US President Donald Trump today called Kamala Harris an ‘Anchor baby’ during one of his election rallies. Reacting to the decision of Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris as his running mate for the upcoming US Presidential elections, he claimed that she wasn’t eligible to qualify as a candidate because she was the child of two immigrants. Anchor baby is considered as a derogatory way of addressing a child born to immigrants, denoting the fact that her parents were both immigrants, her mother an Indian and her father a Jamaican. Notably, he had played the same card during the 2011 Presidential elections that saw the landslide win of former US President Barack Obama.
Donald Trump, speaking to reporters on Thursday, pushed forward with his attack, saying that she does not meet the requirements as she was born to immigrants.
“I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” Trump said of Harris.
However, constitutional law experts say that the immigration status of Kamala Harris’s parents at the time of her birth is irrelevant because, under the Constitution, anyone born in the United States automatically acquires citizenship. The 14th Amendment makes it clear: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
This not only nullifies Trump’s assertions, it further deepens the already existing racism accusations that have been levied on President Trump over the years.
A Panchaloha Murugan Idol from Erode, of one-foot height, was stolen by unidentified persons on Friday. The priest, who came to open the Vetri Vinayagar temple for early morning prayers in the morning, was shocked to find that the lock of the temple broken and the Urchavar idol of the Murugan Temple, which was a panchaloha idol, missing. He lodged a complaint with the temple administration at the police station. Police are investigating the case.
This is the second instance of a temple robbery this year. On February 18, 3 idols – Subramaniyar, Valli and Theivanai – were stolen from the Kumara Subramaniya Swami Temple in Kondal village in Sirkazhi, of the Nagapattinam district.
A case was registered and according to police, the theft of the three idols – were stolen. Sirkazhi DSP Vandhana and inspector Manimaran conducted an enquiry, and the forensic department used sniffer dogs to analyse the scene of the crime.
It is now suspected that this could be the same group that stole the Murugan Idol from Erode.
Chinese telecom companies like Huawei and ZTE have been banned from taking part in India’s 5G trials and networks. This has been enforced by the Ministry of Communications, which said, in a government-issued notification, that it has banned service providers from those countries that India shares a border with from bidding. It has stated the reason for this prohibition to have been made on the “grounds of defence of India or matters directly or indirectly related including national security.”
The reinitiation of 5G trials in India has come in the wake of the relaxations of the lockdown that was put in place due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Major Indian Telecom giants like Airtel, Jio and Vodafone are set to participate in these trials.
Meanwhile, Jio is all set to roll out a 5G network that was completely made in India. This comes in the light of a recent announcement by Chinese companies that said that the costs for switching to 5G would be as much as 25% more than the current margin.
The Indian Government, that had earlier allowed Huawei to participate, has now withdrawn its permission. Experts view this as a result of the conflict that occurred in terms of the de-escalation talks that happened following the Galwan valley attacks, where several of the Indian soldiers were martyred. A bunch of measures were rolled out by the government to retaliate to the Chinese, including the banning of several Chinese apps.
Malarmati from Thevar Jeevanahalli was quoted saying to The Hindu Tamil that four people had tried to set fire to a two-wheeler parked outside her house. She had summoned up the courage to go out and tell them that they were very poor and that their sustenance depends on these vehicles. She had pleaded to not set them on fire. However, the four Muslims had reportedly told her that they would set her on fire too if she didn’t leave. Malarmati’s vehicle that was bought out of their modest ended up burnt.
Manivannan, a social activist from the area, was quoted saying “Tamils and Muslims live in large numbers in Thevar Jeevanahalli, Kadu Kondanahalli and Kaval Byrasandra where the riots took place.
Most of these are poor simple middle class people. They broke into the house and damaged the TV, bureau, refrigerator and wooden furniture.”
More than 50 Tamils were injured when they were hit by an iron bar and a rolling pin. Of these, 20 are said to be women and the elderly. The Muslim youths involved in the attack were supposedly intoxicated.
“Cars, vans, autos and two-wheelers parked outside the house were set on fire by petrol by the Muslim mob. Owners who tried to prevent this were threatened at knife point.
The vehicles of these people whose livelihoods have already been affected by the coronavirus and lockdown have also been set on fire.” Manivannan had said.
A large and angry Muslim mob went on a rampage in Bengaluru late in the evening on 11 August after taking offence to a Facebook comment by the nephew of a local Dalit Congress MLA.
The rioters attacked and attempted to set on fire the residence of Congress MLA Akhand Srinivasa Murthy, a Dalit leader in the nearby DJ Halli police station. The mob also damaged many houses and there was stone pelting that left many policemen including a senior IPS officer injured. Also, many police vehicles were torched by the uncontrolled mob.
This article is an attempt to place the context in which the event has happened.
The Geography and Demography
Pulakeshinagar (SC reserved) is a State Assembly/Vidhana Sabha constituency in the Bengaluru Urban district and Bengaluru region of Karnataka and is a part of the Bangalore North Parliamentary/Lok Sabha constituency. There are around 2.5 lakh voters and the average literacy rate is 86%
Akhanda Srinivas Murthy is the MLA from this constituency who got elected in 2018 elections on a Congress ticket. He stays at Kaval Bhyrasanda house, which is one of the wards.
Pulakeshinagar Map
No. of wards in the Vidhana Sabha constituency : 7 BBMP Corporator list
1. Kushal Nagar– Umme Salma
2. Kaval Byrasandra : Corporator – Nethra Narayan
3. Devara Jeevanahalli (DJ Halli) – R Sampath Raj
4. Muneshwara Nagar Syed Sazida
5. Sagayapuram Elumalai
6. S K Garden : Mohd Zameer Shah
7. Pulakeshinagar : Abdul Rakeeb Zakir
Observe the mosques in the constituency and in red lines shown are temples.
The Story
On 11th August 2020 at 8 PM, Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy received a call from his home. Around 500 Muslims with petrol bombs, tyres had barged into the house of the MLA, burnt and vandalised the home. The Hindu prayer room in the house was sledged with the photos of the Hindu Gods broken. The MLA had also said to media that there was a plan to set the gas cylinder on fire just when the police had arrived and averted it. Money which was at home was also supposedly stolen or set afire.
The Muslim mob had unleashed this violence over a Facebook meme on Prophet Muhammad posted by Naveen who is Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s nephew (sister’s son). This mob did not just stop at the MLA’s home. The mob went about vandalising police vehicle, police station and public property. At the Devara Jeevanahalli police station, DCP’s vehicle was set on fire and many two wheelers and autos have also been burnt. Many other cars were toppled and set ablaze. Few media reporters who were at the scene were also manhandled and were admitted to hospitals.
Police Action
Police say that the narrow lanes accommodated more than 3000-4000 thousand rioters which made it difficult initially to curb the situation. Authorities immediately imposed Section 144 to take control of the situation. Eventually police opened fire as the last resort to scramble the violent mob. The resulting chaos led to the killing of three and injuring several others.
More than 60 police personnel have been injured while performing duty. Panic and fear prevailed among people belonging to minority (Hindu) community in the area under attack. The fire engine was called to the house by the neighbourhood but the Muslim mob had stopped the fire engines and vandalized them too.
Initial Reports
According to initial information gathered from different sources, a group of Muslim youth, agitated over the FB Post first approached the SDPI leaders and not the cybercrime branch.
It is reported that the SDPI leaders and the local youth were successful in mobilizing a huge mob of around 3000-4000 rioters in quick time and unleashed the violence. The sources have said that SDPI leaders were on the ground and in the name of pacifying their brethren were inciting the mob. There have been a plethora of Muslims who have shared the posts on social media to gather at Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s house.
What do the locals say?
Local residents say they have never before seen a violence of this magnitude. The locals also informed the media that innocent people were physically assaulted on roads creating a war like situation. Naveen and his family who stay next to Srinivasa Murthy’s house had to flee away to escape being ‘chopped off’ one eye witness reportedly said. The damage was made at Naveen’s house and the Muslim fanatic mob had apparently robbed money from his home too. Naveen according to locals was a budding politician who was aspiring to become a councillor. He was always around Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy and other Congress leaders it is said.
The enmity could have broken when Naveen had celebrated bursting crackers on Aug 5th after Bhoomi Poojan at Ayodhya one person has said to the media.
The “Human Chain”
A video has gone viral where some Muslims have gathered around a temple and forming a human chain. The image it creates is that there are some “good Muslims” to take care of Hindus and their properties. However the video seems to be made for the benefit to attract the eyes where there is a person who says “jaldi upload kar” implying to state it was done as a mere eyewash.
Government Action
Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai instructed the police to take control of situation. A probe has been ordered by the Government.
The latest report says that close to 110 culprits who rioted have been arrested. Muzammil Pasha, Dist Secy of SDPI, the alleged kingpin behind the violence has been arrested. Also Ayaz a volunteer with SDPI is said to have been arrested, Khalim Pasha (husband of Corporator), Syed Ansar are all arrested.
There are reports that Muslims from various localities of Bengaluru including the infamous Padarayanapura (anothera Muslim dominated area in Bengaluru that had had harassed Asha workers during the initial days of the pandemic) have been mobilised to reach Kaval Bairasandra. There are reports in the media that Muslims from various places of the state have been aggregated to meet up for this riot. CCTV reports show the distribution of money for the riot to take place.
The fight for the upcoming BBMP elections and to prove the might of SDPI is also said to be one of their motives for them carrying out the violence. In the past SDPI has always tried to field their candidates but have been in vain.
Speaking to the media, former minister and Muslim leader U T Khader put the blame on Government for failure of law and order avoiding to comment on hooligans who wreaked havoc.
Ministers R. Ashok and Basavaraj Bommai assured the people that those involved in violence will not be spared and those behind the screen will also be exposed and brought to books.
In his presser, Akhanda SrinivasaMurthy has requested to provide him and his family security as he sees a threat, however talking diplomatically he has termed Muslims as “miscreants” and he is unaware of why the mob attacked him. He is said to have disowned Naveen and his facebook post and asked for strict action on him.
None of the Congress leaders have called out the perpetrators and are playing their usual card – minority appeasement.
Here are some examples:
KPCC chief DK Shivakumar in his presser said that Naveen was a BJP person, while the truth is that Naveen is with Congress and has shared his posts many times about Congress and its leaders.
One next to Rahul Gandhi is Akhanda Srinivas Murthy. His nephew Naveen is also seen.
It was Naveen who had commented a ‘hate’ post about Prophet Mohammad on FB. It is said that Naveen had commented in response to another post that denigrated Hindu Gods.
SDPI and PFI
Organisations like KFD and PFI have been associated with SDPI for quite some time now. During 2013 to 2018, when Karnataka was ruled under Siddaramaiah, these organisations have grown to a mighty stature. Siddaramaiah’s Tipu Jayanti plan was also to appease these fringe elements. Kodagu, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Bengaluru saw the wrath of this organisation growing. Tipu Jayanti in the first year took the life of Kuttappa a VHP volunteer. It was said that the Muslims from Kerala had arrived then to execute the riots here.
Siddaramaiah despite opposition, had freed up 1500 SDPI/KFD/PFI workers who were chargesheeted terming them as petty cases. During the same rule 26 Hindu Karyakatas belonging to the Sangh were killed and most of them have SDPI’s names behind the crime.
It is interesting to know that in 2013, Srinivasa Murthy won Pulakeshinagar on a JD(S) ticket. SDPI had fielded Hemalatha as their candidate. Congress had lost the elections. This time around (2018) Srinivasa Murthy contested on Congress ticket and SDPI had not fielded any candidate. Either power or money seems to be the idea behind SDPI contesting elections.
The mundane fabric of cultural, social, economic, and political features of any society evolves over a period of time. The marginal revolution on customs and social value systems towards acceptance of universal principles is a continuous process. A society matures as it expands its world view without giving up the foundations on which it is built – language which also forms as a repository of culture.
For having a dynamic education system, the language and its medium of instructions are imperative and should not be stifled narrowly by hollow politics. However, it always turns out to be the case in Tamil Nadu where politicians become resort to shortsightedness without coming to terms with reality or aspirations of people.
It is interesting to note the reactions of political parties in Tamil Nadu from small to big but yet most seem to be by and large on the same side of the dogmatic thinking and fails to test their common senses on the recently announced New Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Going by their comments, it seems that, most of the opposing parties seem to go with rhetoric instead of giving due diligence to read and understand from the perspective of past and present status of the country’s education system vs the rest of the developed economies.
Over a hundred years ago, Swami Vivekananda said “education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle of life, which does not bring out strength of character, spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion- is it worth the name?”
NEP has many proposals that will usher in long pending structural reforms for making our education more meaningful and useful to children. As things stand today, there is no escaping from digital technology and innovation and therefore, we are compelled by to make our education system more robust and responsive.
Interestingly, most opposing agencies are self-contradicting their assumptions and narratives on the proposed scheme of things in NEP. They need an open mind to accept the ground realities faced by the education system in India amidst millions of Indian students going abroad every year for higher education. But there are people have straight away call for rejecting the policy based on their own assumptions without offering any constructive suggestions.
Children need to be educated and equipped skills to stand on their own feet and not make them dependent on the state. But politically motivated agencies oppose NEP to make poor students continue to be deprived of equal opportunities and make people dependent on the government permanently so that they become their vote bank. On the other hand, all these opposing parties and agencies are good enough to send their children to private CBSE schools or abroad to study in best schools and colleges which they consciously lie and deny for poor children especially from rural and remote areas
Prof E. Balagurusamy, veteran educationist who also served as a member of the UPSC said (Times of India, 11 August, 2020) that “a majority of private colleges in the country are owned and run by politicians, sand and liquor mafia, real estate barons and hardcore businessmen.”
Unlike other academicians who put their ideology before the national interest, Prof Balagurusamy has an open mind and knew the ground realities of what the system needs. He rightly argues (The New Indian Express, 9 August, 2020) that “One of the many laudable objectives of 3-language formula is to maintain the social fabric of multilingualism present in our country. The pluralistic culture and multi-language diversity should be considered as a boon and an opportunity for learning and expanding one’s horizon rather than limiting by narrow political considerations. It is our duty to enrich, enable and encourage our youth to integrate into the national mainstream so as to enable them contribute effectively to the cultural, social and economic growth and progress of our nation,” The fact is many mainstream leaders who fought for our country’s independence were all multilingual and that tradition has been buried soon after independence.
Given the diversity of our country, at least a thousand models should flourish in the education system without diluting the core principles envisaged in the Constitution.
NEP has been announced after detailed consultations and public discourse for three years from 2016-2020 covering almost all the stakeholders of education systems. The eminent subject experts, seasoned scholars, and policy thinkers who framed the foundations and structural reforms with the time-bound implementation of NEP have been lauded across the sectors and segments in India and abroad.
While, few self-motivated political parties, NGOs, academicians are making generic and confusing statements which are mostly self-contradictory using the same playbook: that is against the poor and rural students, it does not strive to achieve equity, and it leads to privatization and commercialization of education. These agencies are also too obsessed with old baggage of socialist, centralized control regime for indoctrinations and failed communist mentality with totalitarian thought processes. It can only be said that these parties are only denying the opportunity of quality education to rural students by opposing this policy mindlessly.
The author is a Research Fellow at Centre for Public Policy Research, Kochi. Views expressed are personal and does not reflect or represent the views of any organizations to which he is attached.
A DMK Panchayat President in Ariyalur district was rounded up by villagers and kept locked inside his office for ignoring the complaints of illegal liquor sales happening in the village.
Sathambadi, a village near Jayankondam in Ariyalur district has around 1000 families. There are no government run TASMAC outlets in this village which had led to some persons illegally selling liquor. The public had submitted a petition to the DMK Panchayat President Thanga Ravichandran to stop the liquor being sold illegally. As he failed to take action on the matter, villagers who had come for MNREGA work laid siege to his office and locked him up inside.
Later, the Vikramangalam police held talks with the villagers and the DMK Panchayat President was later set free.
A DMK Panchayat President in Ariyalur district was rounded up by the villagers and kept locked inside his office for ignoring the complaints of illegal liquor sales happening in the village.
Sathambadi, a village near Jayankondam in Ariyalur district has around 1000 families. There are no government run TASMAC outlets in this village which had led to some persons illegally selling liquor. The public had submitted a petition to the DMK Panchayat President Thanga Ravichandran to stop the liquor being sold illegally. As he failed to take action on the matter, villagers who had come for MNREGA work had laid siege to his office and locked him up inside.
Later, the Vikramangalam police held talks with the villagers and the DMK Panchayat President was later released.
Local Tamil dailies reported that an army of DMK cadres from Thiruvannamalai South are supposedly shifting to the BJP which has shocked the DMK leadership.
The DMK has a very strong presence in the Thiruvannamalai South region. That is why the DMK has kept the constituency to itself in different elections instead of giving the seat to its alliance partners.
It was reported that, over the past few days, the DMK cadres in large numbers have been shifting to the BJP.
DMK’s block level heads like Vinodh, Murugan, Arunai Anand and branch secretary Shanavas, former youth wing deputy organizer Tyson Rajinikanth and large number of DMK volunteers joined the BJP in Thiruvannamalai.
It was also reported that Hindus in the DMK have been disappointed with the Kandha Sashti Kavasam row and the alleged links of DMK to the rabid Youtube channel Karuppar Koottam that abused Hindu God Murugan, as a lot of them are devout devotees of the Tamil God.
A.V. Velu, the district secretary of Thiruvannamalai South is said to have been upset by the developments. He has plunged into action to pacify those leaving the party.
The BJP has been elated with the party saying that there would soon be a lotus bloom in Thirvannamalai.
A.V. Velu is known for subduing those in the opposition camp. Now, the man has been given a taste of his own medicine, local political circles said commenting on the development.
Israel and UAE, the two countries that had been at loggerheads with each other, reached an understanding and announced an agreement that will lead to ‘full normalization’ of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
This deal brokered by US President Donald Trump is seen as one of the biggest foreign policy victories of the Trump administration and comes just before a few months left for the US Presidential elections.
As per the agreement, Israel has agreed to stop applying its sovereignty over areas of the West Bank region. The UAE will also officially recognize Israel as a state. With this, UAE becomes the first Arab country to announce a formal bond with Israel. Israel has diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan after it signed peace treaties with both the countries in 1979 and 1994 respectively.
The agreement was sealed over a phone call between US President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed.
Here is how some of the countries of the world reacted:
Israel:
Prime Minister Netanyahu hailed the deal and called it the beginning of a new era.
USA:
President Trump tweeted that it was a ‘huge breakthrough’ with the ‘historic peace agreement ‘signed between US’s ‘two great friends’ – Israel and United Arab Emirates. Trump said that he expected more Arab and Muslim countries to follow UAE now that the ice has been broken.
UAE:
UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs declared it as a bold step in securing the 2 nation solution for Israel and Palestine.
Iran:
The country’s news agency called the deal as ‘shameful’. Iran’s leaders are yet to react.
Hamas:
The Sunni Islamic fundamentalist and militant organization rejected the deal saying that it did not serve the cause of the Palestinians but of the Zionist narrative.
UK:
UK welcomed the agreement reached between the two countries.
“It was my profound hope that annexation did not go ahead in the West Bank and today’s agreement to suspend those plans is a welcome step on the road to a more peaceful Middle East.”, PM Boris Johnson said.
France:
France called it a positive step and welcomed Israel’s decision to suspend annexation of areas of West Bank. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that the suspension must become a ‘definitive measure’. He said that the accord paved way for resumption of talks and called it as the ‘only option’ to achieve peace in the region.
