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Pakistan planning to infiltrate farmer agitation to spread unrest on June 26: Details

Ahead of the large scale demonstration planned by the agitating ‘farmers’ on June 26, reports are coming in that Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI is planning to infiltrate these demonstrations to create unrest in India.

As per a News18 report, the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha had planned to demonstrate outside the Raj Bhawans of various states on 26th June, 2021. It is an organisation which has 40 farmer groups under it. As per the report, Pakistan plans to infiltrate these protests and provoke the security agencies to take action against the farmers which could lead to escalated tensions.

The report further states that the ISI has been trying hard since past few months to infiltrate these ‘farmer’ protests with their agents. However, now it has come to the fore that the ISI wants to provoke security agencies instead against the farmers. Subsequently, security has been increased and intelligence agencies are keeping track of suspicious movements in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

‘Undeclared Emergency’

On June 26, 2021, day after the 46th anniversary of Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency, the agitating ‘farmers’ in India have planned demonstrations across the country. They plan to submit memorandums at all Raj Bhawans seeking repealing of the new farm laws passed by the Centre in September 2020.

The protests, however, have been marred by cases of sexual harassment, rape and murder of various supporters allegedly by farmer leaders and other protestors. The farmer leaders have also been accused of maintaining stoic silence on such crimes taking place.

Punjab: Father dies after being assaulted by son for not giving money for drugs

A 55-year old man in Punjab, Sukhchain Singh, was assaulted by his son following which he succumbed to his injuries on Monday, Hindustan Times has reported. The accused son, Jaswinder Singh, allegedly assaulted his father because the latter refused to give him money for drugs.

Sukhchain Singh was assaulted by his son a week ago but he passed away on Monday.

Kulwant Kaur, wife of the deceased, said, “My elder son Jaswinder Singh is a drug addict and kept demanding money from my husband to fund this addiction. Our refusal always led to fights. Some time ago, my husband sold a part of our land and my son wanted that money for drugs. Our neighbour Ranjit Singh instigated my son to fight with my husband to get that money.”

“A few days ago, he again asked for money. On my husband’s refusal, he hit him on the head with a hatchet. On Monday, he succumbed to injuries,” she added. Sukhchain Singha was a resident of Sarangra village in Chogawan block.

Lopoke SHO said that the accused is absconding. The accused is married with two children. A case under section 302 (murder) has been registered at Lopoke police station. The neighbour has also also been booked for instigating the fight.

Punjab has been facing a serious drug issue over the past few years. During the last assembly elections, it became a major issue with a movie released that described the menace titled ‘Udta Punjab’.

‘Degenerate’ Imran Khan does it again, blames women for rising sexual violence in Pakistan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan recently held women’s clothes responsible for the rising instances of sexual violence in the country.

In an interview with ‘Axios on HBO’, the Pakistan PM said: “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots. It’s just common sense.” He further added, “This is cultural imperialism. Whatever is acceptable in our culture, must be accepted everywhere else. It’s not.”

Khan was defending his controversial remarks that he said in April 2021.”…I said the concept of ‘purdah’. Avoid temptation in society. We don’t have discos here, we don’t have nightclubs. It is a completely different society way of life here. So if you raise temptation in society to a point — all these young guys have nowhere to go — it has a consequence in the society,” Khan said.

Social media users and opposition leaders slam Pakistan PM Imran Khan for his misogynistic comments

Khan’s misogynistic comments sparked massive online outrage, with opposition leaders and social media users slamming the Pakistan Prime Minister for blaming women’s dressing for the escalating sexual violence in the country.

Reema Omer, a legal expert with the International Commission of Jurists, expressed her disappointment with Khan’s stance of victim-blaming in cases of sexual violence.

“Disappointing and frankly sickening to see PM Imran Khan repeat his victim-blaming regarding reasons for sexual violence in Pakistan,” she tweeted.

Author Marvi Sirmed said nothing that Pakistan PM Imran Khan speaks disappoints her anymore. She alleged that it is worrisome that what Khan says has an impact on a large number of his young followers.

A Twitter user said Khan’s comments on women’c clothing responsible for the sexual violence against them encourages more incidents of assault and rape against women.

Pakistan Muslim League (PML) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb called Imran Khan a “sick, misogynistic, degenerate” as he lashed out at the Pakistani Prime Minister for his remarks on women’s clothing. “The world got an insight into a mindset of a sick, misogynistic, degenerate & derelict IK. It is not women’s choices that lead to sexual assault rather the choices of men who choose to engage in this dispicable and vile crime,” Aurangzeb tweeted.

“Maybe the misogynist, degenerate can defend Paedophiles and murderers, as he advocates for rapist, after all, men cannot be expected to control temptation. Just FYI Mr degenerate, self-control is a little thing upon which Allah places a great premium,” she added.

The cause of sexual violence in Pakistan is because of obscenity, a western import: Pak PM Imran Khan in April interview

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s comments on sexual violence came two months after he had made similar comments, alleging that sexual violence was a product of ‘obscenity,’ which he described as a Western import. During the television interview, Khan advised women to cover up to prevent temptation. “This entire concept of purdah is to avoid temptation. Not everyone has the willpower to avoid it,” he said.

In April 2021, during a question and answer session with the public, Khan chalked up the rise in sexual violence in Pakistan, particularly against children, to “fahashi” (vulgarity).

He concluded by reiterating that incidences of rape and sexual violence are “spreading like cancer” in society. Official statistics in Pakistan have revealed that at least 11 rape incidents are reported in the country every day, with over 22,000 cases reported to the police in the last six years.

India secures milestone in Coronavirus vaccination drive, administers over 86 lakh doses in a single day: Details

On Monday (June 21), India reached a new milestone by administering 86,16,373 vaccine doses on Monday. This is by far the highest ever daily coverage since the Coronavirus vaccination drive began on January 16 this year.

Time: 6.45 p.m.

As per the CoWIN website, a total of 75,43,926 doses were administered until 6:45 pm on Monday. About 50 lac vaccination doses were received by individuals in the 18-44 category. It has thus surpassed the previous highest record of administering 41 lac vaccine doses in a day in April this year. Till now, a total of 28.25 crores vaccine doses have been administered. While 23.2 crore individuals received the first dose, about 5.05 crore of them received the 2nd dose.

Screengrab of the total vaccine doses administered on Monday via CoWIN app/website

The data, available of the CoWIN app, showed that Madhya Pradesh administered a whopping 13,71,180 lac vaccine doses alone on Monday. It was followed by Karnataka (9,82,866), Uttar Pradesh (6,31,308), Gujarat (4,86,789) and Haryana (4,50,232). The top 5 States are ruled by the BJP and constituted about 50% of the total vaccination drive on Monday.

Screengrab of the vaccination data via CoWIN app/website

The data made available by the CoWIN app also showed that a large segment of individuals, who were vaccinated on Monday, fell in the 18-44 years’ cohort. On June 8, News 18 had reported that the Modi government is planning to administer 1 crore doses from August onwards in line with the new policy.

Screengrab of vaccination trends in India on June 21 (Graph COurtesy: CoWIN app/website)

Time: 9.57 p.m.

By 9.57 p.m., the number of doses administered has crossed over 82 lakhs, 82,70,191 to be precise. It is the highest number of doses administered in a single day by a significant distance.

PM Modi made vaccine procurement centralised and free for all states

On June 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation tore into the media and opposition propaganda on vaccination drive conducted in the country. PM Modi in his address announced that the Centre would procure vaccines from manufacturers and provide them further to states for free. As such, the policy shifted to the central government procuring 75% of the vaccines and making them available to states.

25% would still be available for private hospitals to purchase. Private hospitals would be able to charge a maximum of Rs. 150 for their services. The revised Coronavirus vaccination policy of the Modi government thus came into effect on Monday (June 21).

Note: The report has been updated with new information.

West Bengal: NHRC forms 7-member committee in accordance with Calcutta High Court order to probe post-poll violence

Complying with the Calcutta High Court’s June 18th order, directing NHRC to form a committee to probe the post-poll violence in West Bengal, the statutory public body has constituted a seven-member committee to enquire into the complaints.

According to news agency ANI, the seven-member committee includes National Commission for Minorities Vice-Chairperson Atif Rasheed, National Commission for Women member Rajulben L Desai, West Bengal State Human Rights Commission Registrar Pradip Kumar Panja and headed by NHRC member Rajeev Jain.

Calcutta HC rejected the Mamata Banerjee government’s plea to recall its June 18 order

The committee was formed hours after Calcutta High Court rejected the Mamata Banerjee government’s plea to recall the June 18 order directing the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate post-poll violence in the state of West Bengal. 

West Bengal government had applied to the court to recall the order passed by the court while hearing a bunch of PILs alleging physical assault, destruction of property, sexual assault, displacement of people from their residence, murders, and ransacking of houses and places of business during post-poll violence in the state. A five-judge bench rejected the state’s plea clearing the way for NHRC to form a committee and investigate the cases.

Post-poll violence in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal

During post-poll violence, over two dozen BJP karyakartas were reportedly killed. In a report submitted by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA), it was mentioned that those who suffered the wrath of TMC workers after winning the elections were from marginal sections of Hindu society who had voted for BJP.

Modi critics Jean Dreze, Arvind Subramanian, Raghuram Rajan to be part of Tamil Nadu’s Economic Advisory Council

Congress loyalists and their kin have been rewarded with a position in Tamil Nadu’s Economic Advisory Council. On Monday, Governor Banwarilal Purohit announced the members of the new economic advisory council to the chief minister, which include Sonia Gandhi’s aide Jean Dreze, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, Nobel laureate Esther Duflo, former CEA Arvind Subramanian, and former Union Finance Secretary S Narayan.

In a speech at the Legislative Assembly on Monday, Purohit said the council will chalk up a plan to reverse the economic slowdown and put the state on the growth path. The panel is part of an effort to base the government’s economic decisions on the strong foundation of data. The government will release a white paper on state finances in July, the Governor said.

“In recent years, we have seen a slowdown in Tamil Nadu’s economic growth rate. This government will make all efforts to reverse this trend and usher in a period of rapid economic growth taking full advantage of the available limited window of the demographic dividend. To chart out a rapid and inclusive economic growth path for the state, the Government of Tamil Nadu will constitute an ‘Economic Advisory Council to the Chief Minister’ with the leading experts from all over the world as its members,” the Governor said.

Purohit said an expert committee comprising of industrialists, banking and financial experts and government officials will be formed to formulate schemes to revive MSMEs. He said the economic advisory committee and other groups would study the financial situation of the state and changes will be made accordingly to make the state’s economy stronger.

It is worth noting that Tamil Nadu is facing an acute debt crisis for years now even as successive governments have cast it aside and continued with their welfare schemes. In February 2021, the interim budget presented by O Panneerselvam pegged the state’s debt for the year 2021-22 at a whopping Rs 5 lakh crores and the state was also expected to suffer a widening revenue deficit as State’s own Tax Revenue was presumed to take an 18% decline as a result of the downturn induced by the pandemic.

The appointment of the Economic Advisory Council, members of whom are largely sympathetic to the Congress party, comes in the aftermath of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin. Last week on Saturday, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi met MK Stalin for the first time after the Assembly poll results were declared on May 2. Congress is an alliance partner in the DMK’s government in Tamil Nadu.

Jean Dreze, Raghuram Rajan, Esther Duflo, Arvind Subramanian and their partisan prejudice

Though Jean Dreze is touted as a development economist, he is long considered a sidekick of interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Dreze was also a member of Sonia Gandhi’s NAC and had on occasions resorted to peddling lies to project the BJP government at the centre in poor light.

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has made no bones about his political preferences. He was appointed to the position of RBI governor by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the UPA regime and since then he has been a vocal supporter of the policies implemented by the Congress party. Rajan had also participated in video conferences with senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi where he used his bully pulpit to criticise the current central government.

Another member of the Economic Advisory Council is Esther Duflo, the wife of Nobel Laureate Dr Abhijit Banerjee, an economist who advised Congress on the ill-conceived NYAY. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections 2019, then Congress had announced in its manifesto a “Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme”- formally called Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), to five crore ‘poorest families’ covering 25 crore people by assuring them a guaranteed minimum income of ₹6,000 per month or ₹72,000 a year.

However, the exact amount promised kept changing with every rally of Rahul Gandhi. Sometimes it became ₹ 72,000 annually, sometimes it was ₹72,000 monthly. Esther Duflo had also signed a letter expressing concerns over ‘political interference’ in India’s statistical data over GDP measurement.

Furthermore, the Advisory Council included the former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who is considered close to the Congress party. Subramanian in 2019 had accused the Modi government of overestimating the country’s GDP figures. However, shortly after his allegations, the Centre trashed his analysis and said that the GDP calculation system was revised in line with the international standards.

Congress plays by Greta Thunberg toolkit, undermines Yoga to attack the Modi government

Every year June 21 is celebrated as International Yoga Day. This year too, thousands of people from across the globe marked the day by practicing yoga asanas, a gift of Hinduism to the entire world.

On predictable lines, the celebration of International Yoga Day did not sit well with Congress party leaders, who used the occasion to either undermine the revered cultural practice and attempted to dissociate it with Hinduism or use it to attack their political opponents.

Senior Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to make a veiled attack against the BJP and PM Modi in the name of International Yoga Day. In a tweet, Gandhi said, “It’s #YogaDay Not #HideBehindYogaDay.”

Source: Twitter

Rahul Gandhi’s oblique attack against the central government was not lost on social media users. Instead of genuinely wishing people around the world International Yoga Day, he used the occasion to peddle petty political propaganda against the Modi government.

Just like Gandhi, other Congress leaders displayed no compunction in expressing their disdain for Yoga. While the world is celebrating the 7th International Yoga Day, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi posted a controversial tweet, trying to dissociate Yoga from Hinduism and peddling the same hoary refrain “Yoga is not Hindu” that motivated individuals use to delink Yoga with its Hindu roots.

Singhvi argued in his tweet that chanting Om would not strengthen Yoga and neither would chanting the name of Allah weaken the practice.

Source: Twitter

Congress mouthpiece National Herald also carried out an assault on Yoga on the International Yoga Day, sermonising that Yoga is not Hindu

Source: Twitter

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor belittled Yoga on the 7th International Yoga Day when he was asked by a Twitter user what his favourite asana is. The Thiruvananthapuram MP shared a graphic of a woman, sitting on a sofa chair and listening to music with her cat. “Sofasana” the caption of the picture said. “This one speaks for me”, Tharoor tweeted.

Source: Twitter

While this is not the first time that Tharoor had mocked Yoga on Twitter. On National Yoga Day in February 2021, Tharoor had posted a sexually suggestive meme to ridicule Yoga while trying to criticise the Modi government.

The meme was of popular American animated sitcom series The Simpsons where Marge Simpson is shown posing in a ‘Yoga’ pose on all fours and asking her ‘Yoga’ instructor what pose is this called. Her ‘Yoga’ instructor says it is the ‘Indian taxpayer’ pose. Soon, netizens called out his sexually suggestive meme and lack of class while being critical of the government.

Congress leaders playing by the Greta Thunberg toolkit

Congress leaders’ disapproving remarks for Yoga perfectly jibed with the instructions issued in the toolkit released by Swedish protestor Greta Thunberg earlier this year. In February 2021, Thunberg had inadvertently tweeted a ‘toolkit’, a ready reckoner on how to participate in a ‘farmer protest’ in India against the new farm laws. The toolkit revealed a global conspiracy to defame India. One of the points was to defame ‘Yoga’ and ‘Chai’ on international platforms. 

Greta Thunberg toolkit

The Greta Thunberg toolkit, which was reportedly created and shared widely by Bengaluru-based ‘activist’ Disha Ravi and a lawyer Nikita Jacob for pro-Khalistan organisation Poetic Justice Foundation spoke about defaming Yoga and Chai on international platforms. One of the objectives mentioned in the Greta Toolkit was to “disrupt yoga and chai image of India in general”.

On the 7th International Yoga Day, the tweets from Congress leaders, including senior leader Rahul Gandhi, reveals that the party is playing by the Greta Thunberg toolkit, slandering Yoga to mount an attack against the Modi government.

Despite the victim’s dying declaration, Rakesh Tikait continues to lie about Mukesh, who was set on fire by farmer at Tikri border

In the wee hours of June 17th (Thursday), a 42-year-old protestor from Kasar village identified as Mukesh was mercilessly burnt alive by some agitators sitting at the Tikri border claiming themselves to be farmers and middlemen protesting against the three farm laws.

The investigation into this inhumane incident has revealed so far that the protestors, under the influence of alcohol, got into a dispute with the deceased. In that inebriated state, the accused hurled casteist slurs at Mukesh thereafter burnt him alive. In fact, villagers say that this was a conspiracy to make him appear a ‘martyr’ against the farm laws.

OpIndia had accessed the dying declaration of the deceased while being treated in the hospital, where he was heard clearly identifying his assailants saying that the farmers present at the Tikri border set him on fire. Mukesh had revealed that one Krishna first got him intoxicated and then set him on fire. 

BKU chief Rakesh Tikait lies through his teeth, claims Mukesh committed suicide

Despite the declaration of the dying man being available on the public platform, BKU chief Rakesh Tikait continues to shamelessly lie to absolve the so-called farmers, who are guilty of killing an innocent man in the most inhumane manner.

According to ANI, Tikait has claimed that Mukesh bought petrol to self-immolate and was rescued by people nearby. Putting his weight behind Kisan Ekta Morcha, the organisation spearheading the violent protests at the Tikri border, Tikait said: “It must be probed. It’s wrong to allege Kisan org for someone’s action”.

It’s appalling how the BKU chief, in an attempt to exculpate the perpetrators, goes on to further claim that on “June 26th, 5-6 persons will go to meet Governors & LG at various locations to submit a memorandum. If the govt is not listening then we will present our stance to President & Governor as they are placed higher in the hierarchy”.

Farmer Org releases unclear video to claim Mukesh committed suicide at Tikri border

BKU chief’s statement came on the heels of Kisan Ekta Morcha’s making the same ludicrous claim a day after Mukesh was set ablaze. After being severely criticised for the spate of rapes, molestations and now, a man being burnt alive at the Tikri border, the organisation too had impiously released a video claiming that Mukesh had set himself on fire. They claimed that any version to the contrary is “BJP propaganda”.

In the video, Mukesh is seen in a charred state, sitting in pitch darkness. While being burnt fatally, a farmer is heard interrogating him about who set him on fire. After prodding, Mukesh, in that state of pain and trauma, says that he set himself on fire because was tired of his family issues.

OpIndia accesses video of the dying declaration of Mukesh, where he clearly says he was set ablaze

While the “farmers” are using this to conveniently exonerate themselves, OpIndia brought to the fore a clearer video where Mukesh was giving his dying declaration while being treated in the hospital.

In this video, Mukesh clearly says that that the farmers at the Tikri border, specifically a man in white kurta, set him on fire. The police official asks him specifically if he set himself on fire or it was the farmers who set himself on fire. To this, he clearly says that it was the farmer and he did not set fire to himself.

How Venkatesh Prasad is winning hearts with his ‘Sanghi’ posts, one tweet at a time

Former cricketer of the Indian national team, Venkatesh Prasad, has been making interesting posts on his Twitter account in recent times. For quite some time now, the accomplished medium-fast bowler has been making Hindu-centric posts on his Twitter account.

On the International Yoga Day, Venkatesh Prasad demonstrated the Surya Namaskar for his followers, performed in deference to the Sun God.

But it was not the first time that the cricketer has made a Hindu-centric tweet. He wished people on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra on Sunday as well.

Early this month, he also sang the Shri Rama Stuti and shared a video of the same on Twitter. He also translated the lyrics for the audience.

On the occasion of Mother’s Day, Venkatesh Prasad shared verses from the Skanda Purana to wish people on the day.

The cricketer also said that Hanuman Chalisa was an important part of his life on Hanuman Janmotsav.

He wished people on Ram Navami as well.

On the 19th of April, Venkatesh Prasad tweeted, “The Bhagvad Gita is a phenomenal book of learning and applying in life and I have been very inspired by the Bhagvad Gita.”

He joined the platform on the 8th of April, 2021. Within a matter of two and a half months, Prasad has made several tweets emphasizing his Hindu roots. He is one of the few celebrities who have been so open about their Hindu faith and one can hope that he is only the first among many to come.

German media giant Axel Springer asks its anti-Israel employees to find another job, states Israel’s right to exist as an essential values

On June 17, Mathias Döpfner, CEO, Axel Springer SE, told the 16,000 employees of the company to find another job if they have a problem with an Israeli flag being posted outside the largest digital publishing house of Europe. While talking to the employees via video conferencing, he said, “I think, and I’m being very frank with you, a person who has an issue with an Israeli flag being raised for one week here, after antisemitic demonstrations, should look for a new job.”

Axel Springer, the Berlin-based agency, was founded in West Germany in 1946. It is currently the most prominent digital publisher in Europe with Die Welt, Business Insider, Politico Europe, Bild and several other news brands. It also owns Israel’s largest classified ads website named Yad2. On its website, Alex Springer has listed “We support the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel” as one of the five essential values.

Source: Axel Springer

During the meeting, Döpfner addressed complaint of some employees about the Israeli flag being raised outside the company headquarters. He said, “After these weeks of terrible antisemitic demonstrations, we at our building headquarters said next to the European flag, and the German flag, [and] the Berlin flag, let’s raise for one week the Israeli flag as a gesture of solidarity. We do not accept these kinds of aggressive antisemitic movements.”

He further added that some people said they did not want to work for a company that supports Israel like this. He said, “So, I think that is also a good point… This person does not fit the company and its values,” he said. “It’s very simple.” The Israeli flag was put up in front of the headquarters after there were pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Germany that included marches to synagogues, shouting slogans against Jews, attacks on Jewish institutions and the burning of Israeli flags.

The historical relationship between Israel and Germany

During Nazi’s rule in Germany, over six million Jews were killed. The scars still exist, but the relationship between Israel and Germany has grown stronger since they established diplomatic relations in 1965. The first official talk between Germany and Israel started as early as 1952. Germany provided arms to Israel secretly for years. It was only in 1964 when the Middle East came to know about the secret weapon trade between the two nations, after which Germany established diplomatic relations with Israel the following year.

German politicians have come forward to support Israel’s right to defend itself. According to reports, all the mainstream political parties in Germany expressed displeasure over the desecration of the Israeli flag across the country. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said, “Whoever uses such protests to proclaim their hatred of Jews is abusing their right to protest.” German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had warned strict action against those who were spreading antisemitic hatred.