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How Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are flouting the IT guidelines by the government: Detailed analysis

Nupur J Sharma
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How Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are flouting the IT guidelines by the government: Detailed analysis

In February 2020, The central government issued fresh guidelines for social media and OTT platforms. The government said that these guidelines were being introduced to “establish a soft touch progressive institutional mechanism with a level playing field featuring a Code of Ethics and a three-tier grievance redressal framework for news publishers and OTT platforms on the digital media”.

The guidelines that were issued by the central government had several provisions and code of ethics for the functioning of OTT platforms, Digital News websites and Social Media behemoths like Twitter, Facebook etc.

For the purpose of this article, we will focus only on the social media platforms, the guidelines that were meant to govern them, how they had resisted the implementation of these regulations and how they continue to stealthily skirt the guidelines issued.

What were the IT guidelines that applied to social media platforms

One of the most significant provisions of these guidelines is that if the social media platforms don’t comply with the provisions prescribed in the guidelines, this will attract penal provisions as per the Information Technology Act. The new guidelines say that the social media intermediaries must follow the due diligence mentioned in it, and if any intermediary does not follow the due diligence, the safe harbour provisions will not apply to them.

The section 79 of the Information Technology Act defines this safe harbour, which basically makes them not liable for any content posted by users on their platforms. It says that an intermediary shall not be liable for any third-party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by them, provided they themselves didn’t initiate such communication, and observes due diligence under the IT act.

Now, this due diligence to be observed by the social media companies have been defined in the new guidelines. It includes various measures they have to perform, like identifying the first originator of any information that appears on social media, not allowing content that is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, inciting violence, against national integrity, misleading, false etc. The platforms also have to remove any such content within 36 hours of receiving a court order or a government direction to remove such content.

According to the guidelines, if the social media sites allow such objectionable content to be hosted on their platforms, and don’t remove them even after receiving such orders from courts or the government, it will mean that they are not observing due diligence. As a consequence, they will lose the safe harbour in the IT Act that isolates them from content posted on their platforms.

This means, if the social media companies do not comply with the guidelines, they will be held responsible for any content which is not allowed as per the guidelines. And, the officials of the social media companies will be liable to be prosecuted for such content. This implies that the social media officials will also be punished according to the nature of the offence, which is defined in the IT Act for various kinds of offences. The punishment defined in the act includes imprisonment for three years for most offences, but life imprisonment for some like cyber terrorism, and also includes fines of various amounts.

When the IT guidelines were issued, one of the most important compliance requirements imposed on social media companies was the grievance redressal mechanism that they had to put in place.

Following are the guidelines related to the appointment of grievance officer and the redressal mechanism they were required to put in place:

  1. Social media intermediaries shall register the grievance within 24 hours and dispose of the complaint within 15 days.
  2. The Intermediaries will have to publish a compliance report once a month where they detail the complaints they received and how they redressed the complaint.
  3. The resident grievance officer shall perform all functions under the grievance redressal mechanism.
  4. All grievance officers should have a physical address and that address should be published on the website and the mobile app.
  5. The person appointed as the chief compliance officer shall be a resident of India.
  6. The nodal contact person will be responsible for 24×7 coordination with Indian law enforcement agencies.

While one of the most important provisions in the IT guidelines was the denial of safety net if the rules are not adhered to, in the realm of compliance, social media behemoths were supposed to appoint a grievance redressal officer who would cater to complaints raised in real time and most importantly, it is clear that the grievance officer had to be a real individual with a real address in India.

How social media companies tried to work around the guidelines issued

After the IT guidelines were issued by the central government, Twitter and Facebook attempted to sidestep the guidelines as much as they could. Months after the guidelines were issued, Twitter had failed to comply.

Twitter Inc. was in the middle of a tussle with the Indian government over the new IT rules and had failed to comply with the compliance requirements.

As Twitter did not comply with the rules, the Indian government sent a barrage of notices to the tech giant to follow the Indian laws. As usual, Twitter asked for more time to follow the Indian laws. In addition to the non-compliance, the Uttar Pradesh Government had initiated action against Twitter India for failing to take down tweets that spread misinformation about a crime in the state. An FIR had been lodged against the social media platform in connection with the Loni incident after Twitter failed to flag the fake news put out by alleged fact-checkers. At that time, when the ‘interim grievance officer’ was summoned for questioning, Dharmendra Chatur had promptly quit. Twitter and Chatur had both declined to comment and, in fact, Chatur had also deleted his social media accounts.

This had left Twitter without a grievance officer at the time.

Post that, in July 2021, the Court had come down heavily against Twitter for failing to comply with the guidelines and lying in court. When the court was informed that the social media giant has no full-time resident grievance officer in accordance with the new IT Rule as of date, the Delhi HC rebuked the microblogging platform for its inability to appoint a grievance officer from June 21, when the existing officer was removed, until July 6. “After 21 June, till July 6, the least you could have done was appoint another person. How long does your process take? If Twitter thinks it can take as long it wants in our country, I will not allow that”, said Justice Palli. The court had also said that Twitter needs to come up with a reasonable response or “they would be in trouble”.

It was only on the 6th of August that Twitter had then managed to appoint a nodal officer in compliance with the IT guidelines.

Facebook had also tried to avoid complying with the guidelines. At that time, Facebook had said that they “aim to comply with the guidelines” but they need “more engagement with the government”. A Facebook spokesperson had informed, “We aim to comply with the provisions of the IT [Information Technology] rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with the government. Pursuant to the IT Rules, we are working to implement operational processes and improve efficiencies.”

Eventually, they had complied with the guidelines by, on paper, appointing a grievance officer. However, while they claimed to comply, we will now analyse how they are essentially hoodwinking the government.

OpIndia’s tryst with Facebook “grievance redressal mechanism” and how the tech giant is hoodwinking the government

OpIndia has long been involved in a battle with Facebook with several of our posts being taken down without adequate reason. For example, it was only recently that OpIndia Hindi published a report on the Direct Action Day and how Hindus were massacred in the thousands. The headline was one that indicated the historicity of the incident accurately. This was right after Prime Minister Modi had announced that India would celebrate Partition Remembrance Day.

Article by OpIndia Hindi

In the choice between the truth and feelings, Facebook chose feelings. This post was taken down and our Facebook reach was restricted for weeks.

We proceeded to find the email address of the Grievance Officer, since the Guidelines mention that the officer needs to be an Indian citizen with a physical office address, implying that there has to be human intervention in resolving grievances.

How to contact Facebook grievance officer

We sent an email to the email address mentioned – [email protected]. Interestingly, when we sent a detailed email about our grievance, we again got a completely automated response.

The response OpIndia got

When we clicked on the link given by the “automated response” to our detailed email to the grievance officer, we were taken to a form that we filled out.

The Facebook form

Thereafter, we were directed to the in-app appeal that is supposed to direct to the grievance officer. Interestingly, the in-app appeal to the Grievance Officer did not have the option that we needed. There was no option to contest that the pulling down of a post was unfair and that reporting history could not be termed “hate speech” by any stretch of the imagination.

We still selected the last option and submitted our appeal to the company.

In response to this, we yet again got an automated response with the links of the community guidelines.

The response OpIndia got
The response OpIndia got

It is interesting to note that Facebook, by Indian law, is required to have a Grievance Officer that resolves the complaints raised. Facebook, however, while has appointed an officer on paper, in practice, it is evident that they are skirting the process of the law. There is no human intervention as far as resolving grievances are concerned and when users raise a complaint, they are encountered with an automated response.

The Instagram process – same as Facebook

As is known, Instagram has been taken over by Facebook. When one looks at Instagram and their page where they detail how the Grievance officer is to be contacted, they have added the same email address as Facebook.

How to contact Instagram grievance officer

The email address used by Instagram was “[email protected] – the same email that we had used to raise our grievance with Facebook, to which, we had got automated responses.

Several individuals from Instagram have attested to the fact that they get automated responses as well when they email their grievances to Instagram, the same as we did when we emailed the Facebook grievance officer.

Twitter grievances – the same story

A few months ago, journalist and activist Deepika Bhardwaj’s account was suspended without providing any reason it.

OpIndia spoke to Deepika. She told us that her first appeal went unanswered by Twitter. She then sent a second appeal which was also unanswered. It was after 4 days that her account was reinstated after she had raised another complaint.

However, she also said that she got no response from the Twitter grievance officer.

Deepika is not the only one saying this.

Others have claimed that Twitter grievance officer, like Facebook, only sends automated responses without any human intervention.

In September 2021, a popular political satire handle, Eminent Intellectual, was suspended from Twitter.

In an audio clip posted by the account ‘Eminent Intellectual (total_woke_), the satirist could be heard as saying, “Namaste everyone, this is Princess Woke Liberal. If you are listening to this, I’m already dead on Twitter. Sadly I got suspended, no email, no warning, just suspended. I have appealed it, but we all know that’s the same as appealing to Taliban for casual Friday. Not happening! What’s interesting is that I knew this was coming two days ago.” 

She emphasised, “I made a tweet about Rana Ayyub’s promotion by Elle magazine over many years, and exposing that her brother Arif Ayyub is the publisher of the magazine. Interestingly, the tweet didn’t get published. Yes, you heard that right. Only I could see it. After an hour of figuring out what was happening, I deleted it”.

“As I am aware the Totalwoke account had also got suspended (in the past) after Rana Ayyub had targeted it. I knew I had committed Twitter blasphemy and my account deserved baas ek hi saza (only one punishment)… You know what that is! Anyway, I and Totalwoke are looking at ways to keep in touch with our friends here. You will hear from me after a few days and I’m sure we will get your support as always. Till then, follow total.woke on Instagram and stay safe. Jai Shri Ram,” ‘Princess Woke Liberal’ concluded.

Speaking to OpIndia, Eminent Intellectual said that repeated emails to the grievance officer had no result and that nobody responded to emails to the email address mentioned by Twitter.

Some other cases

Neha Shree is an actress working in Bhojpuri films. She has also worked in Rajasthani cinema and many TV serials. In November 2021, she had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court. In this, the Delhi government and social media company Facebook were made parties. The court had been requested to give directions to restore her Facebook page and give her access to the page. Neha has claimed in the petition that her Facebook page is followed by more than 4 million users and was hacked.

The hacker was reportedly posting lewd messaged and pictures from her account.

Neha Shree had said that she also complained to the Cyber ​​Cell of Delhi Police. But they also did not take any action. The petition said, “Serious damage to his image has been caused by his Facebook page and objectionable post”. An FIR was also filed but no action was taken.

Interestingly, Neha in her petition said that after no action was taken on her complaint, she went to the Facebook office address in Delhi mentioned on their page, however, there was nobody there and no office was found per se. The guard told her to drop her complaint in the dropbox. Thereafter, she got a response saying that action will be taken in 30 days, however, nobody from Facebook acted on it.

YouTube as well has been accused of bias. “Sab Loktantra”, the YouTube channel was founded by Rachit Kaushik. He had posted a video reviewing Farhan Akhtar’s “Toofan” in which he raised objection to the promotion of Love Jihad. As was expected, YouTube took down the video calling it “hate speech”. Another video by the channel was removed by YouTube citing that it violated “Child Safety Policy”. Interestingly, that video that was removed was about analysing the Uttar Pradesh elections.

On the 5th of July, YouTube even informed that the videos were being taken down due to mass reporting of the content. On the 14th of July, Sab Loktantra appealed the take down of the videos and on the same day, YouTube emailed back saying that the UP election video did not violate any of their community guidelines.

Then, in August, YouTube took down a video where the channel spoke about certain Rohingya criminals being arrested. Thereafter, YouTube suspended the entire channel without an adequate explanation.

According to the IT guidelines, intermediaries become publishers if they arbitrarily decide the content that can or cannot be allowed on their platform. The entire chronology of events points to the fact that YouTube is not adhering to the IT guidelines and actually acting as a publisher, not an intermediary.

What are the problems and what the government can do

It is evident from the case studies that while social media giants have claimed that they have adhered to guidelines issued by the central government, in practice, they have tried everything to subvert the process. While the law requires Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc to have human intervention and the appointment of a grievance officer, social media giants have resorted to simply adding the name and email of the officer, however, the responses that users are receiving are automated.

In essence, big tech is hoodwinking the government into believing that the guidelines are being followed.

The mainstream media has failed to report this issue, due to their inherent biases, the government, therefore, needs to speak to users of these social media platforms who can adequately apprise the government of the issues being faced and how the guidelines are not being implemented in practice. There is no mention in the end that IT Rules allowed Govt step in if grievance officers fail to resolve the issue, and the govt should now

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Jammu and Kashmir Police arrest shopkeeper from Rajouri for highly objectionable social media post on Gen Bipin Rawat’s death

OpIndia Staff
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Jammu and Kashmir Police arrest shopkeeper from Rajouri for highly objectionable social media post on Gen Bipin Rawat’s death

Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested a shopkeeper from a village near Rajouri for posting objectional content against Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on social media.

Police have not disclosed his identity but said that an FIR has been lodged against him at Rajouri police station and further investigation and legal proceedings against the accused are going on. According to police, the social media post by the shopkeeper was “sensitive in nature and highly objectionable”.

The OpIndia spoke to Sameer Jilani, the officer-in-charge of Rajouri police station. But Jilani refused to reveal any detail about the accused and sections of IPC under which the person was booked.

This is among many instances of Islamists and anti-nationals celebrating the death of Bipin Rawat who along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 other army officials and personnel lost their lives after their chopper crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8.

Police said that as soon as the objectional post on Facebook was noticed, the accused was taken to the police station for questioning and was arrested subsequently.

Earlier, Rajasthan police arrested a 21-year-old Jawwad Khan from Tonk who made a social media post to celebrate the death of Rawat.

Some recent deaths of political opponents that have been celebrated by the Islamists and so-called secular ‘liberals’

Jhankar Mohta
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Some recent deaths of political opponents that have been celebrated by the Islamists and so-called secular ‘liberals’

On Wednesday, shortly after the tragic news of the IAF helicopter’s crash with CDS General Bipin Rawat on board broke, the regular coterie of ‘liberals’ and Islamists came scrambling out of their holes to rejoice the unfortunate death of the first chief of defence staff in India. Several Islamists were notably laughing and rejoicing at the crash.

In fact, even before any official announcement of the demise of the CDS was made, the leftists started wishing for the death of the decorated officer. Many celebrated calling the death ‘good news’, while some opined that they would have been sad if Bipin Rawat survived. Ashlin Mathew, journalist and news editor of Congress party’s mouthpiece, posted a tweet saying ‘Divine Intervention’, which he deleted later.

Even at the time when there was no confirmation on the condition of the helicopter passengers or the number of injured or dead, Retd army man Lt Gen Panag shared a ‘RIP’ tweet for the CDS.

While the entire nation was mourning the ill-fated death of CDS Bipin Rawat and sending in their unstinted support to the families of the bereaved during these arduous times, the Islamists and the left-liberal ecosystem came together to celebrate the demise of CDS General Rawat solely because his political ideologies clashed with theirs.

It’s worth noting that this is a paradigm that Islamists and the left-liberal intelligentsia are both religiously following. Constantly spew hatred and celebrate the deaths of individuals who do not share their political ideologies while virtue signalling to non-leftists when they do not mourn the deaths of those who wish to see Hindus and our civilisation annihilated.

Hindutvavadi politicians like BJP stalwart and former external minister Sushma Swaraj, former Union Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley, BJP stalwart and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Goa CM Manohar Parrikar are just to name a few whom these so-called liberals started scorning immediately after their deaths. Not to forget the ghastly terror attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14 which claimed the lives of 44 Indian soldiers. As the nation mourned, some floated conspiracy theories while few celebrated the deaths of our soldiers. 

Islamists and ‘liberals’ celebrate the BJP stalwart and former external minister Sushma Swaraj

When former external minister Sushma Swaraj breathed her last in August 2019, the usual section of ‘liberals’ and Islamists could not contain their happiness. Some of the social media users reacted to the death news with joy smiles indicating that they welcomed the death of the former external minister who is revered across the political parties. From Congress troll, Ali Sohrab to Ashok Swain, a serial abuser and purveyor of fake news, all had taken to social media to rejoice Swaraj’s death claiming that she was the same woman who advocated ‘Hindutva fascism’ of her peers.

Union Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley

Likewise, these hatemongers engaged in similar behaviour on the death of former Union Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley. Jaitley died peacefully in AIIMS, New Delhi, in August 2019, after a life filled with great accomplishments. While the country mourned the demise of a beloved leader, ‘liberals’ and Pakistanis had appeared to be celebrating in particular.

While a columnist at The Quint and The Hindu, one who goes by the name Quentin Tarantulino on Twitter, said that he ‘loves’ it when ‘fascists’ die, there were some others who said calling Jaitley ‘dignified’ is a stretch and he was a Modi-Shah ‘clone’.

Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death rejoiced by radical Islamists and so-called liberals

Basically, according to these radical Islamists and leftists, any individual who does not pander to their Hinduphobic and anti-national ideologies, their deaths are not worth being mourned. Such was the case with BJP stalwart and former PM of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee breathed his last on August 16, 2018, leaving behind a legacy that gave India the much-needed economic boost along with a mini cultural renaissance. 

While the less sophisticated trolls started celebrating death and badmouthing Vajpayee even as he was admitted in the hospital in critical condition, the more sophisticated trolls like Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of the leftist propaganda website The Wire, waited for Vajpayee to breathe his last before launching his calumny. Siddharth Varadarajan had then maliciously edited Vajpayee’s speech which he had supposedly delivered on April 12, 2002 in Goa, to paint Vajpayee a bigot.

This was, however, the second lie being repeated about Vajpayee after his death. Despite him having clarified about both of them when he was alive, the so-called journalists were not willing to give even the dead his dignity.

Many had then used the occasion to repeat the lie of Rahul Gandhi that Manohar Parrikar had files of the Rafale deal in his bedroom.

Anti-BJP accounts celebrate death of Manohar Parrikar

On March 17, 2019, as the sad news of the passing away of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar came in, social media was filled with condolence messages from people in every spectre of life, from politicians to celebrities to ordinary netizens, irrespective of their political affiliation. However, many people on social media had celebrated the death of the BJP leader. And obviously, these comments came from such people who were opposed to the political ideology of BJP.

Some people had openly declared that anyone who joins BJP is ‘Hindutva Thug’, and actually slammed others for condolence messages reacting to the sad news.

The Pulwama Attack

The hate for the incumbent BJP government and for all those who support the Narendra Modi lead government’s political ideologies of so deep-seated in the hearts of these leftists and radical Islamists, that leave aside ideological opponents, they even get excited whenever any adversity befalls India. Such was the case when 44 Indian soldiers were killed during the ghastly terror attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14, 2019.

For time immortal, the Indian liberals and Indian opposition parties had stuck to the rhetorics of Pulwama being an inside job while sparing the terror state of Pakistan from any blame. Following the Pulwama attack, many Congress supporters had floated conspiracy theories that Pulwama was an ‘inside job’ carried out on the behest of Prime Minister Modi.

It is not just limited to the Congress party. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had stated that PM Modi knew about the Pulwama attack earlier and did not do anything to stop it.

In fact, these liberals had gone an extra mile to humanise the Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Dhar, who made it clear that his attack was against ‘cow piss drinkers’, a derogatory slang against Hindus. 

It may be worth noting here that while these ‘liberals’ and radical Islamists posseted by an agenda to berate the incumbent Narendra Modi lead government, have no qualms in celebrating the death of their ideological opponents but they get deeply unhappy and angry if people refuse to mourn the deaths of people like Stan Swamy, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, as he too adhered to the same leftist ideologies like them.

The Indian liberals and opposition parties have gone far beyond pity tactics of blame-game to seek vengeance against Narendra Modi and the BJP. They have openly used the deaths of their political opponents to scorn the incumbent BJP government.

People can have different political ideologies, but expressing their hatred on the occasion of a political leader’s death demonstrates how low political discourse can sink and this definitely is a concerning sign for society.

Ambulance carrying mortal remains of IAF chopper crash victims meets with an accident, officers sustain minor injuries

OpIndia Staff
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Ambulance carrying mortal remains of IAF chopper crash victims meets with an accident, officers sustain minor injuries

On December 9, one of the ambulances carrying the mortal remains of the Indian Air Force’s chopper crash victims met with an accident. The body of the deceased was shifted to another ambulance. The police officers accompanying the remains in the ambulance sustained minor injuries, as shown in the video of the aftermath of the accident.

In the video shared by Asianet, the ambulance seems to have lost its balance and hit the mountain on the side of the road. Four police personnel could be seen sitting on the road receiving first aid. While one of the officers stood up, the other officers seemed to have got injuries in the legs. After the mortal remains were shifted in another ambulance, the convoy of ambulances left for the airport from where the remains would be shifted to Delhi.

While the ambulances were passing through Coonoor, the locals stood on the sides of the roads and paid floral tribute while chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ to pay respect to CDS General Bipin Rawat and other deceased soldiers.

The chopper crash

On December 8, a helicopter of the Indian Air Force with CDS Bipin Rawat onboard met with an accident in Tamil Nadu. All except Capt Varun Singh died in the crash, including CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 soldiers who were accompanying him on the flight. Capt Varun Singh is currently undergoing treatment.

A cobbler in Ahmedabad pays heartfelt tribute to CDS Bipin Rawat, picture viral

OpIndia Staff
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A cobbler in Ahmedabad pays heartfelt tribute to CDS Bipin Rawat, picture viral

General Bipin Rawat, who served as the Indian Army chief before being named the CDS, and his wife were among 13 people killed when an Indian Air Force helicopter crashed in Tamil Nadu. Since the news of his tragic chopper crash broke, tributes have been pouring in from all quarters. One which especially captured attention on social media was that from a humble cobbler spotted near a pavement near Navrangpura police station in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

A Twitter user going by the handle @righteous_monk_ shared a picture of a cobbler from the streets of Ahmedabad. He was seen sitting on the footpath mending shoes. Beside his makeshift shop, he had placed CDS Bipin Rawat’s picture on a chair covered with a piece of saffron cloth. A garland was put around the General’s picture. In front of his picture, the cobbler had placed some flowers and agarbattis (incense sticks) to pay tribute to the fallen soldier.

An Ahmedabad cobbler pays tribute to CDS Bipin Rawat

According to the Twitter user, his brother noticed this and asked the cobbler how much he had spent because he wanted to pay for it, but the shoemaker refused and replied in Gujarati, “I earn enough that I can spend a bit for my countrymen.”

This heartfelt gesture of the cobbler received a lot of appreciation on social media.

On one hand, there are people like these, who are exhibiting their love for the country by carrying out such small but unfeigned gestures, and on the other hand, there are a bunch of Islamists and the so-called ‘elite’ who have been unable to hide their glee over the death of CDS Bipin Rawat.

In fact, even at the time when there was no confirmation on the condition of the helicopter passengers or the number of injured or dead, many individuals, some ex-Army officers like Panag, another Col Baljit Bakshi, National Herald editor Ashlin Matthew, and others had posted brazen and insensitive tweets over the tragic demise of Gen Rawat and others in the chopper accident.

When the tragedy occurred, General Rawat was on his way to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the professors and students. The chopper crashed shortly after taking off from the Air Force facility in Sulur, Coimbatore at 11.45 am on Wednesday, December 8. In another few minutes, it would have landed.

According to reports, around noon today, a plane with General Rawat’s body will take off for the national capital from Sulur airbase in Tamil Nadu. The military plane is scheduled to land in Delhi’s Air Force Technical Airport around 4 pm. The body will then be taken to Army Hospital in Dhaula Kuan.

The mortal remains of General Rawat and his wife Madhulika will be taken to their official residence on 3, Kamaraj Marg at 11 am on Friday. Around 2 pm, the military bands of all three services will escort the bodies to Brar crematorium in Dhaula Kuan. The funeral is scheduled for 4 pm. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had announced in the parliament today that the CDS will be cremated with full military honour.

Chants of ‘Veer Vanakkam’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ fill the air as Indians pay floral tribute to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and others

Editorial Desk
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Chants of ‘Veer Vanakkam’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ fill the air as Indians pay floral tribute to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and others

Residents of Tamil Nadu paid floral tribute and chanted the slogan of Bharat Mata Ki Jai as the convoy carrying mortal remains of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and others passed. The convoy was heading from Madras Regimental Centre to Sulur Air Base in Nilgiris district before they are brought to Delhi.

When the convoy was crossing through the market area of Mettupalayam area, a large number of people stood on the roadside to take a glimpse of their heroes and to pay their tributes.

To each approaching ambulance, they were showering flowers and chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Chanting Veer Vanakkam they were paying tributes to these bravehearts.

Videos of the last journey of Men in Uniform are evidence of the kind of respect and love Indian Armed Forces command.

A large number of women were also seen standing in the crowd. These women folding their hands, with no control over the emotion, were crying while paying last respects to the departed. They were crying as if they lost somebody in their family. They were greeting and saluting mortal remains.

The visuals are so moving that it got us a lump in our throats. This is India that is Bharat. The country that mourns the loss of the decorated soldiers and their chief.

Over the years India has lost many chief ministers and prime ministers and other tall politicians while they were in office. While deaths are always sad, this loss seems more personal for Indians. The Men in Uniform are the ones who stay up guarding our boundaries while we sleep peacefully in our homes. Gen Bipin Rawat was the Chief of Defence Staff. The military head and chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Indian Armed Forces.

India has never quite seen or experienced such a loss. The head of the heads, the Senapati, so to say, dying an untimely death like this. Warriors die on the battlefield. They become martyrs. They don the uniform fully prepared to die for the nation. When the head of those Men in Uniform meets such a tragic end, the heart bleeds. Our hearts do.

Which is why people across the country are mourning. Which is why even military heads and heads of other nations are grieving with us. The Men in Uniform are the ones who protect us. They are not elected, they don’t rule or reign. They just protect us, lay down their lives for us. For a General of such fearless armed forces to go away like this has hit us, and hit us hard. Which is why the other brave soldiers who also passed away in this awful tragedy has pained us more.

Which is why, when their mortal remains passed through the streets of India, they were welcomed like heroes.

Because they never die, they are immortalised.

Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi reveals he had stopped a person from disrupting the final hearing of Ram Janmabhoomi case

OpIndia Staff
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Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi reveals he had stopped a person from disrupting the final hearing of Ram Janmabhoomi case

Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who delivered the historic verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi case of Ayodhya, has made many big revelations in his autobiography ‘Justice for the Judge’, which was launched on December 8, 2021. In the book, he has mentioned a person who tried to create an obstacle during the final hearing of the Ram Janmbhoomi case that could have postponed the judgement.

The former Chief Justice has written that on October 16, 2019, the day on which the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict in the Ayodhya case, a person tried to obstruct the decision by entering the Supreme Court. However, he was stopped by the Chief Justice. The matter was next heard on November 9, 2019, and the court pronounced the verdict in favour of Hindus.

Ranjan Gogoi, who is currently serving as a member of Rajya Sabha, has disclosed in the book that one of the representatives of a litigant in the case was obstructing the functioning of the judiciary. He was barred from appearing in the court following the orders of Justice Gogoi. He said he did so as he had realized the main aim of the man was only to obstruct the hearing.

He said, “I sent a handwritten reply to the Secretary-General saying that under no circumstances was the person to be allowed entry. A bona fide visitor to the SC in connection with his case is always entitled to a visitor’s pass through his advocate-on-record. Since this person was approaching the Registry or the secretary-general for the entry, I sensed that his objective was not well-intended but aimed at disrupting the hearing.”

Gogoi further writes that during the lunch break on that day, the secretary-general had again approached him seeking instructions on the person’s request. To this, Justice Gogoi asked if he can maintain the status quo, ie, keep the man away from the court for two more hours. The secretary general said he can do that, and the hearing in the historic case was concluded soon after that.

“I closed the hearing by saying ‘enough is enough’ and ‘judgment is reserved’. This is how the hearing of one of the longest disputes in legal history and one of the most fiercely contested cases in the Supreme Court came to an end,” Justice Gogoi wrote in the book.

The former CJI said if the man had entered the court, it would have affected the functioning of the court, and the matter could have been adjourned. While talking to Times of India, he said, “I will never reveal his identity.”

Former CJI further added that the case had caused a lot of stress not only for him but for the other judges as well. He would get only 3-4 hours of sleep during the entire period of Ayodhya hearing. “Negative comments on the feasibility of completion of hearing; statements by activists about the misplaced priority of the SC in taking up the case and wasting judicial time and, to top it all, the Damocles’ sword-like deadlines for completion of the different stages of the case kept reminding me what was at stake, the consequences to the institution and me, and its reputation if the case was to remain inconclusive before my retirement,” he added.

Iron pen and diamond nib

The autobiography was launched at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Former CJI SA Bobde was also present during the ceremony. He said that the book was written with an iron pen and a diamond nib. Apart from Bobde, former Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and others were present for the launch of the book.

When asked why the Ayodhya case was given priority over human rights violation in Kashmir and abrogation of Article 370, he said that the Ayodhya case was pending for a long time. They set up a bench to hear it and complete it within a stipulated time.

Understanding the mindset that can’t hide the glee even at your own armed forces chief passing away

Sanghamitra
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Understanding the mindset that can’t hide the glee even at your own armed forces chief passing away

On December 8, an Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter carrying General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, and 13 others had a tragic crash that killed 13 persons on board. The mishap happened deep in the Nilgiris, some distance away from Wellington where the CDS was to deliver a talk.

A soon as the helicopter crash was reported, reports and speculations flooded media and social media. The visuals emerging from the scene were devastating, a chunk of the forest was charred, the burned, smashed remains of the helicopter were scattered and tree branches were being cut to recover the bodies. The nation was stunned. Air crashes have a very low survival rate and while some media reports stated that the CDS might be alive, badly injured, but alive, the country prayed, hoping against hope.

Amid all the prayers, shock and sadness being expressed at the tragic incident that involved the CDS, his wife, some high-ranking military officers and his security detail, some handles on social media revealed the ugly side of human nature.

Some people were busy scoring goals, showing off that they have the fastest access to inside information and some were displaying glee. Some were being plain a**holes, sharing useless oneliners about Karma and justice and such philosophies that people don’t really care about but use the vocabulary to make themselves appear smart. Here are some examples:

Some tweets on the tragic helicopter mishap

This is rather baffling. The CDS represents no political party, he is the chief of India’s armed forces, the soldiers who bleed and die to protect our freedom and sovereignty in a hostile neighbourhood. Why such lack of respect, or basic human sensitivity at the demise of the nation’s highest-ranked soldier? Why can’t some people at least be silent, and not show their naked hatred for one day? There are several reasons and several layers to this. Let us discuss.

The Modi Derangement Syndrome

The BJP’s win in 2014, and especially Narendra Modi winning the elections to become the Prime Minister of the country was a momentous shift in Indian society. A lot of things changed. It was a crude socio-political shock for a certain breed of Lutyens elite who thought the unwashed brown Indians know nothing, deserve only to be ruled over and will forever be under the boots of a chosen few who consider themselves entitled to power, wealth and positions.

All of that shock eventually knotted itself into hate for Modi. One can hate Modi for various reasons, but primarily it is just hatred for the man himself and what he represents.

The hatred for Modi can be triggered subconsciously by various reasons, such as hate for his religion, his ideology, his state, his party etc. But behind all this, is the hater’s deep dislike is for the man and that hate makes people go really dumb. We have seen this manifest a number of times. There have been politicians hating Gujarat, news anchors, self-proclaimed ‘liberals’ hating India’s space mission or hating the Digital India drive, the Make In India campaign, even something as basic as highways and railways. But behind the stupid mockery of Modi’s welfare schemes, the dumb deriding of India’s achievements and all the ways these people expose their own ridiculously narrow mindsets is just hatred, hatred for one man, Narendra Damodardas Modi.

Hating the idea of a strong, self-reliant India

Ironically, those who shout the most about the so-called ‘Idea of India’, and its social fabric are the ones who fall into this category because basically, they hate the idea of an India that doesn’t obey their myopic definitions of ‘secularism’ and ‘progress’. In a nutshell, they hate the idea of an India that is Hindu and is not ashamed of its civilisational roots. These haters fall into different subcategories but primarily, they all have a problem with the ‘Hindu’ nature of India. They want to strip India of its civilisational identity because that identity is Hindu. They want to strip India of its Hindu ethos.

General Bipin Rawat was not the typical wine-sipping anglophile. He did not bow down to the Italian lady. He did not hate Modi enough. He did not hail Naxal sympathisers and pseudo activists. General Rawat did not use fancy talking points of ‘woke’ sentiments that hog international headlines. He touched the feet of the widow of martyr Abdul Hamid, he visited temples and even wore Tilak on his forehead. That is not something these haters will ever accept.

Transnational ideologies

Modern India is facing a clash of ideologies. It is Hindutva Vs everything else. The Hindutva or the Hindu identity of India believes in a civilisational nation-state that is rooted in its faith, the land that finds mention in Mahabharata and Ramayana, the ‘Akhand Bharat’. The ideologies that are clashing with Hindutva claim that no such nation exists. Starting from the communists to Islamists to the modern “wokes” or even Khalistanis, the civilisational identity of India that manifests itself across the geographical entity makes no sense.

Islamists believe only in the ‘Ummah’ or the global Islamic brotherhood. The idea of India as a civilisational nation-state is a direct antithesis to their beliefs. The communists do not believe in that civilisational identity either, and the Khalistanis are Pakistani stooges who want to carve another chunk from the already partitioned India. The “wokes” are well, the clueless parrots of Western ideas who scoff at the idea of a ‘Hindu’ India.

For the Indian armed forces, however, these geographical boundaries are sacrosanct. They bleed and die for those borders and India’s geopolitical identity is what they are sworn to protect. The armed forces protect and guard the very same boundaries that these entities want to make obsolete. Hence, the patriotic, steadfast, strong Indian soldier is their nemesis. They celebrate stones being pelted at the soldiers, they want them lynched and they just cannot contain their glee when a violent helicopter crash kills the top soldier, along with his staff.

Remember how the so-called ‘leftsists’ had called for the blood of Major Leetul Gogoi when he had tied a stone pelter to an Army jeep, as a means to protect his team from the murderous mob that was out to kill them? Well, it was general Bipin Rawat who had stated firmly that he won’t ask his soldiers to wait and die while facing stone pelters.

HT headline featuring Gen Bipin Rawat

General Rawat had called stone pelters as overground workers of terrorists, multiple times. He had also defended the soldiers and usage of pellet guns. He had spearheaded two surgical strikes, one at India’s eastern front and one on the western front. General Bipin Rawat represented the ‘idea of India’ in its boldest, fiercest form. It is no wonder that Islamists, communists and so-called ‘secular liberals’ hate him.

Subnational subversive ideologies: Hoping for the Balkanisation of India

There is also a group of people and parties who propagate sub-national subversive ideologies. They believe in the Balkanisation of India where a Bengali CM calls Gujaratis ‘outsiders’ and the Tamil leader claims they do not believe in India as a unified nation, representing a unified people with unified goals.

These people want to carve out a Dravidanadu, a Khalistan, and Gods know how many pieces of India. They peddle regionalism and regional hatred, they fail to understand that the diverse cultural hues of India are the best indicators of India’s vibrant democracy and instead, to fulfil their own political ambitions, spread hatred among states.

Bipin Rawat represented the armed forces, who stand to repel such notions, who transcend regional identities, and where the Bihar Regiment soldiers did not hesitate for a moment before facing Chinese troops with bare hands when they learn that their CO named B Santhosh Babu who came from Andhra, has been harmed.

Just a look at the Tamil people shouting ‘Veera Vanakkam’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and showering flower petals on the convoy carrying the mortal remains of deceased soldiers who were named Rawat, Singh, Das, Chauhan etc will tell you why the ‘haters’ hate General Bipin Rawat and everything he stood for.

The sold-out snitches

There is also of course the group of sold-out ones. We have seen how some of the ‘intellectuals’ peddle the Chinese version of events and propagate the Chinese propaganda gleefully. There are some people who hate to see India manufacturing its own defence equipment and buying without involving the usual ‘dealers’. There are some individuals who had been expecting a change of leadership at both political and military levels so they can go back to their days of sweetheart deals and benefits.

General Rawat is said to have dismantled the ‘Chandigarh lobby’ that benefitted from shady arms deals. We may not know all the details but there lie several million dollars and several million reasons for some people to hate Gen Rawat.

One injured in a low-intensity tiffin bomb blast at Rohini court in Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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One injured in a low-intensity tiffin bomb blast at Rohini court in Delhi

Panic gripped people at Rohini court in Delhi and proceedings stopped after a mysterious blast was reported at courtroom number 102 in the morning of December 9. The explosion took place where the metropolitan magistrate hears traffic-related cases. 

Initially, there is no clarity on the nature and source of the explosion, and some reports had claimed that a laptop in the court had exploded causing panic among people.

However, later it was reported that the actual cause of the explosion was a low-intensity tiffin bomb. According to reports, there was an explosion in a bag kept in courtroom number 102 of Rohini court. Reportedly, an improvised explosive device (IED) and a tiffin-like object were recovered from the site.

Forensic experts have joined the investigation to ascertain whether it was a laptop that blasted or a tiffin bomb was planted. NSG has also been called to meet any emergency and Delhi police commissioner Rakesh Asthana is set to reach the court premise. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Pranav Tayal is supervising the investigation. For security reasons, the court proceedings were suspended.

As many as seven fire tenders were rushed at the court premises and the Rohini Bar has confirmed at least one person got injured in the blast. The injured person has been identified as constable Rajiv Kumar was rushed to a nearby Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital for treatment. The fire department informed that they received information about the explosion at 10:40 am and the firefighting team was quickly rushed.

An official statement issued by the Delhi Police said, “An incident of minor low-intensity explosion in a laptop bag has occurred at Rohini court complex at around 10.30 am. The spot has been cordoned off. Forensic and NSG teams are inspecting and examining it.”

Rohini court had witnessed shoot out in September

A shootout took place at Rohini court on September 24 where gangster Jitendra Gogi and three others were killed. After this incident security at the court was tightened.

Farmer protests withdrawn after govt agrees to all demands, protest sites to be vacated on Saturday with victory march

OpIndia Staff
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Farmer protests withdrawn after govt agrees to all demands, protest sites to be vacated on Saturday with victory march

The year-long protests by some farmer organisations against the three farm laws came to an end today after the union government agreed to all demands by them. After the three farm reform laws were withdrawn, the Modi government further gave in to the protests and agreed to consider the demand for a lawn on Minimum Support Price (MSP), after which the Samyukt Kisan Morcha decided to call off the protest.

The agitating farmer unions have decided to vacate the borders in Delhi it is occupying for more than a year, and will return home on 11 December. However, some farmers have already started dismantling the camps that they had built on the highways on the Delhi border, and some of them may start leaving from today itself.

It is notable that the protestors had set up semi-permanent camps and tents at the protest sites, apart from parking hundreds of trucks used as camps, where they were living for over a year. The Delhi government had provided them with utility connections to facilitate the protest camps.

Reportedly, the farmers will take out victory marches on 11 December at the Singhu and Tikri protest sites to their homes. However, farmers have warned that they will resume the protests if their demands are not met.

“We have decided to suspend our agitation. We will hold a review meeting on 15 January. If the government does not fulfil its promises, we could resume our agitation,” said farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni following a meeting of Samyukta Kisan Morcha. He also informed that the farmers will vacate the protest sites on December 11.

The decision to end or suspend the protests came after the union government wrote a letter today to the leaders of Samyukta Kisan Morcha. In the letter, the agriculture ministry has promised to form a committee to discuss the demand for a law on MSP. The committee will comprise representatives of the central government, state governments, farmer organisations and agriculture scientists. The govt also made it clear that representatives of SKM will be included in the committee.

The letter also informed that on the demand of withdrawing cases filed against the protestors during the protests, UP, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana governments have already agreed to the same. All cases related to the farmer protests will be withdrawn immediately. Along with that, cases filed against protestors by central agencies and agencies from Delhi and other union territories will also be withdrawn.

On the demand for compensation, the agriculture ministry informed that Haryana and UP governments have agreed to it in principle. The Punjab government has also announced the withdrawal of cases and payment of compensation.

The letter stated that the government will hold discussions with all stakeholders and SKM on the provisions of the electricity bill that can have effects on the farmers. The bill be presented in the parliament only after discussions with the SKM.

The government also informed that it has already exempted the farmers from criminal liability for causing air pollution by burning stubble.

The letter by the agriculture ministry stated that with these assurances, all five demands of the farmers have been met, and there is no reason to continue with the protests.

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