'After Hindu right-wing outfits decided to call for a rally demanding “proper identification” of people belonging to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) who have converted to Christianity in the tribal Dang district of Gujarat, the situation there has become tense. According to the Indian Express, the Rashtriya Janjati Sangh, a Hindu outfit, has called for a rally on December 16 in Dang with the primary demand that all tribal Christians must change their religion on their school’s leaving certificate (LC) from Hindu ST to Christian ST.
The Supreme Court judgment on Babri Mosque-Ram Janmbhumi dispute gave the verdict that the whole land where the mosque stood from 1528 to 6th December 1992 be given to the ‘Hindu Side’, Ram Janmbhoomi Nyas, set up by VHP. Just to recall it was demolished in broad day light by the RSS combine led by Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati on that day. As per verdict Government should make a trust which should supervise the temple construction and Muslims, Sunni Waqf Board, should be given five acres of land in a prominent site in Ayodhya.
'There are multiple lessons to be drawn from the conduct and experience of Furqan Ali and his schoolchildren. None perhaps more significant than the need to harness the everyday togetherness of religious communities to counter the Sangh Parivar’s politics of hatred, which seeks to demonise Muslims as anti-national and isolate them. For those late on the story, here is a recap: Furqan Ali was the headmaster of the Ghayaspur primary school, in Bilaspur block of Pilibhit district, Uttar Pradesh, until he was suspended last week.
'A headmaster of a government primary school in Uttar Pradesh has been suspended after Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers complained that he was making students recite a “religious prayer,” reported Indian Express. The “prayer” in question is the iconic Urdu poem Lab pe aati hai gua, also known as Bachche ki dua, which was written in 1902 by Muhammad Iqbal, who also wrote Saare jahaan se achchha. The poem is frequently sung in schools across India and deals with the subject of god guiding one from darkness to light.
'Almost a month after an Alwar court pronounced its judgement in the Pehlu Khan lynching case, a similar case is lined up to have its day in court. In this case too, self-styled gau rakshaks, apparently convinced of Muslim men being cattle smugglers, thrashed him to death. Rakbar Khan was killed on the night of July 20, 2018, when he and his friend Aslam Khan were brutally attacked by a mob while they were transporting milch cows on foot to their home in Haryana’s Kolgaon from a village in Alwar...'
'Former VHP international working president Praveen Togadia has said that while his friendship with PM Narendra Modi lasted 43 years, he never saw him selling tea. He said that the Prime Minister uses this 'tea-seller' image only to gain public sympathy...'
'The independent probe, which has been endorsed by various human rights organisations, alleges that the Rajasthan police sought to diminish the enormity of the crime from the outset... An independent fact-finding report, released on Friday at the Press Club of India, points at glaring gaps in the investigation carried out by the Rajasthan police in the Pehlu Khan lynching case. Khan was killed by a group of so-called gau rakshaks in Alwar in April this year when he was returning home after purchasing cattle.
'Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was on Saturday booked for sedition for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the Indian Army in which he referred to the mutilation of the bodies of jawans by women militants. A case was registered against him at Chandpur police station in Bijnore in west Uttar Pradesh under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR also invoked Sections 131 (abetting mutiny or attempting to seduce a soldier, sailor or airman from his duty) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief). VHP leader Anil Kumar Pandey had lodged the complaint...'
'On the morning of June 27, around 15-20 supporters of the Hindu Jagran Manch, an activist group associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, gathered inside a courtroom at the district court of Bikaner, Rajasthan. The magistrate was hearing the bail appeal of five Muslims aged between 18 years and 20 years who were arrested on June 19 for allegedly celebrating the victory of Pakistan over India in the Champions Trophy final the previous day. A sixth person has also been apprehended in connection with the matter, but his case is being dealt with separately because he is a juvenile.
'From all accounts, Superintendent of Police Pankaj Choudhary played a stellar role in ensuring that three deliberately crafted incidents of violence in Nainwa and Khanpur in Bundi district, Rajasthan, didn’t turn into a bloody communal riot. Among the measures he took was to arrest 11 activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.
