BJP-RSS behind 'Bharat Bandh' against SC/ST Act: Mayawati
Lucknow, Sep 7 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday alleged that the 'Bharat Bandh' organized against the amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was in fact "a conspiracy of the BJP" and an "event orchestrated by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh".
In a statement, the Dalit leader said a conspiracy was being hatched by the ruling party to divert the attention of the people from various burning issues like the fuel price rise and the falling value of the Indian Rupee against the US dollar.
She added that the country was already suffering the consequences of the wrong economic policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government and alleged that the same forces were now trying to play "dirty politics" on the issue.
Defending the amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister further said that it all depended on the mentality of the government on whether the Act was misused or not.
She cited the example of her four governments in Uttar Pradesh and underlined how she ensured that the Act was not abused to harass anyone or any caste.
The people, she added, were more hassled by rising fuel prices, the dropping Indian Rupee than such issues which were nothing more than a ploy to deflect people's minds from such issues and the failure of GST and demonetization.
These issues, she added, had triggered unrest among the people and erosion of BJP's voter base across the country.
Mayawati also sounded a word of caution for the OBCs saying that the BJP and RSS opposed reservation to them in government jobs in 1990 and were now trying to hoodwink them by making tall promises and positioning them as champions.
"The BJP is trying to foment trouble by inciting casteism and violence," the BSP chief said. "I am warning the people to be very cautious of such divisive plans and casteist politics and urge them not to fall prey to it."
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Video Does Not Show S Jaishankar Being Asked To Leave Trump’s Inauguration
CLAIM: Video shows External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar being asked to leave Trump's inauguration ceremony.
FACT CHECK: The live streaming of the event shows a staffer requesting a photographer, who was taking pictures, to move back from the front row, and not S Jaishankar.
A video from Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony as the 47th president of the United States has surfaced with false claims that it shows External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar being asked to leave the ceremony midway.
BOOM went through the live streaming of the event and found that a staffer was requesting a photographer who was taking pictures, to move back from the front row, and not Jaishankar. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met foreign ministers from Japan and Australia at the ceremony. In the photographs shared from his X handle, Jaishankar can be seen seated in the front row.
A user on X posted the video with the below caption.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
The video was streamed live on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies' official YouTube channel on January 20, 2025.
From the 3:08:30 timestamp of the video, we found that a photographer was capturing moments from Trump's inaugural ceremony from various angles. At one point, she is seen stepping in front of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, seated in the front row, to take photographs of the event.
After noticing the woman photographer taking pictures from the front row, a staffer came towards her, called the photographer, and requested her to move back. This can be seen from timestamp 3:08:50.
The staffer was then seen leaving the front row shortly after making the request. At the timestamp 3:09:18, the photographer can be seen moving back. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar can be seen remaining seated in his position.
We then zoomed in on the video and was able to establish that it was the woman photographer and not Jaishankar, who was asked to move back. It can also be noticed that the staffer was not looking at Jaishankar, but instead looking at the photographer, as she was taking pictures from a lower angle.
That specific part of the live stream is shown below.
Propagandist spreading disinfo with a clip from #TrumpInauguration where EAM @DrSJaishankar sat in first row superseding many dignitaries showing US-India ties
— Harry Minati (@harryminat1) January 21, 2025
Claims were made that @DrSJaishankar was asked by a lady to go back, it was actually the cameraman not @DrSJaishankar pic.twitter.com/3Qsp8z3xJ8
(This story was originally published by boomlive.in, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
