MIT researcher Yoel Fink in an interview with GBH news said that in the fall of last year, FBI agents visited the campus and in a closed-door meeting with him and other researchers asked them to stop Intellectual Property theft. The countries involved in this alleged IP theft were Russia, China and India. He said that he had never seen anything like this before in his 30 years of career in the premier engineering institution.
Yoel Fink teaches fabrics at MIT, image credits GBH News
Yoel Fink went on to say that Law Enforcement authorities should only visit the campus if there is clear evidence of crimes/theft committed inside the labs. In conjectural cases like this, the administration should be the one talking to researchers, not the FBI.
A section within the United States that align with the woke leftist ideology, considers India a rogue state and its hostility and policies (at least some of them) towards India reflect this view. The Left, with many of its NGOs, which work as an extended arm to exert their hegemony, have tried since 2014—the year Modi came to power—to convince the world that the Indian state is a totalitarian one and the voices of dissent are being suppressed here. Amnesty, Compassion International, Human Rights Watchdog etc. are some of the tools used to vilify countries that do not conform to their worldview, without paying heed to the indigenous cultural norms, traditions, and social and moral ethics.
Every year they publish skewed indices to reinforce their agenda, which entails defaming countries by judging them on parameters that are alien or immaterial to the population of the said country.
The Left, which is formidably entrenched within the US government, especially after the election of Democrat Joe Biden, with its inflated ego and neo-colonial mindset, sees nations in three ways a) Client States, b) Potential Client States and c) Rogue States. India with its growing prowess in tech, industry & research and immense human capital and its collective self-respect obviously doesn’t fit in the first two categories and consequently, relegated to the imagined rogue state.
Finally, we made it! ?
“In a small MIT conference room with the blackout shades pulled down, FBI agents told him and other researchers in the fall that ROGUE NATIONS like China, Russia and India were sending secret agents to steal intellectual property from university labs …” https://t.co/DgSP7SZSK8pic.twitter.com/QGUAT361xY
This revelation is serious but becomes laughable especially when read with recent interviews of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who has been schooling the west and other aspiring neo-colonialists day in and day out and asserting India’s sovereignty and strength at global forums.
The global left with its provincial vision sees nations as clients or rogue states. New Delhi should tread forward with unswerving strides and remain unmoved by these labels and keep working for its self-interest (s) the way it has been doing in the last half a decade.
Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) in Uttar Pradesh picked up its demolition campaign again on Thursday, sending bulldozers to tear down a two-story house valued at three crores. The building that was demolished was in the Chakia area of the Dhumanganj police station and belonged to a gun store owner, Safdar Ali, who is allegedly close to mafia politician Atiq Ahmed. The gun store is in Jhonstonganj. The news came the day after the demolition of a part of the residence where the former MP’s absconding wife Shaista Parveen supposedly resided.
PDA officials said that the house was illegally constructed. They further said that Safdar Ali possessed the property and there has been litigation regarding the illegal building since 2020. Ajeet Kumar Singh, the PDA secretary, reported that the decision was taken because the authority had not approved the building’s map.
Singh stated, “The proceedings against the illegal construction were started in 2020. He was served multiple notices and was asked to vacate the house several times. He ignored these notices. Today, the house was demolished by our team.” Ali insisted to be completely oblivious to the proceedings, nevertheless.
“I had no clue,” Ali remarked when speaking to the journalists. He continued, “By 11.30 am, I was informed that the house will be torn down and that I should leave. The policemen who arrived here didn’t even provide me with a justification for the demolition.”
He also argued that the house belonged to his sons. “The house is not mine; it belongs to my boys. It’s improper that I received a notice. I should be informed of the offence I have committed after an investigation is completed,” he persisted. He added, that the action was taken in haste without any investigation.
Safdar and his family resisted leaving the building. However, the authorities cut the house’s power supply and began to sweep the vicinity.
Ali refuted accusations of supplying any weapons or bullets either to Atiq or his aides. “I have absolutely no relations of any kind with Atiq Ahmed or anyone. I believe someone has made a false complaint against me in this regard and that is why this action is being taken,” Safdar said.
PDA vice-chairman Arvind Kumar Chauhan, however, maintained that the house was constructed in violation of the norms. “The house was illegally constructed in violation of set norms and is therefore being demolished. Notice was issued to the owner of the house as per norms and all the required process has been followed,” he confirmed.
According to a senior police officer, Ali and Atiq have no known connection as of now. “We can’t say if he has any connection with Ahmed at this stage,” he proclaimed.
Umesh Pal and his gunner were killed in the Dhoomanganj area of Prayagraj on February 24. Shaista Parveen, Atiq Ahmed, and their two sons Aizan Ahmed and Aban Ahmed, are accused of the crime. Umesh Pal, according to the police, was the key witness in the 2005 murder of BSP lawmaker Raju Pal.
Khalid Azeem, alias Ashraf, Atiq’s younger brother and a former legislator, as well as two other people, are also mentioned in the FIR.
While Ashraf is incarcerated at the Bareilly Central Prison, Atiq is locked in a Gujarat jail. Shaista Parveen is currently on the run, and police raids are being carried out to find her.
Rahul Gandhi was recently made to deliver a talk to MBA students at the Cambridge Judge Business School, on the topic ‘Learning to Listen in the 21st Century”. The talk was arranged by Congress leader Sam Pitroda. During his hour-long talk, Rahul Gandhi peddled his usual nonsensical ideas and false claims, and also some blatant lies, as he does in India during his political speeches.
He started by saying that he is going to speak about the politics in India, the two divergent forces in the current world, that are China and the USA and ‘we’ can think about them.
He spoke about ‘listening’ to the public, the political discourse and different cultures. He added that different cultures listen differently. He also added that the risks of different listening at an international level are enormous.
‘Indian democracy is under attack’, claims Rahul Gandhi
Being classic Rahul Gandhi and completely missing the irony that an Opposition leader from India has come abroad to address the students of a prominent university and no one has stopped him from doing so, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the democracy in India is under attack.
“The institutional framework required in a democracy, the parliament, the judiciary, free press etc are also under constraint, ” he said.
“The idea of mobilisation, the idea of just moving around, is under constraint. We are facing an attack n the basic structure of the Indian democracy”, Rahul Gandhi dropped another massive bomb of irony.
After completing a long walk called Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kerala to Kashmir and then travelling abroad to Cambridge, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the idea of moving around and mobilisation is under constraint in India.
India is a Union of States, multiple different states like Europe, says Rahul Gandhi and lies about getting ‘jailed’
Rahul Gandhi again peddled blatant lies, claiming that he and some other MPs were locked up and put inside jail for just speaking about certain issues. This has never happened. Rahul Gandhi has never been jailed.
“Here you can see that picture. This picture was taken in front of the parliament house. That’s where a whole bunch of opposition parliamentarians were just standing there and talking about certain issues. We were just locked up and put in jail. It happened relatively violently. It has happened 3-4 times.”
Rahul Gandhi’s presentation at Cambridge Judge Business School
The picture that he showed to students at Cambridge was from the way to Hathras in 2020, where he and his sister Priyanka were stopped from going to a place that was under curfew, due to the threat of caste-related violence that was fanned by political parties (including Rahul’s Congress) over the strangulation of a girl.
Rahul Gandhi was stopped by the Police on his way to Hathras IN 2020
So, Rahul Gandhi showed a picture of him being stopped from visiting a place under curfew in UP’s Yamuna Expressway and claimed that in that picture he was “jailed” by the police for speaking with fellow members of Parliament in front of the Parliament house in Delhi.
He has also claimed that it has happened 3-4 times, and violently.
In reality, while on the way to Hathras, Rahul was stopped by the police and was detained along with the political retinue for some time. His sister was not even detained but was escorted to a guest house to wait.
‘I had Pegasus on my phone, a large number of politicians had Pegasus in their phones’
Taking his lies to the next level, Rahul Gandhi next claimed that he had the Pegasus malware in his phone. He added that a large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. He even claimed that he was told by ‘intelligence officers’ that his calls are being recorded and he should be careful.
The fact is, no evidence of the Pegasus malware was found in a Supreme Court inquiry. Rahul Gandhi and many other politicians who claimed they were being snooped on and tried to raise a political controversy over it, never submitted their phones to the probe panel. Of the 29 phones that were submitted, only 5 were found to be infected with “some kind of malware” and none of them was confirmed to be Pegasus.
‘Cases on me are an attack on democracy’: Rahul Gandhi
Taking further his claims of an ‘attack on democracy’, Rahu Gandhi claimed he has criminal liable cases on him that should never have been criminal liable cases, conveniently forgetting that his family, which effectively ruled India for over 5 decades, is facing graft and corruption charges to the tunes of thousands of crores of rupees.
‘Started Bharat Jodo Yatra because it is very difficult to communicate with people’, says Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi, who has 22.9 million followers on Twitter alone, who addresses massive rallies of the Congress party and speaks in parliament, holds press conferences and heads a trust that owns a newspaper, claimed that due to the so-called ‘attack on democracy’ in India, it is very difficult for him to communicate with people and hence he had to undertake the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
he even compared the BJY to Gandhi’s Dandi March, drawing equivalence with the freedom struggle against the British, painting himself as carrying the legacy of Gandhi (they are not related), of fighting against tyranny.
While travelling in container trucks modified into ultra-luxury residences on wheels, equipped with all luxury amenities, and under VIP security, he went on to describe how the yatra was about facing difficulties and challenges.
‘Militants saw me in Kashmir, but they could not harm me’
Rahul Gandhi, who walks with dozen of commandoes, party leaders and supporters surrounding him, claimed that he walked very safely in Kashmir, even through the stretch in Pulwama where a “car bomb” killed 40 soldiers, and he saw two “militants” there. He went ahead to claim that the militants saw him but could not harm him, because he was promoting the idea of non-violence and peace.
Rahul Gandhi knows very well that the CRPF soldiers were killed by Islamic Terrorists, not ‘militants’ whom he tries to portray as mere separatists. The bomber had made his intentions very clear in his video, asserting that he is about to kill ‘cow urine drinking Hindus’, as a service for Islam. However, he has chosen to peddle subtle anti-India propaganda, trying to send a message that the ‘unrest’ and violence in Kashmir are due to ‘violence’ on the part of the Indian government and ‘not listening’ to people.
There are 2 aspects of this claim, whether it is true or false. The first is, Rahul Gandhi was able to walk safely in Kashmir, and had thousands of people joining him with Tricolours in their hands, because the Modi government has made it possible. The claims of public dissatisfaction and ‘Muslim atrocity’ and persecution peddled by the opposition and international media is false.
The second aspect is, Rahul Gandhi used subtle juxtaposition. He subtly posed himself and his walk “as opposed to the vehicles carrying CRPF soldiers”, and claimed he did not face any attack from the militants because he was sending a message of ‘non-violence’ and he had come there to listen and to talk to people. This is the subtle anti-India propaganda the Congress prince is peddling on an international platform.
‘Nobody checked my IDs in America, but my IDs were checked in India’
In a bizarre anecdote, Rahul Gandhi claimed that he was very happy and surprised to learn that in the (pre-9/11) USA, nobody checked IDs in airports. He added that while his IDs were checked in his own country, in the USA he could just walk in and board a plane. He added that the idea of a ‘safe’ USA was sadly challenged by Bin Laden.
The next parts of his speech were obscure philosophies about the idea of China and how it is different from the ideas of other nations, particularly the Western nations. He also indirectly endorsed the Chinses idea of not bothering to restrict themselves by Intellectual Property Rights laws and how they see that people who ‘invent’ things do not own them.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led Telangana government has moved the Supreme Court against the state Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for not giving assent to Bills despite clearance by the legislature.
Telangana government mentioned that 10 Bills are pending with the governor for assent since September 14, 2022. The petitioner urged the top court to declare that the inaction, omission and failure to comply with the constitutional mandate qua the assent of the bills by the Constitutional functionary the Governor as highly irregular, illegal and against the Constitutional mandate.
Telangana government also urged the top court to issue an appropriate direction, to the Governor of Telangana, to forthwith give assent to the Bills pending, namely, the Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and Regulation of Leases) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The University of Forestry Telangana Bill, 2022, The Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, The Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Telangana Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
In the petition, the state government said that it is constrained to move before the top court in view of a very frequent constitutional impasse created on account of the refusal of the Governor of the State of Telangana to act on several Bills passed by the State Legislature. These bills are pending since September 14, 2022, till date for the assent of the Governor.
“Article 200 is couched in mandatory language as it repeatedly uses the word “shall” thereby clearly suggesting that the Governor must act as soon as possible to either grant assent or withhold the assent and return the bill as envisaged only on the advice of the council of ministers. In a parliamentary democracy, the Governor has no discretion to differ or delay necessary assent as required on the bills presented for assent. Any refusal on the part of the Governor including any delay will defeat the parliamentary democracy and the will of the people,” the petition read.
Pointing out the role of the Governor in the matter of assent to the Bills passed by
both the houses of the state legislature of the state of Telangana, state govt said the State Legislature passed 7 Bills on September 13, 2022, and sent them to the Secretary to the Governor for the assent of the Governor on September 14 2022.
Similarly, 3 other bills were passed in February 2023 by the State Assembly and on February 12 2023 by the State Legislative Council and sent to the secretary to the Governor for assent.
“The legislature in its wisdom has decided to amend certain provisions to the existing
Statutes keeping in view the mandate of the people and the requirement to make changes to the appropriate law conforming to the present needs of the State,” the petition said.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala Wednesday (March 1) assured the High Court that steps are being taken to include age-appropriate sexual awareness programs in school curriculums from the next academic session. In response, a single bench of Justice Bechy Kurian Thomas stated that the Court will continue to monitor its implementation status.
Notably, on December 9, 2022, the HC directed the state government to form a committee to carry out the court’s directives for developing a prevention-oriented programme for sexual abuse in schools.
The panel, chaired by the director of general education, was constituted, and its two reports, dated February 17th and February 21st, 2023, referring to various actions suggested by the expert committee for programme implementation, were delivered to the court on February 22, 2023.
Nevertheless, the lawyer arguing on behalf of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) informed the High Court that the reports were misleading because the committee so created had not even convened once by then.
The court ordered the committee members to appear in person before the court on February 27 after chastising the state government for submitting false reports.
While appearing virtually, the panel notified the HC that the committee met on February 23, 2023, and that basic actions had already been taken.
The director of general education also informed the court that additional steps are being taken to incorporate age-appropriate sexual awareness content into the curriculum as much as possible.
The court had previously expressed its concern about the alarming rise in the number of sexual offences committed on schoolchildren, noting that, in many cases, the perpetrators themselves were students, and observed that the voice of the victims of sexual abuse should not be silenced and that it is only through education that the victim can be enabled to speak out.
The court had asked the state to form an expert committee to investigate the matter in August 2022.
The court also directed the committee of experts formed by the State Government to include Advocate Parvathy Menon, the Project Co-ordinator of the Victim Rights Centre under Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) as a member of the committee.
The submissions were made in a matter which is essentially a bail application, but the Kerala High Court invoked its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to issue instructions to the state government and CBSE to raise awareness among youngsters about the repercussions of sexual offences and their ramifications.
On Thursday, Congress’s Rahul Gandhi launched one of his usual attacks on the Modi government and said that it was undermining the democracy of India. While delivering a presentation at Cambridge University, Rahul Gandhi said that the Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to monitor his phone.
Rahul Gandhi stated that the intelligence officers had forewarned him that his phone conversations were being taped. They also advised him to exercise caution while using his phone for communication, he said.
So there is constant pressure that we feel. Cases are registered against Opposition. I’ve got a number of criminal liable cases registered against me for the things which shouldn’t be under criminal cases: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
“I myself had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, ‘Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff’. So this is the constant pressure that we feel. Cases are registered on the Opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That’s what we are trying to defend,” the Congress leader said in his address,
Intel officers diligently called Pappu to tell him they are recording his stuff pic.twitter.com/cr6I9CXFbc
Gandhi’s entire speech delivered at the University was shared on Twitter by Congress leader and former advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sam Pitroda. Rahul Gandhi also claimed that there were indeed restrictions on the courts, press, and Parliament in India.
“Everybody knows and it’s been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy — Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around — all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy,” the Congress MP was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, BJP slammed Gandhi for his comments at the University. Recalling the Supreme Court verdict on Pegasus, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said even after the SC verdict, the “entitled dynast’ peddles lies on it. “The entitled dynast is a serial offender — his hatred for one person transcends into hatred for the country time and again…Ironically, his daadi imposed an Emergency and he preaches about democracy! What more can one say!” Shehzad said.
The entitled dynast is a serial offender – his hatred for one person transcends into hatred for the country time and again.
SC gives a verdict yet he peddles lies on it
Ironically his daadi imposed Emergency & he preaches about democracy ! What more can one say!!
It is important to note here that in July 2021, a global collaborative investigative report declared that Pegasus, a powerful spyware developed by the Israeli cyber security company NSO Group, might have been used to target the mobile phones of individuals in several countries, including India.
The report leaked around 300 numbers of Indian individuals being allegedly tapped by the software. The numbers included at least two ministers in the central government, three leaders from the opposition, a constitutional authority, and several journalists, civil society leaders, and business persons.
The opposition roared and accused the government as the Israeli company stated that a powerful tool such as Pegasus is sold only to governments or government agencies, and not to individuals.’ However, the Indian government on several occasions denied the allegations made by the opposition parties. The matter then reached the Supreme Court which appointed a committee to conclude that there was no evidence that the spyware application Pegasus was used to eavesdrop on the phones under examination.
Rahul Gandhi who claimed at the University today that the software was on his phone, forgot to mention that his phone was actually never tapped and that he was on the list of ‘potential targets’ of the Pegasus “expose”, which has now been thoroughly debunked. Also, though he claimed back in the year 2021 that ‘all his phones and electronic gadgets’ were tapped by the software, he had refused to give his phone for the examination to the committee appointed by the SC, ‘fearing’ data tampering.
On Thursday (March 2), a Dhaka court sentenced one Mohammad Iqbal Hossain to 16 months imprisonment for orchestrating the anti-Hindu violence during the 2021 Durga Puja celebrations in Bangladesh by placing a copy of the Quran at the feet of Lord Hanuman.
As per a report by The Daily Star, the matter was heard by the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge AM Zulfiker Hayet. He passed the verdict in the presence of the accused.
Given that Mohammed Iqbal Hossain had already served 16 months behind bars, the Judge directed the jail authorities to release him for having served his sentence in advance (in case he is not wanted in any other case).
The Background of the Case
On October 13, 2021, a 35-year-old man named Iqbal Hossain placed a copy of the Quran on the feet of the idol of Lord Hanuman at the Nanuar Dighir Par Durga Mandir in the Cumilla district of Bangladesh.
His actions triggered a series of violent attacks against the minority Hindus in the country. The Hindu community had insisted vehemently that nobody among them had kept the Islamic ‘Holy book’ at the Puja Pandal and the incident was a deliberate plan to foment trouble.
For over five days, houses and temples of the Hindu community in Bangladesh remained under attack. Videos of broken idols, demolished pandals and Moorti of Maa Durga being thrown in a pond emerged on social media platforms along with other videos of attacks on Hindus.
It came to light later that the copy of the Quran was given to Iqbal Hossain by the caretakers of a nearby mosque. The accused was arrested from Cox Bazar on October 21, 2021, by the Tongi Purba Police Station in Ghazipur and booked under the stringent Digital Security Act.
After analysing the CCTV footage, it was also found that the accused incited people to commit violence in the morning and gave hate speeches against Hindus.
On Thursday (March 2), independent journalist Matt Taibbi posted a new tranche of ‘Twitter Files’ which revealed how the Atlantic Council’s US-funded Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab wanted to censor Twitter handles, allegedly associated with ‘Hindu nationalism’, and particularly with the BJP.
An analyst named Andy Carvin wrote to top Twitter executives on June 8, 2021, “Hi guys. Attached you will find… around 40k Twitter accounts that our researchers suspect are engaging in inauthentic behaviour… and Hindu nationalism more broadly.”
2. On June 8, 2021, an analyst at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab wrote to Twitter:
“Hi guys. Attached you will find… around 40k twitter accounts that our researchers suspect are engaging in inauthentic behavior… and Hindu nationalism more broadly.” pic.twitter.com/0RpK3kyhHC
The DFR Lab analyst flagged over 40,000 accounts, claiming that they were paid employees/ unpaid volunteer’s of India’s largest party, namely, the BJP.
Journalist Matt Taibbi pointed out that the list comprised ordinary Americans, who had little to no connection to India or Indian politics.
3. DFRLab said it suspected 40,000 accounts of being “paid employees or possibly volunteers” of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Contrary to the wishes of the DFR Lab, the top Twitter executives refused to act on the flagged Twitter accounts. Yoel Roth, the former Global Head of Trust & Safety at Twitter, noted, “I spot-checked a number of these accounts, and virtually all appear to be real people.”
Interestingly, Roth has been at the epicentre of gutting the Twitter account of former US President Donald Trump and censoring the infamous Hunter Biden story.
5. Twitter agreed, one reason many of the accounts remain active. “Thanks, Andy,” replied Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth. “I spot-checked a number of these accounts, and virtually all appear to be real people.” pic.twitter.com/HCf1YPjpFa
DFR Lab wanted to censor BJP-associated and prominent RW accounts
Opindia had found that at least 66 prominent and verified Indian Twitter handles were sent by US-funded Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab to the top executives of the social media giant for censorship.
And the reason cited by the organisation was that they were connected to the BJP and the cause of Hindu Nationalism. Here is the list of the accounts that we found so far:
Abhijat Mishra
Amar Prasad Reddy
Anubha Tripathi
Arjun Bhati
Arun Yadav
Asha Nakum
Ashish Merkhed
Ashok Goel
Baby Kumari BJP
Bamba Lal Diwakar
Barkha Shukla Singh
Bhupesh Chaubey BJP
Colonel Rohit Dev (RDX)
Deomani Dwivedi
Dinesh Chaudhary
Dr. Pankaj Shukla
Dr. Sarojini Agarwal MLC
Gajendra Chauhan
Gopal Krishna Dwivedi
Hariom Pandey
Harjinder Singh Kukreja
Jitu Jirati ( jitendra jirati )
Kapil Mishra
khemchand sharma
Kishore Ajwani
Kuljeet Singh Chahal
Manish Kaushik
Manoj Manu
Manu Bhaker
Meena Das Narayan
N Ramchander Rao
Narendra Kumar
Narendra Kumar Chawla
Naveen Kumar Jindal
Naveen Thacker
NCIB Uttar Pradesh
Neelkant Bakshi
Parmod Kumar Vij
Piyush Goyal Office
Piyush Mishra
Pradipsinh Vaghela
Prakash Dwivedi
Pravin Alai
Priyanka Singh Rawat
RaghavjiBhai Patel
Rahees Singh
Rajan Tewari
Ramesh Solanki
Rameshnaidu Nagothu
Ramvichar Netam
Ravi Rana
ROHIT CHAHAL
Sandeep Mittal, IPS
Santosh Ranjan Rai
Serv’ed,Call me Servüôè(Ravi Mantha )
Shinjini Das
Shishir
Sumit
Suresh Nakhua
Swapnil Kamal Rani Varun
Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga
Uday Mahurkar
UP MSMe
VARANASI AIRPORT
Varun Puri
Vijesh Lunawat
Screengrab of the Twitter account flagged by DFR Lab
Interestingly, DFR Lab wanted to censor Twitter to censor the official Twitter handle of the Varanasi airport (@AAIVNSAIRPORT) and the MSME department of the Uttar Pradesh government (@upmsme) , and the office of Union Minister Piyush Goyal.
Earlier, it was revealed by Matt Taibbi that Twitter employees found no evidence of Russian influence in the 2016 US elections. Yet, they continued to allow Democrats and media organisations to use their platform to push the notion that Trump had Moscow’s backing.
What is DFR Lab
The DFR Lab is a self-proclaimed ‘fact-checking’ endeavour by the Atlantic Council, an organisation that works to promote US interests worldwide. Its board of international advisors involves the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Though it is not yet clear why exactly a US-based organisation associated with George Soros wanted BJP-associated social media handles censored by Twitter, the fact that Soros had recently hinted at politically weakening Modi as one of his goals, might shed some light in the broader context of the issue.
On February 3, comedian Daniel Fernandes published a video, ‘Alive and Vaccinated’, on his YouTube channel, which was a recording of his live show. In the one-hour 39 minutes long video, comedian Daniel Fernandes displayed his bigotry unabashed and expressed genocidal and anti-Hindu views.
OpIndia recently reported how he mocked Covid-19 patients who voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wished death upon them. He added even his friend thought the same. Quoting an unnamed friend, he said his friend gave the idea those who voted for PM Modi (referred to as “chai”) should have been denied hospital access. In a recently published 90-minute+ long recording of an alleged comedy piece, Daniel touched every aspect that would put him in the limelight for the wrong reasons.
After his video went viral on social media drawing widespread ire from netizens for his genocidal views, one would expect the comedian to introspect and apologise. The comedian, however, doubled down and brazened it out, in the face of the anger and backlash that he was getting.
Taking to Instagram, Daniel Fernandes mocked those who were questioning him and the audience for laughing and applauding his genocidal views.
Posting on Instagram, Daniel shared a screenshot of a Twitter handle, @TrulyMonica, which questioned Fernandes and his genocidal views. She said stand-up comedy had normalised hatred towards Modi supporters and had become the new Radio Rwanda.
Daniel Fernandes Instagram posts
He posted the screenshot with emojis, mocking the concern articulated by Verma. His followers then proceeded to mock and laugh at the tweet questioning Daniel.
He also posted two stories on Instagram where he was again mocking those who expressed disgust over his views.
Daniel Fernandes Instagram posts
An Instagram handle ‘prinaik24’ questioned how such people can be declared intellectuals or even liberals when they wish death upon those suffering from a deadly pandemic simply because of their political preference. She also shamed the audience for laughing and applauding these “jokes”.
Daniel Fernandes mocked the post by commenting “shame on the audience”.
Daniel Fernandes Instagram posts
Another Instagram handle posted that Daniel Fernandes was expressing such genocidal views to get views and publicity, so he could eventually pay his bills.
Daniel Fernandes then took that post and commented “so many bills”, mocking the concern about his content.
Besides mocking COVID-19 victims and saying that those who were pleading him for help were first asked by him if they voted for Modi, and if they did, he refused to help them, he also mocked Hindus and beeped himself while mentioning the Islamic faith.
While Daniel continued to mock Hindus whenever he found a chance, he made sure not to mock “the other religion” openly as he feared the consequences. He made a joke about “someone from that religion” without taking names and beeping whenever he said a word “that should not be said” to ensure, he does not face the heat. He claimed that he was showing “guts” to joke about “that religion”. The joke was, “Jesus, Buddha, and _________ walk into a bar! Jesus, Buddha, and _________ walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and goes, “What can I get you two gentlemen?” Was I right? Or was I right?” Daniel said the joke was not offensive to the people of the religion that he chose not to name and if the audience thinks about it, he was on the side of the people of “that religion”. Essentially, while Daniel named either Allah or Prophet or Islam, he made sure the sound was beeped and there was an emoji covering his mouth because he is aware of the repercussions, however, he had no qualms in mocking other religions, especially Hinduism.
On Thursday, 2nd March 2023, the Delhi High Court asked the Delhi police whether it has taken any action against a Twitter user named Jagdish Singh who tweeted against Mohammed Zubair – co-founder of the propaganda website Alt News, for his insulting social media posts against Hindu Gods and Goddesses. It is notable that in response to that complaint, the Delhi police has earlier claimed that no offense was committed.
Justice AJ Bhambhani heard the petition of Mohammed Zubair which he filed to challenge the FIR registered against him for his tweet which he had posted in response to an allegedly abusive message from Jagdish Singh. After being booked by the Delhi Police, Zubair petitioned the High Court to have the case dismissed.
Justice Bhambhani asked if the Delhi Police had brought the matter to a logical conclusion while noting that Zubair was not mentioned in the chargesheet by the police. The court said, “What did you do about this gentleman called Jagdish Singh? My question is if you found nothing against this man (Zubair), what did you do about the person who put out those offensive tweets?”
“What did you do about this gentleman called Jagjit Singh. My question is if you found nothing against this man (Zubair), what did you do about the person who put out those offensive tweets,” the court asked Delhi Police’s counsel.
Justice Bhambhani said, “Somebody starts a storm (Jagdish Singh) and you (Delhi Police) just say this person’s (Zubair’s) name is not in the chargesheet therefore. I want to see if things are coming to a logical closure.”
“Somebody starts a storm (Singh) and you (Delhi Police) just say this person’s (Zubair’s) name is not in chargesheet therefore… I want to see if things are coming to a logical closure,” Justice Bhambhani remarked. #DelhiHighCourt@zoo_bear @AltNews @DelhiPolice
On August 7, 2020, Mohammed Zubair indulged in an online spat with Twitter user Jagdish Singh. The AltNews co-founder targeted a minor girl in his Twitter fight with this social media user. Instead of replying to the user directly, Zubair had brazenly referred to a minor girl seen in the profile picture of the user Jagdish Singh, presumably his granddaughter. Mohammed Zubair said in his tweet, “Hello Jagdish Singh. Does your cute granddaughter know about your part-time job of abusing people on social media? I suggest you to change your profile pic.”
After Zubair had highlighted the minor girl seen in the photo, Islamists started to issue rape threats to the girl. Zubair’s tweet came under heavy criticism from social media users who accused him of shamelessly using a child to get back at a critic.
When one Twitter user had tagged National Commission for Women to raise an alarm about the predatory behavior by Zubair, the co-founder of AltNews brazened it out justifying his blatant doxxing that was clearly endangering the life of a minor.
