Suresh Gopi's anti-violence speech in Mangaluru irks Sangh Parivar

Bengaluru, Apr 21: Hardline BJP leader and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, who had deleted some of his old sexist tweets while contesting for Lok Sabha polls, yesterday deleted deleted his ugly remarks against Arab woman after it went viral and triggered sharp response from  many quarters, including from the Arab world.

In 2015, before Surya became an MP, he had said in a tweet, "95% of Arab women have never had an orgasm in the last few hundred years! Every mother has produced kids as an act of sex and not love. @Tarek Fatah."

The old tweet was picked up some influential members in the Arab community. Many intellectuals and various members of the royal families too have over the past few days condemned the attacks on Muslims in India and called out instances on Islamophobia. They have been highlighting derogatory comments about the Arab community purportedly made by supporters of the ruling BJP. It was then that a few found that even present day recognised leaders like Tejasvi had made similar comments in the past.

As the outrage grew, Tejasvi deleted the old tweet. A lot of BJP supporters on Twitter then started pointing out that Tejasvi Surya had merely quoted Canadian journalist Tareh Fatah, known for his anti-Islam comments. But by then someone had archived the tweet and Tejasvi's response to it in 2015.

Dear @Twitter , this Indian politicians @Tejasvi_Surya has racially slurred Arab women, I wonder how is his account still active? Is it not against Twitter's official policy? Please act as Arab sentiment has been badly wounded. pic.twitter.com/JAM3hnDEjN

— المحامي⚖مجبل الشريكة (@MJALSHRIKA) April 19, 2020

Pity Ur upbringing @Tejasvi_Surya that respect for women couldn’t be instilled in U despite India having some great female leaders .Please note if someday the govt bestows a foreign ministry to you, avoid travelling to Arab lands. You are not welcome here. This will be remembered pic.twitter.com/KJJlqJL5tR

— Noora AlGhurair (@AlGhurair98) April 19, 2020

In a thread to the same tweet, responding to criticism, Surya had said that these were not his opinion but attributed to Tarek Fatah. He also said that he agrees with Fateh's position that 'Islamofascism was a threat to all civilsations'.

Prime Minister ..
An Indian Member of Parliament accuses Arab women, and we Arabs are asking for his membership to be dropped !!@narendramodi@PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/aQl4XayWZU

— عبدالرحمن النصار (@alnassar_kw) April 19, 2020

Surya could not be reached for a comment.

However, a source close to Surya, said, "This is a 2015 tweet where Tejasvi Surya was quoting Tarek Fatah from an interview. It is being wrongly attributed to him with malicious intent. The main issue being addressed in the interview was about the barbaric and inhuman practice of genital mutilation of women. If there's any person to comment on it, it has to be Tarek Fatah."

Tejasvi Surya had landed in a similar controversy soon after his nomination as a candidate just ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

His deleted Tweet recorded a video

تغريدته المحذوفة تم رصدها بالفيديو @narendramodi@PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/cTrIkaGosf

— عبدالرحمن النصار (@alnassar_kw) April 19, 2020

Surya could not be reached for a comment.

However, a source close to Surya, said, "This is a 2015 tweet where Tejasvi Surya was quoting Tarek Fatah from an interview. It is being wrongly attributed to him with malicious intent. The main issue being addressed in the interview was about the barbaric and inhuman practice of genital mutilation of women. If there's any person to comment on it, it has to be Tarek Fatah."

Tejasvi Surya had landed in a similar controversy soon after his nomination as a candidate just ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

More islamophobic gems from @Tejasvi_Surya : @alnassar_kw @MJALSHRIKA @AlGhurair98 https://t.co/wktXi8fzhM pic.twitter.com/Rk2cEyRqWl

— شخص (@falana_shakhs) April 20, 2020

The Congress also stepped in to criticise Surya and the BJP, national spokesperson Sanjay Jha said in a tweet, “The BJP gives tickets to Pragya Singh Thakur and #TejasviSurya etc because it helps popularise their hardline bigoted political profile. But the chickens usually come home to roost. Today, India stands embarrassed, humiliated.”

Ballari, Apr 18: Hosapete town in Ballari district of Karnataka gasped in disbelief as it turned out that 11 members of one single family are positive for the coronavirus.

The whole town has been declared a containment zone and is being surveilled 24X7.

The family includes seven members whose tests returned positive today, three who tested Covid-19 positive on March 30 and one other member subsequently.

The seven who tested positive today had been negative when they were earlier tested along with the others.

They have all now been shifted to isolation wards at the District Hospital in Ballari.

Including this family of 11, Ballari has 13 positive cases so far, with one case each reported from Ballari and Siraguppa towns.

Startled by this sudden upsurge from Hosapete, the district administration has set up 16 fever clinics to screen people and six COVID care centres to treat positive cases. There are two dedicated COVID hospitals, one at Ballari and another at Torangallu in Sandur.

A team of psychological counsellors have been put on duty to provide support to the patients at the isolation centres.

Mumbai, Jun 26: In a humanitarian gesture, a mosque in Bhiwandi town of adjoining Thane district has been converted by its administrators into a temporary COVID-19 facility, where oxygen is provided free of cost to patients.

The facility at Makkah Masjid in the Shanti Nagar area of the powerloom town has been set up by the local chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Movement for Peace and Justice and the Shanti Nagar Trust, which runs the mosque.

Apart from putting up five beds equipped with oxygen cylinders, the JIH also delivers them for free to patients homes if required, an office-bearer of the JIH said, adding the makeshift facility is open to all communities.

So far, the Bhiwandi-Nizampur municipality has recorded over 1,332 COVID-19 cases and 88 casualties. It has a mortality rate of 5.26 per cent, a release stated.

"Bhiwandi-Nizampur has been hit hard by the pandemic as it is a congested city. It doesn't even have proper health infrastructure.

"The situation has only worsened during the pandemic as general medical practitioners have shut their clinics fearing the virus spread," said Ausaf Ahmed Falahi, president of the JIH's Bhiwandi chapter.

As a majority of people here lack awareness about the viral disease and are unable to afford treatment, a facility like this one was the need of the hour, he said.

Over 70 persons have benefited from this facility, which has two doctors, while 15 oxygen cylinders have been delivered to the homes of eight COVID-19 patients, Falahi said.

People irrespective of their religion have been availing treatment at the mosque, he added.

"Makkah Masjid has been shut for prayers since the lockdown. So, we decided to use a part of the premises to help those who can't avail treatment elsewhere," said Qaiser Mirza of the Shanti Nagar Trust.