'The Indian media have not been active in checking Islamophobia during the coronavirus pandemic. They are equally culpable of being passive when it comes to questioning the government. A global pandemic, it is being argued, may not be the best time to subject the government to scrutiny. On the contrary, it is all the more important for the media to keep a strict vigil on the government’s actions at a time like this. Instead, large sections of the media have become the drum-beaters of the government’s self-congratulatory pronouncements on Covid-19.
'Something sinister is cooking, looking at the urgency with which the Bhima Koregaon case has been shifted from the Pune Police to the Centre, under the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The arrests that have happened under the current regime are neither random nor to do only with resisting the current regime. The Supreme Court’s rejection of bail pleas by Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde has serious consequences not just for human rights but also signalling the changing landscape of political discourse.
'A Dharwad District Court today denied the bail applications filed on behalf of the three Kashmiri students who were arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media (Basti Aashiq Sofi v. The State of Karnataka).
'A video of police personnel in riot gear thrashing five people lying injured on the side of a road is viral on social media. The video shows a policeman capturing the incident on his mobile phone while the injured men are being forced to sing the national anthem. The cops can also be heard hurling abuses and repeatedly using the word ‘Azadi’ while beating the men. The official Twitter account of Shaheen Bagh wrote that the clip was shot violence in Delhi in the view of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)...
'Unmarried couples “found wandering around on Valentine’s Day” in Hyderabad and across Telangana will be given lessons on patriotism and sacrificing for the country, the state unit of Bajrang Dal has said... Balaswamy further said: “If we find lovers spending time at parks, malls, clubs, pubs, restaurants and other places this year, we won’t get them married [something the body has done in the past]. We will counsel them on love for our nation and ask them to pay tributes to our brave martyrs.”...'
'As shocking as it may sound but a man severed his wife's head in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki and reached a police station holding his wife's head in his hand on Saturday. The brutal incident happened at Jahangirabad police station area's Bahadurpur village. A domestic fight lead to the cruel incident when the man severed his wife's head, walked all the way to the police station holding the wife's head in his hand.
'The “goli maaro saalon ko” slogan was back at a pro-Citizenship Act rally in Nagpur, organised, according to the news agency ANI, by the RSS, the BJP, the Lok Adhikar Manch and other organisations. A huge banner representing the colours of the Indian National Flag was carried by the demonstrators during the rally, which took place on Sunday. The crowd chanted slogans like “kisko chahiye azadi” (who wants freedom) and “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko” (shoot the traitors)...'
'A global network of pro-Indian fake websites and think-tanks is aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe, researchers say. The co-ordinated network of 265 sites operates across 65 countries, according to a report by EU Disinfo Lab, a Brussels-based NGO, The researchers traced the websites to an Indian company, Srivastava Group. The network was also found to involve groups responsible for anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe... EU Disinfo Lab's investigation started by looking at EP Today, a website which claimed to be an online magazine for the European Parliament in Brussels.
'Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has made a bizarre statement that pollution is not linked to the shortening of life in India. "No Indian study has shown pollution shortens life. Let us not create fear psychosis among people," Union minister Prakash Javadekar told Parliament on Friday... The minister's statement is in sharp contrast with several studies, where the Government of India is also a party. These studies have found that a rise in pollution is linked to deaths and shorter life spans.
'Bharatiya Janata Party leader Virendra Singh Mast on Thursday dismissed reports of a slowdown in the automobile sector and claimed that traffic jams on roads were an indication of the growth, ANI reported. He alleged that the Opposition’s talks about slowdown were a conspiracy to “defame” the government and the nation. Mast, a Lok Sabha MP from Ballia constituency in Uttar Pradesh, told the Parliament that an atmosphere of economic slowdown was being created. “To defame the nation and government people are saying that the automobile sector has slowed down,” he said.
