TELANGANA BJP MLA BOOKED FOR ‘HURTING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS’
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA has been booked by Hyderabad Police for allegedly hurting the religious beliefs of a minority community by making defamatory remarks, Hindustan Times reported on June 8. Raja Singh, the MLA from Telangana’s Goshamahal constituency, has been booked based on a complaint from Mohammed Ali, a resident of Hyderabad. Ali said he saw a video on social media that shows Singh making a comment that hurt his community’s religious beliefs. Police reportedly said the MLA had been booked – on the basis of Ali’s complaint – under Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The case has been lodged at the Kanchanbagh Police Station.
3 MUSLIM FAKIRS FORCED TO DO SIT-UPS, CHANT ‘JAI SHRI RAM’
Three Muslim men were allegedly made to do sit-ups, asked for their Aadhaar cards and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Khargupur district. The video of the incident has gone viral. In the video, one of the locals could be seen heckling the three Muslim fakirs and asking them for their identification details. He also warned the men to never enter the ‘Pandit’ village again. Upon being informed, the police initiated an investigation into the matter and one person has been arrested.
FIR REGISTERED AGAINST POOJA SHAKUN PANDEY
Aligarh Police has registered an FIR against Annapurna Bharti (Pooja Shakun Pandey), who demanded a ban on Friday prayers. Annapurna Bharti had described the day of Friday prayers as a terrorist day. Along with this, she had also submitted a memorandum of her demands to the administration. According to the report citing the police sources, the statement of Pooja Shakun Pandey is going to increase the enmity between the two religions and create communal tension. Pooja Shakun Pandey had sent a letter to the President with blood. In this letter, she had demanded a ban on Friday prayers. SSP Aligarh IPS Kalnidhi Naithani reportedly said that the investigation of this case is going on and notice has been given by the magistrate to Pooja Shakun Pandey.
Image with caption:India test-fires nuclear-capable Agni-4 ballistic missile
INDIA TEST-FIRES NUCLEAR-CAPABLE AGNI-4 BALLISTIC MISSILE
India successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable, long-range ballistic missile on June 6, a report citing the Defence Ministry said. “A successful training launch of an Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile, Agni-4, was carried out at approximately 1930 hours on June 06, 2022, from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha (eastern India),” the ministry said in a statement. “The successful test was part of routine user training launches carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command,” it added. “The launch validated all operational parameters as also the reliability of the system.” The test “reaffirms India’s policy of having a ‘Credible Minimum Deterrence’ Capability,” the ministry also said. Agni-IV is a nuclear-capable, long-range, surface to surface ballistic missile with a range of 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles).
IN BIHAR, BJP TARGETS ‘MUSLIM POPULATION, ROHINGYA INFILTRATION’
After being pushed to the backfoot in Bihar over the caste census announced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying hard to counter it by targeting Muslims of the state, especially in the Muslim majority Seemanchal region, by talking about infiltration and population issues. BJP leaders like state chief Sanjay Jayaswal, central minister Giriraj Singh and former minister Ravi Shankar Prasad have demanded that “no Rohingya or Bangladeshi infiltrators” be included in the census. The party is also pressing hard for a law on population control in the state. Many believe that BJP is trying to compensate for its loss of face on caste census by pushing its Hindutva agenda and trying to prepare the ground for dumping Nitish Kumar and his party in the future and catering to its core voters.
NAGALAND POLICE CHARGE-SHEETS 30 SOLDIERS
Nagaland Police has charge-sheeted at least 30 members of the 21 Para Special Force including a Major, in the December 4, 2021 botched army operations in Oting-Tiru area of Mon district when at least 13 civilians died, reports said on June 11. The chargesheet has slapped charges of murder and culpable homicide not amounting to murder on the team of soldiers. The probe which preceded the chargesheet has found that the Special Force Operation team had not followed the Standard Operating Procedure and Rules of Engagement and had resorted to indiscriminate and disproportionate firing leading to immediate death of six civilians and grievous injury to two more.
MUMBAI RESTAURANT DENIES ENTRY TO WOMEN WITH HIJAB
A restaurant in Mumbai’s Bandra has allegedly denied entry to women wearing hijabs. The post was shared by an Instagram user named Ayesha Karbari who said that people with hijabs were not welcome in Mitron restaurant, Free Press Journal reported on June 7. Her post read, “@bandramitron We were so in shock that we didn’t even ask to speak to a manager. However, now is a great time for someone from management to please respond. @vinayakghoshal Sorry this had to happen on your birthday. I do know that if I had shown up earlier we could’ve shifted the entire party and wouldn’t have had to suffer this ordeal this way.”
DALIT MAN BEATEN OVER ‘MOBILE THEFT’ IN VISAKHAPATNAM
A Dalit man named Tarakeswara Rao was tied to a tree and beaten up by a man, identified as Suri Babu, in Visakhapatnam ten days ago. A video of the incident has gone viral recently, a report said on June 10. According to the police at Juttada village under Pendurthi police station limits in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district, a man was tied up and assaulted for allegedly stealing a mobile phone. The victim, Tarakeswara Rao, complained to the local police about the incident and the accused, Suri Babu, was arrested by the police. A case has also been registered under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.