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TN students play spoilsport to NEET politics as no. of students qualifying and pass percentage registers year on year increase

By
The Commune
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The results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for the year 2020 were declared on Friday (October 16).

Tamil Nadu where Dravidian political parties have been doing politics over NEET asking for the scrapping of the exam saw 57.44% students clearing it, a 8.87% increase from last year’s 48.57%.

Srijan R, a native of Vellakovil in Tirupur district secured the all India 8th rank with a score of 710 out of 720 and a percentile of 99.99. Mohanaprabha Ravichandran scored 705 securing the 52nd rank while G Swetha from the state secured 62nd rank with a score of 702.

In a remarkable feat, N. Jeevith Kumar, and student of Silvarpatti Government Higher Secondary School in Theni district who studied in Tamil medium scored 664 out of 720. He has secured 1823 rank at the national level. This is is the first time a government school student from Tamil Nadu has made it to the top.

Jeevith Kumar’s father K. Narayanamoorthi is a goat herder while his mother N. Parameswari is a MGNREGA worker. He had joined a coaching institute in Namakkal. Jeevith Kumar had completed 12th std in 2018-19 academic year. In his first attempt at NEET he scored 190 marks.

Out of the 121617 students who had registered for the exam, 99610 appeared and 57215 have qualified.

A significant rise was observed in the number of candidates who took the exam in Tamil with a total of 17,101 candidates. 1,017  candidates took the exam in Tamil in NEET 2019.

Tamil Nadu has seen a consistent increase in the number and percentage of students clearing NEET. In 2018, the pass percentage was 39.56% with 45336 students clearing the exam. In 2019, it increased to 48.57% and this year 57.44% students have cleared the exam.

Following the poor performance of Tamil Nadu students in the previous year exams, owing to the sub-standard Samacheer Kalvi syllabus that rendered students ineligible to shine in competitive exams, the Tamil Nadu government undertook the exercise of revamping the syllabus and textbooks to bring it on par with CBSE standard. Teachers were also trained on the new syllabus and many coaching facilities for rural students were opened to prepare for NEET.

Earlier, professors who were part of the textbook committee of the Tamil Nadu School Education Department had told that, 97% of the questions in biology, chemistry and physics in this year’s NEET were from the textbooks of the Government of Tamil Nadu based on the new syllabus.

They have told that 87 questions (54% from class 11, 46% from class 12) in biology, 43 questions (47% from class 11, 53% from class 12) in chemistry and 44 questions (45% from class 11, 55% from class 12) in physics have been taken from the latest 11th and 12th textbooks brought out by the Tamil Nadu. Deputy Director of State Council of Education S Shameem, Research and Training (SCERT) had said that the Tamil Nadu textbooks had covered more questions this year than the NCERT textbooks.

In all, 174 questions of the total 180 were said to have been covered in the syllabus brought out by Tamil Nadu government for class 11 and class 12. The new syllabus is said to have bridged the gap establishing a level playing field.

The performance of Tamil Nadu students in NEET has come as a setback to political parties that have been doing unwarranted politics over the exam.

Jammu & Kashmir High Court gives landmark judgement in “Roshni Land Scam”, orders CBI probe

By
Balaji Subramanian
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The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Jammu and Kashmir has welcomed the order given by the High Court on Friday (October 16), wherein the court has ordered a CBI probe in the Roshni land scam.

 The Bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajesh Bindal ruled, “Given the nature of the crimes, the status of those who are involved, including the allegations of involvement of Ministers, legislators, bureaucrats, Government officials as well as the local police officials of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, it is essential to do complete justice in the matter and to ensure confidence in the minds of the public that, in order to enable a fair, proper and complete investigation, the CBI should be requested to take up and proceed in the matter in accordance with law.”

This is said to be the biggest scam in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, and is estimated to have cost the state exchequer as high as ₹25,000 crores.
 
A Press Statement issued by Rajesh Gupta, Working President, VHP J&K and Ladakh reads,  

J&K High Court, while declaring the infamous ‘Roshni Scheme’ (popularly known as ‘Roshni Scam’), as invalid and illegal; have entrusted its further investigation to CBI. With this, general public of J&K is hoping for the retrieval of all the state land, and also legal remedies for conspirators and beneficiaries.
 
In 2001, the then government of J&K, announced with much hype, a self-proclaimed revolutionary, mother of all schemes, aimed to generate a revenue of ₹25,000 crores to be used to set up hydropower projects in J&K (which actually generated only less than ₹100 crores), by giving ownership of State land under illegal occupation of encroachers.  The Rules of the Act, illegitimately, were amended at the whims and fancies of people in power multiple times, by all major Kashmir centric politicos till 2007 to include their supporters and kins as beneficiaries.

As detected by Comptroller & Auditor General of India in the year 2013, in a deep contrast between Jammu & Kashmir regions, ownership rights of approximately 33,000 kanals of state land were vested to state blessed encroachers in 10 districts of Kashmir province but around 6 lacs kanals of land (around 20 times that of Kashmir province) was regularised in favor of encroachers (with a sizeable number belonging to different districts of Kashmir region) in 10 districts of Jammu province. In Kashmir 100% of the beneficiaries were Muslims as Hindus stands forcefully expelled from the region but surprisingly in Jammu province where Hindus account for 75% of the population, they comprised of less than 10% of the beneficiaries.

Hon’ble High Court’s order for a conclusive investigation into all aspects of this scam by CBI, along with strictures on modus operandi of investigation agencies of erstwhile state of J&K, with directions to the U.T. Government to extend all cooperation to CBI for their investigation processes has raised hope among law-abiding citizens of J&K U.T., who were earlier treated as children of lesser God.
 
Kashmir centric leadership of J&K comprising all political parties who have now joined hands with their self proclaimed ‘Gupkar Declaration’ have not only collided for land jihad for demographic change of J&K and now have adopted a criminal silence on the expose.

Japan to dump nuclear waste into sea

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Japan is all set to release Fukushima reactor’s treated water into the sea by 2022. A lot of neighbouring countries and environmentalists have disapproved of this move, since it is not completely safe. All but one radioactive isotope have been removed with water, which does not render it completely safe.

The decision ends years of speculation over what to do with the more than one million tons of water that were treated after the power plant was severely damaged and suffered a meltdown due to the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011.

Japanese Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said no formal decision has been made, but that the government planned to move quickly. “Decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant is a major premise for restoration in Fukushima from the nuclear disaster. To prevent any delays in the decommissioning process, we need to make a decision quickly,” said Kajiyama during a news conference.

As of last month, 1.23m tonnes of water, which becomes contaminated when it mixes with water used to prevent the three damaged reactor cores from melting, were being stored in 1,044 tanks, with the amount of wastewater increasing by 170 tonnes a day. The water at Fukushima Daiichi will be diluted inside the plant before it is released so that it is 40 times less concentrated, with the whole process taking 30 years, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

Transwoman in Hyderabad set on fire alive by fellow transwomen, succumbs to burns

By
The Commune
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A transwoman identified as Hamsa was immolated alive on the night of October 11 by a fellow transwoman after she left her Haveli (a ‘Hijra/Aravani/Thirunangai’ council/collective system).

Hamsa had been begging under Hi-tech City railway bridge for a living. She had left her Haveli and joined another group after people from her old group namely, Laasya, Samira, Moksha, Jessy, Sai Pallavi, Shekhar and Rishi had mentally harassed her, as stated by her mother in her police complaint.

The ‘Hijra/Aravani/Thirunangai’ council/collective system is known by different names in different parts of the country. In Telangana region, it is known as Dayyar or Haveli. The Haveli is inherently a hierarchical set up which is headed by a Nayak (a senior transwoman). These shared communities are close knit and include only transwomen (people born as biologically male whose gender identity or expression is of a woman). People under this system are essentially those who have run away from their families due to the unacceptance of their identities as transgender persons.

In the dying declaration video accessed by The Commune, Hamsa can be heard saying that on October 11, Shekhar poured petrol on her from the bridge above and set her on fire. She was later admitted to a hospital in Kondapur where she succumbed to her burns on October 13.

This video was recorded hours before Hamsa died. (Warning: Disturbing Content)

In the above video, Hamsa says that a total of 30-35 people from the Chanda Nagar (a suburb in Hyderabad) had come to hit her group after they left the Haveli adding that that 6 people -Laasya, Sameera, Moksha, Rishi, Sai Pallavi and Jessie had tortured her. She mentions that Shekhar was on top of the bridge and poured petrol on her while she was trying to take her vehicle and leave. “Chanda Nagar people threw petrol on me but I didn’t see who. I was running towards the road while they burnt me.”, Hamsa says.  She also says that other people from the Chanda Nagar threw mud and dirt lying around to further hurt her.

She says that even before and after this incident the people sent by the Nayak had tried to harass her and her friends repeatedly.

While in the hospital Hamsa also confirms the fact that the police report initially filed had all the wrong facts which states that Hamsa self- immolated because she was unable to tolerate the trouble that she was facing after she left the Jamaat. She points out the people who had a hand in burning and torturing her. They include Sadaa (Nayak), Laasya, Sameera, Moksha, Rishi, Sai Pallavi and Jessy.

Hamsa’s mother has lodged a complaint letter with the Madhapur police station in Cyberabad stating that the FIR registered contains false information.

In that letter, Hamsa’s mother says that it was meticulously executed plan of hate crime and murder. She notes that she along with couple of others are under enormous fear, pressure and stress from ‘hijra mafia groups’ about handing over the body to them.

“Please protect us all and ensure a safe cremation for my child without interference from the hijra bonded labour mafia.”, Hamsa’s mother states in the letter.

In other news, 25 transpersons were attacked, their clothes torn and houses damaged for refusing to pay illegal tax levied by their transwomen cartel head (known as Nayaks) and daring to leave the Jammat or Dayyar system. Read more about their plight here.

(Reported by: Ayera Choudhary, student of Law at Bennett University)

Chinese PLA suffering medical casualties in Pangong Tso spotted

By
Balaji Subramanian
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Reports have emerged that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have suffered medical casualties in the North Bank area of Pangong Tso due to high altitude sickness and owing to extreme weather conditions which they are not used to.

The Indian Army is keeping a close eye on the number of casualty evacuation that has been spotted in the area over the last week.

The weather in this region even during the summer is quite cold but during winter the temperature is considerably below the freezing point in the nights that is said to have caused many PLA casualties.

As per reports, China has deployed around 5,000 soldiers at an altitude of 15,000-16,000 feet, and it’s quite possible they are not fully acclimatized. 

Jane’s Defence Weekly has quoted the PLA Daily that the Chinese soldiers will endure the long winter in thermally insulated habitats that have dormitories, washrooms, toilets, warehouses, microgrids and heating equipment.

These fixtures are capable of managing temperatures up to minus 55 degrees by maintaining an indoor balminess of 15 degrees Celsius. Also, the PLA soldiers have been provided with pressurized oxygen therapy and portable barracks deployed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

This region is known as the “roof of the world” and the weather are “arctic-like climate” and the thin air can trigger acute altitude sickness. When troops step out of the highly oxygenated artificial environment, they will suffer from breathing problem leading to various ailments.

In other news, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that Beijing does not recognize Union Territory (UT) status granted by New Delhi to Ladakh.

“First I want to make it clear that China does not recognise the Ladakh Union Territory illegally set up by the Indian side and Arunachal Pradesh. We stand against the development of infrastructure facilities aimed at military contention along the border areas,”, Lijian said.

This announcement came three days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that China has deployed 60,000 soldiers along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) against India.

Pompeo as per a report by IANS said, “The Indians are seeing 60,000 Chinese soldiers on their northern border”.

He further talked about the threat faced by the three major Indo-Pacific democracies — India, Australia, and Japan from the Chinese Communist Party.

Immeadetely the External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that China has no “locus standi” to comment on India’s internal matters and

Srivastava further added, “The union territories of  Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and would remain an integral part of India. China has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal matters. Arunachal Pradesh is also an integral and inalienable part of India. This fact has also been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions, including at the highest level.” 

China is very upset as India surges ahead in building roads and bridges and Zhao Lijian, the spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, told the media that “Beijing opposes India building infrastructure in the region.”

India has built 44 new bridges near the LAC  in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, which were inaugurated recently. These bridges will give our troops the opportunity for quick deployment to forward areas and it also necessary from a national security perspective to safeguard Indian territory. 

As China refuses to de-escalate at the LAC, many experts think it the weather in this cold and desolate region will be responsible for the death of PLA soldiers. Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a face-off in eastern Ladakh since May. 

25 transpersons attacked for refusing to pay illegal tax and leaving (trans) Jammat system

By
The Commune
-

In a horrific incident, 25 transpersons were attacked, their clothes torn and houses damaged for refusing to pay illegal tax levied by their transwomen cartel head (known as Nayaks) and daring to leave the Jammat or Dayyar system.

A transwoman by the name of Suji refused to pay taxes to the Nayaks as she believed it was unfair that a non- governmental tax was being enforced on them and that the money they earned from their own labor went to the transwomen Nayaks. She was one of the first transwomen to take this step.

After Suji, ten more transwomen followed suit and decided to live an independent life. Another dozen more joined Suji and others in not paying the taxes and leaving the (trans) Jammat.

The ‘Hijra/Aravani/Thirunangai’ council/collective system is known by different names in different parts of the country. In Tamil Nadu, it is known as Jammat/Dayyar. These shared communities are close knit and include only transwomen (people born as biologically male whose gender identity or expression is of a woman). People under this system are essentially those who have run away from their families due to the unacceptance of their identities as transgender persons.

The Jammat is inherently a hierarchical set up. Every Jammat is headed by a Thirunangai Nayak. For the Hijra women to stay with the Jammat, they must pay a ‘Moorcha’, which is a tax. To pay that tax, the transwomen are forced to do sex work or beggary. Only after about a year, if the transwoman has paid her dues, the Nayak approves their sex reassignment surgery.

Due to lack of safety structures the transwomen find it almost impossible to escape this toxic system. With the absolute iron hand of the Nayaks who have an extremely well-connected network throughout the different (trans) Jammats, it is almost impossible for a transwoman to escape their claws.

Now, this collective group that is supposed to serve as protection to the community has become the very thing that oppresses members within the group.

In the hierarchy Mohana is at the top. Mohana along with Munna Nayak, Bavas and Sona control the lives of thousands of transwomen, violate their human rights and exploit them for personal gains. Mohana Nayak and her subordinates started to feel threatened because with the slightest hint of liberation and sense of empowerment amongst the trans-women, the whole system of these Dayyars and Jammats can come down. This was a threat to the existence of Nayaks, who benefited from atrocities they committed on the transwomen by forcing them into sex work and beggary.

On 21st September 2020, at around 9:00 AM, the four Nayaks – Munna Nayak, Bavas also known as Hasna Fatima, Sona and Mohana Nayak led a group of transwomen under them to destroy the house and property of the 25 women who dared to leave the Dayyar system.

In the video attached Mohana Nayak can be seen standing in a council she convened under her for the entire sub Nayaks. These sub Nayaks (less than 50 people) control the fate of thousands of trans-women in Tamil Nadu. Mohana Nayak (in white clothes) can be heard telling all sub Nayaks to incite violence if required, but to ensure the tax gets collected.

Two of the transwomen who tried to flee to the police station were attacked by the Nayak’s people and their clothes torn, right in front of the police who stood as spectators, one of the transpersons who got in touch with The Commune said. The police made both parties sit and ‘compromise’ and did not lodge a complaint.

On the other hand, the four Nayaks lodged a complaint that these 25 transwomen had extorted money from people and that they were giving a bad name to the community. However, Suji said that the charges were false and if there was any truth in it, they would be ready to face the charges. “Whatever it is we will face it, independently, all we want is our freedom to stay independent.”, Suji said.

Another transwoman who spoke to The Commune told that for a whole month till the first week of October, Mohana Nayak’s goons harassed and threatened the life of those transwomen. They threatened to strongarm them through their political influence and networks if they didn’t abide by the diktats of the Dayyar.

“We are Thirunangais from Trichy. In the name of Jammat they kept us here, and took money (tax) from us and kept us without any freedom. So, all of us came away from it. They said that we won’t let you live and that they would put false allegations of theft like chain snatching on us, which they did. We talked to the police and told them that we never do such stuff and you can catch us if we do. They came in here, broke everything and destroyed everything and created ruckus on the street. We dialed 100 and called the police, but nobody came.  Now only 2 policemen came. Before their arrival they had broke everything and created ruckus on the streets. We are fighting for justice. We don’t want anybody to be as slaves to them. But because we came out they have unleashed violence on us by throwing stones, thrashing us, breaking our faces and pulling our hairs. Is anyone there for us? If not, we will all collectively commit suicide and the thirunangais across would be responsible for our plight if you don’t raise your voice. This is not fair. How many have died? Nobody has heard us. We should stop this. If you feel so too, please save us. There is no guarantee of our survival. Even now a hundred of them are waiting for us. Some 500 people are coming after us 20 people. Is this fair? Is nobody there for us to question this injustice? Group: Please speak for the truth. Help us. We don’t have anyone. We will all commit suicide.”

Ultimately the 25 transwomen had to flee the city to Andhra Pradesh because of the torture and harassment. They came back to Trichy on 12th October 2020.

Intersex activist Gopi Shankar Madurai who is also the southern region representative in the National Council for Transgender Persons said “These Nayaks have exploited and manipulated the system and by relying on the fact that it has been here for too long, they are trying justify it.”

Senior transwomen activist Oorvasi believes that this system of exploitation should immediately be stopped and that transpersons rights can only exist is this system is banned.

“The Police was of no help at all, they don’t understand the complex politics of all that happens withing this Dayyar system. It supports what the majority in the community supports and that majority always lies with the Nayaks, they don’t understand the politics of it.” Gopi Shankar Madurai told The Commune.

Gopi Shankar has spoken to Trichy Collector Sivarasu IAS on this issue and has urged him to take severe action on the same.

(Reported by: Ayera Choudhary, student of Law at Bennett University)

Muslim boys using social media to trick Hindu girls into inter-faith relationship, Himanta Biswa Sarma says

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has made a categorical statement that prospective groom lying about his religion to marry a Hindu girl amounts to a breach of trust.

Sarma is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and on Wednesday (12 October) said, “In Assam, we are seeing the emergence of two to three new trends. Many Muslim boys create fake Facebook accounts with Hindu names and post pictures of themselves at temples. A girl gets married to one such boy, only to discover later that he is not from the same religion. This is a not a bona fide marriage – it is based on false information and basically amounts to a breach of trust,”.

However, he said that the state government was not against interfaith marriages as long it is not a result of deception or forced. Also, the idea behind state government initiative to act tough on such marriages was to protect “our daughters and sisters from being tricked into an inter-faith relationship” Sarma Said.

“State govt has decided to act tough. Next five years we’ll try to see that all marriages take place out of free will and there is no deception. We will fight against any such marriage which has been solemnised on the basis of fraud,” Sarma was quoted by ANI as saying.

Sarma while addressing a meeting of the BJP Mahila Morcha in Dibrugarh on 11 October, said “Love jihad is promoted by social media” and that the “Assamese girls are becoming victims of love jihad”.

“Our culture is facing cultural aggression. After falling prey to love jihad, girls have to face talaq. If any Assamese girl is trolled, harassed, or becomes a victim of love jihad on social media by people of hidden identity, we will put them in prison,” Sarma was quoted by Economic Times as saying.

On Tuesday (October 13), Sarma dropped a bombshell when said the state cannot fund religious schools referring to state-funded Madrasas where Quran is taught.

“In my opinion, teaching ‘Quran’ can’t happen at the cost of government money, if we have to do so then we should also teach both the Bible and Bhagavad Gita. So, we want to bring uniformity and stop this practice,” 

Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has a foreign funded NGO head as its Chairperson

By
The Commune
-

The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) is a statutory body, established by the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, an Act of the Parliament. Its mandate is “to protect, promote and defend child rights” in Karnataka. The commission has all the powers of a civil court while enquiring into any matter. This statutory body is however being headed by Fr. Antony Sebastian, a man who runs a non-governmental organization (NGO) named Empowerment of Children and Human Rights Organisation (ECHO) that receives massive funds from foreign Christian organizations.

ECHO was founded by Fr. Antony Sebastian O. Praem, in 2000. The mission of ECHO states that it was started to empower Children in Conflict with Law and Children in need of Care and Protection, under the Indian Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act 2000. It provides legal aid, counselling, and releasing children from Government Observation Homes, Reception Centers and Children’s Homes along with providing informal education, vocational training, job placements and follow ups to monitor the released juveniles. What is important to note is that ECHO works with a network of NGOs and lobby at Central and State Government level to implement laws concerning Child Rights.

Any NGO that receives foreign funding from Christian organizations is a matter of concern. In this case, a person who heads such an organization also heads an Indian statutory body which is not just a threat to national security but also an infringement on Indian sovereignty.

ECHO’s accounts

The Commune found that ECHO is heavily funded by foreign Christian organizations. For the financial year 2018-19, ECHO received ₹97,41,020.98 (₹97 lakhs) directly from a foreign source.  It was around the same for the year 2017-18  – ₹97,32,148.89. In 2016-17, it received ₹92,04,534.55 (₹92 lakhs) as foreign funds. It received ₹11,389,721.17 (₹1.13 crores) in 2015-16 and ₹15,705,305.04 (₹1.5 crores). in 2014-15. Thus, over the past five financial years, it had received a total of ₹46031709.65 (₹4.6 crores) of foreign funds. Most of the sources are Catholic aid organizations.

 

Convent Maria Opdracht & Augustine Stewardship are catholic funded groups/churches whose primary aim is proselytization in the garb of doing welfare activities.

Manos Unidas is a Spanish development NGO of the Catholic church whose foundation as it states “is the Gospel and the Social Doctrine of the Church”.

MISEREOR is a German Catholic Bishops’ Organization and is the official aid framework of the Catholic Church in Germany – since 1962. The German government under German law is obligated  to provide financial support for the development work of church-aid organizations.

MISEREOR is a problematic organization. It has funded (still funds) many radical Palestinian NGOs. It had sponsored a 2013 conference, organized by radical Israeli NGO Zochrot calling for the ‘elimination of Israel’.

As clearly mentioned in ECHO NGO mission statement  Fr. Antony Sebastian wants to lobby Central and State governments with the help of above NGOs in framing policies which can suit their agendas.

KSCPCR which has all powers of the civil court is in effect run by a man heading an NGO that is massively funded by the foreign Church aided organizations who can leverage his power and easily convert gullible children to Christianity. Thus, it is apparent that Fr. Anthony Sebastian being Chairperson of the KSCPCR is a clear case of conflict of interest. This is also a violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Concerns have already been raised over Fr. Anthony being the Chairperson of KSCPCR. A complaint has been sent to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa by Legal Rights Observatory, an organization working in the area of national security. In its complaint, it has asked for the immediate sacking of Fr. Anthony and also a detailed investigation of financials both Fr. Anthony and ECHO.

First ever copy of Shakespearan plays sell for $10 million

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
-

The first-ever written copy of Shakespeare’s plays was sold Wednesday for $9.97 million at auction in New York, setting a new record for a work of literature. It is called the First Folio and exceeded by far the estimated range of $4-6 million set by Christie’s, which held the auction.

According to the head of research, Dr Paul Edmondson of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, there are only 6 copies of Shakespeare’s first-ever collection of plays known to exist. The collection was estimated to sell at $4million, however, was priced over and above in bidding between 2 buyers, ultimately purchased Stephan Loewentheil via phone.

It was sold by Mills College in Oakland, California – a private college that has owned it since the 1960s. The identity of the buyer was not immediately known.

The First Folio brought together 36 plays, 18 of which would otherwise not have been recorded. Without its publication, there would be no copy of such plays as Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar and The Tempest. Although around 750 copies of the First Folio were produced, just 235 are known to have survived to the present day. Of these, only 56 are considered to be complete, with almost all of them now held by institutions in the US and UK, according to Christie’s, whose sale catalogue said the item’s “extraordinary rarity … cannot be overstated.

Islamist fringe outfit announces protest demanding release of convicted terrorist, but Cartoonist Varma gets arrested

By
The Commune
-

The Indian National League Party (INLP), an Islamist fringe party has announced that it will be carrying out a protest rally towards the Coimbatore Central Prison demanding the release of Kovai Basha, the man responsible for the 1998 Coimbatore bombings that killed around 58 people.

Taking to Twitter, TADA J Rahim, leader of the party had announced on October 14 that a protest rally towards the Coimbatore Prison is to take place on October 16. However, on October 15, he announced that it has been postponed to October 23.

Responding to this tweet, Cartoonist Varma on October 14 tweeted in Tamil in which he questioned whether the Muslim Jamats in the state has ever condemned or banished those professing terrorism in the name of religion.

“They say that Islam does not approve of killing innocents in the name of religion and such a terrorist is not a Muslim at all. But has any Jamat ever banished such terrorists? They won’t. Doesn’t this mean that the group as a whole endorses terrorism?” Cartoonist Varma wrote.

The Indu Makkal Katchi has reported that the Tamil Nadu police have now arrested Cartoonist Varma for this tweet while no action has been taken on the Muslim fringe party and its leader TADA J Rahim who has endorsed a terrorist. However, when The Commune reached out to the Chennai Police Commissioner office, they denied Cartoonist Varma being arrested.

Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK) leader Arjun Sampath has called Cartoonist Varma’s arrest an attack on free speech and democracy.  He said that the police have succumbed to minority appeasement adding that while the police sat on the complaints lodged by Hindus for slandering their faith, they have arrested Cartoonist Varma once again for responding to a tweet by a terrorist sympathizer who had called for the release of a terrorist.

“While no action has been taken on people like Veeramani of Dravida Kazhagam, evangelists Ezra Sargunam, Mohan C Lazarus, and terrorists like TADA J Rahim who denigrate Hindu faith and speak against Indian sovereignty, the police have gone out of their way to arrest Cartoonist Varma in the wee hours of October 15”, Arjun Sampath said.

He further added “Muslims in Tamil Nadu have the freedom to put up posters urging the release of terrorist Basha, the Islamist fanatic who caused the brutal bombing in Coimbatore that left many innocents dead and paralyzed. From Coimbatore Central Prison to Chennai’s Puzhal Jail, Islamists have the ‘freedom’ to attack police officials and even justify it. They even have the ‘freedom’ to threaten police officers by releasing their photos but the police won’t lift a finger in those cases. They will only target and try to silence Varma for raising voice against Islamic terrorists.”

“The Indu Makkal Katchi severely condemns the undemocratic actions of the Tamil Nadu police and demands the immediate release of Cartoonist Varma.”, Arjun Sampath said to The Commune.

SA Basha or Kovai Basha, the founder of Islamic terrorist organization Al-Ummah (Followers of the Prophet) and the main conspirator behind the 1998 Coimbatore bombings was found guilty for the terror act. It was part of a larger conspiracy to target BJP leader LK Advani on the same day when he was to address an election rally.

SA Basha was awarded the life sentence and his co-conspirator Mohammad Ansari was awarded twin life sentence.

In November 2009, the DMK government under M. Karunanidhi released 9 Al-Ummah terrorists 16 months short of their full sentence for their ‘good conduct’ on the occasion of 100th birth anniversary of C.N. Annadurai.

Now the Islamist fringe party is demanding the release of Kovai Basha.

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