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Jack Dorsey says India threatened Twitter: How Twitter was acting against the Indian laws, the kind of accounts that were blocked and the war it picked

OpIndia Staff
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Jack Dorsey says India threatened Twitter: How Twitter was acting against the Indian laws, the kind of accounts that were blocked and the war it picked

On June 12 (local time), founder and former CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey claimed in an exclusive interview on Breaking Point that the Indian government threatened to shut down Twitter if it did not take action against “particular journalists” and accounts “critical of the government” during the farmer’s protest. His statement came without much context of what the Government of India (GoI) said and why it was said.

While Jack Dorsey claimed that they were threatened with raids and a shutdown, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar issued a clarification citing how Twitter under Jack Dorsey was blatantly violating Indian laws and had disregard for the sovereignty of India. He further said that Jack Dorsey was blatantly partisan and de-platforming and de-amplifying voices it did not agree with politically. The full report on what the Union Minister said countering the ‘blatant lies’ by Jack Dorsey can be read here.

Jack Dorsey claimed India threatened to shut down Twitter, raid homes of employees

In the interview with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, Jack talked about the takedown requests by India and other countries and how it impacted Twitter’s crusade on “Free Speech” during his time at the company. Speaking on how Elon Musk has taken the principle of following the law of the land on what should be allowed on the platform, he said, “Countries like India and Turkey made many requests to us back in the day to take down particular journalist accounts or give contact information and to remove them from the platform.”

He pointed out that as now Musk has taken the path of choosing different lines of revenue, it would help the platform to become more open to free speech, but at the same time, pressure from the United States, the Department of Defence, China, Turkey or India can become a “single point of failure”. Dorsey vouched for decentralised social media platforms like Noster and decentralised currency like Bitcoin as the way to move ahead.

Moving further in the interview, Jack specifically targeted India and claimed that requests were made from the GoI to take down accounts of “particular journalists” who were “critical of the government”. He said, “India is a country that had many requests of us around the farmer’s protest around particular journalists that were critical of the government. It manifested in ways such as ‘we will shut Twitter down in India’, which is a very large market for us. ‘We will raid the homes of your employees’, which they did. ‘We will shut down your offices if you don’t follow suit’, and this is India, a democratic country.”

He added that countries like Turkey and Nigeria were similar. Jack said in Nigeria, they could not put employees on the ground out of fear of what government would do to its employees and added, “Then, of course the, the US.”

Speaking on Twitter Files, Jack accused journalists of exposing Twitter’s actions of putting things “out of context”. He even claimed to have no idea about most of the things exposed in the Twitter Files as he was not “that involved” in the process.

Interestingly, while talking about freedom of speech and expression, he blames the very journalists who were exposing the nefarious activities that were afoot at Twitter itself. To shield himself of any culpability, he further says that he was not ‘that’ involved essentially trying to paint himself as someone who was trying to uphold freedom of speech, without being “that involved” and any form of censorship and biased behaviour that was thereafter exposed by journalists was ‘biased’ in itself.

Twitter’s conduct during farmers’ Protests

During farmers’ protests, several incidents happened that required immediate intervention of the agencies to curb the disinformation spreading on social media, including Twitter. On January 26, a tractor march towards Delhi turned violent, and security agencies were on their toes to control the violence and, at the same time, curb the disinformation. In the aftermath of the violence, several alleged journalists, propagandists and left-liberals started spreading disinformation, blaming the government of India and security agencies for attacking and even killing the protesters.

The government of India put out notices to block and take down such accounts to stop the disinformation. However, Twitter decided not to comply with the direct orders from the government and let the disinformation float freely on its platform. On the contrary, the action against the government accounts and nationalists accounts was hostile, to say at least.

For example, during the scuffle between the government and Twitter, in June 2021, Twitter decided to lock then-Union Minister of Information and Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad’s account. It remained locked for over an hour.

The Minister said that Twitter had denied access to his account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA. The reason given by Twitter for the action was a violation of DMCA, which was odd for the time.

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, the company has unsuspended hundreds if not thousands of accounts from India and other countries that were banned from the platform for no concrete reason. Among those accounts, many were nationalists and pro-Modi government, including that of former OpIndia’s Ajeet Bharti, whose multiple accounts were suspended before Musk. Comparing what Bharti said on Twitter and what left-liberals and Islamists say on Twitter, the actions taken by Twitter against the likes of Bharti were clearly biased.

Kind of accounts that were blocked

At that time, a lot of disinformation was being spread on social media. One such claim that could have caused a serious law and order situation in the country was of PM “Modi planning farmer genocide“. The hashtag trended on January 30, 2021, after which the security agencies asked Twitter to block it. Hundreds of accounts involved in trending the hashtag were under security agencies’ radar, and Twitter was strictly asked to prohibit any such hashtag from trending. Around 1,100 pro-Khalistani accounts were blocked by the Govt.

Another piece of disinformation was spread by the likes of The Wire and Rajdeep Sardesai, who claimed a farmer was shot dead during the tractor rally. The Delhi Police and the government categorically debunked it, but the lie survived, all thanks to Twitter.

Twitter, at that time, decided not to comply with the government’s orders and let the propaganda run free across the platform. It went into a legal battle with the government to save those who sided with its ideology.

Anti-India propaganda of Twitter and Jack

Not to forget, Jack openly supported journalists during his visit to India that were propagating against India. A photograph of him holding a placard that read Brahminical patriarchy was made to social media, and he never said anything against it despite the outrage.

Furthermore, massive PR and funds for famous international influencers were in play during farmers’ protests. Twitter users with millions of followers, including Rihanna, Lily Singh, Greta Thunberg and politicians like Ilhan Omar, Jagmeet Singh and others, were let run propaganda posts against the Indian government without an iota of responsibility to ensure the stability of a country like India.

Not only during farmer protests and before but also in 2022, Twitter allowed propaganda against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma to run at the behest of Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair which led to several murders and law & order problems in the country. From Greta Thunberg Toolkit to campaigns in favour of Pfizer, Twitter played a crucial role in conspiracies against India.

How Twitter essentially went against the laws

India has a robust IT law in place to curb disinformation and make the platforms accountable for their actions. As per the law, Twitter and other social media platforms have to comply with the orders by the Government if they want to hold on to their status as a mediator. On the other hand, despite repeated notices from the Government of India, Twitter decided not to comply with the laws and let the propaganda run.

Their actions were the reason why Government had to put down its feet and tell the company bluntly it would take strict action if Twitter failed to comply. The raid on Twitter’s office was in line with the non-compliance of government orders. Twitter did not take such irresponsible steps in countries like the US and mostly complied with the laws.

Debunking Jack’s claims, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to Twitter to slam the former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, for his tirade against India, where he claimed that the Indian govt pressurised him to withhold several accounts of journalists “critical of the govt” during the farmers’ protest. His full statement can be read here.

What Elon Musk said in his submission about Twitter breaking India’s laws

In his filing that Twitter has now responded to, Elon Musk said that Twitter had initiated risky litigation against the Indian government, thereby placing its third largest market at risk.

In para 18, Elon Musk says, “These obfuscations and misrepresentations are not Twitter’s only sins. Since the Merger Agreement was signed, Twitter has also made significant changes to its business without obtaining the consent required by the Merger Agreement. Twitter has terminated its product lead and another key executive, retained a board member whose reelection was rejected by stockholders, instituted a hiring freeze, and disobeyed orders from and initiated risky litigation against the Indian government—thereby placing Twitter’s third largest market at risk”.

Further, in para 181, Elon Musk asserted that Twitter failed to disclose the litigation against and the investigation into Twitter by the Indian government, saying, “In 2021, India’s information technology ministry imposed certain rules allowing the government to probe social media posts, demand identifying information, and prosecute companies that refused to comply. While Musk is a proponent of free speech, he believes that moderation on Twitter should “hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates.”

In para 182, Elon Musk says that Twitter has faced various investigations by the Indian government. Elon Musk asserts that the investigation by India could disrupt services in the Indian market, an assertion that Twitter rejected.

In para 184 and 185, Elon Musk goes further and claims that Twitter did not disclose the investigation by the Indian government to him, as per the requirements of the acquisition agreement. Musk further said that Twitter filed a case against India on or around July 6 2022, which would mean that Twitter was under investigation when the merger agreement was signed, and therefore, it failed to disclose the required information to Musk at that time.

In para 190, Elon Musk points out that its combative stance with the Indian government was a “departure from the ordinary course” since it had followed obligations from Russia, including blocking pro-Ukraine accounts. It is pertinent to note here that Russia is ahead of India in takedown requests, according to Twitter’s own transparency report.

A detailed analysis of Musk’s submission in court can be read here.

‘Defence partnership and terrific cooperation inside QUAD’: What NSC coordinator John Kirby said about looking forward to PM Modi in USA

ANI
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‘Defence partnership and terrific cooperation inside QUAD’: What NSC coordinator John Kirby said about looking forward to PM Modi in USA

United States is looking forward to having Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said in a press briefing on Monday (local time). He said that the US and India have a “significant defence partnership” and “terrific cooperation” in Quad. 

In response to a question on whether US President Joe Biden is committed to holding a joint news conference with PM Modi during his visit, Kirby said, “I don’t believe that the full agenda has been fleshed out for the state visit, but we are very much looking forward to have Prime Minister Modi here.” “As you know, the

The United States has a significant defence partnership with India and terrific cooperation inside the Quad, across the Indo-Pacific with India. There’s a lot to talk about. We’re looking forward to the visit,” Kirby added. 

At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States from June 21 to June 24. Indian diaspora in the US is also eagerly awaiting PM Modi’s arrival. On June 22, more than 7000 Indian Americans are planning to be on the South Lawns of the White House when US President Biden and the First Lady would welcome PM Modi amidst a 21-gun salute. 

In the US, PM Modi will also address the chairman and CEOs of top US companies at John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. During his visit, PM Modi will address a joint session of the United States Congress on June 22. 

The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian PM to address a joint session of the US Congress twice. 

The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modi’s last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries. The White House emphasised in its message that it was an occasion to reaffirm the two countries’ deep and close alliance. 

PM Modi expressed his thanks for the privilege and stated that he was looking forward to addressing the joint session. In his message, PM Modi reiterated the pride in having a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the US founded on the principles of democratic values, close people-to-people ties and a staunch commitment to global peace and prosperity.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

‘Outright lies’, ‘Twitter under Dorsey had a problem accepting sovereignty of Indian law’: Minister slams former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for his tirade against India

OpIndia Staff
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‘Outright lies’, ‘Twitter under Dorsey had a problem accepting sovereignty of Indian law’: Minister slams former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for his tirade against India

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to Twitter to slam the former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey for his tirade against India where he claimed that the Indian govt pressurised him to withhold several accounts of journalists “critical of the govt” during the farmers’ protest.

Taking to Twitter, Chandrasekhar said:

“This is an outright lie by @jack – perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of twitters history Facts and truth. @twitter undr Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of India law. As a matter of fact they were in non-compliance with law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 and it was only June 2022 when they finally complied. No one went to jail nor was twitter “shutdown”. Dorseys Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law. It behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it. India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India.

During the protests in January 2021, there was a lot of misinformation and even reports of genocide which were definitely fake. GoI was obligated to remove misinformation from the platform because it had the potential to further inflame the situation based on fake news. Such was the level of partisan behaviour on Twitter under Jack regime, that they had a problem removing misinformation from the platform in India, when they did it themselves when similar events took place in the USA.

To set the record straight, no one was raided or sent to jail. Our focus was only on ensuring the compliance of Indian laws. There is ample evidence now in public domain abt Jacks twitter’s arbitrary, blatantly partisan n discriminatory conduct and misuse of its power on its platform during that period. Twitter under Dorsey was not just violating Indian law, but was partisan in how it was using “deamplify” n deplatforming of some arbitrarily in violation of Art 14,19 of our constitution and also assisting in weaponising of misinformation. Our govts policies remain clear for all Intermediaries operating in India – compliance with laws to ensure Internet is Safe&Trusted, Accountable”.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is a union minister and Member of the Consultative Committee on MoE & IT, Ministry of Communications, essentially said that Twitter under Jack Dorsey was partisan, de-platformed those from India who they thought did not conform to their partisan and ideological view and refused to accept the sovereignty of Indian laws.

What Jack Dorsey said about India

A video went viral on social media on Tuesday, 13th June, where in an interview, former CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey went on a tirade against India, claiming that the Indian govt had threatened Twitter with a shut down if they did not withhold accounts that were critical of the government of India during the extremely violent farmers protest.

Indian government and the new IT guidelines 

In February 2020, The central government issued fresh guidelines for social media and OTT platforms. The government said that these guidelines were being introduced to “establish a soft touch progressive institutional mechanism with a level playing field featuring a Code of Ethics and a three-tier grievance redressal framework for news publishers and OTT platforms on the digital media”. 

The guidelines that were issued by the central government had several provisions and a code of ethics for the functioning of OTT platforms, Digital News websites and Social Media behemoths like Twitter, Facebook etc.

One of the most significant provisions of these guidelines is that if the social media platforms don’t comply with the provisions prescribed in the guidelines, this will attract penal provisions as per the Information Technology Act. The new guidelines say that the social media intermediaries must follow the due diligence mentioned in it, and if any intermediary does not follow the due diligence, the safe harbour provisions will not apply to them.

The section 79 of the Information Technology Act defines this safe harbour, which basically makes them not liable for any content posted by users on their platforms. It says that an intermediary shall not be liable for any third-party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by them, provided they themselves didn’t initiate such communication, and observes due diligence under the IT act.

Now, this due diligence to be observed by the social media companies have been defined in the new guidelines. It includes various measures they have to perform, like identifying the first originator of any information that appears on social media, not allowing content that is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, inciting violence, against national integrity, misleading, false etc. The platforms also have to remove any such content within 36 hours of receiving a court order or a government direction to remove such content.

According to the guidelines, if the social media sites allow such objectionable content to be hosted on their platforms, and don’t remove them even after receiving such orders from courts or the government, it will mean that they are not observing due diligence. As a consequence, they will lose the safe harbour in the IT Act that isolates them from content posted on their platforms.

This means, if the social media companies do not comply with the guidelines, they will be held responsible for any content which is not allowed as per the guidelines. And, the officials of the social media companies will be liable to be prosecuted for such content. This implies that the social media officials will also be punished according to the nature of the offence, which is defined in the IT Act for various kinds of offences. The punishment defined in the act includes imprisonment for three years for most offences, but life imprisonment for some like cyber terrorism, and also includes fines of various amounts.

When the IT guidelines were issued, one of the most important compliance requirements imposed on social media companies was the grievance redressal mechanism that they had to put in place. 

Following are the guidelines related to the appointment of grievance officer and the redressal mechanism they were required to put in place: 

  1. Social media intermediaries shall register the grievance within 24 hours and dispose of the complaint within 15 days. 
  2. The Intermediaries will have to publish a compliance report once a month where they detail the complaints they received and how they redressed the complaint. 
  3. The resident grievance officer shall perform all functions under the grievance redressal mechanism. 
  4. All grievance officers should have a physical address and that address should be published on the website and the mobile app. 
  5. The person appointed as the chief compliance officer shall be a resident of India. 
  6. The nodal contact person will be responsible for 24×7 coordination with Indian law enforcement agencies.

It is pertinent to note that Twitter under Jack Dorsey had breached almost all of the provisions in the IT guidelines that were enforced by the Indian government. One can read a primer on how social media behemoths were rampantly breaching the law to institute a grievance redressal system here. 

In 2022, Elon Musk had in his court submission spoken extensively about how Twitter was flouting the law in India and was picking a battle where they did not need to. A full report on what Elon Musk had said about Jack Dorsey’s Twitter breaking laws in India can be read here.

Authorities warn bulldozer action against Ganga Jamna School where Hindu girls were wearing Hijab in a poster: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Authorities warn bulldozer action against Ganga Jamna School where Hindu girls were wearing Hijab in a poster: Details

Following the arrest of three people, including the principal of Ganga Jamna School, the authorities have warned action against all unauthorised structures built on the school’s premises. Ganga Jamna School in MP’s Damoh hit the headlines after purported posters of the school went viral on social media in which a few Hindu girls were allegedly seen wearing hijabs.

A notice was reportedly issued to Ganga Jamna School by the Damoh Municipality on Sunday. According to the notice, several constructions including the main school building were constructed without obtaining the necessary licences and permits. Three days have been given to the school to respond to the notice, failing which the municipality may use bulldozers, which would mean that any unauthorised buildings might be demolished.

According to reports, one Rashid Khan is the owner of the aforementioned school, however, the documents name his wife Rashk-e-Jahan as the real owner.

Recently, it was revealed that the owner of the school has been running a boys’ hostel, guest house and readymade garments showroom in a multi-storeyed building by the name of Ganga Jamna in Bhopal’s Ashoka Garden area. Additionally, authorities also revealed that this school had a hidden tunnel leading to a mosque.

Following these revelations and other issues related to terror funding and conversion that have been uncovered during the investigation, the police have begun taking people connected to the school into custody.

Raids are also being conducted on the business of the school operators. Many shops including petrol pumps belonging to the owner of the school have been sealed.

Many people associated with the school have reportedly gone missing after the authorities have begun the crackdown.

Prior to this, the affiliation of Ganga Jamna Higher Secondary School was suspended for non-compliance with Madhya Pradesh Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools Recognition Rules 2017 and amended Rules 2020. 

According to a circular, there was no proper arrangement of a library in the school, old furniture and old materials were kept in the laboratories rooms and there were no proper experimental materials in the school. There were 1,208 students registered in the school and there was neither proper arrangement of separate toilets for boys and girls nor pure drinking water.

After the controversy regarding Ganga Jamna School erupted, the police registered a case against the school administration under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 295, 506 and Juvenile Justice Act. 

Damoh Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Singh said, “Yesterday, statements of two-three girls came to the fore, after which it was felt that their statement is worth taking into consideration and the investigating committee also sent that statement to us, to take cognizance into it.” 

“Now, the statements of the people associated with the school management will be recorded and on the basis of it further action will be taken,” the SP said, adding that the number of sections and the accused may increase after further investigation. 

Earlier, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said that an FIR would be filed against the school management. 

Madhya Pradesh: Family performs ‘Pind daan’ of their daughter Anamika after she marries Ayaz, converts and becomes Fatima

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Family performs ‘Pind daan’ of their daughter Anamika after she marries Ayaz, converts and becomes Fatima

A Hindu family in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district has disowned their 22-year-old daughter named Anamika after she accepted Islam and married a Muslim man named Ayaz. The girl has been given a new name after her conversion to Islam and now she is known by the name of Fatima.

According to the reports, the family organised an official ceremony as per Hindu rituals to declare that their daughter was dead to them. The family members also stated that their daughter has become a victim of Love Jihad and that she has defamed their family in society. “We had dreams of doing Kanyadaan for her but now we are forced to do Pind daan,” brother of the girl said.

The videos of the incident have gone viral over the internet in which it can be seen that the family members of the girl organised an official ceremony as per the Hindu rituals to declare that their daughter was no more. The father of the girl also printed ‘Shoksandesh’ in which he mentioned his daughter as ‘Kuputri’, further disowning her.

The said ‘Shoksandesh’ has been going viral over the internet in which the family has mentioned that the girl breathed her last for them on April 2 this year. The family also prayed that their daughter gets a place in hell.

“We raised her for around 22 years with all the love and care and this is how she has defamed us in the society,” the family members said. It is noteworthy that the wedding card of Uzma Fatima alias Anamika’s marriage to Ayaz had gone viral over the internet in June this year.

The girl’s mother had come forward after the card went viral and called it ‘love jihad’ and demanded the police to get her daughter back. However, the Madhya Pradesh police refuted the allegations of the girl’s mother and called it a consensual relationship between the two families.

Uttar Pradesh: Driver Amzad rams his speeding car into Rajesh Dubey and crushes him to death after latter stops him from abusing PM Modi and CM Yogi

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Driver Amzad rams his speeding car into Rajesh Dubey and crushes him to death after latter stops him from abusing PM Modi and CM Yogi

In a shocking incident, a driver identified as Amzad mowed down a passenger named Rajesh Dubey with his car and crushed him to death because the latter reportedly praised PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath. The incident happened today (Monday, June 12) in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district. The police are on the lookout for the accused Amzad who fled after committing the crime.

According to reports, the deceased victim Rajesh Dubey, a resident of Kolahi village had gone to Mirzapur to attend his nephew’s wedding on Sunday, June 11. On Monday, June 12, he was returning from the marriage function in the shuttle taxi being driven by Amzad. Amzad is also said to be a resident of the Vindhyachal police station area in Mirzapur.

During the journey, Rajesh Dubey and other passengers engaged in a political discussion. During the course of the discussion, Amzad started hurling abuses at PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath. Rajesh Dubey interjected and allegedly raised objection over him insulting PM Modi and CM Yogi. This infuriated Amzad who got into an argument with Rajesh Dubey. The other passengers sitting in the car intervened and pacified the duo.

After a while, as each passenger’s destination arrived, they began leaving the vehicle one at a time. Rajesh was the only passenger left behind. Amzad reportedly stopped the car in the middle of the road and asked Rajesh to get down from his car.

It is alleged that after getting down on the road, when Rajesh Dubey was going towards his house on foot, Amzad rammed his speeding Bolero car into him from behind. Rajesh was knocked to the ground by the impact. However, Amzad continued to drag Rajesh for another 200 metres or so before crushing him beneath his car and running away. Rajesh Dubey died on the spot.

The incident incensed the villagers, who blocked the Mirzapur-Prayagraj route and demanded that the perpetrator be caught and brought to book. Almost three hours later, after receiving assurance from the authorities, villagers finally dispersed and traffic on the highway resumed.

‘Balasore happened as Bhagwan Shiv is angry with PM Modi, vote him out to save India from disasters’ – Delhi CM Kejriwal stoops to another low

OpIndia Staff
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‘Balasore happened as Bhagwan Shiv is angry with PM Modi, vote him out to save India from disasters’ – Delhi CM Kejriwal stoops to another low

On June 11, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stooped to another low by insinuating that Balasore train tragedy happened because Bhagwan Shiv opened his third eye after seeing what had been happening to the country after people elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kejriwal is currently roaming across the country to gather “support” from the opposition leaders against the Union Government’s ordinance against the Supreme Court’s directive giving power to Delhi Government to appoint and transfer bureaucrats.

During his Ramlila Maidan speech, Kejriwal was visibly frustrated and agitated against the Government of India. He recalled the agitation that started under the leadership of now-sidelined Anna Hazare against the Congress-led UPA-2 government and claimed this is the second such agitation urging his followers to participate. Calling PM Modi an egoist and dictator, he claimed to have launched a campaign to remove BJP from power at the centre.

Kejriwal’s misleading claims about the ordinance

During his address to the public, Kejriwal claimed this was the first time a Prime Minister in India brought an ordinance to overturn Supreme Court’s judgment. He further claimed this was a sign of the end of democracy in the country. Just because an ordinance was passed, he insinuated that democracy ended in Delhi. He further claimed PM Modi changed the constitution of India by tabling the ordinance.

Though Kejriwal claimed this is the first time a judgment passed by the Supreme Court has been overturned, there have been several instances when the Government of India has overturned Supreme Court’s orders.

One of the notable instances was of Shah Bano case of 1986 when the government of India led by Congress under Rajiv Gandhi passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 that nullified the Supreme Court’s 1985 judgment that upheld Muslim women’s rights to alimony even after the ‘iddat period’ of the waiting period a woman must observe after her husband’s death or divorce.

If Kejriwal had studied the history of India and how ordinances were brought to overturn the apex court’s judgments, he would have known about the very first instance of such an ordinance that was passed in 1961. Reports suggest that in 1951, the apex court held that the State could not reserve seats for providing admission to candidates based on religion, caste, or race. However, in 1961, under the First Amendment of the Constitution of India, the Parliament inserted clause (4) under Article 15, giving the government the power to reserve seats in state-run or state-aided institutions for backward classes.

Under the Modi government, the Parliament brought an ordinance in 2018 overturning the apex court’s judgment in Kashinath Mahajan vs State of Maharashtra, where the court said no arrests under the SC/ST Act could be made without prior permission from the appointing authority in case of public servants, and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) for others. The court said the FIR should be registered only after a preliminary inquiry. The Modi government overturned the judgment in August 2018 by an amendment inserting Section 18A in the 1989 Act.

Kejriwal claimed he works 24×7, but he does not hold any office

After saying he works nonstop, Kejriwal informed the public that he visited multiple states and talked to leaders of all parties. He claimed all 140 crore Indians were against the ordinance. Just because an ordinance was passed, Kejriwal stopped all the work and went on a country tour to talk to CMs and leaders of other parties. Something he could have done from his office.

Interestingly, Kejriwal does not hold any department in the Delhi government. It is unclear which work he does 24×7 if other ministers are running all the departments. Earlier, Manish Sisodia had the highest number of ministries and departments under him. After he was arrested, ministries and departments held by Sisodia and Satyendra Jain were divided between Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi Marlena. Kejriwal skipped holding any office in the Delhi government.

Kejriwal invoked an “inside” source

Kejriwal claimed he got information from “inside” that a similar ordinance would be passed in Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, among other states. Kejriwal claimed that because PM Modi cannot do any work at the centre, he is not letting Kejriwal do any work. He claimed PM Modi had stopped the construction of schools, hospitals and mohalla clinics.

Notably, Delhi is not a full state. As it is the capital of the country, a lot of offices and powers are held by the LG, and the Union Government plays a vital role in the functioning of the national capital. The case is not the same with states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, among other states. The centre cannot and does not interfere in the states’ matters unless the State asks it or there has been an incident that forced the government to impose President’s Rule in the State.

Furthermore, no one is sure how trustworthy Kejriwal’s internal or IB sources are as they told him AAP would win Gujarat, UP, Goa, and other states. Everyone knows what happened to AAP in these states.

The ‘fourth pass king’ rhetoric

Kejriwal again started the same old “Fourth pass king” rhetoric and claimed PM Modi does not know how to run the country as the prices of everything, including petrol, diesel, milk, vegetables, and LPG, have increased. He claimed that one day, PM Modi brought Rs 2,000 notes, and then after five years, he canceled the notes. “He cannot decide what to do,” claimed Kejriwal.

He further asked his followers to compare PM Modi’s work since 2002, when he became CM of Gujarat, to date as PM of the country, to Kejriwal’s work as CM of Delhi. He claimed though PM Modi tried to stop the work in Delhi, he established many schools and hospitals. In August 2022, it was revealed in an RTI no new hospital was built by the Kejriwal government.

The Sisodia and Jain Saga

He also accused PM Modi of sending Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia to jail as he wanted to hinder the work being done by the Delhi government. Contrary to his claims, Jain was found to be allegedly involved in money laundering, and Sisodia has been named as the key conspirator in the alleged liquor policy scam.

Kejriwal asked people to propagate the “fourth pass king” story

Kejriwal said, “Many years ago, a child was born in a poor house. An astrologer told the child’s mother that her son would become a king. The child grew and left the school after the fourth class as he did not develop an interest in education. He started selling tea at a railway station near his house. The kid was a great orator. He used to gather children and give speeches for hours. Soon he became famous for his orator skills.”

Further, he added, “As the astrologer said, the child became the King. But the King was uneducated. Officers would come and get his signs on anything. Being an egoist, King did not ask anything about what he was signing on. He thought it would hurt his reputation. When people started to find out about his qualifications, he arranged a fake degree of MA.”

“One day someone told him to demonetise 500-1000 rupee notes, which would end black money, corruption and terrorism, and he did. But it brought the country to its knees. Businesses closed down, people died while standing in front of the banks, employment ended, and industries closed down. As the King was uneducated, he followed the suggestions of the people to bring Rs 2,000 notes and cancel them. He was stupid. One day people asked him to bring agriculture laws. All farmers across the country protested, and he had to take back the laws”, Kejriwal continued

“When the country was going through a pandemic, someone told him the country would heal if he got everyone to bang ‘thali’. He did the same. But the pandemic stayed. Then someone came and told him that doctors and medicines could cure people. The King had many friends. One of them looted 10,000 crores; King helped him escape the country. The second one looted 20,000 crores; King helped him run the country. One friend was close to him. He sold all the airports, seaports and ships to him. One more friend harassed international players, but the King did not act. Another friend killed farmers by mowing them down, but the King did not take any action”, he added.

Then Kejriwal came to his controversial comment about Lord Shiv. He said, “The King jailed everyone who drew cartoons of him or wrote against him. The King also took action against judges who spoke against him. Devtas were looking at the earth, seeing what was happening. They approached Bhagwan Shiv to end the misery. Bhagwan Shiv opened his third eye, and strange things started happening in the country. Strong winds tore down large and heavy statues of Sapt Rishis. A train accident took place, killing 288 people. One day, rains came down from the heavens, and Akashvani told people to gather and stand against him. The public woke up and removed the King in one year.”

Concluding his story, he said, “It is a holy story. Listening to it and telling others this story will bring prosperity to your home and country.”

Karnataka: Congress MLA Roopkala starts free bus service by driving the bus herself, puts reverse gear and damages vehicles parked behind

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Congress MLA Roopkala starts free bus service by driving the bus herself, puts reverse gear and damages vehicles parked behind

On June 11, the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka Government launched a free bus service for women in the state. Congress MLA Roopkala drove the bus herself in her constituency to start the service. However, in the process, she accidentally put the vehicle in reverse gear, and the bus hit the vehicles parked behind, damaging them. The driver, standing next to the MLA, immediately took control of the bus and averted further damage. It is unclear if Roopkala has a license to drive the bus or if she was driving it without a license.

Free bus ride for women under the ‘Shakthi’ scheme is one of the poll promises of Congress. Under this service, women and transgender people will get free rides in government-run buses. CM Siddharamaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and transport minister Ramalinga Reddy launched the scheme and issued smart cards to a few beneficiaries. Interestingly, the smart cards issued to women were only replicas. The actual smart cards will be published in the next three months, the government said.

Meanwhile, it is up to the bus conductor to ensure free rides to the women as they will issue free tickets. One such ticket was flaunted by General Secretary of Media and Communications and spokesperson of Karnataka Congress Lavanya Ballal Jain. “Here’s my zero fare ticket in the free bus service launched for women in Karnataka by the Congress Government,” she wrote.

Netizens pointed out that this scheme might create similar issues for women in the future as it has created in Delhi, where bus conductors show reluctance in taking female passengers as they would not pay. In May 2023, it was reported that conductors were not stopping the bus for female passengers in Delhi. A conductor was suspended over a similar matter.

Odisha STF busts ‘OTP sharing scam’, exposes ISI links; 5 arrested so far

OpIndia Staff
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Odisha STF busts ‘OTP sharing scam’, exposes ISI links; 5 arrested so far

One more suspect in the OTP sharing fraud has been detained by Special Task Force in the state of Odisha. The accused person has been identified as Pritam Singh. According to ANI, four persons were previously detained in connection with the case. “They used to generate OTPs using pre-activated SIM cards and sold the OTPs to cyber criminals including Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) and ISI agents,” Jai Narayan Pankaj, IG, Special Task Force Odisha was quoted as saying by ANI.

Additionally, Pritam also is said to have provided the SIM and debit card used by the primary suspect in the Mangalore auto blast last year. He also has ISI links and has obtained money from them in the OTP fraud case. “It is also learned that the SIM and debit card used by the main accused in last year’s Mangalore auto blast was given by this person (Pritam). He was also in direct touch with at least two Pakistani ISI agents and met them physically and received over Rs 1.5 lakh for selling OTPs/mule accounts/digital wallets,” Pankaj further said.

According to authorities, three people were arrested by the STF of the Odisha police last month for fraudulently obtaining a large number of SIM cards and sharing one-time passwords (OTP) with criminals and anti-national elements, including some Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIO) and ISI operatives in Pakistan as well as in India.

As per the reports, during raids, numerous incriminating items were taken from the possession of the accused, including laptops, 19 mobile phones, 47 pre-activated SIM cards, 61 ATM cards, and 23 SIM covers.

These OTPs were then used to set up numerous channels and accounts on social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, and online retailer websites like Amazon and Flipkart. Additionally, these are required to open email accounts. People presume that these accounts are Indian-owned when they are actually being operated from Pakistan. 

These social media platforms could be utilised for a variety of anti-Indian operations, such as sextortion, communicating with terrorists, radicalisation, spreading anti-Indian propaganda, fostering anti-Indian/divisive emotions on social media, and honey trapping, among others. People further regard such accounts to be trustworthy because they are registered and connected to Indian cell numbers.

Additionally, the profiles created on online marketplaces are used to supply goods to terrorists, anti-Indian groups, etc. Besides, they were making and selling mule accounts on social media sites, which are utilized in a variety of crimes.

Assam: Woman BJP leader Jonali Nath killed, body found dumped near National Highway 17 in Goalpara, probe on

OpIndia Staff
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Assam: Woman BJP leader Jonali Nath killed, body found dumped near National Highway 17 in Goalpara, probe on

On Sunday, June 11, Jonali Nath, a prominent woman political leader in Assam, was found dead in the Goalpara district. Nath held the position of district general secretary for the BJP in Goalpara. Local media reports claim that Nath was last seen on Sunday afternoon at a market.

According to media reports, some unidentified miscreants murdered the BJP politician and dumped her body along National Highway 17.

Locals found her body and reported it to the police. The police reached the spot and started probing the matter. The body of the BJP leader was sent to Goalpara Civil Hospital for postmortem, which they said is being conducted under videography.

The police said that the female leader was viciously assaulted before being killed, as evidenced by the numerous injury marks found on her body and head. The Police officials suspect that Jonali Nath was killed in a planned manner somewhere else and her body was later dumped by the side of the national highway.

According to Nath’s family members, she left for Islampur on Sunday at 4:30 pm for some personal work. Around seven o’clock, her husband tried to call her, but she did not pick up the call. The family later approached the police. The BJP leader’s body was discovered later at around 12 am.

Local news channel The Sentinel Assam reported that the police have detained one person for questioning.

Several BJP leaders took to Twitter and expressed condolence over their colleague’s untimely demise.

The spokesperson for Assam BJP, Jury Sharma Bordoloi said Nath was known for her “unwavering commitment and tireless efforts”.

“We are filled with sorrow, yet we remain hopeful that a thorough investigation will be conducted to shed light on the circumstances surrounding her untimely demise,” Sharma tweeted.

Assam Minister Bimal Borah also took to Twitter and expressed “deep anguish” upon the “tragic demise” of Jonali Nath. Borah further promised that “the individuals responsible for this atrocious act will face the consequences and justice will be served”.

The Assam unit of BJP has urged the state police to investigate the matter properly and sought action against the culprits if it’s found to be a case of murder.

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