'While addressing the Lok Sabha on the violence that broke out in parts of northeast Delhi on 24-25 February, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Meenakshi Lekhi claimed that most incidents of rioting have taken place under the Congress regime adding that the only incident of riots, which everyone is always reminded of, was in Gujarat in 2002 and there has been no such case post that in the state... Let’s take look at how the data collected by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Home Affairs, contradicts Lekhi’s claims...'
'Indians seeking clarity from the government on the causes, responses, and aftermath of the riots in north-east Delhi, in which 53 people died and over 500 injured, would have been confused by Home Minister Amit Shah’s explanations in the Lok Sabha on March 11. Mr Shah’s 50-minute speech can be best described as a model of mendacity. It apportioned the blame on everyone but his ministry and the Delhi police, which report to him. According to his version, the riots were pre-planned, financed, and mobilised externally (by implication the Muslim community) and the police were ...'
'Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha by President Ram Nath Kovind. A notification to this effect was issued by the Union home ministry on Monday... This is the first time that a government has nominated a CJI to the upper house and will raise questions about the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, especially since Gogoi headed benches in key cases that the same government which has nominated him had important political stakes in.
'In the backdrop of global COVID-19 outbreak, Kannada channel Public TV aired a show on March 14 where it was claimed that four Muslim youths in Sultan Street, Bhatkal in Karnataka refused coronavirus testing for “religious reasons” after returning from Dubai... Right-wing website OpIndia picked up the news the next day and tweeted, “Islam does not approve: Four Muslims who returned from Dubai threaten health officials in Karnataka, refuse to undergo Coronavirus test.”... The claim was shared sans any source by Mahesh Hegde, founder of fake news blog Postcard News.
'Going against their own advice, Karnataka ruling party BJP's top leaders took part in a massive gathering for BJP leader Mahantesh Kavatagimath's daughter's wedding. The wedding took place on Sunday in Shagun gardens in the Udyambagh industrial area in Belagavi district. Among the eminent guests at the wedding were Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai... The wedding was held in an open lawn under a canopy. The Karnataka MLC's daughter's wedding saw close to 2000 people, reports suggest. Visuals show people thronging at the wedding.
'On Saturday, Congress party worker Sudhanshu Bajpai and his friend Ashwani Yadav were arrested from Bajpai’s residence in Lucknow, for putting up a poster outside the Bharatiya Janata Party’s city office. The poster, with large photographs of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, lists the “criminal records” of Adityanath, Prasad and five other BJP leaders – Sangeet Som, Suresh Rana, Sanjeev Balyan, Sadhvi Prachi and Umesh Malik...'
'A local BJP leader and four others have been booked for allegedly torturing a 55-year-old tribal woman after branding her as a witch in Jhargram district. While three persons have been arrested, the BJP leader, Rabindra Hansda, and one more accused is absconding. According to police, the incident happened on Sunday night when the woman was abducted allegedly by Hansda and his men from her home at Bhalkishore village. They took her to his native village, Baghmari, where they beat her up and branded her with a hot rod. After the woman fell unconscious, she was dumped in her home.
'A Times Now broadcast of March 5 ran a video of a man in red, wearing a helmet, opening fire during communal riots in Delhi. “New video of Delhi violence surfaces. Video reportedly from Maujpur…This is the 4th video of attack on police,” the channel claimed. The video was tweeted using #ShaheenLynchModel... A day later, the same clip was tweeted by BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya who insinuated that the shooter was a member of the Muslim community. He wrote, “Another video of a ‘peaceful’ protestor firing at the cops?
'An international lawyers’ body has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind raising concerns over the “hasty decision” of the government to transfer Justice S Muralidhar from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the night of February 26, a day after he had pulled up Delhi Police for failing to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for allegedly giving hate speeches ahead of the communal riots in northeast Delhi.
'Jitu Patwari and Lakhan Singh, who went to Bengaluru to meet the rebel MLAs of Madhya Pradesh, were arrested by Karnataka police on Thursday. Both were later released by the police. Both leaders had arrived here to meet the MLAs of Jyotiraditya Scindia faction. Jitu Patwari held a press conference after being released from custody. He said, “Is it a sin to meet friends?” At the same time, Congress MP Vivek Tankha alleged that the minister was beaten up... “Some Congress MLAs wanted to meet us. My cousin Manoj Chaudhary has also been kept here.
