Miscreants tarnish spirit of Ganesh Chathurthi in Maddur
In the pre-independence era, public celebrations of Ganesh Chathurthi carried a noble purpose. Leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak used the festival not merely as a religious gathering but as a rallying point to awaken patriotic fervour against British rule. Religion, culture, and spirituality were the vehicles through which national unity was built. Those motives were pure.
But in today’s India, that legacy has been corroded. Instead of uniting people, some political leaders have reduced Ganesh Chathurthi to a stage for division and hatred. Lord Ganesha, revered as the remover of obstacles, is being misused by cynical forces as a tool to create obstacles in society for petty political gain. Nothing could be a greater insult to the spirit of this festival.
The disturbing events in Maddur, Mandya district, show how deeply this rot has spread. What should have been a joyous immersion procession ended in violence, with stone-pelting and a police lathi-charge. Videos now reveal that miscreants within the procession itself hurled stones at a mosque, while hurling filthy, abusive slogans against an entire community. These were not acts of devotion but calculated attempts to provoke communal clashes. Even senior police officials have clarified that no stones came from the mosque, exposing the false claims made by Sangh Parivar groups.
This was no spontaneous outburst. The videos show it was premeditated. Instead of chanting prayers to Lord Ganesha, a group led by a woman weaponised obscenities to vilify Muslims. When their provocations failed, they turned to stoning the mosque. Shockingly, BJP workers are now parading these very miscreants as “Hindu activists.” By legitimising such impostors, leaders themselves are desecrating Ganesh Chathurthi and reducing it to a political weapon.
What happened in Maddur is not an isolated episode. In Raichur, two young men pelted stones during a procession not out of communal hatred but personal enmity. Yet, communal groups were ready to exploit the incident to blame Muslims and incite violence. In Sagara too, when two children spat from a terrace, miscreants tried to spin it into a riot. These repeated attempts reveal a dangerous pattern: festivals are being hijacked by troublemakers whose only aim is to ignite divisions.
If those behind such actions truly valued the festival, they would never indulge in such behaviour. It is now the responsibility of genuine devotees to reclaim Ganesh Chathurthi from impostors in saffron scarves who pollute its sacredness with hatred. True devotion lies in humility, respect, and unity, not in manufactured clashes.
Mandya, once proudly known as the “Sugar Bowl” of Karnataka, is paying a heavy price for this toxic politics. Farmers and ordinary citizens, who once made this region flourish, are being pushed into the background while communal poison takes centre stage. The tragic example of Mangaluru, once celebrated for education and healthcare but later scarred by communal strife, stands as a warning. If Mandya’s people do not resist these forces now, they risk the same fate.
The JD(S), weakened and desperate to retain political ground, has now taken refuge in communal politics. By joining hands with these forces, it is sacrificing Mandya’s harmony for survival. The farmers of this land must rise above these divisive games and protect the soul of their district.
Lord Ganesha has always symbolised prosperity and bounty. For Mandya’s farmers, his blessing should mean better harvests, not police curfews. The festival must return to its roots of devotion and unity. The obstacles planted by politicians and miscreants must be removed, so that Mandya once again sweetens lives, not with hatred, but with sugar and prosperity.
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Grok obscene AI content: X submits response, IT Ministry examining it, say sources
New Delhi (PTI): The IT Ministry is examining the response and submissions made by X following a government directive to crack down on misuse of artificial intelligence chatbot Grok by users for the creation of sexualised and obscene images of women and minors, sources said.
X had been given extended time until Wednesday, 5 PM to submit a detailed Action Taken Report to the ministry, after a stern warning was issued to the Elon Musk-led social media platform over indecent and sexually-explicit content being generated through misuse of AI-based services like 'Grok' and other tools.
Sources told PTI that X has submitted their response, and it is under examination.
The details of X's submission were, however, not immediately known.
On Sunday, X's 'Safety' handle said it takes action against illegal content on its platform, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
"Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," X had said, reiterating the stance taken by Musk on illegal content.
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On January 2, the IT Ministry pulled up X and directed it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, especially generated by Grok (X's built-in artificial intelligence interface) or face action under the law.
In the directive on Friday, the ministry asked the US-based social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours, spelling out specific technical and organisational measures adopted or proposed in relation to the Grok application; the role and oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer; actions taken against offending content, users and accounts; as well as mechanisms to ensure compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement under Indian laws.
The IT Ministry, in the ultimatum issued, noted that Grok AI, developed by X and integrated on the platform, is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner.
"Importantly, this is not limited to creation of fake accounts but also targets women who host or publish their images or videos, through prompts, image manipulation and synthetic outputs," the ministry said, asserting that such conduct reflects a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms, and amounts to gross misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in violation of stipulated laws.
The government made it clear to X that compliance with the IT Act and rules is not optional, and that the statutory exemptions under section 79 of the IT Act (which deals with safe harbour and immunity from liability for online intermediaries) are conditional upon strict observance of due diligence obligations.
"Accordingly, you are advised to strictly desist from the hosting, displaying, uploading, publication, transmission, storage, sharing of any content on your platform that is obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, paedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under any law...," the ministry said.
The government warned X in clear terms that any failure to observe due diligence obligations shall result in the loss of the exemption from liability under section 79 of the IT Act, and that the platform will also be liable for consequential action under other laws, including the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It asked X to enforce user terms of service and AI usage restrictions, including ensuring strong deterrent measures such as suspension, termination and other enforcement actions against violating users and accounts.
X has also been asked to remove or disable access "without delay" to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, without, as such, vitiating the evidence.
Besides India, the platform has drawn flak in the UK and Malaysia too. Ofcom, the UK's independent communications regulator, in a recent social media post, said: "We are aware of serious concerns raised about a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children".
"We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation," Ofcom said.
