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Bangladesh: Medical college makes hijab compulsory for non-Muslim women

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh: Medical college makes hijab compulsory for non-Muslim women

Ad-din Sakina Medical College in Bangladesh has now made the hijab (headscarves worn by Muslim women) compulsory even for non-Muslims. This even after Bangladesh Supreme Court order from 4th October 2010 said that no one can be forced to wear religious clothes against their will.

Hindu organisation Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajote said that another founder of Ad-din Sakina Medical College, Sheikh Afil Uddin, was also involved in torturing religious minorities. Newstrack had earlier reported that the college’s administrative officer Subrata Basak had claimed that the rule had been in force since 2011 (when the college was founded). He declined to answer when asked about how the diktat of the medical college was against the decision of a Bangladeshi court on wearing religious attire in schools.

On Friday (February 25), the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajote raised strong objections against the decision of a medical college to make hijab mandatory even for non-Muslim students, reported Sangbad Pratidin.

In a press conference, the Hindu rights organisation emphasised that non-Muslim students must not be forced into wearing Islamic attire at any educational institute in the country. Citing media reports, it pointed out that the Ad-din Sakina Medical College (ASMC) in Jessore district of Bangladesh has introduced such a rule in the college.

The spokesperson for Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, Palash Kanti Dey, said that the decision of the college is in contravention to the 2010 verdict of a Bangladeshi court. It was held by the court that people cannot be forced to wear veils, skull caps and other religious clothing against their will in schools/colleges and workplaces.

The Hindu organisation said that by making hijab compulsory for all, the medical college had violated the order of the court. It informed that the college has been soliciting ‘written consent’ from students at the time of admission. Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance said that those students who refuse to give consent for wearing hijab are barred from taking admission.

Sangbad Pratidin reported that the hijab has been made compulsory for all students (including non-Muslims) at all educational institutes, operated by Akij Group Ltd. The Hindu outfit has demanded the immediate intervention of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina regarding the matter.

Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance had claimed that Dr Sheikh Akij Uddin, the father of ASMC’s founder Dr Sheikh Mohiuddin, was against the Independence of the country in 1971. It added that Akij Uddin was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing, Chhatra Shibir, while he was a student of Barisal Medical College. His family was accused of looting the properties of Hindu refugees.

Hindu rights organisation condemn threats to Bangladeshi Hindus over Karnataka hijab row

On February 18, Islamists had threatened Hindus living in Bangladesh with dire consequences if Muslim students were not allowed entry into Indian classrooms with Hijab. They gathered in large numbers in Dhaka to protest against the ‘Hijab ban’ in Indian schools, reported Ruptly. 

In a video shared by a Bangladeshi Twitter user, a large group of Muslims were seen marching on the streets with placards while raising anti-India slogans. “The conspiracy about stopping education of Muslim girls in India should be stopped,” read one placard.

The mob, associated with the radical Islamist party Islami Andolan Bangladesh, also raised slogans of ‘Allahu Akbar’ while they rallied in support of the hijab on the streets of Dhaka. While threatening Hindus living in Bangladesh, an Islamist warned that life would become miserable for Hindu women in the country.

“Not a single Bangladeshi Hindu woman come outside homes and walk on the street with a religious symbol like Shaka, Sindoor…,” he threatened. The Islamist received overwhelming support from the Muslim mob standing in his vicinity. The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance had strongly condemned the anti-Hindu rhetorics during the press conference on February 25.

‘Bhakti cult rose to meet egalitarian appeal of Islam’: Vision IAS continues to malign Bhakti movement after its teacher is accused of spreading Islamic propaganda

OpIndia Staff
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‘Bhakti cult rose to meet egalitarian appeal of Islam’: Vision IAS continues to malign Bhakti movement after its teacher is accused of spreading Islamic propaganda

Vision IAS, a training institute for Civil Services aspirants, has issued a statement after videos of its teacher went viral where she was teaching Islamic propaganda to the students while demonising the Bhakti Movement. Calling the propagandist teacher an ‘esteemed faculty’, Vision IAS alleged that the video only presented ‘a small part of a discussion’. It said, “The said discussion, which is currently not available on any official Vision IAS platform, has led to divergent opinions and reactions.”

It further added that the intention was not to ‘hurt anyone’s sentiments’. Calling the Bhakti Movement a cult in its statement as well, Vision IAS said, “The discussion in point is only focused on one possible reason for the rise of the Bhakti Cult and that too in a particular time period. What the speaker underscores is the dynamic response of followers of Sanatana dharma and its inherent strength which took the form of Bhakti cult meaning “loving faith in God” and “love for fellow human beings” to meet the egalitarian appeal of Islam, that is the appeal of its caste less theology and social order.”

Notably, in its statement, Vision IAS propagated that Islam has “casteless theology and social order” while conveniently ignoring the fact that Islam not only has different subsections such as Shia, Sunni, Ahmadiyya and more, but they practice high order of discrimination amongst themselves. For example, Ahmadiyyas are often not considered Muslims in countries like Pakistan.

It further added, “It was never the intent of the Vision IAS family to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The discussion in point is only focused on one possible reason for the rise of the Bhakti Cult and that too in a particular time period. What the speaker underscores are the dynamic response of followers of Sanatana dharma and its inherent strength which took the form of Bhakti cult meaning “loving faith in God” and “love for fellow human beings” to meet the egalitarian appeal of Islam, that is the appeal of its caste less theology and social order.”

While talking about the reference of a replica of the first mosque presented by PM Modi to Saudi King in 2016, the statement said, “Her reference to PM Modi’s presentation of the replica of the first mosque outside the Arabian Peninsula that was built in Kerala to the Saudi King further serves to highlight the syncretic character of the Indian civilisation and its strength.”

The institute stood by the misleading statement made by the teacher by calling the Bhakti Movement a ‘cult’ but said, “Having clarified our stance, we also sincerely apologise if anything said or done by us has served to hurt the sentiments of any community or member thereof. Vision IAS firmly believes in the ethos and values enshrined in the Indian Constitution, and any sentiments hurt, is unintentional and deeply regretted.”

‘Bhakti Movement was a cult’ – Netizens criticised Vision IAS faculty for misleading students

On Sunday, a video of a faculty of Vision IAS went viral on social media in which she was teaching the students about the rise of the Bhakti Movement. She propagated that Bhakti Movement was started due to the spread of ‘liberal ideas’ of Islam where they talked about ‘equality’ and ‘caste-less’ society. The video was initially shared by a user @sillypuneer on Twitter.

In the video, the female teacher, identified as Smriti Shah, asked the students about the purpose of the Bhakti movement. When the students said it was “equality”, she said, “Islam arrived in India in the seventh century. It was very liberal and talked about equality. There was no caste system either. PM Modi gifted a miniature of Cheraman Juma Masjid to the Saudi King, which was the first mosque built in India. Islam had not arrived in India yet, but it had started showing its influence. It was free from any rigidity and casteism. There was a speciality of Islam that talked about complete devotion to one God (Allah). They were talking about the concept of one God.”

She further added, “As Islam said, there was only one God, and he created all, it means everyone was same. Islam talked about the universal brotherhood that attracted people. Those who belonged to the lower class started to convert to Islam to raise their status. That was the time when Hindu civilisation felt threatened. As a result, the Bhakti cult was started. They wanted to tell Hinduism is the same religion as Islam, and there was no difference.”

After her video surfaced on social media, the netizens objected to the type of propaganda-filled content being shared by the coaching centres against Hinduism.

Film-maker Vivek Agnihotri said, “Wonderful Vision IAS! You have opened a shop for brainwashing [students].” Tagging Minister of Education, Dr Dharmendra Pradhan, he added, “Dr Pradhan Ji, please note. Is this kind of radical propaganda of religion at the cost of another allowed by your ministry? Every Indian must help stop this brainwashing of students.”

Twitter user NagpurKaRajini sarcastically said, “Ghazanavi, Babar were not only the most secular but also liberals. They taught Indians what is secularism, liberalism and got rid of Bhakti Movement in India. You Vision IAS are right.”

Twitter user Rishi Bagree said, “She clearly neither understands Bhakti Movement nor she commiserates with Islam.”

‘Nimbu mirchi and nariyal’ – the hate continues

In another video, the same faculty talked about Hindu traditions and mocked Hindus for their centuries-old traditions. She said while Hindus have accepted the new amenities like a car, they are still stuck to the old traditions like hanging lemon and chillies or breaking a coconut before using a vehicle, thinking the vehicle would remain safe from damages. “They break the coconut. Thank God they do not break it on the car! The idea is, you accepted the peripheral value by owning a car, but the core value that is tradition is still there.” She also mocked ‘bhakts’, a term used for BJP followers, and said, “Everyone has Bhakts, I am talking about God’s followers”, which was followed by giggles in the classroom.

‘Joint families satisfy sexual gratification’ – the deep-rooted hate for Hindu community

In yet another bizarre statement made by Shah during another class, she claimed the joint family system in Hindus “satisfy sexual gratification”. She said, “Your sexual desires are also satisfied a family. You need to understand. In a family, you get into a relationship if you are not a blood relative then through marriage. And marriage is the institution that serves the purpose of sexual gratification. Once your sexual needs are gratified, it results in to reproduction.”

Notably, this was not the first time someone has raised a voice against the anti-Hindu propaganda being spread by the same teacher. Back in 2021, a Twitter user Naina had shared a video of her where the Vision IAS faculty said, “Beliefs generates emotions. Believes are not related to emotions. The emotions are generated based on your beliefs. ‘I believe India is a Hindu Rashtra’which generates an emotion of antagonism and hostility toward other religious minorities. And then it might generate the action tendency of being violent or attacking them. So it all starts with belief.”

‘It is not an apology’ Netizens pointed out lack of ‘apology’ in Vision IAS’s statement

The ‘apology’ statement by Vision IAS did not go well with the netizens. Pointing out the lack of the so-called apology in the statement, Supreme Court Lawyer, Shashank Shekhar Jha said, “This is a statement and not an apology! Posted at 2:30 with Comments Closed, Vision IAS missed apologising for ‘esteemed’ where 1. She referred to Bhakti Cult as Pejorative. 2. Another video where she used Hindu Rashtra jibe and labelled Hindus as violènt & attackers.”

Twitter user GauriB said, “A clarification that is worse than the video. Blatantly distorting a narrative is not hurting sentiments, it is endangering lives. To call Islam egalitarian is to further the lies. Islam is blatantly misogynistic, irrational and contemptuous of human creativity and depth.”

Misleading and wrong lessons of History in Indian education system

There have been voices against the misleading and factually wrong lessons of History in the Indian education system on several occasions. Netizens have raised the issue and demanded overhauling of the education system to ensure the future generation has the right information. A 2020 RTI had revealed that NCERT has no evidence to prove that Mughal emperors had rebuilt temples destroyed in wars, even when it claims the same in its history textbook. In July 2021, the research produced by Public Policy Research Center (PPRC) director Sumeet Bhasin, researchers Chandni Sengupta, Deepa Kaushik and Sanket Kate, titled “Distortions and Misrepresentations of India’s Past: History Textbooks and Why they need to change“, had highlighted that NCERT textbooks have deliberately overstated the contributions of Mughal rulers to India.

Operation Ganga: Four Union Ministers to fly to neighbouring nations of Ukraine to coordinate evacuation of Indian students

OpIndia Staff
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Operation Ganga: Four Union Ministers to fly to neighbouring nations of Ukraine to coordinate evacuation of Indian students

On February 28, the Government of India announced that three Union Ministers, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) VK Singh would travel to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation of the Indians from the war-hit region.

Notably, Gen (Retd) VK Singh had coordinated the evacuation program Mission Raahat in 2015 to bring back Indians from war-hit Yemen when he was the MoS External Affairs. In Operation Sankat Mochan in 2016, Gen VK Singh had personally accompanied 156 Indians evacuated by Indian Air Force in a C-17 aircraft from war-hit South Sudan.

Reportedly, the Ukrainian security agencies are allegedly making it difficult for Indian nationals, including students, to leave Ukraine. There have been reports that the Ukrainian agencies are not only using Indian nationals as leverage against India by putting them in a hostage-like situation but also assaulting and misbehaving with them.

A high-level meeting was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Ukraine crisis. During the meeting, it was decided that four union ministers would travel to the war-hit region and coordinate the evacuation mission and help students to reach back home safely.

India raised concerns about safety of Indians at UNSC

PR/Ambassador of India to United Nations TS Tirumurti in a statement expressed concerns about the safety of Indian nationals in Ukraine as reports had emerged of them being assaulted and harassed by the Ukrainian agencies. He said, “We continue to be deeply concerned about the safety and security of Indian nationals, including a large number of Indian students, who are still stranded in Ukraine.”

He further added, “Our evacuation efforts have been adversely impacted by the complex and uncertain situation at the border crossings. It is important to maintain an uninterrupted and predictable movement of people. It is an urgent humanitarian necessity that must be immediately addressed.”

Mission Ganga: The Evacuation Program to bring back Indian students from Ukraine

Since Russia’s declaration of military action against Ukraine on February 24, the Indians stuck in the war-hit zone are being evacuated by the government of India under the Mission Ganga program. The number of Indians stranded in Ukraine is reported to be anywhere between 16,000 to 20,000, with most media houses reporting them at 18,000. However, as of now, the official government figure is 16,000. So far, 907 Indians have been evacuated. Notably, the Indian government had issued multiple advisories urging Indians to leave Ukraine before the war was declared.

Pakistani Twitter accounts masquerading as Chinese social media influencers and promoting anti-India propaganda: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani Twitter accounts masquerading as Chinese social media influencers and promoting anti-India propaganda: Report

China and Pakistan are close allies, is a fact well known. Their leaders often use metaphors like “higher than the mountains” and “deeper than the oceans” to describe the relationship between the two countries. China considers Pakistan its rental state to advance its geopolitical machinations and regional ambitions. For Pakistan, China is their eternal go-to state, a country they trust to support their foundering economy and address their perennial misgivings regarding India. 

While they share a relationship in an array of fields, a recent report published on Logically throws light on the close online association between the two countries. An investigation conducted by OSINT experts of Logically found that several social media influencers pretending to be Chinese, in reality, were Pakistanis. They are, by definition, sockpuppets—a false online identity created by a person or group to promote their own opinions or views.

A large number of seemingly Chinese influencer accounts on social media platforms, most notably on Twitter, are operated by Pakistanis, with a majority of their followers being fake or bot accounts. These accounts then deploy disinformation campaigns that align with China and Pakistan and is always against India, stemming from their shared animus against New Delhi. 

Interestingly, these sockpuppets have enjoyed state support from both Chinese and Pakistan state officials, who enthusiastically share and promote content uploaded by them. 

Be it fake claims regarding the Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese troopers or the conspiracy theories surrounding the helicopter crash of late CDS General Bipin Rawat, or any other internal matter concerning India, these sockpuppets fuel disinformation online in their bid to create a rift within the Indian society along religious and ideological lines.

Nian Zhen, who operates under Twitter handle @Xinhua_88, is one such Pakistani impersonator who pretends to be a Chinese national. Zhen claims to be a member of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations(CICIR) and is often found spreading Chinese propaganda under the pretext of sharing intellectual insight from a think tank based in Beijing. 

Pakistani sockpuppets
Source: Twitter

According to data analysed on TruthNest, the initial posts made by @Xinhua_88 were in Urdu, indicating that it is a sockpuppet likely operated by someone in Pakistan. Logically cites audience intelligence tool SparkToro to claim that 22.3 per cent of @Xinhua_88’s followers are fake or bots. 

Furthermore, @Xinhua_88 was also found to have received significantly higher engagements as compared to other accounts with a similar following. It was also discovered that most of the accounts with which @Xinhua_88 interacted were primarily associated with Chinese government officials or accounts notorious for pushing pro-Chinese propaganda online. 

Zhao Lijian (@zlj517), the deputy director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department, was one of the officials who interacted with @Xinhua_88. Zhen also interacted with Shen Shiwei (@shen_shiwei), a production editor at China Global Television Network (CGTN), who shared a picture of Indian soldiers allegedly surrendering near Galwan Valley. Other key associations include Zhang Heqing (@zhang_heqing), China’s Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, and Hu Xijin (@HuXijin_GT), the former editor-in-chief and party secretary of the Global Times.

Liza Wang, who goes by Twitter handle @ChinaPakWW, is another such account with a massive following. The account usually shares propaganda about CPEC and the China-Pakistan friendship. The profile picture of the account is that of a female military officer, whose reverse image search shows that the photo originated from a Turkish blog whose title translates as “Don’t think it’s a movie frame! China’s secret weapon: female warriors.”

Pakistani sockpuppets
Source: Twitter

As per SparkToro, 21.4 per cent of the approximately 11,000 followers are populated with fake accounts. Like in the case with @Xinhua_88, this account too receives higher engagement than other accounts that have a similar following. The Logically investigation found that the account interacts largely with Pakistani government officials or accounts that are known for harbouring sympathy with Pakistan or are involved in pushing pro-Pakistani propaganda. It interacts with Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, the Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Government of Pakistan, and the official account of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan.

Interestingly, @ChinaPakWW operated an account that was suspended by Twitter. According to a tweet posted by it, the account was suspended at the behest of “Indian propaganda”. The suspended account reportedly had close to 21,000 followers. OSINT tool Followerwonk showed that the most frequently used words by the account included “Imran Khan”, “Pakistan Army”, “Proud Pakistani” etc. This obviously suggests that the account operator must be someone who harbours loyalty for Pakistan and not a Chinese as the profile picture and the name implies to be.

Another Pakistani social media user masquerading as a Chinese influencer runs a Twitter account called @tangtianru. This account also shares content advocating strong bilateral relations between Pakistan and China. Besides, the account also holds strong anti-Taiwan views, giving an impression that it might be a sockpuppet based out of China.

Pakistani sockpuppets
Source: Twitter

Intriguingly, this account too has a profile picture of a Chinese woman in a military uniform, a pattern that is becoming increasingly common with Pakistani imposters pretending to be Chinese influencers. The SparkToro analysis says 38.8 per cent of over 10,000 followers of @tangtianru are populated with fake followers.

According to the results of the Twitter analytics tool TruthNest, the initial posts by the account corroborate its link with Pakistan. One of the initial posts made by the account was that of four women at a function called “Pakistani Food Extravaganza”, an event that was hosted by the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing.

The account has interactions mostly with Chinese government officials and accounts that share CCP propaganda. It has significant engagements with the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, but most of them are negative in sentiments and spew anti-Taiwan narrative. Besides, the Twitter account has also spread conspiracy theories and fake claims about the Galwan Valley clashes and the Indo-China standoff along the line of control in eastern Ladakh.

Spreading disinformation online has traditionally been a Chinese forte. The Chinese Communist Party(CCP) excels in covering up its inadequacies and fomenting unrest in other countries by fire-hosing social media platforms with disinformation and fake news while using censorship to control the flow of information inside its borders. Pakistan, on the other hand, until now has been a relatively lesser-known entity in terms of inundating social media platforms with its propaganda and misinformation.

However, the curious case of Pakistani imposters pretending to be Chinese social media influencers and disseminating anti-India propaganda demonstrates that the CCP has roped in its most-trusted ally in its information warfare as it seeks to assert its hegemony in increasingly volatile world order.

Ukraine National Guard shares video of neo-Nazi unit greasing bullets with pig fat for use against Muslim Chechen fighters, Twitter allows it

OpIndia Staff
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Ukraine National Guard shares video of neo-Nazi unit greasing bullets with pig fat for use against Muslim Chechen fighters, Twitter allows it

The National Guard of Ukraine’s Twitter account published a video tweet claiming that Azov fighters of the National Guard coated their bullets with pig fat to be used against Chechen forces fighting from the Russian side. The actual tweet reads “Azov fighters of the National Guard greased the bullets with lard against the Kadyrov orcs?”

The tweet by the National Guard of Ukraine.

The tweet was made on 06:50 PM on Sunday (27 February).

Amidst the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, many news outlets have reported that the Chechen fighters have been deployed too.

Who are the Chechen fighters?

Chechnya is a Russian republic located north of Georgia. Chechen forces are the military force in charge of Chechenya’s defence. The republic is not an independent entity and is subject to Russian laws and regulations. The majority of them are Muslims.

Ukraine wipes out barbaric Chechen forces sent to assassinate Zelensky - IBTimes India
Chechen Forces (Source: Twitter)

Ramzan Kadyrov is the head of the Chechen Republic. Kadyrov refers to himself as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foot soldier, and he is said to have sent fighters into the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Make Putin President for Life, Chechnya's Kadyrov Says - The Moscow Times
Putin with Kadyrov. (image: The Moscow Times)

Chechen forces are regarded as one of the most violent and battle-hardened troops in the world with several stories claiming that many of them were once members of ISIS. Several sources have also indicated that they have been marching towards Kyiv following their deployment in Ukraine.

According to several reports, they were met with fierce opposition from Ukrainian forces, and many of them were slain, including their general Magomed Tushayev. However, amid conflicting reports from both sides, this is yet to be confirmed.

The Ukrainian National Guards uploaded a video of pig fat being applied to bullets since Chechen soldiers are Muslims and the pig is deemed Haram in Islam.

Twitter flagging video but still not removing it

Twitter has tagged the video as violating the standards and promoting hateful behaviour, but it has allowed it to stay accessible in the “public’s interest.” This has sowed confusion in the social media community as to how a tweet may still be accessed even if it violates standards.

The Twitter flag above the tweet.

Digging into the Twitter rules, it can be found what defines public interest on Twitter and what are the exceptions. The rules state. “We consider content to be in the public interest if it directly contributes to understanding or discussion of a matter of public concern.”

“At present, we limit exceptions to one critical type of public-interest content—Tweets from elected and government officials—given the significant public interest in knowing and being able to discuss their actions and statements,” it added.

About public-interest exceptions on Twitter

As a result, Twitter may, in rare cases, opt to keep up a tweet from an elected or state figure that would normally be removed. Instead, they hide it behind a notification that provides detail about the rule infringement and informs readers about the tweet.

Twitter’s conflicting stand on the issue has been flagged by many.

Azov unit of the National Guard is pro-Nazi?

It is notable here that the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard is a neo-Nazi unit and they often flaunt their Nazi inclinations openly. It is a far-right volunteers group and their leaders have called Putin ‘a Jew’ in the past. Over the years, there have been several media reports and concerns from experts regarding how the Ukrainian regime arming and supporting the neo-Nazi white supremacists may be a bad idea.

In the past, the US and Canada have also helped the neo-Nazi units with weapons and training.

Twenty years after the Godhra massacre, left-liberals still find no remorse and keep blaming Hindus for the carnage

OpIndia Staff
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Twenty years after the Godhra massacre, left-liberals still find no remorse and keep blaming Hindus for the carnage

On February 27, 2002, a group of Hindus travelling from Ayodhya in Sabarmati Express were burnt alive inside the train by a riotous Muslim mob. The meticulously planned attacks by the Islamists of Godhra led to the killing of 59 people, including innocent women and children.

The raging mob had killed the innocent Hindus for the simple reason that they had visited the Ayodhya to perform karseva for the Ram Mandir. What followed the Godhra killings were intense communal riots in Gujarat that left more than 1,000 people dead.

For the last two decades, the portrayal of Gujarat riots has been skewed and one-sided, with left-liberal and Islamist harping on the narrative of Muslims being the victims of the carnage while carefully ignoring the Godhra massacre simply because it was the Hindus who had lost their lives. The left-liberal media establishment, joining hands with the “secular” political parties, successfully tried to whitewash the burning alive of 59 Hindus at Godhra, the incident that acted as the spark for the subsequent communal riots in the state.

The media, which should ideally have been reporting the truth on how a Muslim mob burnt Hindus to death, was far more bothered about being politically correct than standing with the unvarnished truth of how Hindus had been massacred.

Twenty years down the line, the left-liberals continue to push the same propaganda to either ignore the deaths of innocent Hindus at Godhra or sometimes even go to the extent of showing the Hindus as aggressors while whitewashing the crimes of Muslim mobs that burnt down the S6 coach of Sabarmati express that led to the death of nearly 59 innocent Hindus.

On Sunday, February 27, 2022, exactly two decades after the horrific incident, the left-liberals are still attempting to brush off the Godhra carnage as an ‘accident’. As the nation mourns the victims on the twentieth anniversary of the Godhra killings, the usual ‘secular-liberal’ establishment took to Twitter to claim that the Godhra incident was just an ‘accident’, unknowingly committed by the Muslim mob.

Teesta Setalvad, who built her career over the dead bodies of Hindus of Gujarat, took to Twitter to claim the killing of 59 Hindus travelling in the S5 and S6 coaches of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, was nothing but an “arson”.

Nowhere in the tweet did she condemn the Muslim mob for killing the 59 Hindus returning from Ayodhya. Instead, she subtly blames Hindu society for their reaction and the tragedy that unfolded following the Godhra killings.

Rajdeep Sardesai, another left-liberal intellectual who used Gujarat riots for his career progression in the media ecosystem, tweeted, saying this day changed the lives of so many people.

In his tweet, Rajdeep wrote, “Godhra train burning and terrible communal riots that followed. Tragic loss of so many innocent lives. Closure may come only when all guilty are punished. Thoughts with grieving families.”

Well, he failed to explain to his followers how exactly the Godhra train burnt. The seasoned ‘journalist’, who over the years has learnt to absolve crimes committed by the Muslims, shied away yet again to mention who orchestrated the killings at Godhra on February 27, 2002.

Instead, he put out a carefully worded tweet to depict Hindus as the initial aggressor during the Gujarat riots. Although almost twenty years have passed since the disdainful act took place, still, the left-liberals have not shown any signs of remorse; instead, they continue to peddle the same propaganda against Hindus.

It is not just the Congress ecosystem that insists that Godhra killings were ‘unfortunate killings’. The neo-secular entrants such as Derek O’Brien of the TMC also joined the bandwagon on Sunday to put out his view on the twentieth anniversary of the Godhra killings.

Though no one expects Derek to put out tweets based on objectivity and facts, one still thought he would pay respects to the victims of Godhra carnage, who were mercilessly burnt exactly twenty years ago.

However, unsurprisingly, he neither showed any sympathy to the dead nor issued any condemnation against the perpetrators of the vile crime. Instead, he took the opportunity to indirectly blame the government for indulging in ‘PR’ exercise.

Similarly, Mohan Guruswamy, another celebrated left-liberal-secular intellectual, wrote a piece in Deccan Chronicle ranting against the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. In his write-up, Guruswamy wrote that the Godhra killings were no less than the Reichstag fire that propelled Hitler to absolute power in Germany. Guruswamy insinuated that the Godhra Hindu killings were orchestrated by the BJP regime just as Hitler, who was responsible for the Reichstag incident.

He does not stop there. According to Guruswamy, the Godhra incident, ahead of the 2002 Gujarat polls, became the springboard to a meteoric political rise of the BJP and Narendra Modi. He also cited a report submitted by Ahmedabad’s Forensic Science Laboratory that claimed that the coach was set on fire by someone insider and not the outsiders.

Guruswamy gave a clean chit to the Muslim mobs that burnt the travellers on board of Sabarmati express and shockingly went on to blame the insiders for the incident.

It is no surprise to see the left-liberals whitewashing the Godhra carnage. It suits their political narrative, and they continue to do it as long as they exist. For them, it is incredibly convenient to blame Hindus for their own brutal murders as there is no accountability for displaying such intellectual dishonesty.

However, secular India has moved on. Today, it is difficult for the left-liberals to sell their propaganda and portray Hindus as the perpetual aggressors. The liberal-secular agenda of whitewashing the crimes of particular sections of the society and trying to bury the reality of persecution of Hindus by the secular state has no takers anymore.

Even if the likes of Rajdeep Sardesai, Teesta Setalvad can alter the facts pertaining to Godhra killing to please their political bosses, the truth that a Muslim mob mercilessly burned down people at Godhra on February 27, 2002, for the simple reason that they were Hindus and visited Ayodhya to perform karseva will never be forgotten by the Hindus of the country.

Operation Ganga: Modi government’s daunting mission to evacuate Indian nationals from war-torn Ukraine

Dibakar Dutta
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Operation Ganga: Modi government’s daunting mission to evacuate Indian nationals from war-torn Ukraine

On Thursday (February 24), Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine, months after deploying over 1 lakh security forces at the border. Despite multiple advisories by the government to Indians to leave Ukraine in the lead-up to the invasion by Russia, about 16000 Indian nationals are still believed to be stranded in the Eastern European country. The number of Indians stranded in Ukraine are reported to be anywhere between 16,000 to 20,000 with most media houses reporting them at 18,000. However, as of now, official government figure is 16,000.

Keeping the situation in mind, the Modi government decided to intervene and evacuate the Indian nationals, who did not ‘voluntarily’ leave the war-torn country in spite of repeated advisories. Air India’s Boeing 787 plane (also called the Dreamliner) was thus chartered to carry out the evacuation. The Indian government, under ‘Operation Ganga’, has vowed to repatriate every stranded Indian from Ukraine and bear the expense of the travel.

It must be mentioned that the Ukrainian airspace was closed for civilian aircraft from Thursday (February 24) morning onwards. As such, the Indian embassy in Ukraine had to coordinate with the embassies of neighbouring countries in Poland, Romania and Hungary for the creation of safe evacuation channels.

Under ‘Operation Ganga’, Indians were first taken in batches from Ukraine to bordering countries (currently Hungary and Romania) via buses/commute arranged by the embassy. They were then airlifted to Delhi or Mumbai through chartered Air India flights.

907 Indians evacuated under ‘Operation Ganga’ till February 27

On Saturday (February 26) evening, the first Air India flight carrying 219 Indian nationals reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai from Bucharest in Romania. The flight departed from Bucharest at 1:55 pm (Indian Standard Time) and reached Mumbai airport at 7:50 pm IST. Union Minister Piyush Goyal himself welcomed the evacuees onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane.

Later, another batch of 250 Indian nationals were airlifted to Delhi from Bucharest in Romania.

“Third flight of #OperationGanga with 240 Indian nationals has taken off from Budapest (Hungary) for Delhi,” External Affairs Minister (EAM) had tweeted on Sunday (February 27).

The fourth Air India flight, carrying 198 evacuees, has also left for the Indian National Capital from Bucharest.

As of Sunday (February 27), a total of 907 Indians were evacuated under Operation Ganga by the Modi government. It must be mentioned that prior to the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had evacuated 240 people from Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv on Tuesday (February 22). This puts the total number of Indian evacuees at 1147.

On Sunday, the Indian embassy in Ukraine issued a fresh advisory for the stranded Indian nationals and students. The Embassy has advised Indians to use nearby railway stations for movement out of the regions of active conflict and move towards the Western regions.

Chartered Air India flights to cost over ₹1 crore per trip: Reports

The operational cost of Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane, chartered by the Indian government for Operation Ganga, is around ₹7,00,000-₹8,00,000 per hour, reported The Press Trust of India (PTI).

Citing sources, PTI reported that the total cost borne by the airline will include expenses on fuel, navigation, crew, landing and parking charges. Given that flights to Hungary and Romania from India take long hours, two sets of the crew will operate onboard the flight. PTI estimated that a round trip on the Air India flight can cost upwards of ₹1,10,00,000.

The cost might escalate if flight duration is prolonged. It must be mentioned that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane burns 5 tonnes of fuel per hour. Although the flight has a seating capacity of more than 250 seats, an average of 226 Indians were evacuated in the first 4 flights under Operation Ganga.

Given that around 1000 people have been repatriated from Ukraine to India so far, the number of stranded Indian nationals now stands at 15,000. If 226 Indians are evacuated on an average per flight, it will take 67 round trips of Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. As such, the cost borne by the Modi government on flights for Operation Ganga will be around ₹73 crores (assuming that each trip costs ₹1.1 crores).

States extend support to ‘Operation Ganga’

Amidst the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict, the State governments have extended support to the ‘Operation Ganga’, carried out by the Modi government. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been facilitating the accommodation and free air travel for students from Assam, who were repatriated from Ukraine.

In a tweet on Saturday night, he informed, “We welcome our students- Tanmayee & Siya, successfully evacuated from Ukraine and who have reached Mumbai just now. Received by our Assam Bhawan official, we are making all arrangements for their stay & free travel to Guwahati. Our teams will ensure all assistances to such students.”

On Saturday (February 26), Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that Rajasthani students, who returned to India from Ukraine at their own expense, will be compensated by the State government. He also informed that the government will facilitate the travel of such evacuees to their home state, from cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tarkishore Prasad, announced on Sunday, “We have a list of about 273 students from Bihar (stranded in Ukraine), the number can go up. Bihar govt will bring them home on its expenses… Teams of Bihar Foundation (in Mumbai) and Bihar Bhawan (in Delhi) working on students’ evacuation.”

Operation Ganga helpline

Government of India has set up a separate Twitter account as helpline for rescue operations.

Indian missions are working round the clock and are very very proactive on social media to help stranded Indians.

Evacuations executed by the Modi government since 2014

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government executed tough evacuations from conflict zones. In June 2014, around 46 Indian nurses were rescued from ISIS captivity in strife-torn Iraq. More than 4,500 Indians and 960 foreigners were rescued by the Indian government in 2015 under ‘Operation Rahat’ after a fight broke out between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels.

India exfiltrated an entire CRPF contingent amidst escalating tensions in Libya in 2019. In August last year, the Indian government evacuated over 550 people (including 260 Indians) via 6 separate flights from Taliban-captured Afghanistan.

‘They were wishing for my death during the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham’: PM Modi slams opposition in Varanasi

OpIndia Staff
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‘They were wishing for my death during the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham’: PM Modi slams opposition in Varanasi

PM Modi said in a public meeting at Varanasi that when he was inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, a few people from the opposition were wishing for his death. After offering pooja rituals at Kashi Vishwanath temple, he was addressing Booth Vijay Sammelan organized by the BJP workers in Varanasi Sunday 27th February 2022.

In this meeting, Modi said, “A few people have lowered their standard so much that they went on to wish for my death when I was here for inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath corridor. But I enjoyed that too. Because Kashi will not leave me till I breathe my last and nor the people of Kashi will leave me. What can be better than dying while serving the devotees of Mahadev?”

It is notable that before PM Modi had inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party had said that it is better for a person to spend his last days in Kashi. PM Modi has today given a befitting reply to this jibe by Akhilesh Yadav. “That place is meant to live during the last days, the last days are spent in Varanasi only”, he had said after learning that the PM was arriving at Varanasi.

Modi further said that he has liked the title of the program Booth Vijay Sammelan as it is the common party worker on a booth that turns out to be the key mobilizer on the ground level. Modi said, “Party had sent me as a worker here and the people of Varanasi gave me an opportunity to not only serve the city but also the nation. Party workers are like an open university for me. I learn so many things from our party workers. We treat our party and workers as a family. The parties run by a single family, therefore, can’t defeat us.”

He added, “We don’t even win the elections, but our whole focus is centred towards winning the hearts of the people, and services offered by the party workers in the COVID-19 pandemic is a testimony of that. For a BJP worker, Seva is the ultimate value. Hence, ‘the party is greater than individual and nation greater than the party’ has always been our motto.”

Modi also appealed to all the party workers to serve the pilgrims arriving at Kashi for Mahashivaratri on 1st March 2022. PM Modi recalled every achievement by the state government and the changes that occurred in the state and especially in Varanasi.

More ‘concerned scholars’ including Pratap Bhanu Mehta distance themselves from controversial letter by Audrey Truschke against Vikram Sampath

OpIndia Staff
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More ‘concerned scholars’ including Pratap Bhanu Mehta distance themselves from controversial letter by Audrey Truschke against Vikram Sampath

After Historian Ramchandra Guha, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut distanced themselves from the controversial letter against historian Vikram Sampath published by Rutgers University Professor Audrey Truschke, more intellectuals and University Professors including political analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta have joined them in doing so. On Thursday, Truschke took to Twitter claiming that more than 75 ‘concerned scholars’ had signed an open letter wherein they expressed their support to her and other historians including Ananya Chakravarti and Rohan Chopra.

Her tweet read, “Open letter of support by 75+ concerned scholars for Drs. Ananya Chakravarti, Rohit Chopra, and Audrey Truschke regarding their service to the profession and academic freedom in calling attention to Dr Vikram Sampath’s plagiarism.” The signatories purportedly signing the list, included Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Ramchandra Guha, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, rabid Islamic Fundamentalist Zakir Naik, Rajmohan Gandhi among others.

The letter that was put out by Audrey Truschke which was an open hate campaign drive disguised to ask for support from scholars, claimed that the historian trio was being ‘harassed by mobilized right-wing social media networks and marshalled political allies in India and the US’. This move was part of her motive to establish the so-called plagiarism practised by Vikram Sampath, the earlier attempts of which were proven false.

Mentioned signatories denying participation

While the letter came into the limelight on Twitter on Sunday, ‘Concerned Scholars’ who did not participate in Truschke’s campaign against Vikram Sampath but found their names in the list, starting putting clarification of their non-affiliation with the issue. Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi was the first to clarify that Sanjay Raut, who was shown signing the letter on behalf of ‘Shiv Sena Institute’ had not participated in any such campaign.

Historian and Author Ramchandra Guha who found his name as ‘Ram Guha’, too distanced himself from the letter.

When Ramchandra Guha and Sanjay Raut made news of their non-involvement with the letter saga, others too woke up and joined the suite soon. Political Analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta whose signature was found on the list denied his participation in the campaign. “It has come to my notice that I am listed as a signatory to this letter. I did not receive the contents of this particular letter and never signed it. I also have institutional affiliations that would have been part of my signature.” he clarified on Twitter.

Tathagat Kumar, a student at Delhi University whose name was featured in the list of ’75 concerned scholars’ also distanced himself clarifying that he has not signed any such letter.

As the withdrawal progress started to outpour on the Twitter discourse, Audrey Truschke’s ‘call for support’ was already exposed by now. As many of her attempts of ‘Plagiarism’ allegations crumbled, she was now seen on Twitter celebrating that her article mudslinging Sampath was quoted on Vikram Sampath’s Wikipedia page. It was soon found out that Vikram Sampath’s Wikipedia page was being vandalised by the same user (Trangabellam) who had previously attacked pages of Economist and Author Sanjeev Sanyal and that of 2019 Balakot Air Strikes.

The systematic slander and academic terror launched at Sampath was not enough that the team of historians led by Audrey Truchke were now engaging in misrepresentation and forgery while playing with others’ names. It is to be noted that on Thursday itself, while Truschke continued with her slander, the Delhi High Court ordered her to take down her defamatory tweets against Vikram Sampath within a period of 48 hours. The Delhi High Court on February 18, had passed an interim order restraining Audrey Truschke, Rohit Chopra and Ananya Chakravarti from publishing defamatory online content against Sampath, while the same have not budged to do so by now.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy terms Russia’s action genocide, urges the world to scrap Russia’s veto power at the UN Security Council

OpIndia Staff
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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy terms Russia’s action genocide, urges the world to scrap Russia’s veto power at the UN Security Council

As the Russian attack on Ukraine continues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia’s actions bear the signs of genocide. In a speech on Sunday 27th February 2022, Zelenskiy also urged the world to scrap Russia’s voting power at the UN Security Council. As a permanent member of the UNSC, Russia has veto power, which means it can block any resolution raised at the body.

In his short video address, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, “This is terror. They are going to bomb our Ukrainian cities, even more, they are going to kill our children even more subtly. This is the evil that has come to our land and must be destroyed.” He further said, “Russia’s criminal actions against Ukraine bear signs of genocide.”

In his recent tweet, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the ICJ. Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week.”

Earlier today, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had refused the proposal by the Russian delegation to hold peace talks in the Gomel city of Belarus. Zelenskyy said that Russia had attacked Ukraine from Belarus and he has cleared it that he is open to talks only in locations that are not showing aggression towards his country. The locations suitable to the Ukrainian president include Warsaw, Istanbul, and Baku.

Moreover, Ukraine President Zelenskyy has said on Sunday that the Russian attacks had been ‘brutal’ in which civilian infrastructure had been bombed by Russian forces. He said, “Last night was brutal. They attacked civilian areas where there is no military infrastructure. The occupying forces are attacking everything, including ambulances.”

The developments come as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has transformed into war. The Russian President Vladimir Putin, on 24th February 2022, had attacked Ukraine. In a televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared for the special operation to be conducted in East Ukraine.

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