On Thursday, the Karnataka government reportedly halted its decision to drop chapter on Tipu Sultan from the class 7 curriculum in the State. Besides, the chapter on the ruler has also been retained in the syllabus for class 6 and class 10.
As per reports, the Education Minister S Suresh Kumar informed that the proposal to drop the chapter on the 18th-century tyrant of Mysore will be finalised after estimating the remaining days in the current academic year. An official statement, regarding the issue, read, “On the instructions of primary and higher education minister, the announcement on the revised syllabus (is) on temporary hold. After reviewing the trimmed lessons, details will be announced on the website.”
According to Madde Gowda, the managing director of Karnataka Textbook Society, a committee comprising of history experts were tasked to recommend ways to reduce the syllabus for the current academic year, as schools and educational institutes had been shut until August 31. “The syllabus for classes 1-10 was reduced to 120 days from 240 days for the academic year, as 60 days (June and July) have already gone without schools reopening due to the COVID spread,” he was quoted as saying.
At the time the decision was taken to drop the chapter due to the Coronavirus pandemic and schools remaining shut, Madde, talking about the removal of several chapters from the textbooks, had said, “The chapter on Tipu Sultan for Class 7 has been dropped to reduce the syllabus by 30 per cent for this academic year due to delay in reopening of schools due to no let-up in coronavirus spread.”
Karnataka Education Minister gives assurance to stakeholders
The Education Minister assured that no content will be removed from the curriculum without the consent of stakeholders. He further informed that teaching modules are being created to specially cater to the new form of digital teaching.
Besides Tipu Sultan, the Karnataka government had also dropped chapters on the Indian Constitution, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, and the history of Mughals and Rajputs. Reportedly, the move had drawn criticism from several quarters, including the Opposition parties, teachers, and students.
Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa had earlier claimed of removing references to Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan has been a polarizing figure in the state of Karnataka where people’s opinions about him range from him being a fierce freedom fighter to a tyrannical despot. Last year, chief minister of Karnataka, BS Yediyurappa had asserted that his government was contemplating expunging references to Tipu Sultan from textbooks. Yediyurappa said that Tipu Sultan was not a freedom fighter and he doesn’t deserve a place in the school textbooks.
Parwez Parvaz, who had moved the Allahabad High Court in 2007 seeking an FIR against Yogi Adityanath, has been convicted in a 2018 gangrape case. According to reports, the 65-year-old Parvaz has been sentenced to life imprisonment along with another co-accused in a 2018 gangrape case by the district sessions court of Gorakhpur.
Parvaz and another person were accused of gang-raping a 40-year-old woman on June 3, 2018. In her complaint, the victim had said that she had visited Jumman Baba on June 3, 2018, for “seeking remedies” for her marital problems. However, the accused had taken her to an isolated place and raped her at gunpoint along with a person who Jumman called Parvez Bhai.
“District and Sessions Judge Govind Vallabh Sharma on Tuesday sentenced the two accused – Parwez Parvaz and Mehmood alias Jumman – to life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on both and ordered that Rs 40,000 from the fine be given to the gangrape victim,” government counsel Yashpal Singh said.
Meanwhile, Parvaz’s lawyer Miftahul Islam said that they will be challenging the conviction in a higher court.
The lawyer alleged that they were not allowed to submit written arguments on Tuesday. The judgment was pronounced without any arguments, Islam said. The government counsel has however said that Parvaz’ lawyers were given enough time to submit their arguments.
Parvaz’s allegations against Yogi Adityanath
In 2007, Parvaz had moved the Allahabad High Court seeking registration of an FIR against Yogi Adityanath, who was then an MP from Gorakhpur, alleging that he delivered a hate speech.
An FIR was lodged by Parvez Parwaz in 2008, in which he had accused the then Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath, mayor Anju Chaudhri, then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal and one more person of inciting communal violence.
Parvaz had alleged that the clashes had broken out in the city after Yogi Adityanath had allegedly incited the public outside the railway station. Yogi Adityanath was speaking in response to the killing of a Hindu youth Raj Kumar Agrahri, who was stabbed to death in a clash between Hindu and Muslim groups during Moharram processions.
Yogi Adityanath was also arrested and sent to jail for 15 days. In May 2017, the Uttar Pradesh government refused to give sanction to prosecution against Chief Minister in the case in the 2007 hate speech case. In 2018, The petitioners had then filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court challenging the UP government’s refusal to grant sanction to prosecute Adityanath in the hate speech case.
However, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed the writ petition filed by Parvaz against Yogi Adityanath after it allowed the UP government to not prosecute Adityanath.
The South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI), a far-left group with links to dubious anti-India organisations, has called for people to join them in their bid to disrupt what it called a ‘vile spectacle of fascism’. The announcement came after it was revealed that images of Shri Ram and 3-D images of the model of the Ram Mandir at Janmabhoomi will be displayed at the Times Square on 5th August.
Image Credit: SASI/Twitter
In a statement on Twitter, SASI also said that the VHP is a ‘hate group’ that is one of the ‘many fascist organisational branches’. It was also claimed that the VHP is best known for “instigating mob violence in the name of cow protection, religious conversions, temple renovations and “love jihads”.”
Going a step further from the usual demonisation of Prime Minister Modi, SASI claimed that Narendra Modi has been responsible for “massacres across generations”. “Modi was among the key organizers of the demolition of the mosque in 1992. He would again play a significant role a decade later in Gujarat, where he incited a genocide. Today he is being celebrated by fascists in New York City,” its statement said.
On the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, its role in the Babri Masjid demolition and killings, and its direct link to Modi who himself has orchestrated multiple massacres. The diaspora has always fueled this genocidal regime, but it’s time to turn the tide and say no to hindu nationalism! pic.twitter.com/ljcCmmiCNa
— South Asia Solidarity Initiative (@SASIinNYC) July 31, 2020
Needless to say, these are baseless accusations that do not have an iota of truth in them. Narendra Modi does not have any charges against him for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, and he was not a well known national leader at that time. The key accused in that particular case are other politicians. Furthermore, the Indian Judiciary has absolved Narendra Modi of all accusations levelled against him in connection with the Gujarat Riots of 2002. Thus, quite clearly, that SASI is raising such allegations in the current context throws some light into their political outlook.
As it so happens, their activities demonstrate quite evidently their anti-India slant quite effectively. In a statement on the ‘Kashmir Liberation Movement’, SASI said that “ASI is in complete solidarity with the Kashmiri liberation movement. Kashmir is not an integral part of the state of India, but it is a nation under occupation. Kashmiri voices must always be centered as well as the right for self-determination.” “SASI stands in solidarity with Kashmiris resisting occupation by the Indian state, and we echo calls for azaadi — for liberation,” it added.
In its statement on the Pulwama Terror Attack, SASI said, “Hindu nationalists are using the Pulwama attack to fuel anti-Muslim violence and war-mongering.” It stated further, “Shortly following the Pulwama attack, terrifying violence erupted against Kashmiri Muslims in the Jammu region of Jammu-Kashmir (JK) as well as several states in India. Even though a curfew was imposed on Jammu, Hindutva mobs were allowed to roam freely and attack Muslim colonies, targeting homes and burning vehicles.”
The statement said further, “We fear for and are in solidarity with Indian and Kashmiri Muslims living in the region, facing an accelerated and terrifying political climate. Anyone with a sense of decency and conscience must now be forceful, more than ever before, on the urgency of ending the occupation and withdrawing all army personnel from the occupied territories of Kashmir.” Nowhere in the statement did SASI condemn the terror attack or even call it an act of terrorism even as it spread falsehoods against India.
Furthermore, SASI also works in close collaboration with Stand With Kashmir, a Kashmiri separatist organisation that we have reported on extensively. SWK was active during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act as well and is known to the Pakistani line on Kashmir. It places the entire blame for trouble in the valley on India while maintaining a stoic silence on Pakistan sponsored terrorism and downplaying the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits.
Image Source Twitter
From its name, it is evident that individuals from Bangladesh and Pakistan are associated with SASI as well. They are also quite vocal during the ongoing social upheaval in the United States. In a podcast, SASI collective members Chaya, Nufail, Sheila and Theresa discussed “the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, our experiences with the protests in New York City during a pandemic, thoughts on the numerous solidarity groups in formation and how Hindutva groups have been using #blm to further fascist agendas.”
Individuals with origins in Bangladesh and Pakistan trying to defame India in the West is nothing surprising. Ziad Ahmed, an American Muslim student of Bangladeshi origin, has been working overtime through an organisation he floated along with others, Students Against Hindutva Ideology, to demonise Hindutva and Hindus in the United States. We have reported on that organisation extensively as well.
Thus, the antecedents of SASI is quite evident from its actions thus far. Thus, it is not surprising at all that they are trying to tarnish India’s reputation on an occasion that is auspicious for Hindus worldwide. For an organisation that does not consider Kashmir to be an integral part of India, despite all historical evidence, it is only natural that they are resorting to spreading Hinduphobia on the day of the Bhoomi Pujan event at Ram Janmabhoomi as well.
The investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide case has taken several new turns, with the spotlight now shifting primarily on his ex-girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her alleged role in siphoning off Sushant Singh Rajput’s money, mishandling of his bank accounts, mentally harassing the actor and pushing him to suicide.
Hours after the ED registered a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case, Rhea Chakraborty released a video statement in her defence.
While Sushant Singh’s bodyguard has also testified the allegations meted out at Rhea Chakraborty by the actor’s father to be true, Rhea in her video is heard defending herself and accusing media of running a malicious campaign against her: “I have immense faith in God and the judiciary. I believe that I will get justice. Even though a lot of horrible things are being said about me on the electronic media, I refrain from commenting on the advice of my lawyers as the matter is sub-judice.”
In the first public response, released by her lawyer Satish Maneshinde, the struggling actress asserted that “the truth shall prevail”.
The actress hires big shot lawyer Satish Maneshinde
It is pertinent to note here that the Bollywood entertainer Rhea Chakraborty has hired one of the most expensive lawyers of the country, Satish Maneshinde, to defend her in the case filed by Sushant Singh Rajput’s father accusing her of abetment to suicide. Earlier, Maneshinde had defended film actors like Salman Khan in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case and Sanjay Dutt in 1993 Mumbai blast case.
Earlier it was reported that Enforcement Directorate had sought a copy of the FIR registered against actress Rhea Chakraborty from the Bihar police. The FIR was filed by Sushant Singh Rajput’s father alleging that his ex-girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty had stolen Rs 15 crores from the actor.
Sushant’s bodyguard confirms ‘all claims against Rhea Chakraborty’
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with the Republic TV, the deceased actor’s bodyguard has confirmed all allegations against Rhea Chakraborty to be true. While divulging details of the late actor’s altered lifestyle and attitude in life, post his association with Rhea, the man declared that Sushant could never commit suicide.
Accusing Rhea and her family of fleecing the actor and using him as a “money card”, Sushant’s bodyguard said that all the allegation made by Sushant’s father KK Singh in his FIR against Rhea has been rightly made and he should get due justice.
Apart from frivolously spending Sushant Singh Rajput’s money, the bodygaurd also accused Rhea of giving drugs to Sushant. The man revealed that Sushant’s life had completely changed after Rhea entered his life. He would be asleep and unwell most of the time and no one had direct access to him.
The bodyguard shared that Rhea changed the entire house staff and also Sushant’s accountant, except him. He revealed that before Rhea, Sushant’s family, especially his eldest sister Priyanka Singh, would visit him often and stay with him. However, he has only witnessed Rhea’s family visiting Sushant’s house and partying at his expense in the last one year.
Testifying almost all the allegations meted out at Rhea Chakraborty by Sushant’s lawyer and family, his bodyguard hoped that the deceased young talented actor gets due justice.
On August 5 last year, the Indian government made a historic decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The move, coupled with the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories, meant the complete integration of the erstwhile state into the Indian territory. However, the momentous decision left the neighbouring country of Pakistan, rattled. They have decided to observe the 5th August as ‘black day’, and has part of that, they have decided to rename one highway in Islamabad as Srinagar.
The Pakistan government had been selling the false dream of annexing Jammu and Kashmir with their country for the past 70 years to its public. It had to pacify the agitated and disenchanted home crowd by putting up a brave face after Article 370 was revoked. Since Pakistan could not afford military escalation, it was thus forced to indulge in ‘symbolism’.
On the eve of the first-year-anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir’s complete integration into India on August 5, the Pakistani government has decided to take yet another symbolic action. On Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated, “Our focus is on Srinagar. We are therefore changing the name of the Kashmir Highway to Srinagar Highway from August 5. This will be the road to our destination in (real) Srinagar.” Besides, Qureshi stated that the government will take international journalists, parliamentarians to the Line of Control and talk to the supposed ‘victims’ of India’s brutality. He said that Pakistanis around the world will stand in solidarity with the people of J & K and expose India’s supposed atrocities in the Valley.
Symbolic vengeance by Pakistan in UN falls flat
This is not the first time when Pakistan decided to respond symbolically. Since, August last year, Pakistan and China tried to rake up the Kashmir issue twice in United Nations Security Council (UNSC). However, the members, led by the United States and France thwarted the issue stating that India and Pakistan should resolve it bilaterally. Syed Akbaruddin, former India’s representative to UN, had said, “We are happy that neither the alarming scenario painted by the representatives of Pakistan nor any of the baseless allegations made repeatedly by various representatives of Pakistan in UN fora were found to be credible. Pakistan’s tactics of using false credences to distract from addressing the malice that afflicts it has run its course today.”
India’s so-called ‘secular-liberals’ suffer from an inexplicable Kashmir paradox. While they claim to advocate equality, inclusion, democratic values, minority rights etc for the rest of India, when it comes to Kashmir, their stand takes a complete 180 degrees turn. In Jammu and Kashmir, the same people do not want anyone other than Muslims to have any rights.
The duality was glaringly evident when the Modi government, in a historic and bold move, abrogated the discriminatory Article 370 last year and divided the erstwhile state into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The article 370 granted Jammu and Kashmir a special status, it allowed the state to have its own set of special laws and provisions, which, in reality, were designed to keep a specific community happy. Women lost claims to property when they married outside the state, Dalits were kept away from jobs other than that of sweepers and sanitation workers, and a common Indian was not allowed to own land in the state.
A lot of outrage was created by the ‘secular-liberal’ gang, both at the national and international level. However, a strong grip over law and order prevented chaos. The government stood resolute in its stand and the separatists, Pakistan sympathisers, ‘secular liberal’ lobby and Islamists could not do anything apart from the outrage.
August 5 is approaching again. It will be the first anniversary of the historic decision and the same forces, sensing the futility of their previous efforts, are now trying to stir up a dangerous narrative, one that had already cost thousands of lives.
“Hindus are stealing all the jobs”.
Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP laments the ‘lack of Kashmiri Muslims’ in Raj Bhawan contact list
Mehbooba Mufti, the former CM of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, had earlier ‘threatened’ that ‘the whole country will burn’ if Article 370 is touched, in a not-so-veiled threat warning the Modi government against doing anything contrary to Islamist wishes in the valley.
While Mufti remains in preventive custody, her party has started lamenting the ‘lack of Kashmiri Muslims’ in the Raj Bhawan contact list, trying to peddle a not so subtle narrative that the central government is keeping Muslims of Kashmir away from jobs.
Using the Raj Bhawan list of officials for contact, the party says “Not a single Kashmiri/Muslim in Raj Bhawan, one of the greatest achievements of the central government”.
It is amusing indeed when the Hurriyat sympathisers, terror apologists of the valley try to peddle a narrative of inclusion. Not only is the PDP attempting to use just a list of Raj Bhawan staffers as ‘sample’ to peddle the ‘Muslims kept out of jobs’ narrative, but it is also trying to stoke the fire that has singed and burned the valley for decades. The idea that ‘Hindu Pandits do not deserve jobs, livelihoods in Kashmir’ was what had been used by the Islamist forces in the past to carry out the Pandit genocide in Kashmir.
Media propaganda activated too
Interestingly, the PDP is not the only one peddling this agenda. Like clockwork, the ‘secular-liberal’ media has started peddling the same narrative too. Earlier today, The Scroll published an article titled, “One year after special status ended, Kashmiris have disappeared from govt in J and K.”
Article in The Scroll
The article discusses some images that were recently shared on social media featuring J and K Lt Governor GC Murmu and other officials. The entire premise of the article is about discussing those images and lamenting how they cannot spot enough Kashmiris Muslims. The first photograph they discussed apparently had only one Kashmiri Muslim, an IAS officer.
The article called the image a reason for ‘deep anxiety’. It went on to quote a Facebook post to claim that Muslims in Kashmir are afraid that with the abrogation of Article 370, Kashmiri Muslims may lose jobs, and economic benefits while the central government brings back the ‘Dogra rule’. The article peddled the idea of “greedy Hindu snatching Muslim jobs” so effectively that it never bothered to mention that the Kashmiri Muslim is as Indian as the Jammu Hindu and Ladakhi Buddhist, and every Indian citizen is granted the right to education, jobs and property by the constitution of India.
Screenshot from The Scroll
The article just fans the fears, by 1 or 2 unnamed social media handles. Like classic leftist propaganda, it doesn’t even present a statistical picture of how much of the government and administrative jobs in the state are held by Muslims and what is the representation of Hindus, Buddhists, Christians in those jobs. Because that will not serve the purpose. When the motive is to fan fear, to paint a target on a specific community, branding them as ‘job snatchers’, only speculations would do.
The arctle doesn’t even stop there. To claim that the ‘greedy Hindu snatching Muslim jobs’ since only one year perhaps will not generate enough hatred, it may not cause enough fear and antagonism, so it claims that the ‘greedy Hindu’ has been active since decades. It further writes:
“This marginalisation may not have started last year. Two former ministers who had served in the governments of the former state said that Delhi had always intervened in crucial appointments. A former cabinet minister who served in the People’s Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government traces the marginalisation of Kashmiri officers back to 1989, when militancy spread rapidly across the Valley.”
Barkha Dutt’s famous justification of Pandit Genocide
The horrors and the brutality of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the valley has long been ignored, trivialised, denied and even justified by a certain section of mainstream media and political class that is also, interestingly, often found defending acts of terrorism and apologising for extremists.
In an old video clip now quite well-known on social media, Barkha Dutt was seen ‘explaining’ on TV how the Kashmiri Pandit exodus happened. In the video, Barkha Dutt can be seen talking about how the Kashmiri Pandits were ‘wealthy’ in the valley, with good jobs, and stating that it created a rift and resentment among the Muslims who she insinuated were ‘deprived’.
“Today hapless victims, they were once privileged elites of the valley. They may have been a minority but at that time, they had monopolised government jobs, plum postings, and other such social benefits…In fact, the sharp economic disparity between the Pandits and the poor Muslim majority was one of the earliest reasons for popular discontent in the state,” Barkha was heard as saying.
The leftist cabal had earlier tried to contextualise Barkha’s statements and claim that the video was ‘clipped’ to mislead, but those claims were addressed and dismissed in a detailed OpIndia article here.
The thing is, the reason for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 90s was Islamic extremism, that has been unsuccessfully garbed as ‘dissatisfaction’ discontent, political gameplay and a lot of other things. The same game has been afoot in Kashmir for decades now.
The psychology of alienation
The alienation of India. The constant peddling of the idea that Kashmir is not a part of India, just what Pakistan always claims, has been drilled into the narrative, the media discourse, the politics and the psychology of the valley and its residents. The Indian government is the ‘interfering outside force’, ‘Hindus are snatching away jobs from us’, ‘Pandits were grabbing wealth’, the central government is bringing ‘other people to live here’ etc are all the different notes of the same music that is being played for decades, to keep the populace constantly on the edge, to create an atmosphere of edgy distrust and hatred, to keep them isolated mentally, so that Pakistan and other extremist forces find easy clays to mould into their puppets.
Pakistan has started preparations for August 5 too
Pakistan and its puppet government whined and whined after August 5, 2019, for months. They released threats after threats, statements after statements, condemnation of all colours, flavours and style. Yet, all their drama and outrage achieved zilch. Since we have a nationalist government with a formidable majority on the parliament, Pakistan has been virtually banging its head against a wall of steel. However, that doesn’t stop them from continuing their efforts, because the ‘Kashmir issue’ is what gives Pakistan relevance, and antagonising India has been the whole point of Pakistan’s existence since the partition. If Pakistan did not fight with India, it may as well dissolve the border and merge back, there will not be any point of its existence anymore.
Because they need India like a fish needs water, the Imran Khan government is gearing up for August 5 as a kid waits for her birthday. The PTI government has planned a series of media, and political events to mark the first anniversary of the Article 370 abrogation.
Though the media and social media reports do not specifically mention that the Pakistani government’s official plans for August 5 involve collaboration with some Indian parties and media partners, the way certain elements are behaving leaves little to the imagination. The date is important. So a concerted effort to vilify the Article 370 abrogation seems to be afoot.
Rana Ayyub on Twitter
The decision that granted all residents of Jammu and Kashmir, regardless of their gender, caste, religion, and ethnicity all the same rights that every other citizen of India enjoys, has to be painted as divisive and brutal by some, because that is how they wage a psychological war. That is how they brainwash the young Kashmiri to pick up stones and hurl at an army vehicle. That is how they brainwashed a population to hound, loot and kill their neighbours. That is exactly how they make young men and women reject the ideas of equality, democracy, inclusiveness, freedom and instead convince them to sacrifice themselves at the command of some extremist sitting in Islamabad.
In a recent remote House judiciary committee meeting on anti-trust law in the United States, leaders of Big Tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Twitter and others were grilled by the members of the Committees. The representatives, who tend to disagree on every issue under the Sun, agreed however that there are deep rooted problems within the industry.
As expected, the anti-Conservative bias of the tech giants came up during the course of the hearing. Republican Representative from Ohio, Jim Jordan, asserted that “Big Tech’s out to get Conservatives.” He said, “I will just cut to the chase. Big Tech is out to get Conservatives. That’s not a suspicion, that’s not a hunch, that’s a fact.”
Jim Jordan highlighted instances of discrimination of bias against Conservatives including the time when Google removed the homepages of Breitbart and Dailly Caller, two prominent right-wing media platforms. He also mentioned how Google threatened to demonetise The Federalist recently. He also criticised Google and YouTube for censoring content based on WHO recommendations, an organisation that has spread misinformation about the Coronavirus from the very beginning and engaged in apologia for China.
The Republican Ohio Representative also highlighted the manner in which Facebook and Amazon discriminates against conservative opinion. He mentioned that Facebook employees have admitted that they regularly censor conservative opinions. He also slammed Twitter for its censorship of US President Donald Trump. Jim Jordan said ‘there will have to be consequences’.
Jim Jordan also grilled Google CEO Sundar Pichai related to interference in political elections. The Republican Representative asked Pichai whether he could assure American citizens that Google will not deliberately attempt to tilt the elections in favour of presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden.
Rep. @Jim_Jordan: “Is Google going to tailor its features to help Joe Biden in the 2020 election?”
“We view both campaign strategies and political ads as an important part of free speech in a democratic society and engage with campaigns according to law and approach the work in a non-patrician way,” Pichai told Jim Jordan. The Republican Representative was not satisfied with the answer and asked whether Google will not “tailor features” in such a way that it favours Joe Biden’s chances of winning the elections.
Sundar Pichai replied, “We won’t do any work to politically tilt anything in one way or another. It’s against our core values.” Jim Jordan then reminded him that Eliana Murillo, the head of multicultural marketing at Google, had admitted in an email that Google made donations to the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The Google CEO said that it has been communicated to employees that any personal activity such as these must be done on their own time. Throughout the interaction, Sundar Pichai appeared quite uncomfortable during the whole interaction. This is not the first time that Big Tech has been accused of bias and Conservatives have regularly complained that social media platforms especially discriminate against them.
In a recent report, Breitbart has documented the manner in which Google has been working deliberately to limit the reach of its content. The media outlet said that consistent with the comments made by top Google Executives at an internal meeting, the details of which were leaked to Breitbart, where they bemoaned Trump’s victory and expressed their desire to prevent such an election outcome in the future, Google had started limiting its reach which would directly lead to influencing people’s opinions on politics.
Image Credit: Breitbart
Breitbart said that Google had suppressed its search visibility by 99.7% since 2016. Furthermore, Breitbart said that organic Google traffic to its side had reduced by 63 percent between first half of 10`6 and first half of 2020. The report also said that after the 5th of May, traffic to Breitbart from Google for search terms related to Joe Biden had dropped to zero.
“I’ve never experienced such a wholesale removal of rank and visibility on specific concepts on a site as I have seen being applied to Breitbart, a veteran SEO expert was quoted as saying. “Removal is the key, not dropping in rank, which would be an organic devaluing. These ranks are just simply gone, overnight, while other topics have been untouched.”
He added, “The sheer fact that there are thousands of pages of Breitbart content that reference Biden that were ranking before May 6, that now have no rank or impressions on search is a sign of manipulation, not algorithmic devaluing.” Another academic told Breitbart that he is of the opinion that it has been put on a Google blacklist or multiple blacklists.
Breitbart stated, “Google has stated its intention clearly: to make sure the 2016 election of President Trump was a “blip” in history. Sure enough, with less than five months before the election, Google is manipulating election-related search results.” “The scope and audacity (and hubris) make any alleged foreign interference in the 2016 election pale by comparison. And, it will surely warrant an even greater post-election congressional scrutiny,” it added.
Recently, Twitter censored US President Donald Trump’s tweet for threatening to crack down on violent protesters rioting on the streets of the USA. The White House criticised Twitter heavily for selectively censoring Donald Trump while allowing glorification of Jihad from other leaders on its platform. This amounted to direct election interference and the conduct of Twitter was criticised by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as well.
Censorship of non-Left political opinion has also been rife in India. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has also amplified toxic far-Left voices during his visit to India where he held a placard that advocated smashing ‘Brahminical Patriarchy’. It has also been observed that Twitter is overly enthusiastic in banning accounts that support the Hindutva ideology.
While no study has been conducted thus far in India to investigate whether Google has been manipulating search results in the country, it is irrational to believe that the tech giant will refrain from engaging in activities in India that it has engaged in the United States. Under such circumstances, it is of great significance that the Indian Government take greater interest in investigating whether such tech giants have been engaging in malpractices in the country.
In this regard, it is important to mention that the Government of India has banned TikTok and other Chinese apps for being a threat to national security. There is no good reason why we should believe that Google and other tech giants are not attempting such tricks either.
The Lucknow police on July 30 (Thursday) arrested Congress leader Anoop Patel for allegedly abetting the self-immolation attempt by a mother-daughter duo from Amethi in front of UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s office on July 17.
On the night of July 17, the police had taken AIMIM leader Kadir Khan along with one Sultan and Asma into custody, while Anup Patel had fled away.
FIR registered against four, including Congress leader Anup Patel and AIMIM Kadir Khan
The Uttar Pradesh police had registered an FIR against four people including an AIMIM leader Kadir Khan and UP Congress spokesperson Anoop Patel after investigation revealed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched in which few people, including the two leaders, instigated the two women to set fire to themselves in protest against the government.
According to the doctors, the mother had suffered 80 per cent burns. She succumbed to her burn injuries on July 22.
Mother-daughter duo tried to self-immolate in front of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow
The mother-Safia and her daughter named Gudiya had allegedly tried to self-immolate by setting themselves on fire on a busy road in front of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow, allegedly over police inaction in a land dispute case in Amethi, which had resulted in a blame game against the Uttar Pradesh government.
The incident enkindle a spree of political allegations against Yogi Adityanath government
Opposition parties and their supporters had used the incident to launch a malicious campaign against the UP government accusing them of not addressing the concerns of the poor. Not just the Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his sympathisers castigated the Yogi Adityanath government, but even Congress leaders and Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM party leaders took to social media to attack the Yogi Adityanath government.
However, much to the embarrassment of the Congress and AIMIM leaders, Lucknow police commissioner, Sujeet Pandey, later revealed that the duo was instigated to do so were non-other than the Congress leader Anup Patel and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) Kadir Khan.
Sujeet Pandey, Lucknow Police Commissioner, speaking to the media said, “It has come to light that it was done as per a criminal conspiracy in which some people played a key role in instigating the women. We have registered FIR against 4 people including an AIMIM leader Kadir Khan & a Congress leader Anup Patel”.
Days ahead of the much-awaited Bhoomi Pujan ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath drew the ire of Islamists online for applauding the construction of the temple.
Taking it to the social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, Kamal Nath posted a video message wherein he was seen welcoming the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. “I welcome the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Countrymen had expected and yearned for this. Construction of Ram temple is being done with the consent of every Indian. Such a thing is possible only in India,” Kamal Nath said.
मै अयोध्या में राम मंदिर निर्माण का स्वागत करता हूँ। देशवासियों को इसकी बहुत दिनों से अपेक्षा और आकांक्षा थी। राम मंदिर का निर्माण हर भारतवासी की सहमति से हो रहा है, ये सिर्फ़ भारत में ही संभव है। —कमलनाथ pic.twitter.com/18RI3arOMs
The video message was shared by the official Congress handle of Madhya Pradesh as well.
मै अयोध्या में राम मंदिर निर्माण का स्वागत करता हूँ। देशवासियों को इसकी बहुत दिनों से अपेक्षा और आकांक्षा थी। राम मंदिर का निर्माण हर भारतवासी की सहमति से हो रहा है, ये सिर्फ़ भारत में ही संभव है। —कमलनाथ pic.twitter.com/18RI3arOMs
However, a Congress leader’s approval for the construction of the Ram Mandir did not sit well with the Islamists, who criticised the former MP chief minister and the Congress party for betraying them by extending his support for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
One Twitter user who went by the name N H Khan appeared particularly perturbed by Kamal Nath’s support for Ram Temple that he called the ex Madhya Pradesh chief minister “shameless” for flip-flopping on the issue.
Twitter user’s critical remarks for Kamal Nath
Another Twitter user, who was dismayed by Kamal Nath’s claim that every Indian longed for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, said that 20 crore Muslims and some “good Hindus” still consider the Ram Janmabhoomi as Babri Masjid and will continue to do so. The Twitter user advised Kamal Nath that his pandering to Hindus won’t help him in getting their votes and to not come begging for Muslim votes in the future.
Twitter user expressing disapproval to Kamal Nath’s tweet welcoming the construction of Ram Temple
One Islamist, who was upset with Kamal Nath’s endorsement for the Ram Mandir cursed him that he will soon pay for his sins.
Another Islamist smarting the heartburn caused by Kamal Nath’s tweet advised the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister to join the BJP just like Jyotiraditya Scindia did in the past. “Have some shame Kamal Nath ji, don’t indulge in unsecular politics and stay away from such issues,” he tweeted.
Disheartened by Kamal Nath’s support for Ram Temple, an Islamist who rues the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, likened the Congress party to snakes, saying that the party lured them into voting and later betrayed them by following the same policies as the BJP.
One Twitter user declared that the construction of Ram Temple is happening due to the BJP’s government along with the compromised judicial system. “We do not support the construction of the Ram Temple. Don’t flip flop for the sake of attracting Hindu voters,” he tweeted.
Bhumi Pujan of Ram Temple in Ayodhya
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya for Bhoomi Pujan of Shri Ram Mandir on August 5. The ceremony will be graced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath among several other invitees. However, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has not yet confirmed his visit.
Reportedly, an estimated 100-150 guests will be allowed at the said event. The foundation laying ceremony will mark the beginning of the construction of the grand temple that is expected to take about 3 years to complete. Kameshwar Chaupal who serves as a trustee of the Ram Temple Trust informed that they are expecting the Prime Minister’s arrival in the temple town of August 5. He added that all government standard operating procedures (SOPs) with respect to safety against coronavirus will be ensured during the Bhumi Pujan.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Tripura has asked the State government to withdraw lockdown in the state on August 1, owing to Bakr Eid celebrations, reported party mouthpiece Desher Katha.
Reportedly, the party has also asked the BJP government in the State to revoke curfew and Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that prohibits assembly of five or more people in a particular area. The party mouthpiece read, “Under the pretext of containing the Coronavirus outbreak, the State government is snatching away their rights, personal freedom, and ability to protest and express a different opinion.”
As per reports, the government announced a complete lockdown in the State on July 27 which was later extended to August 4. in a bid to justify their demand for easing restrictions on Eid, the Communist Party has claimed that the lockdown has increased the financial burden on the working class. CPIM alleged that the imposition of complete lockdown in Tripura has forced people into living under house arrest.
Screenshot of the news report (Image Courtesy: Desher Kotha)
Lockdown on Bakr Eid ‘reckless’, says CPIM
Attacking the ruling political dispensation for implementing restrictions on Bakr Eid (without naming the festival) in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic, Desher kotha wrote, “Rajya Sompadokmondali Rajyar akangsha jonogoner annatama dharmiyo utsovar din pahala august lockdown er aoutai anai sidhantake abibachanaprosruto bola mone kora abong tar virodhita korecha (The State unit of the party has referred to the decision of the government to impose lockdown during the religious festival of a particular community as ‘reckless’ and has demonstrated their opposition to the decision.)” The Communist Party has urged the ‘particular community’ to adhere to social distancing rules and health guidelines. They have also demanded the revocation of lockdown on the said day to allow the specific community to celebrate their festival.
