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Young Tamil TV journalist hacked to death

By
The Commune
-

Isravel Moses, 26, a reported working with Tamizhan TV was hacked to death on Sunday night by armed assailants near Somangalam.

Moses, a resident of Puthu Nellore near Kundrathur, used to report on local land grabs, ganja (cannabis) smuggling and other crimes in the show Sirappu Paarvai (Special Focus) for the TV channel.

On Sunday, he stepped out of his house on being requested by an acquaintance, and was taken to a nearby spot where couple of other came out of nowhere and attacked him. He was hacked in the hands, legs and the head.

A screaming Moses came running towards the house when his father rushed to outside and saw his son bleeding.

Moses was taken to the Chromepet Government Hospital at around 12.30 AM. He was declared dead upon arrival.

While a statement issued by Chennai Journalists Association note that Moses was attacked by anti-social elements for reporting on a ganja smuggling racket, a report by The Lede said that Moses became a victim of a land grab case in his area.

 

Kamala Harris refused to release names of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse when she was California AG

By
The Commune
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As Kamala Harris celebrates her victory as Vice President-elect and the first woman to hold the second-highest office in America, she might have to face a ghost from the past. 

Years ago, a man named Joey Piscitelli wrote to Kamala Harris, who was then San Francisco’s District Attorney, about the plight of the catholic clergy sex abuse survivors. However, it fell on deaf ears. 

According to Piscitelli,  Kamala Harris never responded to him when he wrote to her about the abuse he had suffered at the hands of a local Catholic priest. Five years later, he wrote to her again urging her to release records on clergymen accused of sexual abuse to not only get justice for himself but also to help other survivors who were filing lawsuits, but Harris never responded. 

“She did nothing”, said Piscitelli, who is now the Northern California spokesperson for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). 

Now there is a possibility that Harris’s record on fighting sex abuse crimes within the Catholic Church might become an issue as she campaigned as a tough-on-crime ex-prosecutor when she was trying to get the democratic nomination for the office of the President. Survivors of clergy abuse and their attorneys say that Harris was consistently silent on the Catholic Church’s abuse scandal both as San Francisco’s District Attorney and later as California’s Attorney General.

In 2019, in a statement to The Associated Press, the Harris campaign in a statement said, “Kamala Harris has been a staunch advocate on behalf of sexual assault victims, especially child sexual assault victims,” and noted that she “used her position as District Attorney to create the first unit focused on child sexual assault cases in the office’s history.”

However, it maintained stoic silence regarding survivors abused by Catholic clerics. The statement said that withheld documents regarding clergy sexual abuse from attorneys and news reporters to protect the identities of survivors which has been faulted by survivors and their lawyers. 

It is to be noted that President-elect Joe Biden is a practicing Catholic and California is home to large Catholic voting blocs, accounting for roughly a quarter of the population in the entire state of California.

“There’s a potential political risk if you move aggressively against the church,” said Michael Meadows, a Bay Area attorney who has represented clergy abuse victims. “I just don’t think she was willing to take it.”, he was quoted saying in a report.

In 2003, a U.S. Supreme Court decision made it impossible to pursue criminal prosecutions of child sexual abuse cases after statutes of limitation had expired which left lawsuits in civil court as the only path for seeking justice for many clergy sexual abuse survivors.

After Kamala Harris assumed the office of the District Attorney (DA) in 2004, when attorneys of survivors urged her to release church records on abusive priests that had been gathered by her predecessor, Terence Hallinan, she refused to release saying that it was intended to protect the identities of clergy abuse survivors. 

However, survivors and their attorneys were not happy and one of the lawyers of the survivor said that Harris could have redacted any identifying information.

It was also reported that Harris’ office resisted informal requests to help them with their cases, while other district attorneys or their staff members were making themselves available.

“Of all the DAs in the Bay Area, she’s the only one who wouldn’t cooperate with us”, Rick Simons, the attorney for Piscitelli was quoted saying in the report by CBS local. 

It was when Kamala Harris was running for the state Attorney General in 2010 when she had again highlighted her work for sexual abuse survivors that Piscitelli wrote Harris his second letter, asking her to release the clergy personnel files. It was around the same time the SF Weekly renewed a previous public records request for the church documents on sexual abuse. However, to advance her politcal carrier, Kamala Harris continued to avoid taking a stand on the Catholic Church’s abuse problem. 

 

Sanghaar: The Massacre, a film on sadhu lynching and cow slaughter coming soon

By
The Commune
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Bollywood, which has for a long time glorified ‘dons’, flirted with Pakistan, and infused Hinduphobia subtly, is now witnessing churn with new filmmakers breaking the hegemony of the Khans.

Film maker Puneet Issar has made a movie with his son Siddhant Issar based on the mob lynching of Sadhus at Palghar, Maharashtra, the audio launch of which happened recently at Delhi.

Acharya Adhweshanand Giri, Akhara Parishad President Swami Narendranand Giri and Hari Giri Ji Paramathanand Saraswati of the Akhara Parishad were present along with former Delhi MP Mahesh Giri during the launch of the song Shankhanad.

The sadhus of the Akhara Parishad said that film hopefully exposes the conspiracy and the sadhus get justice.

Speaking at the launch, actor Siddhant Issar said that the issues of majority Hindus are being suppressed in Bollywood, because the Hindus are liberal and do not want to raise any issues that they claim would lead to communalism.  He said that after the heinous incident of Palghar, he felt that not only the reality of this incident should be revealed but also the lifestyle of sadhus.

Siddhant said that if there is a film or television series produced on the issue related to minorities, then financial help is available not only from the Muslim countries but also from Europe. But when it comes to the issue related to the majority population of the country i.e. Hindus, then that kind of cooperation is not available.

BJP MP Mahesh Giri said that Bollywood films portrayed a bad image of Hindus, Hindu Gods and Goddesses and it is high time the trend changes. He also raised the issue of the Nikita murder case and said there is a huge conspiracy across the country in which Hindu girls are targeted. “Strict action must be taken”, said the former BJP MP.

The film is also said to capture the cow slaughter industry in India.

Donald Trump could hit China hard before he leaves office

By
Balaji Subramanian
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As many people across the world rejoice the defeat of Donald Trump, it is possible that before he exits the Oval Office, he could make some decisions that could be disruptive to President-elect Joe Biden and particularly for China, the country that Trump holds responsible for the Wuhan Virus and the raison d’etre for his defeat in the election.

Trump has still not concealed defeat as he claims that there was widespread electoral fraud which has made the path to peaceful transfer of power very narrow.

Before Trump leaves office, he can through executive orders, subject sanctions on more Chinese state-owned companies, restrict on “dual-use” civilian-military exports, ban more Chinese apps, block all semiconductor sales to Huawei Technologies for 5G networks, etc. The worst fear for China is the possibility of being declared as a currency manipulator during the period of transfer of power.

James Green, a Georgetown University senior fellow and former trade negotiator said, “I think there is a good chance for mischief across a range of US policies leading up to the inauguration. In terms of cooperative handover procedures, I worry about that. It seems to me one of those norms that the Trump administration has no interest in upholding.”

Many believe that Trump had the odds in his favour until the Wuhan virus pandemic. They say that he would have easily won the election had the pandemic not struck just before the elections. It is expected that China will receive the short end of the stick as Trump has repeatedly held China responsible for the pandemic and sagging economy that has led to his eventual loss.

Trump could make many policies that will be hard to reverse with regard to China and Iran. The other reason will be human rights which is a sticky subject for China and Trump could hold China guilty of “genocide” for the mass detention of Uygur Muslims in the Xinjiang province.

When it comes to human rights the Democratic Party has been the torchbearer and by putting sanctions on Communist Party officials, just as America did not participate in the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, Trump’s decisions could spell trouble for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Already 2020, Tokyo Olympics had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 causing considerable loss to the Japanese exchequer.

Former National Security Council official Jeff Moon says there could be last-minute punitive moves against Beijing and “Trump has promised to punish China for Covid-19, so the question is, what does that mean,”.

If Trump decides to take action against China based on such assertions, it would be very hard for Biden to countermand such decisions.

To give credence to Trump, according to a Pew Research Centre, 73 per cent of Americans hold a negative view of China. Also, China has not made matters easy due to its expansionism in the South China Sea, the present conflict with India in Ladakh, the blatant human rights violation Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the clear and present danger posed to Taiwan.

So it is quite possible Trump could issue more executive orders, agency rulemaking and appointments which does not require Senate approval. Individuals who were political appointees can also be shifted to civil services, a process called “burrowing in”, which could be a thorn in smooth transition of power.

However, executive orders are not laws passed by Congress and do not carry the weight of law, but still, it can make things difficult for the  Biden administration. Any quick reversals of policies will be seen with suspicion by both an ally and adversaries.

For Biden, the task is cut out as he has to please the hard left Antifa and liberals who want to do away with many of the existing political norms. Biden also has to deal with the right which overwhelmingly voted for Trump and deal with a partisan Congress and Senate.

Already there is a China Task Force report released in late September this year and it has 82 key findings and 400 “forward leaning recommendations” that calls for investigation for genocide claims, and an “all of government” response to Communist Party propaganda, check Beijing’s role in the UN and fund technologies to circumvent Chinese censorship.

Bidon cannot undermine such reports and will be labeled going soft on China and communists. Also, if Biden goes soft on China it will only give more credibility to his detractors, particularly Trump who directly accused Hunter Biden of taking money from China.

Already China has started to make an overture to Biden, hoping to ease tension and restore trade balance. However, it looks more difficult than that because China with its inequitable trade policies and flexing its military muscle to intimidate and manufacture conflict with practically all its neighbors has forced many in the American policy circle to take a more confrontational stand.

It is likely, Biden’s policies on China will be no different than that of Donald Trump. Trump on the other hand could simply put aside his differences with China for the sake of his business.

Former IAS officer accused of corruption joins Congress

By
The Commune
-

Sasikanth Senthil, the Karnataka cadre IAS officer accused of corruption, who quit the service saying ‘democracy was in danger’, announced on Sunday (November 8) that he was joining the Congress party.

The 2009-batch IAS officer resigned from service on September 6, 2019 saying that he felt ‘unethical to continue as a civil servant in the government when the fundamental building blocks of our diverse democracy are being compromised in an unprecedented manner’.

In a statement issued by the officer of Sunday, he said that he has decided to join the Congress party in an effort to continue his fight as an activist.

“In this one year, I had an opportunity to experience the spirit of India. I had met some of the best human beings that I had ever seen in my life. I had visited many places, participated in many protests, interacted with young and courageous students, stood hand in hand with people who had nothing but love in their heart. I was able to contribute my bit to the great anti-NRC/CAA movement which proved to me that people in this country are ready to stand for one another. In fact, I realized that I belong to this family and should do anything and everything to be with and to fight for these shared values”, he said in his statement.

He said that he decided to be a part of the Congress movement to realize this goal and said that the ‘current leadership understands the spirit of this ideological fight that recognizes that India has to be for all’.

The former IAS officer has been accused of corruption during his tenure as the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district. Coming days after his resignation, the Federation of Dakshina Kanna District Sand Lorry Owner’s Association had alleged that the officer had created several lobbies with regards to sand mining. They also alleged that the officer had misused his powers in many ways and had granted sand extraction permits to many powerful people.

He is also said to have granted GPS tender for a blacklisted company named T4U Service Private Limited and received kickbacks for the same.

Jayaraj Shetty, the President of the Association had said that Sasikanth Senthil was responsible for the increase of sand price from ₹3000 to ₹14000. The officer had apparently misused the ‘Sand Bazar’ mobile app that was introduced to check illegal sand transportation. “Instead of providing sand to the public through the lorries which are registered under Sand Bazar app, sand was given to only limited people. A huge quantity of sand was provided to some mighty people in an illegal way”, Jayaraj had alleged.

The association back then had demanded a thorough probe to find out the reasons behind his resignation and abuse of power by him.

3500 DMK cadres including Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi booked for violating COVID19 guidelines

By
The Commune
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The Thoothukudi Police have registered a case against 3500 DMK cadres, including DMK women’s wing leader Kanimozhi, for violating COVID19 guidelines.

The DMK in the name of ‘Reclaiming Tamil Nadu’ has been holding online election rallies where party chief MK Stalin, from the comfort of his home, has been has been addressing cadres through video conferencing. As part of this, the DMK unit in Thoothukudi had arranged a meeting on November 5.

The meeting was held simultaneously at different locations without following COVID19 guidelines. DMK MP from Thoothukudi, Kanimozhi, along with many others had participated in this meeting.

Complaints were lodged at various police stations against the DMK saying that these meetings were held without following the COVID19 guidelines. A total of 51 such complaints have been lodged under various sections including illegal congregation (Section 143), transmission of disease, negligent conduct (Sections 269, 270, 271), violation of restraining order (Section 189) and relevant sections of the Prevention of Disease Control Act.

3500 DMK cadres including DMK MP Kanimozhi and 3 DMK MLAs have been charged for negligent conduct and violating the COVID19 restrictions.

Thiruthani Murugan Temple property used for prostitution, drinking, gambling, eating non-veg and other illegal activities, case filed in Madras HC

By
The Commune
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A petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking an injunction restraining the use of Thiruthani Murugan Temple hostels for illegal activities.

The petitioner Harshavardhan Thavlur of Thiruthani has stated that hostels owned by the Thiruthani Murugan Temple is being used for illegal activities like prostitution, drinking, gambling, eating non-vegetarian food, etc.

It stated that two temple staffs – Periyakarthi and Kuppan – were involved in these activities during the lockdown period when the temples remained closed.

The petitioner also alleged that the Assistant Commissioner Palanikumar of the HR&CE department and the Temple trustee Jaishankar did not take any action against the two and were acting in their favour. The petition called for strong action to be taken against all those involved.

A few days ago, in a case related to the setting up of a government fish store on temple owned land, the Madras High Court ruled that temple properties should not be used for anything other than temple-related activities.

Devotees expressed anguish that on one hand the state has been encroaching temple lands and on the other the HR&CE staff in temples are indulging in illegal activities and abusing their power.

Earlier, two employees – Sivarajan and Sivakumar of Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department were sacked for consuming alcohol and eating meat within the premises of the Kolanjiappar Temple in Manavalanallur village in Cuddalore district after their video went viral on social media. They had also taken advantage of the lockdown situation.

Prior to this, two officials of the HR&CE department working in the Dhandayuthapani Swami Temple in Palani were suspended for consuming alcohol in the temple premises.

Source: Dinamalar

 

Joe Biden becomes US’ 46th President, vows to unite America in first address

By
The Commune
-

Democrat Presidential candidate Joseph Biden defeated incumbent Republican President Donald Trump to become the 46th President Of The United States of America (POTUS).

Biden was declared as the President elect after he crossed the required 270 electoral college votes.

Following the news people assembled at prominent landmarks including the White House and New York Times Square to celebrate his victory.

His running mate Kamala Harris has become the first woman to enter the White House. She is the first woman of Black and Indian-American descent to serve as Vice President.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Modi congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their victory.

In his speech, at an outdoor rally in his home city of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said “This is the time to heal in America.”

“Folks, the people of this nation have spoken. They’ve delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory,” he added.

Acknowledging that the verdict was a pronouncement of America’s divided polity, Biden said that he sought to unify a divided nation.

“I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide but unify – who doesn’t see Red states and Blue states, only sees the United States,” he said.

Taking into consideration Trump’s supporters, he said “They are not our enemies. They are Americans.”

“Let this era of demonisation in America begin to end here.”

“I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class, and to make America respected around the world again,” Biden said.

Calling for the need to work together, Biden said ““If we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I believe this is part of the mandate of the American people, they call on us to cooperate.”

Further, Biden went on to announce his plans as President to contain the pandemic and said that he vowed to name a group top scientists to his coronavirus task force as early as Monday.

“On Monday I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisors to help take the Biden-Harris plan and convert it into an actual blueprint that will start on January 20, 2021,” he told supporters.

Biden, the 2nd Catholic to be elected President recited a devotional hymn called “On the eagle’s wings”.

Biden also holds the distinction of being the oldest person to hold the office.

DMK member caught lying again, this time about being a DMK member

By
The Commune
-

Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, a habitual liar was once again caught lying through his teeth when it was revealed that he joined the DMK just a few days back.

News channels belonging to the DMK (Sun News and Kalaignar Seithigal) on November 5 announced that the founder and managing trustee of Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation joined the DMK.

Image

However, Karthikeya Sivasenapathy in September of this year claimed to be a DMK member since 1996 in response to a tweet by Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President K. Annamalai.

Although he is known for eulogizing the most corrupt party of Tamil Nadu – the DMK, he had kept his associations with the DMK clandestine for a long time.

But this is not the first time he has been caught lying.

During the Jallikattu protests, in which Tamil Nadu youngsters had barred all political parties from participating, this man like a fox clandestinely entered the scene hiding about his DMK affiliation and hijacked the protest to spread anti-Modi and anti-AIADMK rhetoric when both these parties had nothing to do with the ban of the sport whatsoever. The Jallikattu protest which started as a student led protest against PETA was hijacked by this man for his own popularity. He portrayed himself as the saviour of Jallikattu and has since then become a prominent face gaining some youngsters as followers on social media.

Recently, he posted about the state of Tamil Nadu’s economy on his twitter page which did not have an iota of truth in it. The post was ditto copied from the tweet of Suresh Sambandam, another DMK apologist. The lies peddled by Karthikeya Sivasenapathy was busted by The Commune in this article.

“Not right to call Rajiv Gandhi killers as Tamils”: TNCC President

By
The Commune
-

In a series of tweets, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K.S. Alagiri opposed the political parties’ demand to release the murderers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and said that it is wrong to call perpetrators of a murder as Tamils.

The statement from the TNCC President comes just days after DMK chief MK Stalin urged the Governor to expedite the remission of life sentences of the seven convicts.

Alagiri said that the decision whether to release the seven convicts – AG Perarivalan, Nalini Sriharan, Robert Payas, Sriharan (Murugan), Santhan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran – must be taken by the court, and added that it is appropriate for political parties to demand their release.

“If they are released, there will be a demand for the release of all murderers who are Tamils and who have been in prison for more than 25 years.” Alagiri said in his statement.

He said that those who have committed murders must be seen as murderers and not as Tamils.

The TNCC chief said that it is a matter of pride to call the esteemed Abdul Kalam, Kamaraj, Anna, Kalaignar Karunanidhi, Comrade Jeevanandam, Mathematician Ramanujam as Tamils and not murderers.

“Therefore, it would not be Tamil culture to speak on behalf of the perpetrators of the assassination of the former Prime Minister and the damage done to India.”, the TNCC chief said.

On November 5, DMK chief MK Stalin had written to the Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit to release the convicts as they had already spent 7 decades in jail.

In a show of bipartisanship, BJP leader H. Raja came in support of Alagiri’s statements citing Tamil poet Subramania Bharathiyar.

 

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