Lakshadweep – Another Victim of the Hindutva Agenda

Mafazah Sharafuddin
May 28, 2021

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Several controversial legislative proposals in Lakshadweep have given way to protests by the indigenous population of the island. The legislation are said to attack their livelihood and lifestyle, and the locals of the island are fighting back. 

Praful Patel was appointed administrator of Lakshadweep in December 2020. Unlike what is customary, he is not an IAS officer and was formerly a BJP MP. He served as Home Minister of Gujarat while PM Modi was Chief Minister. He replaced Amit Shah after he resigned following the accusation of Sohrabuddin Sheikh Shah’s alleged extra-judicial killing. 

Prior to this, he was also Administrator in Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Like the legislations being protested in in Lakshadweep at the moment, they, too, saw a series of attacks against the livelihood of the indigenous people. 

A few of the legislations being implemented in Lakshadweep are the ban of cow, bull, calf slaughter and the ban of storage and selling of beef, the legalization of alcohol, the inability for anyone with more than two children to contest elections etc. There are also some very contentious policies about land ownership and modification. 

When taken individually, while they are still arbitrary and unnecessary, they seem almost innocuous. The sinister idea is visible only when one looks at them all at once. The big picture, as it has been since 2014 for Indian Muslims, is grim. 

Lakshadweep has an overwhelming majority of Muslims, standing at over 95% of the total populace. In addition to this, over 94% come under Scheduled Tribes. 

Keeping this in mind, it is not surprising that the archipelago does not see the sale of alcohol, and sees no issue with the consumption of beef. With the current push for a Brahmin-centered Hindutva ideology, mainland India’s obsession with homogeneity has not quite reached the island yet. 

Praful Patel’s policies have been called ‘anti-people.’ The people of Lakshadweep have accused him of taking advantage of the fact that people are unable to mobilize at the moment due to COVID to implement policies that hurt the indigenous people of Lakshadweep. They say that it not only destroys their livelihood, but also their culture. The internet has been taken by a storm of activists tweeting #SaveLakshadweep and demanding the recall of Praful Patel. 

The BJP does not keep their biases a secret. From the changing of the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj, the whole fiasco surrounding the destruction of Babri masjid, the various open statements by Pragya Thakur to the CAA-NRC conflict, their stance is clear. It has been clear for decades, now. 

When Article 370 was abrogated and Kashmir was put into lockdown, India expected it to be an exception to the rule. That the same could not occur in the rest of India. After all, Kashmir has been disputed land right from the time of independence. The atrocities committed in Kashmir, internationally acknowledged as human rights violations, seemed disconnected from India to a huge number of Indians. 

The jailing of student activists fighting against the CAA-NRC, the suppression of dissent, the lathi charges during protests, the existence of UAPA are all symptoms of a larger problem. The legislations in Lakshadweep are the latest in a long line of a bigoted pattern falling into place. 

When British colonizers went to America, they had several ways of suppressing the indigenous people, the Native Americans. One of the lesser known of them was bison hunting. Since bison, or buffaloes, were the primary food source for the Native Americans, the colonizers took to large scale hunting of bison. A slogan popularized by the colonizer army was “Kill every buffalo you can. Every buffalo dead is an Indian [Native American] gone.”

The act of genocide does not only involve brutal massacre. It is larger than that. It a systemic thing. It is an attempt to rewrite history and omit a community’s existence in that land. Erasure of culture is the first step to genocide. 

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News Network
March 19,2024

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New Delhi, Mar 19: The Supreme Court today came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved for failing to respond to a contempt notice for issuing misleading advertisements and ordered yoga guru Ramdev to appear before it.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also summoned Patanjali managing director Acharya Balkrishna.

The Supreme Court last month pulled up Patanjali for prima facie violation of its assurances about its products and statements claiming their medicinal efficacy. The court had issued a notice to Patanjali and Balkrishna, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

It noted today that Patanjali did not file a response even though it had held a press conference after its previous order. "Why haven't you filed your response yet? We will ask the managing director to appear in the court during the next hearing," the court said.

The order states both Ramdev and Balakrishna were prima facie in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Remedies Act, which deal with misleading ads of medicines.

The court also issued a contempt notice to Ramdev, co-founder of Patanjali, and asked him to explain why he should not face action for contempt of court.

Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Patanjali Ayurved, opposed the move and sought to know, "How Ramdev comes into the picture?"

"You are appearing. We will see on the next date. Enough," the court replied.

"We had our hands tied earlier but not now. As an officer of the court, you (Mr Rohatgi) should know your position," said Justice Amanullah.

The court was hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Ramdev against the vaccination drive and modern medicines.

On February 27, it had issued a contempt notice to Patanjali and cautioned them against from making any statements against any system of medicine in the media. It had also pulled up the centre for not taking action and said they were sitting with their eyes closed.

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News Network
March 16,2024

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New Delhi: The 2024 general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said today, announcing the largest democratic exercise in the world. Results will be announced on June 4.

The seven phases: 
April 19
April 26
May 7
May 13
May 20
May 25
June 1

Simultaneous election for Lok Sabha and assembly will be held in four states -- Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra.  

By-elections will also be held for 26 assembly seats across multiple states, including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Mr Kumar, announcing the dates, sent out a strong message on fake news on social media, saying political parties should ensure responsible social media behaviour -- "verify before you amplify".

"Fake news will be dealt with severely as per existent laws.. Section 79 (3)(B) of the IT Act empowers nodal officers in each state to remove unlawful content," he said.

The other strong message was on violation of model code in terms of hate speeches. "There should be issue-based campaign, no hate speeches, no speeches along caste or religious lines, no criticism of anyone's personal lives," he said.

The media must clarify when they carry political adverts, those cannot masquerade as news, he said. Individual messages regarding this would be sent to the candidates, he added.

The commission has employed 2,100 advisors to keep an eye on these issues and strong action will be taken regarding this, he said.

Voters above the age of 85 years and persons with disabilities, with 40 per cent disability can vote from home, Mr Kumar said. Around 82 lakh voter are above the age of 85, he said.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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Mangaluru: A man from Dakshina Kannada was duped of Rs 2.5 lakh after he was promised a Poland visa.

In a complaint, a resident of Belthangady, stated that the accused, Manoj, had promised a job for his son in Poland. 

Between May 22 of last year and March 19, he handed over Rs 2.2 lakh in various phases, citing different reasons.

However, since the accused failed to provide a visa or return the money, a case was registered at the Dharmasthala police station under IPC sections 417 and 420.

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