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Punjab: Government hospital asks patients to click photos of X-ray on mobile phones citing shortage of physical films

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab: Government hospital asks patients to click photos of X-ray on mobile phones citing shortage of physical films

While Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann aspires to provide better healthcare services to the citizens of Punjab, the government hospitals in the state are acting bizarre by asking the patients to click the pictures of X-rays on smartphones instead of accessing a hard copy report.

According to the reports, the government employees at the hospital in Patiala city of Punjab published an announcement asking its patients to get smartphones during X-ray scanning. “Only those who have smartphones should come for X-ray”, the announcement at the district-run hospital named Mata Kaushalya Hospital read.

The hospital staff members claimed that they usually issue the announcement when the hospital is out of X-ray films. As a result of this bizarre attitude, the majority of poor patients are left unattended since they do not own cell phones. Notably, X-ray is a frequent non-abrasive imaging technique used by doctors to inspect the interior of your body.

One of the patients named Fuljaria Devi talked to Tribune India to reveal that she was allegedly denied treatment by the hospital for not owning a smartphone but a keypad phone. The 53-year-old lady said that she works as a construction labourer and can’t afford a smartphone. “My son works near the Focal Point. Only he has a smartphone. Now, I will have to get my son to get my X-ray done”, she added.

Another patient Manjit Kaur, a daily-wager said, “I do not have a smartphone. I have pleaded with many people for help but no one is ready”. Meanwhile, a senior doctor who is supposed to check X-rays on the smartphone stated that this was an unfortunate situation demanding patients to go through a mess. “X-ray is not visible on smartphones and we often face difficulties in diagnosing the patients”, he added.

Ironically, the Health Minister had only recently visited the hospital. However, Dr Sandeep Kaur, Medical Superintendent of Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital praised this act of the hospital and said that it does nothing but save money. “If a patient does not have a smartphone, our X-ray department personnel will email the images immediately to the doctor”, he added.

As rumours of a military coup in China turns out to be false, here is how the claims of house arrest of Xi Jinping went viral

OpIndia Staff
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As rumours of a military coup in China turns out to be false, here is how the claims of house arrest of Xi Jinping went viral

Amid large-scale cancellations of flights at Beijing airport and massive military build-up in Beijing, rumours about a coup in China are going around for the last few days. It has been claimed by many that President Xi Jinping has been removed from the post, and that he has been put under house arrest by PLA. However, nothing has been confirmed till now, and probably the rumours are not true.

In the last few days, several Chinese social media handles had claimed that Xi Jinping has been stripped of his military powers and is under house arrest. It was claimed that the ‘coup’ took place when the Chinese premier was in Samarkand in Uzbekistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. According to the rumours, when Jinping was in Samarkand, his distractors in the party convinced the party’s top leadership to remove Jinping from the leadership of the army.

According to News Highland Vision, former Chinese President Hu Jintao and former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had persuaded Song Ping, the former member of the Politburo Standing Committee to take the control of the Central Guard Bureau (CGB) from Jinping.

Central Guard Bureau is a specialised organisation responsible for the protection of senior party members including Jinping, their families, and important foreign dignitaries in China.

After control of CGB was taken away from Jinping, the Politburo Standing Committee abolished Xi’s military authorities, it was claimed.

When Xi Jinping found out about the development, he immediately returned to Beijing, but he was apprehended at the airport on 16th September and was put under house arrest at Zhongnanhai, the rumours claimed. It is notable that the central headquarters for the Chinese Communist Party, the State Council of China, and the office of the Chinese Premier among other offices are located at Zhongnanhai in Beijing. It is also being said that the current situation in China is being controlled by former president Hu Jintao.

To add fuel to the rumour, a video was shared widely on social media claiming that it showed a large contingent of Chinese People’s Liberation Army left for Beijing, and the convoy was 80 km long.

Among many others, this claim with the video was also shared by Chinese activist Wanjun Xie. He wrote that the front of the convoy had reached Huailai near Beijing, while the end was at Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province, and therefore the convoy was 80 km road.

However, the video shared with the claim is less than 1 minute long which shows few military vehicles on the road, therefore the claim of an 80 km long military convoy could not be proven.

Another event that added to the speculation was the large-scale cancellation of flights at Beijing airport. It has been reported by many that around 6000 flights have been cancelled at the airport, with the claim that the flights over Beijing have been cancelled for military operations in view of the coup. Some reports said that 60% of flights were cancelled instead of 6000.

While other claims are hard to verify as getting information out of China is difficult, this claim actually can be easily verified, as flights are tracked by several websites. And we have found that the claims of cancellations are correct. Flight tracking site flightradar24 shows that Beijing Capital International Airport has come to almost a standstill as relatively very few flights landed at and took off from the airport.

The portal also shows that a large number of flights scheduled at the airport are either cancelled or their status is unknown. On the other hand, the portal shows that other major airports in China, like Shanghai and Hong Kong are operating normally.

Therefore, the claim that Beijing airport has seen a large number of flight cancellations is true, which can be verified from flight tracking sites.

However, it can’t be verified whether the cancellations are linked to the alleged coup in Beijing, or it is due to other reasons. There are some reports claiming that the flights were cancelled due to a military exercise which was announced in advance.

Activist and author Jennifer Zeng, who had also made the claim on the 80 km long military convoy to Beijing, tweeted today that the rumour about Xi’s arrest is not true.

However, even if the rumours of the coup are false, there are enough pointers showing that something could be brewing in Beijing. Xi Jinping attended the SCO summit, but he was not present at the dinner attended by other leaders. Covid-19 was cited as the reason for the absence, but it didn’t convince everyone.

It is also being claimed that Xi Jinping was also not present at a high-level meeting on National Defence and Military Reform in Beijing on Wednesday. Although he was already back in Beijing from Uzbekistan, he didn’t attend the meeting which was attended by several senior military leaders, like Army Commander Liu Zhenli, and General Li Qiaoming, in charge of the Theatre Command of the North.

However, there are reports of Xi Jinping addressing the conference, which means that he did attend it, and the reports of him skipping the meeting could be incorrect.

Amid all the rumours, what is interesting is that Beijing has not issued any statement on the issue so far. However, sources in the Argentine embassy in China have categorically denied the claims. It is also notable that the ‘news’ of the coup was posted on social media by mostly Chinese activists living outside China, and anti-China Twitter handles from Nepal and Taiwan. Therefore, the veracity of the rumours was doubtful from the beginning, and by now it is almost certain that they were wrong, and Xi Jinping remains the President of China.

Climate activist sets himself on fire at the Laver Cup: Here are 5 occasions when climate protestors disrupted major sporting events in 2022

Dibakar Dutta
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Climate activist sets himself on fire at the Laver Cup: Here are 5 occasions when climate protestors disrupted major sporting events in 2022

On Friday (September 23), a climate activist invaded a tennis match at the Laver Cup in London and set his arm on fire. The incident took place at the O2 Arena in London during the ongoing 5th edition of the Laver Cup tournament.

In a video that had surfaced on social media, the activist could be seen rushing to the court and setting his right arm ablaze. In the process, he also set fire to the playing surface.

The man was seen wearing a white shirt that read ‘End UK Private Jets’. This led to a security scare as the incident occurred during an ongoing match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman.

The climate activist was then escorted out by security officials while the crowd booed him for disrupting the match. Fans were miffed at the fact that the man found legendary tennis player Roger Federer’s last tournament to play spoilsport.

However, this is not the first time that a climate change activist resorted to such theatrics to draw eyeballs. There have been at least 4 occasions in this year alone where ‘saviours of climate’ disrupted elite sporting events to supposedly raise awareness about the changing climate.

Protestor ties herself to the net during 2022 French Open

In another protest at a tennis event, in June this year, a female activist disrupted the semi-final match of the French Open, which was being played between Marin Cilic and Casper Ruud.

With little to no security protocols in place, the climate activist was able to quietly walk to the tennis court and glued herself to the net. The woman was seen wearing a T-Shirt that read, “We have 1028 days left” on both sides. Reportedly, it was in reference to a United Nations report on climate change.

The incident left both players in a state of shock, who then quickly returned to their dressing rooms. After surrounding the activist and untangling her from the net, the security officials escorted her off the court.

After an intermission of about 15 minutes, the play resumed and Casper Ruud managed to clinch the match. In a statement, the Tennis Federation said, “An environmental activist managed to get onto Philippe Chatrier Court and attached herself to the net with metal wires and glue.”

“The young woman, of French nationality, entered the grounds with a valid ticket early in the day. She was then handed over to the police,” it further added.

Climate activists ambush Tour De France

A month later in July 2022, a group of 9 climate activists ambushed the prestigious bicycle race, Tour de France. The incident took place during Stage 10 of the race.

The protestors belonged to a climate group named ‘Dernière Rénovation’, which demanded the renovation of all buildings by the French government for energy efficiency by 2040.

In a viral video, Italian cyclist Alberto Bettiol was seen steering his way through a thick smoke of colourful fumes and climate activists, squatting on the race track. The protestors were seen wearing T-shirts that read, “We have 989 days left.”

The race had to be paused for 15 minutes, during which the local police arrested the activists. Alice, one of the disruptors, claimed, “The reality is that the world towards which politicians are sending us is a world in which the Tour de France can no longer exist. We must act and enter into civil resistance today to save what remains to be saved.”

Protestors sit on track of the British Grand Prix

In the same month, climate activists belonging to ‘Just Stop Oil’ managed to invade the British Grand Prix circuit, despite warnings both by Northamptonshire and Silverstone Police based on Intelligence reports.

A group of 5 activists breached security protocols and invaded the fastest point of the British Grand Prix track, Wellington Straight. They were dragged off the track by security staff and later arrested by the Northamptonshire police.

The climate activists demanded a halt on all new gas and oil projects in the United Kingdom and threatened further disruptions in case of non-compliance by the British government.

Louis Mckechnie (21), who was part of the group, claimed, “I’m in resistance because I cannot stand by while our government licenses new oil and gas projects. Our addiction to oil has brought us to the brink of catastrophe”

“Millions of people face starvation globally as a result of climate breakdown and the fossil-fuelled war in Ukraine. Hungry people are rioting, economies are collapsing – this is what happens when you run out of food,” he alleged.

In a statement, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) informed that the protestors were removed from the circuit. It stated, “We confirm that after the red flag, several people attempted to enter the track. These people were immediately removed and the matter is now being dealt with by the local authorities.”

Chief Inspector Tom Thompson, event commander, expressed disappointment that the climate activists ignored warnings and took the dangerous decision to enter the tracks.

Climate activist ties his neck to the goalpost

Louis Mckenchie, who disrupted the British Grand Prix, had also invaded a premier league match between Everton and Newcastle United in March this year. To everyone’s shock, he ran onto the field and tied himself to a goalpost in the middle of the match.

Mckenchie wore a T-Shirt that read, ‘Just Stop Oil’. Reportedly, it took bolt croppers and more than 6 people to remove the strap from around his neck. After being taken off the ground, the climate change activist was arrested by the police.

Angry fans were seen throwing objects at the activist, with one fan rushing to the ground to attack him.

In a statement, Merseyside Police said, “We can confirm a man was arrested after encroaching onto the pitch during the Everton v Newcastle United Premier League fixture. At around 8:55 pm it was reported that a man disrupted the match by running onto the pitch and tying himself to the goalpost at the Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End.”

“The suspect, a 21-year-old man, has been arrested on suspicion of pitch encroachment and he is now in police custody. The game resumed and has now concluded,” it added.

Stunned by the incident, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe blamed the theatrics of the activist for disrupting the momentum of the game. Howe said, “I’ve never seen anything like that. At first, I didn’t realise what was happening to start with. It was a big delay.”

Conclusion

There has been an increase in the number of such coordinated acts of disruption at major events. The disruptive protests by unruly climate change activists are increasingly drawing the ire of common people, including those who might have been sympathetic to the cause. With no clear goals in sight and unjustified use of disruption, the champions of climate activism are now finding themselves on shaky ground.

More than 4,800 Shias killed in sectarian violence in Pakistan over past 8 years: Report

OpIndia Staff
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More than 4,800 Shias killed in sectarian violence in Pakistan over past 8 years: Report

The country of Pakistan is experiencing many fault lines that are hindering the country’s already strained economy, including a collapse in internal law and order, further offering huge difficulties to the government and the system. Amid this, reports have emerged claiming that Sunni factions in Pakistan are threatening Shias, Ahmadis, and non-Muslim minorities, and are being supported by the military and governmental establishment.

A Canada-based think tank named IFFRAS recently stated that sectarian violence in Pakistan might grow due to political instability and the ongoing economic slump. According to the International Crisis Group (ICG) research report issued on September 5, sectarian militancy now spans the spectrum of Sunni Islamist organizations, including supporters of the more moderate Barelvi sub-sect, who are estimated to comprise a thin majority of Pakistan’s population.

Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, a well-known defence expert, warned in 2020 about the resurgence of sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shias in Karachi and other major centres in Sindh and Punjab. She said that between 2001 and 2018, Pakistan allegedly saw the massacre of about 4,847 Shias in sectarian violence, as IFFRAS previously documented.

Besides from that, Pakistan’s recent terrible floods have given escalated signals to the world indicating the fall of Islamabad. According to the ICG assessment, which was released in early September of this year, these new organizations, though distinct in many respects, were responsible for some of the country’s greatest inter-communal violence in recent years.

“Muslim minorities, particularly Shias, are deeply vulnerable. Vigilantism is dangerous as hardliners mobilize around allegations of blasphemy to gain political clout”, the report warned.

The persecution of Shia Muslims in Sunni-majority Pakistan is not a new phenomenon. Shias who constitute 20% of the Muslims in Pakistan and are often targeted during Islamic religious processions. While there has been a general decline in violence against Shiites since 2013, sectarian attacks continue unabated in several pockets of the country.

Though both Shia and Sunni Muslims had supported the partition of India to create a Muslim country for themselves known as Pakistan, there has been a lot of enmity between these two sects of Islam, not just in Pakistan, but in many Islamic countries.

The origin of the Sunni militancy may be traced back to the Sunni-Shia conflict in Pakistan which emerged shortly after independence. According to IFFRAS, several Deobandi preachers urged attacks on Shia procession and authored anti-Shia literature and tracts. Sunni militancy rose to prominence under President Zia-ul Haq’s term, with the army actively sponsoring an anti-Shia organization named Anjuman Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan.

Actor John Cusack hails Rahul Gandhi over container yatra: As allegations of paid tweet emerge, here’s his anti-India, anti-Modi and anti-Semitic antecedents

Jhankar Mohta
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Actor John Cusack hails Rahul Gandhi over container yatra: As allegations of paid tweet emerge, here’s his anti-India, anti-Modi and anti-Semitic antecedents

On Saturday, September 24, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and political ‘activist’ John Cusack took to Twitter to hail Senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, who has embarked on a ‘Bharat Jodo’ (join India) yatra in a fleet of containers where he is travelling across India with other Congress leaders and supporters ahead of 2024 general elections.

“Indian parliament member Rahul Gandhi is walking to Kashmir – from Kerala -“, the American actor’s Tweet filled with adulation for the Congress leader read.

In yet another gimmick ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with his other party members and workers embarked on a 3,570-km march on Wednesday (September 7). Dubbed ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Rahul Gandhi and 118 other Congress leaders are planning to walk 22-23 km daily in two batches, one from 7 am – 10:30 am and again from 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm. 

However, here it becomes imperative to note that this supposed ‘foot march’ is also accompanied by a convoy of 59 containers. The luxurious containers are equipped with air conditioners and modern amenities. One of them has even been turned into a mini-conference hall. Rahul Gandhi, the leader spearheading the padyatra, has a container to himself.

Cusack, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS, overlooked all of these facts, for obvious reasons, and went on to applaud the Congress prince for ‘walking’ from Kerala to Kashmir. This prompted some Twitter users to speculate if Cusack’s tweet was paid.

One Twitter user mocked Cusack by asking how much Rahul Gandhi paid him for the tweet.

Others criticised the American actor, noting problematic statements and controversies he has been involved in the past.

John Cosack and his disparaging remarks against India and PM Modi

John Cusack, Twitter’s self-described “apocalyptic s**t disturber,” is well-known for his controversial beliefs and statements. The American actor is also a vocal critic of PM Modi. Despite having no business commenting on India’s internal affairs, Cusack has never shied away from criticising the BJP government at the centre and the Indian Prime Minister.

Last year, sharing a report by the leftist news website The Caravan about groups in the US linked to the RSS once backing Democrat Tulsi Gabbard in her bid for the party’s presidential nomination, the far-left actor tweeted, “Hope modi goes the way of Trump sooner or later.”

Much like the Indian coterie of ‘liberals’ and leftists who take great delight in discrediting India globally and do not hesitate to fabricate and distort news denigrating Modi and his government, Cusack, too, has indulged in exploiting incidents like the 2022 Karnataka Burqa row, the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots, the anti-CAA violence, the farmer’s protest etc to attack the Modi government.

Recently, when the Hijab controversy erupted in Karnataka, the American actor tweeted, “Fascists versus a lone Muslim woman in Karnataka, India. Looks like the same kind of fascism spreading everywhere.” He shared a tweet by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, wherein he exploited the Hijab row and play the victim card.

During the Delhi riots last year, which coincided with Donald Trump’s visit to India, Cusack referred to the violence as “fascism”. He had tweeted “This is fascism – while trump modi declare they themselves the state – Delhi burns Savage crackdown widens – no achievable goal except humiliation and terror…” 

In 2020, Cusack took a jibe at PM Modi by sharing his image and Nazi ruler Hitler side-by-side. Though he did not title his post, it was clear that he was attempting to equate the two. The post was published at a time when the left-liberals were disseminating false propaganda and indulging in fear-mongering as the centre announced the implementation of the historic Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The actor had also retweeted several reports of the violence in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in 2020. To bolster his anti-Modi crusade, he even retweeted a statement by Rahul Gandhi in which the Congress leader said, “The brutal attack on JNU students & teachers by masked thugs, that has left many seriously injured, is shocking. The fascists in control of our nation, are afraid of the voices of our brave students. Today’s violence in JNU is a reflection of that fear.

In 2019, John Cusack also extended solidarity with “Muslim brothers and sisters of the Jamia Millia Islamia University” whom he claimed were ‘brutalised’ by Modi. He had tweeted a quote by Arundhati Roy and posted the message, “Stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters and students in solidarity being brutalized by Modi.”

In May 2019, Cusack tweeted Modi was “like Trump but a far smarter therefore more dangerous…”. Cusack had tweeted, “Modi – from India ? – the rss guy – who literally was trained up by open fascists- who over Gujarat  ( spelling?)   assacres- he’s like trump but a far smarter therefore more dangerous strain of kitsch.”

The American actor has on several occasions expressed his adulation for anti-India propagandist Arundhati Roy. In fact, in the year 2020, Cusack told the media, “I Have Gotten To Know India Through Arundhati Roy’s Eyes”. When IANS asked about his understanding of India, Cusack said: “I’ve been there a few times and I have a great friendship with (author) Arundhati Roy.”

Apart from interfering in India’s internal affairs, the American actor turned ‘activist’ has been a vocal critic of former US President Donald Trump. On several occasions, the actor has gone on to compare Trump with Hitler. In fact, ahead of the US presidential elections, John Cusack had said that he will no longer speak to anybody who is not “aggressively anti-Trump.”

The actor had taken to Twitter to assert that he would be blocking anyone who isn’t entirely opposed to Donald Trump ahead of the forthcoming US presidential election.

“I’m blocking anyone who isn’t aggressively anti trump untill election is over,” Cusack wrote. “Sorry, no time for your BS.”

In another tweet, Cusack said he was “done permanently” with those who supported the current president. “I’m sure you’ve all been through it with some family co workers – or friends,” he said.

“Those who cannot see or choose not to see what [Trump] is, we are done talking – permanently.”

John Cusack irks fans with his anti-semitic tweet

In fact, the actor’s timeline has been relentlessly problematic. In 2019, the American actor was in the eyes of the storm for retweeting an anti-Semitic meme.

The inflammatory tweet, which has since been deleted, showed a black-and-white cartoon showing a gigantic hand smashing a multitude of feeble-looking individuals beneath it, with a blue Star of David imposed on the sleeve.  

A remark ascribed to 18th-century French philosopher Voltaire accompanied the image, “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” The phrase’s origin can be traced to white nationalist and neo-Nazi Kevin Alfred Strom.

Cusack had apparently retweeted the offensive Tweet with a caption that read, “Follow the money.” Cusack was met with backlash from fans and followers who identified the blatant anti-Semitic connotation in the image.

At first, Cusack claimed he tweeted the image to criticise an Israeli military action. However, after several rounds of clarification and justifications, Cusack had ultimately conceded the original retweet was indeed anti-Semitic.

When the American actor called Hollywood a ‘whorehouse’

John Cusack, best known for his roles in epic films such as Say Anything, Better Off Dead, Bullets Over Broadway, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, and many more, took a break from acting in 2016 and sold all of his properties in California, including his Malibu home, which he purchased in 1999, and returned to his home state of Illinois.

Even during his stint in Hollywood prior to him taking a break in 2016, the actor made several very controversial statements, which may have attributed to his career’s decline during the last decade.

In fact in 2014, in an interview with The Guardian about his involvement in the Hollywood satire Map to the Stars, John Cusack went on to call Hollywood a ‘whorehouse’ while opinioning how bizarre and terrifying the world of Hollywood can be.

“The culture just eats young actors up and spits them out. It’s a hard thing to survive without finding safe harbor. It’s a whorehouse and people go mad,” the actor had said.

The actor cum ‘activist’ interviews Edward Snowden, the former intelligence consultant who leaked classified data from the NSA

John Cusack is known to be an outspoken social and political activist. In 2010, a controversy erupted after Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal all stopped taking payments from Wikileaks. The notion that large payment organisations could inflict such a blow to Wikileaks in order to silence an unpopular arm of the press irritated many individuals, including Cusack. As a result, they established the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

In line with his ‘activism’, he travelled to Russia in 2014 with novelist Arundhati Roy and economist Daniel Ellsberg to interview Edward Snowden, the former NSA consultant and data privacy advocate who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency and was forced to flee the country.

Rajasthan: Police issues notice to Hinglaj Mata temple in Barmer, restricts dharmic activities in the temple ahead of Navratri

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Police issues notice to Hinglaj Mata temple in Barmer, restricts dharmic activities in the temple ahead of Navratri

On Friday, the Rajasthan Police issued a notice to the Hinglaj Mata temple in Barmer restricting it from carrying out any dharmic activities in the temple ahead of the Hindu festival of Navratri. The letter asked the temple authorities to take prior permission before conducting any dharmic activity on the premises during the Hindu festival.

The incident came to light when former MP Tarun Vijay tweeted the official letter copy and slammed the Congress government for calling for a ban on dharmic activities in the state of Rajasthan. “A black day for Hindus. Rajasthan’s Cong govt bans all dharmic activities in India’s largest Hinglaj Mata temple Barmer under a fake pretext. What Baweja and Shehbaz didn’t do to Balochistan Hinglaj Mata mandir, Gehlot did in Rajasthan. Protest as much as you can”, he tweeted.

The letter signed by SHO Barmer Kotwali cited that there were ongoing internal issues in the Hindu community who are the devotees of the temple. The police stated the probability of issues being escalated and the creation of a disturbance on a larger scale in the city was imminent.

“Ahead of Navratri, the Hinglaj temple authorities shall not conduct any dharmic activities. If the authorities wish to organize dharmic and cultural programs during the festival, they shall take official permission from the Police. In the absence of permission, the authorities shall face legal action by the Police in this respect,” the letter directed to the President of the temple trust read.

Navratri, one of India’s most famous and widely celebrated festivities, is celebrated with great grandeur each year. The Hindu community traditionally observes it for nine nights and ten days, during which the nine manifestations of Goddess Durga are honoured. This year, Navratri begins on September 26 with the puja of Shailputri (one of the goddess’s nine forms) and concludes on October 5 with Durga Visarjan and Dussehra festivities.

Rana Ayyub defends PFI’s plan to turn India into an Islamic nation: How Islamists are now shedding all pretence of being “moderate”

Nupur J Sharma
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Rana Ayyub defends PFI’s plan to turn India into an Islamic nation: How Islamists are now shedding all pretence of being “moderate”

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted several raids on locations linked to the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) across several states, including Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana, between September 21 and September 22.

The agency detained 106 cadres across the country, including senior organisation officials. According to sources, the searches were carried out by combined teams of the NIA, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the relevant State Police, and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs were monitoring the organization’s actions.

Several revelations have since come to the fore by the investigating agencies since then, including how PFI was encouraging Muslim youth to join terror organisations like ISIS and Al Qaeda, and how they were setting up training centres to plan an attack against PM Modi during one of his Bihar rallies and their bone-chilling plans to convert India into an Islamic nation. The PFI, on its part, has been holding violent protests in several parts of the nation. Cars have been torched, public property vandalised and RSS and BJP officers have been targeted by PFI Islamists as well.

Amid the ongoing crackdown against the radical Islamist outfit, there are several Muslim “intellectuals” who have come out in support of PFI. One of the foremost defenders of Islamists, Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub, tweeted vehemently in an attempt to draw false equivalences and defend PFI’s plan to turn India into an Islamic nation.

Sharing the news of NIA and ED revelations about PFI wanting to turn India into an Islamic nation, Rana Ayyub tweeted, “While Right wing bigots in presence of cops and cameras take oath in the National capital to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra”.

Essentially, what Rana Ayyub meant was that if Hindus have the right to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra, then Muslims essentially should have the same right to turn India into an Islamic nation. While Rana Ayyub constantly whines about Hindus, Hindutva and Hindu Nationalism, she tacitly ended up defending PFI in their attempt to turn India into an Islamic nation.

What Rana Ayyub seems to have forgotten is that Islamists already tore India into two, to carve out a Muslim nation. India, a civilisational Hindu land is already Hindu Rashtra by that measure. Muslims had, at that time, demanded a Nation of Islam because of the two-nation theory, essentially saying that the fact that Muslims follow Islam, means that they are a nation unto themselves and therefore cannot coexist with Hindus in India. Because of the pandering of the Muslim community at that time, they managed to demand and carve out an Islamic nation out of India.

In fact, after the partition, several leaders were in support of the full exchange of population, including leaders like BR Ambedkar. In his book on Partition, Ambedkar clearly outlines how and why he was in favour of a full population exchange between India and Pakistan, which would essentially mean that all Hindus and other religious factions other than Muslims would come back to India and all Muslims from India would go to Pakistan. In fact, he had even written a basic framework on how the issues arising out of full population exchange could be dealt with. 

Sardar Patel had, even after the partition spoken extensively about how Muslims had helped create Pakistan. His famous quote from his speech in Kolkata, 1948, bears testament to the fact. He had said, “Most of the Muslims who have stayed back in Hindustan, helped in creating Pakistan. Now, I don’t understand what has changed in one night that they are asking us not to doubt their loyalty”. 

In 1950, an accord was signed between Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan where each side pledged to secure its minorities and give equality of citizenship regardless of religion. Both sides promised to help recover looted property, assist in the recovery of abducted women and not recognise conversions made during communal disturbances.

Essentially, Jawaharlal Nehru scuttled the de facto population exchange with the 1950 Accord. After the Accord was signed, Muslims, who had left West Bengal, returned and Nehru ensured that their property was restored to them. However, the travesties heaped on the Hindus continue to this day, unabated in Islamic Nations like Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Given that Muslims of the time got Pakistan, the land of Islam, for themselves and it was only Nehru who scuttled the population exchange, India, by all accounts, is already a Hindu civilisational state – one can certainly choose to call it a Hindu Rashtra – a natural home for Hindus with an intrinsically Hindu consciousness. Therefore, it is insanity to compare Hindus calling India a “Hindu Rashtra” with PFI wanting to turn India into an Islamic nation. In fact, if we want an example of what an Islamic nation truly looks like since PFI wants to establish an Islamic constitution according to their Vision 2047 document, one only needs to look toward Afghanistan and its condition after its takeover by the Taliban.

Further, PFI is not only talking about converting India into an Islamic nation but has also, extensively, spoken about the genocide of Hindus. Apart from the various murders in which PFI cadres have been indicted, they released a Vision 2047 document, where they spoke about giving Muslim cadre arms training and murdering Hindus who oppose their cause.

By defending PFI’s plan to turn India into an Islamic nation, Rana Ayyub tacitly extends support to the genocidal plans of PFI – whether she does this knowingly or unknowingly, we leave it up to the readers to decide.

There were other Islamists who also defended the PFI. One of them being Sharjeel Usmani.

“Only Muslim organisations have condemned the state witch-hunt against PFI. Mainly because Muslim organisations do understand the ease with which they can be linked with terrorism. The ease is only because people actually believe it much before the allegations are even made”, Usmani tweeted.

Terming the crackdown against PFI as a “witch-hunt”, Usmani essentially said that Muslim organisations are branded “terrorist organisations” even before allegations of terrorism are made. Essentially, Usmani raised doubts on the veracity of the investigation about PFI being involved in terror activities and furthered the victim narrative that they were being targeted simply because it was a Muslim organisation.

The rap sheet of PFI is several miles long and there is no argument that PFI has been involved in Islamic violence, and even terrorist activities. For Usmani to insinuate that the allegations are incorrect comes simply from his deep-seated hatred for Hindus and his support for the Islamic action against the Kafirs, as proven earlier.

After publicly subscribing to the secessionist ideology of Sharjeel Imam, who had urged Muslims to cut off North-East India from the rest of the country by blocking the Chicken’s Neck, Newslaundry columnist and Islamist Sharjeel Usmani had glorified Islamist Shahrukh Pathan, accused of opening fire on Delhi police during the anti-Hindu riots that had broken out in the national capital in the last week of February this year. 

Sharing an article which said that the accused Shahrukh Pathan, who intended to be a hero by taking up arms during the anti-CAA riots in Delhi will have to face the law, Usmani lavished praises on the accused rioters, saying that he is proud of Shahrukh, who ‘fought for his community’ (Muslims) when the entire state machinery and ‘Hindutva army’ was apparently ‘killing and looting’ them.

“I am proud of Shahrukh Bhai. he fought for the community when the entire state machinery and Hindutva army was involved in killing and looting our community. He is our hero!” tweeted Sharjeel Usmani.

Earlier too, Usmani had no qualms in associating himself with those accused of making provocative and seditious speeches under the pretext of carrying out peaceful protests against the CAA. The ideological compatriot of Sharjeel Imam, Sharjeel Usmani, has announced his intentions of using Muslims as the fifth column in the country to undermine Indian interests. Shortly after Imam’s arrest, Usmani waged a propaganda war on the country to smear India’s image abroad. Sharjeel Usmani announced that he, along with two of his friends, will put English subtitles on the videos of ‘hate crimes’ against Muslims in India to circulate them among social media influencers for wider global reach.

After the incendiary speeches of Sharjeel Imam had gone viral on social media, Sharjeel Usmani rushed in to defend him. He had urged Muslims to not disassociate themselves from the JNU scholar and declared that he was ‘in this together’ with the radical Islamists. Sharjeel Imam also played a critical role in organizing the Shaheen Bagh protests and weaponizing blockades in order to make the state bend to Islamist demands was his idea.

With the Modi government cracking down against PFI and its terrorists, one can only expect the propaganda war unleashed by Islamists to grow louder. It is rather evident that the Islamist “intellectuals” who were pretending to be “moderate” have now decided to drop all of their pretences and come out in the open to support Islamic terrorists. There could be an upside to this – those trying to weaken India are out in the open.

UP government approves legislation prohibiting anticipatory bail to accused in crime against women and children

OpIndia Staff
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UP government approves legislation prohibiting anticipatory bail to accused in crime against women and children

On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh government led by CM Yogi Adityanath adopted zero tolerance toward crime against women and children. The government passed the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2022, which bars anticipatory bail for persons convicted of crimes against women and children.

The Bill, which abolished anticipatory bail for people convicted of heinous crimes against women, was introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly at the request of CM Yogi Adityanath. The bill allows for amendments to the CrPC’s provisions.

According to reports, the bill will be amended to add a provision banning anticipatory bail for people charged with grave crimes against women such as rape, gang rape, and sexual misconduct. Suspects apprehended under the POCSO Act will not be granted bail either.

The amendment bill seeks to alter the POCSO Act and Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This implies that if a person is arrested for a serious crime against a woman, they will not be eligible for anticipatory release. According to the UP administration, the amendment bill is being introduced in conformity with the state’s zero-tolerance policy for crimes against women and children.

“In pursuance of zero-tolerance policy towards crimes against women and children, to ensure prompt collection of evidence in sexual offences, to prevent such evidence from being annihilated, to minimize the possibility of destruction of evidence, and to restrain the accused from causing fear and coercion to the victim /witnesses, it has been decided to amend the section 438 of Code of Criminal Procedure 1973″, the bill read.

The reform might be a turning point in eliminating coercion of witnesses and victims as well as suspected manipulation of evidence.

Ankita Bhandari murder case: BJP expels Vinod Arya and Ankit Arya, father and brother of main accused Pulkit Arya; locals torch resort in anger

OpIndia Staff
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Ankita Bhandari murder case: BJP expels Vinod Arya and Ankit Arya, father and brother of main accused Pulkit Arya; locals torch resort in anger

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has expelled Vinod Arya and Ankit Arya, the father and brother of primary accused Pulkit Arya in the Ankita Bhandari murder case in Uttarakhand. This comes after Uttarakhand police arrested Pulkit Arya and two staff of the resort he owns on allegations of murdering Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at the same resort.

In a letter dated September 24, Rajendra Singh Bisht, State General Secretary of BJP shared this information. In the letter, Rajendra Singh stated that on directions of State President Dr Mahendra Bhat, Dr Vinod Arya and Dr Ankit Arya are expelled from the party with immediate effect.

As per reports, the angry locals set fire to the resort after the incident. This happened when the resort was already under demolition on the instructions of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. The CM has also ordered all the district magistrates to take appropriate action against all such unlawfully operating resorts in the state.

The Chief Minister has ordered an investigation of all state resorts. He emphasised that information on employee working conditions at hotels, resorts, and guest houses around the state should be gathered and that complaints in this regard should be taken seriously. Following the arrest of three people in the Ankita Bhandari case yesterday (September 23), CM Dhami stated that such crimes will be pursued strictly.

Ankita Bhandari murder case

Three people were arrested by the Uttarakhand Police on Friday, September 23, in connection with the murder case of Ankita Bhandari, who vanished from a Pauri district resort five days earlier. The three people who were detained have been identified as resort manager Ankit, Saurabh, and Pulkit Arya, the son of former state politician Vinod Arya.

Ankita apparently had a receptionist role at Pulkit Arya’s Vanantra resort in Ganga Bhojpur, a property in the Yamkeshwar Vidhan Sabha. She was reported missing for five days before the news of her murder broke. The police had launched an investigation after the girl’s family reported a missing case and feared murder.

According to the perpetrators, Ankita was murdered following an altercation during which she refused the resort owner’s demand for sexual favours for himself and his visitors at the property.

The three accused were questioned by police, who testified that Ankita Bhandari was killed. The three suspects, according to ASP Shekhar Suyal, killed the girl and dumped her into the Rishikesh Chila barrage.

The Poona Pact—The one thing that Gandhi did not get wrong: All you need to know

Jinit Jain
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The Poona Pact—The one thing that Gandhi did not get wrong: All you need to know

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi may have presided over countless blunders. Be it betraying Hindus in the name of unity by supporting the Khilafat movement or delaying India’s independence by calling off public movements such as the Non-Cooperation and the Civil Disobedience when they were beginning to gather steam. But one thing that Gandhi did not get wrong was the Poona Pact. 

On 24 September 1932, Gandhi signed a historic agreement with Dr BR Ambedkar, dubbed The Poona Pact—that ensured adequate representation for the ‘depressed classes’ in the legislature of British India. 

The background to the Poona Pact was the Communal Award of August 1932, which sought to grant separate electorates to depressed classes for the election of members of provincial legislative assemblies in British India. 

Gandhi vigorously opposed the move, viewing it as yet another attempt by the wily Britishers to perpetuate social divisions and strengthen their precarious grip over the country. He was against the prospect of terming ‘depressed classes’ as outside the purview of Hindu society. He believed that a separate electorate for them implied that they were considered outside the Hindu fold. 

In a bid to oppose the Communal Award, Gandhi launched a fast unto death whilst being lodged in Yerwada Central Jail in Poona, India. Gandhi and Ambedkar did not see eye to eye on a separate electorate for Dalits. In the first Round Table Conference held in 1930, Dr Ambedkar demanded a separate electorate for the ‘Depressed classes’ whom he was representing. But Gandhi and the Congress Party saw the idea of separate electorates for any class as an attempt to weaken and divide Indian society.

With the Communal Award, Gandhi saw the British once again using their infamous policy of Divide and Rule to secure their interest and further their rule in the country. He undertook fast unto death against Communal Award, which exerted public pressure on Ambedkar to step in and stop the fast.

Hence, on 24 September 1932, an agreement was signed between Gandhi and Dr Ambedkar that ended the former’s hunger strike. Dr Ambedkar signed the pact on behalf of depressed classes and Madan Mohan Malviya on behalf of upper caste Hindus. It was a explicit acceptance from the upper-class Hindus that the depressed classes made up the most discriminated sections of the Hindu society. It also acknowledged the need to provide something definite to the depressed classes to bolster their political representation and grant them an advantage to lift them from backwardness they would otherwise find incredibly difficult to overcome. 

Provisions of the Poona Pact

As per the provisions of the Poona Pact, seats reserved for the ‘depressed classes’ in Provincial Councils depended on the strength of the provinces. 30 seats were reserved in Madras, 8 in Punjab, 15 in Bombay and Sindh, and 20 in Central provinces. Bihar and Orissa had reserved 18 whereas 30 seats were reserved in Bengal. In United Provinces, 20 seats were reserved and 7 were reserved in Assam, capping the total number of reserved seats for the ‘depressed classes’ at 148. 

In the Central Legislature, 19 per cent of the seats would be reserved for the ‘depressed classes’. As per the Pact, the depressed classes who were eligible to vote would form an electoral college. The college would elect four candidates among the depressed classes on the basis of a single vote. The candidates with the four highest numbers of votes would form the panel of four.

Then, the four candidates would stand for elections with the general candidates for election to the assembly. Here, the general electorate would vote. Thus, in effect, the depressed classes got a ‘double vote’ as they formed a part of the general electorate also.

In the Central Assembly too, the same principle of ‘Joint electorate and reserved seats’ followed. It was agreed as per the provisions of the Pact that the system would continue for ten years unless it was ended by mutual consent sooner. It was also agreed upon to earmark a certain amount of money from the educational grant for the education of the ‘depressed classes’ in all the provinces. 

The provision also included non-discrimination of anybody on the basis of their belonging to the depressed classes in the matter of election to the local bodies or appointment to government service.

The Poona Pact not only provided adequate representation to the ‘depressed classes’ in Indian politics and helped mainstream them, but it also acted as a cornerstone of the Constitution of India, drafted by Dr BR Ambedkar.

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