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The cradle of Islamic terrorism: New German documentary shows Pakistan’s ISI sponsoring terror attacks in Europe

OpIndia Staff
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The cradle of Islamic terrorism: New German documentary shows Pakistan’s ISI sponsoring terror attacks in Europe

A new German documentary probing the roots of Islamic extremism reveals how the mastermind of the Paris 2015 attacks, Muhammad Ghani Usman, was involved in the operational planning of the Mumbai 26/11 attacks. Usman is a Pakistani national and a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist.

The documentary titled ‘The Business with Terror’ sought to answer questions about who was financing, planning and commissioning terror attacks in Europe. The makers of the documentary follow the trail which led them to the conclusion that almost all Islamic terror attacks that have happened in Europe, the United States, and other western countries had some or other link to Pakistan and its intelligence service Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Shortly after the Paris attacks in 2015, when several groups of Islamic terrorists worked in tandem to carry out multiple terror attacks, the mastermind of the attacks, Muhammad Ghani Usman, was arrested. His interrogation revealed that not only were the Paris attacks modelled on the Mumbai 26/11 attacks but Usman, a Pakistani national, played a pivotal role in planning the gruesome attack that shook India’s finance capital on the dreadful night of November 26, 2008.

“This man was a key member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. It is believed that he was a part of the operations planning for the attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Yet, nothing was done,” the documentary broadcasted by DW quotes London-based security analyst Sajjan Gohel as saying.

Source: YouTube

French investigators suspect that Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks and the suicide bombings in Brussels, sent Usman and Haddadi to Europe to carry out attacks. Usman, the 34-year-old bomb-maker, was arrested in October 2015 along with his Algerian aide and suspected Islamic State fighter Adel Haddadi soon after they arrived on the Greek island of Leros along with 200 other refugees for carrying a forged passport.

According to the investigators, there were two other men in the boat who later blew themselves up outside Stade de France stadium, one of the audacious attacks of its kind on European soil. Haddadi and Usman were arrested by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had fake Syrian passports. Because they were detained, they could not make it to Paris for the attacks. Once they were allowed to go, they followed the main migrant trail and made it to Salzburg in western Austria at the end of November – after the Paris attacks. They applied for asylum at a refugee shelter in Salzburg.

However, the two were arrested again in December 2015 when a fingerprint search connected them to the passports stolen by the Islamic State. An Austrian court later ordered their transfer to France for trial.

Sajid Mir: Terrorist who is known to be a co-ordinator of terror attacks

In 2019, the National Investigation Agency interrogated Usman in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks. The premier agency later said that Usman was in touch with David Coleman Headley, the Pakistan-origin US terrorist who plotted the 2008 Mumbai attack and carried out a recce of potential targets.

The documentary then traces the origins of the number of terror attacks that have rocked Europe in the last few years. The intelligence officials quoted in the film say Sajjad Mir to be one of the nodal contacts that used to coordinate highly sophisticated terror attacks in the Western countries.

“Suspects in the US confirm the existence of Sajid Mir and his role in recruiting and indoctrinating westerners with an aim of sending them back to Europe or the US to carry out attacks in the name of LeT,” the documentary quoted Jean-Louis Bruguiere, a former French investigative judge, anti-terrorism.

Mumbai Police officer Deven Bharti, who was among the first to reach one of the sites attacked by Pakistani terrorists in November 2008 said he got hold of a mobile phone used by the terrorists after they were neutralised. He posed as a waiter of the hotel to know the identity of the handlers instructing the terrorists to continue their rampage in Mumbai. It was Sajid Mir, Bharti recalls, who was issuing instructions to the terrorists to inflict maximum damage and occupy a vantage position to prolong the attacks.

David Coleman Headley: Man who plotted Mumbai 26/11 was working at the behest of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Pakistan’s ISI

The focus of the documentary then shifts to David Coleman Headley, the American terrorist who is serving 35 years in jail for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks. Early in his career, Headley worked as a DEA agent but was caught for smuggling heroin from Pakistan. He was let off the hook after he vowed to become an informant for the DEA and help them stop the smuggling of contraband in the United States.

However, David Headley is caught again for his growing closeness with Lashkar-e-Toiba. Around the same time, the 9/11 attacks occur and the US agencies shift their focus to stopping terror attacks from Al Qaeda and other western-focused terror organisations. The CIA strikes a deal with Headley for not pursuing a case against him. They send him as a US agent to Pakistan, where he is asked to foster ties with Lashkar-e-Toiba and help the United States in its fight against terrorism.

Headley establishes contact with Lashkar-e-Toiba and grows thick with its leadership. Meanwhile, he is also contacted by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) and its chief Major Iqbal, who uses Headley’s American identity to hatch a terror attack against India. Headley is sent to Mumbai under the guise of a consultant and asked to do a recce of potential targets for attacks. At this point in time, Headley is working as a double agent, for the CIA as well as for Pakistan’s ISI.

David Headley, a double agent who worked for the CIA as well as for Pakistan’s ISI

Headley provides invaluable information about locations in Mumbai which are later used by Pakistani terrorists to carry out the ghastly attacks on November 26, 2008. Even as Headley was in Mumbai reconnoitring the possible targets of attack, he was continuously monitored by the British secret services MI6. However, they failed to intimate the Indian agencies of a possible terror plot hatched by him and his Pakistani handlers.

In the aftermath of the attacks, David Coleman Headley shifted back to the United States. The documentary shows Coleman later homes in on Denmark’s capital Copenhagen to emulate the attacks that took place in Mumbai. He carries out a recce of locations in Copenhagen, such a synagogue, a Danish newspaper that published the cartoons on Prophet Muhammad and other places for attack.

A CIA officer interviewed by the makers of the documentary says Coleman was planning to be one of the attackers who would storm the selected places in Copenhagen and open indiscriminate fire on the bystanders, just as the Pakistani terrorists did at several places in Mumbai. However, the MI6, which is closely monitoring Headley’s activity, gets wind of his plan. This time around, they inform their US counterpart and help avert an imminent attack on Denmark’s capital.

Headley is arrested from Chicago. The documentary says that despite repeated backstabbing by Headley, the US agencies strike a deal with him, possibly to hide their association with the terrorist responsible for plotting the Mumbai 26/11 attacks. According to the deal, Headley would escape extradition to India and a possible death penalty and serve 35 years in prison in a US jail. In return, Headley is supposed to purse his lips. It is worth noting that American intelligence has still not shared the financial transactions of Headley with India.

Sanjay Gandhi death anniversary: How three attempts were made to kill him before he died in a plane crash

OpIndia Staff
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Sanjay Gandhi death anniversary: How three attempts were made to kill him before he died in a plane crash

On June 23, 1980, Indira Gandhi’s younger son, Sanjay Gandhi, died in a plane crash. The controversial former Member of Parliament from Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, faced three assassination attempts throughout his life. He was a key figure during an emergency, but according to Wikileaks Cables, Indira Gandhi did not see him as a leader but only as a ‘small fry‘ or a Karyakarta for Congress Party.

Congress paid tribute to Sanjay Gandhi on his death anniversary. Source: Twitter

In September 1976 dispatch, the US Embassy reported that the younger son of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was targeted by an unknown assailant. Though the attack was a “well-planned assassination attempt”, Gandhi escaped and was not seriously injured. According to the Cable, he was shot three times on August 30 or 31 during an emergency.

As the cable mentioned, he was not seriously injured, it can be assumed that he sustained some form of injuries, but their nature was not specified. Interestingly, the cable-based information of the assassination attempt of the information supplied by sources in Indian intelligence. The cable stated, “According to Indian intelligence, this is the third attempt on the younger Gandhi’s life.” It further blamed the revolutionary elements sponsored by ‘outside forces’ for the attack.

The telegraphic communication provided by US intelligence to the State Department on September 6, 1976, read, “Indira Gandhi’s son Sanjay was shot three times on August 30 or 31 by an unknown assailant, according to a confidential source, but was not critically injured. The shots were apparently fired by a high-powered rifle in a well-planned assassination attempt while Sanjay was visiting the state of Uttar Pradesh. According to Indian intelligence, this is the third attempt on the younger Gandhi’s life. Information concerning the incident is under tight control at present, but the attack will eventually be blamed on “revolutionary elements sponsored by outside powers”.”

Sanjay Gandhi’s crashed plane. Source Jagran

Before the Wikileaks cable made the document public, there was no information about any such attempt on Sanjay’s life. Other US cables described the role of Sanjay Gandhi in Indian politics as an authoritarian figure behind the Emergency who worked extensively to ensure his mother’s power remained unchallenged.

When Janata Party came to power, several investigations were commenced. However, none of them mentioned any attempts on the life of Sanjay Gandhi. The 33-year-old young MP was killed in the plane crash on June 23, 1980, soon after Congress came back to power.

Sanjay Gandhi preparing to fly a small plane. Source: Newstrend

According to some claims, Sanjay ignored his elder brother’s advice to wear proper shoes in the cockpit while flying the plane. When he was flying the advanced Pitts S-2A aircraft, he was reportedly wearing Kolhapuri Chappals while dressed in Kurta-Payjama. When the plane crashed, he was flying it low and indulged in some rackless manoeuvres, possibly resulting in the crash.

The Sydney Morning Herald Report on Sanjay Gandhi’s Death. Source: Google News Archives

Sanjay, and the accompanying pilot and instructor of Delhi Flying Club, Captain Subhash Saxena, died on the spot. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on June 24, 1980, that he died of head injuries.

Pakistan: Blast near terrorist leader Hafiz Saeed’s house in Lahore leaves 2 dead, 12 injured

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Blast near terrorist leader Hafiz Saeed’s house in Lahore leaves 2 dead, 12 injured

A blast near Islamist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba cofounder Hafiz Saeed’s house left two people dead and 12 injured. As per Pakistani media, his house has also sustained damage. The blast has left a huge crater and damaged nearby windows.

Investigations are on whether the blast was due to pipeline burst or cylinder or it was just an inadvertent bomb blast near terrorist leader’s home.

An eyewitness told Geo News that an unidentified individual parked a motorcycle near the house which later exploded. The area has been cordoned off and further investigation is on.

As of now, four people are shifted to hospital.

Kerala govt gives govt jobs to wives of CPI(M) members accused of killing Congress workers, after going to Supreme Court to protect them

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala govt gives govt jobs to wives of CPI(M) members accused of killing Congress workers, after going to Supreme Court to protect them

In Kasaragod district in Kerala, kins of CPI(M) members who have been in judicial custody for killing two Youth Congress workers in 2019 have been granted government jobs. Wives of CPI(M) members M Peethambaran, C J Saji and Suresh have been appointed at a district government hospital by the panchayat. 

Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sarath Lal were allegedly killed in February 2019 by the aforementioned CPI(M) members and the trio has been in judicial custody since then. As per reports, there were four vacancies for last-grade servants at the hospital. Out of the 100 people shortlisted, three vacancies were given to the families of the arrested accused.

The Kerala govt has been trying to protect the party workers accused in the murder. The charge sheet filed by the state police had named them prosecution witnesses instead of accused, and when the High Court had transferred the case to CBI, the state govt had gone to Supreme Court to prevent it. However, the apex court had rejected the plea by the Kerala govt.

District panchayat refutes allegations

Shanavas Podhur, Kasaragod district panchayat vice-president, said the appointment was not deliberate. 

“The posting of wives of party workers involved in the twin political murders was not deliberate. It happened so. The hospital is managed by the district panchayat, but this time we were not involved in the interview of the applicants. However, such political recommendations are common. This is only a temporary appointment,” he added.

Sarath Lal’s father Sathynarayanan condemned the appointments. Calling the appointment a ‘heinous act’, he said, “It showed the CPI(M) is with the killers.”

The previous LDF government had opposed when the families of the two Youth Congress workers had moved the court seeking a CBI probe. The government had spent Rs 90 lakh for hiring senior advocates from the Supreme Court who had argued against the CBI probe. However, the court last year handed over the case to the central agency last year.

Twin political murder

Kripesh, 24 and Sarath Lal, 29, were attacked in February 2019 by CPI(M) workers who had approached in a car. The victims were on a bike when they were attacked.

While Kripesh died on the spot, Sarath succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital in Mangalore. The Crime Branch of the Kerala Police had investigated the case and charged 14 CPM workers and leaders for the double murder. But the police had named the prime suspects as prosecution witnesses.

Due to this anomaly, a Kerala High Court single bench had quashed the chargesheet and transferred the case to the CBI in 2019. However, the government refused to hand over the case diary to the CBI, and had appealed against the order before the division bench. After the division bench refused to stay the single bench order, the state govt had moved the Supreme Court. But the apex court also had refused to stay the HC order, and the case was finally handed over to CBI.

Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu continue to be the epicentre of Covid-19, account more than half new cases in the country

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu continue to be the epicentre of Covid-19, account more than half new cases in the country

The states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have become the epicentre of the coronavirus in the country as they continue to contribute a lion’s share of new cases in the country even as other states have reduced fresh Covid-19 cases in the second wave.

While Maharashtra has remained one of the worst affected states right from the beginning of the pandemic, Kerala has now become the state with the highest number of fresh infections in the country.

As many as 12,617 new Covid-19 were reported in Kerala in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra has recorded 8,470 cases in the last 24 hours to take the total tally to nearly 60 lakhs Covid-19 cases in the state.

Top five Indian states with Covid-19 cases in the country/ Image Source: Covid19.org

Tamil Nadu is the third in line in terms of fresh cases recorded as the southern state has recorded around 6,895 states. The three states – Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu account for nearly 56 per cent of the total cases that were recorded in the country. On Tuesday, India recorded 50,848 new COVID-19 cases and 1,358 deaths, out of which the three states contributed to nearly 28,000 cases and 817 deaths.

The active cases have decreased by 19,327 over the last 24 hours to settle at 6,43,194. In the last 24 hours, 68,817 patients recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries to 2.89 crores. The daily recoveries have been outnumbering daily new cases for 40 consecutive days now.

However, the major concern is that the three states continue to burden the country’s overall fight against the pandemic as they continue to record a fresh number of cases. In addition, the latest delta-plus variant has been reported in all these high-burden states.

There are 21 cases of delta-plus variant reported in Maharashtra, six in Madhya Pradesh, three in Kerala, three in Tamil Nadu, two in Karnataka and one each in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu.

Maharashtra:

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 8,473 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease, 2,000 more than it had recorded on Monday. With this, the overall number of Covid-19 cases in the state went up to 59,87,521 cases. As many as 88,620 people have lost their lives in the state due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Image Source: Covid19.org

Meanwhile, the health experts and officials in Maharashtra have blamed high population density, mobility and mass flouting of Covid norms for the monumental spread of infection.

The biggest worry for Maharashtra is that the latest spread of infection has been reported from rural hinterlands.

Kerala:

Kerala, which has remained an epicentre of the infection since the advent of the pandemic, has been recording the highest numbers of Covid-19 cases in the country. Kerala recorded 12,617 new Covid cases on Tuesday, nearly two thousand cases more than it had reported on Monday.

With 141 new fatalities, the death toll mounted to 12,295. Test positivity rate also remains worryingly high, at 10.72. With this, the number of active cases touched 1,00,437 in the state. 27,16,284 people have recovered from the disease so far.

Image Source: Covid19.org

Kerala, which had struggled to fight the pandemic in the first wave, has yet again failed to manage the crisis effectively. The lack of robust health infrastructure and apathy by the state government is said to be the reason behind the surge in the cases in the state.

Due to the increase in infections, Kerala’s health infrastructure has been facing massive pressure as it is already overstretched. The state government is finding it tough to provide treatment to Covid-19 patients during the second wave of the pandemic in the country.

Tamil Nadu:

Tamil Nadu has also reported 6,895 new cases, taking the total tally to 24,36,819 cases in the state. More than 190 people lost their lives in the last 24 hours, and the total death toll in the state due to Covid-19 is 31,850.

The state saw 13,156 recoveries on Tuesday, bringing the active caseload down to 56,866.

Image Source: Covid19.org

Tamil Nadu had recorded its peak in the second wave at 36,184 cases on May 21 and had reported a decline since then. However, the latest surge has caused a worry to the authorities in the state.

Amidst the rising number of cases, the Modi government has achieved a historic milestone on June 21 by vaccinating nearly 88.09 lakh vaccine doses in a span of 24 hours. Even though the number dipped to around 53.4 lakh on Tuesday, the government intends to complete the vaccination drive by the end of this year. Currently, India is administering three vaccines – Russian-made Sputnik V, and the Indian made Covaxin and Covishield.

‘Yogi can get me killed too’: Poet Munawwar Rana goes on deranged rant over mass religious conversion case

OpIndia Staff
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‘Yogi can get me killed too’: Poet Munawwar Rana goes on deranged rant over mass religious conversion case

After inciting mobs to take down the parliament and openly supporting the beheading of blasphemers, poet Munawwar Rana in his latest rant claims that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath can get him killed for winning 2022 UP State Assembly elections. 

In a telephonic interview to Navbharat Times, Rana claimed that the Anti-Terrorism Squad should be dismantled completely when asked about the mass religious conversion case. Rana making an obscure statement said “The ATS does not know to count beyond 1000, hence they gave that figure. Otherwise, they would have claimed 4000 have been converted by now.”

Munawwar Rana’s interview to Navbharat Times

Calling the mass conversions case a plot by Yogi Adityanath to win the upcoming state assembly elections, Rana mocked Hindus for getting converted for a small amount of money. He also claimed that to win the elections, the BJP will make a few women sit on the road to cry fake rape by Muslims and in madarsas. 

Recently, UP ATS caught a mass religious conversion racket in Uttar Pradesh where two men, Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam, were named prime accused. Reportedly Mohammad Umar had forcefully converted a thousand people to Islam. There are also reports that suggest he converted disabled children to Islam and he wanted to use them as human bombs.

As if this level of derangement was not enough, Rana also predicted that the Yogi Adityanath government might get him and gangster Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently lodged in jail, killed. 

Rana’s Yogi-phobic interview

In another interview to TV9 Bharatvarsh, Rana went on a five-minute rant and indulged in mud-slinging on UP CM Adityanath and the Hindus. 

When asked about the upcoming state elections, Rana predicted that BJP will win the elections easily as it is ‘trying its best to create the Hindu-Muslim divide’. Calling all Yogi supporters and voters communal, Rana claimed a ‘pahadi’ should not be allowed to come and do dirty politics in Uttar Pradesh.

Championing the leftist cause of distorting history, Rana claimed that the Gorakhpur Math to which Yodi Adityanath belongs is built on a land ‘donated’ by Nawab Asaf-Ud-Daulah. However, the Math was first destroyed first by Khilji in the 13th century which means it already existed then. 

In an attempt to defame Yogi Adityanath, Rana also made frivolous and baseless allegations such as it was Yogi Adityanath who got Kamlesh Tiwari killed and later blamed it on Muslims and blasphemy. 

Divulging a piece of rather amusing information, Rana re-defined the meaning of Jihad. He said, “Jihad does not mean to walk with swords. It means to have control over self.”

He then called observing Roza during Ramzan, the Islamic holy month, is also as an act of Jihad. He further claimed that speaking against Adityanath is also Jihad. 

Despite being fact-checked on innumerable accounts, Rana insisted on spreading fake news on ‘dead bodies floating in Ganga and being eaten by dogs.’

Left-ecosystem’s attack on UP

From ‘bodies floating in the rivers’ to reporting from crematoriums to creating farce news of religious hate crime to defame Hinduism, the left ecosystem seems to be working overtime in the run-up to the upcoming elections to usurp the current BJP government. 

The desperation and derangement is already visible in the Tweets, long Facebook posts and such interviews given by the likes of the anti-BJP squad. With another year to go for the assembly elections, one might regularly stumble upon such rants, fake news and interviews which one needs to be wary about. 

Kerala CPM expels Christian member who questioned conversion of his wife and son to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala CPM expels Christian member who questioned conversion of his wife and son to Islam

The CPM has expelled PT Gilbert, a CPM activist from Malappuram in Kerala after he lodged a complaint against forced conversion of his wife and son to Islam. A report by Janmabhumi states that Gilbert is a member of CPM Nirolpal Branch Committee. He had alleged that Nazeera, a Panchayat member, and her husband Younus, an employee of Calicut University were the masterminds behind the alleged forced religious conversion.

Gilbert said that the group also includes Kottiyadin Ismail, who runs a bakery shop nearby, Latif alias Kunjon, Shahul Hameed, Bushra and Kulsu, the neighbours. As he was leaving for work, the neighbourhood Muslim women came to his house. His wife used to work at Ismail’s bakery. He said his wife also repeatedly asked him about the Islamist terrorist organisation ISIS. He said Bushra had told his wife about the terror organisation.

As per reports, he found his wife and son at Tarbiat, a religious centre in Kozhikode. He alleged that the place did not feel like it was Kerala. He said he found men walking in pain due to circumcision and he did not even get a chance to speak to his wife and son.

Gilbert said that he asked his party for help to save his wife and son from forced religious conversion. However, soon after this, Malappuram district committee issued a press release informing that he has been expelled from the party and his primary membership revoked for anti-party activities.

After Bahrain and UAE, Mongolia and Seychelles which relied on Chinese vaccines see a spike in Covid-19 cases

OpIndia Staff
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After Bahrain and UAE, Mongolia and Seychelles which relied on Chinese vaccines see a spike in Covid-19 cases

After countries like Bahrain, UAE saw a Covid-19 surge after using China-made Covid vaccines, countries like Mongolia, Seychelles that relied on Chinese Covid-19 vaccines are also seeing a surge in infections, according to a report in New York Times (NYT).

Countries such as Mongolia and Seychelles had put faith in the easily accessible China-made vaccines to roll out their ambitious vaccination programmes. However, months later, instead of freedom from the coronavirus, all three countries are now battling a surge in infections.

The recent studies from these countries suggest that the Chinese vaccines may not be very effective at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, particularly the new variants, the NYT report said.

China had kicked off its vaccine diplomacy campaign last year with much fanfare and had pledged to provide “safe and effective” vaccines. Though their efficacy data was questioned, transmission, many countries had bought the Chinese-made vaccines.

Countries see a massive surge, despite inoculating their population with Chinese vaccines

It seems like these countries are now battling a massive surge in infections even as they have inoculated a large number of their population with the Chinese vaccines. According to Our World in Data, in Seychelles, Chile, Bahrain and Mongolia, about 50 to 68% of the populations have been fully inoculated with Chinese vaccines, outpacing the United States.

However, these countries now feature among the top 10 countries with the worst Covid-19 outbreaks.

“If the vaccines are sufficiently good, we should not see this pattern. The Chinese have a responsibility to remedy this,” Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, told the leading US daily.

Seychelles, the small island country in the southern Indian Ocean, which relied mostly on Sinopharm, has reported more than 716 Covid-19 cases per million. Meanwhile, China’s neighbour Mongolia, which too accepted the Chinese aid, quickly rolled out an inoculation program and eased restrictions, vaccinating 52 per cent of its population. However, it has recorded 2,400 new infections on Sunday, a quadrupling from a month before.

China had exported its vaccines to nearly 90 nations, and people in these countries are now reluctant to get Chinese-made vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy has also become a major concern for those countries that had bought Chinese vaccines earlier.

Bahrain, UAE looking to buy booster shots even after giving Chinese vaccines

Earlier, we had reported how Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, the first two countries to purchase the Sinopharm shot, even before late-stage clinical trial data was released, are facing a surge in the Covid-19 cases after jabbing their population with the Chinese vaccines. As a result, these countries are now looking to buy additional booster shots of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to keep their population from further exposure.

Bahrain, which has seen a sudden resurgence of Covid-19 despite high levels of immunisation with a Chinese-made vaccine, has started giving booster shots to its vulnerable citizens using Pfizer-BioNTech doses. Last year, Bahrain was one of the first countries to buy China’s Sinopharm vaccine, even though serious doubts were raised on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. 

Just as Bahrain, and Seychelles, the United Arab Emirates has also said that it already began administering a third booster shot of Sinopharm to some residents who failed to develop antibodies with the first two. In fact, Sinopharm had carried out a sophisticated trial in UAE and based on the UAE-led clinical trials in the Middle East, Sinopharm had also signed contracts to sell 175 million doses to countries like Egypt, Hungary, and Argentina while donating another 18 million to other small countries.

China says there is no link to outbreaks and its vaccines

As questions are being raised against the efficacy of Sinopharm, China’s foreign ministry has claimed it did not see a link between the recent outbreaks and its vaccines. It cited the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying that vaccination rates in certain countries had not reached sufficient levels to prevent outbreaks and that countries needed to continue to enforce controls.

“Relevant reports and data also show that many countries that use Chinese-made vaccines have expressed that they are safe and reliable and have played a good role in their epidemic prevention efforts,” the ministry said.

The Communist Party of China has used two Chinese-made vaccines – Sinopharm and Sinovac as the critical tools of Beijing’s international diplomacy, especially in developing nations that have found it tough to secure sufficient doses of US and European-made vaccines. Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech Ltd. have already received emergency approval from the World Health Organization.

While the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna vaccines and Indian-made vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin have efficacy rates of more than 90%, China’s Sinopharm vaccine has an efficacy rate of 78.%, and the Sinovac vaccine has an efficacy rate of 51%.

Md Umar and Jahangir Qasmi wanted to use converted, brainwashed differently abled children as human bombs: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Md Umar and Jahangir Qasmi wanted to use converted, brainwashed differently abled children as human bombs: Report

Further investigations into Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam’s religious conversion racket have led to shocking revelations. As per a Dainik Jagran report, the duo had hatched a plan to first convert the hearing and speech impaired children into Islam and then use them as human bombs.

Qasmi and Umar Gautam received funds for the same from Pakistan and other Arab countries, as per reports. The accused 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.

The speech and hearing impaired children studying at the ‘Deaf Society’ in Nodia’s sector 117 were their targets. 

As per the Jagran report, a number of bank accounts which have received foreign funds are being examined by the security agencies. Accounts linked to socially influential individuals and several charitable organisations are said to be involved in the widespread conversion and radicalisation racket.

Nagpur’s radical organization on radar

An Islamic radical organization based out of Maharashtra’s Nagpur is also on the radar. The organization while being headquartered in Nagpur, has a presence all over the country. It is said to be involved in preaching and promoting radical Islam and is currently being investigated.

Maulana Munjir- a key suspect

The names of Jahangir and Gautam had cropped up during the interrogation of Kashif and Vipul, who were arrested in connection with the conspiracy to assassinate Dasna Devi Temple chief priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati.

Vipul was reportedly a Neo-convert too. He was lured into Islam with the promise of money and was also married to the sister of Kashif.

It is now being reported that a Maulana Munjir from Mumbai was the one who introduced Vipul to Islam. Munjir is being treated as an important link in the case.

Umar Gautam felicitated by AMU

The Jeddah chapter of the Aligarh Muslim University in 2018 had felicitated Mohammad Umar Gautam with an award for propagating Islam. “In recognition of his ongoing extraordinary contribution and continued work in spreading Islam with full devotion and steadfastness,” a memento awarded to Gautam for his efforts to convert people into Islam read.

Unconscious Patient in ICU bitten by rats at BMC-run hospital, authorities say ‘injuries are superficial’

OpIndia Staff
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Unconscious Patient in ICU bitten by rats at BMC-run hospital, authorities say ‘injuries are superficial’

The Maharashtra government’s apathy towards public health continues as a 24-year-old patient admitted at a govt-run hospital in Mumbai city was bitten by a rat near his eye on Tuesday.

According to the reports, officials at BMC-run Rajawadi Hospital in suburban Ghatkopar have confirmed that the patient has suffered a rat bite inside the hospital, however, they added that injuries were “superficial” and the patient’s eye has not been affected.

The 24-year-old Srinivas Yellappa had undergone eye surgery recently at a BMC-run hospital in Ghatkopar. On Tuesday, the patient suffered a rat attack, leading him to suffer injuries near his eyes, his relative told the media while revealing about the incident.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the civic body responsible for the maintenance and governance of Mumbai, is believed to be the richest Municipal Corporation in India. Despite this, the BMC-run hospitals seem to be in a sorry state.

Reportedly, this is not the first time such an incident has been reported in a BMC-run hospital in Mumbai. In 2017, rats had nibbled on two patients at Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali.

Injuries are superficial, says doctors

Reacting to the incident, Dr Vidya Thakur, the dean of Rajawadi Hospital, said that such an incident should not have happened. The injuries of the patient are superficial, still, they could have been avoided. “There is no threat to the eye, but injuries are being treated at our hospital”, she added.

“The ward (where the incident took place) is on the ground floor. Some people dump garbage on hospital premises despite being told not to do so. It could have attracted rodents there,” she claimed, adding that the hospital management will take utmost care in the future to avoid such incidents.

Yellappa’s sister said that she noticed an injury on her brother’s left eye when she visited him in the hospital. She said that the authorities informed her about the injury. Yallappa was then shifted to another bed, and his wound was treated, the sister said.

“He is already in a critical condition. Who will be responsible if something happens to him,” she asked.

Mumbai Mayor says rats entered ICU due to monsoon

Meanwhile, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that the patient’s condition is not good and such an incident should never have happened.

“I was informed the hospital is packed from all sides, and precautions have been taken to ensure rats do not go inside. But as the ICU is on the ground floor and with monsoons here, the rat may have entered when the door was opened,” Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar said.

As the patient is too critical to notice, nurses treated the the wound and informed the ophthalmologist to check the eye, added Pednekar.

It is worth mentioning that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is struggling to maintain necessary hygiene at the hospitals, has spent over Rs.2 crores annually for maintaining social media handles for PR and image boosting.

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