Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that there is a need to increase coronavirus testing in states where the testing rate is low and the positivity rate is high. He added that “if we defeat coronavirus in these 10 states then the country will also win”.
Speaking at the meeting with Chief Ministers, held through video conferencing, the Prime Minister said if we defeat coronavirus in the 10 states then the country will also win.
“In States where the testing rate is low and the positivity rate is high, there is a need to increase testing there in particular, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Telangana. A view has emerged that testing should be increased in these states,” he said.
“Today 80 per cent of active cases are in these ten states. Hence, the role of all these states is very big in the fight against coronavirus. The number of active cases is exceeded to 6 lakhs. Most of these cases are in these ten states,” he said.
“That’s why the need was felt for these states to sit together, review and discuss the issue. From this discussion, we also got to learn a lot from each other’s experiences. If we defeat coronavirus in these 10 states then the country will also win,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that the number of testing has reached 7 lakhs per day and is also increasing continuously.
He said that if we try more in a focused way then we can achieve the target to bring down Case Fatality Rate (CFR) to less than 1 per cent.
“The average fatality rate was much lower than in the world before. It is a matter of satisfaction. It is constantly decreasing. The percentage of active cases has decreased and the recovery rate has increased. So, this means that our efforts are proving effective,” the Prime Minister said.
“The most important thing is that it has also increased trust among people. Their confidence has increased and their fear of the infection has also decreased. If we try more in a focused way then we can achieve the target to bring down CFR to less than 1 per cent,” he said.
He said that there was a phase when COVID-19 became a huge problem in some districts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi.
“We have seen that in some districts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, there was a phase when COVID-19 became a huge problem. We held a review meeting and a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and to a great extent, we achieved desired results,” he said.
The Prime Minister asserted that the most effective weapon against coronavirus is containment, contact tracing, and surveillance.
“Now the public is also understanding and cooperating. This is a good result of our awareness efforts. This is why the system of home quarantine is being implemented in such a good way today. Experts are now saying that if we identify cases within 72 hours of onset, then this infection slows down to a great extent,” he said.
“I get ground situation from you and also get to know that we are heading in the right direction. I am satisfied that every state is fighting this pandemic at its own level. Whether it is the Centre or State government, we are able to work as a team. We are getting good results due to this team spirit,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that efforts like better management in hospitals and increase the number of ICU beds have helped a lot.
Among those present at the meeting were, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Tamil Nadu CM EK Palaniswami, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has slammed the Yogi Adityanath government over the Bulandshahr accident in which a US student was killed.
The accident, which took place on Monday, was apparently caused when motorcycle-borne men chased the girl who was on a scooter with her uncle.
In a tweet, Priyanka said, “There is no fear of the law in UP and women are getting increasingly insecure. It appears that the state government does not take incidents of eve-teasing seriously.”
बुलंदशहर की घटना यूपी में कानून के डर के खात्मे और महिलाओं के लिए फैले असुरक्षा के माहौल को दिखाती है।
ऐसा प्रतीत होता है कि प्रशासन छेड़खानी की घटनाओं को गंभीरता से नहीं लेता।
इसके लिए व्यापक फेरबदल की जरूरत है। महिलाओं पर होने वाले हर तरह के अपराध पर जीरो टॉलरेंस होना चाहिए।
She said that a sweeping change was needed and the state government should adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards crime against women.
Earlier in the day, BSP president Mayawati had tweeted, “The promising student Sudiksha Bhati, who was going on a bike with her uncle in Bulandshahr, lost her life due to the eve-teasing, which is extremely sad, embarrassing and very condemnable. How will daughters progress? The BSP strongly demands that the UP government should take strict legal action against the culprits immediately.”
One of the biggest movies of the year, the Poppy Doll was removed from the stalls. There was a tireless online campaign to remove such dolls and ban them. In fact, the Trolls: World Tour doll is absolutely debatable – and toy manufacturer Hasbro has quickly pulled the doll from production. This doll was somewhat conditioning our children to think pedophilia is okay. This Trolls World Tour doll named Poppy has a button on her private area under her skirt. When you push this button on the doll’s private parts, she gasps and giggles. This is too much for a child’s toy. This toy is now removed from the stores but many of them have already purchased it.
Zenobia Khodaiji a Fengshui and Signature Analyst said, “When Barbie dolls reached India, it was very awkward to see a Doll with breasts. In almost every way, Barbie’s existence challenged the sexist standards. Created by a woman who forced her way into a male-dominated business world, Barbie blanketed the entire globe with a new understanding of what womanhood could be. But now Poppy Doll is extreme of all this, what will this toy makes our innocent, vulnerable children think? Good that they are removed and if not, they should be as soon as possible.”
An imported toy shop owner from Colaba told Afternoon Voice under the condition of anonymity “There is still a demand for this doll and it’s not the child that comes to buy toys, it’s the parents, especially male members. This doll has amused men more than a child. I have not only removed them but also discarded and dismantled. The production of Doll was huge, it might have gone out of shops but not out of market, one can order it on demand”.
Namrata Thakker, a Founder of Entrepreneur Excel told Afternoon Voice, “Such dolls leave question, are we really ok with pedophilia and child molestation? It’s not fun, it’s damaging and has long term effects on a child’s mental/physical health. We belong to a country where our PM endorses ‘Beti Bachao’ save girl child. How can we really accept such toys for our toddlers?”
The doll, which is based on the female character Poppy, is intended to giggle when the toy is sitting upright. However, in order for it to do so, the user must press a button – one that’s located between Poppy’s legs. It’s noticeably a weird place to put such a button. Many parents have signed a petition at Change.org which has already convinced Hasbro to remove the doll from production.
Link to petition on Chaange.org: https://www.change.org/p/target-removing-poppy-trollz-world-tour-doll-from-store-shelves
Julie Duffy, spokeswoman for Hasbro, published her statement asserting, “This feature was designed to react when the doll was seated, but we recognize the placement of the sensor may be perceived as inappropriate,” Duffy said.
“This was not intentional and we are happy to provide consumers with a replacement Poppy doll of similar value through our consumer care team. We are in the process of removing the item for purchase,” she further added.
While going through social media accounts of TV and film industry actresses, you will see their display from skippiest cloths to bold video clips. Some go so nasty that they discuss their body and private parts to gain likes and followers. These days the decease of Talent in Bollywood in the name of Item Numbers, skin show has stooped so low, to sell their creation they are coming down to any level. Some retard lyricists pick up a name and start writing crass words around them. Let it be ‘Fevicol‘, ‘Kundi Mat Khadkao Raja‘, Sheila, Munni, Pinky or Bubbly. So-called A grade actresses agree to such objectifying of women. Idiotic dances, beyond mediocre lyrics, and formula marketing gimmicks are all that film can offer modern audiences. An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film but is offered to showcase vulgar dancing women in revealing clothes, to lend support to the commercial aspect of the film and also the so-called top actresses.
Nowadays all these item numbers are performed by so-called “A” grade heroines. These hit item numbers are key to their business offers as performers in different events. The same dance numbers are performed at New Year’s events, award shows and many such gatherings and events. More the hit item numbers the demand to rise. In the race of earning money and remaining wanted in the glam world, these so-called actresses have shed all sorts of embarrassments. These dance numbers are generally memorable, buoyant, and often sexually provocative for a song in a movie. However, the term as understood in Bollywood phraseology has entered the entertainment industry scenario as well. Item numbers are usually added to Indian films to generate publicity.
Filmmakers flavour item numbers for the reason that since they do not add to the plot, they afford the filmmakers with the opportunity to pick potential hit songs from the stocks. It is thus a vehicle for commercial success which ensures repeat viewing. The first song, ‘Jumma Chumma De De’ (Hum, 1991), which means “Give us a kiss” is sung by a group of men, including the hero of the movie, to an ‘item girl’, who is just dancing in this song, situated in a bar. Many of the songs used in this ad take place in clubs or bars, where the hero is intoxicated. Two other phrases used, ‘Chammak Challo’ (Ra.One, 2011) and ‘Chikni Chameli’ (Agneepath, 2012) is euphemistic slang for prostitutes, especially ones who dance, and from the countryside. The words refer to the colour of their skin as well as their jewellery and ornaments, not to the woman herself. I remember this trend aggressively started with the dancers like Helen, but lyrics used to be very sensible at that time. There were a particular set of dancers who used to do these numbers, and the heroine of the movie has some reputable class. Now the trend has changed, Madhuri Dixit’s, ‘Ek Do Teen’ and ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’ were the biggest hits of modern days.
Then double meaning songs and now the entire song revolves around one name and cheap lyrics. Like ‘Munni Badnam Huyi’, or ‘Sheela Ki Jawani’, now the new series, ‘Kundi Mat Khadkao Raja’ and ‘Halkat Jawani’. Although the derivation of the term “item number” is unclear, it likely originates its meaning from the objectification of sexually attractive women. This is because the item in filmy Mumbai slang is a sexy woman. Moreover, Mumbai is famous for Dance Bars, and all these characters, ‘Munni’, ‘Sheila’, ‘Babli’, ‘Pinky’ are commonly known names of Dance bar and red-light areas. These names relate to that kind of viewer. Most of these lyricists are frequent visitors to such places. A female actor, singer or dancer, especially someone who is poised to become a star, who appears in an item number, is known as an item girl. The ‘item number’ would feature an ‘Item Girl’ who appeared in the film as a dancer, usually in a bar or nightclub, and was only in the film for the length of that song. It was often frowned upon at that point in time. There are item boys as well; however, females are more commonly featured in item numbers than males. Item numbers typically feature one or more persons other than the lead actors sometimes even the lead actress doing these numbers. Most of the time established female and male actors would lend a “special appearance” to an item number. Is it fair to blame Bollywood, or even expect it to produce movies that adhere to a higher standard? The general sentiment is that Bollywood, being such a massive influence for Indian society, has a responsibility to produce films that show women in a progressive light, but hold that censorship is not a viable way to achieve this goal.
We are living in a hypocritical time, where we are aggressive over protesting against abuse to a woman. We are seeking respect for her; there are thousands of campaigns for woman and girl child’s rights and dignity. The same item number actresses have endorsed the cause. The other side most reputed newspapers are promoting sex by all means. A woman has not been put on this planet for your supreme entertainment or pleasure. A woman is not an adjective. If you cannot respect a woman, you are nothing. Provocative material in films is nothing but a fantasy for million cinema-goers per day. Almost every movie has songs interspersed throughout the entire plot. Every song is not created the same, however. A particular genre of songs, called ‘item songs’, is often included in huge blockbusters. Item songs of late have contained actresses wearing skimpy outfits and are characterized by skimpy clothing and suggestive choreography and lyrics. These songs are often continuously played on television and the radio and become nationwide sensations. These songs often boost the careers of the actresses who continue to star in these numbers, earning them the title of ‘item girls. The terminology itself degrades these women below human beings to inanimate objects who are there for the pleasure of the viewer, presumably male. This deconstruction of women plays along with the male gaze, viewing the female in parts rather than a whole. This plays on the notion of taking advantage of uneducated women for the use of pleasure. In the end, the question remains, what are we trying to project or get out of such things? Are they needed for an hour to promote any movie or just intellectual bankruptcy of filmmakers and viewers?
We get carried away by the philosophies of Love from movies, stories, and other random and non-descript springs. I know every young adult has the right to make his/her own choices when it comes to marriage. Today, I will not talk about love Jihad or honor killings but I will talk about why this is still distasteful for most of the Indian parents and families. Parents consider their daughters as their pride and when the female child switches religion, the family especially the parent’s face a lot of adversity. There is always psychological and social pressure. When their children switch religion it’s everyday death for the family they belong to. The parents will raise many arguments but the main debate is “Why can’t a guy switch his religion when he marries a woman from another religion? If his love is so countless, she should not make compromises rather she should accept her religion, there is no harm.
The second hardship that the parents go through is being labeled. In most cases, this leads to the social isolation of the family. Something which liberals never speak about, but in such marriages upbringing of the child is always questioned. Ultimately, it’s the parents that live with weight from all sides, above all if the daughter is happy in her married life, at least they have reasons to console themselves but if such marriages fail the repercussions are not very pleasing. Most of the couple fail to understand the difference between lust and love which has a very thin lining. Once they are done with covetousness, the so-called love fails. And in such scenarios, there are hardly any fallback options. Whereas arrange marriages are formed by the permission of parents/extended families and society at large, where two unknown individuals meet and share their lifetime bond. They share some thoughts regarding their likes and dislikes for a certain time then their families plan their marriage. According to me, the success is due to the family support in building these relations. As we all know, every association has to go through some ups and downs. When these associations are decided by families then they will make efforts to not make it long-lasting. Also, as both, the families of boys and girls belong to the same religion and nearly similar financial background (mostly) it brings both the families to similar standing and understanding.
In love marriages, the couple who knows each other closely, likeminded, and who don’t care about society and surroundings for any sort of dependency such marriages may succeed but they are rare in numbers. In most love marriages financial instability is a big deal, before marriage what matters to them is that so-called pull for each other, but after marriage when both the partners touch the responsibility of each other they start getting frustrated. They start judging each other, the entire love falls apart from the facts of life. They realize that their love is not sufficient for their marriage to sustain. Marriages change people and life too. We need to understand that love is not only the primary thing for marriage while it is a greater responsibility. Adjustments have to be made from both sides and family is also very important. These things people do not care about before falling in so-called infatuations, that make a drastic change after marriage. People find less time for each other and families are not very cool in India to accept love marriage very easily that’s why they never support them.
The law will always go by the written sections and by the version of the adults. It will never consider the parent’s side and it will not consider the pattern that society draws. This is because marriage is something that happens between two individuals but this would not provide justice to all, especially to the family where their children chose to marry in different religions. The law provides justice to everyone by ignoring the parent’s side. Lastly, the marriage in India is between two families and this marriage will not go well if people marry a person from other faiths.
In India, people strongly believe in their own traditions and faiths. They consider going against it is a sin and would give a curse for the next few generations. Our society has been instilling the values very strongly. One may be unhappy but has to follow social values. Such one important aspect is that parents are God and they shall make all important decisions for their kids. Parents in our society are inherently protective and dominating. They have to make all decisions for their children from which school to go, which clothes to wear, which career to dream for, which college to opt and finally whom to wed. That is because they fear their kids will make the wrong decisions and will ruin their own life.
love marriage never had a firm footing and mature minds. It has been a kind of action taken on the spur of the moment without any serious and mature thinking and advice. What they called love was temporary. During their ‘courtship’ days the couple meets for a short period and always tries to present their best to impress the other partner. However, they get disillusioned after marriage when they face the hard realities of life, and there start the actual problems which affect their relationship, and soon their ‘love’ marriage goes for a toss. We as responsible social existence, we should take liberties on our choices but that needs greater maturity to stand collectively. Meanwhile, if at all a child makes his/ her choices on choosing partners, no one gives permission to family or society to go for the kill in the name of honor or any sort of brutality.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
Love Commandos claims to be a voluntary non-profit organization to provide housing, legal aid, and protection to couples seeking their help who are being mistreated by family and society for wanting to marry based solely on mutual attraction and love.
Sanjoy Sachdev, the co-founder, and chairman of Love Commandos, says, “Falling in love carries a strong social stigma in India. Here most marriages are arranged by parents; the matter of love is rarely considered. Love across the barriers of caste, religion, and economic class can be problematic, resulting in violence and occasionally honor killing. The police have been known to refuse protection to such couples, sometimes even siding with parents and arresting the male lovers on false charges of rape.”
He further stated that “No political party has any agenda for protection of lover’s rights; thus, such caste and religious fundamentalists have brought in this word to meet their political aims”.
Chetan Rajhans, National Spokesperson, Sanatan Sanstha, said, “On the website of Love Commandos, an attempt has been made to pretend that it is an organization working to protect lovers from honor killings. In the comment box on their website, it has been shown that a Muslim boy is asking for help to marry a Hindu girl. It has been experienced all over India that Muslim boys are trapping Hindu girls in false love commitments; they also commit to marry them and ruin Hindu girls’ life. Thus, it is quite natural that Hindu parents fear such marriages and oppose their daughters. In such cases, if the Love Commandos organization is protecting such boys, then ultimately, they are promoting ‘Love Jihad’.”
He further stated that “If we think, ‘Love Jihad’ doesn’t exist or call for such resistance, an Honor Killing is nothing but the foolishness. What would be the future of that Hindu girl, who get married through such Jihadi love. Whether their children be Hindu or Muslim? Tomorrow if that girl gets divorced (Talaaq), whether the Love Commando organization is going to provide all the security and survival means to that girl, whether the organization is going to provide mental support to that girl? Organizations should guarantee all these things to Hindu Parents. It seems that Love Commandos is an organization belong to liberal Hindus who are unaware of Islam or Jihadi terror; thus, it is not surprising if such organizations oppose caring Hindus.”
In response to love Jihad issues in India, Sachdeva said, “The word love jihad is as inappropriate as an honor killing. Love is love, and Jihad is a holy war. There is no matching or combinations. As no political party has any agenda for protection of the lover’s rights; thus, such caste and religious fundamentalists have brought in this word to meet their political aims. Love is nature. The only combination of words with love is peace. We believe that love shall rule the world one day.”
Advocate Pratibha Bangera said, “When Graham Bell was inventing the telephone, our country was struggling to abolish Sati. In spite of dancing and posting videos on social media by youngsters even from remote villages, people still marry and divorce with the permission of their elders. It is not just the poor, but even educated and rich people have little to do with understanding the needs of their partner or being available for their children and family. Be it marriage or divorce; there is a sense of fear of defying society even in metro cities and educated families of India. Even the government is scared of abolishing customary religious laws. Love has become rare these days. And love in marriages is even more remote. Family shaming and honor killing will not stop unless someone like Rajaram Mohan Roy is born in modern India. We need someone whom we can look upon. People need a common cause to revolutionize and bring reforms. Everyone is far too caught up with small things and survival”.
A farmer and political worker Ram Prabhat Singh from, Meerut said, “Love Commandos carries a slogan (प्यार करना पाप नहीं, विरोधी हमारा बाप नहीं) to love is not sin and who so ever oppose love is not our father”, agree these parents cannot be anything to you, but in what capacity and authority you are trading your agendas?? The organization claims to have journalists, businessmen, lawyers, and human rights activists on their panel. They keep couples’ in secret shelters; how can we guarantee the girl’s dignity? Meanwhile, the co-founder of Sanjoy Sachdeva was arrested for extortion in 2019. How can one trust this man? Sachdeva was interviewed on Aamir Khan’s television show Satyamev Jayate. After his appearance on the show, the organization got publicity. But, Hakim Abdul, who appeared in the same episode with his wife, was murdered five months later in November 2012 in Bulandshahr village in western Uttar Pradesh, did they find out who killed them?”.
“When a person takes up such crusade like standing against family atrocities and protect the couple to live with their choices, in such scenario cases can be framed to defame the person or damage his reputation”. The same might have happened in case of Sanjog Sachdeva.” We all missing an important question here is that why grown-up adults have no right to choose their partners?”, said Deepak Gazipur a student activist.
Here are the excerpts from the interview of Sanjoy Sachdev, founder of Love Commandos with our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Vaidehi:
If a young adult can choose the prime minister of the country, why not his life partner? – Sanjoy Sachdev
The Love Commandos, an NGO set up by Sanjoy Sachdev and Harsh Malhotra in 2010. They claim to be defensive towards young couples who are ill-treated by families and societies for being in love with their choices. This non-profit organization helps such couples with shelter, food, and in some cases helping to arrange marriages. Harsh Malhotra, a travel agent and one of the founders of the group, was assaulted when he went to his future wife’s family, and later, they absconded. He is now an interior designer and the chief coordinator of the group.
Sanjoy Sachdev the founder and chairman of Love Commandos spoke to our editor Dr. Vaidehi and shared his empathies.
What has inspired you to start this NGO?
We started this group as Peace Commandos, to protect lovers from religious extremist groups during occasions like Valentine’s Day. Later on, we decided to rename the group, and concentrate on protecting lovers and on the issue of honor killing. In 2010, Love Commando was formed after a man was arrested on statutory rape charges. Even though the woman went on record that she was an adult and the relationship was consensual, the police decided to attest to the father’s statement that she was a minor.
How do you identify the victim?
As a matter of our policy given at the Terms page on our website www.lovecommandos.org, the intending couples have to email scanned copies of their age and address proofs. Our legal team verifies these. Our volunteers spread all over the country secretly check the facts to ensure that it is a genuine love couple and none in the guise is attempting to reach us to attack or harm other couples.
How long will you give protection to these couples?
Length is depending upon circumstances and threat perception in each case. The longest staying time for a couple was 14 months. It can be furthermore in the future if the threat is looming for longer periods.
Your Volunteers don’t get attacked for doing so?
Many want to destroy us, the caste councils and clan councils (Khap Panchayats) have put huge bounties on our heads but that doesn’t bother us much. From the past one year, we are taking more precautions as we have divided our work station from the base shelter. This guarantees safety to couples, and we can deal with the attackers too.
Your website says you support the couple irrespective of any religion, caste, creed. What is your take on LOVE JIHAD?
The word love jihad is as inappropriate as an honor killing. Love is love and Jihad is a holy war. There is no matching or combinations. As no political party has any agenda for protection of lover’s rights thus such caste and religious fundamentalists have brought in this word to meet their political aims. Love is nature. The only combination of words with Love is peace. We believe that Love shall rule the world one day.
What if the couple is not in a position to mail you the scanned copies and just manage to drop the call?
These documents are lawfully needed. Many times, the couples click photos and email or WhatsApp. Many times, on getting their call and location our nearby volunteers rushed. In some cases, we sought help from state police chiefs, and generally, it came. We had to take quick decisions in each case
Have you protected couples from different religious beliefs?
Yes, we have and are protecting inter-religious Love couples. Our lives are always at risk from both sides. We feel that Love has no religion, our thought is Love beyond borders. We feel that religious fundamentalism is a danger for our secular democracy. The only way to eradicate this social evil of religious and caste fundamentalism is to promote marriages by Love or choice and ban marriages by arrangement. We do not agree that this arranged marriage is tradition, making an arrangement that means forcing marriage upon one. And forced marriage is an international crime.
Wouldn’t realize how the 12 years have just passed by, my journey of Afternoon Voice is still fresh in my memory. This story started with a rebellious attempt. There was a publication house, where I was resumed as a city reporter. All the reporters were made to oblige the owner whenever his business came in trouble, or they wanted some political favors, most of the time the reporters used to do liaising work for the publication owners.
This is not new in the media industry when a business group owns a publication or a political mafia becomes the owner of the newspaper, the aim of the daily is to satisfy their own concerns, but not to speak for the general public. That is the reason one day I resigned from the job and said no to the hierarchy. We the bunch of rebels came together and started this newspaper by not surrendering to the outrages. When we refused to mortgage our intellect like any other bonded labor of a media house. We were threatened by not getting opportunities ahead. we planned to come up with our own publication, with the support of family members, I mortgaged my house for initial funds and later on many came forward to support us.
That is how “Afternoon Voice” was born; this is its 12th anniversary.
Today that publication with the same name Afternoon been dispatched to an unknown address and they left the business and now we are the one and only “Afternoon” in the market. In these 12 years of competition finally, that afternoon succumbed to various challenges.
We don’t follow any philosophy, we don’t hate or love political entities, we don’t have complaints from anyone, we’re not the slaves or supporters of any political groups, we don’t envy anyone. Our sole agenda is journalism. And we love to speak the fact. We have many questions in mind and we try to find the answers too. We want to speak because the common people whom we represent can’t speak for themselves. We have to speak for them to reach their voices in the corridors of power. Now in this struggle, if we love or envy someone, we wouldn’t be able to make our voices loud and clear.
Being parallel or neutral is a curse these days because nobody likes you. If you criticize Congress you are labeled as a BJP supporter. If you ask questions to BJP, they think you are anti-BJP. If you ask questions from AAP, they think you’re the pawns of national parties. If you praise Arvind Kejriwal then it is translated, as you are an AAPTARD. If you speak of Raj they will say you are anti-Uddhav, and if you question Uddhav they say you favor Pawar. In these times, when the media is labeled as Presstitutes, sold outs, and much more, we hold ourselves without falling into those types of adjectives, keeping our unbiased writing.
A small newspaper, a small team, thousands of readers and manifold audience, hundreds of calls every day, some praises, some complaints, some calls go missing, some get attended, but we try to listen to everyone and do justice to what they say. There are many decisions taken every moment because the newspaper runs on deadlines. Sometimes decisions go wrong, sometimes we even make mistakes but trust me no slip-up of ours is ever that big that can’t be pardoned.
Everyone wants honest journalism but most of them don’t know how the narrative of honest journalism has changed. You want to listen to the truth but if your leader or party is questioned you don’t like them. You want to listen to the truth that is suitable for you. And if the journalism is kept on those parameters then reporting gets mortgaged. These days all are critic’s media, but when the truth is served, they don’t want to digest because their truth is different from our truth. We can’t be the voice for everyone but the common people. We can’t walk with someone because we have to walk parallel to you to illustrate. Now some may ask us “who are you?” My answer would be “Someone who lives journalism”.
We are a small part of the big media community. You are free to make your choices. We’re small and we can’t reach everywhere but wherever we reach our voice is loud and clear. We know that we’re going to contribute towards the new India. We know we follow our prime minister, be it digital India, and be it Beti Bachao. But we don’t project him falsely, we exactly let readers know what is his agendas could be. We tell our leaders about the happenings without adding our narrations or gossips. We don’t believe in sensationalizing the news and gain publicity. We want plane reporting, that may not amuse you but that will stand its grounds.
Now you must be thinking, without any support how we are running this publication house? We get government advertisements being one of the registered newspapers, we get a lot of classifieds, we do product campaigns and there are many articles on various business groups and their new ventures, those adverts are mostly paid. Above all we have parallel modules, such as I have my clinic, I do cybersecurity audits, all my directors slog in their respective fields and some of the income we contribute for the sustenance of media house. We also do an annual award event “Newsmakers Achievers Awards” that generates funds to breathe with this venture. My team is of some handicapped youth, (divyang brothers and sisters), some acid attack victims, some college dropouts, and some professional volunteers. We empowered many acid attack victims.
We struggled a lot in all these 12 years.
I remember when Shivanand Sir, ex-commissioner of Mumbai police, came to inaugurate my newspaper he cracked a joke stating, “Vaidehi, I should get you and your team arrested under the child labor act”. Because we all were very young, small in sizes and in fact half of the team members were early college dropouts. We changed the monotone’s custom of the senior citizens sitting on the desk and writing it issues and lines with the same perception. Even today the senior-most team member on the desk in my team who is the sub-editor is 23 years old. The team member who manages all the administration is also 27 years old. My team is very young and very small in numbers but big in visions. And perhaps this is the reason we are different from others. We don’t have a very large readership, as we can’t print in large numbers. But we do have our online edition to compensate for the gap.
I would request everyone that if you like us, do visit our online edition and keep reading us. Buy our print and give us a chance to sever honest journalism. Your suggestions are always welcome. And when I said that we’re the voice of the common people then, together we all can change the scenario of media, or bring change to at least one person.
How can I forget to thanks those who stood by us since its inception, Late Shree Baliran Gaikwad Ji, late Bhayyu Ji Maharaj, Dr Vishesh Naik, Advocate Rohini Salian, Padma Shree Shoma Ghosh, Padma Shree Kanan Rele, Mr Anilkumar, Mrs Vaishali Muley, and the list is very long, all my company directors, staff and team, and most importantly my readers.
I am born here and most of my childhood has gone in Girgaon. Late Pramod Navalkar, a Shiv Sena leader was my neighbor and mentor, rather he was the one who introduced me to journalism at a very young age. Since then I am in love with Thackeray’s because they gave me a sense of belonging. Balasaheb was very close to my heart and when I was growing as a journalist, he always gave me time and support. He received his one and only Lifetime Achievement Award from me in 2012 (The Newsmakers Achievers Award). I miss his presence a lot, however, Raj fills that vacuum. Somewhat, he always reminds me of Balasaheb, in his fearless, bold, no-nonsense, keeping people at their places and above all, he speaks with a conviction that is an exact replica of Balasaheb. Sadly, Uddhav has failed to carry this legacy.
Raj Thackeray’s politics is inspired by Balasaheb Thackeray. It seems as if he is walking in the very footsteps of his uncle. Just Like Balasaheb he is an artist and has a proper idea for development and beautification of cities, concerned for people of Maharashtra, and above all, he is brave enough to render his voice.
Raj Thackeray is always very practical in approach. He has a proper vision for town planning and this is evident by the works his party carried in Nashik. He himself claims that town planning is his hobby. His blueprint for Maharashtra, which he had released in 2014, had a solution for almost every problem right now Maharashtra is facing. In 2019 he spoke more on the problems, which common people suffered in day-to-day lives like proper transportation, better city infrastructure, adequate water supply, jobs for youth. Going beyond political interest he tried convincing people not to get bullied by false waves and winds. But, in India money plays a greater role in creating chronicles of politics. Money knows no honest voices and able leadership.
People never supported Uddhav Thackeray for his merits and qualities, they always voted for Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena. If we observe the political campaigns of Shiv Sena we can understand how they make use of emotions to gain votes for their party, in their campaign, they always indulge in blame game but hardly speak on their achievements and virtues. Five-years in alliance with BJP they kept on people that Shiv Sena is the party of Balasaheb Thackeray. Similarly, in 2019 elections they released the movie ‘Thackeray’ based on the life of Balasaheb so that people of Maharashtra could be driven to polling booths.
On the other hand, Raj is a lone combatant; he always gives proof to prove his points. Raj does all that what media and opposition need to do in a democracy. Without taking any names he not only stands alone but also stands tall in speaking for the interest of people. MNS might have lost grounds in state politics, but no one can ignore his presence, because he is the dark horse of the state politics. People say, “who after Pawar?”, I say its Raj Thackeray. You hate him or like him, he would be always an inevitable part of state politics.
When Maha Vikas Aghadi made its way to power, Devendra Fadnavis met Raj Thackeray and that created many speculations and opinions. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena joined hands with NCP and Congress, it was expected that Raj Thackeray could lead a new role. Assembly Election 2019, MNS of Raj Thackeray won only one seat and 2.3% vote share, but still, political bigwigs make rounds to his corridors.
While Uddhav evolved beyond Hindutva, by joining hands with secular ideologies. This gave one of the good opportunities to Raj Thackeray to make a passage closer to the Hindutva philosophy. Shiv Sena was under attack since it came to power with assumed mismatched or unparalleled ideological party Congress and NCP. In the meantime, BJP also needed a quick replacement in place of Shiv Sena. After forming the alliance with Raj Thackeray, BJP would be able to spread a message that the other Thackeray is going to stand by us with pure saffron agenda.
It was speculated that on 23rd January 2020 on the birth anniversary of Balasaheb, Raj Thackeray would announce the tie with BJP. On the same day, it was expected to unveil the party’s new identity a saffron Flag featuring Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji’s seal. The old flag of MNS was replaced with a new flag. Along with “Marathi Manoos”, now Raj Thackeray will have more of Hindutva agendas at large. It was also expected that BJP and MNS would jointly contest the local body elections in Maharashtra. This alliance between BJP and MNS will benefit either in respect of vote share or for giving the harsh challenge to Shiv Sena. So, keeping in the view for better prospects for Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, and Raj Thackeray met and allegedly decided to go together. But there is no official confirmation on these media circulations.
MNS was always projected as an image of anti-North Indians but took Muslims and neo-Buddhists along with them. This alienated the majority Hindu vote bank, which still believes in the caste system and is anti-Muslim. Neo-Buddhists don’t vote for him because that small blue strip was very tiny in the MNS flag, which is completely removed now. Hindus did not vote for him because the blue strip was above the saffron. Muslims in general are less territorial but even were unhappy seeing the green color at the bottom. If he chooses NDA, with his new flag, his political plot may change. Still, he is one leader who is equally loved by Muslims. MNS has many Muslim supporters.
Recently, most of the heavyweights of opposition parties have joined Shiv Sena by denying BJP. Therefore, BJP has no obligation to support Sena anymore. Raj Thackeray is a political opponent of Uddhav Thackeray. He is popular among Maharashtrians but also created his space in the hearts of people across India.
His stand is always on the politicians of UP and Bihar to develop their own state and not burden the other states. All should take his point positively. There has been uproar from Delhi, Bangalore, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu against migrants from UP and Bihar. So why blame Raj Thackeray alone? For that matter even UP people don’t like Biharis. And even Western UP doesn’t like people from Eastern UP. He rightly took up the point that the Railways Recruitment Advertisement was not published in Maharashtra by then railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and the fraud that was done in Railway Recruitment. He brought to the notice of local Maharashtrians how they were deprived of rightful opportunities.
He is not against anyone. But his main concern is protecting the Marathi culture and its people. A language is a part of culture and North Indians have a tendency to impose Hindi language saying it is a Rashtra Bhasha. Whereas, Gujaratis, Marwaris, Sindhis, Punjabis, Kannadigas, Tamilians, Malayalis, Bengalis pick up Marathi language and speak it but people from Uttar Pradesh and Biharis even if they have stayed in Maharashtra for 50 years don’t speak in Marathi. Each state has a distinct identity. Maharashtra has its own identity. Now by imposing too much Hindi the state evades its cultural values.
He rightly took up the cause against hawkers who crouch everyplace. There is no place to walk on Mumbai footpaths and people from UP and Bihar just come and squat, then slowly convert it into a shop, then grabs the land. There has been a pattern for a long time. On a daily basis there are thousands of migrants from UP-Bihar who do this, imagine the encroachment and burden on the city. If the UP-Bihar government had created employment opportunities then the other metropolitan cities would not have been troubled.
He also rightly pointed out the eve-teasing by hawkers. It is not a secret that people from UP and Bihar don’t have much respect for women. Also, these laborers that leave their families in their state and come to Mumbai are inevitable to be psychologically frustrated and gradually they bound to get into crime. Some 20 years back it had come in newspapers that the upmarket societies of South Mumbai had made a policy not to employ any person from Bihar because many of them were engrossed in criminal activities. This had nothing to do with Raj Thackeray. This is the general feeling of most of the citizens of Mumbai and Maharashtra.
He rightly took the cause against movie theatres and looting of the public. His actions were welcome by the public. He rightly spoke against the bullet train because the city needs a basic infrastructure that is not in place. All the citizens of Maharashtra also supported his opinion. He is not against Azan and doesn’t hate Muslims. In fact, he has huge Muslim support within Maharashtra. He is against those loudspeakers and loud noises 5 times a day all 365 days. Which is almost 1800 times a year. Many also support this view but nobody has shown guts to speak it out in the fear of losing vote bank. He also spoke against the bullying nature of Gujaratis. Those communities have a lot of money because they belong to the business and trading sectors. Gujaratis buy land and construct buildings and make them into the only veg and only for Gujarati societies. They don’t sell their flats to others than Gujarati’s, on the other hand, Marathi people are not that biased against Gujarati’s. Only one leader in Maharashtra had guts to mention these issues without bothering about his political fate or vote appeasement because his objectives do not limit to only political gains.
Raj Thackeray should be understood genuinely because he speaks sense. He has his ardent followers who believe his vision although the violent actions might have been unnecessary sometimes. His proactive involvement is all people seek and believe; he is on the leader who is always on the right track even after losing consecutive elections. People still knock at his door for seeking help and they know it very well that he doesn’t have a presence in the government but he can render services. He requires no power to protect his people.
One day, you will see him riding Maharashtra politics, as once Balasaheb used to.
For the time being, I shall give Uddhav Thackeray good marks because as a new ruler (first time minister and that too a CM from 28th Nov 2019), his introduction to administration has begun with a big crisis, and because of his freshness and compassion, he has been able to perform fairly well. No CM is perfect and he is also not. Whatever is happening in Maharashtra is happening across the globe, as the pandemic is not invited by Uddhav, its global catastrophe. He is already working hard to save the state from every calamity be it cyclone or COVID-19.
This has been just nine months since Uddhav Thackeray took over as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he might not have come to this position because of his admirative skills or any virtues as a politician. As it is the first time that the Thackrey family took part in active politics. Those who are criticizing him, are actually licking their wounds that they could not grab power with his help. He is unnecessarily judged very early and came under attack since he has taken oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. When he was in alliance with BJP and when he broke the alliance, both the times he gave sleepless nights to various leaders. But this time they could not deal with Uddhav because he kept them out of rule.
He might not have contested elections or held any portfolios as a political leader, but he lived with politics under the guidance and shadows of his father late Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb and Udhav Thackeray are very close to the people of Maharashtra, they know Maharashtra’s needs and its public. They are the grass root level leaders and loved by the people of Maharashtra. Most of the people who are criticizing him are either non-Maharashtrians sitting at home watching biased news channels and reading fake news on WhatsApp forwards and commenting about his leadership on Social Media. Or they are those IT cell members who are assigned to criticize him because he has crushed the ego of those people who were calming to return to power. People who live in Maharashtra know him very well and I am one of them, it’s not only about Marathi people but every Maharashtrian and others who have lived here for long have some soft corner for them. As far as Maha Vikas Aghadi is concerned, it is a lethal combination in political plethora. Congress and NCP have experience because they ruled the state for the longest time, on the other hand, Shiv Sena has the manpower and dedicated voters. Above all, they have Sharad Pawar to guide and bind them. BJP on its own, without any alliance or support, can never come to power in Maharashtra.
When BJP’s attacks could not make much difference, they threw him a bait through a rabble-rousing TV host. This isn’t an ordinary game. Who wins this round will have deep, longstanding consequences on the future of the Shiv Sena-led coalition government in Maharashtra? Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami is daring the Uddhav Thackeray government: do you have the guts to take me on? This dare has to be seen in the context of the BJP’s goals in the state. As we all know Arnab is nothing but a mouthpiece of BJP and he takes every liberty to attack and humiliate BJP opponents. For all its so-called Chanakyaniti, the BJP was overpowered in the post-election games in Maharashtra. Despite being the single largest party, and doing everything it could, including waking up the President of India at 5 am, it lost the plot to Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. Uddhav Thackeray became chief minister. Not having a BJP CM in any state is intolerable to home minister Amit Shah. The embarrassment of losing Maharashtra to a rag-tag post-poll coalition made them inferior. To be swindled by a sober Uddhav Thackeray, and an ageing Sharad Pawar and an exhausted Congress is not something Amit Shah is going to forget. Because more they scream about “Congress mukt Bharat’, they are actually seeing congress somehow coming in their way. The BJP is burning to gain power back in Maharashtra. And before it can mount a coup, it has to do everything to weaken and disgrace the Uddhav Thackeray government. Uddhav needs to be very shrewd just like his father and mentor when it comes to dealing with BJP.
What I feel is BJP’s persistent attacks are probably pushing the ruling allies to stick together more closely. While NCP president Sharad Pawar has chosen to describe Fadnavis as an “impatient man”, senior party leader Nawab Malik avers that the BJP will not be able to weaken the government. “Let the BJP keep dreaming about the Maharashtra government’s fall,” Malik, a cabinet minister, says. “They have a right to dream but all the coalition parties in the government are together. Nobody can do anything.” When coalition leaders showing faith in each other, BJP opened attack from self-owned media houses and its instinctually mortgaged anchors. Post pandemic, it is going to be a litmus test for Uddhav Thackeray, because it depends on Sena’s equations with the allies, especially Pawar, who holds the key to its existence. At the same time, Maha Vikas Aghadi needs to come with some strong strategy, to deal with unreasonable media houses. They need to be given checkmate or else these brutal attacks will keep deterring the dignity of the alliance.
We the Afternoon voices are 12 years old today. One long decade the publication stood against various challenges and sustained with the utmost integrity. Afternoon Voice is a tabloid published from Mumbai, fighting against all the odds in the fourth estate as well as outside, the motive of this parallel media to provide unbiased information and stand as the voices of people.
Dr Vaidehi, Editor-in-Chief of Afternoon Voice says, “The strength of our newspaper is our readers and content writers, and they support us unconditionally. My office staffs from editorial to circulation are young but well trained, there are hiccups but with the encouragement of readers we stood firm.”
Three months nationwide lockdown in light of the coronavirus outbreak has caused the distribution chain of newspapers across the country to collapse as dailies in some parts have stopped production altogether. Maharashtra, one of the states with the highest number of positive coronavirus cases, is also the worst affected in terms of newspaper distribution. But without taking a pause, the paper ventured into fulltime online news circulation.
Vishwajit Gaikwad, director of Afternoon Voice says, “We all directors hold our own businesses, for commercial gains and revenue generation. This venture is more of a social cause for me, with limited resources and staff we run this newspaper but stand at par with all reputed publications in the market.”
I never stopped reading Afternoon Voice
After getting up in the morning the first thing I do is take a look at newspapers. I am an avid reader and reading newspaper is my routine, in the era of yellow and commercial journalism there is one small neutral newspaper of Mumbai stood against all odds and that is “Afternoon Voice”. When I go in flashback, it was 2008-09, Dr Vaidehi the editor of publication approached my father’s publication house “Vatsala Baliram Prakashan Kendra” for help in printing of Afternoon Voice. Those days, I used to wonder how this young team could really deal with the newspaper industry, as it’s not a prerogative of ordinary persons. My father, who was a social worker and philanthropist agreed to help them with the startup. Somehow, I saw the newspaper getting launched and it was a very rebellious step though. But to my amazement, the content was so fresh that I become an avid reader of this newspaper. Since then I never stopped reading it.
Gradually, my family members got associated with this newspaper in some or the other way I’m seeing their struggle and success story since its inception. Sometimes the staff is not there and only a couple of people are running it without any deviation in the quality. Sometimes they’re going through the financial crisis but not letting the newspaper stop or compromising on any front. It reaches to the readers every day on time with a new story that is unparalleled. Stories which affect the common man, news reports that are unbiased.
Time has really flown and they have completed the 11 years of their journey with so many squalls and scuffles and I wish this organization all the best for their future. Actually, I’m a government officer and not really a writer, but today I thought sharing my views for this young and matured team and tried penning down my lines.
In the era of lockdown, many publication houses stopped breathing and they finished with the time. Afternoon Voice not only sustained the pandemic pressure but also gave every minute coverage.
I congratulate team Afternoon Voice for their success and hoping to see them venture ahead.
– Anilkumar Gaikwad
Afternoon Voice is synonymous with Vaidehi Taman who silently voices her words on print media for 11 years now. Bold and neutral in conveying news to the readers, people wait for articles which are penned in a uniquely bold and vociferous style.
These days I am enjoying tweets from Vaidehi. And also learning many aspects of Indian politics vis-a-vis from a journalist’s perspective. To be absolutely truthful is rare and dangerous in journalism but The Afternoon Voice has maintained their Freedom of Press.
God bless Afternoon voice and its team especially their young and budding journalists.
– Adv Pratibha Bangera
Let me Congratulate Dear Vaidehi for your remarkable grit to survive in your endeavour to uphold National spirit and the pursuit of truth in this cruel world. You are one of the fittest journalists who need to survive to uphold the rule Law in our great nation. Jai Hind. God bless your team members.
– Rohini Salian, Senior Lawyer
I am Suchita Bhide Shah a psychological counsellor and a family life educationist working for the society all 7 days of the week. I have experience of 20 years. In 2010 few boys aged 13/14 years were suffering from male teachers’ molestation and I was helping kids and their parents emotionally by counselling. Afternoon voice team came to me and understood the matter and made a point to bring this news to the front page and then it was followed by few. There I came in touch with Afternoon voice. Other parents also were more careful.
The Afternoon voice is high on content and quality. It has always gone beyond limits and helped people to get their voice heard. Along with that, the charity done by this newspaper has helped many underprivileged people.
Ms Vaidehi Taman, Editor-in-chief is well learned and empathetic female she understands the pain of such and many other incidents. I have lots of respect for her and her team. I am satisfied with their report and analysis. They are doing a good job.
I congratulate the entire team on their anniversary. Keep up the good work and keep analysing the social and holistic difference in our lines.
– Suchita Bhide Shah
Heartiest congratulation to team NBC completing 11 years continue publishing of all additions I am also lucky because I am the part of NBC group from last 11 years when they started, some special words for NBC group young team parallel media and young achiever Vaidehi Taman.
– Dr Vipin Gaur
This is to express my great happiness in the successful 11th anniversary of Afternoon Voice!
I see this as the personal achievement of Dr Vaidehi Taman and an ongoing successful journey of her wonderful team. I have known Afternoon Voice, for so many years now and I take pride in this wonderful milestone that the newspaper has built-in our Mumbai city.
Inspired by you, Afternoon Voice represents the city’s voice. It fearlessly addresses the city’s problems and brings them to the notice of the concerned authorities. Yet, it is warm, affectionate and celebrates the spirit of the Mumbaikars!
Actually, Afternoon Voice is an extension of the spirit and personality of its Editor in Chief, Dr Vaidehi Taman. It can easily connect with the reader and forms an individual friendly bond. This is how ‘Afternoon Voice’ connected with me and soon, I felt a strong bonding with the newspaper.
On meeting Vaidehi Ji, I was instantly drawn to her fearless – never say die spirit, humour and warmth. She and Afternoon Voice celebrates life. I sincerely wish Afternoon Voice, great success in building many more milestones, in the coming years.
One of the biggest movies of the year, the Poppy Doll was removed from the stalls. There was a tireless online campaign to remove such dolls and ban them. In fact, the Trolls: World Tour doll is absolutely debatable – and toy manufacturer Hasbro has quickly pulled the doll from production. This doll was somewhat conditioning our children to think pedophilia is okay. This Trolls World Tour doll named Poppy has a button on her private area under her skirt. When you push this button on the doll’s private parts, she gasps and giggles. This is too much for a child’s toy. This toy is now removed from the stores but many of them have already purchased it.
Love Commandos claims to be a voluntary non-profit organization to provide housing, legal aid, and protection to couples seeking their help who are being mistreated by family and society for wanting to marry based solely on mutual attraction and love.
