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Congress is a party of Hinduism, not Hindutva; I am a nationalist who respect all religions: Rahul

Agencies
October 31, 2018

Indore, Oct 31: Asserting that he does not need the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ‘certificate’ to visit temples, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday he understands the Hindu religion better than the saffron party does and he is a ‘nationalist leader’ who respects every religion.

 “I am not a ‘Hinduwadi’ leader, but a nationalist leader. I am a leader of ev-ery religion, every caste, every language and every class,” Mr Gandhi said.A day after the BJP’s barb that Gandhi was ‘exhibiting fancy dress Hindui-sm’ with his temple visits in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and in other sta-tes earlier, the Congress leader retorted, “Are the country’s temples the sole property of the BJP and the RSS? Have only Modi and Shah got the contract to visit temples?”

Interacting with select journalists, Mr Gandhi said the BJP remains sile-nt whenever Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi or the BJP president Amit Shah visit a temple wearing clothes as per that temp-le’s tradition. “But when Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and I wear clothe-s as per the temple’s tradition, it is said that we are exhibiting fancy dress Hi-nduism,” Mr Gandhi said.

Mr Gandhi had started his two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh on Monday after offering prayers at Ujjain’s famous Mahakaleshwar temple.

Hours after Mr Gandhi’s temple visit, BJP spokes-man Sambit Patra had alleged, “Rahul Gan-dhi is exhibiting fancy dress Hinduism continuo-usly. To mislead the Hind-us, he is sporting a “jane-u” (sacred thread) over the shirt. We demand that ‘janeudhari’ Rahul Gand-hi clarify to which ‘gotra’ (clan) does he belong to.”

Mr Gandhi said, “If I feel like going to a temple and offering prayers to God then I will definitely visit it. I don’t need a certificate from the BJP. I understand Hindu religion better than the BJP does.” Mr Gandhi said that he visits mosques, gurudwaras, churches and other places of worship as he respects every religion.

Describing Hinduism and Hindutva as two different concepts, Mr Gandhi said: “The foundation of the BJP’s Hindutva is based on hatred, anger, insecurity. Whereas the Hindu religion is based on self-confidence, self-belief, respect for others, listening to others and embracing others... so we [the Congress] are not a Hindutva party but a party of Hinduism,” he asserted. No one can claim sole ownership of Hinduism because it is a great concept, he added.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

New Delhi, Jan 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday extended his greetings to the people on the occasion of the 71st Republic Day.
"Wishing everyone a happy #RepublicDay," PM Modi tweeted in English as well as Hindi.

Celebrations will be held all across the country to mark the day.

On this day, 70-year back, India officially adopted its Constitution.

The 90-minute Republic Day ceremony will commence with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the National War Memorial near the India Gate.

After paying tributes to the martyrs, the prime minister and others would head to the Rajpath.

The parade for the Republic Day will begin on Rajpath with President Ram Nath Kovind unfurling the national flag with a 21-gun salute.

Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro is the chief guest at the parade

India's military might, cultural diversity, social and economic progress will be displayed during the Republic Day celebrations.

For the first time, a contingent of women bikers of CRPF will perform daredevil stunts. The Dhanush artillery will also be displayed for the first time during the Republic Day parade.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Mumbai, Jan 7: People protesting against the JNU violence were evicted from Gateway of India here on Tuesday morning as roads were getting blocked and tourists and common people were facing problems, a police official said.

Police had appealed to the protesters to shift but they didn't listen, so they were "relocated" to Azad Maidan, the official said.

Hundreds of people, including students, women and senior citizens - who assembled at the iconic Gateway of India since Sunday midnight - demanded action against the culprits and called for Union Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation.

Violence broke out in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

New Delhi, Feb 5: Days after a gunman opened fire in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of anti-CAA movement, YouTuber Gunja Kapoor was detained at the protest site on Wednesday after she was caught covertly filming the protests in a burqa.

Kapoor runs the channel ‘Right Narrative’ on YouTube and her pinned tweet on Twitter says she is followed on the microblogging site by PM Narendra Modi.

According to police, the protesters turned suspicious after Kapoor asked them "too many questions". She was caught by some of the women protesters after they identified her as the popular YouTuber. The incident led to a commotion at Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a senior police official said.

She was taken to Sarita Vihar police station where her identity was ascertained, police said.

The incident sparked outrage on social media. Many took to Twitter to question why Kapoor was at the protest in disguise. Others expressed concern about her motives at secretly filming the protests.

Meanwhile, praises flew in for the women of Shaheen Bagh who can be seen defending Kapoor from angry protesters after she was caught.

This is not the first time that a right wing social media activist has landed in trouble in Shaheen Bagh where residents and other women and children have been sitting in protest for nearly two months since the passing of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 in December last year.

In January, Deepa Sharma had posted videos online about the "traumatic" experience she had when she was allegedly heckled and harassed by Shaheen Bagh protesters. While the woman's claim could never be verified, other pieces of rampant fake news aimed at delegitimising and villainising protesters has taken social media by storm.

From doctored videos of women protesters allegedly accepting they were paid Rs 500 to attend protests to alleged fights over biriyani and anti-India sloganeering, trolls on social media seem to be working overtime to taint the ongoing protests.

The latter, however, show no signs of giving up. In fact, as Delhi nears elections on February 8, protesters have arranged for music performances by eminent artists, including pop celebrity Prateek Kuhad, till February 7.

Sit in protests take place 24x7 with women showing up in thousands to spend the night and sing songs of protest. And with polls around the corner, the protests have become an active part of political discourse with Aam Aadmi Party's Manish Sisodia expressing his support for the protesters at a recent press conference.

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