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Rumble gets emails from Canadian media org pressurising them to censor content like YouTube: Here is their response

OpIndia Staff
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Rumble gets emails from Canadian media org pressurising them to censor content like YouTube: Here is their response

On April 13, video hosting platform Rumble revealed how they were being pressured by the media organisations to censor content like YouTube. In response to an email by mainstream media outlet Goble and Mail’s journalist Joe Castaldo, Rumble called the media organisations and big tech companies arrogant and said they think they have the power to “decide for the public what information they can and cannot be trusted to hear and what views they can and cannot express.”

Castaldo had sent an email to Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski on April 11. Castaldo asked him why Rumble was not restricting pro-Russian content in the first email. He questioned, even though governments and other observers have branded Russian state-owned news network RT as a Russian propaganda outlet and big techs like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Spotify have blocked or limited it, why Rumble was not restricting them.

He also pointed toward creators like Stew Peters and Alex Jones on Rumble, who publish “propaganda” content on the same lines as RT with respect to Ukraine. He said, “This includes videos claiming attacks on Ukrainian towns/cities could be false flags, downplaying civilian casualties in Ukraine, and that Russians are fighting Nazis in Ukraine.” He asked if Rumble had any plans to put policies similar to YouTube in place to restrict the reach of such content.

In a follow-up email, he pointed out how some “influential” personalities like the CEO of Countering Digital Hate and an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University were critical of Rumble for allowing Russian content on their platform. As per the email, SFU assistant professor Ahmed Al-Rawi said the business model of Rumble relied on “fringe groups who disseminate conspiracy theories and disinformation under the pretext of freedom of expression.” On the other hand, CDH’s CEO said Rumble was doing a big favour to Putin by “hooking its users up to a steady drip feed of Kremlin lies and propaganda”.

He added as RT’s reach has been restricted by other platforms, it has directed its users to Rumble, resulting in its followership on the platform by multiple folds.

Rumble lashed out at media houses

In its ‘uncensored’ reply to the journalist, Rumble called the media houses arrogant. They said, “There is a reason the public has radically turned against both the corporate media (such as your outlet) and Big Tech: because you have arrogantly claimed for yourselves the power to decide for the public what information they can and cannot be trusted to hear and what views they can and cannot express. By stark contrast, the reason Rumble is growing so rapidly is that we trust adults to make decisions for themselves about what ideas they can express, and we trust them to make up their own minds after hearing all sides.”

In a LinkedIn post, Rumble’s CEO Pavlovski said, “It is now common that we receive pressure from journalists demanding that we censor more.”

Rumble is not alone

Rumble is not the only platform that does not walk on the path of media giants. Gab and Parler are among those platforms that believe in letting their users decide the kind of content they want to see. These platforms have freedom of expression as the base of their operations. Media and so-called anti-hate groups have accused these platforms of allowing conspirational and far-right content.

Russia’s Black Sea flagship Moskva damaged, Ukrainians say hit by Neptune missiles and sunk

OpIndia Staff
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Russia’s Black Sea flagship Moskva damaged, Ukrainians say hit by Neptune missiles and sunk

As the war intensifies in Ukraine’s eastern region, there are reports coming that Russia has suffered a massive setback in the Black Sea. Russia’s flagship of the Black Sea fleet, the missile cruiser ‘Moskva’ was reportedly hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles and has suffered heavy damage.

Russian Ministry of Defence has stated that there was a fire onboard the Moskva, causing the ammunition to blow up, causing damage to the ship.

However, Ukrainian officials have stated that they have hit the Moskva with 2 anti-ship Neptune cruise missiles from the coastline between Odessa and Nikolayev and the Moskva is now sinking.

As per a Reuters report, Maksym Marchenko, the Ukrainian governor of the Black Sea port of Odesa, said the Moskva had been hit by two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles.

If the claims are true, the loss of the Moskva will be the biggest blow to Russia in the ongoing war, because the Black Sea fleet is crucial in providing support to Russia’s land-based operations in coastal Ukraine. So far, Russia had maintained dominance in the Black Sea and is fighting for the control of the port city of Mariupol.

The Moskva is a famous Russian warship, commissioned in 1983 and carries 16 anti-ship Vulkan cruise missiles. It also carries vertical tubes for 64 S-300 air defense missiles and rail launchers for 40 Osa missiles, as per a Forbes report. It is one of Russia’s 3 Slava class cruisers and is heavily armed, so an ‘ammunition explosion’, as Russia said happened, can severely damage the ship.

Several media channels are reporting that Moskva suffered heavy damages and the crew of about 500 was told to abandon the ship, indicating a strong possibility that the ship is sinking, and is now beyond rescue.

Earlier on March 24, the Russian landing ship Saratov was blown up on the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk, possibly hit by a Ukrainian missile.

‘Hindi imposition’ debate: From Congress’ Shashi Tharoor to ThePrint, the hypocrisy and how troubled is being fanned in Tamil Nadu and beyond

S. Sudhir Kumar
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‘Hindi imposition’ debate: From Congress’ Shashi Tharoor to ThePrint, the hypocrisy and how troubled is being fanned in Tamil Nadu and beyond

On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, The Home Minister of India made a statement that closely translates as follows: “We hope that all of us will be involved with complete dedication in developing national language Hindi as the language of the entire country“.

There was widespread appreciation for this speech that advocated Hindi to be made the language of the entire country. In fact, in NDTV’s own words – “Union Home Minister won the hearts of the audience.”

Am sure you must be baffled because you are expecting to be reading how there was widespread outrage because of the Home Minister’s statement and how South India has erupted in protests. Well, you are baffled because I left out a minor detail. The above statement was made by India’s Home Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram, in the year 2010. Now you know why NDTV was so thrilled back then but is severely upset right now with statements of the current Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah! And now you also know why the outrage is limited to statements made only post-2014 by BJP ministers. 

Post-2014, it became mandatory for certain politicians and media houses to feign outrage on every Hindi Diwas or when meetings related to the official language policy happened. We are reminded of how South India in its entirety is opposed to anything that is remotely connected to Hindi and the BJP’s “Hindi Imposition” is devastating for the country. This argument certainly baffles me for two reasons. 

The first reason being that all the 5 anti-Hindi violent agitations happened only in one state – Tamil Nadu. It was only in Tamil Nadu where there were multiple riots; where 100s of people died; where 100s of houses were destroyed; where 1000s, including leaders were arrested; and where 20 students even committed suicide in 1986. The remaining states in South India very happily adapted to learning Hindi where necessary (and if not necessary, just didn’t care) without any impact on learning their mother tongue or English for that matter. 

The second reason being that 4 out of 5 violent anti-Hindi agitations in India happened when the mighty Congress was in power (either in Tamil Nadu or at the centre) – the other one happened pre-Independence but even then, the Congress was technically in government in the Madras Presidency. Bottom line is that there was violence only in one state and only when Congress was in power. 

In fact, the various governments of Tamil Nadu were so angry about Hindi being made compulsory in Navodaya Schools in 1986 (run by Central Government) that even today Tamil Nadu is the only state in the entire country that doesn’t operate any Navodaya Schools! 

Till last year, it was only politicians from Tamil Nadu who would react to anything remotely connected to Hindi. This year, other politicians belonging to some non-BJP parties have joined the chorus in an attempt to make empty noises around this topic. Buoyed by this meaningless support and forgetting the stellar role of the Congress party in fomenting this violence, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor thought this was an opportune moment to jump on this bandwagon and chose to write a scintillating piece in The Hindu, the newspaper that is headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. 

He begins by saying that the BJP government is imposing Hindi by naming government schemes in Hindi and not in “neutral English” and cites the name “Swachh Bharat” as a sterling example of his argument! In his desperate attempt to fill up space for the page, Shashi Tharoor even went to extent of telling us that the Modi government renamed Teacher’s Day as Guru Purnima! Is it any wonder that the once-mighty Congress party is on a steady decline in the country where Guru Purnima precedes Teachers Day not just by centuries but by millennia! 

Shashi Tharoor’s article in The Hindu

This is the same Congress party that named its flagship programme in its 2019 manifesto “Nyuntam Aay Yojana”. It really takes some special skill to come up with a name like that and talk about Swachh Bharat being complicated, in the same vein. But what exactly is the solution that the Congress party, through Shashi Tharoor, is now offering to the problem they created in the first place? Brace for it – “use Hindi where it is understood, but use English everywhere, since it places all Indians from all parts of our country at an equal disadvantage.” 

Shashi Tharoor’s article in The Hindu

You read it right – use English because it puts everyone at a disadvantage! The gems of Shashi Tharoor in this article are simply never-ending – he claims that since Malayalam is gender-neutral, they would never understand the usage of gender for certain scenarios – so don’t use Hindi! 

Shashi Tharoor’s article in The Hindu

Shashi Tharoor credits Bollywood (or did he blame them? It’s just difficult to understand from his article) for the popularization of Hindi in the country. Shashi Tharoor is no ordinary person – he is a 3-time elected MP; he was a Union Minister, working in the ministry responsible for educating our children; he was in the running for UN Secretary-General, and he is a very (very) vocal member of the Congress party. There is no way he would have written such a hare-brained article without the approval of the higher-ups in the party. The arrogance of the Congress party in lecturing the people of India after it creates such problems is simply astounding. 

Speaking of arrogance, how can Shekhar Gupta be far behind to exhibit this inherent trait of his? He goes ahead and publishes an article to bring in a caste angle also to this topic. 

Article in The Print

This article was authored by a known Modi hater – Kancha Iliah Shephard who relishes bringing in a caste angle to any issue that is under discussion in the English media!  Even in this article, we are told that “First Brahmins benefited from the pro-English agitations of Tamil people.” – basically yet again stressing that this problem is only with the people of one state in the entire country. 

If anything, Prime Minister Modi has been at the forefront in encouraging Indians to learn multiple Indian languages. Recently, he had even cited the example of the Tanzanian brother-sister duo who were lip-syncing to Hindi songs and asked fellow Indians to send in their lip sync videos of a song in a language different from their own. He has been at the forefront of promoting the Tamil language in his various speeches, even at International forums. He had even arranged for an India-China summit in Tamil Nadu, to showcase the rich cultural heritage of India. Guess what – we didn’t see any “PM wins hearts” headlines from the likes of NDTV when all of this happened. 

Tamil Nadu continues to be the only state where Hindi is an issue. Politicians trying to make this an issue in other South Indian states are barking up a wrong tree – the people of these states are not averse to being multi-lingual for their own benefits. It is time we know these cold facts about the Congress party before the next outrage happens again next year. 

Khambhat violence: Accused admit planning violence to establish dominance and fear of Muslim community so Hindus do not dare to take out shobha yatras

OpIndia Staff
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Khambhat violence: Accused admit planning violence to establish dominance and fear of Muslim community so Hindus do not dare to take out shobha yatras

The stone-pelting and subsequent violence in Khambhat, Anand of Gujarat on Ram Navami were preplanned. Of the 11 arrested including maulvis, 6 people are believed to be involved in planning conspiracy as per local daily Divya Bhaskar. The report states that a sleeper cell module had been established and had gathered three days ahead of Ram Navami. Stones were collected and kept ready on the route of the yatra ahead of time.

During police interrogation, the accused admitted to having perpetrated the violence to establish fear and dominance of the Muslim community in Khambhat so that Hindus do not dare to take out shobha yatras in future. As per the Divya Bhaskar report, a ‘chadar’ was circulated in Muslim dominated areas in Khambhat to collect money for legal aid and financial assistance to families of those who get arrested.

As per the report, Razak Maulvi is the main culprit who planned the entire violence. An SIT has now been formed to investigate the case. District Police chief Ajit Rajiyan said that the violence was planned such that no such shobha yatras are carried out in future. 6 people are main culprits who got 16 more involved. 57 people have been identified and complaint has been registered.

The report further states that when the Ram Navami procession was passing by, Maulvi Razak created a ruckus to get the DJ music turned off and tried to distract the police attention and stones were pelted at that time. As of now, there is no concrete evidence of involvement of anti-India forces from Pakistan and Afghanistan but investigation is currently underway.

As per the local daily Gujarat Samachar, there were plans to create unrest in other parts of the state too. But because of lack of local support the same was not executed. The screenshots of violence have been made viral in social media of Pakistan as well.

The police is currently investigating the call and message records of the accused, many of whom have a criminal past.

Khambhat violence

On Ram Navami procession was carried out in Anand’s Khambhat region by Hindus, celebrating the birthday of Prabhu Ram. When the shobha yatra passed by a mosque, stones were pelted on the procession and some 7-8 shops were set on fire. One person died and many others were injured in the violence. In other such incident in Himmatnagar, Gujarat, stones were pelted on the Ram Navami procession. The state administration has assured strict action will be taken against those who tried to disrupt peace and harmony in the state.

Similar such incidents of violence took place in other parts of the country like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and even Karnataka took place on Ram Navami. The ‘liberals’ in India have tried to justify the violence by claiming that the music and slogans raised to hail Shri Ram were provocative when chanted in ‘Muslim areas’. In Islam, idol worship is considered biggest sin. Read here what the Quran says about stone-pelting.

The NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first Tweet went on sale for $48M, bid ends at just $280: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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The NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first Tweet went on sale for $48M, bid ends at just $280: Read details

On April 13 (local time), Iranian-born crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi’s non-fungible token (NFT) sale of the first-ever tweet of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey ended for just under $280. Estavi had bought the NFT last year in March for $2.9 million and had put it up for resale at $48 million last week. He had pledged 50 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of NFT to charity. However, the auction closed on Wednesday with only seven offers on the list ranging from 0.09 ETH ($277 approx) to 0.0019 ETH ($6 approx).

CoinDesk quoted Estavi saying, “The deadline I set was over, but if I get a good offer, I might accept it, I might never sell it.” Notably, the NFT is still up for sale, and people can bid on it. Currently, the maximum bid that it has received is 1.5 ETH ($4,704 approx). Though the bid has seen a massive jump since the sale ended, it is still far behind the asking price of $48 million in ETH.

The latest bid at the time this report was published was of 1.5 ETH. Source: opensea.io

The first tweet by Jack Dorsey

A copy of Jack’s first tweet was sold last year for $2.9 million. It was published on March 21, 2006, and it was the first tweet ever. It read, “just setting up my twttr”. When Estavi decided to resale it and announced it on Twitter, Jack had replied to it and said, “why not 99% of it?” Notably, Jack had donated all the money he had received by the sale of the tweet. He had converted the funds to bitcoin and sent them to nonprofit GiveDirectly’s Africa response. Estavi had thanked him for accepting the offer and said he was glad the money was used for charity.

Who is Sina Estavi?

Sina Estavi is the CEO of Bridge Oracle (BRG token) and the owner of Cryptoland, which was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in Iran. He was reportedly arrested on May 17 last year for economic corruption by Iranian authorities. Following his arrest, both his ventures had collapsed, and now as he is out of prison, Estavi is trying to relaunch BRG tokens. The day Estavi had put the NFT on sale, he also announced the token swap where the BRG investors could swap their old tokens for new ones.

‘We too have views about Human Rights issues in the United States’: How Dr S Jaishankar hit back on USA’s criticism of India

OpIndia Staff
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‘We too have views about Human Rights issues in the United States’: How Dr S Jaishankar hit back on USA’s criticism of India

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar gave a strong rebuttal to the United States of America (USA) on its criticism against India regarding alleged “human rights abuses”, saying even New Delhi has concerns about human rights in America.

Speaking at a joint news conference after the 2+2 dialogue, Dr S Jaishankar said that even India also has views on other people’s human rights situation, including that of the United States.

“So, we take up human rights issues when they arise in this country, especially when they pertain to our community. And in fact, we had a case yesterday that’s really where we stand on that,” he added.

The External Affairs Minister was referring to an incident of hate crime against two Sikh men in the US two days back, who were attacked and robbed in a New York neighbourhood.

“Look, people are entitled to have views about us. But we are also equally entitled to have views about their views and about the interests, and the lobbies and the vote banks which drive that. So, whenever there is a discussion, I can tell you that we will not be reticent about speaking out,” the minister said.

Jaishankar also noted that the issue of human rights was not discussed during the current meeting, but it has come up in the past.

“It is a subject which has come up in the past. It came up when Secretary Blinken came to India. I think if you recall the press briefings after that, I was very open about the fact that we had discussed it and said what I had to say,” he said.

Jaishankar’s response on the human rights issue came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had claimed that the US is monitoring some recent “concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials”.

Dr Jaishankar schools western media, asks Americans to appreciate the civilisational state of India

Earlier on Tuesday, Dr S Jaishankar had asserted that the young Americans should have a better understanding of India and the world for the ties between the two countries to grow and added that the Americans should appreciate the efforts of a civilisational state and democracy like India.

“Your appreciation of a civilisational state and a fellow democratic polity that is daily overcoming enormous odds is essential. After all, we are natural partners only when our people have a strong sense of connection,” Dr Jaishankar said to the students.

Highlighting the significance of people-to-people contact, Dr Jaishankar said that the key driver of this change has been its human element. The 4.4 million Indian diasporas have literally defined India’s image in this society and helped forge relationships that are an enormous source of strength for us in our work, he said, making a joint appearance with US Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had also schooled the western media, which was critical of India’s decision to buy a limited amount of oil from Russia.

Responding to a question on India’s decision to buy oil from Russia, which has been facing several sanctions for launching ‘special military’ operations in Ukraine, the Indian Foreign Minister said, “I noticed you referred to oil purchases. If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe,” he emphasised.

Dr S Jaishankar pointed out, “We do buy some energy, which is necessary for our energy security. But I suspect, looking at the figures, our total purchases for the month will be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. So, you might want to think about it.”

Are PMAY beneficiaries using govt money to encroach land? Bulldozer at Haseena Fakhroo’s house in Khargone raises new questions

Suyash
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Are PMAY beneficiaries using govt money to encroach land? Bulldozer at Haseena Fakhroo’s house in Khargone raises new questions

Recently, the news of Madhya Pradesh Police in Khargone bulldozing a house aided under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) or PMAY in a recently conducted activity against illegal occupation came. The ‘Bulldozing’ technique adopted by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan Government to curtail illegal encroachments in the state has raised quite a few eyebrows.

After the Ram Navami attacks on Hindu processions, On April 11, the Khargone administration took strict action against the miscreants who had pelted stones at the Ram Navami procession on Sunday. The illegally constructed buildings and homes of the perpetrators were bulldozed by the administration. Following this, the reports of demolishing the house of one Haseena Fakhroo came, which was reportedly built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or PMAY (Urban).

The media jumped up to highlight that the house made under PMAY was demolished as a consequence of the action against stone-pelting miscreants. A report by The Indian Express categorically mentioned the same. Questions were also raised as to why such a house is being scrutinized which was itself built under a government scheme.

However, it is completely misleading claim, because the house was not demolished because of of the stone pelting incident, it was bulldozed because it was built illegally using the PMAY grant. The administration had already issued advance notice, the the house was demolished accordingly. According to the administration, the house was built on encroached land, and that’s why it was demolished.

The notice sent to owner Haseena Fakroo, which was sent to her on April 7, 2020 – three days prior to the Ram Navami violence, specifically mentions the land upon which the ‘kaccha’ (temporary) house was built was encroached. The notice says that the 30×30 = 900 sq.ft land, upon which Fakhroo’s house was built was occupied without any permission by an officer and is hence encroached. “As it the encroachment by you has been proven, the court has ordered to demolish the illegal construction upon the land,” the notice says.

Notice sent to the owner by Tehsil Court of Khargone, MP

The Tehsil Court further states that after three days from receiving the letter, the house should be freed and this should be informed to the court in writing. The notice states that if the same is not abided by, the administration will take charge of the land in the official ways. After the notice period ended on April 10, the enquiry on Haseena Fakhroo’s house kicked off while the administration decided to demolish the encroached occupation in the form of the house.

Therefore, the demolition of this particular house built using PMAY fund had no link with the houses of stone-pelters which were also demolisged. Both the demolitions just took place at the same time, and media used that to publish false and misleading claims.

However, as pointed out by some, the action on a house that was built under the Central government scheme of PMAY (Urban) has been questioned. While the said individual Haseena has come up with proof of her house being aided by the Centre’s policy scheme, questions have been raised about how can the land upon which a house constructed under a government scheme be termed illegal. To understand this, we need to have an in-depth perspective of what PMAY is in the very first place.

What does the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana entail?

Launched in June 2015, the scheme intends to provide housing for all in urban areas by the year 2022. As per the government website, The Mission provides Central economical assistance to beneficiaries seeking to build houses. The policy entails different rules laid out for different states for land acquisition and design of houses as per the climatology, administrative policies and context of the state. It is to be noted that the PMAY is a decentralised scheme in which the government hands out money to the beneficiaries instead of personally building the houses for them.

Under the Yojana, the government after due inspection of various levels of construction sanctions money to the beneficiaries and is not involved in the actual construction of the houses. In the PMAY guidelines for MP, the rules for sanction of money as per the phased construction are laid out. Money is directly deposited to the bank account of the beneficiary after the beneficiary is listed and after the plinth level, slab level construction is completed, the final money is deposited after the construction process is completed.

The circular specifically rules out that if the beneficiary does not own the land of its own, then the housing department of the local corporation should ascertain a land between 30-40 sq. mt for the same. It also asks for due assurance by the local authority that the land so selected for the house to be built is legally owned by the beneficiary.

While the recent tehsil court has notified that the construction by Haseena Fakhroo is an encroachment, it underlines that the due process of land acquisition under PMAY was not followed by her. Similarly, eleven other homes in the vicinity have attracted the same action. This seems as a clear case of land grabbing, while money is collected from a government scheme for the same.

Watch: Akbaruddin Owaisi’s Anti-Hindu hate speech for which he got acquitted

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Akbaruddin Owaisi’s Anti-Hindu hate speech for which he got acquitted

A court in Hyderabad has ruled that when Akbaruddin Owaisi, the brother of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, had said that he kill a crore Hindus in 15 minutes, it was not a hate speech, and acquitted him in two cases of hate speech filed against him. Owaisi had made the inflammatory and inciteful speech against Hindus in 2012. In his speech, he was seen taking many jibes at Hindu Gods and Goddesses while making an open challenge to Hindus for their survival if the police is to be removed for 15 minutes. He also claimed that he will see how Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister one day.

“Many of such Modis came and went. Today people are saying Narendra Modi has won Gujarat, and that he will become Prime Minister of the country one day, even we will see how that happens. And people are scaring Muslims saying Modi is here. Modi who? Where did he come from? Dare to come to Hyderabad for one time and we will show you,” he said in his address.

“Taslima Nasreen came and now no one knows where she is. Dear Hindustan, we are 25 crore and you all are 100 crore, right? Fine. You are far ahead of us in numbers. Remove the police for 15 minutes and we will see who is more powerful.” Owaisi junior’s remarks were received amidst thunderous applause and cheering from the audience which was gathered in large numbers. “Remove the Police for 15 minutes! Be it a thousand, a lakh or even one crore impotent(Hindus), even if they try collectively, they will not be able to give birth to a single one.”

“These people are not able to see us face to face. When the Muslim becomes weak, only then these impotent (Hindus) arrive,” Owaisi remarked in his hateful incitement against Hindus.

In the same speech, Owaisi insinuated against Rama and his mother Devi Kausalya while making an argument against the Ram Janmabhoomi case. “There are three temples in Ayodhya that claim that Ram was born there. And in Haryana’s Kausalyapuram people claim the same citing the Indian practice of women giving birth to the first child in their maternal houses. In Kausalyapuram, people believe that Kausalya, the mother of Rama and wife of King Dashratha hailed from here, and thus Rama too was born here itself.

“While three pujaris claim three different birthplaces for Rama, then Advani, Vajpayee, Uma Bharati and Modi should tell us where did mother of Rama go to give birth to him?” Owaisi asked wittingly. The incited audience was seen cheering with unprecedented excitement after the Hinduphobic and misogynistic remark of Owaisi. The chants of “Akbaruddin Owaisi Zindabad” were given after the same. These people talk about incidents which happened 1lakh, 2 lakh or 15lakh years ago. Here we don’t know what happened 200-400 years back and these people talk about 18 lakh years!”

Owaisi in his snide remarks against Hindu Gods said, “They use to say that after every hundred kilometres, the language changes, the culture changes, the way of life and customs change, rituals also change however it is ridiculous that here images of Gods also transform!”

ISIS terrorist Ali Harbi Ali given whole life jail sentence for the murder of UK MP David Amess

OpIndia Staff
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ISIS terrorist Ali Harbi Ali given whole life jail sentence for the murder of UK MP David Amess

On Wednesday the Islamic state terrorist Ali Harbi Ali who murdered UK MP David Amess was sentenced to whole life in prison, and condemned to die behind the bars. Ali had tricked as an employee moving into a constituency surgery in Essex last year and stabbed the UK MP more than 20 times on October 15.

Justice Sweeney sentenced the killer to a whole-life prison sentence, saying that ‘this was a murder that struck at the heart of our democracy’. “Sir David was a man of the greatest substance, and he had done nothing whatsoever to justify the attack upon him, let alone his murder. Ali wanted to influence British foreign policy, and he decided to target politicians in the name of the Islamic State”, Justice Sweeney added.

He further stated that the murder was carried out in revenge for Islamic State losses in Syria and that it owed nothing to any humanitarian consideration. “It was done to influence the government and thereby advance a religious or ideological cause, namely that of Islamic State. The defendant has no remorse or shame for what he has done, quite the reverse”, he added.

Ali expresses no regret over the murder of the UK MP, wants every parliamentarian who signed up for bombing Syria to die

69-year-old UK MP was killed at the surgery he was holding at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea on October 15. Ali who stabbed the MP said in the Court that he was not ashamed of murdering the delegate. “I don’t feel any shame. If I thought there was something wrong, I wouldn’t have done it”, he told the court on April 13.

London-born Ali also mentioned that he wanted every Parliament Minister who signed up for the bombing of Syria who agreed to the Iraqi war to die. He maintained the line at trial, insisting the killing was carried out to protect Syrians from further bombing.

According to the reports, the culprit had plans to kill various MPs including cabinet minister Michael Gove. He had also staked out the north London office of Mike Freer MP and visited Westminster to see if a politician could be murdered when emerging from the Parliamentary estate, but eventually settled on David Amess MP as the target. After the judgment, Freer said that he and his staff now wear stab vests and panic alarms, and have had to cancel advice surgeries until security has been increased.

Pertinently, Ali believed that he didn’t do anything wrong and maintained in the Court that he had plans to die as a ‘martyr’ at the hands of the UK Police. The jury also convicted Ali for preparing acts of terrorism along with murder.

Did you know: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had forgiven General Reginald Dyer, the perpetrator of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre

OpIndia Staff
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Did you know: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had forgiven General Reginald Dyer, the perpetrator of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre

Even after 103 years, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre remains one of the “darkest days” in India’s history. The bloodshed took place on April 13, 1919, during the festival of Baisakhi that killed hundreds of Indians fighting for freedom of the country.

British General Reginald Dyer had ordered his troops to open fire on thousands of unarmed men, women, and children who had gathered in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, to peacefully protest against the arrest and deportation of two nationalists – Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. The two leaders were arrested under the notorious Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, which gave the British government enormous powers to suppress political activities and allowed the detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.

General Dyer stormed his troops inside the Jallianwala Bagh and ordered his troops to open fire without any warning killing 379 people, according to the British records. However, the eyewitnesses who saw the massacre recounted several thousand were killed during the firing.

The horrors of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre provoked Indians and traumatised them. The killings turned out to be a catalyst in the history of India’s independence movement, consolidating the Indian opinion.

Not just General Dyer, who was the chief perpetrator of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, but the entire British Empire became an object of hatred among Indians. It was not the first time the Indians had witnessed such brutal killings ever since the British colonised India, but the Jallianwala Bagh came as a shock as it had exposed entirely the barbarity perpetrated by the British Empire.

Even as the common Indians suffered pain, agony and despair after General Dyer’s action at the Jallianwala Bagh, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – the conscience keeper of the Congress party, strangely forgave the British General.

Mahatma Gandhi’s writings reveal how he found it was morally right to forgive Dyer for the heinous crimes he committed in Amritsar by killing innocent and unarmed people. In an article titled “Religious Authority for Non-cooperation”, authored by him and published in Young India on August 25 1920, Mohandas wrote, “It would be sin for me to serve General Dyer and co-operate with him to shoot innocent men. But it will be an exercise of forgiveness or love for me to nurse him back to life if he is suffering from a physical malady”.

For Gandhi, Dyer merely destroyed a few bodies, while the others tried to kill the soul of a nation. Further, condemning the outrage against the British General and defending General Dyer, Gandhi wrote, “the fury that has been spent upon General Dyer is, I am sure, largely misdirected”.

A few years later, a friend wrote to Gandhi to inform him about Dyer’s deteriorating health condition. In the letter, he blamed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre for his ill health. However, Gandhi did not approve of this attack on Dyer.

“I do not think that his paralysis has any necessary connection with his action in Jallianwala Bagh. Have you considered the implications of such beliefs?… My dysentery, appendicitis and this time, a mild attack of paralysis must have been known to you. I should be very sorry if some good Englishmen were to think that these diseases were due to my fierce opposition, as it must appear in their estimation, to the English government,” Mohandas Gandhi said in response.

Finally, nearly two decades after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Mohandas forgave Dyer one more time.

“Who could be more cruel or blood-thirsty than the late General Dyer?” wrote Gandhi, “Yet the Jallianwala Bagh Congress Inquiry Committee, on my advice, had refused to ask for his prosecution. I had no trace of ill will against him in my heart. I would have also liked to meet him personally and reach his heart, but that was to remain a mere aspiration.”

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