India News
In-depth: Who attacked whom after West Bengal election results?
Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee rejected all the allegation by the BJP. She said after West Bengal election results were announced, many BJP workers and supporters have attacked TMC workers, but we asked our men not to get provoked by their act and instead report to the police.
Ever since results of the West Bengal Assembly election were announced on Sunday, social media has been agog with images and videos of alleged violence in the state. Most of these are from either BJP party workers or journalists sympathetic to the party.
Here’s why you saw Bengal violence videos after vote counting
The startling fact is that most of these have been debunked by West Bengal Police or other state authorities as being fake and only promoting a one-sided narrative that suits the BJP. It must be remembered that the BJP won 77 of the 292 seats that went in for election, despite its high-voltage, high-expenditure campaign that was shattered by the Trinamool Congress, which won 213 seats.
But the IT-savvy cannot be dissuaded and promoted and pushed fake old videos, old photos and unrelated tweets to build the case for the Centre to bring the Mamata Banerjee-led government to heel by measures such as Article 356 which can be invoked citing law and order conditions.
Among the many grainy videos shared out of concern for Bengal and BJP party workers, there is a fake video where a mob can be vandalizing a police van and chasing officers.
The video seems to have been shot in January this year when an angry group attacked a police van and chased a policeman over the death of a youngster who was allegedly framed in a crime, said an Altnews report.
Recycled old videos stoke fresh violence
Another video shared by BJP’s West Bengal General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya blamed Muslims. It said, TMC Muslim goons are beating up BJP workers in Nandigram.
Reports said the video shared by Vijayvargiya was fake and it was related to a personal dispute and had nothing to do with post-poll violence.
There is also fake news being spread of a gangrape of a woman BJP worker by Trinamool Congress workers at Birbhum’s Nanoor.
Election Commission-appointed Birbhum SP Nagendra Tripathi told media that the reports of a gangrape in Birbhum are fake.
In another video shared by BJP’s Mahila Morcha social media national in-charge, Priti Gandhi, people can be seen dancing with swords to the TMC poll song Khela Hobe playing in the background.
CID West Bengal investigated the video and said the video is fake. CID West Bengal appealed to people not to spread fake videos which is not related to the current situation.
Was there no violence at all?
There was violence. Yes, people from both TMC and BJP were involved in attacks on each other. Some CPM leader were also attacked and key CPM activists were killed.
In Purba Bardhaman, 4 people were killed in clashes between the TMC and the BJP. The incident took place when motorcycle-borne TMC supporters were going to Nabagram when they were attacked by BJP workers in Jamalpur police station limits.
Two were declared brought dead by Burdwan Medical College and Hospital when rushed there. On this, the TMC said four people were killed, of whom 3 were TMC supporters.
A local BJP leader blamed TMC supporters for causing the violence since they were raising slogans and jeering BJP workers. Police said 23 people were detained and a security blanket has been imposed in troublesome areas.
TMC supporters were also being accused of vandalising the homes and shops of BJP workers in various parts of Galsi.
BJP leader and General Secretary, Jharkhand, Dr Pradip Varma, shared a video burning BJP office in West Bengal. He said wining and loosing happens, burning BJP office shows the mentality of TMC.
What did Mamata Banerjee say?
Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee rejected all the allegation by the BJP. She said after West Bengal election results were announced, many BJP workers and supporters have attacked TMC workers, but we asked our men not to get provoked by their act and instead report to the police, Mamata said. She has appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm, and asked them not to fall prey to provocation.
Read Also: Covid-19 surge: Kerala announces complete lockdown from May 8 to May 16
The BJP is, however, not going to rest and will continue to organize nationwide protests to highlight the violent nature of the West Bengal government, said party leaders.
India News
India-Canada ties: India asks Canada to withdraw 40 diplomats by October 10
Canada has currently a total of 62 diplomats in India. New Delhi has instructed Canada to decrease the number to 41 at their high commission.
India has asked Canada to withdraw around 40 diplomats by October 10 as the diplomatic row between the two nations over Ottawa’s allegations of New Delhi’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. According to reports India has threatened to remove the diplomatic immunity of any candian diplomat if they remained in India after October 10.
Canada has currently a total of 62 diplomats in India. New Delhi has instructed Canada to decrease the number to 41 at their high commission. Boehm said PM Justin Trudeau does not expect to back down. He added India sees Canada as an easy mark. He said India is aware of Ottawa’s limited capacity to retaliate because of the presence of a minority government in Canada.
Trudeau is the leader of the Liberal Party. He shares power with Canadian Sikh leader and Indian origin Jagmeet Singh who is the head of the New Democratic Party in Canada. India had previously said it wanted an equal number of diplomats posted in the country and Canada. At the High commission in Delhi Canada has many diplomats compared to what India has in Ottawa.
Diplomatic crisis between Canada and India emerged after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said the Canadian agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegation of a potential link the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Indian government. India had stated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India rejected Canada’s allegations and called them motivated and absurd.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). He was shot dead outside a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada in the month of June. Ottawa expelled an Indian official over the case. India in response expelled a Canadian diplomat. Visa services were also expelled by the Indian government for Canadian citizens.
India News
Earthquake of 6.2 magnitude on Richter scale shakes up Delhi-NCR, North India
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks.
Strong tremors lasting almost a minute rocked parts of Delhi-National Capital Region, and several northern states after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake at its epicentre hit Nepal.
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high-rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks. Similar sights were visible in the region’s office districts. The tremors were also felt in parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand just after 2.45 pm. According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority website, “Delhi is located in zone IV which has fairly high seismicity where the general occurrence of earthquakes is of 5-6 magnitude, a few of magnitude 6-7 and occasionally of 7-8 magnitude. Delhi thus lies among the high-risk areas.” The site adds that Delhi and the union territory region has already seen five earthquakes of the 5.5 to 6.7 scale since 1720.
There has been no report of damage to life and property as of now and reports are awaited on the situation in Nepal. Seismologists said the epicentre was 5 km underground in Bhatekhola in Nepal. The Himalayan country has already faced a massive quake on April 25, 2015 of 7.8 magnitude. Some 9,000 people died and injured more than 20,000.
According to the National German Research Centre for Geo sciences has said that magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Nepal region. According to National Siesmological Centre an earthquake measuring 5.3 magnitude hit western parts of Nepal. No loss of property or life has been reported.
The earthquake was recorded with epicenter at Talkot area of Bajhang district, 700 km west of Kathmandu. Two earthquakes of magnitude 4.6 and 6.2 on the Richter scale jolted Nepal. The two tremors were felt within half an hour time. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya came out of Nirman Bhawan with others, as strong tremors hit different parts of North India.
India News
Watch: Nitin Gadkari takes a test drive on hydrogen bus in Prague
In the video Gadkari is seen seated on the bus while officials surround him standing. One of the officials asked about the distance the bus can cover in a single charge. Gadkari said the visit is part of India’s commitment to eco friendly and sustainable transportation solutions.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is currently on an official visit to the Czech Republic. He took a test drive in a hydrogen bus. Nitin Gadkari took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared a video of the bus ride. In the video Gadkari can be seen surrounded by a group of officials.
In the video Gadkari is seen seated on the bus while officials surround him standing. One of the officials asked about the distance the bus can cover in a single charge. Gadkari said the visit is part of India’s commitment to eco friendly and sustainable transportation solutions. The video is captioned Hydrogen buses are a beacon of hope in India’s fight against environment degradation and carbon emissions. The buses will pave a greener and cleaner future.
The union minister posted a series of photographs on X, which showed the Gadkari’s test drive. Hydrogen fuel celled powered buses use air and hydrogen to generate electricity. It is a more environment friendly and sustainable mode of public transportation.
Gadkari arrived in the Czech Republic on October 1. He received a warm welcome at the Prague airport. He also participated on the ministerial session on road safety at the 27th World Road Congress in Prague. The Minister reaffirmed India’s dedication to achieving road safety targets which are outlined in the Stockholm Declarartion.
Nitin Gadkari has clearly advocated asserting that advancements and transition to green fuel. This will reduce the cost of electric vehicles when compared to petrol run vehicles within a span of two years. Variety of comments started coming on X (formerly twitter). One social media user said all school and state run buses would be run on hydrogen in the coming days. One X User was asked about the mass production of hydrogen cars. One user said the video was highly inspiring.
