Home Blog Page 2641

Three-member panel finds bribery claims against AAP by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar ‘grave’, recommends central agency probe

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Three-member panel finds bribery claims against AAP by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar ‘grave’, recommends central agency probe

On Friday, December 13, a three-member panel, constituted to inquire about the bribery allegations meted at AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and jailed AAP minister Satyendar Jain by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, submitted its report to the Lieutenant Governor, reported India Today.

In its report, the inquiry panel said that it found the allegations “grave” and “serious” in nature and recommended a detailed investigation by central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Notably, a three-member committee headed by the principal secretary (Home) of the Delhi government was constituted by LG VK Saxena after Sukesh Chandrashekhar filed a complaint with him against Kejriwal and his party, alleging they extorted money from him. In his complaint, he alleged to have paid Rs 10 crore for protection inside the jail and Rs 50 crore for party funds. He also alleged he was asked to raise funds for Punjab and Goa elections.

Now, the panel submitted its report to the Delhi LG in which it said that it met Sukesh Chandrashekhar in jail and recorded his statement on two different occasions. 

According to the committee’s report, Sukesh has reiterated his allegations that Satyendar Jain received 60 crore rupees (Rs 50 crore for securing a seat in the Rajya Sabha and expanding the Aam Aadmi Party’s influence in southern India, and another Rs 10 crore as protection money in 2019). He also reiterated that he paid another 12.50 crore to the then-Director General of the Prison, Sandeep Goel.

The committee said that it recorded Sukesh’s statement on November 14 and 15 at Mandoli Jail. The conman asserted that Arvind Kejriwal was fully aware of these financial dealings and that he had paid Satyendra Jain 50 crore rupees in cash over the course of three to four instalments at the farm of Kailash Gahlot, the transport minister for Delhi.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar even claimed that Kejriwal, Jain, and Gahlot attended the dinner celebration he hosted at the Hotel Hyatt Regency, Bhikaji Kama Place, once the full sum of Rs 50 crore was paid in 2017.

He further confirmed to the committee that he had all of the Whatsapp conversations between him and Satyendar Jain confirming the amount, delivery date, and delivery location and that he would provide them as proof as and when requested by the agency conducting the investigation.

Sukesh also told the committee members that every time he got the instalments delivered to Satyendar Jain and Kailash Gehlot, “I also wanted to convey the same to Mr Arvind Kejriwal and due to same, I was allowed to speak to Mr Arvind Kejriwal after every delivery from the phone of Mr Satyendar Jain…”

Sukesh went on record to assert that Satyendar Jain had introduced him to Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi and that they had since kept in touch. A writ case was also filed in the High Court, he added, and he mentioned that he had informed the Enforcement Directorate and CBI authorities of this as well.

In regards to the alleged payments to the then-Director General (Prisons), the inquiry committee asked Sukesh Chandrashekar to provide detailed information like the phone numbers through which the chats were exchanged, the people to whom the money was paid, the mode of payment, the location of the payments, and the date of the payments etc.

In his defence, the conman told the panel “I don’t remember the phone numbers but I have screenshots of the WhatsApp chats as mentioned by me about the related parties. The amounts to DG (Prisons) were paid by me to his staff such as driver and other prison staff namely Mr Sanjay, warden and assistant superintendent Mr Dharam Singh Meena.”

“As mentioned by me, the locations payment in respect of DG (Prisons) was at only two locations as directed by him which was Bharat Petrol Pump at Civil Lines and Haldirams Sweet Shop at Model Town. At present, I am not having the vehicle/car number but the description of the car is of a white Suzuki Ciaz,” Sukesh added.

As per India Today, the probe panel also spoke with ED and CBI officials to confirm the validity of Sukesh’s allegations. The committee has advised a thorough investigation by a specialised body, calling the claims “grave” and “serious” in nature and citing a lack of resources to further verify them.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his allegations against AAP

Notably, conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who is in jail in a 200 crore extortion case, has been dropping letter bombs on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), making serious allegations against its leaders including incarcerated Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain and party supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. 

From confessing to providing Rs 10 crore as “protection money” to incarcerated Aam Aadmi Party minister Satyendar Jain to claiming to have given Rs 50 crore for party funds to revealing how Satyendra Jain had sought his help to convert 20 million dollars into Indian rupees and bitcoins, the conman has until now written as many as six letters to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena levelling allegations against AAP and its leaders.

NIA files chargesheet against 11 accused in Umesh Kolhe murder case, was killed for supporting Nupur Sharma on WhatsApp

OpIndia Staff
-
0
NIA files chargesheet against 11 accused in Umesh Kolhe murder case, was killed for supporting Nupur Sharma on WhatsApp

On Friday, December 16, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), investigating the murder case of Amravati’s pharmacist Umesh Kolhe, filed a chargesheet in the Mumbai NIA court against the 11 arrested accused. Umesh Kolhen was brutally murdered for a social media post supporting former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, and an elaborate plan was prepared by the culprits to kill him.

Those named in the charge sheet are Mubashir Ahmed, Shahrukh Khan, Abdul Tausheef Sheikh, Mohd Shoeb, Atib Rashid, Yusuf Khan, Irfan Khan, Abdul Arbaz, Musfeeq Ahmed, Sheikh Shakeel, and Shahim Ahmed.

Umesh Kolhe, a pharmacist in Maharashtra’s Amravati city, was murdered by Islamists on June 21 for extending his support to beleaguered politician Nupur Sharma, who drew the ire of Muslim fundamentalists after Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair painted a target behind her for defending her faith in a news debate.

According to the charge sheet, the 11 accused hatched a conspiracy, acquired the murder weapon, plotted their strategy so that the pharmacist’s whereabouts could be traced, and then premeditatedly killed him.

When the murder took place, Maharashtra was under the Uddhav Thackeray government, and the police at that time tried to paint the murder as a robbery gone wrong. But many people saw a similarity with the murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, who was also killed for Nupur Sharma. After pressure from the public, police expanded the probe and revealed that Kolhe was also killed for the same reason.

Later it was revealed that Dr Yusuf Khan, one of the accused, was a good friend of Umesh Kolhe, and Kolhe had helped him with money on several occasions earlier. Dr. Yusuf Khan was the admin of the WhatsApp group in which Umesh Kolhe had shared a post supporting former Nupur Sharma, which led to his murder, as Khan revealed the post to others. According to the probe, Dr Yusuf Khan shared this information with another group called Rahebariya and informed his friends Sheikh Irrfan and others, and created hatred in their minds for Umesh Kolhe.

Sheikh Irrfan recruited others for the job, who had worked under him earlier for an NGO that he runs. Sheikh Irfan involved daily wage workers Shahrukh Pathan, Abdul Taufiq, Shoaib Khan, and Atib Rashid in the plan. On the night of June 21, Shoaib stabbed Umesh Kolhe in his neck when Kolhe was going home after closing his shop for the day.

NIA take over the murder case of Amravati pharmacist Umesh Kolhe, arrests 11 accused

The investigation into Umesh Kolhe’s murder began in Police Station City Kotvali in Amaravati, Maharashtra. On July 2 this year, the NIA re-registered the case and took over the investigation. The case has been registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) Sections 16, 18, and 20 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34, 153 (A), 153 (B), 120 (B), and 302.

Earlier in August, the NIA arrested two more accused in the case. The duo was identified as 23-year-old Abdul Arbaz and 41-year-Maulavi Mushfique Ahmad. The other arrested accused in the case include Irfan Khan (age 35), Yusuf Khan (age 44), Muddsir Ahmad (age 22), Shahrukh Pathan (age 25), Abdul Thoufique (age 24) Shoaib Khan (age 22), and Atib Rashid (age 22). 

On September 12, the NIA declared a monetary reward of Rs 2 lakh to anyone who would provide leading information to arrest the absconding accused Shameem Ahmed. On September 22 it was reported that NIA arrested the absconding killer from Mumbai.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) received a 90-day extension from a special court in the same month to submit the charge sheet in the case, which the agency did today.

AIMIM to march for 5% reservations to Muslims in Maharashtra: Here is how Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena had fanned this demand

OpIndia Staff
-
0
AIMIM to march for 5% reservations to Muslims in Maharashtra: Here is how Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena had fanned this demand

All India Majlis e Ittihadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Imtiaz Jaleel has declared to take a march to the Maharashtra Assembly in Nagpur during the winter session of the legislative assembly on Wednesday, 21st December 2022. This march will be taken to push various demands, including the 5% reservation for Muslims.

Imtiaz Jaleel, the state unit president of the All India Majalis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and an MP from Aurangabad, tweeted a picture of the march’s poster to share this information. The poster mentions that the AIMIM will take out a march on 21 December from Indora Ground in Nagpur to Vidhan Bhawan during the session of the Maharashtra legislature.

The demands mentioned in the poster include 5% reservations for Muslims, saving Waqf properties, removing illegal encroachments from Waqf properties, a grant of Rs 1000 crores to Maulana Azad Economic Development Corporation, awarding ownership possession of slum plots to residents, economic help to weaver community working on handlooms and power looms.

How NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena’s MVA alliance had fanned the demand for Muslim reservations

It is notable that though AIMIM is demanding reservations for Muslims, this demand in Maharashtra was originally fanned by Shiv Sena and Congress. When the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance formed a government in Maharashtra in 2019, the alliance partners started pressing to bring in reservations for Muslims in the state. In January 2020, a month after Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister, several reports surfaced stating that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government is preparing to introduce reservations for Muslims in the state.

Then in February 2020, then Minority Affairs minister Nawab Malik said that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government will soon bring in an ordinance to extend the contentious 5 per cent reservations for Muslims across educational institutes in the state. He had then also assured the State Legislative Council of taking ‘appropriate action’ in this regard before the beginning of the subsequent academic year and the admissions process.

On 24th February 2021, a meeting of the Maharashtra Congress’ parliamentary committee passed a resolution in support of Muslim and Maratha reservations in the state. In March 2021, Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Azmi demanded the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government to bring a resolution against CAA-NRC in the ongoing assembly session and has also asked the government to bring a law to provide 5% reservations to Muslims in the state.

This Muslim appeasement continued till June 2022 that is a few weeks before the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. In the Rajya Sabha elections that took place in June 2022, 2 MLAs of AIMIM extended their support to the candidate fielded by the alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party against various conditions. These conditions included reservations for Muslims, the development of Muslim-majority cities like Malegaon and Dhulia, an increase in income of the Maharashtra Waqf Board, and the appointment of a Muslim in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC).

‘If AAP wasn’t there, we would have beaten BJP’: Rahul Gandhi on Congress’ defeat in Gujarat assembly elections

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘If AAP wasn’t there, we would have beaten BJP’: Rahul Gandhi on Congress’ defeat in Gujarat assembly elections

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday blamed Aam Aadmi Party for Congress’ dismal performance in the Gujarat assembly elections. Gandhi said that Congress would have won if AAP had not fought the polls.

‘If there was no AAP in Gujarat who disturbed Congress’ narrative and issues, we would have been in a good position to defeat the BJP in Gujarat,” said the Gandhi scion whose party scraped a mere 17 seats in the 182-seat Gujarat Vidhan Sabha.

Calling AAP the “proxy” of the BJP and accusing them of colluding with the saffron party, Gandhi said that the two parties together had hurt the electoral prospects of Congress in the state. AAP, however, had rejected these allegations, accusing the Congress party of siding with the BJP to block its enintoy in Gujarat.

Mr Gandhi also spoke on the Tawang clashes between Chinese PLA and Indian Army forces on December 9, claiming that Beijing is preparing for a war against India. Days after the clashes, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Parliament that Indian soldiers fought valiantly against the Chinese intruders and forced them to retreat to their posts across the LAC.

BJP created history with the election victory in Gujarat by bagging 156 seats, breaking the 1985 record held by Congress’ Madhavsinh Solanki, who had then led the party to victory with 149 seats. BJP stormed to power by winning 57 more seats than it won in 2017, while Congress had been reduced to 17 from 77 five years ago. The new entrant, AAP, won 5 seats in the assembly polls, but yet former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, blamed the Arvind Kejriwal-led party for his party’s embarrassing defeat in the polls.

Iran voted out from UN Commission on the Status of Women after US moves resolution, India abstains from voting

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Iran voted out from UN Commission on the Status of Women after US moves resolution, India abstains from voting

On Wednesday, December 14, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) conducted voting to oust Iran from its Commission on Status of Women (CSW). 

This comes after the 54-member ECOSOC adopted a US-drafted resolution that called for the removal of Iran with “immediate effect”. This is the first time that a member country of the CSW has been removed. 

This resolution was co-sponsored by Australia, Albania, Canada, Guatemala, Israel, Liberia, New Zealand, North Macedonia, and the UK and Northern Ireland.

Before the voting, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield took to Twitter and said that removing Iran from CSW is the “right thing to do at the right time.”

Ahead of the vote, Greenfield called Iran’s membership in the premiere UN body an “ugly stain on Commission’s credibility.” She added, “CSW cannot do its important work if it is being undermined from within. Iran’s membership at this moment is an ugly stain on the Commission’s credibility.”

Notably, the resolution received 29 votes in favour, 8 including Russia and China against it, while 16 countries abstained from voting, including India.

Image via UN CSW website

After the vote, Greenfield tweeted, “UN member states just voted to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women. Iranian women and activists called on us to do this and today we got it done.”

Notably, Iran started a four-year term on the commission in April this year and became a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) in 2016 after obtaining the necessary votes at the United Nations General Assembly.

The US resolution against Iran came in response to Iran’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters who took to the streets in September following the death of a 22-year-old girl named Mahsa Amini detained by Iran’s morality police.

Ever since the protests began, hundreds have been killed, thousands detained and 11 death sentences ruled so far. Women all over the world have expressed their solidarity with Iranian women. Iran’s authoritarian regime has now started executing protestors publicly. In recent weeks, two such execution cases have been reported. One Mohsin Shekari was executed last week while another Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged in Mashhad for ‘waging war against Allah.’

Iran condemns resolution 

Before the vote, Iran’s ambassador, Amir Saeid Jalil Iravani, stated that the country “categorically rejected and strongly condemned” the resolution’s draft. Iravani accused the US of using its “longstanding hostility toward the Iranian people” to remove Iran from the commission under the guise of human rights. He also accused the US of attempting to topple Iran’s government. 

Islamic cleric sentenced to death by Sharia court in Nigeria for alleged blasphemy, had claimed that the Shia sect is better than Sunni

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Islamic cleric sentenced to death by Sharia court in Nigeria for alleged blasphemy, had claimed that the Shia sect is better than Sunni

On Thursday (December 15), a 52-year-old Islamic preacher by the name of Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara was sentenced to death in Nigeria for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad.

As per reports, the punishment was handed to him by an upper Sharia court in the Nigerian city of Kano. Abduljabbar had allegedly committed blasphemy during one of his preachings at his mosque.

According to the prosecution, the Islamic preacher had allegedly violated Sections 375, and 382 of the Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law, 2000. They claimed that his ‘blasphemous video’ went viral on social media.

While hearing the matter, Justice Ibrahim Sarki Yola of the Kano Sharia court claimed that Abduljabbar had failed to defend himself, despite being provided with ‘enough time.’

“I, Ibrahim Sarki Yola, Upper Sharia Court Judge City Number One, found you, Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, committing an act contrary to section 283 (B) of Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law 2000, I, therefore, sentence you to death by hanging,” the judge declared.

“The prosecutors also convinced the court that the accused person deliberately interpreted the religious books and fabricated the blasphemous comments against the Holy Prophet Muhammad,” he further said.

“I similarly order the total closure of your mosques located at Filin Mushe Gwale LGA and Jamiurrasul located at Sharada,” he added. The judge also put a ban on playing his sermons on radio stations and ordered the confiscation of his 189 books.

Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara accused the judge of being unfair and challenged him to condemn him to death. He said, “You Ibrahim Sarki Sani Yola, changed the whole narration about the case go ahead and sentence me to death, I will die honourably meeting my God.”

“And I am pleading to my followers not to worry about the sentencing as I will die as a righteous person,” he remarked while his lawyer desperately tried to make emotional appeals to Justice Ibrahim Sarki Sani Yola.

Islamic cleric had held Shia scriptures superior to Sunni counterparts

As per a report by Daily Trust, Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara belongs to the Qadiriyya Islamic sect and is regarded as a prominent Sunni scholar in Nigeria.

However, as early as 2020, he expressed his inclination towards being a Shia. “After a thoroughly long time research which I have made by myself, I realized that Shi’a has more scriptural evidence over Sunni…” he told the BBC.

“I will not bother myself if you call me a Shi’a, but I’ll be concerned with calling me a Sunni,” the Islamic scholar on death row had said 2 years ago.

Reportedly, Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara had alleged on multiple occasions that some of the Hadiths (teachings of Prophet Muhammad), as narrated by other Islamic scholars, are either inaccurate or false.

Last year, he was held captive by the Kano State government, following complaints by scholars from other Islamic sects in the country. By then, he had 9 cases of blasphemy registered against him.

Following public outcry over the matter, a debate was organised between Abduljabbar and other Islamic scholars on July 10, 2021. The chairman of the debate concluded that the Islamic scholar was unable to answer a single question posed by other scholars.

He was thereafter remanded in custody again. Abduljabbar is the son of a prominent leader of Qadariyya Islamic Movement in West Africa named Nasiru Kabara. He has now 30 days to appeal against the death penalty, which was handed out to him.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar sticks to his ‘Jo Piyega Wo Marega’ remark, says ‘no compensation to people who die after drinking spurious alcohol’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar sticks to his ‘Jo Piyega Wo Marega’ remark, says ‘no compensation to people who die after drinking spurious alcohol’

A day after ‘Jo Piyega Wo Marega’ remark by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar sparked outrage in response to media questions regarding the Hooch tragedy, the Mahagathbandhan leader reiterated his stance on Friday and said that no compensation would be offered to those who died after drinking spurious alcohol in the state recently. While speaking in the state legislature on the alcohol ban in Bihar, the chief minister claimed that he has been telling people that if they drink alcohol, they will die, and therefore they should not drink alcohol.

He said, “Daaru peeke mar jaega usko hum compensation dengey… sawaal hi nahi paida hota hai” (We will pay compensation to those who die after drinking alcohol, that question does not even arise). “No compensation will be given to people who died after drinking…We have been appealing- if you drink, you will die…those who talk in favour of drinking will not bring any good to you…,” CM Nitish Kumar further said.

CM Kumar’s statement comes amid the death of 60 people who suffocated to death after consuming tainted liquor in Bihar’s Chhapra. It was also reported that five individuals died from alcohol poisoning in the state’s Siwan city on Friday, after Chhapra. It is being said that people in Bihar are resorting to drinking unsafe alcoholic drinks due to the ban on alcohol imposed by the Nitish Kumar government.

The Chief Minister stated that the deaths of individuals in Bihar are constantly emphasized, and he will use the same message to urge people to avoid consuming alcohol. “If you die from consuming alcohol and want us to compensate you, that is not going to happen. We are trying to support you…so you do the good work, don’t do this kind (alcohol drinking) a bad thing,” he stated.

Giving examples of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, he said that people are dying of spurious liquor in the states where alcohol is not banned. “Top per hai Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, UP…kahan nahi hai. Sab jagah ka dekh lijiye hisaab kitaab. See in those states too where alcohol is not banned, there also people die from drinking,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also has taken notice of the occurrence on its initiative. The Commission has written to the state’s Chief Secretary and DGP, requesting a thorough report on the situation, including the FIR filed by the police and the victims’ medical care.

Earlier, the Bihar CM had said that Bihar was a ‘dry state’ since 2016 and that it was people who needed to understand this. “Last time, when people died after drinking toxic liquor, someone said they should be given compensation. When someone consumes alcohol, they will die, the example is before us (Jo Sharab Piyega Wo Marega). We should express grief and tell people that liquor is bad and it should not be consumed,” he had said.

However, LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan stated that the CM was trying to protect the illicit liquor sellers. “Jo Piyega Wo Marega but what about those who are selling toxic liquor, Jo Bechega Wo Bachega (those who sell liquor will be saved), the state government is protecting those involved in this business. In Nitish Kumar’s rule, those who drink liquor are Mahapaapi but those who sell liquor are Maha Gyani,” the LJP leader said.

CM Nitish Kumar in the parliament on December 16 reiterated his stance and stated that he would again appeal to people that if they will drink alcohol, it is not going to be fruitful for them in any manner.

Make in Pakistan terrorism has to stop: India strongly condemns Pakistani foreign minister’s comments on PM Modi, says it is a new low even for Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Make in Pakistan terrorism has to stop: India strongly condemns Pakistani foreign minister’s comments on PM Modi, says it is a new low even for Pakistan

The government of India has strongly reacted to the personal attack on PM Narendra Modi made by Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in New York. Responding to Bhutto calling PM ‘butcher of Modi’ responding to external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s comments at the UNSC, MEA’s official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi issued a statement today.

In the statement, MEA has said that the comments of Bhutto are new low even for Pakistan. Calling it an uncivilised outburst of the Pakistan foreign minister, the statement said, “Pakistan FM’s uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies.”

The MEA reminded how Pakistan has been spreading terrorism, and mentioned that on this year in 1971, the Bangladesh Liberation War had ended which was the result of “the genocide unleashed by Pakistani rulers against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus.”

Saying how several cities across the city have faced the effects of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, MEA said that “Make in Pakistan” terrorism has to stop. The statement also added that Pakistan not only sheltered Osama Bin Laden, but is still giving shelter to other terrorists like Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. “No other country can boast having 126 UN-designated terrorists and 27 UN-designated terrorist entities!” the MEA added in a scathing remark.

The statement ended with an advice to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, “Pakistan FM’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their State policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah.”

The full statement by MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi is given below:

These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has obviously forgotten this day in 1971, which was a direct result of the genocide unleashed by Pakistani rulers against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not seem to have changed much in the treatment of its minorities. It certainly lacks credentials to cast aspersions at India.

As recent conferences and events have demonstrated, counter terrorism remains high on the global agenda. Pakistan’s indisputable role in sponsoring, harbouring, and actively financing terrorist and terrorist organisations remains under the scanner. Pakistan FM’s uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies.

Cities like New York, Mumbai, Pulwama, Pathankot and London are among the many that bear the scars of Pakistan-sponsored, supported and instigated terrorism. This violence has emanated from their Special Terrorist Zones and exported to all parts of the world. “Make in Pakistan” terrorism has to stop.

Pakistan is a country that glorifies Osama bin Laden as a martyr, and shelters terrorists like Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. No other country can boast having 126 UN-designated terrorists and 27 UN-designated terrorist entities!

We wish that Pakistan FM would have listened more sincerely yesterday at the UN Security Council to the testimony of Ms. Anjali Kulthe, a Mumbai nurse who saved the lives of 20 pregnant women from the bullets of the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab. Clearly, the Foreign Minister was more interested in whitewashing Pakistan’s role.

Pakistan FM’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their State policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah.

It is notable that yesterday in New York, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called PM Narendra Modi the‘ butcher of Gujarat’. He also accused India of carrying out terror attacks in Pakistan, and denied that Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism. He made the comments responding to remarks of Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar at the UNSC, where he had pointed out that Osama Bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan.

“While we search for the best solutions, what are those that we must never accept include the normalisation of such threats. The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise. It certainly applies to states’ sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Nor can hosting Osama Bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament can serve as credentials for sermonizing before this council,” S Jaishankar had said in his address, directly slamming Pakistan for being a pro-terrorism country.

Addressing a press conference after that, Bilawal Bhutto said, “I will like to remind the honourable minister of external affairs of India, that Osama Bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of India lives. And he is the prime minister of India. He was banned from entering this country until he became the Prime Minister. This is the Prime Minister of the RSS and the Foreign Minister of the RSS. What is the RSS? The RSS takes inspiration from Hitler’s SS.”

Bhutto also claimed that they have proof that India is behind the Johar Town blast in Lahore in Pakistan.

Another Muslim who is not Muslim enough for Alt News: Mohammed Zubair casts aspersions on the Muslimness of a Maulana for protesting against ‘Pathaan’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Another Muslim who is not Muslim enough for Alt News: Mohammed Zubair casts aspersions on the Muslimness of a Maulana for protesting against ‘Pathaan’

Amidst ongoing outrage over ‘Pathaan’, Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair today cast aspersions on the Muslim identity of Maulanas who did not subscribe to his worldview and protested against Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming action movie.

In a post on Twitter, Zubair, who has, of late, fashioned himself as some authority on dishing out Muslimness certificates to Muslims online, shared some pictures to undermine a Muslim organisation’s protest against SRK’s ‘Pathaan’.

“There are reports that an organisation “All India Muslim Festival Committee” has also opposed the movie ‘Pathan’. A few pics of the ‘Maulana’ behind the organisation,” Zubair tweeted.

As protests erupted over a particularly raunchy song featuring Deepika Padukone in skimpy dresses and racy dance moves, a Muslim organisation named ‘All India Muslim Tyohar Committee’ extended its support to the demonstrations calling for a ban on the screening of the movie.

Zubair shared pictures of the Maulanas associated with the organisation from his participation in events attended by Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, insinuating that Muslims attending events organised by the BJP or their leaders are lesser Muslims than others and perhaps undeserving of identifying themselves as Muslims.

The tweet by Alt News co-founder, notorious for his polarising views and inveterate dog-whistling on Twitter, reflects his polarising attempt to lord over a community of more than 20 crore people who have the democratic right to align with the party of their choice and protest against a movie they deem inappropriate without questions being raised over their piety.

However, Zubair, who rose to fame after dog-whistling against Nupur Sharma, precipitated a diplomatic nightmare for India in the Islamic autocracies in the middle east and spawned widespread domestic protests, Muslims who attend events organised by democratically elected governments or socialise with politicians for the betterment of their community should be stigmatised and discredited for political choices that run counter to his dogmatic beliefs.

For Alt News and Zubair, Muslims cease to be Muslims if they do not hate PM Modi and BJP

But this is not the first time that Zubair has called into question the religiosity of a Muslim whose political ideology does not converge with his. For Zubair and his propaganda website Alt News, whose entire existence rests on vilifying the Modi government and painting the regime as anti-Muslim, it is difficult to reconcile with the fact that some Muslims might be BJP supporters and admirers of PM Modi.

When Muslims express their association with the BJP, RSS or any other party that is bracketed by liberals as parties with ‘Hindutva’ ideology, Alt News goes into overdrive discrediting such voices. It denounces the Muslims who voice their support for PM Modi and his government and raising questions over their Muslimness by highlighting the fact they are associated with the RSS. Sometimes, they don’t even have to support the PM. The mere fact that as a Muslim they do not hate PM Modi with all their guts is sometimes enough to lose their Muslim credentials.

In 2020, on PM Modi’s birthday, members of Muslim community celebrated the occasion at Nizamuddin, Delhi. The event was covered by news agency ANI. However, this did not sit well with the anti-Modi propaganda website AltNews which was quick to slam ANI for presenting an RSS-backed event as ‘Muslim community’ celebrations of PM Modi’s birthday.

In yet another report published in August 2018, Alt News slammed ANI and News 18 for reporting RSS-affiliated Muslim organisation as “people in Lucknow” celebrating Bakrid by cutting a cake. Alt News was perturbed that some of the Muslims abhorred the custom of sacrificing a speechless animal and were exhorting others to shun the practice. This provided a reasonable opportunity to the leftist online rag to cast doubt over the Muslimness of the people by pointing out their association with the RSS.

For Alt News and its co-founder Mohammed Zubair, Muslims cease to exist as Muslims if they do not oppose the BJP and the RSS. Any association of the Muslims with the aforesaid organisations automatically raises doubts over their adherence to Islam. According to Alt News, resistance and opposition to PM Modi, BJP and its affiliate organisations, is the only measure of one’s Muslimness. Any Muslim who is found defying these conventions, his Muslimness is liable to be questioned by Alt News and its self-described custodians of Muslim community.

‘WHO blamed Indian cough syrup for deaths in Gambia, but never provided any document to prove it’: Drug Controller General of India lashes out at WHO

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘WHO blamed Indian cough syrup for deaths in Gambia, but never provided any document to prove it’: Drug Controller General of India lashes out at WHO

On 13th December 2022, India’s Drugs Controller General Dr VG Somani wrote a letter to Dr Rogerio Gaspar who is the Director of Regulation and Prequalification at the World Health Organization. In this letter, Somani asserted that the Indian cough syrups from Maiden Pharma meet the necessary regulatory standards and are therefore harmless.

He added that the WHO’s statement blaming Indian cough syrups for the deaths of children in Gambia has impacted India’s image in the world in an adverse manner.

Somani’s letter was written in a response to the WHO’s letter dated 6th December 2022.

It is notable that the WHO had blamed India’s Maiden pharmaceuticals for the deaths of children in the Gambia in October. In October 2022, the WHO expressed fears that the children died due to the company’s cough syrup.

The letter reads, “Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) would like to reiterate its full cooperation and collaboration with WHO on the subject. In line with this spirit, CDSCO has already shared available details with WHO regularly. However, it is to reiterate that subsequent to the initial reports received from WHO on the possible causality relationship between drugs manufactured in India and deaths in Gambia, the Government of India constituted a technical committee of subject experts to examine and analyze the details of the reports/ adverse events/ COAS received from WHO.”

It adds, “India has been committed to rigorous monitoring and oversight to ensure that the highest standards of manufacturing are maintained in quality control of drugs and cosmetics. In the aftermath of the alerts received from WHO regarding the incidents in Gambia, an independent inspection was conducted in the premises of Maiden Pharmaceuticals, the firm in question.”

The letter asserted, “All control samples of 4 cough and cold syrups manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceutical were sent for testing to Government Laboratory as per extant rules and all the 4 products have been found to be of standard quality.”

Underlining the ill effects of WHO’s statements on India’s image, Dr VG Somani wrote in the letter, “The statement issued by the WHO in October 2022 was unfortunately amplified by the global media which led to a narrative being built internationally targeting the quality of Indian pharmaceutical products. This in turn has adversely impacted the image of India’s pharmaceutical products across the globe and caused irreparable damage to the supply chain of pharmaceutical products, as well as the repute of the national regulatory framework over an assumption that has yet not been substantiated by the WHO or its partners on the ground.”

Somani’s letter also reiterates that the repeated requests by the CDSCO to WHO seeking documentation or any factual information from WHO that formed the basis of their initial claim blaming the deaths in Gambia on Maiden Pharma’s cough syrups have been met with silence from the WHO so far. The letter also says that the initial claim, and subsequent mentions by WHO has only amplified this allegation without any factual basis and Maiden Pharma’s cough syrups were found to be containing no harmful substances.

Dr VG Somani further wrote in this letter, “It may be emphasized here that the Gambia informed that there has been no direct causal relation established yet between the cough syrup consumption and the deaths, and that certain children who had died had not consumed the syrup in question. We believe that WHO would now allow the technical committee of subject experts constituted by the Government of India to arrive at the conclusion based on all the facts and evidence available. We would be more than willing to consider permitting WHO representatives to interact with this technical committee.”

On Wednesday 12th October 2022, the Central Government constituted a four-member expert committee to probe the World Health Organization (WHO) reports on the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia which was hastily blamed on cough syrups made by Sonipat-based firm Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited. Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited firm in Sonipat was instructed to cease producing all cough syrups, according to an order from the Haryana government. A show-cause notice for 12 irregularities discovered at the company’s production facility was also issued. The letter written by Dr VG Somani also informs the WHO director about this.

In November this year, an Economic Times report stated that the specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) has failed to provide the documents, to the Indian authorities, which are required to further the investigation into the deaths of 70 deceased children in Gambia.

“The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO), the drug regulator in India, has written thrice to the World Health Organisation but to no avail. It has so far received no response from WHO”, the report had added.

1...2,6402,6412,642...7,628Page 2,641 of 7,628