'On February 28, several social media users shared a 20-second video of a building engulfed in fire. The viral message blamed “Islamic jihad” for the incident and claimed that this occurred in Paris. “After burning India’s capital, the terrorist community has burnt the French capital as well. #IslamicJihad Now tell did the riots happen because of @KapilMishra_IND’s speech. There is only one solution #EconomicBoycott,” reads the message... Twitter user @Satynistha posted the viral video (archive link).
'The lawyers representing the three Kashmiri engineering students in the sedition case filed in Hubballi were on Monday heckled by several advocates of the Dharwad Bar Association inside the court premises. A video of the lawyers chanting “Vande Mataram” and “Jai Hind” went viral on social media. At around 2 pm on Monday, a team of three lawyers from Bengaluru were at the Dharwad Principal Sessions Court to file a bail application for the three Kashmiri students booked for sedition and currently lodged at the Belagavi Central Prison.
'...“Nazbunnisa (the mother of the child) is a widow. She told me that her daughter is alone in the house and the landlord was looking after her. She was clearly in pain and wanted to come out of jail quickly. The head mistress of the school- Fareeda Begum- told me that her BP shot up and she was unwell and was administered glucose in the jail,” Owaisi said... “They are still in shock. They asked me how long they had to stay in jail. I met Fareeda Begum’s husband. He had tears in his eyes,” Owaisi said...'
'The Hindu Mahasabha on Friday announced that the organisation would felicitate the accused in Jamia firing case. The outfit further called the shooter "a true nationalist like Nathuram Godse". Hindu Mahasabha spokesperson Ashok Pandey said the organisation is "proud of the boy, who attempted to silence the anti-national activities on Jamia campus by giving the students there 'instant azadi'."...'
'The Bidar police on Thursday arrested Anuja Minsa, mother of a girl student who played a role in a controversial play in a private school and allegedly delivered dialogues “insulting” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Fareeda Begum, the woman teacher who was involved in the staging of the play. As per school sources, the police came to the institution in the evening and interrogated the staff and children for a couple of hours before taking the women with them...'
'Karnataka Minister CT Ravi has backed Union Minister Anurag Thakur after he was caught on video urging people at a Delhi election rally to "goli maaro" (gun down) traitors". In a tweet posted Tuesday afternoon, CT Ravi lashes out at Mr Thakur's critics and said they should "get bullet(s) not biryani". He went on to accuse Mr Thakur's critics of "spreading lies" against the controversial citizenship law and supporting the "tukde tukde gang".
'After Union minister Anurag Thakur, another BJP leader has triggered a row with his controversial remarks on Shaheen Bagh. In an open threat to those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh, BJP MP Parvesh Verma said if the party is voted to power in Delhi, it will only take an hour to clear off the protest in the area... "Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them.
'...On December 19, when there was a call for protest against CAA, we decided to conduct a peaceful protest at Parivartan Chowk. Suddenly, a group of boys wearing skull caps came and started pelting stones. I found it strange that, even though Section 144 had been imposed, the police couldn’t detect a group of protesters carrying bricks and petrol. I can say with responsibiity that the stone-pelting was orchestrated. Another strange thing that happened was that when the arson started, someone drove a state transport bus at the protest spot. Police kept standing but didn’t take any action.
'Messages urging people to “thrash the anti-nationals” in JNU allegedly did rounds of some WhatsApp groups in the hours leading up to the violence on campus Sunday. The Indian Express managed to contact six people from whose mobile numbers the messages threatening violence were made in the groups. Out of the six, three said someone else may have “misused” their number to post the messages, one said his “friend posted the message”, two others said they entered the groups to “provide intel”.
'Violence has reportedly escalated within Jawaharlal Nehru University, with students, including the students’ union president, alleging that they were attacked by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad while the police looked on. Reports of stone-pelting were reported from within campus on Saturday as well. Students The Wire spoke to said ABVP members were walking through the campus carrying sticks with masks or scarves on their faces, looking for students associated with the fee hike protest.
