New Delhi: As farmers’ protest intensified on Thursday after the Ghazipur Magistrate ordered the farmers to vacate the public spaces, Twitter users in India started tweeting with a hashtag calling out Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be a coward.
The hashtag #मोदी_कायर_है went trending on Twitter in India on Thursday evening as farmers and other activists anticipated police action later at night to vacate the farmers from protesting sites at the Ghazipur border.
The reports of police action were fuelled by the fact that farmers’ leader Rakesh Tikait along with Yogendra Yadav and others were booked under UAPA.
The users called out on Narendra Modi referring to him as “Kayar” (Hindi word for Coward). The hashtag was soon trending on the micro-blogging site with nearly three lakh tweets at the time of posting of this report.
The users also expressed their support to Rakesh Tikait, hailing him for his courage and steadiness for the cause of farmers. Reports across social media platforms also suggested that a heavy number of people were reaching at Ghazipur Border to support Tikait in what they termed as “crucial night”.
Tikait meanwhile made an announcement from the stage at the protesting site on Thursday night that they were ready to go to jail but not back to their homes and that the protest will continue.
Here are some of the tweets from the trending hashtag:
NOTE: The claims made in the tweets embedded below or the ideas presented in them are those solely of the users. Vartha Bharati does not guarantee the authenticity of any of the claims or does not necessarily endorse the ideas, views posted by any of the users.
It is our duty to stand with those who stand with the farmers.#मोदी_कायर_है#राकेश_टिकैत_किसानों_की_आवाज_है pic.twitter.com/kNhZsILkEy
— Dr.Meenu?? (@DrMeenu05) January 28, 2021
We are farmers and we are supporting our kisan leader #RakeshTikait at #ghazipurborder#राकेश_टिकैत_किसानों_की_आवाज_है#मोदी_कायर_है pic.twitter.com/4bJ4XQDD0Q
— ਬਾਬਾ ਬਖਤੌਰਾ (@jatt_junction) January 28, 2021
#मोदी_कायर_है Brave farmers of India are winning for the better future of our country. pic.twitter.com/vsEHR6Xx9r
— Rashmi. (@ra_tweety1) January 28, 2021
The farmer always strengthens the economy of the country, because the future of the country is the farmer. #राकेश_टिकैत_किसानों_की_आवाज_है#मोदी_कायर_है pic.twitter.com/GoaDg2Oybv
— Aditi chaudhary INC (@inc_aditi) January 28, 2021
The nation must stand with the farmers, and help them fight against the inhuman treatment of the coward Modi Government.#CongressWithFarmers #मोदी_कायर_है#KisanNahiToDeshNahi pic.twitter.com/PaV1cwARh7
— Azam Lebbai اعجم لببیء (@Azamlebbai1) January 28, 2021
If the enemy is proud of his power then we are proud of our courage #मोदी_कायर_है pic.twitter.com/sLWHYGCoc7
— Ashu Bidhuri (@bidhuri_ashu) January 28, 2021
This man is the voice of farmers
— Ravi Mehriya (@Ravijat9352) January 28, 2021
True leader#राकेश_टिकैत_हीरो_है#राकेश_टिकैत#मोदी_कायर_है pic.twitter.com/CLIbLgQF9q#राकेश_टिकैत_हीरो_है
Jaat community should also introspect their grave mistake of voting more than 90% to BJP government in 2019 Loksabha Election. Now Kayar Modi is paying back.
— Amir (@Amir_Sherwani) January 28, 2021
Waqt aa gaya hai Modi ko jad se ukhhad phenkne ka.
Ye bas dallo ka saga hai bharat ka nahi#मोदी_कायर_है
Win or lose, time will tell!
— socialist (@Socialistqawsed) January 28, 2021
But today we have also seen Baba Tikait as you!
Rakesh Tikait ji is proud of you! #मोदी_कायर_है#राकेश_टिकैत_किसानों_की_आवाज_है pic.twitter.com/1nIXqmrxio
Supporting Rakesh and other farmers means fighting for ourselves. Fighting for our upcoming generations. #राकेश_टिकैत_किसानों_की_आवाज_है#मोदी_कायर_है#राकेश_टिकैत_किसानों_की_आवाज_हैं
— Vikas Sahu (@vikas_sahu9) January 28, 2021
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
New Delhi/Mumbai (PTI): The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer.
Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
And in 2024, two airlines flew into the sunset, one airline is on a liquidation taxiway, aircraft orders climbed, single-day domestic air passenger traffic soared past record 5 lakh at least twice, and airfare movements continued to raise concerns. Not to leave out 999 hoax bomb calls received by airlines till November 14 this year.
The aviation sector had its share of accidents in the form of a few trainer aircraft crashes and a roof collapse incident at Terminal 1 of the Delhi airport that killed one person.
For the "fascinating" Indian market, where the domestic air traffic is projected to jump to 164-170 million this fiscal ending March 2025, the larger long-term focus will be on increasing wide-body aircraft, providing more direct overseas flight connectivity and making the country a global aviation hub.
In the words of Akasa Air's chief Vinay Dube, prospects are exceptional for the Indian aviation market, and IATA chief Willie Walsh is of the view that there is a massive opportunity for Indian airlines.
The fleet of Indian carriers is more than 800 planes, including over 60 wide-body aircraft, and there are 157 airports.
In a landmark development on November 12, Air India completed the Vistara merger to create an integrated airline, partly owned by Singapore Airlines, which will be flying over 1,20,000 passengers daily and connecting more than 90 destinations.
The completion of the much-awaited amalgamation announced back in November 2022, came within six weeks of the integration of Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India).
The two mergers have created a full-service carrier and a low-cost carrier of scale for the Tata Group, which is seeking to establish a "world-class global aviation company with an Indian heart".
With the mergers, two flight codes have bid adieu to the Indian skies -- Vistara's 'UK' and AIX Connect's 'I5'.
Putting an end to speculations about the future of the iconic 'Maharaja', once synonymous with Air India, Tata Group has chosen to rename Air India's flying returns programme as 'Maharaja Club'.
As it expands, Air India, on December 9, announced placing an order to purchase 100 more Airbus aircraft, comprising 10 wide-body A350s and 90 narrow-body A320 family planes.
This is in addition to the orders for 470 aircraft that Air India had placed with Airbus and Boeing last year.
Air India has started retrofitting its narrow-body planes, and those of legacy wide-body aircraft are anticipated to start in mid-2025.
The country's largest airline IndiGo turned 18 this year and has also introduced business class seats in select flights. While the carrier is expected to take its first A321 XLR next year, it is already expanding its international connectivity with new routes and codeshare partnerships.
In plans for a larger play, the airline, in May, unveiled an order for 30 wide-body A350-900 aircraft, and it now has a total outstanding plane orders of nearly 1,000.
All said, supply chain disruptions are impacting aircraft deliveries.
Besides, issues at Boeing and engine problems have compounded the woes for airlines.
Air India MD and CEO Campbell Wilson, on November 28, said the airline will see most of the air traffic growth coming from domestic and short-haul international operations in 2025.
After grounding operations five years ago in April, the fate of once-storied Jet Airways was sealed, with the Supreme Court, on November 7, ordering the airline's liquidation.
Meanwhile, flight operations were significantly disrupted in late 2024 due to hoax bomb calls to airlines. In October alone, airlines received 666 hoax bomb threats, while the total number of such threats stood at 999 this year till November 14, as per official data.
Come 2025, two new airports -- Noida in the National Capital Region and Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra -- are expected to be operational. Both airports, set to ease the congestion at Delhi and Mumbai airports, have completed the validation flights.
In a significant development, on December 5, Parliament passed The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak 2024 to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act to further improve the ease of doing business in aviation as well as encourage manufacturing of aircraft in India.
While concerns persist on the virtual duopoly of IndiGo and Air India Group as they together have over 90 per cent domestic market share, SpiceJet grappled with financial and lessor headwinds before managing to raise Rs 3,000 crore.
Akasa Air, which is on a steady albeit slow climb, is facing allegations related to safety issues, which the airline has termed as baseless and untrue. On January 18, the airline placed an order for 150 more Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Among other notable happenings, many airlines faced DGCA action for various lapses, and regional airline FLY91 took to the skies in March this year. Also, key regulators -- Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) -- are without a full-time head, while the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has a new Chairman.
Besides, the ministry is helmed by TDP's K Rammohan Naidu, with BJP's Murlidhar Mohol as his deputy.
Last month, Air India's Campbell Wilson described its transformation as a "Test match and not a T20".
Similarly, Indian aviation too is in for the long haul.