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Meet Samriddhi K Sakunia: The HW News journalist who was arrested by Tripura Police for spreading fake news

Anurag
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Meet Samriddhi K Sakunia: The HW News journalist who was arrested by Tripura Police for spreading fake news

On November 13, Tripura Police had detained two HW News journalists Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, for publishing fake news to spread communal violence. They were arrested and presented in the court in Gomti district on Monday, where they were granted bail. Sakunia had published a series of tweets that allegedly showed vandalized mosques in Tripura.

In one of the videos she had posted, Sakunia claimed that the burnt book was Quran. When Tripura Police approached the person she referred to in the video, he denied the claims of the book being Quran. On questioning Sakunia over the phone about the same, Sakunia allegedly refused to present any evidence to support her claims.

Long history of misleading posts by Samriddhi Sakunia

21-year-old Samriddhi Sakunia works for HW News and has a well-established social media presence on Twitter and Instagram that she uses to propagate agenda-based reports. From CAA to farmer protests and from Israel to central government, Sakunia has published countless posts trying to propagate a specific agenda that falls perfectly in sync with left-leaning media. Notably, she has also written for The Indian Express, The Leaflet, The Citizen, Two Circles and News Click.

Misleading reporting on cases where Muslims were accused

On Instagram, she published a report of a Muslim bangle seller being allegedly harassed by men belonging to the Hindu community. The incident had taken place in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. In the post, she termed the incident as ‘Hindu Terror’. Interestingly she ignored the fact that the Muslim man, identified as Tasleem Ali, was found to have been selling bangles under a Hindu name.

There were allegations that he ‘inappropriately touched’ a minor Hindu girl on the pretext of selling bangles while her mother was inside the house. State Home Ministry also issued a statement in which they revealed that Tasleem was in possession of two Aadhaar cards which is illegal.

No mention of BJP workers brutally lynched in Lakhimpur

The Lakhimpur incident shook the country. It should not have happened. No one should have died. All these statements are true, but when it comes to reporting such events, it is essential to acknowledge the deaths irrespective of what side you are on. Sakunia shared the video of how protesters had died. She shared how opposition leaders were stopped from entering Lakhimpur. In a tweet, she said, “We should hang our heads in shame! Not once but every time this system murders people and the Law and Order.”

However, we could not find any mention of the BJP workers who died during the incident. Shyam Sunder Nishad was lynched, and there is a video of him begging for his life. What about Hariom, who died in the incident? What about Shubham Mishra? And journalist Raman Kashyap? Were they not humans? Or just because they were affiliated or in some way linked to BJP, their deaths do not matter?

Incomplete knowledge of Central Vista Project

In May 2021, she published a video on Instagram questioning the court for imposing a fine on a petitioner against the Central Vista project. She claimed that the Delhi High Court should be criticised for terming the Central Vista Project as essential. She claimed the project could not be held as essential as the “people of the country are fighting for medicines, vaccines as promised and better health infrastructure”. The young journalist seems to have missed the fact that at this time, only a small part of the Central Vista Project is under construction and that too is essential.

India needs a new Parliament building, as the current building cannot hold the actual number of representatives required to represent the population. As per the law, the number of representatives should have been increased every ten years, but it has not happened since 1976. The next date to expand the number of representatives in the parliament is 2026. There is no way that the date can be further extended, and as per experts, the new number of representatives would be 800+ in contrast to the current number of representatives, i.e. 543.

Illogical hate for Israel

In the month of May, when yet another conflict was going on between Israel and Palestine, Sakunia published a video urging people not to stand with Israel. In the video, she said before anyone stands with Israel, the person should think about a few points. According to her, Israel has “illegal settlements” on the land of Palestinians. She further alleged that Israel is abusing power and crushing the voice of Palestinians, as they could not even hold peaceful protests. She claimed that the fight was not of equals as Israel was more powerful.

Going by her logic, India should not fight back if Pakistan attacks as it does not have Armed Forces as strong as India. Anyway, there are a lot of problems with her claims. She completely ignored the fact that Hamas, which is a terrorist organisation of Palestine, has been attacking Israel continuously. Hundreds of rockets were fired at Israel, after which Israel retaliated for its own safety. The attack on Israel was so massive that the Iron Dome, a highly sophisticated AI-based system to prevent rocket attacks on Israeli land, failed to intercept some rockets that killed several Israeli people.

She also missed mentioning in her stories or posts that Hamas co-founder had said in May that Israel had no right to exist.

Interestingly, in one of her posts, she claimed that calling Hamas a terrorist organisation is similar to expecting a kid not to hit back when you slap him/her. One may wonder if she ever saw the size of Israel on the map or tried to see what is the population of that country, or tried to figure out which nations surround that tiny nation that is almost 1/3 of the size of the state of West Bengal.

Claimed ‘Love Jihad’ is a bogus term

Sakunia published a 6-minute+ monologue on her Instagram account in November 2020, trying her level best to call the concept of ‘Love Jihad’ bogus. In her video, she talked about how no agency holds specific data on cases of Love Jihad, including NCW. She further alleged that the ruling party, BJP, has been trying to communalise inter-faith marriages. Sakunia tried to prove Jove Jihad is a bogus concept by stating there was no proof of cases that there was ‘Jihad’ where a Muslim man married a Hindu woman.

Without any comments on her illogic monologue, OpIndia can only direct towards the countless reports that we have covered over the past few years where Muslim men CHANGED their names and presented themselves as HINDU men just to MARRY Hindu women. In most of the cases, they forced the women to convert. Several women were abused, tortured and even killed when they refused to convert to be with those Muslim men when their true identity was revealed. Not a single month had passed in the last two years when OpIndia did not report at least one such case.

If the Muslim men who fell in love with Hindu women were so pure, why did they change their names? Why did they force the Hindu women to convert? Why do they torture them to convert? Why didn’t they marriage under the Special Marriage Act instead of forcing the women to convert? There are a lot of questions that Sakunia may want to find answers to.

No non-Muslim elected in Hamtramck city council in America’s Michigan in recently held elections, Arab origin American becomes mayor

OpIndia Staff
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No non-Muslim elected in Hamtramck city council in America’s Michigan in recently held elections, Arab origin American becomes mayor

US city Hamtramck in Michigan has elected all-Muslim City Council and a Muslim mayor named Amer Ghalib in its first ever Muslim-American government according to reports. Khalil Refai, Amanda Jaczkowski and Adam Albarmaki who have won the City Council election in Hamtramck last week would join the three current members. All six members identify as Muslim.

Muslim residents constitute more than half of the population in the multicultural city Hamtramck where different religious and cultural backgrounds coexist. Storefronts in Hamtramck display signs in Arabic and Bengali while the windows of the shops showcase Bangladeshi garments and Jambiyas, a type of short curved blade from Yemen. Hamtramck has transformed over the years to become a safe heaven for Arab and Asian immigrants specially those from Yemen and Bangladesh. Around 42% of the residents in the city are foreign born while more than half were believed to be practising Muslims.

Muslim city councilmember-elect Amanda Jaczkowski noted, “People are still proud of their culture specifically, whereas if it’s assimilation, we would lose the uniqueness.” Among the six Muslim council members, five of them were immigrants, and one is a convert to Islam. Jaczkowski further said, “It’s important to remember that although we all happen to be practicing Muslims, we are elected through the processes set forth by the United States, Michigan, Wayne County and Hamtramck,”

Dawud Walid, executive director for the Michigan chapter of CAIR said, “The historic election … will usher in the first city in America to have a Muslim mayor and completely Muslim city council,” adding, “The political voice of Muslims in Southeastern Michigan can no longer be ignored.”

According to M. Baqir Mohie El-Deen, policy program manager at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the city of Hamtramck which consists of more than 28,000 population was once a hub for Polish American immigrants. Mohie El-Deen said, “This City Council truly represents all the elements of Hamtramck history, whether they are Arabs, South Asian or European descendants.”

Ghalib is a healthcare professional and a Yemeni immigrant and arrived in the US over 20 years back. He has degree in biological science as well as health/nursing science and works at a medical centre. He has three children.

Facebook fact-checker’s ‘fact-check’ comes back to haunt it: How Politifact peddled leftist propaganda about Kyle Rittenhouse

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook fact-checker’s ‘fact-check’ comes back to haunt it: How Politifact peddled leftist propaganda about Kyle Rittenhouse

Facebook’s fact-checker Politifact came up with a fact-check last year in August to claim that it was illegal for the 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse to be able to possess a rifle without parental supervision. 

The case pertains to United States’s Wisconsin, where the 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of murdering people during a protest held in Kenosha. While Rittenhouse faces several charges, including first-degree homicide, many on Facebook argued that as per state statutes, it was perfectly legal for the teenager to carry the weapon. 

These claims were refuted by Politifact in its fact-check article, where it called Facebook posts that said it was “perfectly legal” for Kyle Rittenhouse to carry firearms false and misleading. The article cited the Wisconsin Department of Justice to assert that although it honoured concealed carry permits issued in Illinois, Rittenhouse neither had a permit, nor was he old enough to carry a firearm in Wisconsin. 

It said in Illinois, applicants must be at least 21 years old to get a concealed carry permit. Since Rittenhouse was 17, he would not qualify for the permit, the fact-check reasoned. The fact-check also cited the Wisconsin law, saying it was illegal for Rittenhouse to carry the firearm. The article said though it is legal in Wisconsin for adults to carry firearms in public without a license if the gun is visible, Rittenhouse was not eligible as he was not 18 at the time of committing the act. 

The article quoted the Wisconsin law that says any person under the age of 18 years who possesses or goes armed with a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor to drive home the point that Facebook posts who had declared Rittenhouse’s possession of firearm as perfectly legal were misleading and inaccurate. 

PolitiFact’s fact-check goes awry, Wisconsin judge dismisses charges of misdemeanour against Kyle Rittenshouse

However, Politifact’s adherence to leftist propaganda was busted after a Wisconsin judge in the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse on Monday dismissed the misdemeanour charge against the U.S. teenager for illegally possessing the AR-15-style rifle. 

Judge Bruce Schroeder while dismissing the misdemeanour charged against Rittenhouse said Wisconsin’s open carry law can be interpreted to mean that 17-year-olds were permitted to openly carry firearms as long as they’re not short-barrel rifles. He believed the jury could only convict if prosecutors proved the barrel of Rittenhouse’s rifle was less than 16 inches and has an overall length shorter than 26 inches.

The AR-15-style rifle carried by Rittenhouse, which he used to fatally shoot two men and injure a third, is 35 inches long with a barrel length of 16 inches. Under defense questioning, a Kenosha police detective said he believed the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 was standard size.

Politifact continues to defend its dubious ‘fact check’

The ‘fact-checker’, meanwhile, has continued to defend its dubious ‘fact-check’. It said that it has “never been clear that it was “perfectly legal” for then-17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse to carry a gun.” This was despite the fact that the charge was dismissed by the judge.

Kyle Rittenhouse trial

Rittenhouse is accused of killing two people and injuring one on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a protest against police brutality in the summer of 2020. Prosecutors brought multiple charges against him, including first-degree intentional homicide, attempted homicide, reckless endangerment and the firearm possession count.

However, Rittenhouse argued that he acted in self-defence, leaving prosecutors with the weight of proving that his fear for his safety and his use of lethal force were unjustifiable. Rittenhouse said he went to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to protect property from rioters in the days after a Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot by a white Kenosha police officer. Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot. Rittenhouse’s lawyer said the shooting started after his client was ambushed by a “crazy man” that night, which drew fears of his gun being snatched away and used to kill him.

This was contested by prosecutor attorney Thomas Binger, who in his closing arguments on Monday, described Rittenhouse as a “wannabe soldier” who was “looking for trouble that night.” Binger showed the jury the drone video of the incident that he said showed Rittenhouse pointed the weapon at demonstrators. Binger said this was the provocation that gave rise to the ugly turn of events that took place later.

However, numerous visual evidence, including witness testimony, revealed that attempts were made to physically harm Kyle Rittenhouse and grab his gun. He was hit with a skateboard at one point of time and threats were made to kill him. Gaige Grosskreutz admitted on questioning that Rittenhouse did not shoot him until he pointed a gun at his face.

Joseph Rosenbaum, one of the men that were killed, is a convicted pedophile. He sexually abused five boys aged between 9 and 11 when he was 19 and was sentenced to jail for it. He molested the children, exposed them to pornography and performed oral sex on them. Grosskreutz, too, has a criminal history involving burglary and domestic violence.

Kenosha was in the grips of violent protests last year when the shootings happened. Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters ran riot, setting buildings and vehicles on fire and law enforcement took no measures to protect civilians which laid the stage for the events that transpired.

If convicted, Rittenhouse, now 18, will face a mandatory sentence of life in prison for the most serious charge against him, first-degree intentional homicide. His fate rests on the group of 18 jurors who are hearing the case, 12 of whom will give verdict on the case while the remaining six will be designated alternates.

Complaint filed against ‘comedian’ Vir Das for ‘defaming and spoiling the image of India in the USA’

OpIndia Staff
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Complaint filed against ‘comedian’ Vir Das for ‘defaming and spoiling the image of India in the USA’

A complaint has been filed against comedian Vir Das with the Mumbai police, soon after he shared a Youtube video of his unhinged rant against India at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. Advocate Ashutosh J Dubey, a practising legal solicitor at Bombay High Court and the legal advisor of BJP-Maharashtra shared a copy of the complaint he filed against the comedian through his Twitter account.

In his complaint, a copy of which was also marked to the commissioner of police, Mumbai, the complainant accused Das of “defaming and spoiling the image of India in the USA”, which he said, “is venomous and inflammatory”.

Advocate Dubey accused the ‘comedian’ of willfully spelling inciting and derogatory statements against India, Indian women and the Prime Minister of India in his show at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

Criticising Vir Das for the portion of his monologue where he painted India as an unsafe place for women to the world, the complainant wrote that Das made it appear that the phenomenon of worshipping female deities in India is a mere gimmick where otherwise the heinous crime of rape against women is carried out unhinged.

Copy of the complaint filed with the Mumbai police against ‘comedian’ Vir Das

In his 7-minute monologue, Vir Das had claimed, “I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gangrape them during the night.”

Advocate Dubey further stated that Vir Das made derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister of India, alleging him of committing fraud and mishandling the PM CARES Fund. Das had also reportedly called PM Modi the biggest threat to the Union of India.

Dubey further wrote that Vir Das’ statement tries to portray India as the greatest threat to Indian democracy, which is false and looks to be made solely to instil fear and hatred in the Indian people.

“He attracts IPC sections amongst others and it is necessary to issue notice to the intermediaries to take the appropriate action failing which the Indian Comedian (Vir Das) must be acted upon as per the provisions of law”, wrote the lawyer.

Prior to sharing the copy of the complaint, advocate Dubey, in a Tweet had said, “Vir Das is spoiling the image of India, Defaming India in the USA. Action should be taken against Vir Das from every corner of India. I will help legally when you needed”.

On Monday (November 16), comedian Vir Das shared a Youtube video wherein he went on an unhinged rant against India at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

Das used humour to push anti-India propaganda in his 7-minute monologue. He talked about politics, religion, and nationality, all while instilling fear that India, which was once built by great men, would soon be forgotten. The comedian carefully sandwiched the propaganda material between comic elements and punchlines in his tirade.

Besides spreading lies and raking up internal matters to deride India and particularly Hindus on foreign soil, Vir Das also resorted to fear-mongering about losing the ‘idea of India’. He had concluded, “But as I stand here before you, I am reminded that I represent a great people. Great people, who built a great thing (India) that is turning into a memory.”

Tu agar jhooth bhi bole toh, aitbaar karun – How love for liberalism makes one blind to lies

Nirwa Mehta
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Tu agar jhooth bhi bole toh, aitbaar karun – How love for liberalism makes one blind to lies

Two ‘journalists’ with HW News Network were taken into custody earlier this week from Assam after Tripura Police registered number of cases against them. Two ‘journalists’, Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha were accused of publishing and broadcasting false and fabricated news which were aimed at disrupting communal harmony.

Sakunia, who hails from Odisha, on November 11 tweeted a video claiming a Quran copy was burnt Tripura’s Darga Bazar on 19th October, 2021. Situation in Tripura had turned communally sensitive in October after protests were held against the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh during Durga Puja. Protests in Tripura turned violent too and reports emerged that some mosque was burnt down. However, the police had categorically denied that no mosque was burnt down in Tripura.

But Sakunia claimed so in her tweet and video. Police contacted Rahmat Ali, owner of the prayer hall mentioned by HW ‘journalist’ who denied burning down of any copy of Quran. Naturally, Police reached out to Sakunia to give evidence to the claims she was making in her report. After all, there were repercussions of the violence in Tripura in other states like Maharashtra where violence had erupted earlier this month.

Except, Sakunia asked Police to find the evidence themselves. So, Sakunia goes on record to make claims that somewhere a Quran was burnt, which could lead to communal violence, but would not take any responsibility of her statements.

Sakunia and her colleague Jha, despite being asked by Police to not leave Tripura, sneaked out of the state and escaped to Assam. They planned to take a flight out of Assam to Delhi. However, Tripura police reached out to their Assam counterparts who nabbed the duo who were then brought back to Tripura on Monday, November 15.

Turns out, the conduct of the duo was highly suspicious from the beginning. The two women checked in to the hotel and identified themselves as ‘students’ instead of journalists and mentioned purpose of their visit as ‘work’. They visited Dharmanagar, Gomati and other Muslim-dominated areas of the state and allegedly made slanderous remarks against Hindus in what appears like a bid to provoke Muslims to take revenge against the Hindus.

In spite of this, the entire ‘liberal’ brigade is crying foul that the freedom of press in India is under attack. Remember, the two women are accused of fabricating news and their conduct has also been suspicious. And when police asked for evidence to back their claims which could trigger communal violence, they just put their hands up and asked police to do it instead.

Except, this absolutely brazen behaviour of shooting from the hip and shrugging off responsibility of actions is a trick as old as time.

Arundhati Roy and 2002 Gujarat riots fables

In 2002, 59 karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive after a Muslim mob set train compartments on fire in Godhra. Subsequently, communal riots broke out in Gujarat where hundreds of people died. While a lot of stories were heart wrenching, many, many were fiction.

One very popular myth is of a Hindu mob raping a Muslim woman, slitting her pregnant stomach and flinging her foetus in the air. However, postmortem of Kausar Bano told a different story. A 2010 report states that the doctor who conducted post-mortem on Kauser, found the foetus intact. Dr J S Kanoria, who had conducted the autopsy on 2nd March, 2002 presented supporting documents to the special court and said that the foetus was intact in the woman’s womb. The foetus weight 2,500 gms and was 45 cms long.

Further, during the postmortem and cross examination of witness, it had come to light that Kausar Bano died of suffocation, fear and shock and her body bore no external or internal injuries. As per reports, during his deposition, Kanoria stated that Bano’s body bore no internal or external injury; moreover, there was no sword injury on her body. Dr Kanoria was working at the government civil hospital during the riots and had given statement that Kausar Bano’s foetus was removed after the post-mortem. The post-mortem was conducted on 1st March 2002.

Unfortunate death of Kausar Bano was twisted and way too many fictional elements added in what appears like a bid to fan communal tensions.

Another such ‘story’ was narrated by seasoned ‘liberal’ Suzanna Arundhati Roy. In an article published in May 2002 in Outlook, Roy had talked about her ‘friend’ from Vadodara, Gujarat. The ‘friend’ who was not named was weeping and then narrated a story to her. The story was about one ‘Sayeeda’ who was a ‘friend’ of this unnamed ‘friend’. Sayeeda’s stomach was ripped open and stuffed with burning rags and ‘Om’ was then tattooed on her forehead.

Arundhati Roy’s claims

Except, of course, when Balbir Punj (then a BJP MP) decided to follow up on this horrific incident to try and get justice for Sayeeda, he found out that when the Gujarat Police reached out to Roy for helping her identify victim so they can bring justice to her, Roy’s lawyer shrugged and said how Police has no power to ‘summon’ her.

Balbir Punj on Roy

So, not only was Sayeeda brutally murdered (one here is assuming she did not survive burning rags in her tummy) but even her friends and friends of friends did not want to help identify her killers.

And we are to believe this and take Roy’s words for it because why would Roy lie about Sayeeda? After all, she was ‘friend’ of a ‘friend’ who had no name. Wait, isn’t that kind of déjà vu? Who would’ve thunk 20 years later, two ‘journalists’ would do a Roy Redux in Tripura in yet another communal violence!

While we’re on topic of Roy, here’s another one where with full conviction, she also said that the karsevaks who were burnt alive were returning from Ayodhya after demolishing the disputed structure often referred to as Babri Masjid at Ram Janmabhoomi.

Roy, with all confidence and conviction claiming Babri was demolished in 2002. Further, she also has the gall to claim ‘no one knew’ how the ‘train caught fire’. No, Roy, train ‘did not catch fire’, it was set on fire, by a murderous mob of Islamists specifically to kill Hindus returning from Ayodhya after karseva. A court of law has actually sentenced the accused, many of them to death.

Teesta Setalvad and fake news cottage industry

Gujarat riots also proved as a very fertile ground for ‘NGOs’ and ‘human rights activists’ to make a name as well as money for themselves. One such ‘activist’ is Teesta Setalvad. Remember how Tripura Police has alleged that the two women tried to incite the Muslims in Tripura to take revenge? Well, it is kind of a standard operating procedure for the ‘fact-finders’ and ‘human rights activists’.

In February 2020, just before the anti-Hindu riots broke out in Delhi, Muslim protestors had blocked the main road in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The CAA did not affect Indians of any religion and was only meant to fast-track Indian citizenship of persecuted religious minorities, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Jews in the neighbouring Islamic countries Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. However, the Indian ‘liberals’ and protesting Muslims decided it was ripping Indian Muslims off their citizenship. Again, the CAA did not affect Indians, Hindus, Muslims or anyone of any other faith.

Amid all this, Teesta Setalvad was accused of tutoring Shaheen Bagh protestors.

In the 2-minutes long video, a lady can be heard reading out a list of questions the women could ask the interlocutors appointed by the Supreme Court to mediate and convince the Shaheen Bagh protestors to relocate to an alternative place. Teesta Setalvad could be spotted right behind her overseeing the tutoring.

Setalvad has been accused of embezzling funds meant for Gujarat riot victims. She had allegedly collected funds for the 2002 riot victims and instead used it for personal luxury and expenses. The allegations had come to light after one of the residents of the Gulbarg Housing Society filed a complaint against her alleging that she had embezzled funds collected for the 2002 riot victims through her NGOs Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace.

It is alleged that she had used the funds collected in the name of riot victims for liquor, movies, gadgets and personal goods. Further, it was also found that her NGO has violated FCRA norms. The Sabrang Communications and Publishing Pvt Ltd had allegedly received Rs 2.9 lakhs from the Ford Foundation even if it was not registered under FCRA.

Setalvad has had several allegations against her including luring and misguiding a key witness into giving false testimony, FIRs for tweeting objectionable pictures of Hindu Gods and also FIRs for promoting enmity on religious grounds.

Love for ‘liberalism’ makes one blind to lies

As one can see, when people with ulterior motives add fictional elements to factual incidents, ‘liberals’ in India would believe it because they are conditioned to assume the worst about Hindus. Like when Kausar Bano died in 2002 riots (fact), when element of fiction is added that her pregnant belly was cut open with a sword and foetus flung into air, the lie refuses to die down despite post mortem reports stating otherwise.

That’s how ‘liberals’ operate. They add more brutal, more shocking lie which can shake the conscience of an average human being to one truth to perpetuate their hate. Quite certain Roy’s ‘friend from Baroda’ is as imaginary as the story narrated by that ‘friend’.

So when HW News Network’s ‘journalist’ claims Quran was burnt, without evidence, it is considered truth. Action against her on allegations of fabricating news is then referred to as attack on press freedom. Fictionalising ‘news’ is a free pass if you have ‘liberal’ credentials.

‘There is no such thing as Hinduism’: How over 100 tribals in Bharuch were converted to Islam and the ‘business’ behind it

Nirwa Mehta
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‘There is no such thing as Hinduism’: How over 100 tribals in Bharuch were converted to Islam and the ‘business’ behind it

In 2018, one Pravin Vasava of Amod, Bharuch got converted to Islam. Vasava belonged to the Vasava Hindu tribal community. He converted to Islam and went by the name Salman Patel.

Pravin Vasava became Salman Patel in 2017

As per notarised documents filed in Surat in 2018, he had stated that he was in touch with people from Muslim community since a year and was convinced Islam is the religion of peace and true religion. He claimed he wanted to convert to Islam and none of his relatives had any objection to the same.

“Because of that, I have recited the five Kalmas and converted to Islam and am living my life as per Sharia. I will also spend rest of my life as a Muslim as per Sharia,” he said in the affidavit. He mentioned that after embracing Islam he would then be known as Salman Patel. He had claimed he was not lured into embracing Islam and he did it by his own free will.

Forced religious conversion: Modus operandi

However, that is not what had happened. Speaking to OpIndia, Pravin Vasava, who has now filed a police complaint regarding the same, said that the tribal families, were converted to Islam by making tall promises. “We were taught there is no such religion as Hindu religion and Islam is true religion. One Abdul Ajit, who himself had converted to Islam, made us such promises. We were not informed that our Aadhaar cards and other identification would be changed. However, he took us to Surat and got legal documents done. He made us sign papers and also got our Aadhaar changed,” he said.

Vasava informed that a Maruti Ecco car was hired and about 7-8 people were ferried from Bharuch to Surat 2-3 times to get people to sign the papers. “Tribals are poor people. If someone gives some food grains, we believe they are nice people. Which is why people get lured to religious conversion,” Vasava said. He added that other promises for religious conversion included help in business, employment, marriages, second marriages, pakka houses, food grains and money.

“I used to go with Abdul Ajit. He would call up people in foreign countries like England and boast about the number of people converted to Islam. On that basis, he would receive funds. That is when I realised it was business for him. This is why I filed police complaint so that others don’t get cheated the way we did,” he said.

Abdul Ajit is one of the nine accused named in the FIR.

Fefdawala Haji Abdullah and funding from London

Another accused named in the FIR is one Fefdawala Haji Abdullah, who is originally a native of Nabipur in Bharuch but currently living in London, UK. A video from a few years back shows him boasting about the conversion of Hindus to Islam.

Fefdawala in above video says that he is from London. “I came to know about you guys that you have embraced Islam. I have come to specially meet you. I will pass on your message in London that Allah has accepted you. Now you are our brothers as per Kalma. We will provide all possible help we could,” he said.

He then passes on the message to London in the video that he is currently in Kankaria village of Amod Taluka where 37 families had turned to Islam. He thanked ‘Ajit bhai’ for the help. He then asks ‘Ajit bhai’ if they need any help with respect to food, houses or any such financial aids.

Ajit Abdul, then introduces himself and describes how he indulged in religious conversion. He talks about one Samir who ‘encouraged’ him to embrace Islam. He claimed he used to drink alcohol but Samir told him that alcohol is not good. “It is haram in Islam as well as in Hindu religion. Hinduism also speaks about Mohammad Sahab in the Shastras. But we told how no Brahmin ever told us about it,” he said.

He further explained, “We got these four pillars to put up the roof. But Allah created the universe without any walls. This struck me and I thought it was true.” He then claims that Allah is one, whether you call him Bhagwan, Ishwar or God. He then says how he increased his meetings with Samir who gave him a book to read. “Every day at 5 PM I had to drink alcohol. He asked me if I was drunk and asked me to go to him in the morning when I had not consumed alcohol when he would give me the book,” he said.

Ajit Abul then went on to say how he embraced Islam.

Sources in the know of the story say that the procedure to convert Hindus to Islam in the village started as back as 2009-2010 but the ones who converted were either returning to Hindu fold or were not really active. Which is why they started to make the religious conversion official so that funding can be secured. “Once converted, they would send the children to madarsa near Hajira and in Jambusar.

“They were also taken a few times to Tablighi Jamaat where they spent a few days in Malegaon and Mumbai. Earlier they were part of Ahl-i-Hadith Jamaat but moved on to Barelvi movement,” a source said. Barelvi is a Sunni revivalist movement from Hanafi school of jurisprudence in opposition to Deobandi movement. It is believed about two-thirds of Muslims in India follow the Barelvi movement. Of which, Islamist organisation Raza Academy, responsible for recent violence in Maharashtra is one prominent organisation.

Bharuch Police files FIR against 9 people

Police have lodged a complaint against nine persons under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2021 Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The accused have been identified as Shabbir Bakerywala, Samad Bakerywala, Abdul Aziz Patel, Yusuf Patel, Ayyub Patel, Ibrahim Patel, Fefdawala Haji Abdullah, Hasan Tisli and Ismail Achhodwala. All the accused are local residents barring one who is residing in London and identified as Fefdawala Haji Abdullah.

Bharuch Police has initiated investigation in mass religious conversion racket in Kankaria village of Amod Taluka. There are allegations of illegal religious conversion of Hindus by Islamists who have obtained funding from foreign countries to carry forward mass conversion of Hindus. The conversion takes place by giving cash to Hindus or promising financial aid to the ones who are financially needy and also taking advantage of their lack of knowledge, it is alleged.

It is further alleged that the mass religious conversion is a bid to pit Hindus against Muslims and disturb peace and religious harmony. As many as 100 people of 37 Hindu families have been converted to Islam by luring them with money and other incentives.

As per police statement, Fefdawala Haji Abdul, a native of Nabipur in Bharuch, currently living in London, who has also been accused of being involved in similar forced religious conversions in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara, has been accused of raising funds for forced religious conversion in Bharuch and other parts of India, a statement released by Bharuch Police read.

The police statement further reads that this money raised from foreign lands was further used to lure Hindu men and women to Islam. Subsequently, alert citizens took it upon themselves and filed a police complaint regarding the same. A case has been registered on the same and further investigation has been initiated.

Links with Uttar Pradesh mass conversion racket

It is believed that the mass conversion in Bharuch has links with the recently unearthed mass religious conversion racket in Uttar Pradesh. Two maulvis were arrested in June this year by Anti Terrorism Squad, Uttar Pradesh where they were accused of converting at least 1,000 people to Islam.

The accused were later identified as Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam and were residents of Jamia Nagar in South Delhi. The two accused, who ran an organisation named Islamic Dawah Centre(IDC), along with their other associates, were charged for mass conversion of people into Islam through inducements such as marriage, job and money and mental pressure.

Reports had suggested that the children were converted and brainwashed to be used as ‘human bombs‘. The perpetrators brainwashed the differently-abled children into hating non-Muslims, accepting Islam and were planning to use them as suicide bombers as the scope of retaliation from such children is limited, informed a senior official.

When the racket was busted, many stories of religious conversion came to light, some of them were also from Gujarat.

Pakistan’s special friend Turkey takes offence at ‘special treatment’ for India at COP26: Here’s what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan’s special friend Turkey takes offence at ‘special treatment’ for India at COP26: Here’s what happened

Turkey, a ‘special’ friend to Pakistan, was not happy with the ‘special treatment’ that was awarded to India at the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. According to reports that have emerged, Turkish president Erdogan was not happy with it and ‘stayed aloof’ from proceedings as a ‘mark of protest’.

Erdogan’s angst was the consequence of the ‘special treatment’ that was accorded to India. Although two other countries, the United States and host United Kingdom, received the same facilities, only India sparked his outrage.

The matter relates to the fact that India was one of the only three countries to receive accommodation in a hotel exclusively for themselves. Their leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden and British PM Boris Johnson arrived at the venue on their own motorcades.

Others, however, were urged to share hotels. Their leaders, too, arrived at the conference on buses that had been arranged for them. This did not go down well with wannabe Caliph Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Officials, however, justified the special treatment India was awarded citing the great strides our country has made towards combating Climate Change.

Erdogan had not attended the Glasgow climate summit due to a ‘security dispute’. According to Turkish media, Erdogan took the decision because his demands for security arrangements were not met. “When our demands were not met we decided not to go to Glasgow,” he was reported to have said.

Another official said, “The president took such a decision because our demands regarding the number of vehicles for security and some other security-related demands were not fully met.”

Turkey, of course, has developed a close relationship with Pakistan and has been peddling propaganda against India at the international arena for quite some time. Thus, it is expected that Erdogan was not too pleased with India’s increasing influence at the world stage.

Earlier in the year, it was reported that Turkey had set up a propaganda team in collaboration with Pakistan’s ISI to further their agenda against India. As part of the collaboration, state media in Turkey had hired a significant number of Indian Kashmiri and Pakistani journalists.

Later in June, the Indian Embassy in Turkey had to respond to Anadolu Agency, Turkish state media, after the media claimed that India had issued fake domicile certificates to change the demography of Kashmir. In the report, AA quoted Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, saying, “India continues with its design to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory in clear violation of international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention. India has already issued over 3.4 million fake domicile certificates.”

The Indian Embassy in its response stated, “AA is falling prey to Pakistani Propaganda. Journalistic ethics demand that they should check the basis of issuing of Domicile certificate by the Indian Govt and report that too. Not just become the propaganda mouthpiece of a third country.”

As for Turkey’s relations with Pakistan, there were reports that Pakistan was helping its ally to secure nuclear weaponry. Apart from that, there have been reports that Turkey intended to send Syrian Jihadis to foment terrorism in Kashmir.

Given such antecedents, it is not surprising that Erdogan was mighty displeased with the privileges India was accorded at COP26.

Corporators, former councillors, brother-in-law of a politician involved in Malegaon violence triggered by Islamists: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Corporators, former councillors, brother-in-law of a politician involved in Malegaon violence triggered by Islamists: Report

Maharashtra was in turmoil last week after several Muslim organisations called for protests based on the fake news of mosques being vandalised in Tripura. Many cities, including Malegaon, Amravati and Nanded saw violence as a rampaging crowd of Muslim groups flocked to the streets in opposition to vandalization that never happened.

Startling new facts have emerged in the investigation launched by the Malegaon police in connection with the violence and disruption caused under the pretext of carrying out demonstrations. As per a report published in TV 9 Marathi, the violence witnessed in Malegaon was not a spontaneous eruption of passion but a well-thought-out plan to foment trouble. In fact, the preliminary reports suggest that even political workers were involved in stoking tensions that led to acts of arson, vandalism and plundering.

The police officials are sifting through CCTV footage now to identity the rabble-rousers and make arrests in the case. Already, NCP corporator Ayaz Hulchul has been arrested by Malegaon police in connection with Friday violence. He is reportedly charged for inciting communal tensions by sharing an offensive video clip on social media that had instantly gone viral. The video was widely circulated on the internet, accusing the Tripura government of failing to stop the alleged vandalism.

Existing corporators, former councillors accused of fomenting violence in Malegaon

Police have registered five separate cases in the Malegaon violence case. It has launched a search for the suspects, including those responsible for sharing offensive videos, pelting stones, inciting people and hatching a conspiracy to cause violence. Many of the suspects are political workers, including former corporators. The accused also include two existing corporators, two former corporators and the son of a former corporator. Most importantly, a brother-in-law of a big political leader is also a suspect in the case. It is understood that the police are searching for the two existing corporators along with him.

Among those arrested in relation to the Friday violence case include corporator Ayaz Halchal, former corporator Rehman Shah, Awami Party president Rizwan Batterywala, Nasir Mehboob Shekhar, Wasim Akhtar Mohammad Sali, Altaf Anwar Shah, Mohammad Zahid Anis Ahmed, Mohammad Imran Atik Ahmed, Sabir Gauhar, Sarfaraz Javir, and Salim Sheikh. About 33 people have been arrested in connection with the Friday violence.

While several suspects who are identified by the police but are on the run include Yusuf Ilyas, Mustakim Dignity, Imran Rizvi, Dr Raees Rizvi, Salim Rizvi, Akil Rizvi, Kari Harun Rizvi, Zahid Anis Kutchi, Aftaaf Alam alias Arjunya, Tousif Sheikh Musa, Naveed Razza Sheikh, Ibrahim Raees Sheikh, Danish, Altaf Andha, Junaid Razzaq Sheikh and many others.

Violence erupts in protest organised by Raza Academy and All India Sunni Jamiat Ulema

On Friday last week, Raza Academy and All India Sunni Jamiat Ulema had called for a shutdown in protest against the alleged vandalisation of mosques in Tripura. A rally was organised, which turned violent, resulting in the destruction of several shops, properties worth millions of rupees set on fire and damaged. A case has been registered against the organisers in this regard. However, they have not been arrested yet.

Kerala HC quashes time limit on anticipatory bail of ex-cop Siby Mathews who framed scientist Nambi Narayanan in fake espionage case

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala HC quashes time limit on anticipatory bail of ex-cop Siby Mathews who framed scientist Nambi Narayanan in fake espionage case

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday overturned a lower court’s 60-day time limit on anticipatory bail granted to former Kerala DGP Siby Mathews, who is being investigated by the CBI for allegedly framing erstwhile ISRO scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Nambi Narayanan in a fake espionage case in 1994. Siby Mathews is the fourth accused in the ISRO espionage case.

Siby Mathews argued that the time limit placed on his pre-arrest bail should be overturned because it was in contravention of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench decision. The Supreme Court ruled that a bail order should not be confined to a specific time period and that an order of anticipatory bail can last until the end of the trial.

Justice K Haripal granted the former officer’s application, reversing the Sessions Court’s decision.

It may be noted that since the CBI requested more time to file its submissions, the Court had already extended the time limit several times, which was supposed to expire on October 24th.

CBI responded by opposing the plea filed by Siby Mathews, claiming that the petitioner should have sought such relief from the trial court.

However, the former Kerala DGP, represented by senior advocate P Vijaya Bhanu and advocates Ajeesh K Sasi and PM Rafiq argued in court that the trial court erred in imposing a validity time on the relief it had granted to Siby Mathews.

Mathews along with 17 other former Kerala police and IB officials are facing a CBI probe for allegedly falsely implicating Narayanan and some others in the 1994 spying case.

The criminal prosecution against Mathews was filed in response to the DK Jain Committee’s recommendations that the Central Investigating Agency conduct an extensive and in-depth probe into the conspiracy behind the 1994 fake espionage case.

On July 26, 2021, Supreme Court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) to proceed against the accused as per law. 

The court, however, added that the CBI must gather evidence and not solely rely on the findings of the reports by the Justice Jain Committee, the three-member panel set up after it acquitted Dr Narayanan in 2018. 

Nambi Narayanan – the victim of persecution by the Congress party

It is pertinent to note that scientist Nambi Narayan was a victim of persecution by the Congress party. The political rivalry between the two factions of the Kerala Congress party led to the arrest of Narayanan, along with two other scientists D Sasikumaran and K Chandrasekhar, in November 1994. The Kerala police had levelled espionage charges under sections 3,4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act against the scientists.

In 2018, the Supreme Court had ordered a high-level probe to investigate the role of erring police officials in the espionage case relating to Nambi Narayanan. In April this year, the court had directed the CBI to take over the probe and conduct further investigation in the case. 

The CBI, in its probe, found that the allegations against him were false. While absolving Narayanan of any wrongdoing, the CBI had said that Siby Mathews had left “the entire investigation to IB surrendering his duties” and ordered the indiscriminate arrest of the scientist and others without adequate evidence”.

‘Comedian’ Vir Das goes on a 7-minute unhinged rant against India at the Kennedy Centre: Here is why he is wrong

Dibakar Dutta
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‘Comedian’ Vir Das goes on a 7-minute unhinged rant against India at the Kennedy Centre: Here is why he is wrong

On Monday (November 16), comedian Vir Das shared a Youtube video wherein he went on an unhinged rant against India at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

In a 7-minute monologue, Das peddled anti-India propaganda under the garb of comedy. He touched upon politics, religion and nationality while inducing fear that India, once built by great men, might soon turn into a distant memory. In order to make his rant impactful, the comedian sandwiched the propaganda material between comedic elements and punchlines. As such, the audience was awed by his one-liners although they do not make sense in critically analysing them.

At the very onset, Vir Das claimed, “I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gangrape them during the night.” This is a common trope used by left-liberals to paint India as an unsafe place for women to the world. Ahead of Durga Puja, the same argument changes to ‘worshipping women for 9 days’ and raping them for the rest of the year.

Across the world, nations face the issue of women rights and the heinous crime of rape against women. The phenomenon of connecting the worship of female deities to crimes of rape seems unique to liberals who wish to deride India and specifically, the Hindu religion.

Vir Das bats for Barkha Dutt, hails her for ‘real journalism’ on the streets

The comedian then extended his support to fellow propagandist Barkha Dutt, for her ‘vulture journalism’ during the second wave of the pandemic. Vir Das alleged, “I come from an India where journalism is supposedly dead because men in fancy studios, in fancy suits, give each other handjobs and yet women on road with laptops are telling the truth.”

When India was going through Covid-19 crisis, Barkha Dutt was on the streets to revive her dwindling career in journalism. From camping outside civil hospitals and crematoriums to putting her laptop on upturned plastic dustbins, she turned a pandemic into an image-building exercise. For Vir Das, this was an example of ‘real journalism’ for a ‘supposedly dead’ industry.

Comedian plays ‘religion card’, tries to paint Hindus as intolerant

During his monologue, the comedian tried to paint Hindus as intolerant and antagonistic to Muslims. He claimed, “I come from an India where we bleed blue every time when we play green. But every time we lose to green, we turn orange all of a sudden.” Vir Das suggested that Hindus become adversarial to Muslims whenever the Indian cricket team loses to Pakistan. However, nothing can be further from the truth.

Following the recent victory of Pakistan against India in the group stage match of T20 World Cup 2021, we observed that a section of the society (which supposedly bleeds green) celebrated India’s loss by bursting firecrackers. This was even conceded by Jamia riot accused Sharjeel Imam in a Facebook post several years ago. The celebration by Kashmiri Muslim students over the victory of their co-religionists also highlighted that some pretend to bleed blue while they always bleed green.

Vir Das also managed to play the victim card by claiming that Indians want to send him to Pakistan. “I come from an India that tells me every single day to go to Pakistan and yet I also come from an India that invites Pakistanis over every single day if only to whoop their ass on a cricket field,” he added.

Vir Das takes his anti-Modi agenda to the United States, reiterates lies about PM CARES fund

While Vir Das’ dislike for PM Modi is an open secret, the comedian chose to bring it before the audience at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC. “I come from an India where every time we get information, we are always available to care for the PM but we can’t seem to get any information on PM Cares,” the comedian had claimed. Vir Das attempted to add fuel to the fire of conspiracy theories surrounding the PM CARES fund. Indian liberals had earlier bullied Autralian pacer Pat Cummins to relocate his contribution from PM Cares to UNICEF Australia by peddling the same misinformation.

It becomes pertinent to note here that after the Coronavirus pandemic gripped the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set up the PM CARES Fund and invited people to contribute to the Fund. PM CARES Fund Trust was formed on 27th March last year to receive public donations to fight emergencies or distresses like the current Covid-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust, and its members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.

After the PM CARES fund was set up by the government, opposition parties and a section of left-liberal intellectuals had launched a campaign against it, alleging that the fund will be misused as it will not be audited by the CAG. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had demanded that the entire money collected in the fund should be transferred to the PM National Relief Fund.

Comedian rakes up the Lakhmipur Kheri incident, peddles one sided narrative

Vir Das went on to rake up other domestic issues before the global audience. He made a reference to the controversial Lakhmipur Kheri incident that claimed the lives of 9 people. It included 4 farmers, 4 BJP workers and a journalist. Given that the exclusive mention of ‘Annadata‘ (farmers) being run over can evoke emotions, the comedian said, “I come from an India where we take pride in being vegetarians and yet run over the farmers who grow our vegetables.”

On October 3, a ‘farmer’ mob attacked a BJP convoy with stones and sticks in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. Amid the ensuing commotion, a vehicle was seen running over the protestors. Following that the angry mob of protestors had burned two vehicles, dragged the people inside the vehicle and had beaten them to death. The incident turned into a major political drama, prompting the Uttar Pradesh government to announce a compensation of ₹45 lakh to the kin of the deceased and promised government job to one member of each family. A one-member committee has also been formed to probe the case.

BJP worker Shubham Mishra and his driver Hariom Mishra were also lynched to death at the site by the so-called ‘farmers’. Shubham’s father said in his complaint that Shubham’s gold chain, mobile and wallet were stolen by the protesters who had killed him. He also named Tajinder Singh Virk of Samajwadi Party and Kisan Union leader one of the foremost perpetrators. However, Vir Das avoided mention of others who were killed by the same farmers.

Towards the end of his monologue, Vir Das resorted to fear-mongering about losing the ‘idea of India’. He had concluded, “But as I stand here before you, I am reminded that I represent a great people. Great people, who built a great thing (India) that is turning into a memory.” While the leftist-liberal bandwagon had been trying to create an atmosphere of hysteria using the same rhetoric, they have so far failed to convince the masses with their lies.

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