India News
Yearender 2021: When hate uncovered its face
Instead of protecting victims of such incidents, the perpetrators not only enjoy immunity from the law, but also the administration in BJP-ruled states punishes victims. The use of false cases and arrests under draconian laws like UAPA are the preferred weapons.

By Mohammad Javed Rasheedi
2021 is about to melt into 2022 in less than 48 hours. Majoritarian politics continued to hold its way over the country this year. But this year, it was not just Muslims but also Christians who felt the heat of Hindutva attacks across India as right-wing Hindu groups waged a culture war against them. Several churches have been attacked and statues of Jesus broken, the latest being in Ambala’s Army Cantonment, the scene of many a Rudyard Kipling work.
December saw targeted hate speeches against minorities. The one at Haridwar saw many participants vow to even take up weapons to redeem their faith by killing non-Hindus. The Hindu right-wing has waged war against Christians accusing them of religious conversion through their missionary work and Muslims for Love Jihad, an Islamophobic trope singling out Muslim men for falling in love with Hindu women and then converting them into Islam. However, such allegations targeting minorities have become a cornerstone of Hindu right-wing nationalism.
The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, United Against Hate, and United Christian Forum jointly released a fact-finding report highlighting the series of attacks on churches and hate speech against Christians across India. According to the report, India has recorded more than 300 attacks on Christians and worship places within the first nine months of 2021.
Of the 305 incidents, 66 took place in Uttar Pradesh, 47 in Chhattisgarh and at least 32 in Karnataka.
While another report of the United Christian Forum had claimed that India reported more than 400 incidents of violence against Christians across the country. Among those, the incident involved storming churches, burning Christian literature, attacking schools and assaulting worshipers.
However, it is shocking that only 30 FIRs have been registered so far in these cases. On many occasions, restrictions were imposed on people to carry out religious ceremonies.
First on the list of attacks is the one on October 3, where a mob of 250-300 persons barged into a Roorkee church in Uttarakhand and attacked people, destroyed CCTV cameras, and vandalized church premises. Many reports said there were only 12 inside the church for prayers when the attack took place.
Apart from this, the attacks on churches were also reported from BJP-ruled states Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. And these attacks have taken place over allegations of religious conversion. Christians prayers meetings have also been stopped by the same Hindu mob who had stopped Jumma namaz in the so-called Millennium City, Gurugram. The city also saw an attack on a school’s Christmas celebration.
In the last week of 2021, the bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity were frozen over FCRA claims, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted about the heartlessness behind the move affecting the charity of the outfit.
Some 22,000 patients and employees have been left without food and medicines, the West Bengal Chief Minister had tweeted.
The Missionaries of Charity was founded in 1950 by the late Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun from Macedonia, who moved to India and took care of the destitute and the poor and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work.
Hate speeches have been curtailed by some norms, keeping them among friends and family. The last week of 2021 saw more public hate speeches in the country. The controversial Dharam Sansad organized in Haridwar, other such events in Delhi and Chattisgarh saw where priests and leaders taking an oath to kill Muslims, and even urged Hindus to arm themselves against the Muslims to make India a Hindu Rashtra.
With next year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur due shortly, the increase in such hate is an attempt at reviving polarisation.
The violence in Tripura, where VHP hoodlums attacked Muslims and vandalized some of their mosques and Friday prayers disruptions at designated places at Gurugram were also the prime example of rising hate against Muslims.
Anti-Hindu violence in parts of Bangladesh triggered violence in Tripura. The communal riots erupted on October 26 after a rally organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to protest against the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh turned violent.
The VHP and the Hindu Jagran Manch organized rallies in different parts of the state to protest against the violence in Bangladesh. Later, the VHP and other right-wing groups denied any role in the violence.
The anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh, which erupted during the Durga Puja festival, was triggered by rumours that the Quran had been insulted in one of the pavilions set up for the celebrations. Seven people were killed, several temples desecrated, and hundreds of houses and business establishments of the Hindu minority were torched.
However, many Muslim groups alleged political conspiracy claiming that the minorities were being targeted in the north eastern state. There were many arrests and some journalists covering the riots in Tripura were also detained. Those who tweeted in favour of Tripura’s Muslims also found themselves being served notices by the state police.
The Uttar Pradesh government had faced severe criticism from the opposition over the killings of Kasganj youth Altaaf in mysterious circumstance. He had been arrested on suspicion of eloping with a Hindu woman. Again, the smoldering love jihad theory. The law and order in Uttar Pradesh, which had earlier won so much praise from PM Modi and other BJP leaders, has been roundly criticized by opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh.
The family of the deceased had alleged that he was tortured by police in the lockup, which led to his death. Police claimed the accused killed himself using the drawstring of his jacket’s hood when he went to the lockup washroom.
Apart from mob lynching, Muslim street vendors in Ahmedabad and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country have been threatened and disallowed from pursuing their livelihood. In Ahmedabad, the Hujarat High Court stepped in to tell off the civic authority to desist from such measures. In Assam, poor peasant families cultivating land for decades were brutally evicted only because they belonged to the Muslim minority. The point-blank shooting of Moinal Haque by police personnel caught on video and the subsequent death dance by a photographer with the remains indeed were a mirror for the crumbling facade of secular India, now overtaken by an aggressive mindless herd mentality spewing hate and violence.
Read Also: Masik Shivratri 2022: Know date, shubh muhurat, puja vidhi, significance
An empty desolate car park outside Sector 37 police station in Gurugram where Muslims had performed Friday prayers for more than a decade turned into a battleground of faith. Hindu right-wing groups staged protests, sloganeered during Friday prayers and held a Govardhan puja at the namaz site just to deny namaz here.
Instead of protecting victims of such incidents, the perpetrators not only enjoy immunity from the law, but also the administration in BJP-ruled states punishes victims. The use of false cases and arrests under draconian laws like UAPA are the preferred weapons.
India News
Bank holidays April 2023: Banks to be closed for 15 days next month, check state-wise bank holiday list here
With the new financial year starting on April 1, major changes are anticipated as these changes are connected to money and banks.

April is just a few weeks ago and with the new financial year starting on April 1, major changes are anticipated as these changes are connected to money and banks.
As per the Reserve Bank of India’s calendar, all public and private banks will remain shut for 15 days in April 2023 for multiple festivals and occasions including Mahavir Jayanti, Good Friday, Tamil New Year’s Day, Biju festival, Bengali New Year’s Day, Ramazan Eid, Himachal Day, Jumat-ul-Vida, and others.
State-wise bank holidays list for April 2023
Date | Occasion | Region, Nation Specific |
April 1 | On the occasion of banks’ closing of accounts | Banks will remain closed across India except in Aizawl, Shimla, Chandigarh, and Shillong |
April 2 | Sunday | Across India |
April 4 | Mahavir Jayanti | Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Belapur, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Raipur, and Ranchi |
April 5 | Babu Jagjivan Ram’s birthday | Hyderabad |
April 7 | Good Friday | Banks will be closed in Aizawl, Belapur, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Gangtok, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Imphal, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Panaji, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, and Thiruvananthapuram |
April 8 | Second Saturday | Across India |
April 9 | Sunday | Across India |
April 14 | Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, Bohag Bihu, Cheiraoba, Vaisakhi, Baisakhi, Tamil New Year’s Day, Maha Bisubha Sankranti, Biju Festival, Buisu Festival celebrations | Agartala, Ahmedabad, Belapur, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Gangtok, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Panaji, Patna, Ranchi, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram |
April 15 | Vishu, Bohag Bihu, Himachal Day, Bengali New Year’s Day (Nababarsha) | Agartala, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Shimla, and Thiruvananthapuram |
April 16 | Sunday | Across India |
April 18 | Shab-l-Qadr | Jammu and Srinagar |
April 21 | Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramzan Eid), Garia Puja, Jumat-ul-Vida | Agartala, Jammu, Kochi, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram |
April 22 | Eid-Ul-Fitr, fourth Saturday | Belapur, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Guwahati, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Panaji, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong and Srinagar for Eid and across India for fourth Saturday |
April 23 | Sunday | Across India |
April 30 | Sunday | Across India |
India News
Video of man singing Atif Aslam’s Bakhuda Tum Hi Ho in Metro goes viral, users laud the singer | Watch
The singer and the guitarist continue to serenade the crowd as the passenger enjoy the live concert. Few passengers can also be seen pulling out their phones to record the singer. The singer can also be seen fervently singing and grooving to his singing.

A video resurfaced on the internet where a man can be seen singing and serenading the crowd inside the metro. The video shows the singer accompanied by his guitarist friend who turned a boring old metro ride into a live makeshift concert.
In the video, the singer can be seen asking the passengers if he can sing this song, and after getting a nod from the passengers, the singer stuns everyone with his soulful voice as he sings Atif Aslam’s Bakhuda Tum Hi Ho and nails it. The passengers can also be seen hooting for the man.
The singer and the guitarist continue to serenade the crowd as the passenger enjoy the live concert. Few passengers can also be seen pulling out their phones to record the singer. The singer can also be seen fervently singing and grooving to his singing. A few passengers can also be seen following suit and grooving and singing along with the man.
Watch video here:
User’s reaction
After the video went viral, many users rushed in to add their laud to the singer and guitarist in the video. One user wrote and said that as soulful the voice is, the guitarist’s skill matches it. Another user also wrote and praised the guitarist for his skilled guitar skills.
One user wrote and asked which metro is this and how come the metro he commutes in doesn’t have such instances. One user wrote that they would have emptied their wallet just to be a part of such a performance.
One user humorously questioned and asked where such an empty metro comes from, implying at the heavy surged metro hours that most passengers face, much less get to witness a live music performance.
One user wrote and highlighted how every passenger’s feet started tapping as soon as the singer started tapping, implying how everyone was overtaken by the passion for music.
Jee Rahe The Hum: Salman Khan returns as playback singer after 8 years but who to sue for this?
India News
Video of people saving man after coming in contact with live wire in Uttar Pradesh goes viral | Watch
The women in the video can also be seen in a state of shock and turmoil as they collected themselves from the incident. The video also shows smoke coming out of the clothes of the man due to the electrocution.

A hair-raising video surfaced on the internet from Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut where a live wire broke and fell on a man leading him to get electrocuted. As per the reports, the man, after being saved, was shifted to a hospital and is in critical condition.
In the video, a man along with several women can be seen standing on the side of the road, however, in a sudden turn of events, a live wire fell on the man and electrocuted him. The man after coming in contact with the live wire, collapsed to the ground as the live wire was still stuck to his body.
Upon witnessing the incident, several locals rushed to the scene as they tried to save the man by pulling away the live wire. Many people came forward with a stick-like-object to separate th e live wire from the man. As few failed to succeed, one man bravely darted toward the scene and separated the live wire from the man.
The women in the video can also be seen in a state of shock and turmoil as they collected themselves from the incident. The video also shows smoke coming out of the clothes of the man due to the electrocution.
See video here:
Twitter reactions
After the video of the incident went viral, many user’s came forward to add their take on the incident as one user wrote and praised that the skullcap wearing man who relentlessly and bravely went all in and separated the live wire from the man.
One user wrote and prayed that no one goes through a similar scenario as it looked very horrific. The user further wrote and highlighted the wires to be covered.
One user also wrote and highlighted the agony of watching someone you love suffer right in front of you, implying at the horrific incident.
When is Ramadan 2023 in India? Check city-wise Sehri, Iftar time
-
Entertainment16 hours ago
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin rewards director Kartiki Gonsalves of Oscar-winning The Elephant Whisperers with Rs 1 crore
-
Top Stories13 hours ago
Finland tops World Happiness Report for 6th time in a row, India among the unhappiest countries in the world
-
Top Stories14 hours ago
Delhi excise policy scam: BRS leader K Kavitha submits all phones ahead of third round of questioning
-
Latest Politics News18 hours ago
Amritpal Singh crackdown: Khalistani leader’s uncle brought to Central Jail in Assam, internet suspension to continue till March 23 noon in Punjab
-
Festivals11 hours ago
Happy Navratri 2023: Wishes, messages, greetings, WhatsApp images to share on Chaitra Navratri
-
Festivals15 hours ago
When is Ramadan 2023 in India? Check city-wise Sehri, Iftar time
-
Latest Politics News17 hours ago
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal slams AAP over Amritpal Singh, warns AAP government against conspiracies to defame Sikh community for electoral gains
-
Latest Politics News18 hours ago
Rahul Gandhi says he won’t be intimidated days after Delhi Police search his residence