Home Blog Page 3287

Yogi Adityanath and Lord Hanuman: How Sanjay Raut raked up an old lie to malign UP CM

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Yogi Adityanath and Lord Hanuman: How Sanjay Raut raked up an old lie to malign UP CM

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday peddled fake news against UP CM Yogi Adityanath, alleging that he called Lord Hanuman a Dalit who cannot be worshipped. The Shiv Sena leader made the statement on 30th April 2022 when he was asked for a reaction to Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey’s remarks that ‘Even Balasaheb Thackeray would be shedding tears to see his party’s government arresting people for reciting Hanuman Chalisa.’

Responding to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey’s remarks, Sanjay Raut said, “That Choubey or whosoever be the person, he should not worry about Balasaheb Thackeray. These people are conspiring to divide this country by inciting riots over the Hanuman Chalisa issue. Shiv Sena is fighting against them. Balasaheb Thackeray would be showering flowers on us for this.”

Sanjay Raut further said, “What did honourable Yogi Adityanath say about Lord Hanuman? Yogi Adityanath is the Chief Minister of the state Ashwini Kumar Choubey belongs to. He said Hanuman is a Dalit person. He said there is no need to worship him. He said Hanuman is not God. He said Hanuman is a wild monkey or something like that. Since when did he become a devotee of Bajrang Bali? Leave it. If I start telling things, it will create a mess.”

Sanjay Raut concluded by saying, “If someone making such statements is trying to teach us, then Ashwini Kumar Chaube should once again recite Yogi Chalisa. He should write one first. We know what Lord Hanuman is. Maharashtra is a state that worships Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman. So don’t worry about Balasaheb Thackeray. If at all he would be having a tear or two in his eyes today, it is because you people betrayed his Shiv Sena.”

How news organisations misinterpreted Yogi Adityanath’s statements on Lord Hanuman

The statement by Yogi Adityanath which Sanjay Raut is referring to is from 28th November 2018 when Yogi Adityanath was campaigning in Rajasthan for the BJP candidates in the assembly elections of 2018. He was campaigning for Ram Kishan who was then a BJP candidate for the Alwar assembly seat. Yogi Adityanath said, “Bajrang Bali is such a God of masses, who himself lives in mountains and forests. Be it a Dalit or a deprived person, everyone including all the Indians right from East to West and from North to South, Bajrang Bali unites them all. ” This is seen from 00:17 onwards in the following video.

While Yogi did call Lord Hanuman a god who lives in the forest, he did not call Him a Dalit. He, in fact, said that how Lord Hanuman does not discriminate amongst his devotees and takes all strata of people along.

As can be heard above, Yogi Adityanath said, “In Indian tradition, Bajrangbali is loved by all, lives in a forest and has no place to call it home. The Dalits, the deprived, He (Lord Hanuman) takes them all, everyone in the Indian community, from the north to the south, from the east to the west, together. Bajrangbali has carried out the task of uniting everyone. Hence, (voting for BJP) should be a Bajrangi sankalp (vow). Unlike Times Now, which has misquoted Yogi Adityanath.

While Yogi did call Lord Hanuman a god who lives in the forest, he did not call Him a Dalit. He, in fact, said that how Lord Hanuman does not discriminate against his devotees and takes all strata of people along.

Several recent arrests show that Saharanpur has become a safe heaven for illegal Bangladeshis and terrorists

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Several recent arrests show that Saharanpur has become a safe heaven for illegal Bangladeshis and terrorists

The Uttar Pradesh ATS team recently nabbed a Bangladeshi student staying at Darul Uloom in Deoband. The student was living there since 2015 using fake Indian IDs. He was suspected for a long time and finally, the ATS took action and arrested him. However, it is not a new thing in the Saharanpur district. The Saharanpur district houses Darul Uloom of Deoband which is known for the Islamic teachings it imparts to Muslims who reach there from different parts of the country.

Besides, many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, terrorists, and suspects have lived here for a long time in the past. Saharanpur is considered a very safe place to live in by these terrorists and ironically local intelligence seems to be unaware of the same. Every time a raid occurs and someone is detained or arrested, it is not by Deoband police but the other police or other investigation agencies.

Be it the alleged terrorists or Bangladeshis, they have always considered Saharanpur as a safe haven. The terrorists caught in different places of Saharanpur earlier are testimony to this. In most of the cases, police from other places or other agency has been taking action. Be it the local intelligence department or the police, these people do not even seem to be aware of the terrorists living there.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, a Bangladeshi father-son duo, who were caught in February 2021, were also arrested by the ATS Lucknow. Both the father and son had been living in Saharanpur since 1994 and had made Aadhaar, PAN cards, etc. of India. The call details of the accused made it clear that they were in touch with people living in many countries.

Recently, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police detained a Bangladeshi youth while carrying out an operation in Deoband on Thursday 28th April 2022 late in the night. According to the ATS, the student is a Bangladeshi national who had been living in Deoband since 2015 on the basis of fake documents by concealing his identity. He is from the Chittagong district of Bangladesh and he had made an Aadhaar card of Meghalaya in his name. Reportedly, the mobile phone that the ATS has found from him has revealed a lot of information exposing the said student’s suspicious activities in Pakistan.

This is not the first time that the ATS has arrested a student of Darul-Uloom Madrassa in Deoband. The ATS had arrested Bangladeshi Tanvir and his father Umar Mohammed from Nadeem Colony in the city in February 2021. During interrogation, the duo had said that they were from Bangladesh and before Saharanpur, they were living in the state of West Bengal, but the police there had sent them to jail. After coming out on bail, they had again come to Saharanpur. The accused had also claimed that Saharanpur was declared safe. So they came and started living in Saharanpur.

Past connection of the Saharanpur district and terrorists

Catching terrorists and Bangladeshis from Saharanpur became a normal thing much earlier. Two years ago, Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Shahnawaz Teli resident of Kulgam (Jammu and Kashmir), and Aaqib Ahmad Malik, a resident of Pulwama, both were arrested from Deoband. In 2019, the ATS sent five Bangladeshis from Deoband to jail after they were arrested. In 2016, special teams of Delhi Police nabbed Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Ejaz Sheikh from outside the Saharanpur railway station.

In 2010, Pakistani spy Shahid alias Iqbal Bhatti was arrested by the Patiala police from Haqeeqatnagar, who was living in the name of Devraj Sehgal. Dr. Irfan, a resident of Titoro, was caught in a bomb blast case in Ayodhya. In 2001, Mufti Israr was arrested in connection with terrorist activities. In 1994, three British nationals were held hostage in Khatakhedi by terrorists. Inspector Dhruvlal was martyred in an encounter to rescue them.

In 1991, a bomb exploded in Laxmi Cinema, in which about ten people were killed, at that time, the terrorists were said to have been involved in the incident. Kifayat Ullah alias Jafar Ahmed alias Ataur Rahman alias Al-Ullah was a resident of Mohalla Kasaban Sarsawa, who later went to Jammu and Kashmir and became a terrorist.

In the case of the arrest of a suspected Bangladeshi studying in Darul Uloom by the ATS, Bajrang Dal’s state convener Vikas Tyagi said that many times the suspects arrested from here have been linked to Darul Uloom Deoband and madrasas. Vikas Tyagi said that in the past, the names of terrorists and suspects have been repeatedly linked to Darul Uloom and Madarsas, which proves that Darul Uloom and Madarsas have a deep connection with terrorism. Vikas Tyagi also questioned under whose protection the arrested suspect has been living here for so long, who had given him shelter here, all this should be investigated and strict action should also be taken against those who harbor such suspects.

Vikas Tyagi demanded from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that the ATS center at Deoband should be built not anywhere else but on the premises of Darul Uloom. He demanded the government conduct search operations in madrasas including Darul Uloom and ban madrassas.

UK: Tribunal turns down plea to release letters between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, personal diaries of Lord Mountbatten

OpIndia Staff
-
0
UK: Tribunal turns down plea to release letters between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, personal diaries of Lord Mountbatten

A first-tier tribunal (information rights) in the United Kingdom has turned down a plea to release the personal letters exchanged between India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the wife of the last Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten between 1947 and 1960, reported The Times of India.

The plea was filed by a British author named Andrew Lownie. While hearing the matter, Judge Sophie Buckley noted that the letters are in possession of the Southampton University. She pointed out that the varsity is only ‘physically safeguarding the papers’ on behalf of Lord Brabourne.

The tribunal found that the Southampton University did not own the letters and that it had the option to purchase them for a sum of £100. Lownie, who spent a whopping £370,000 on legal fees, had also sought access to the personal diaries of Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina Mountbatten.

It must be mentioned that since November 2021, the varsity has released 35,000 papers related to Lord Mountbatten. About 150 passages were redacted by the Southampton University as they had direct references to the British Royal Family or had the potential to sour relations of the United Kingdom with both India and Pakistan.

While turning down the plea of the British author, the tribunal held that the redacted passages contain direct communication either with the Queen or contains personal information about the Royal household/Mountbatten family. Judge Sophie Buckle directed 2 redacted passages to be un-redacted, two passages to be partially un-redacted and the rest to remain unredacted.

Besides, two entries in Lord Mountbatten’s diaries (dated July 13 and August 6, 1947) and one entry in Edwina Mountbatten’s diary dated July 26, 1947, have been withheld for the same reason.

Southampton University, Lownie react to the tribunal ruling

‘I don’t think anything left is explosive. This was a great fight over nothing. “It’s a victory for other people that I got 35,000 pages released. I needed it for my book, which came out three years ago. I’ve done it for other scholars, and out of principle, and I have had to pay for it. It is of no personal use to me.” remarked Andrew Lownie.

While speaking about the matter, the British author informed that the withheld passages contained critical comments of Edwina Mountbatten about Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. “Edwina’s published diary is replete with references to Jinnah being a psychopath. I don’t think ties with Pakistan are going to be affected,” he emphasized.

A spokesperson for the Southampton University welcomed the verdict and concluded that the tribunal upheld the varsity’s decisions in balancing legal obligations. The official added that the University had tried to make the Broadlands Archive public but within its limits.

The relationship between Nehru and Edwina

There is no secret that there was an affair between Edwina, wife of Lord Mountbatten, and the first Prime Minister of Independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru. In an article in Daily Mail, it was described how Edwina fell in love with Nehru and how her promiscuity took a toll on her children. According to Lady Mountbatten’s daughter Pamela, “She found in Panditji [Nehru] the companionship and equality of spirit and intellect that she craved. Each helped overcome loneliness in the other.”

The relationship also found its way into the popular Netflix series ‘The Crown’, which is a historical drama that chronicles the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth and gives a glimpse into the personal life of the royals. Lord Mountbatten was also the uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and husband to Queen Elizabeth. There are a few references to Lord Mountbatten and India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the show.

In the first season’s first episode, during the wedding ceremony of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Winston Churchill appeared to be referring to Lord Mountbatten as the man who gave away India. In the same sequence, a few other people too said the same. In the second season, Lord Mountbatten appeared to accept the affair his wife had with Jawaharlal Nehru to Queen Elizabeth.

As Nisha Singh gets convicted of inciting violence, her glowing profile on AAP website goes missing: What we know so far

OpIndia Staff
-
0
As Nisha Singh gets convicted of inciting violence, her glowing profile on AAP website goes missing: What we know so far

The Aam Aadmi Party has removed references to Manish Sisodia’s aide Nisha Singh, the former councillor who was convicted on Thursday of instigating a mob against the Haryana Urban Development Authority anti-encroachment team in 2015.

The official website of the Aam Aadmi Party, which once hosted the profile of Nisha Singh, is scrubbed clean of the references to the leader, convicted, along with 17 others, for instigating a violent mob and attacking HUDA anti-encroachment team.

Searching about Nisha Singh on the official website of Aam Aadmi Party throws up this result:-

Source: https://aamaadmiparty.org/teams/nisha-singh/

However, when was the cleansing process carried out by the Aam Aadmi Party is still not clear. On 20 April 2022, 10 days before she was convicted of instigating violence against the HUDA anti-encroachment team in Haryana, the official website of AAP had a rather glowing profile of Singh, extolling her as an executive at Google India, who left her job to enter social activism and politics.

The profile page of Nisha Singh as on 20 April 2022 was something like this:-

Archive page of Nisha Singh’s profile page on AAP website

“Nisha Singh is a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and Advisor to Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia. She is leading the charge of designing and implementing reforms in the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Service) Scheme of the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department of the Delhi Government. Currently a member of the party’s Fundraising team, she has also been a Spokesperson for AAP in the past,” the profile page of Nisha Singh on AAP’s official website had read until it was removed.

It further read, “Nisha was a senior executive at Google India until 2009 and left her job to enter into social activism and politics. Nisha was elected as a Councillor in the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) in 2011 as an Independent. As a Councillor, she was at the forefront of the battle for systemic reforms in the MCG and is the lead petitioner in a PIL demanding decentralization of governance of Gurgaon by devolving all executive and financial powers to the elected representatives of MCG.”

However, it has since been deleted. It cannot be ascertained if the page was removed after the court convicted her of inciting violence against the HUDA anti-encroachment team.

Nisha Singha gets a seven-year jail term for inciting violence against the HUDA anti-encroachment team

Nisha Singh, an advisor to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and a former municipal councillor, was convicted on Thursday for instigating a mob against Haryana Urban Development Authority anti-encroachment team in 2015.

“There is no doubt that this is a serious lapse on the part of the accused to injure public officers, but there is no reason to believe that they cannot be reformed or rehabilitated and that they are likely to continue the criminal acts of violence as would constitute a continuing threat to society,” the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Mona Singh said on Thursday.

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on all ten women, while the other seven convicts have to pay a fine of Rs 20,000. In case of default, imprisonment will be increased by two to three years. The 17 accused were convicted under Sections IPC sections – 148, 149, 186, 325, 332, 333, 353, 436, 427 and 435.

Singh had attacked officers, threw stones and petrol bombs

On May 15, 2015, an anti-encroachment team of the Haryana Urban Development Authority was removing debris after a demolition drive at Jhimar Basti, Sector 47 in Gurgaon.

The former AAP councillor Nisha Singh, advocate Khajan Singh and Pradeep Zaildar had instigated the crowd to attack the officers. The mob also allegedly threw petrol bombs and LPG cylinders at the police teams. A duty magistrate and 15 other policemen were injured in this incident.

The Haryana police have charged 19 accused in the case. Two accused, Ramesh and Ratanlal, died during the trial.

ED seizes Rs 5,551 crore of Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi India under FEMA for alleged forex violations

OpIndia Staff
-
0
ED seizes Rs 5,551 crore of Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi India under FEMA for alleged forex violations

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized over 5,550 crore rupees of Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi India over alleged foreign exchange violations by the company.

Announcing this development, ED tweeted saying, “ED has seized Rs.5551.27 Crore of M/s Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited lying in the bank accounts under the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 in connection with the illegal outward remittances made by the company.”

ED, which initiated the investigation in connection with illegal remittances made by the company in February, seized the amount from the company’s bank account. “Xiaomi India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China-based Xiaomi group. This amount of ₹5,551.27 crores lying in the bank accounts of the company has been seized by the Enforcement Directorate,” the agency said in a statement.

ED has alleged that the company has remitted foreign currency equivalent to ₹5,551.27 crores to three foreign-based entities, which include one Xiaomi group entity in China, in the guise of royalty. The other two entities are based out of the USA.

Xiaomi India has not availed any services from the 3 entities which were beneficiaries of these huge transactions. Such huge amounts in the name of royalties were remitted on instructions of the Chinese parent group, the ED has alleged. Xiaomi is also accused of providing misleading information to the banks while transferring this money abroad.

ED, which is probing the company since February, had earlier asked Manu Kumar Jain, former India managing director, to appear before the agency for questioning in the case.

According to Reuters, the ED is probing the existing business relationship between Xiaomi India, contract manufacturers, and the parent entity in China.

Xiaomi custom duty violations

Xiaomi was also slapped with notices for evading 653 crores in custom duty earlier this year. The Finance Ministry on Wednesday issued three show-cause notices to Chinese phone maker Xiaomi’s India unit ‘Xiaomi Technology India’ for evading customs duty by way of undervaluation. 

Twitter ‘chief censor’ Vijaya Gadde set to lose her $17 million per year job as Elon Musk makes new plans for the social network

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Twitter ‘chief censor’ Vijaya Gadde set to lose her $17 million per year job as Elon Musk makes new plans for the social network

Days after Twitter accepted Elon Musk‘s offer to buy the social network for $54.20 per share in cash, reports have emerged suggesting that Musk might slash jobs and reduce the salaries of the company executives. Vijaya Gadde, who is company’s top advocate and known for censoring conservatives, is also on the verge of losing her job that pays her $17 million per year.

According to the reports, Musk has stated that he has no confidence in the current management of the company and that he has all together different plans for the social network. However, if Gadde is fired, she will receive a $12.5 million severance package that includes the company shares she has acquired as benefit over the period of time.

The equation between the new owner of the Twitter and the company executive stands disturbed as the later had claimed that Musk and many other Twitter critics were misogynists. Lara Cohen, Twitter’s global head of partners said this on April 27 after Musk targeted Vijaya Gadde for her decision to block the distribution of the New York Post report on Hunter Biden laptop controversy that erupted in the year 2020.

The Hunter Biden laptop controversy involved a laptop computer that was dropped off at a Delaware repair shop by an unidentified person in 2019 and never collected. It was then brought into public light by the New York Post three weeks before the 2020 United States presidential election. The Post had reported that emails were found in a cache of data extracted from the hard drive of the laptop computer that appeared to belonged to Hunter Biden.

The company’s top female advocate had temporarily implemented measures on Twitter to prevent sharing of the Post’s article as the Hunter Biden laptop controversy was questioned by mainstream media outlets and analysts due to the alleged unknown chain of custody of the laptop and its contents. The intelligence officials had also suspected that the controversy might have been part of a disinformation campaign by Russian intelligence or its proxies.

Though the left and liberal cabal deemed the story fake, later it was proven true that the content of the laptop indeed belonged to Hunter Biden. Elon Musk on April 27 took a jibe at Gadde for censoring the Post’s story and said that the act was ‘incredibly inappropriate’. In a tweet, he wrote, “Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organization for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate.”

48-year-old Vijaya Gadde who reportedly cried while addressing colleagues about the future of Twitter was also criticised for showing off her ‘liberal bias’. Musk on Wednesday shared another tweet in which Gadde was seen appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ in 2019 with her then-boss, former CEO Jack Dorsey. Journalist Tim Pool had then interviewed the duo to expose the instances in which right-wing voices were banned from Twitter.

Vijaya Gadde has been associated with Twitter since 2011. She oversees trust and safety and legal and public policy functions at the company. Gadde is often tasked with handling sensitive issues like dangerous speech and harassment on the platform. Reports suggest she also played a leading role in finalizing the deal between Twitter and Musk.

Her role at Twitter is considered to be one of the most controversial of all. It is her team’s work to decide how to moderate content on the platform. The two cases where she has faced the maximum criticism to date are the termination of ex-President Trump’s account and the blockade of distribution of the New York Post article about US President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in 2020.

Arfa Khanum claims Islam permits Muslim women to enter mosques to offer Namaz, gets called out for ‘misinformation’ by fellow Muslims

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Arfa Khanum claims Islam permits Muslim women to enter mosques to offer Namaz, gets called out for ‘misinformation’ by fellow Muslims

A few days back, show host at the far-left website ‘The Wire’ and notorious Islamist apologist Arfa Khanum Sherwani took to Twitter to share an image of her sitting outside Jama Masjid in Delhi.

Dressed in a sky-blue attire, the Islamic troll Arfa Khanum Sherwani was seen sitting outside the Mughal-era mosque on Wednesday. Behind her, several Muslim men were also seen offering namaz inside the mosque complex as part of the Ramzan celebrations.

The image became a sensation on the social media platform as netizens confronted Arfa Khanum regarding why she was not allowed inside the Jama Masjid, and instead, she was seen sitting outside the mosque premises.

Several netizens asked Arfa Khanum also to post images of herself inside the mosque.

Another social media user mocked the self-proclaimed journalist saying the renowned feminist icon was sitting outside the Jama Masjid as a mark of protest again the ban on Muslim women to enter mosques.

Another user asked what was the difference between Arfa and him, as both, i.e. non-Muslims and women, are not allowed to enter any mosque.

A social media user named ‘Accopitridae’ also ridiculed Arfa Khanum, saying she was fighting against Brahminical patriarchy by sitting outside the Jama Masjid as women are not allowed inside.

Days after netizens pointed out how Muslim women are not allowed to enter any mosque, Arfa Khanum Sherwani on Friday put out another tweet attacking the social media users who questioned the inherent patriarchal setup in Islam that allegedly bars Muslim women from entering mosques.

Calling the netizens ‘low IQ Sanghis’, Arfa Khanum Sherwani claimed that Muslim women could go inside the Masjid, break their fast and offer namaz there.

“There’s no ban on Women’s entry in Mosques,” she added, putting purported videos of alleged Muslim women performing Wuzu/Wudu (cleansing ritual) before Namaz in Jama Masjid, Delhi.

She posted another video of alleged Muslim women being present inside the Mughal-era mosque to offer namaz. In the videos posted by Arfa, some women are present inside the outer compound of Jama Masjid and not necessarily inside the mosque or the prayer hall. The women can be seen in the courtyard of the Jama Masjid, where non-Muslim tourists are also allowed.

However, netizens have once again exposed claims put out by Arfa Khanum Sherwani by revealing the patriarchy inherent among Islamists and how women entering mosques are frowned upon by them.

Netizens shared videos of Islamic scholars to counter Arfa Khanum’s claims. In one such video, an Islamic expert can be seen explaining the rationale behind the ban on entry of women inside the mosque. According to a qazi, Muslim women enter mosques with perfume and makeup, distracting Muslim men during namaz.

Hence, they are made to stay at home to pray, the cleric added, noting that women are meant to remain behind the veil.

Another cleric explained that if a woman crosses a man while offering namaz, then it will not be accepted.

“If a black dog crosses while offering namaz, then it will not be accepted,” the cleric explained why Islam bars women from entering the mosque.

Arfa’s theatrics and claims have even offended Muslims, who have now questioned her claims that Muslim women are open to entering mosques.

Mubashir, who claims to be an unapologetic Muslim, slammed Arfa Khanum, saying she is an “illiterate in Deen celebrity” who is trying to fix Islam in the description of Islam haters.

He said that Muslim women are allowed in those mosques where facilities are available to keep purdah as per Islam. Secondly, he said that women doing Wudu in front of ghair mahram (other’s wife) are Haram.

Syed Hassan Sarhaan slammed Arfa Khanum for spreading misinformation that Muslim women are allowed to enter mosques to offer namaz.

Another Muslim social media user said this is not the way to do Wudu or Wusu.

Gender segregation at religious places in Islam is an undeniable fact as several Muslim women are not allowed entry into most Muslim places of worship, not just in the country but across the globe.

Though the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) says that women are allowed inside mosques, it is practically difficult for women to enter the mosque as fundamental clerics often do not allow them to enter the mosque. Moreover, Muslim families are highly conservative and patriarchal in nature, and Muslim men make most of the decisions on behalf of the women, hence Muslim women tend not to disrespect the Islamic laws often prescribed by the clerics.

Hence, they tend to stay away from the mosque to show their adherence to Islamic laws rather than entering the mosque as part of a rights issue.

So, when Arfa Khanum claims that women are allowed to enter the mosque, it is not entirely true. Moreover, it is just the Jama Masjid that allows women to enter the courtyard of the mosque. Several thousand mosques that exist in the country still enforce severe restrictions on the entry of women into the mosque.

British ‘empire’ to shrink further: After Barbados, more Caribbean countries plan to become republics amid rising anti-monarchy protests

OpIndia Staff
-
0
British ‘empire’ to shrink further: After Barbados, more Caribbean countries plan to become republics amid rising anti-monarchy protests

Months after Barbados officially removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and become the world’s newest republic, at least six more Caribbean countries are planning to become republics and leave the monarchy. The six countries include Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis. Officials in these countries in the Caribbean, where Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, have signalled that they intend to remove the monarch as their sovereign and become republics.

Members of the British royal family made two separate trips to the Caribbean this year amid the rising anti-empire sentiments in the region. They were welcomed by massive protests at every stop of their tour. Prince William and Kate, the  Duchess of Cambridge, visited Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas in March where the local protesters called them for a formal apology for their family’s role in the enslavement and brutalization of Africans.

Prince Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex recently concluded their six-day Caribbean trip on 28th April 2022 after visiting Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Their planned stop at Grenada was postponed.

Colonial rule in the Caribbean countries

Even though the British Colonial rule have ended in almost all former colonies, several of them have retained the Queen as their symbolic head of the states. Out of 54 former British colonies, the Commonwealth nations, there are 14 countries outside of the United Kingdom where the queen is head of state, including several in the Caribbean. These countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu. While these countries are ruled by their own government headed by a Prime Minister or a President, the queen appoints a representative in those countries, such as a governor general, as per recommendation of the local govt. The Commonwealth does not make laws but provides trade links between countries and, in some cases, a foundation for resolving disputes.

Even though the Queen is the symbolic head of these nations, the Caribbean nations no longer want that, and want to become republic, just like most formal colonies have done. It is notable that Independent India also had the British monarch, King George VI at that time, as the head of the state for three years after the independence, until India became a republic in 1950.

The Caribbean nations no longer want a head of the state that do not belong to their country, and want to elect their own head. More importantly, they want to cut all ties with their former empire which had enslaved and tortured their ancestors.

Verene Shepherd, the chair of Jamaica’s National Commission on Reparations and chair of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, said, “The move towards republicanism is grounded in the belief that it’s time for formerly colonized nations to really live their independence and claim self-determination and not be under a monarchical system.”

Countries that are planning to become sovereign republics

According to reports, Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis are seeing strong support to become republics. After the Caribbean nation Barbados removed the Queen as the head of the state in November last year, it was expected that it will have domino effect in the region. Joe Little, a Royal expert and the managing editor at Majesty Magazine, said that it is “inevitable” that other countries will follow Barbados in removing the Queen as head of state. “There is an inevitability that others will follow possibly during the present reign or maybe not until we are into the reign of King Charles the III, but that remains to be seen,” Little had said.

During the visit of Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton to Jamaica, they faced massive protests demanding an apology for centuries of enslavement of Africans by the British colonial rulers. While the prince expressed his “profound sorrow” and said “slavery was abhorrent”, he refrained from an apology, angering the Jamaicans. Most Jamaicans want their country to become a republic, according to opinion polls.

In fact, it can happen this year itself, as both the ruling party and the main opposition party support the demand. Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Prince Willian directly that they are removing the Queen as their head, when he publicly said, “We are moving on, and we intend to fulfil our true ambitions.” He said that the country will fulfil “its true ambitions as an independent, developed and prosperous country in short order”.

Jamaica has already created a new ministry giving a clead indication of moving away from the monarchy. The govt has created a legal and constitutional affairs ministry, and planning to overhaul and update local laws. The ministry will preside over the process to shift Jamaica’s status as a constitutional monarchy. A referendum to become a republic is expected to be held this year in Jamaica.

The Royal family visits to the region has actually ignited demands in the countries in the region to become republics. The Bahamas visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has sparked the debate in the country. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has said that he supports discussions on the matter, and that the Bahamians will decide the nation’s future.

He said, “The Royal tour inspired a degree of commentary about the monarchy’s role: in Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas, in the United Kingdom, and in fact, worldwide. This was expected, especially in modern democracies such as ours, where the right to freedom of expression remains fundamental and constitutionally protected.”

Belize has also signalled about its intention to remove the British monarch as the head of the state. The government in the country has established a People’s Constitutional Commission under the Constitutional and Political Reform Ministry, to conduct consultations across the country on the decolonisation process.

A minister recently said in the parliament, “the decolonisation process is enveloping the Caribbean region. Perhaps it is time for Belize to take that next step in truly owning our independence. But, it is a matter that the people of Belize must decide on.”

Similar voices are also being heard in Antigua and Barbuda, where the Prime Minister Gaston Browne told Prince Edward that while the Queen will remain head of the for some time, here are people who would like the country to become a republic. Prince William expressed his support for countries wishing to become republics, and he said that “relationships evolve” and “friendship endures.”

However, it may take some time in Antigua and Barbuda, as the govt is preferring a thorough transition. Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Social Transformation, Human Resource Development, and the Blue Economy, Dean Jonas said, “That is something [that] will probably take a while. When we have to do that, there has to be an educational campaign, there has to be a process of looking at the constitution of Antigua and Barbuda, coming up with the appropriate wording. So it will take a while before Antigua and Barbuda reaches the state before we can ever contemplate that.”

General elections in Antigua and Barbuda are scheduled in next year, and there are proposals to hold both the election and the referendum together to save costs. But the minister said he prefers to hold both separately, because if held together, the issue of referendum to ditch the British Royals can become politicised.

In the meanwhile, black and indigenous groups across Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas have come together to demand slavery reparations from Britain and to remove the Queen as head of state in each country. The Bahamas National Reparations Committee (BNRC), the Advocacy Network in Jamaica and the indigenous Maya people of Belize staged protests during the Caribbean visit of the Royal family, calling the tour by William and Catherine a charm offensive tour.

At the end of the tour, rince William acknowledged that the monarchy’s days in Caribbean nations may be numbered, especially in Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas which he visited. He said that the future “is for the people to decide upon”.

However, the process of removing Queen Elizabeth as a sovereign is different in different countries, as their constitutions are different. In the case of Barbados, it was done by a two-thirds majority of the parliament house. In countries like Jamaica and Grenada, removing Elizabeth as head of state would first require a constitutional change that may take two to three years. Most of the countries will need a public referendum for the change.

The dumbest fact-check award goes not to AltNews but IndiaToday: Here is their recent report on ‘picture of Muslim family being old’

Jinit Jain
-
0
The dumbest fact-check award goes not to AltNews but IndiaToday: Here is their recent report on ‘picture of Muslim family being old’

When it comes to stupid and meaningless fact-checks, the first thing that comes to one’s mind is the leftist propaganda website AltNews, a self-described ‘fact-checker’ with a history of whitewashing Islamists under the garb of doing ‘fact-check’.

From weaponising reverse search image service to nitpicking about trivial and petty details about an incident to muddle readers of the prevailing narrative, AltNews has mastered a variety of techniques for its foolish yet pernicious endeavour to bolster its propaganda.

However, it seems that other organizations have not only taken a cue from AltNews in proceeding with such dumb fact-checks, but they have also aced out the far-left propaganda website in their game of confusing the readers with inconsequential and vacuous ‘fact-checks’.

India Today ‘fact-checks’ trivial details about a viral image to undermine claims made about Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

India Today recently came up with a cringe-worthy ‘fact-check’ that would put even the propagandists at AltNews to shame. It ‘fact-checked’ a viral picture of a large Muslim family to refute the claim that in the absence of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), large Muslim families stand to reap all the benefits of taxpayers’ money.

An image of a large Muslim family seated on a bike had gone viral on the internet with the claims that in the absence of the Uniform Civil Code, such families obtain an undue advantage of the government subsidies and prove as a burden on the country’s economic health. The image and the attendant claims were made to make a case for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.

However, instead of verifying the authenticity of the claims made through the image, the India Today ‘fact-check’ placed its emphasis on verifying the origins of the image being shared online. In its ‘investigation’, India Today found that the image is not from India, but from neighbouring Bangladesh, a low-key attempt to imply that the claims made through the image were erroneous.

India Today
Source: Twitter

It further highlighted that the image is not a recent one and has been on the internet since 2017 to cast aspersions on the claims that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is the need of the hour for India where a section of the population exerts pressure on the government treasury through the agency of unbridled reproduction.

Firstly, whether the image is from India or elsewhere is hardly of any consequence in the context in which it is being shared on social media. The fact that the image is not from India does not negate the claim that Indian Muslim families don’t breed like the one shown in the image. It only serves to muddle readers with extraneous facts in an attempt to undermine the claims made with the image.

Secondly, the image that is being shared is from 2017 and not a recent one is yet another inconsequential detail that has no bearing on the claim that in the absence of UCC, such outsize Muslim families stand to reap all the benefits of taxpayers’ money. This unnecessary bit of detail was included in the ‘fact-check’ to further undermine the claim that big Muslim families negative impact the government treasury.

Demand for the implementation of UCC soars

Far from carrying out the ‘fact check’, the shoddy attempt by India Today to proclaim that the image of a Muslim family is old and from Bangladesh ended up discrediting the legitimate demand for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, which is steadily gaining traction across the country. Besides the population explosion issue, a host of problems, including the chronic issue of communal strifes in different parts of the country, has added to the growing clamour for the implementation of the UCC.

Even the judiciary has acknowledged that UCC is long overdue and the central government should take effective measures to bring it. In November 2021, Allahabad High Court asked the central government to take steps for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across India under article 44 of the Constitution of India.

The court had asked the Central government to consider setting up a panel for implementing the mandate of Article 44 regarding UCC, which says that the “state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) throughout the territory of India”.

How the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, used Wikipedia to start an affair

Guest Author
-
0
How the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, used Wikipedia to start an affair

Many Wikipedia editors – who have no identity or information available about who they are – use the site to earn thousands of dollars every month. 

If you put in the search term “Wikipedia services” then you will get more than 100 million results on Google and even ads where little known companies are boasting about how they can create and edit Wikipedia pages for a fee. It’s a black market worth millions of dollars as paid editing is explicitly banned on Wikipedia.

Every day, Wikipedia bans editors accused of paid editing but the numbers of these small-time firms keep increasing. If you pay good money, you can get your page created on Wikipedia.

But the creation of Wikipedia profiles (pages) isn’t the primary revenue source for these Wikipedia firms. The real money comes from “cleaning up services” where editors remove that information from Wiki profiles that the client doesn’t like.

This black market of Wikipedia editing is an open secret among Wikipedia editors. The way it works, is very interesting.

When a scandal or a crisis breaks out, celebrities and companies immediately go into damage control mode. Wikipedia editors are generally very quick to “update” the scandal on Wikipedia pages. 

The corporates or the celebrities then issue clarifications in the media but the same isn’t allowed to reflect properly on the Wikipedia page by a cabal of editors. 

Out of desperation, some people or companies are forced to hire these Wikipedia services firms to clean up their pages. Once the money is paid, the senior editors get into the act. They engage in intense conversations with junior editors to justify why some information should be reversed or “updated”.

If that strategy works, great. If it doesn’t, then senior editors and administrators (known Sysops) get in the act. They “lock” the page for junior editors and roll back some of their edits. 

Administrators enjoy unlimited power on Wikipedia – they can be the judge on what stays and what goes. So, they allow certain editors to make changes and debar others. 

In the end, the information about the scandal stays but it is diluted with references from the Public Relations pushback initiated by the celebrity or the company. Finally, the wiki section looks more like a clarification than information on the scandal or the crisis.

The founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, has used this tactic in the past, to gain the trust of a lady journalist and start an affair with her.

The story begins in 2006 when journalist Rachel Marsden sent an email to Jimmy Wales to inform that her Wikipedia profile contains libellous information and she wants him to remove them. 

Jimmy agreed to work for her.

He then used the opportunity to start a conversation with her. 

To gain her trust, he purged some information that was disturbing her with the help of a group of Wikipedia editors who were closely working with him.

Rachel Marsden in 2011

According to Jimmy, using his super access to Wikipedia for sexual gratification isn’t a conflict of interest even though he admits that he changed and edited Rachel’s profile when they started flirting with each other.

“Rachel Marsden first approached me via email two years ago with complaints about her (Wikipedia) bio. I subsequently reviewed her bio and I found it not to be up to our standards. My involvement in cases like this is completely routine, and I am proud of it,” said Jimmy Wales. 

The affair lasted for little more than a year, apparently. 

On February 29, 2008, Valleywag published a leaked transcript of a steamy chat between Rachel and Jimmy where they are discussing their sexual encounters. Below is a part of the transcript.

Source: HuffPost

The very next day, on March 1, 2008, Jimmy Wales dumped her by declaring on his Wikipedia user page that they have broken up. The problem is: He never told Rachel about it.

The scorned woman – who was previously convicted of harassing her boyfriend – reacted with rage. 

She collected clothes of Jimmy’s, that were lying in her apartment and put them on e-bay for sale. To promote the sale, she modelled a black tee which had inexplicable white marks on them.

“Hi, my name is Rachel and my (now ex) boyfriend, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, just broke up with me via an announcement on Wikipedia,” Rachel Marsden wrote in the eBay description, while showing off the white stains. 
(Source)

“It was such a classy move that I was inspired to do something equally classy myself, so I’m selling a couple of items of clothing he left behind here in my NYC apartment, on eBay. Jimbo (Jimmy Wales) was supposed to come to visit me in a couple of weeks and pick up some of his stuff, but obviously that won’t be happening now,” she wrote on eBay. 

Jimmy later said that he had divulged to his team his involvement with Rachel and recused himself from editing her page. But at the same time, he admitted that a team from Wikipedia, who worked closely with him, continued to work on Rachel’s Wikipedia page. 

Despite damning evidence and a public admission by Jimmy, the Board of Trustees at Wikipedia decided that there was no violation of their policies. Not only that, the Board decided not to question or even ask for an explanation from Jimmy. 

Jay Walsh, the then Wikimedia Foundation’s head of communications, told the San Jose Mercury News that Wales’ actions “were within his routine role” and it won’t affect his official position on the Board of Wikipedia. 

These allegations coincided with another set of charges of financial misappropriation when a former Wikimedia Foundation employee wrote a blog post alleging that Jimmy Wales was spending Wikipedia’s money for his personal expenses and even asked for a reimbursement for a dinner and bottles of wine at an upscale restaurant.

Wikipedia took away Jimmy’s corporate credit card after it was revealed that “Jimmy owed the Foundation some $30,000 in receipts”. 

Again, the Foundation or the Board of Trustees at Wikipedia never took Jimmy to task about it.

Now, if you are wondering about why corruption among Wikipedia editors are so rampant, you now know that it’s the legacy of its founder, Jimmy Wales.

(This article has been authored by journalist Soumyadipta. It was originally published on his blog and has been reproduced here with his consent).

1...3,2863,2873,288...7,640Page 3,287 of 7,640