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Time of India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
2 held in Bengal for painting Pakistani flag on rail toilet
KOLKATA: Bengal police arrested two members of Sanatani Ekta Mancha, a religious outfit, Thursday for attempting to incite communal violence in India-Bangladesh border area of Bongaon in North 24 Parganas. The duo pasted a Pakistan national flag on the wall of a washroom near a railway station on the Sealdah-Bongaon section, police said, adding that they also intended to write the slogans "Hindustan Murdabad" and "Pakistan Zindabad" on the wall to whip up communal tensions in the area. Dinesh Kumar, SP of Bongaon, said in a post on X that two local residents, Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45) confessed to the act. Ashok Kirtania, BJP MLA from Bongaon North and a senior member of Sanatani Ekta Manch, however, accused police of "arresting people under false cases." Countering the allegation, Biswajit Das, Trinamool's Bongaon district president, said, "BJP is conspiring to disrupt communal harmony. Police have done their duty."
The Hindu
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Two men held for placing Pakistan flag in washroom in attempt to ‘create unrest'
Two men of the 'Sanatani Ekta Manch' group were arrested after they pasted a Pakistani flag on the walls of a washroom at Bongaon in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday (April 30, 2025) night. Police said that it was an attempt to cause a communal incident. The flag was found pasted on the walls of a washroom beside the Akaipur railway station under Gopalnagar Police Station in Bongaon. According to Bongaon Superintendent of Police, Dinesh Kumar, the two arrested men have confessed. The two were identified as Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45), both local residents and active members of a political party, according to police officials. 'They had planned to write 'Hindustan Murdabad and Pakistan Zindabad' on the wall to create a communal disturbance,' the official statement by the Bongaon SP stated. A case has been registered against the two. The police have also stated that they will 'spare no efforts to bring to book those who are hatching these conspiracies to trigger communal unrest.' Creating unrest On April 24, the Baruipur Police had shut down claims by the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, that two alleged Kashmiri men had installed a 'high-performance wireless network bridge' on the rooftop of their residence. He had also posted an address on social media, causing the police to investigate. Police later clarified that the device was a standard JioFiber internet router, and no suspicious materials were found. Multiple communal incidents and violence have been reported from across the country after the Pahalgam attacks claimed the lives of at least 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri students have been attacked at colleges across the country. There are also reports of Kashmiri shawl sellers being beaten up.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
2 held in Bongaon for bid to incite communal violence
Kolkata: Two members of ' Sanatani Ekta Mancha ', a religious organisation, were arrested on Thursday for attempting to incite communal violence in the India-Bangladesh border area of Bongaon in North 24 Parganas. The duo allegedly pasted a Pakistan national flag on the wall of a washroom near a railway station on the Sealdah-Bongaon section. They also intended to write the slogans 'Hindustan Murdabad' and 'Pakistan Zindabad'. In a post on X, Bongaon SP Dinesh Kumar said: "A Pakistani national flag was found to be pasted on the walls of a washroom beside Akaipur railway station under Gopalnagar PS. Investigation revealed that this was wilfully done by Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45), both local residents and active members of a political party as also of Sanatani Ekta Manch." "They confessed to the act, and it is revealed that they planned to write 'Hindustan Murdabad and Pakistan Zindabad' on that wall to create communal disturbances in the area. Both have been arrested in a specific case. Further investigation is on. We shall spare no efforts to bring to book those who are hatching such conspiracies to trigger communal unrest," the SP added. Ashok Kirtania, BJP MLA from Bongaon North and a senior member of 'Sanatani Ekta Manch', however, accused cops of unnecessary action, saying: "Police are arresting people under false cases." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Click Here To Read More - business energy deals Expertinspector Click Here Undo Countering the allegation, Biswajit Das, Trinamool's Bongaon organisational district president, said: "Ahead of the assembly elections, BJP is conspiring to disrupt communal harmony and planning a blood-soaked political strategy. The police have done their duty."
India Today
01-05-2025
- India Today
2 arrested for putting up Pak flag near railway station in Bengal
The West Bengal Police have arrested two people for allegedly putting up the Pakistani flag on the wall of a washroom near a railway station in North 24 Parganas accused were identified as Chandan Malakar (30) and Progyajit Mondal (45), who are active members of a political party and associated with a fringe outfit called Sanatani Ekta Manch, police police district SP Dinesh Kumar said the accused on Wednesday deliberately pasted Pakistani flag on the walls of a washroom at Akaipur railway station. They had allegedly planned to write 'Hindustan Murdabad' and 'Pakistan Zindabad' to create communal disturbance in the area, he said. A police source also confirmed that the accused were members of Sanatani Ekta Manch."We found a Pakistani national flag in a toilet near the railway station. Later, we identified two locals using intelligence and the source who were behind it. Our investigation reveals that they had done this deliberately. The two accused have been arrested and a case has been registered under specific sections. They were produced before the Bangaon Sub-division court," the SP when the accused were produced in court, they refuted the claims of the police and claimed they pasted the Pakistani flag to protest against the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which claimed 26 Kumar said that the accused would be taken into police custody and a probe would be launched to find if other people were involved in the incident.(with inputs from Dipak Debnath from North 24 Parganas) IN THIS STORY#West Bengal
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Southern California Hindu temple desecrated with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti calls for peace
CHINO HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The recent desecration of an iconic Hindu temple in Southern California with anti-Hindu and anti-Indian government graffiti has heightened concerns among South Asian groups following a slew of such incidents over the past year. Devotees who arrived early morning on March 8 at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Chino Hills were shocked to find the words 'Hindustan Murdabad,' which means 'death to' or 'down with' Hindus and India, scrawled on a pink stone sign bearing the temple's name, said Mehul Patel, a volunteer with the organization. Expletive-laden graffiti targeting India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi was written on one of the outer brick walls and abutting sidewalk, he said. San Bernardino Sheriff's officials have said they are investigating the incident as a hate crime and have not identified any suspects yet. Patel said the incident 'invoked a sense of fear' among community members. The impact was felt as far away as India, where most major media outlets reported the incident, and India's External Affairs ministry condemned the vandalism. 'We condemn such despicable acts in the strongest terms,' said ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. "We call upon the local law enforcement authorities to take stringent action against those responsible for these acts, and also ensure adequate security to places of worship.' Patel said the vandalized temple had nearly 1,000 visitors every day, with thousands of people gathering during Diwali and temple festivals. 'We do have security protocols in place, but such a violation still makes you think twice about how safe you really are, especially if you have young children," Patel said. The majestic temple, the largest in California, sits on a 20-acre lot along a freeway, its arches and domes carved out of pink sandstone and interior decked with white Italian marble. In October 2023, the organization built in Robbinsville, New Jersey, the largest Hindu temple outside India in the modern era. The Swaminarayan sect, a branch of Hinduism, oversees more than 1,300 temples and 5,000 centers around the world, according to the group's website. This is not the first time the global Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, known as BAPS, has been hit by vandals. The organization's temple in Melville, New York, was tagged with similar writing on Sept. 16. Nine days later, their temple near Sacramento was hit, and there was also an incident at the Newark, California, temple in December 2023. Those incidents are also being investigated as hate crimes. The denigration of Modi, under whom Hindu nationalism has surged in India, appears to be a common thread in these vandalism incidents across the country. Other non-BAPS Hindu temples in the U.S. have also been attacked recently. In Hayward, California, Vijay's Sherawali Temple, dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Durga and run by a family of immigrants from Fiji, was vandalized in January 2024 with graffiti calling Modi a 'terrorist' and with the words 'Khalistan Zindabad' (Long live Khalistan). Khalistan is the name by which Sikh separatists refer to a sovereign state they hope to create in Indian state of Punjab, birthplace of Sikhism. A violent Khalistani insurgency in India was quelled by the government in 1984; India has declared it a terrorist movement. Activists in the diaspora are currently holding a nonbinding referendum across the United States to create an independent Khalistan; voting will take place in Los Angeles on March 23. In the summer of 2023, tensions escalated between India and Canada over allegations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government had a hand in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that an Indian government official plotted to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist leader, in New York who is spearheading the Khalistan referendum. In August, the FBI opened an investigation into a drive-by shooting that targeted Satinder Pal Singh Raju, a close associate of Nijjar, in Yolo County, California. The temple vandalism incidents in Northern California last year were condemned by local Sikh groups. Sikhs in the diaspora and in India are divided on the issue of Khalistan. Immediately after the incident in Southern California, the Coalition of Hindus of North America posted on X raising the possibility of a connection between the tagging incident and the upcoming Khalistan referendum in Los Angeles. Pushpita Prasad, a spokesperson for the group, said Thursday that regardless of who committed the crime, 'this repeated assault on the freedom of Hindus to gather in their place of worship is unacceptable.' 'We go to a place of worship to find solace,' she said. 'If that place becomes a target, how do you find solace there?' Prasad called for a robust discussion on what is driving these attacks against Hindu temples and acknowledge that anti-Hindu hate exists. She called for treating Hindu places of worship equally. Another South Asian group pointed out the perils of jumping to conclusions about perpetrators of a crime before an investigation has concluded. Without evidence, such assumptions only serve to further divide communities, said Prachi Patankar, board member of the interfaith Savera Coalition. Her group represents Indian Americans who are Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Dalit or the people formerly regarded as 'untouchables' in the caste system, and those unaffiliated with religion. 'Such incidents should never be used to scapegoat other minority religious communities such as the Sikh community, because it can lead to further criminalization or repression of the entire community,' she said. Patel said it is important for the public to understand that Hindus are not a monolith and the Chino Hills temple is a nonprofit that does not represent any single government, leader or country. 'We are a Hindu temple in the United States,' he said. 'We are Indian Americans. But people who are not of Indian origin who practice Hinduism worship here as well.' He hopes surveillance video, which showed two suspects in the act of scoping the area and tagging the property, will help apprehend them. Members of the organization gathered in front of their temple on March 9 where a priest chanted the 'Shanthi Path,' a blessing and prayer for peace. 'We prayed not just for our community, but also for the perpetrators,' Patel said. 'We believe in the right of people to express themselves, but to get their message out in a peaceful and not in a hateful way.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
