'Mohit Bharatiya, General Secretary of BJP Mumbai, issued a threat to Kunal Kamra after being offended by a tweet shared by the comedian. Kamra had shared a graphic that read: “Dear PM Modi, Media is with you, Bollywood is with you, 353 MP's are with you, all the Indian bigots are with you, corrupt criminals and rapists are with you, RSS is with you, NRI dhokla mafia is with you, but we stand rock solid against you, because the nation doesn't need you.” He captioned it, “*FIXED IT*”...
'Sushant Singh on Tuesday morning tweeted that his association with long-running TV show Savdhaan India has come to an end. It was speculated that the development came after the actor’s participation in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act...'
The past few days have seen the most widespread and energised mass protests since the fascists came to power in 2014. And it hasn't been a great few years. People died in bank queues and trillions were wiped off the economy by the great masterstroke of demonetisation, but there were no large scale protests. There was anger and sympathy when Kashmiris were suddenly demoted to fourth class citizens, but that too didn't translate into large demonstrations across the country. The Citizenship Amendment Act, however, seemed to break a spell.
Students have been particularly courageous in protesting this Act, facing violence and demonisation, and demolishing the notion that India's youth have all been numbed to idiocy by years of relentless and repetitive propaganda. The scale of the protests have clearly taken the government by surprise. In Orwellian style, hate-monger-in-chief appealed to people not to let "vested interests" divide society. "Vested interests" presumably refers to young people some of whom wear vests. (Some also took off their vests.) And "society" presumably refers to the NDA, some of whose junior members are starting to feel a little awkward.
'The assault on students at Jamia Millia by Delhi police prompted filmmaker Anurag Kashyap to return on Twitter and expressed his anger on the recent developments. Reacting to police lathicharge on the Jamia students, Kashyap called the Modi government “fascist” and said, “he can’t stay silent any longer”... Other voices from the film industry also condemned the police action inside the Jamia University. Actor Taapsee Pannu said the videos of police action inside the campus were heartbreaking. “Wonder if this is a start or the end.
'Recipient of Maharashtra’s highest state award for officers in the category of communal harmony—Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award—in 2008, Inspector General Abdur Rahman, resigned from the service on Wednesday evening, as a mark of protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019. He issued a statement saying, “as [an act of] civil disobedience, I have decided not to continue the service”. Rahman was Inspector General for Maharashtra Human Rights Commission. His statement read, “It (this Bill) clearly discriminates against the people belonging to the Muslim community.
'A group of Indian scientists and scholars from within and without the country have released a note of protest against the draft Citizenship Amendment Bill, expected to be tabled in parliament on December 9. The Bill proposes to grant citizenship to Indians on the basis of religion as well as passively excludes Muslims, and has triggered protests around the country and from various civil society groups as a result. The scholars’ note, shared in full below, also calls attention to this aspect of the Bill and states that it violates the spirit of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.
'It was not just Israeli spyware Pegasus that was used to digitally spy on human rights defenders and journalists in India. A clear pattern of another well-coordinated and effectively designed digital attack has now emerged – this time through emails. These emails, all tailor-made to suit the interests of the individual receiver, were sent out between September and October 2019. The Wire is in possession of several of these emails, which human rights organisation Amnesty International has studied to come up with some startling revelations.
'In a private event held in New York City on Saturday, 23rd November, the consul general of India in New York, Sandeep Chakravorty, made the outrageous remarks of following Israel’s model in Kashmir, in the context of return of Kashmiri Pandits [members of the Hindu Brahmin community who were forced to leave the State in the late 80s due to religious violence]. While he did not specify whether he is referring to Israel as such or the settlements in the West Bank, in his capacity as an Indian diplomat, Mr Chakravorty advocated for Israel’s policies i.e.
'Biocon Chairperson and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Sunday said the government did not want to hear any criticism on the economy while expressing hope that it reaches out to India Inc. to work out solutions to revive growth. Shaw’s remarks came a day after veteran industrialist Rahul Bajaj said the people were afraid to criticise the government...'
'Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar, who has been issued a show-cause notice by the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Mumbai, for allegedly not revealing criminal cases against her, said it’s an attempt to defame her. Patkar told ThePrint Friday that she has responded to the notice. “I was acquitted from all the cases before applying for a passport. The cases were not registered against me alone…in Barwani (a town in Madhya Pradesh) we were charged for violating Section 144 during a peaceful protest called ‘mook rally’ (silent rally).
