Voting took place throughout April in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and the union territory of Puducherry, with attention centered on whether the BJP could expand its footprint in major opposition-held regions ahead of future national political contests.

Exit polls, while often used as early indicators in India, have a mixed record and final outcomes can differ significantly from projections.The most closely watched contest is in West Bengal, where the BJP mounted an aggressive campaign to unseat Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has governed the state since 2011.

Several exit polls suggested the BJP held a narrow advantage over the TMC, raising the possibility that Modi’s party could take power in the state of more than 100 million people for the first time.Banerjee’s TMC won 213 of the 294 seats in the 2021 assembly election, and the state has a history of electoral violence and intense political rivalry.

This year’s campaign was also marked by controversy over a Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, a process authorities said was intended to remove ineligible voters, but which critics argued disproportionately affected marginalized and minority communities.

Political activist Yogendra Yadav said there was “no way” the TMC would lose in what he described as a fair election, alleging that the BJP could only prevail through manipulation of voter lists or counting irregularities.The BJP has denied opposition allegations of electoral malpractice.

In Assam and Puducherry, the BJP-led alliance was widely projected to retain power, reinforcing the party’s hold in regions where it already governs.In Tamil Nadu, one of India’s largest industrial states, exit polls indicated the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin was likely to remain in office.

The polls also suggested actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay, leading the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party, could emerge as a significant new challenger to the state’s established political parties.In Kerala, India’s only communist-ruled state, projections indicated a closely fought contest, with a Congress-led alliance expected to challenge the ruling Left Democratic Front.

Strong results for the BJP in the state elections would strengthen Modi’s political position as his government navigates economic pressures including high unemployment and negotiations over a pending trade deal with the United States.

One person died this month while another death occurred on Aug. 30, said the virology official, who did not wish to be named.

Two more people from the same family were also suspected to have been infected and their samples have been sent for testing, the official said, adding that the virology institute sent the report to the federal health ministry.

The deadly brain-damaging Nipah virus, which is transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected bats, pigs or other people, was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of illness affecting pig farmers and others in close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore.

A 2018 Nipah outbreak in Kerala killed 17 people and it has resurfaced a few times in the same state, including in 2021. There are no treatments or vaccines against the virus.

Mass testing will begin in the area where the latest cases were found and quarantine measures have been put in place, the official from the virology institute said.

The federal health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror in their minds,” the country’s main counter-terrorism arm said in a statement.

Those arrested “were motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places” including the capital region.

Six of the militants were arrested in the eastern state of West Bengal and while three in the southern state of Kerala, the NIA said, adding the individuals were “associated with Pakistan sponsored module of Al-Qaeda.”

A spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pakistan has often denied giving material support to militants.

India has stepped up an offensive against militants in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir and elsewhere.

Last year, Indian forces killed the leader of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in Kashmir, triggering protests in parts of the disputed region.

In the latest raids, the NIA seized sharp weapons, domestically made firearms and locally fabricated body armor. The nine militants will be produced in court for police custody and further investigation, the agency said.

The Boeing-737 flight from Dubai to Calicut International Airport was carrying 190 passengers and crew, the civil aviation ministry said in a statement. Among them were 10 infants.

Television footage showed rescue workers moving around the wreckage in pouring rain. The aircraft lay split into at least two chunks after the plane’s fuselage sheared apart as it fell into a valley 35 feet below, authorities said.

“Because of the weather conditions, he could not land the first time, so he did a turnaround and tried to approach it from a different direction,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told national broadcaster DD News, adding that only an investigation would reveal the cause of the crash.

Puri said authorities managed to rescue most of the passengers because the plane did not catch fire while descending the slope at the end of the table-top runway. Such runways are located at an altitude and have steep drops at one or both ends.

“The good news is that the plane broke up and we were able to access the passengers,” Puri said. He said rescue operations had been completed.

The office of the chief minister of Kerala state, where the airport is located and which is home to a large number of Indians working in the Middle East, said that in addition to the 17 dead, 173 others had been hospitalised.

It was India’s worst passenger aircraft accident since 2010, when another Air India Express flight from Dubai overshot the table-top runway at Mangalore, a city in the south, and slid down a hill, killing 158 people.

Media reports suggested the plane skidded off the runway of Calicut, crashing nose-first into the ground.

Boeing said it was gathering more information about the incident, closely monitoring the situation and offering assistance to its customer.

India, which shut down all air travel in late March to try to contain the novel coronavirus, has restarted limited international air travel. Air India Express AXB1344 was a government-operated repatriation flight for Indians previously unable to return home because of the travel restrictions.

TV visuals showed the aircraft’s nose smashed into a brick wall, with much of the middle of the plane pulverised.

Local TV news channels showed passengers, some of them lying motionless on stretchers, brought into a hospital surrounded by health workers wearing masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. “My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest.”

Preliminary reports stated that two casualties took place that includes the pilot, and 40 passengers are believed to be injured.

“Dubai-Kozhikode Air India flight (IX-1344) skidded during landing at Karipur Airport at around 7.45 pm today”, ANI news agency quoted Kondotty Police.

The cause of the crash of Boeing 737 is reported to be skidding off the runway due to heavy rainfall in the area. After overshooting the runway, the aircraft broke into pieces.

A local political leader TV Ibrahim said that many passengers have been admitted in hospital with injuries and luckily the plane did not catch fire.

More information is awaited.

[Story is developing]

Adv. Rasheed, the general secretary of Indian Union Women League (IUWL) filed a petition to the center on 6th July 2020, which goes along side with other petitions of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Muslim Advocates Association and others, who legally oppose the criminalization of triple talaq. Supreme court is due to hear her petition as well as other petitions.

Triple Talaq or popularly known as Talaq-e-Biddat was a typical practice of divorce in some sections of the Indian Muslim communities, where a husband can legally divorce his wife with the utterance of three words “Talaq, Talaq, Talaq”. However, according to the other schools of thought, it is not permissible under the Shariah law.

India’s ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took an exaggerated stance against the practice by dedicating debates and discussions in the lower and upper houses of parliament in 2019. Eventually, the practice is deemed unconstitutional and punishable with up to three years of jail for the men who pronounce divorce thrice in a single instance.

According to Adv. Rasheed’s petition, “The protection of women cannot be achieved by incarceration of husbands”. According to Hindustan Times report, she also challenged the validity of a provision in the law that grants permission to relatives of the wife to file a complaint, stating that such an allowance would be “highly detrimental not only to the wife but also to the marital relationship”.

Adv. Rasheed objected that criminalization of triple talaq is to witch-hunt only one community, which gives enough reason to reveal BJP’s sinister motives.

She said, “Welfare-oriented legislation would promote amicable resolution of matrimonial disputes rather than criminalise marital discord, particularly criminalisation of only one community…the intent behind the Act is not abolition of triple talaq [instant divorce] but punishment of Muslim husbands.”

Indian government’s opposition leaders called the law a “historic mistake”, and that the government should not interfere into people’s religious matters.

Meanwhile, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and other women activists voiced strong condemnation against the law.

“Who will take care of the children when the husbands go to jail?” they ask.

When India got under fire after the demolition of Babri Masjid, Malappuram remained peaceful. Muslim youth were protecting temples from thoughtless mob.

Mrs. Menaka Sanjay Gandhi, well known to the Indian polity, was destined to gain limelight the day she flocked her hands with Sanjay Gandhi in her teenage. At the age eighteen she came to the Raisina Hill – the PM’s office where Smt. Indira Gandhi was holding the office.

After the death of Sanjay Gandhi in 1980, she was ousted from PM’s house due to disagreements with her mother-in-law. Soon Menaka started a society, and after the death of Smt. Indira in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister and Menaka stood as the opponent.

After a short while she became star among Janatha Dal leadership under V.P. Singh. But, that didn’t last long. Chandrashekhar’s Dal was her next jump, then to Dev Gauda and finally she took triple-talaq from Dal family and joined BJP.

BJP was happy to get a Gandhi and her son Varun. New asylum was next-to-best for both. In 2014-19, Menaka was cabinet minister. But in 2019, she was unlucky to draw attention of BJP’s new managers. Holing the hedge, both Gandhis have fair skill to survive in troubled waters.

In 2019’s election campaign she warned Muslim voters that if they were not casting vote in favour of BJP, Muslims should not approach her for any matter. Varun in 2009, dared to vocal furiously to a large crowd with an anti-Muslim hate speech. He said any Muslim who will harm a Hindu, should be chopped-off his hands. Both mother and son well managed to keep Sultanpur and Pilibhith seats in every election. Islamophobia is the tool for their victory.

What is new? Last week of May, a female wild elephant died after consuming an explosive-packed pineapple in Kerala. The explosive was supposedly kept for wild-pigs, which used to come to agrarian area and destroy the crops.

Kerala is a narrow strip between Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat Hills. So, there will be hardly any way to protect the farms from wild animals. This has been reality for ages. Governments, officials, forest department and every layman understand this fact.

The death of an elephant opened opportunity to Menaka, where she utter Nagpur language against a community. Thousands of Whatsapp groups and fake-Twitter handles managed by Sangh Parivar immediately spread the scoop nationwide. The message was that, Hinduism’s sacred animal killed by Muslims in a district that is the most notorious in India.

There are 14 districts in Kerala. Elephant incident happened in Palakkad district. The adjacent district is Malappuram, where Muslims are in majority. A false news sprung that the elephant died in this Muslim district. Menaka immediately tweeted and had given an interview to ANI news-agency.

Instead of discussing the elephant’s death, she accused Malappuram as the most notorious district in India. The people are heartless. They chop people’s hands for ideological differences. They produce bombs in houses. They throw poison in the roads to kill birds and dogs. Women are being treated cruelly. Everyday something mischievous happens here. They are very dangerous people and the state government is afraid to take legal actions against these people of Malappuram. She went on and on with her malicious attacks.
Sanghi social media platforms further added fuel to it.

Immediately after her intervention, millions of re-tweets spread in north India. All repeated the same. Malappuram is mini-Pakistan. This hate was not newly invented. Malappuram district was created in 1969.

When India became sovereign country in 1951, there were only 308 districts and Kerala was born in 1956, there were only five districts. Now, in India there are 739 districts of which 14 are in Kerala.

But in case of Malappuram, the BJP’s predecessor, Jana Sangh started hatred slogans against the new district in 1969. Eminent leaders came to Kerala to lead agitation campaign. Jana Sangh President Bach Raj Vyas, Treasurer Nanaji Deshmugh, Madan Lal Khurana are some of them. National newspapers like The Statesman, Free Press supported them.

Organizer weekly of RSS in 1980s published an exclusive cover story on Malappuram named ‘Mini Pakistan’. The illustration was so boisterous with pictures on accounts of Malappuram’s Islamic fundamentals. It said that the Hindu community in this district living under utter fear. They are being either forcefully converted or oppressed. Outnumbered Mosques resembles Saudi Arabia.

The Islamophobia was detailed and vivid. It remains same today. Kerala’s BJP newspaper Janmabhoomi rationalized Menaka, and even published an article saying that the creation of this Malappuram was another “partition”.

Now the district is 51-years-old. There has been not a single case of communal violence so far. It has the lowest crime rate in Kerala and in India. It is the fast growing city in the world. It is the first district that announced IT mission accomplished in India. Muslim population is 71%, while Hindu and Christian population is 27% and 2% respectively.

When India got under fire after the demolition of Babri Masjid, Malappuram remained peaceful. Muslim youth were protecting temples from thoughtless mob. There is no bomb culture in here, no lynching, no witch hunting. Once up on a time the rural areas of this district were the backward in Kerala. Now it has more roads and educational institutions than any other Kerala districts. The social fabric of Malappuram is rich. There are more than 150 old-age homes in Kerala, but none of them are listed from Malappuram.

Malappuram remains in absolute fraternity. There are famous 30 temples and 30 mosques, where people used to visit from far places. This is the most populated districts in Kerala with five million people. The suicide rate is the lowest.

Mrs. Menaka accused this is the place that the atrocities against women are most, but the reality is just opposite. This might be one of the best districts in India where women are treated fairly.

It’s highly impossible to rate criminal statistics comparing Malappuram district and Sultanpur where Mrs. Gandhi elected. For instance, Sultanpur reported 292 kidnapping cases whereas Malappuram has had only 24. Women atrocities in Sultanpur reported 22 and Malappuram has merely two. The list can go on.

It’s an open invitation from Malappuram to all those who blindly believed Mrs. Gandhi’s hate-speeches, to come and stay here for at least a week, to feel the difference of chalk and cheese.

Mustafa Thalthodi is an academician and social worker from south-Indian state of Kerala.

Featured Image credits: IndiaToday.

Suresh Chavhanke owner of Sudharshan TV and a staunch Hindutva provocateur aired fake and morphed images and visuals back in 2016 about Dubai-based M.P. Ahammed – director of the Malabar Gold organizing Pakistan’s Independence Day celebrations in Chennai.

Malabar Gold and its director immediately filed a defamation suit against the radical TV channel for spreading fake news with ulterior motives of damaging the Gold business and creating a communal rift in the pluralistic south-Indian society.

Eventually, Judge G Rajesh declared Sudharshan TV guilty of defamation suit and ordered Chavhanke to pay the compensation and the court-related expenses to the petitioners.

M.P. Ahammed expressed gratitude and hailed Indian constitution for awarding justice.

In the recent past, Sangh-backed Chavhanke deteriorated the already-effected Bulandshahar violence by blaming the murder of the cop on a peaceful Muslim gathering.

Sudharshan TV is infamous for launching communal rifts, provocations and anti-Muslim propaganda. Despite, Chavhanke was arrested multiple times he continues to damage the secular fabric of the Indian society.

The raid was conducted after violence broke out on January 3 during a protest by Sabarimala Karma Samithi. The protest was backed by BJP, RSS, and other right-wing organizations.

“Swords, knives, daggers, wooden rods and sack of granites were seized from the RSS office. They had also stored a chemical used in country bombs,” told Nedumangad Sub Inspector Anil Kumar.

“No workers (pracharaks) of the RSS were present at the time of the raid at the office,” he added.

An RSS worker Praveen was caught on the CCTV camera hurling a country bomb at the Nedumangad Police station, and the raid was made on a tipoff that Praveen would come to the RSS office, Anil Kumar told media.

Two workers were arrested for initiating voilence on the roads, however Police is yet to arrest other four RSS workers including Praveen.

In the recent past, Police arrested an RSS worker N Nishant for hurling crude bomb near Nedumangad police station, and a BJP worker P Pratheesh was nabbed for attacking a police jeep during the protests.

Protests broke loose on January 3 and several CPI(M) offices were attacked, the Police was forced to use tear-gas shells to disperse the protestors, in the mean while, more then 31 Policemen were injured and more than 100 Kerala State buses were badly damaged.

Police have arrested over 3187 protestors and over 1300 cases have been booked.

Kathyayani Amma, was the oldest student to attend the Aksharalaksham literacy examination conducted by Kerala state Literacy Mission Authority.

She had to pass reading, writing, and Mathematics skills. She outstandingly scored 38 out of 40 in writing skills, while 100% in reading and mathematics skills.

The results were out on Wednesday.

Speaking to The Hindu daily, Amma said, she was aiming at clearing the tenth standard equivalent examination.

“I am delighted to clear the examination with high marks. I would like to continue my studies,” she enthused.

Amma’s teacher Sati. K said, “She is very enthusiastic about education and it was reflected in marks she scored. She is eager to continue education.”

Amma had never been to school until she got inspired by her 51-years-old daughter Amminiamma, who cleared her tenth grade exams with full determination despite a school dropout.

Officials said, Amma will receive a merit certificate from the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a function to be held on Thursday.

Aksharalaksham is a Kerala Government project to achieve numerical 100% literacy. Out of 43,330 examinees, 42,933 including 37,166 women have cleared the first phase.