Day: January 2, 2022

Amritsar, January 02, 2022 (PPI-OT): Former Chief Minister of Indian Punjab and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal has said devious conspiracies are at work to weaken the ‘Khalsa Panth’ (Sikhism) and dilute its separate and unique religious identity. Mr. Badal was addressing a gathering of devotees in Amritsar, to protest the incidents of sacrilege including the outrage at the sanctum sanctorum of the Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple).

“Our sacred ‘gurdhams’ and their unique religious ideology are being targeted. The quom (community) will have to guard against attempts by powerful agencies to create dissensions, disunity and mutual distrust within the community by using the age-old tactics of Trojan horses,” said the former Chief Minister.

Mr. Badal cautioned against the dangerous conspiracy to inflame Punjab again through communal polarisation. “The hard-earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony is being put to the torch by powers that be. They will finally blame the flames on Punjabis themselves in a repeat of 1980s and 90s simply to further vested petty political interests,” he warned and demanded a probe into the recent sacrilege incidents by a sitting judge of the high court.

Hitting out at ruling Congress, the SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the party had played politics on the issue of sacrilege for five years and done nothing to nab those behind this heinous act. He said now again a conspiracy was afoot to spoil the peace of the State and create divisions in society for political motives alone.

“Despite nabbing culprits who had committed sacrileges at Sri Anandpur Sahib on September 13 and at Sri Darbar Sahib on December 15, both last year, the government had done nothing to uncover the conspiracy behind the two incidents. Even in the case of the Sri Harmandar Sahib sacrilege, no attempt was made to identify the accused till now,” he alleged.

Mr. Sukhbir also accused former ally, the BJP of trying to wrest control of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). “It was shocking that Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who was heading the DSGMC at the time, had joined the BJP. He should be ashamed of it,” he said.

Giani Harpreet Singh, chief priest of Akal Takht – the highest Sikh temporal seat – said the Sikh community would not tolerate any interference in its religious affairs and urged the community to strengthen the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). “The SAD will get stronger automatically,” he said.

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Srinagar, January 02, 2022 (PPI-OT): PDP President Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that the Modi regime is backing the “fringe [Indian] elements” who are targeting Muslim women online. She deplored that the criminals enjoying official patronage behind such derogatory and demeaning actions against Muslim women are given a free run. She was reacting after photographs of at least 100 influential Muslim women were uploaded for auction on an app sparking outrage.

Mehbooba, however, said, “It is clear that these fringe elements enjoy the patronage of those in power.” The latest episode came to fore after a woman belonging to the minority [Muslim] community approached Delhi Police against “unknown” people involved in harassing and insulting her on social media. In her complaint, she stated that she was being targeted by some unidentified groups of people on a mobile application named ‘Bulli Bai’ created on the GitHub platform.

The woman journalist said that she was shocked to find out on January 1 morning that a website portal called bullibai.github.io (since deleted) had a doctored picture of her in an improper, unacceptable and clearly lewd context. “The term Bulli Bai itself seems disrespectful and the content of this website/portal is clearly aimed at insulting Muslim women as the derogatory term ‘Bulli’ is used exclusively for Muslim women,” read the complaint.

She further said that the entire portal is designed to insult Muslim women and investigation is required as to whether there is an organised conspiracy regarding the same. Notably, the act of targeting the woman of minority community comes just six months after derogatory “Sulli Deals” mobile app had surfaced where photos of Muslim women were displayed without their consent.

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Srinagar, January 02, 2022 (PPI-OT): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, A 45-year-old carpenter was found dead in mysterious circumstances in an under construction building in Humhama area of Budgam district on Sunday.

Media reported that Rameez Ahmad Beigh, resident of Kandi, Baramulla, was found in an under construction building and was rushed to SMHS Hospital, Srinagar by his colleagues, where doctors declared him brought dead.

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New Delhi, January 02, 2022 (PPI-OT): Oxfam, a British founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations, has said its work in the country will be imperilled by the Modi government’s refusal to renew a licence that permits it to receive funds from abroad. Oxfam is on a list of thousands of NGOs, according to local media reports, whose licence has not been renewed. Without the licence, these organisations can only use donations and contributions from within India.

“Oxfam India will reach out to the Ministry of Home Affairs and urge them to lift the funding restrictions to ensure vulnerable communities keep receiving the support they need at this critical time of the pandemic,” said the Oxfam India chief executive, Amitabh Behar, in a statement.

A few days ago, it emerged that Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, which works among people with leprosy, the dying, abandoned sick children, people with Aids and the destitute, has also been barred from receiving foreign funds. The home ministry said it had detected some “adverse inputs” in the audit of its accounts.

The drying up of funds is expected to have a major impact on the work of both organisations, along with many others whose licences have also not been renewed. Some donations will continue to come in from Indian philanthropists and charitable organisations but it will not cover the gigantic shortfall.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has been waging a campaign against NGOs and social activists, particularly those working among the rural poor, forest dwellers, the low castes, and the marginalised and on issues of inequality.

BJP leaders including the prime minister, Narendra Modi, have derided social activists as “anti-nationals” and “urban Naxalites” (a reference to revolutionaries fighting in the jungles of India to overthrow the state). They have also accused some NGOs of having links with extremist groups. Analysts say the government sees NGOs, which by the very nature of their work speak out on its policies and human rights record, as a source of undesirable criticism.

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New Delhi, January 02, 2022 (PPI-OT): Senior Congress leader, P Chidambaram has criticised the Modi-led government over extension of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland and termed it as an apt example of “double speak”.

P Chidambaram in a series of tweets, wrote, “On the one hand, the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) announced a committee to review the need to apply AFSPA in Nagaland. On the other, the MHA declared the whole of Nagaland as a ‘disturbed area’ and extended the application of AFSPA.” “If you are looking for an example of ‘double speak’, you need to look no further than MHA,” Chidambaram said, attacking the Modi government.

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Srinagar, January 02, 2022 (PPI-OT): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, at least 27 laborers, mainly non-locals, were injured, two of the seriously, when an under construction bridge collapsed in Koulpur area of Vijaypur in Samba district on Sunday. The incident has raised questions about the quality of work of Indian construction companies in the territory.

The under construction bridge was located at river Devak near village Koulpur. Eleven of the injured have been admitted at Ramgarh hospital. Others have been admitted at Emergency Hospital Vijaypur Two of the injured Yashpal and Deepak have been referred at GMC Jammu for further treatment. SSP Samba Dr Abhishek Mahajan confirmed injuries to 27 persons. He told media that soon after information, a massive rescue operation was launched by police. He said investigations are underway regarding the incident.

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