Home Blog Page 3393

Fact Check: Is the man asking to boycott Reliance, Patanjali products in a viral video the owner of Himalaya?

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Fact Check: Is the man asking to boycott Reliance, Patanjali products in a viral video the owner of Himalaya?

On March 29, a video went viral on social media wherein it was claimed that the owner of the Himalaya group called for boycotting Reliance Jio and Patanjali products. In the video, the person alleged that these companies are linked to RSS; thus, everyone should boycott them.

The reality behind the video

When checked, OpIndia noticed that the person in the video was an eminent lawyer Bhanu Pratap Singh. Notably, he is not related to the Himalaya company in any way. The video was from an anti-CAA protest that took place in January 2020. In the video itself, multiple posters related to the protests were visible. We had covered the hate-filled speech at that time.

The rant against Reliance and Patanjali starts at 3:21 minutes into the video, which was widely shared on various social media platforms. He was seen urging the gathered crowd at Mustafabad in New Delhi to boycott all products of Reliance Industries Limited, including Jio and petroleum. He further asked them to switch to Airtel, Vodafone or Idea, whatever brand they wanted but not Reliance.

He went ahead and urged the crowd to call for a ban on Patanjali products as well. Patanjali is owned by Yoga Guru Ramdev. He said, “What is Ramdev doing, he is selling us nothing but cows and Gobar (cow dung), and most of his products contain nothing but garbage.” He further insists that whatever Baba Ramdev’s company makes in profits, it is given to the RSS to ‘buy weapons’ against Muslims. “They take money from us and use it against us,” he added.

He further said, “They are our enemies. We will boycott them and will break their backbone. The person whose backbone gets broken will never be able to stand against us. This is a war, and we will have to adapt war tactics. Explain this well to your children, family and friends. Only we can do this.”

The same video went viral with similar claims in 2021 as well.

Statement by Himalaya

Rebutting the claims, Himalaya said on Twitter, “The social media posts circulated about #HimalayaWellness Company are fake & fabricated. The person in the video is not associated with Himalaya in any way. Himalaya is a proud homegrown Indian company conducting business with a high level of integrity.”

History of fake reporting against Himalaya

This is not the first time Himalaya has been targeted on social media platforms. Notably, the founder of the company was Muhammad Manal, who established it in 1930. Manal died in 1986. Back in October 2020, a similar claim had surfaced on social media where a video was widely circulated alleging the person in the video was Himalaya’s founder.

Upon investigating, we had found that the person in the video was not linked to Himalaya. He was a Saudi Arabia resident identified as Naqi Ahmed Nadwi. The video that was being circulated at that time was a clip from his statement after Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan in August 2020.

Earlier in March 2020, another post on social media went viral in which it was alleged that Himalaya Company funded a terrorist organization. A photograph of Philipe Haydon, President and CEO of Himalaya Drug Company, was shared with the post claiming he was Muhammad Manal, founder of the company. On both occasions, Himalaya issued a statement dismissing the claims and warned the fake news peddlers of legal consequences.

Walt Disney goes full woke, jumps in to oppose Ron DeSantis’ Florida bill that aims to prevent small children taught sexual orientation at school

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Walt Disney goes full woke, jumps in to oppose Ron DeSantis’ Florida bill that aims to prevent small children taught sexual orientation at school

The Walt Disney company has finally made an official stance on the controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay‘ bill passed in Florida state. This came after LGBTQ+ employees and activists groups targeted the company for not condemning the allegedly ‘homophobic’ bill officially, after which it had to take a political stand.

The Walt Disney Company was under fire by its own employees over the alleged ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida. Its employees took to protest on Disney campuses across the USA for not taking an official stand against the bill. On March 8, The Florida State Senate passed the alleged ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill that prohibits teaching concepts like ‘Sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to primary and kindergarten school children with an intent to regulate age-inappropriate content in accordance with the state standards. LGBTQ+ activists, Democrat politicians and activist groups across America criticised the Bill stating that it will discriminate against ‘gay’ children and teenagers.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been vocal in support of the legislation, asserting that schools and teachers exposing little children to ‘woke’ concepts like sexual orientation and gender identities hampers the rights of parents and children.

Disney campuses faced the wrath of woke gender fundamentalism after the protestors criticised the supposed ‘anti-LGBTQ’ policies of Disney for not standing against the bill. Agitators pointed out that the bill affects them personally since the company funds many of the legislators in their political campaigns who supported the bill. From March 15, the workers organised planned ‘walkouts‘ from the company during breaks from the official schedule. 

While Disney issued many statements in support of the protestors, it was finally forced to take a political stand against the state legislated bill. On March 28, The Walt Disney Company issued an official statement against the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill passed in Florida. Disney effectively asked for the bill to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts. “We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country,” the statement read.

Republican senators including Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis have been criticising Disney for buckling under the ‘woke’ pressure. Passed by the legislation on March 8, the controversial bill was finally signed by Governor DeSantis on Tuesday. Speaking on Disney’s political stance, he said, “This state is governed by the interests of the people of the state of Florida. It is not based on the demands of California corporate executives. They do not run this state. They do not control this state.” 

Family of Satish Kumar Tickoo, the first victim of terrorist Bitta Karate, moves court for retrial of the murder case 

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Family of Satish Kumar Tickoo, the first victim of terrorist Bitta Karate, moves court for retrial of the murder case 

Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, the butcher of Kashmiri Hindus, will finally face a trial for the murder of Satish Kumar Tickoo nearly 31 years after the Islamic terrorist brutally killed him.

According to the reports, Tickoo’s family has filed a petition in the Srinagar Sessions Court seeking to reopen the case against terrorist Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate in the Satish Kumar Tickoo’s murder case.

Senior Advocate Utsav Bains has filed a criminal application seeking status reports of all the FIRs registered against Karate. The Srinagar sessions court will commence hearing on Wednesday at 10.30 am.

Bitta Karate, who led the genocide against Kashmiri Hindus in 1990, had confessed on a live TV program that his first victim was Satish Kumar Tickoo. In the interview, Karate had claimed that he got “orders from above to kill him”.

Ashfaq Majeed Wani, the JKLF top commander, was the one who had issued orders to eliminate innocent Kashmiri Hindus living in the valley. Wani was the man who took Bitta Karate and others to Pakistan for terror training.

“He was a Hindu boy,” Karate had recounted. Apparently, Satish Tickoo, a local businessman, was also a very close friend of Bitta Karate.

Karate, who has been heading the Pakistan sponsored terror outfit Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) for years, has killed 42 people before he was arrested in 1992. He had admitted to have killed at least 20 or “maybe more than 30-40” Kashmiri Pandits in 1990.

“I used pistol to kill from a distance of 20 or 30 yards. Sometimes, I also used AK-47 rifles to fire at the security personnel,” Karate had claimed, adding that he became a terrorist because he was “harassed by the local administration”.

Farooq Ahmed Dar Dar, who waged war against the country by mercilessly killing innocent civilians and the security personnel on the instructions of Pakistan, was arrested in 1990 and charged with the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits. However, he was set free after 17-years.

Bitta Karate was once again arrested in 2008 during Amarnath land row agitation. He was released eight months later, only to be picked up again in 2019 on terror funding charges.

NIA files charge sheet in LTTE terror funding case, plans were underway to trigger unrest in TN through ‘Tamil nationalism’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
NIA files charge sheet in LTTE terror funding case, plans were underway to trigger unrest in TN through ‘Tamil nationalism’

In connection with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terror funding investigation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against six people. The investigation into LTTE-related cases is gathering traction, and the Intelligence Bureau has also issued an alarm.

Attempts were being undertaken, according to some reports, to syphon off money for reviving the group. While the purpose may not be the same as when the LTTE was founded, efforts are being made to keep Tamil Nadu on the boil and to resurrect ‘Tamil nationalism’ in India.

The NIA informed about the case in a press release dated 29/03/2022. “NIA Files Charge Sheet Against 6 accused in LTTE Terror Funding Case (RC-02/2022/NIA/DLI)” the NIA wrote in a tweet.

According to the press release, the case was lodged as FIR No.1/2021 by the ‘Q’ Branch CID in Chennai and was taken over by the NIA on January 18, 2022. It relates to a criminal conspiracy to resurrect the LTTE by forgery and the use of fabricated papers as real in order to syphon cash from dormant accounts to perform criminal and terrorist actions.

Letchumanan Mary Franciska, Kenniston Fernando, Baskaran, Johnson Samuvel, G Dharmendran, and E Mohan are the six charged.

According to the NIA, during the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Letchumanan Mary Franciska, T. Kenniston Fernando, and K. Baskaran conspired with foreign entities to syphon off deposits in dormant bank accounts by using Indian identity documents obtained unlawfully and forging identity documents in order to resurrect, revitalise, and reorganise the LTTE in India and Sri Lanka. Johnson Samuvel, Dharmendran, and Mohan helped them forge Indian identification documents.

Background of the case

The issue was brought to light after a Sri Lankan national, Letchumanan Mary Franciska (50), was apprehended at Chennai Airport. The woman had arrived in India on a one-year tourist visa in December of this year. She stayed in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that, she rented a property in Anna Nagar’s Shakthi Colony. She then obtained a rental agreement and concealed her nationality in order to obtain an LPG connection in her name. She obtained an Indian passport and a voter ID through the LPG connection. The arrest was made because she was in possession of a forged Indian passport, according to the police.

The case was turned up to the NIA, which took into account the bigger plot as well as the worldwide implications.

The accused individuals had withdrawn money from the Indian Overseas Bank’s Mumbai Fort branch, according to the NIA’s FIR. The money was taken out to resurrect and expand the LTTE’s activities.

According to an officer with the Intelligence Bureau, the LTTE has been silent since its collapse in Sri Lanka. However, over the last few years, there have been signs that they are attempting a comeback.

Zee Media terminates Zee Punjab editor’s services for favouring a certain political party during Punjab Elections

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Zee Media terminates Zee Punjab editor’s services for favouring a certain political party during Punjab Elections

On March 29, Zee Media Corporation terminated the services of Jagdeep Singh Sandhu, Editor Zee Punjab/Haryana/Himachal, over allegations of ‘unethical dealings with a political party’ during the Punjab Assembly Elections. In an official statement, the company said his services had been terminated with immediate effect from March 28.

The statement read, “Through this notice, the concerned and public at large are hereby informed that Jagdeep Singh Sandhu, with last known residence address – Sector 91 Mohali 160062, who an employee and Editor of the channel ‘ZEE PUNJAB HARYANA HIMACHAL’, Zee Media Corporation Limited, has been terminated from his employment with effect from 28.03.2022. It has been brought to the notice of the management of Zee Media that Jagdeep Singh Sandhu allegedly entered a clandestine understanding with a political party contesting Punjab Assembly Elections 2-3 months back.”

It further added that Singh was doing biased reporting on Zee PHH in favour of the said political party. He bypassed the company’s policies that assure neutrality and impartiality at all times. The reason for such partial reporting was stated as the “promise to grant a Rajya Sabha nomination” to Singh.

‘Jagdeep was exposed when the party backed out’

In the statement, the company mentioned that the deal between Singh and the unnamed political party came to light when the party possibly backed out and did not fulfil the promise. The company said, “Jagdeep was exposed in front of the management of Zee Media, as he suddenly wanted to persuade the management to publish stories against the said political party.” It added, “Such act by Jagdeep is seen as not only unlawful and unethical journalistic practice, but it also amounts to defrauding and misleading the viewers of the network.”

The company has cautioned the public that Jagdeep Sandhu no longer has any authority to represent Zee Media or to enter into any agreement, transaction, arrangement or deal with anyone of whatsoever nature on behalf of the company. Furthermore, the company would not be responsible for any financial transactions between Sandhu and any other party.

It added, “Public/Political Parties/Media or any other related are alerted and cautioned through this Notice, not to enter any transaction with Jagdeep on behalf of Zee Media in any manner and Zee Media shall not be responsible and liable for any act done by Mr Jagdeep Singh Sandhu.”

Sandhu shared AAP related reports on personal accounts

It is noteworthy that Sandhu had shared posts specific to Aam Aadmi Party on his personal profile multiple times during the elections.

Source: Jagdeep Singh Sandhu’s Facebook profile

Instead of sharing posts from the Channel’s social media accounts, on some occasions, he preferred to share videos from the Delhi CM’s and AAP’s Punjab CM candidate’s account.

Source: Jagdeep Singh Sandhu’s Facebook profile
Source: Jagdeep Singh Sandhu’s Facebook profile

Though we cannot be sure which party had promised him a Rajya Sabha nomination but going by the results of Punjab Assembly elections, if any other party had made such a deal, it would have been impossible for them to nominate and send Sandhu to Rajya Sabha. In that case, Sandhu would not have pitched to do negative reporting of that party. But all the speculations are only hypothetical and cannot be proven with 100% surety as the company has decided not to name the political party in its statement.

Pakistan: Imran Khan govt loses support of alliance partner MQM ahead of no-trust vote, likely to resign today

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Pakistan: Imran Khan govt loses support of alliance partner MQM ahead of no-trust vote, likely to resign today

In a major blow to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), the major coalition partner of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, has decided to withdraw its support from the Imran Khan-led government, leading to its imminent collapse.

According to media reports from Pakistan, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan has decided to join hands with the united opposition to defeat the Imran Khan-led government in the no-confidence motion tabled in Pakistan’s National Assembly.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted early Wednesday morning that the united opposition and MQM have reached an agreement. 

“Rabta committee MQM and PPP CEC will ratify the said agreement. We will then share details with the media in a press conference tomorrow IA. Congratulations, Pakistan,” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wrote on Twitter.

Senior MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari also confirmed the development, saying the agreement has been finalised and the details will be provided on Wednesday evening.

The late-night development ahead of the crucial vote on the no-confidence motion has left Imran Khan with no option but to resign from the post of Prime Minister as the PTI government has lost the majority in the lower house of the Parliament. 

It is being speculated that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may offer his resignation outside Parliament ahead of the no-confidence motion to save his face. Earlier in the day, Imran Khan had directed members of his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the National Assembly to not attend Parliament on the day of voting on the no-trust motion.

On Tuesday, Shehbaz Sharif, the chief of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz and also the brother of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had moved the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led government in National Assembly. Imran Khan must have the support of 172 members in the 342-member National Assembly to save his government from collapsing.

The PTI-led coalition government was formed with the support of 179 members, but with MQM-P withdrawing, Imran Khan’s party is left with 164 members in support. The united opposition has now 177 supporters in the national assembly, and they do not need the support of PTI lawmakers.

Pakistan: Madarsa teachers kill their colleague ‘because Prophet told them in a dream that she is committing blasphemy and ordered her murder’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Pakistan: Madarsa teachers kill their colleague ‘because Prophet told them in a dream that she is committing blasphemy and ordered her murder’

Reports of a murder of a woman over an imaginary blasphemy accusation have come from Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan. The city in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region has witnessed the brutal murder of a Madarsa teacher by her female colleagues for ‘committing blasphemy’ as seen by one of the accused in her dream.

The DI Khan district Police have arrested three female madrasa teachers, including a teenager, and a 13-year-old suspect girl. The incident took place in Anjumabad’s Jamia Islamia Falahul Binaat seminary where the three suspects and the victim taught as teachers. It all happened when Three teachers from the seminary accused one of their colleagues of committing blasphemy for being under the impression of one Maulana Tariq Jameel. As the argument went out of the way, the suspect woman stabbed the victim with a knife before slitting her throat.

The Police statement recorded that the three accused women have disclosed that one of their relatives, a thirteen-year-old girl, had seen in her dream that the Prophet had revealed that the victim had committed blasphemy against him. Apparently, the Prophet also ordered them to slaughter the victim, as seen by the girl in her dream. The statement read that three of the women “materialised the dream seen by the fourth one”.

Among the women arrested include 24-year-old Umra Aman, 21-year-old Razia Hanfi, 17-year-old Aisha Nomani and also the 13-year-old girl who saw the dream. The police have so far taken custody of the murderous knife with which the lady was slaughtered and have recorded the details of the dream. It has been reported that all the suspects originally hail from South Waziristan district but have been living in DI KHan’s Arjumabad recently.

Investigation into the case is underway.

Journalist-turned-terrorist among two killed by security forces in Srinagar encounter

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Journalist-turned-terrorist among two killed by security forces in Srinagar encounter

On Wednesday morning, the security forces neutralised two terrorists during an encounter in the Rainawari area of Srinagar.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir police, one of the terrorists killed in the counter-terror operation is identified as Rayees Ahmad Bhat. He was a journalist. The journalist-turned-terrorist ran an online news portal- “Valley News Service” in Anantnag.

The Jammu and Kashmir police said that Bhat had joined the terrorist ranks of Lashkar-e-Taiba in August last year and was categorised as ‘C’ on the terrorists’ list. Two FIRs are already registered against him for terror crimes, police said.

Speaking to the media, Vijay Kumar, IGP of Jammu and Kashmir, said that the involvement of a former journalist in terror crimes suggested that there was a clear case of misuse of media.

Another terrorist killed in the encounter has been identified as Hilal Ahmad Rahm, a resident of Bijbehara. Hilal was also a ‘C’ categorised terrorist.

The senior police officer said that both were involved in several recent terror crimes, including civilian killings. The police official said that incriminating materials have been recovered from the encounter site, including arms and ammunition.

The encounter broke out at around 1 AM on early Wednesday in the Rainawari area of Srinagar. The counter-terror operations were led by Jammu and Kashmir police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Burqa-clad terrorist hurls bomb at CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Burqa-clad terrorist hurls bomb at CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla

A burqa-clad terrorist hurled a petrol bomb at a CRPF camp in Sopore town of Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Tuesday evening.

A video has gone viral on the internet in which it was seen that a burqa-clad terrorist was seen throwing a bomb at a CRPF post. The unidentified terrorist, who was seen in Islamic gear, stopped in the middle of the street, took a bomb out of his/her bag, and threw it at the CRPF camp.

The terrorist was seen running runs away from the spot immediately afterwards.

A few two-wheelers were also seen passing by when the terrorist hurled bombs at the camp. The CRPF camp burnt in flames as bystanders poured water to douse the fire caused by the petrol bomb.

Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub, accused of misusing Covid funds for personal gains, stopped from leaving India

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub, accused of misusing Covid funds for personal gains, stopped from leaving India

Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub claimed today that she was stopped from leaving India at the immigration while trying to board a flight to London.

Taking to Twitter, the Washington Post columnist claimed she was on her way to London to deliver her speech on ‘intimidation of journalists’. From there, she claimed she was supposed to go to Italy to speak about the state of Indian democracy.

Rana Ayuub claimed that the events where she was to speak were publicized on her social media for weeks, but the summons from Enforcement Directorate came after she was stopped at immigration.

“I was stopped today at the Indian immigration while I was about to board my flight to London to deliver my speech on the intimidation of journalists with @ICFJ. I was to travel to Italy right after to deliver the keynote address at the @journalismfest on the Indian democracy

Rana Ayyub accused of misusing COVID funds for personal gains

In February 2022, Enforcement Directorate had attached assets worth Rs 1.77 crore of Ayyub over allegations of violation of provisions of the Money Laundering Act. The ED in its attachment order had said, “Rana Ayyub has cheated the general Public Donors in a pre-planned manner and with the intention to cheat the general public donors”.

The order says that Rana Ayyub’s scam started right from the time she collected the money and started withdrawing it from her savings account of herself and her family members. The ED order further said that a Fixed Deposit amounting to Rs 50 Lakh was booked from her savings bank account through net banking, and opening a separate Current bank account and subsequently, funds were transferred from her savings bank account and the bank account of her sister and father and did not utilize for the purpose for which it was raised by Rana Ayyub.

You can read the details about the allegations of misusing the covid funds collected by Rana here.

1...3,3923,3933,394...7,642Page 3,393 of 7,642