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Was flag raised on Red Fort during Republic Day riots the Nishan Sahib? How Twitter and ‘fact-checkers’ manipulated media

OpIndia Staff
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Was flag raised on Red Fort during Republic Day riots the Nishan Sahib? How Twitter and ‘fact-checkers’ manipulated media

A lot has been said about the controversy over the flag hoisted at the Red Fort on Republic Day during the tractor rally riots. Most mainstream media channels claimed the flag was the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh holy flag. However, here is how they played a little mischief.

Twitter user Rosy on 27th January 2021 shared a video of the rioting mob taking siege of the Red Fort and hoisting a flag.

In the video, one can see that along with the Indian national flag, the rioting mob hoisted a saffron triangle flag with the holy Sikh symbol and a yellow rectangle flag with the same symbol.

Twitter quickly marked her tweet as ‘manipulated media’.

When you click on the information card, it takes you to a page on basis of which it marked the tweet as manipulated.

Twitter’s explanation of ‘manipulated media’

Twitter relied on India Today, NDTV and ThePrint’s reports to claim that the above video is manipulated. Here is how these media houses have described the flags hoisted.

India Today

The India Today report Twitter has used for flagging the above video as manipulated does not mention the shape of the Nishan Sahib. In fact, the report only states matter of factly that the Nishan Sahib was hoisted. It does not specify the colour of the shape of the flag. The report is from 26th January 2021 and it states the ‘farmers’ hoisted the Nishan Sahib on the Red Fort.

India Today report on flag hoisted at Red Fort

If one sees carefully, the flag hoisted in India Today report is indeed the Nishan Sahib, which is the saffron triangular flag. The image shown is different from the video uploaded by Twitter user Rosy which also had another yellow rectangular flag.

NDTV

Now in place of NDTV report, Twitter just uploaded NDTV employee Sreenivasan Jain’s tweet which proclaimed that the flag hoisted was the Nishan Sahib.

NDTV, amongst other things, kept itself busy on the Republic Day downplaying violence and painted the rioting mob as humanitarian for making way for an ambulance. NDTV India’s Ravish Kumar also kept giving leeway to rioting mob. In rest of the ‘manipulated tweet’ details posted by Twitter, no one NDTV tweet or article appears.

So essentially, Twitter relied on Sreenivasan’s singular tweet to flag the video as manipulated. Read how Jain spends his time downplaying violence.

Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint

Now, Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint explained what a Nishan Sahib flag looks like.

ThePrint explaining Nishan Sahib

ThePrint explains that the Nishan Sahib is a triangular saffron flag, mounted on a steel pole that is also covered with a saffron coloured cloth.

Twitter mischief

As one can see, the three sources Twitter used to flag the tweet as ‘manipulated media’ were either silent about description of the Nishan Sahib or when they did, they only described the other saffron triangular flag as the Nishan Sahib.

These media houses are conspicuously silent on the yellow rectangle flag planted next to the saffron triangle flag and the Indian national flag on the Red Fort.

‘Fact-checkers’ who are allergic to facts

BoomLive ‘fact-checked’ the ‘second‘ flag uploaded by the rioting mob.

BoomLive ‘fact-checking’ the second flag

BoomLive in a bizarre move has actually ‘fact-checked’ a completely different image from the same day. Instead of talking about the main dome where the tricolour is also hoisted, Boom talks about some completely different dome and concluded that the second flag is of a farmer union.

While it is indeed true that farmer unions also brought their own flags and hoisted them, the particular yellow rectangle flag with holy Sikh symbol in blue is not even mentioned in this ‘fact-check’.

When facts are not in your favour, just change the subject and fact-check what suits the narrative. What a genius way to ‘fact-check’.

The Quint

The Quint’s ‘fact-check’ has also played same mischief. In fact, they, too, did not bother to fact-check two flags that are hoisted where the main tricolour flies.

The Quint, too, ‘fact-checks’ the empty pole where the Nishan Sahib and the other farmer union flag was hoisted. However, it does not talk about the second flag which is on the higher level at the Red Fort where the tricolour flies every day.

The Quint’s ‘fact-check’

In the video shared by Twitter user Rosy, she talks about the two flag hoisted where the tricolour (near the saffron semi-circle) was hoisted. The Quint has fact-checked, the empty pole where saffron triangular flag (Nishan Sahib) and yellow farmer union flags are hoisted.

To make things clearer, here is an Indian Express image with the most clear two flags near the tricolour.

Indian Express image

See the second yellow rectangle flag with the holy Sikh symbol? Definitely not the farmer union flag the ‘fact-checkers’ claim, no?

Speaking of selective fact-checking, here is AltNews and propaganda site The Wire which used AltNews’ ‘fact-check’

AltNews and The Wire

If a crime has to be whitewashed, look no further, AltNews will jump in to do the honours. Now, AltNews is ‘fact-checking’ whether the Tricolour was replaced with the Khalistan flag at the Red Fort.

AltNews’ ‘fact-check’

It is not ‘fact-checking’ whether the Khalistani flag was raised or not. It is been well established that two flags were raised next to the Tricolour. AltNews mischievously ‘fact-checks’ something else when the claims are of something else.

AltNews has quoted one ‘writer’ named Amandeep Sandhu who is explaining the Nishan Sahib.

AltNews describing the Nishan Sahib

Now, AltNews, to give examples of the Nishan Sahib, puts up images where all the flags were saffron triangular flags.

Nishan Sahib from Republic Day parade in 2021

The above image was used by AltNews to show how the Nishan Sahib flag was part of the Republic Day parade. As one can see, the flag is a saffron triangular flag, and not a yellow rectangle one.

AltNews’ second example on Nishan Sahib

To prove a point, AltNews shared image of the 2020 Republic Day parade with Punjab tableau. As one can again see, the Nishan Sahib here was also saffron triangular flag, not yellow rectangle flag.

Nishan Sahib

OpIndia went through multiple of resources available online to find out more details on the Nishan Sahib, especially the shape and colour of the flag.

Sikhs.org on Nishan Sahib

Sikhs.org describes the Nishan Sahib as a triangular piece of ochre or saffron coloured cloth with the Khanda emblem in between. The image on the website is also the saffron coloured triangular flag.

Sikhiwiki on Nishan Sahib

As per SikhiWiki, too, the Nishan Sahib is saffron triangular flag.

Sikhnet

Another website on Sikhism, Sikhnet, too describes the Nishan Sahib as saffron-coloured triangular flag.

None of these websites describe the Nishan Sahib as a yellow rectangle flag.

Let us have a look at the flags hoisted at some of the prominent Gurudwaras in India.

Nishan Sahib at the Golden Temple, Amritsar

The Nishan Sahib placed at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, as can be seen, are saffron triangular flags.

Image credit: Rajiv Pillai on Tripadvisor

The Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in New Delhi also flies the saffron coloured triangular Nishan Sahib.

Gurudwara Patna Sahib

Gurudwara Patna Sahib, too, has saffron coloured triangular flags.

Khalistani flags

The flag adopted by separatist Khalistani elements is yellow coloured rectangle flag with the holy Sikh symbol in blue in the middle. It also has the word ‘Khalistan’ written on it. Since Khalistan officially does not exist, there is no ‘official’ flag as such. However, there have been some variants of the same yellow rectangle flag.

Khalistani supporters hold protests outside Indian embassy in Washington DC
Khalistani flag raised in Washington DC outside Indian Embassy (Image: ANI)

This is a rectangle flag with Khalistan written in English underneath.

Khalistan flag variant

Another variant of the Khalistani flag has the word Khalistan written in English and Punjabi around the holy Sikh symbol.

As can be seen, there is no consistency in the Khalistan flag, but the Nishan Sahib has always been saffron triangular flag.

Whether the yellow rectangle flag without the words “Khalistan” falls under Khalistan flag or the Nishan Sahib, is anybody’s guess.

However, the fact that Twitter chose to flag the tweet by Twitter user Rosy as ‘manipulated media’ when there is ample ambiguity and the ‘media resources’ they relied on, too, are silent on the aspect, says a lot about the mischief the social media giant is doing.

After UP and MP, Delhi Police files case against Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai for peddling fake news during Republic Day riots

OpIndia Staff
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After UP and MP, Delhi Police files case against Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai for peddling fake news during Republic Day riots

On Saturday, the Delhi Police filed a case against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and 5 others in connection to the violence on the occasion of India’s 71st Republic Day.

As per reports, the First Information Report (FIR) was lodged at the IP Estate police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153 (provocation to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 505-1b (intent to cause fear to the public). Besides Sardesai and Tharoor, the FIR names journalists Paresh Nath, Anant Nath, Vinod K Jose, Mrinal Pande, and Zafar Agha.

While speaking about the case, DCP (Central Delhi) Jasmeet Singh said that the FIR was registered for creating disharmony and spreading false information on Republic Day about a farmer dying due to police firing. He added that the post-mortem report has made it clear that the protestor’s death was caused due to haemorrhage and shock, following an accident. The video footage of the incident had also gone viral on social media.

UP, MP Police lodges FIR against Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai

UP Police has lodged an FIR against several politicians and journalists for sharing fake news during the tractor rally in Delhi on 26th January. The FIR under the section 154 of CrPC has been lodged at the Noida sector 20 police station.

The FIR names Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, National Herald’s Senior consulting editor Mrinal Pandey, Quami Awaz editor Zafar Agha, Caravan magazine’s editor and founder Paresh Nath, Caravan editor Anant Nath and its executive editor Vinod K Jose, and one unnamed person. Through the FIR, charges under sections 153(A), 153(B), 295(A), 298, 506, 505(2), 124(A)/34/120(B) of the Indian Penal Code, and under section 66 of the Information  Technology act.

The Madhya Pradesh Police, too, had filed an FIR against Tharoor and six others for fake news on the death of the rioter who died after his tractor turned turtle.

Turkey: Four students allegedly depict the Kaaba next to LGBTQ flag, detained and called ‘deviants’ by Interior Minister

OpIndia Staff
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Turkey: Four students allegedly depict the Kaaba next to LGBTQ flag, detained and called ‘deviants’ by Interior Minister

In a display of intolerance, the Turkish police have detained four students on Saturday for supposedly insulting Islam’s holiest site at Boğaziçi University in Istambul.

As per reports, the development comes after student protestors exhibited an artwork that showed a rainbow flag (LGBT symbol) alongside a picture of Islamic building ‘Kaaba’ in Masjid-al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They had hung the artwork opposite the office of the rector on Friday. The protestors had also hung another artwork featuring mythical half-snake and half-human character, Shahmaran.

Condemning the artwork as an ‘ugly attack’ on Islam itself, the cops detained four students on the ‘suspicion’ of denigrating religious values. While arrest warrant was issued for two students, the other two were put on house arrest. The students had been protesting against the appointment of a new rector, Melih Bulu, at the Boğaziçi University by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Criticism of artwork by the Turkish govt officials

In a tweet, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu labelled the four student protestors as ‘LGBT deviants’ and said that they have been detained. His tweet drew fierce criticism from several activists and prompted France to block his tweets for hate speech.

Screengrab of the tweet by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu

The official spokesperson of Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin, also tweeted that ‘disrespect’ towards Kaaba did not constitute freedom of speech or the right to protest. “This deviance will receive the punishment it deserves both before the law and in the righteous conscience. Your bankrupt intentions and abusive actions are heedless, deceitful, and disappointed,” he warned.

Screengrab of the tweet by Ibrahim Kalin

Earlier in January, Erdogan had referred to the student protestors as ‘terrorists’. It must be mentioned that homosexuality is legal in Turkey but LGBT members are often subjected to abuse and harassment. However, the society is conservative and the woes of the community have increased since the rise of Erdogan to power. The government had banned the Istambul Pride March for 5 years till 2019. At the same time, the march could not be carried out last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Criticism of Turkish govt’s high-handedness

While speaking about the student protests, lawyer Levent Pişkin said, “The government has been criminalizing LGBTI+ individuals since 2015 when it put a ban on İstanbul Pride. This situation has become more frequent for the last year.” He also criticised a statement of İstanbul Governor’s Office for the homophobic language used against the detained students. “It is wrong to use the phrase ‘seized’ for something that is obvious and which everyone is proudly carrying,” he added.

Delhi: Caravan employee Mandeep Punia tries to cross barricades and misbehave with cops at Singhu border, detained

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: Caravan employee Mandeep Punia tries to cross barricades and misbehave with cops at Singhu border, detained

The Delhi Police have detained a person named Mandeep Punia, claiming to be a ‘journalist’ from Singhu border on Saturday night after he misbehaved with a station house officer (SHO).

According to the reports, Punia, who works with website ‘The Caravan’ and Junputh, was moving through roadblocks and trying to remove the barricades when he misbehaved the police.

A video has gone viral on social media platforms in which one can see how the alleged journalist was trying to cross the barricades forcefully. He was soon nabbed by the Delhi police and detained him.

Another person claiming to be a ‘journalist’ – Dharmender Singh was also detained by the Delhi Police. However, he was later let go after he showed his press ID.

Speaking about the arrest, a senior police officer said Punia was standing with the protesters and he did not have a press ID card. He was trying to move through the barricades which were kept to segregate and secure the area. An altercation broke out between police personnel and him.

The police said that Caravan ‘journalist’ misbehaved with the police and was soon detained.

Caravan peddles fake news on rioters death, complaint registered

An FIR has been registered against the far-left propaganda website – ‘The Caravan’ and a few other journalists  for sharing fake news during the Republic Day violence in Delhi to cause unrest and riots.

Six ‘journalists’, including India Today’sRajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pande, associated with Congress mouthpiece National Herald, Zafar Agha, far-left rag Caravan’s Ananth Nath, Vinod Jose, and Paresh Nath, were booked by the Noida Police Thursday for sedition for trying to incite violence by sharing misinformation.

All of them have been booked for spreading the fake news that one protestor was shot dead by Delhi Police during the tractor rally on Republic Day, who had actually died due to an accident. 

The far-left outlet – Caravan had also spread the fake news, claiming that “An eyewitness told The Caravan that he saw the police firing from behind the grills of the Andhra Education Society.” They had also reported that eyewitnesses said they saw police personnel fleeing from the spot after Navreet was shot.

However, the post mortem details had proved the rioter died during the tractor rally succumbing to the antemortem injuries he received after his tractor turned turtle as seen in the incident’s viral video, and there was no bullet injury on his body.

Uttar Pradesh: FIR filed against The Wire Editor Siddharth Varadarajan for circulating fake news about rioter’s death during R-Day riots

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: FIR filed against The Wire Editor Siddharth Varadarajan for circulating fake news about rioter’s death during R-Day riots

A complaint has been registered against The Wire Editor Siddharth Varadarajan of the leftist propaganda outlet ‘The Wire’ for publishing and circulating false propaganda with intent to cause violence after he had tweeted an article void of any facts pertaining to the death of a rioter during the tractor rally.

On Saturday, a complaint was registered against Varadarajan under Section 153B and  505 of the IPC in Rampur police station for trying to instigate the crowd by peddling false information about the death of a rioter named Navreet Singh, who had died during the tractor rally after his tractor turtled.

FIR details against Siddharth Varadarajan

As per the FIR, after reading the article, people in Rampur were angered and created a tensed situation. “This post was done with under a conspiracy to create unrest and and stoke violence,” the FIR stated. The FIR stated that this post was done despite the fact that the 3 doctors carried out autopsy and submitted their findings in sealed envelop to concerned authorities.

“The three doctors have denied all insinuations and allegations in the post but Varadarjan has still kept the tweet up. This was done deliberately to stoke tension,” the FIR states.

The Wire in its article had contended that the rioter’s kin were ‘informed’ by the doctor who conducted autopsy, that he had died due to the bullet injuries despite contrarian post-mortem reports.

A complaint was registered by a person named Sanju Turaiah in the Civil Lines police station in Rampur accusing Siddharth Varadarajan of trying to create a tense situation by tweeting an article devoid of any fact.

The Wire distorts the claims of doctors, attempts to false propaganda on rioters death

The Wire on Saturday published an article insinuating that the protester who died during the Delhi tractor rally on Republic Day, had died of bullet injuries and not because of the injuries he sustained from the overturning of the tractor. The article further claims that the victim’s relatives spoke to the doctor who carried out the autopsy who claimed that while there was bullet injury, ‘his hands were tied’, thereby insinuating that the UP government is trying to coverup.

And while the Rampur District Magistrate clarified that all these statements are false, The Wire has stuck to its report. It has only updated the report while the headline still continues to be provocative.

The article titled “Autopsy Doctor Told Me He’d Seen the Bullet Injury But Can Do Nothing as His Hands are Tied” quoted the grandfather of the deceased to cast aspersions on the cause of the death of the protester and allege that the administration is hiding his real cause of the death.

The Wire published an article casting aspersions on the cause of death of a protester during the tractor rally

The Wire report impugns the validity of the post mortem report released by a medical officer at the District Hospital, Rampur, after a 2 am autopsy on January 27, which concluded that the protester, Navreet Singh, had died because of “shock and haemorrhage as a result of antemortem head injury” which has also been consistent with the Delhi Police’s explanation.

The Wire invents quotes from doctors to allege that rioter had died of bullet injuries

However, the report published by Siddharth Varadarajan’s website quoted Hardeep Singh Dibdiba, the grandfather of the deceased, who said that a doctor had confided in him that the real cause of Singh’s death was a bullet injury.

“We were told by the doctor that they have clearly seen the bullet injury, and then we cremated his body peacefully. But we were cheated as the [post mortem] report that came out did not say that. The doctor even told me that even though he had seen the bullet injury, he can do nothing as his hands are tied,” The Wire quoted Hardeep Singh Dibdiba as saying.

Vikramjeet Singh, Navreet’s father, also raised suspicion over the autopsy report of his son’s death. Vikramjeet alleged that all those who saw Navreet’s body claimed that he died of a bullet injury. He also added that one of the doctors who did the post-mortem report allegedly confessed to him that Navreet died of a bullet injury but he could not do anything to mention the same in the postmortem report.

Uttar Pradesh police refutes false claims made by The Wire

But the claim of doctors being railroaded to prepare a false autopsy report was refuted by the senior-most police officer quoted by The Wire. According to ADG Bareilly Avinash Chandra, the police had no reason whatsoever to suppress or distort such a document because the matter is of Delhi Police.

Relevant portion from The Wire article

Besides, the report also added a video of the deceased to buttress the claims made by the family. Referring to the video, the family stated that the gash over Navreet’s ears was an exit wound of a bullet. But, Manoj Shukla, deputy CMO and doctor at the district hospital in Rampur where the post-mortem report was prepared, said this was not the case. Repudiating the claims of a bullet wound, Shukla told The Wire that it might be possible that something else might have hit his right ear or the leftist portal might have gotten the wrong document.

Despite the refusal of the Uttar Pradesh Police and the deputy CMO of the hospital where the autopsy was conducted expressly denying that Navreet died of a bullet injury, The Wire did not bother to mention the same in their headline. Instead, it went ahead with a misleading headline to raise aspersions on the authenticity of the autopsy report.

However, the District Magistrate, Rampur, shared a signed declaration of the three doctors who had carried out the autopsy that the above allegations were false.

The signed declaration states that none of the three doctors who were involved in the autopsy had spoken to any mediapersons or any other persons. The autopsy was video-recorded and the findings were given in sealed envelop to the officers.

Subsequently, The Wire has updated the article to include above information.

‘Did Police allow protesters to go inside Red Fort?’: Pro-AAP propagandist Dhruv Rathee insinuates govt conspiracy, whitewashes mob violence

OpIndia Staff
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‘Did Police allow protesters to go inside Red Fort?’: Pro-AAP propagandist Dhruv Rathee insinuates govt conspiracy, whitewashes mob violence

Pro-AAP propagandist Dhruv Rathee has taken to YouTube to peddle misinformation regarding the Republic Day insurrection. In a video published on the platform on the 28th of January, the YouTuber insinuated that the government had on purpose allowed the Khalistani mob to run riot at Red Fort.

During the video, Dhruv Rathee completely endorses the version of events peddled by the Republic Day insurrectionists and used their statements to insinuate that the government had permitted it to happen. He peddles an entirely one-sided version of events to slander the Delhi Police.

“Some videos have also emerged which show that the Delhi Police personnel are sitting in chairs and watching the ‘tamasha‘ unfold at Red Fort. Flags are being hoisted there and no action is being taken,” he said.

Then Dhruv Rathee proceeds to say, “A huge question arises here, did the Police intentionally permit the protesters to go inside the Red Fort? Secondly, the Police has used tear gas and lathi charged the protesters but people like Dhruv Rathee and his supporters reached the top of the Red Fort and returned as well but they did not suffer so much as a scratch.”

Dhruv Rathee spreads conspiracy theories regarding Red Fort violence
Dhruv Rathee spreads conspiracy theories regarding Red Fort violence

He goes on to add, “Maybe this is the reason that the SKM (Samyukta Kisan Morcha) has alleged that the whole incident is a conspiracy by the government to allow it to happen and then use the media to defame the protesters.”

He concluded saying, “Think a little. If the peaceful protests on Republic Day turn violent, who benefits and who loses? Towards whom will the public support turn to if the protests turn violent?”

In the video, Dhruv Rathee downplays the violence by the rioting mob and instead, placed the blame on the government and the Delhi police. He further draws a false equivalence between the violence unleashed by the murderous mob and the action taken by the Police to halt the rioting to claim that violence flew both ways.

In reality, the Delhi Police has made it abundantly clearly that they refrained from using great force on the rioters because it could have led to unparalleled bloodshed which they were trying to avoid. The propagandist uses the Police’s noble desire to avoid bloodshed to claim that the Red Fort siege was allowed to happen to defame the protesters.

Dhruv Rathee is infamous for his tendency to peddle fake news and has spread numerous fake news in the past to whitewash the deplorable conduct of the Tablighi Jamaat among other things. Previously, he has gone to the extent of claiming that India was not partitioned on religious grounds.

Ex-VP Hamid Ansari tries to raise the ‘Musalman khatre mein hai’ bogey, gets schooled royally

OpIndia Staff
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Ex-VP Hamid Ansari tries to raise the ‘Musalman khatre mein hai’ bogey, gets schooled royally

On Saturday, Former Vice President Hamid Ansari, who can often be spotted in the company of Islamists, got schooled by Zee TV News anchor Aman Chopra when the sympathiser went on his usual rant on how Muslims feel insecure in India.

The ex-VP was on the show to promote his latest book ‘By Many A Happy Accident’. However, Ansari was forced to contend with some tricky questions tossed at him by the Zee News anchor which left the ex-diplomat discomfited.

During the interview, the news anchor brought up Ansari’s last interview before stepping down as the Vice President of India after 10 years of being in office, in which he had said that that there is a feeling of unease and a sense of insecurity among the Muslims in the country, asserting the “ambience of acceptance” is now under threat.

Here, Ansari once again reiterated that there is indeed a “feeling of unease” among Muslims in the nation.

The news anchor questions Ansari whether he too feels the same way as he is also a Muslim. The ex-diplomat is heard refusing and saying that this topic would need a separate debate. However, anchor Aman Chopra is heard coaxing Hamid Ansari. He asks whether the recent Modi government’s decisions revolving around the CAA, triple Talaq, Ram Mandir has compelled the Indian Muslims to feel insecure, as contended by Ansari.

When the former VP says that he was unable to specify a reason, Chopra interrupts saying that there is actually no concrete reason, which is why Ansari cannot zero in on any reason.

The news anchor smartly brings up the topic of lynching asking whether that is one of the reasons why Muslims are insecure. Despite trying his best to choose his words carefully, Hamid Ansari appears to admit that it is a law and order issue.

Aman Chopra can be heard asking, “Sir, lynching is not exclusive to Muslims, even Hindus are lynched, why are they not insecure?” Here, Hamid Ansari, who now appears to be a little enraged, says that he is not sure whether Hindus are lynched or not. Calling Ansari biased, Aman Chopra says he could list a number of Hindus who have been lynched in West Bengal, in Kerala for example over time.

Chopra reiterates that lynching has nothing to do with religion and it is a law and order issue. Ansari, rattled by the badgering, inadvertently declaims that lynching is indeed religiously motivated. When Chopra says “lynching Dharm dekh kar thodi na hota hain” (lynching does not see religion), the piqued ex-VP exclaims “toh kya dekh kar hota hain” (then what is seen when people are lynched), insinuating that since the Hindu nationalist BJP won power in India, lynching of the country’s minorities have surged.

The news anchor admonishes Hamid Ansari by saying that India has given so much to him, he held the post of Vice President of world’s largest democracy for 10 years, but yet, on the last day of his tanure as the Vice-President of the country, he made this misguided remark saying that there is a sense of insecurity and unease among the Muslims in the country.

Aman Chopra’s penetrating and razor-edged questions posed at Hamid Ansari, who was actually there to promote his latest book ‘By Many A Happy Accident’ left him bereft of speech.

This is, however not the first time the former Vice President has raked the ‘Musalman khatre mein hai’ bogey, lamenting that Islam and Muslims in India are ‘under siege’ in Modi’s regime. He has often exhibited his Islamist tendencies, going to an extent of favouring Islamic Sharia courts. Earlier, he had also backed the students of the Aligarh Muslim University for protesting against the removal of the portrait of Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The full interview of Hamid Ansari can be seen here.

Rahul Gandhi shares misleading images of police action against sword-wielding protester to target Modi government

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi shares misleading images of police action against sword-wielding protester to target Modi government

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared a picture of a scuffle between police officials and the protesters on Saturday to accuse the Modi government of meting out inhuman atrocities on the protesters.

The pictures shared by the former Congress president showed police officers using force to control the protesters demonstrating against the Agriculture Laws that were introduced by the Modi government in September 2020.

However, as is the norm with Rahul Gandhi, he was economical with the truth while sharing the pictures of the clashes between the police officials and the protesters. The senior Congress leader only shared those details of the incident that were convenient for him to paint the government as predisposed to using brute force to quell the protests. The reality is starkly different than what Rahul Gandhi would have us believe.

The images uploaded by Rahul Gandhi are from the clashes between the protesters and the police officials that took place yesterday at the Singhu border, the epicentre of the two-months long farmers’ protest against three central laws. During the clashes, Delhi Police SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal was injured in the violence after a man, claiming to be one of the protesting ‘farmers’, attacked him with a sword.

The images shared by Rahul Gandhi were of the police action in the wake of the sword attack against SHO Paliwal. The protester had allegedly swung his sword at the SHO, injuring him.

The protester was later identified as 22-year-old Ranjeet Singh and was arrested for the sword attack on Alipur SHO. Besides Singh, Delhi Police arrested another 43 people over the clashes at the Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border) on Friday. Clashes had erupted between protesting ‘farmers’ and a group of people claiming to be locals as police officials resorted to lathi-charge and used tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

An FIR has been filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) over the Singhu border clashes on Friday, police said.

However, Rahul Gandhi conveniently shared only those pictures where police were seen using force to arrest Singh who had brought a sword along with him in the clashes. Gandhi also did not share the image of the protester wielding a sword that had gone viral on social media websites as that would have shattered his narrative of depicting the Modi government as cruel and unsympathetic to the protesters.

By accusing the Modi government of being cruel against the protesters wielding swords, Rahul Gandhi, in essence, is encouraging the protesters to resort to violent means and methods to clash against the law enforcement officials. The protests, which were deemed to be ‘peaceful’ by the opposition parties, have assumed violent character, especially during the tractor rally on Republic Day when rampaging protesters ran riots, indulging in violence and vandalism on the streets of the national capital.

Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders had shared a misleading picture to allege police officials had beaten up a protester

It is noteworthy to mention that this is not the first attempt by Rahul Gandhi to portray the Modi government as anti-farmers and apathetic towards them. In November 2020, Rahul Gandhi, along with a bevvy of Congress sycophants, had shared a misleading image of a policeman brandishing a baton to a demonstrator to allege that the Modi government was callous in treating the farmers.

However, the reality was different than what the Congress leader and his supporters tried to trumpet. The video of the incident showed that the law enforcement official who was portrayed in the image as beating up an old ‘farmer’ simply swings the baton in the air to scare the protester away. The baton did not touch the protester. Yet, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders and its IT cell bots deceitfully used the picture to paint the security official as the oppressor and the protester as the victim.

Anti-farm law protests cause hundreds of crores of loss to toll collections, debt of thousands of crores at risk of default: ICRA

OpIndia Staff
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Anti-farm law protests cause hundreds of crores of loss to toll collections, debt of thousands of crores at risk of default: ICRA

The agitation against the historic farm laws, enacted by the Union government, will lead to an approximate loss of ₹600 crores in toll collection, reported credit rating agency ICRA Limited.

In the report published on Friday, ICRA noted that the loss to toll plazas will be caused due to restrictions in vehicular movement on National Highways. “Around 52 toll plazas, including both public-funded and BOT (built, operate and transfer), for national highways are operated in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi-NCR which are directly or indirectly affected due to these protests,” it noted.

The report further added, “Until January 26, 2021, these national highway toll plazas would have incurred an estimated revenue loss of around ₹560 crores; out of which ~₹410 crores is estimated for BOT Concessionaires. Apart from this, the revenue loss in State Highway Projects in these regions would be additional.”

The revenue loss to toll plazas has furthered worsened since December 12 last year, due to no-fee collection from vehicles at all toll plazas in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi-NCR region. ICRA Limited reported that the average toll collection, prior to the protests and the subsequent free vehicular movement, was around ₹7 crores each day. The credit rating agency further estimated that even if the ‘farmer’ protests end by February, there will still be a decline of 30-35% in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi-NCR region for 2020-2021.

Cumulative toll revenue loss from October last year (Graph Courtesy: ICRA Limited)

Rs 9300 crores of debt on 11 BOT projects at risk

In its report, ICRA Limited emphasised, “Almost 50% of the NH toll plazas (26 out of 52 toll plazas) in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi-NCR constitute the BOT projects. The debt outstanding for these 11 projects is estimated at ₹9300 crores. Of these, three are rated by ICRA. Out of the ₹9,300-crore of impacted rated debt, ~₹8550-crore of debt is at high risk of default while Rs. 750-crore is rated at investment grade and have a low to moderate risk of default.”

Debt at risk for 11 BOT toll plaza projects (Graph Courtesy: ICRA)

The credit rating agency further said, “The inability to collect toll for a continuous period of 24 hours and exceeding an aggregate period of seven days in an accounting year due to agitations/ strikes would be considered as an indirect political event under force majeure…This would cover around 25% of loss of revenue incurred by the affected projects.”

China’s smartphone sales in 2020 witnessed biggest decline in the last three years: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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China’s smartphone sales in 2020 witnessed biggest decline in the last three years: Reports

Smartphones sales in China have reportedly experienced a decline of 17 per cent (on-year) in 2020 which is said to be the biggest decline in the last three years. According to reports, Apple was the only brand that recorded a positive growth in the market which is being attributed to the launch of its iPhone 12 series.

Apple’s iPhone 12 series comes with 5G connectivity and has models across a wide price range. The iPhone 11 series also reportedly did well after heavy price cuts and promotions. It was the best-selling model on JD.com during the e-commerce festivals sales. According to Counterpoint Research, the impressive growth of iPhone 11 and 12 series helped Apple increase its market share in China to 16 per cent in Q4 2020.

Sales of Huawei and Honor declined following the US trade sanctions on China

Huawei (including Honor) managed to acquire the top spot by capturing 41 per cent market share last year. According to research analyst Flora Tang, sales of Huawei and Honor dropped following the US trade sanctions on China.

“Following component shortages after the US trade sanctions effective September 15, sales of Huawei and Honor dropped a staggering 26 per cent (YoY) in Q4 2020. Their combined market share also slipped to 32 per cent in the same quarter”, said Tang.

“A weakened economy and longer smartphone replacement cycles all contributed to the lackluster demand. However, China’s 5G smartphone sales surged with Chinese OEMs aggressively rolling out more value-for-money offerings”, research analyst Mengmeng Zhang was quoted as saying by reports.

Zhang added that 5G penetration rate became more pronounced in Q4 with the launch of iPhone 12 series. He said that smartphones with 5G connectivity accounted for over 60 per cent of smartphones sold in China while in Q4 2019 they accounted for just 5 per cent share. China’s 5G smartphones sales accounted for more than 60 per cent of total smartphone sales in Q4 2020.

Xiaomi, OPPO, Viv witnesses decline

Xiaomi reportedly recorded a double-digit decline of 14 per cent (YoY) last year, however, it still outperformed the market. Following the good performance of Xiaomi 10, Redmi 9A, Note 9 Pro, Xiaomi 10 series and Redmi K30 series, Xiaomi’s sales bounced back strongly starting from the second half of the last year.

Sales of OPPO and Vivo declines last year following the overall market trend. However, OPPO had its strongest quarter in Q4 where it recorded a growth of 9 per cent compared to Q3 on strong momentum from the OPPO A32, A72 and Reno 5 series.

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