sitting on the footpath of your residence Delhi Haryana Bhawan and I will not move from here till you will give equal rights to deaf players like para players, when the Center gives us equal rights then why not you?”

माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री @mlkhattar जी आपके आवास दिल्ली हरियाणा भवन के फुटपाथ पर बैठा हूँ और यहाँ से जब तक नहीं हटूँगा जब तक आप हम मूक-बधिर खिलाड़ियों को पैरा खिलाड़ियों के समान अधिकार नहीं देंगे, जब केंद्र हमें समान अधिकार देती है तो आप क्यों नहीं? @ANI pic.twitter.com/4cJv9WcyRG

— Virender Singh. (@GoongaPahalwan) November 10, 2021

Ironically Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had taken to Twitter to congratulate Singh when he received the Padma Award a few days ago. Khattar had hailed Singh as a “son of Haryana and para wrestler” after he won the award.

यह समस्त प्रदेशवासियों के लिए गर्व की बात है कि हरियाणा के बेटे व फ्री-स्टाइल रेसलिंग के पैरा पहलवान श्री वीरेन्द्र सिंह जी को ‘पद्मश्री’ पुरस्कार से सम्मानित किया गया है। इस अवॉर्ड के लिए उन्हें हार्दिक बधाई एवं शुभकामनाएं। pic.twitter.com/wMcnbHE5Fb

— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) November 9, 2021

In the Deaflympics, Singh won three gold and a bronze medal in the 74 kg category and has now demanded that he wants the same rights,  prize money and accolades as para athletes. He said, “For the past four years, I have been running from pillar to post. I am a junior coach even today and have not received any cash award,” adding that he had also spoken to the Prime Minister yesterday, and that the decision was now for Khattar to take.

मुख्यमंत्री जी आप मुझे पैरा खिलाड़ी मानते है तो पैरा के समान अधिकार क्यों नहीं देते,पिछले चार वर्ष से दर-दर की ठोंकरे खा रहा हूँ मैं आज भी जूनियर कोच हूँ और न ही समान केश अवार्ड दिया गया, कल इस बारे मे मैंने प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी से बात की हैं अब फैसला आपको करना है! https://t.co/DC6UydM7AV

— Virender Singh. (@GoongaPahalwan) November 10, 2021

Singh, who is also known as the ‘Goonga Pehelwan’, received the Padma Shri from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. By Wednesday, Singh posted a photo of himself sitting on the footpath outside the Haryana Bhawan here holding on to the Padma Shri, with the Arjuna Award trophy and many other medals. Singh has hinted that he has been denied the rights accorded to Paralympic athletes. According to reports, the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD)  is the body which conducts sports events specifically for sportspersons who are only deaf. The Deaflympics, though recognised by the International Paralympic Committee, are not a part of the Paralympic Games. Hence the hearing impaired athletes do not get the same benefits that Paralumpians get in India as indicated by Singh.

Virender Singh won his first gold at the 2005 Deaflympics, where he had to spend ₹70,000 of his own, reported The Bridge. But as the win didn’t bring any recognition he deserved. Virender had to resort to participating in village dangals to support himself.

Wrestler Virender Singh won his 1st gold at the 2005 Deaflympics, where he had to spend ₹70,000 of his own. But the win didn’t bring the recognition he deserved.

Lacking support from the authorities, Virender had to resort to participating in village dangals to support himself. pic.twitter.com/82r9sfewf5

— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) September 29, 2021

As reported by the Indian Express a few months ago, in 2007, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was ratified by India and pursuant to it the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPD Act) was enacted. “Section 30 of the RPD Act elaborates on the measures that have to be undertaken to ensure sporting rights of Indians with disabilities. It mandates restructuring of courses and programmes to ensure access, inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in sporting activities; redesigning infrastructure; developing technology to enhance potential and talent; allocation of funds, etc.,” stated the news report. However, it added, “The Paralympic Committee of India, Special Olympics Bharat and the All-India Sports Council for the Deaf — have all failed in complying with the mandates of the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011.” It is yet to be seen how CM Khattar responds to this public expose by Padma Shri Virender Singh.

Related

Haryana: Tensions rise between farmers and BJP leaders
BJP regime’s words don’t match actions: Farmers

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Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times

‘Foot in Mouth King’ Manohar Lal Khattar is at it again! He is notorious for his ‘anti-women’ remarks. He’s been pulled up by women and men alike for his misogynistic comments. Yet, he doesn’t stop!

Here are some statements by the Haryana CM that will make you squirm and question his legitimacy as the Chief of a major state in India.

1. Spewing venom against Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, Khattar said, “After the defeat in the Lok Sabha election, Rahul (Gandhi) quit as the president and said Congress’s president will not be from the Gandhi family. Everyone welcomed this; as it signalled an end to dynasty politics. It was like khoda pahaad, nikli chuhiya, woh bhi mari hui…” where he likened Sonia Gandhi to a ‘dead rat’. While this remark sparked a lot of outrage amongst the Congress party, Twitter users took it upon themselves to teach M L Khattar a lesson, when they started trending #MaafiMaangoKhattar!

Chief Minister or Cheap Minister? You decide!

2. However, this is not the first time that Khattar has spewed out misogynistic and sexist statements against women.
Right after the abrogation of Article 370 in August, at a Beti Bachao Beti Padhao event, Khattar made the following statement:
“Earlier bahus used to come from Bihar but now we will bring girls from Kashmir.”

It’s Not Over Yet

3. Not just this, his disrespectful comments against women go way back. At another event last year, his remarks belittling rapes led to a controversy. He had said, “Sabse badi chinta yeh hai ki yeh ghatna ye in jo hain rape aur Chhed chhadki, 80-90% jankaroke beech mein hoti hai. Kafi samay ke liye ikhatte ghumte hain, ek din anban hogai, uss din uthakarke FIR karwa dete hain ‘isne mujhe rape kiya’”.

*Slow Clap* for Mr. Khattar for such a statement implying that most rape incidents are not to be taken seriously for they happen mostly between lovers who’ve ended up fighting or gone their separate ways.

Leader of Misogyny

4. Calling pre-marital sex “ultiseedhicheezein” and blaming girls for the rise in rapes he’d said, “If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way.”

When someone questioned him about youngsters having freedom of choice, he remarked, “If you want freedom, why don’t they just roam around naked? Freedom has to be limited. These short clothes are western influences. Our country’s tradition asks girls to dress decently.”

Khaps support honour killings, Manohar supports Khaps

5. His infamous remarks supporting the Khap Panchayat went something like this – “Khaps maintain the tradition of a girl and boy being brother and sister. They are just making sure that a girl and boy do not see each other in the wrong way. These rulings help prevent rapes too.”
Whatever Manohar Lal Khattar says is a deep reflection on not only his personal outlook, but a reflection on his party’s mentality. He has not been condemned by his party officials for any of his remarks and this just goes to show that the BJP has turned a deaf ear to the people and their preferences of such leaders not being included in the party.

Related:
Chief Minister or “Cheap” Minister? Haryana CM is a disgrace
Misogyny at its peak: Haryana CM Khattar on Kashmiri Girls
 
 

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Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar stoked a controversy with a remark that people are saying they will bring girls from Kashmir for marriage after abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution

But controversy has been Khattar’s middle name ever since this unknown RSS pracharak became the surprise choice of the BJP high command. The whole operation was carried out in a cloak-and-dagger fashion so typical of the RSS-BJP functioning. Prior to the assembly polls, the BJP gave an impression that Captain Abhimanyu would become the CM if the BJP came to power. Captain Abhimanyu is a Jat and the Jats queued up at polling booths to press the Lotus button. But after the polls, the party did a somersault and threw Captain out like a “doodh ki makkhi“. The RSS headquarters in Nagpur ensured that Khattar, an old RSS pracharak was pitchforked to the CM chair. (When Sonia directs Manmohan, the media calls it remote control. When the RSS directs the BJP, the media calls it  “maargdarshan“!) So this khaki knicker walla became the Haryana CM with his reactionary agenda.

And what did Khattar do? He changed Gurgaon’s name. Gurgaon became Gurugram. The Hindu fanatics maintained that once upon a time Guru Dronacharya lived here. Therefore, the new name will bring back ancient glory. Some liberals pointed out that Guru Dronacharya took Eklavya’s thumb as “guru-dakshina” because the tribal boy was surpassing a Kshatriya archer Arjuna! Should such a casteist Guru be honored? But liberals were shouted down by the saffron brigade. Gurgaon is the Millennium City which owes its existence to Rajiv Gandhi’s vision. But Khattar can’t look beyond Guru Dronacharya!
Khattar again came to limelight when the rapist Baba Ram Rahim was convicted. Khattar allowed thousands of Dera Sachcha Sauda followers to gather in Panchkula. When the chamatkari-turned-balatkari Baba was held guilty by the CBI court, his goons went on rampage and dozens of men and women lost their lives. But Khattar was all smiles. After all, the Dera Sachcha Sauda has a big vote bank in Haryana and Khattar was successful in the “sendhmaari“of the vote bank!

Haryana is a state whose society will put the Taliban to shame. “Khaps” are panchayats of Jats. These khaps regularly sentence lovebirds to death! Young boys and girls are hanged from village trees as Chaudharies smoke hukka and watch. But Khattar does nothing. The appeasement of Jats is paramount in the caste-ridden Haryana. Jat hoodlums agitating for reservation cut off water supply to Delhi. And Khattar remained a mute spectator.

Now, the same Manohar Lal Khattar is cracking cheap jokes about Kashmiri girls. India is fed up with Manohar Lal’s Manohar Kahaniyan. But what can we expect from a guy whose guru is Baba Ram Rahim?

(Mr. Amitabh Kumar Das is a 1994 batch IPS Officer. His views are personal.)

First published on http://www.themorningchronicle.in/
 

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As many as 223 candidates are in the fray for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana that goes to polls on May 12.
 
There are 18 candidates contesting for the Ambala constituency, 24 for Kurukshetra, 29 for Sonepat, 21 for Bhiwani-Mahendegarh, 24 for Gurugram, 20 for Sirsa, 26 for Hisar, 16 for Karnal and 27 for Faridabad.
 
A total of 1.8 crore voters will be voting in Haryana which is conducting the polls in a single phase. Of these, 6 lakh are new voters.
 
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had polled 34.8 per cent votes, winning seven seats, while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won two seats and the Congress finished third with one seat.
 
This time, in the fray, is also Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has entered into an alliance with Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP). According to their seat-sharing strategy, the AAP is going to contest on three seats, leaving seven for JJP. At the joint press conference, Dushyant had said the two parties will fight together in the Haryana assembly polls too.
 
A split in INLD and the alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Haryana are likely to result in a division of non-BJP votes in the state and hurt the Congress where it is in a close fight with the BJP in these Lok Sabha polls.
 
An INLD-BSP pact would have given a tough fight to the BJP, but the INLD split has changed all that. The BJP is only too pleased with the changed scenario and the Congress sees a ray of hope too.

Barring Hisar and Sonepat, the Congress and BJP are now locked in a straight fight. The INLD is in bad shape. So much so that it’s sitting Sirsa MP Charanjeet Singh Rori seems out of the contest already. In Sirsa, the contest is between state Congress president Ashok Tanwar and former IRS officer Sunita Duggal.
 
The BJP is confident of a good show in Haryana after winning an assembly by-poll in Jind where Congress’s national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala was in the fray. But then, the BJP had filed Krishan Middha, the son of Hari Chand Midha, the INLD legislator whose death necessitated the byelection in Jind.
 
The BJP is facing double anti-incumbency in Haryana, where Manohar Lal Khattar government completes its tenure later this year. The Jat quota remains the top issue in the election in Haryana, where caste equation has played a determinative role in polls.
 
Jat leaders allege that the BJP government did not defend the 10 per cent quota in jobs to their community strongly enough in the Supreme Court which set aside the provision. Further, the Jats are said to be favouring the Congress and the INLD more than the BJP, which banks on the non-Jat OBC community, particularly the Sainis.
 
Famous political clans of Haryana will be crossing swords in polls in many Haryana constituencies this time. The third and fourth generation members of three political families of former biggies —Bhajan Lal, Devi Lal and Bansi Lal— besides the Hoodas have been fielded from various constituencies with the most direct contest between them in Hisar and Sonipat.
 
It is said that Chhattis biradari, or 36 communities leave together in harmony in Haryana but for this election, many are calling it 35 + 1 as Jat’s, the dominant community, could swing either way.
 
According to a recent survey conducted by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), better employment opportunities (44.61 per cent), agricultural loan availability (40.36 per cent) and higher price realization for farm products (33.80 per cent) were the top three voter priorities in the state.
 
Key constituencies in Haryana for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections
 
Kurukshetra
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has manoeuvred extensively through the constituency, with elaborate campaigns and public speeches from the campus of Kurukshetra University.
 
The seat gives an edge to BJP with over three lakh Jat voters, 1.25 lakh Brahmins, nearly 1 lakh Sainis and as many from Ror community, the descendants of Maratha soldiers who had fought in the historic battle of Panipat.
 
The BJP has fielded Nayab Saini from the seat.
 
The only threat facing the BJP in Kurukshetra is a challenge from a breakaway faction called the Lok Suraksha Party, headed by rebel Kurukshetra MP Rajkumar Saini.
 
Saini is looking to mobilise Dalit and minority votes, which will upset the BJP’s applecart.
 
During a rally in Kurukshetra on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was a victim of one-sided oppression, with the Congress hurling abuses at him all the time under the “veil of love”.
 
Kurukshetra picked a non-Jat MP last time. But reposing faith in Jat voters, Abhay Chautala has fielded his son Arjun Chautala. Here too, the contest is between BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini and Congress’ Nirmal Singh. After Naveen Jindal, an accused in the coal scam, refused to contest, the Congress shifted Nirmal Singh from Ambala to Kurukshetra. Saini, a minister in the Khattar government, is a winnable candidate.
 
Hisar
Hisar is going to witness a triangular clash of dynasties. The BJP has fielded Brijendra Singh, an IAS officer and son of Birender Singh, Steel Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. Both PM Modi and Birendra Singh have campaigned for his son. Brijendra’s great-grandfather was Sir Chotu Ram, the great peasant leader from Haryana, and this lineage could help him.
 
Against him in the fray are sitting MP Dushyant Chautala of the JJP and Congress’ Bhavya Bishnoi.
 
Bhavya is the son of Kuldeep Bishnoi who has a reputation of joining and abandoning parties, living up to his father and former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal’s epithet of ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’.
 
Dushyant has become the youngest MP in the Lok Sabha elections.
 
Hisar has three families contesting against one another. No ideology, it is sheer poll math that will work here.
 
Sonipat
With the BJP winning the high-decibel Jind assembly bypoll, the saffron party is confident of winning the Sonipat parliamentary constituency. The Jind bypoll, which concluded in January this year is also an indication of a weak Congress in the seat with party national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala finishing third after JJP’s Digvijay Chautala.
 
Again, the Jind bypoll victory was significant for the BJP, which won the seat for the first time ever, wresting it from the INLD and Congress.
 
At stake is the political career of two-time former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is contesting from Sonipat.
 
Sonepat
Sonepat is seeing an exciting fight. The BJP has refielded sitting MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik in this Jat region, hoping to consolidate non-Jat votes. But with Congress fielding former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the contest has become interesting. Hooda is one of the biggest Jat leaders in Haryana.
 
The Congress, fighting for political survival, has fielded top leaders, who must prove their mettle. On the other hand, the JJP has fielded Digvijay Chautala. He may not win but could make it difficult for Hooda.
 
A former chief minister, a turncoat and a rebel scion are making for an exciting triangular contest for the Sonepat Parliamentary constituency.
 
“On paper, the two Jat candidates— Hooda and Chautala— are expected to fight for a share of over 6.70 lakh Jat votes while Kaushik, a Brahmin, can hope to corner a major share of about 1.50 lakh Brahmin votes. However, the actual contest may turn out to be totally different. Five out of the nine assembly segments in this constituency are held by Hooda loyalists, an important factor in determining the pull of the candidate. The JJP candidate, Digvijay Chautala, is heavily banking on the three assembly segments falling in Jind district. Chautala did well, finishing runners up in the recent Jind byelection. The BJP candidate relies heavily on the urban electorate in Sonepat and Jind assembly segments to prop up his prospects,” Hindustan Times reported.
 
Rohtak
Meanwhile, Bhupinder Singh’s son, Deepender Hooda, is in the fray from Rohtak, and is seeking a fourth straight victory from the Hooda citadel. The Jat leader is facing competition from former MP Arvind Sharma, a prominent Brahmin leader.
 
Deepender has won thrice. Despite being a Jatland, it is the Yadavs, Brahmins and other non-Jat communities who have contributed to his victory in the past. But post-Jat agitation and BJP’s non-Jat politics, the equations could change.
 
Bhiwani
Bhiwani will see a tight contest between sitting BJP MP Dharambir and Congress’ Shruti Choudhry. Former MP from Haryana, Shruti is the granddaughter of former state chief minister Bansi Lal and daughter of Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry. In 2014, Shruti had finished third, losing out to Dharambir by a margin of 1.3 lakh votes and Rao Bahadur Singh of INLD by a meagre 7,000 votes.
 
The infighting in the INLD might cost them their bastion with the Jat votes splitting and going to the Congress.
 
In the Bhiwani constituency, Jats form the largest majority followed by the Yadavs, Brahmins, Gurjars, Mahajans and Punjabis. With the INLD in shambles and week campaigning by its offshoot, experts suggest that Jat votes will go to the Congress and the non-Jat votes will go to the BJP.
 
Gurgaon
Three assembly constituencies of the Mewat region – Punhana, Ferozepur Jhirka and Nuh – are a part of the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency. The Mewat region is dominated by Meo Muslims and pans across north-western India, in Haryana and Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan.  The INLD, which had won two assembly seats in 2014 from Mewat district, are now facing a grim situation with its Meo Muslim legislators defecting to the Congress.
 
Meanwhile, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi campaigned on the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) grounds in Gurugram in an attempt to mobilise urban voters from the Gurgaon constituency, who overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in the previous elections.
 
This has also made the fight largely bipolar – between Congress candidate Captain (retd) Ajay Singh Yadav and BJP’s sitting MP Rao Inderjit Singh – both strong Ahir (Yadav) leaders. As a result, the Yadav vote is expected to split in this seat.
 
Minister Inderjeet Singh is the tallest leader in Ahirwal area. He was Congress MP and then BJP MP. But his long tenure may trigger anti-incumbency. Six-time MLA and former minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav is counting on Inderjeet Singh’s shortcomings but the key to the battle is Mewat, one of the most backward districts in Haryana.
 
The Gurgaon seat has more than five lakh minority votes. Inderjeet Singh could be in trouble should they vote en bloc. In the industrial town of Faridabad, the BJP is betting on Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar. The Congress is banking on old hand Avtar Singh Bhadana. It’s a fight between two heavyweights and AAP’s Naveen Jaihind stands little chance of a win.
 
Gurgaon, renamed Gurugram, has 21.34 lakh voters in nine assembly constituencies of southern Haryana. With total assets worth Rs 102 crore, Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD’s) Virender Rana is the richest candidate contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana from this seat.
 
Faridabad
While the AAP did not win a single seat in the 2014 general election, it managed to garner 50,000-60,000 votes on almost all seats. Even if the party is not able to wrest any seat, it is bound to pose a serious threat to contenders in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ambala and Sirsa. AAP has fielded state party chief Naveen Jaihind from Faridabad.
 
The Jat community is at loggerheads with BJP on the issue of Jat reservation and the Khattar governments actions against Jat protesters during the reservation stir.
 
Jats, who constitute 27% of the population in Haryana, have been the politically dominant force. However, the recent chasm between Jats and non-Jats seems to have changed the social fabric and the political landscape completely.
 
Congress may be pegging its campaign on its ‘Nyay’ minimum income guarantee scheme and a jobs promise, but the state BJP government’s opening up of government jobs is being seen as a major achievement.
 
The jobs have also given heft to BJP’s accusation against the Hoodas that jobs, education opportunities and development were all concentrated in their constituencies of Sonepat and Rohtak.

Polling on 118 Lok Sabha seats will be held in the remaining two phases of the parliamentary polls that end on May 19. Voting for the penultimate sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held in 59 constituencies on May 12. The BJP had won 44 of these Lok Sabha seats in 2014, 46 along with its allies.

Inputs taken from Money Control and Tribune India. 

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Haryana Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar has recently announced government’s plan to share spaces of state-sponsored gymnasiums with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The announcement came at an inauguration event of a government gym in Panchkula, where he said that such gymnasiums would be used as RSS shakhas(units).

The promulgation provides confirmation to the earlier comments made by Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma who said that the state-sponsored gyms would be used as RSS units.

In 2015, in an attempt to promote fitness, Chief Minister Mr Manohar Lal said that gyms in open spaces would be set up in big parks of all the districts of the state. This included setting up of gymnasiums on two-acre Panchayati land in every village where the youth can practice yoga, wrestling and games like volleyball and kabaddi and also do some weight training, as reported by India Today.

The announcement came just days after Haryana Chief Minister suggested that namaz should be restricted to mosques or idgahs, and need not be offered in public spaces.

“There has been an increase in the occurrence of namaz being offered at public places. It is fine till no one objects,” Manohar Lal Khattar reportedlysaid.

The crucial part of the statement is ‘till no one objects’ because it insinuates towards the ground reality in Haryana in two ways. Firstly, by not condemning the actions of members of right-wing groups who disrupted Friday prayersin around ten places in Gurugram on May 4 and not reprimanding the police for letting them off, Khattar’s statement gave a green signal to communal hooligansin Haryana. Secondly, it poses a question regarding the attitude of the government in addressing the possible objections that could be raised by Muslim communities against the doubling up of state-sponsored gyms by a right-wing group. Isn’t this a textbook case of encroachment of public spaces? Isn’t there a need for Haryana Chief Minister to censure RSS, which is trying to expand its footprints in the state by investing in public space? Is Mr. Khattar waiting for a protest to be launched by Muslim community to make another denunciation about the usage of public place for private purposes?

A preferential game
According to a Newsclickreport, in the process of privatising Gurgaon’s land, the new Master Plan 2031 enumerates only six percent of the land, which is added afresh for ‘development’, for public and semi-public use. The government is handing over lands to builders and developers, resulting in the marginalisation of land for public use.

Taking Haryana government’s land use policies into account, the government seems to be taking a highly discriminatory position. The government has turned a blind eye to the poor of the state by squeezing out land for public use. Furthermore, portions of land, which is meant for public use, are now going to be shared with a right-wing group that has political ambitions, while people belonging to a community with different beliefs are receiving threats for organizing prayer congregations on a relatively small portion of public land.

Regular Doses of Hindutva
Earlier this year, in February, the West Bengal government issued notices to shut some 125 schools alleging that RSS runs them, Scroll reported. It was claimed that these schools were teaching students how to wield sticks.

Rejecting the vision of an all-inclusive democratic-secular polity in past and aspiring to achieve a “Hindu Rashtra”, the ideology that RSS proselytizes is known to everyone.

But when Mr Khattar declared about his government’s plan to open a gymnasium in every district of the state, little did the citizens knew about the intentions of the government to provide a recurrent dosage of hindutva,making them conversant with the RSS doctrines under the smokescreen of health and fitness.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 

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