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US announces visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party and People’s Republic of China officials over Tibet access

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US announces visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party and People’s Republic of China officials over Tibet access

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, has announced visa restrictions for some Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, 2018, on Tuesday. He said that he is announcing the restrictions on PRC government and Chinese Communist Party officials over alleged involvement in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas.

Pompeo said, “Access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given the PRC’s human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing’s failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia’s major rivers.”

Restricted access to Tibet

Beijing has systematically stopped access to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas for US diplomats, journalists, tourists and other officials. However, PRC officials and Chinese citizens have complete access to the United States. He added that the United States would continue to work for the Tibetan communities’ environmental conservation and economic development. The US will support Tibetan communities to improve their humanitarian conditions within the People’s Republic of China and abroad.

The US is committed to supporting meaningful autonomy for Tibetans, Pompeo said, “The United States respects their fundamental and inalienable human rights and will work to preserve their unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identities”. Pompeo added, “In the spirit of true reciprocity, we will work closely with the U.S. Congress to ensure U.S. citizens have full access to all areas of the People’s Republic of China, including the TAR and other Tibetan areas.”

Hindustan Times reported that for the fiscal year 2021 that starts on October 1, the State Department funding for Tibetan issues had been proposed to be $17 million. As per the budget papers, an additional $1 million has been proposed for a Special Coordinator of Tibetan Issues.

Previously, the US has initiated sanctions on Chinese officials over the Uyghur issue.

Free Tibet is in India’s benefit

Tibetan refugees are living in India for years. In the light of standoff with China, Tibetans have wholeheartedly supported India. China’s occupation of Tibet has caused a massive increase in India’s security budget. If in the future, Tibet gets free from the dragon’s claws, it will help the Tibetans reclaim their roots and help India improve its border security. Tibetan leaders, including the CTA President Lobsang Sangay, have asserted time and again that a free Tibet will mean regional peace, harmony and reduced military spending for India, which had, before the Chinese occupation of Tibet, had never shared a border with the communist expansionist nation.

Mumbai: Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s house vandalised

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s house vandalised

Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s house, “Rajgruha” in Maharashtra’s Mumbai was vandalised by unknown miscreants on Tuesday. As per reports, the CCTV cameras were also damaged.

Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s house vandalised

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh late on Tuesday took to Twitter to say that the police is currently investigating the case and strict action will be taken against the culprits.

As per reports, at least two unidentified miscreants entered the 3-storeyed building and vandalised it. CCTV cameras, glass panes and flowerpots were smashed.

Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s grandsons, Prakash Ambedkar and Bhimrao Ambedkar appealed for peace.

The building served as Dr Ambedkar’s residence when he moved to Mumbai in 1930s. Later it was turned into a museum. It has been closed since a few months due to lockdown.

Uttar Pradesh: Vikas Dubey spotted in a Faridabad hotel, hours later his aide Amar Dubey killed in police encounter

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Vikas Dubey spotted in a Faridabad hotel, hours later his aide Amar Dubey killed in police encounter

Uttar Pradesh’s notorious gangster Vikas Dubey was spotted in a hotel in Faridabad. Hours later, Amar Dubey, a close aide of wanted notorious gangster Vikas Dubey, was killed in a police encounter by Uttar Pradesh police in Hamirpur on Wednesday. 

According to the reports, Amar was an accused in the Kanpur attack on policemen case in which eight cops were killed and several others were injured by Vikas Dubey and his men. Amar was a history-sheeter and a wanted criminal.

“The aide Amar Dubey was co-accused in the Kanpur incident and was killed on Wednesday morning,” UP Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said.

Amar, who was also a wanted criminal in several other cases, was killed by Uttar Pradesh STF (Special Task Force) in coordination with the local police unit in Hamirpur. The administration had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on Amar. The police were tracking Vikas Dubey and managed to intercept Amar Dubey a little after daybreak earlier today in Hamirpur.

As per reports, the STF along with help of District Police sealed the area and launched a search operation. The police were looking for Amar Dubey when he reportedly opened fire at the cops. In retaliatory fire from the police, he was killed.

Meanwhile, Haryana Police has arrested another close aide of Vikas Dubey from Faridabad. It is believed that gangster Vikas Dubey had taken shelter at one of his relatives’ residence at Sector 87 in Faridabad. Some reports also suggest that Vikas Dubey was spotted at a hotel in Faridabad on Tuesday. A man who was arrested during the raid in Faridabad on Tuesday informed that Dubey had left the hotel just moments before the cops arrived.

The Uttar Pradesh STF are in touch with the Haryana Police in search for gangster Vikas Dubey and his aides. The police force of neighbouring states of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have also intensified their search for the notorious gangster.

Gangster Vikas Dubey killed eight policemen, injured six others

In a shocking incident, eight police personnel were killed and six cops were injured in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur during a police raid to nab the hardened criminal and murderer Vikas Dubey on July 2 late night.

A team of 15-16 Uttar Pradesh police had carried out raids in search of criminal Vikas Dubey in Chaubepur in Kanpur. The raid was carried out at 1 am on the intervening night of July 2-3 in Bithoor area in Chaubepur.

The police personnel were ambushed by Dubey’s men who were prepared with arms on the roof of a building and continuously shot at them. The criminals had already blocked the road with a JCB machine to prevent the policemen from escaping.

According to the police, Vikas Dubey and his men were already aware of the police raid and were on high alert. The criminals managed to flee from the spot after killing the police personnel. The deceased cops of Kanpur have been identified as DSP Devendra Kumar Mishra, SO Mahesh Yadav, Chowki Incharge Anup Kumar, Sub-Inspector Nebulal, Constables Sultan Singh, Rahul, Jitendra and Bablu.

Congress calls out MP Smriti Irani for alleged toilet scam in Amethi during 2018-2019 when Rahul Gandhi was the sitting MP

OpIndia Staff
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Congress calls out MP Smriti Irani for alleged toilet scam in Amethi during 2018-2019 when Rahul Gandhi was the sitting MP

In yet another political harakiri, the Congress party which proceeded to portray BJP stalwart Smriti Irani as corrupt and venal, shot itself in the foot when it posted a tweet alleging a toilet scam in Amethi. The official Twitter account of Uttar Pradesh Congress Sevadal today tweeted an article which said that the construction of toilets in Smriti Irani’s constituency—Amethi, was marred with corruption.

Taking a swipe at Smriti Irani, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Sevadal tweeted, “Has this toilet scam happened before or in the middle of Antakshari? It is clear from this scam that the people of Amethi must be still defecating in open.” An article alleging toilet scam in Amethi was attached in the tweet by the UP Congress Sevadal.

While the Congress party fell over itself to pass snide remarks against the Union Minister to show the BJP and the leader of being corrupt and venal, it manifestly did not read the article it has attached in the tweet to buttress its claims that the corruption has taken place in Smriti Irani’s constituency–Amethi in the construction of toilets.

The article attached claims that the head of the village of Amethi’s Vikaskhand Bhadar has brazenly presided over corruption scam to the tunes of crores of rupees. It adds that the matter came to light when the villagers submitted an affidavit to the District Magistrate Arun Kumar demanding an inquiry into the entire case. The article cleverly describes Amethi as Union Minister Smriti Irani’s constituency to somehow tie the corruption links to her.

According to the article, the head of the village Mochwa of Vikaskhand Bhadar is involved in a massive corruption scam related to the construction of toilets in the region. It claims that ineligible people were added in the list several times over and names of husband and wife both were used to swindle money from the funds meant for the construction of toilet.

The complaint letter submitted by the villages says that the target of constructing 240 toilets in the financial year 2018 in 1920 and 240 toilets in 2019 was given by the District Panchayat Raj Department but those numbers of toilets were not built in the region. Instead, contrary to the norms, many ineligible people were allotted the toilets.

Relevant sections from the article(Source: delhincr.buzz)

The Congress party tried to chalk up the alleged corruption scam on the BJP and the Union Minister Smriti Irani by asserting that the corruption took place under their rule. However, as per the complaints filed by the villagers, the scam pertains to the period 2018-2019, when the former Congress President Rahul Gandhi was the Member of Parliament from Amethi and was responsible for supervising the developmental work continuing in his constituency.

Ms Smriti Irani, in a high-voltage political contest, defeated Rahul Gandhi on the Amethi seat only in May 2019. It is, therefore, disingenuous, on the part of the article and the UP Congress Sevadal to allege that the supposed toilet scam took place under Smriti Irani’s leadership. On the contrary, if the Uttar Pradesh Congress Sevadal truly cares about the villagers’ grievances, then they should ask questions of Rahul Gandhi as to how such a scam happened right under his nose at a time when he was the elected representative of the constituency.

‘It’s not like Narendra Modi is paying for the temple construction’: Islamists in Pakistan’s Islamabad unite to punish ‘kafirs’

OpIndia Staff
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‘It’s not like Narendra Modi is paying for the temple construction’: Islamists in Pakistan’s Islamabad unite to punish ‘kafirs’

The controversy over the construction of a temple in Pakistan’s Islamabad has been raging on. After a video surfaced on social media where a young kid, about 5 to 6 years-old, was seen spewing hate and giving death threats to Hindus, Pakistani activist Rahat Austin took to Twitter to share more videos on how the Islamists are inciting hate and violence against non-Muslims in the Islamic State of Pakistan.

In the first video, the radical Islamists are heard inciting violence against Hindus. They say that they are Muslims, they do not fear war. ‘If we need to wage a war, we would do it wilfully, but we would not allow the Hindus to do this,’ says a man amongst the group of extremists recording the video from the proposed temple site in Islamabad.

‘We are here to protect and save Islam, at no cost would we allow the “kafirs” to make a mandir here.’ An elderly man amongst them says that ‘if you see the work has resumed please take our numbers and inform us… we will make sure the work is stopped.’

Meanwhile, a man in a blue shirt says that he lives in Canada and had traveled to Pakistan to demolish this Hindu Temple. He also claims that he will not allow the construction at any cost.

In the second video uploaded by Austin, the hardline-radical Islamists say that it’s not like the temple is being constructed for free or like Narendra Modi has sent the funds to construct the temple. The funds belong to the Pakistani government. The boys have done the right thing by demolishing the boundary wall of the temple says, the Islamists who claimed of coming from Canada.

This group of three-four radicals who openly incite hate and call for violence against the Hindus in Islamabad are seen inspecting the temple site and challenging anyone to come forward and restart the construction work. They brazenly claim that every time a fresh effort is made to construct the temple, they would destroy it.

Pakistani kid vows to kill all Hindus one by one

Earlier in the day, Twitter handle ‘Ex-Muslims of North America’, had shared a video in which a Pakistani man was seen taking pride in the venom spewed by his really young sons. The young kid vows to kill all Hindus one by one if the temple is constructed and his father shockingly takes pride in the bigotry displayed by his child.

Islamabad temple controversy

Islamists in Pakistan had recently opposed the construction of Shri Krishna temple in Islamabad, the country’s capital. A fatwa was also issued against its construction. Other than the fatwa, a petition was also filed in the Islamabad High Court against the construction of the temple. Later, the boundary wall which was constructed was demolished by an Islamist who has taken a vow that he will never let a Hindu temple be constructed there. Eventually, the Hindu Panchayat decided against constructing of the temple.

Rajnath Singh orders speedy completion of road projects in Ladakh worth Rs. 20,000 crores, BRO instructed to complete strategic DSDBO road in 3 months: reports

OpIndia Staff
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Rajnath Singh orders speedy completion of road projects in Ladakh worth Rs. 20,000 crores, BRO instructed to complete strategic DSDBO road in 3 months: reports

Road projects in Ladakh worth Rs. 20,000 crores are set to be expedited in the wake of the conflict with China at Galwan Valley, India Today has reported. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has given the go-ahead to speed up these projects. Reportedly, it includes the realignment of a track on the strategically important Durbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie Road.

A total of 30 bridges are under construction and road projects worth nearly Rs. 20,000 crores, that includes highways and tunnels, are under various stages of planning and construction. “Road infrastructure is to be enhanced in a short span keeping in mind the current standoff that could stretch for months,” India Today quoted an official as saying.

Meanwhile, three new bridges were made operational by the Border Roads Organisation in Ladakh’s Nimu region on Monday. BRO Executive Engineer B Kishan told the media, “This bridge is at kilometre 397. Earlier, there were three bottlenecks at kilometre 362, 361 and 397. This bridge has been constructed in a record time of three months. On the request of the Army, we made a 50-metre long steel structure bridge which can carry any sort of load.”

“This is an R-70 class bridge and it can take any sort of load to the forward posts,” he added. These bridges would help the Indian Army move heavy artillery and tanks to the Eastern Ladakh Sector along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Rajnath Singh has also given BRO a three-month deadline to complete the DSDBO Road. The construction of this road was a major contributing factor to the current standoff between India and China as the road gives India easy access to the Karakoram Pass that separates Ladakh from China’s Xinjiang.

“On the 255 km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road, the ongoing construction is almost done. About 45 km of blacktopping work is pending. BRO head Lt Gen Harpal Singh conveyed that this has to be completed by October 2020,” a senior defence ministry official was quoted by The Week as saying.

Australian surfer Carmen Greentree abducted and raped for 2 months in a houseboat in Kashmir in 2004, pressurised to convert to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Australian surfer Carmen Greentree abducted and raped for 2 months in a houseboat in Kashmir in 2004, pressurised to convert to Islam

About 16 years back, Carmen Greentree, then 22, took time out of her surfing to explore spirituality under Dalai Lama in the Himalayas in May 2004. However, what promised to be an ethereally edifying experience, turned out to be Ms Greentree’s worst nightmare after she was duped by scammers masquerading as government tourism operators and subsequently held her captive on a houseboat in Kashmir where she was raped dozens of times and thrashed when she pleaded to leave.

Carmen Greentree pens a book detailing her horrific ordeal

Ms Greentree has painstakingly chronicled her excruciating past in a book, hoping to rest the demons that continue to haunt her. She has penned down her painful ordeal in a book titled “A Dangerous Pursuit of Happiness” narrating in striking details about her abduction and her subsequent recovery from the traumatic experience.

Carmen Greentree, then known as Carmen Buecher, was a fledgling professional surfer who had trained alongside seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore and competed all over the world on the pro circuit in 2002-03. However, after failing to make the Women’s World Championship Tour in 2003, she decided to take a temporary sabbatical from surfing and explore spirituality.

Booked a course at Dalai Lama’s hermitage in Dharamshala but fell victim to unscrupulous tour agents

She booked a course at Dalai Lama’s hermitage in Dharamshala, a town cradled in the midst of snow-clad Himalayan mountains and set off from Sydney airport for New Delhi. While she was warned of unscrupulous private operators wanting to swindle the tourists, she still fell victim to the scammers pretending to be government tourism operators.

The Australian was tricked by a scammer who persuaded her to fly to Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir instead of the circuitous 14-hour bus journey from New Delhi to Dharamshala.

Carmen Greentree was picked up on May 27, 2004, by a Kashmiri man named Rafiq Ahmad Dundoo who cautioned her that it was dangerous for women to be alone in Kashmir. Dundoo took her to a houseboat named Y H Sunbeam on Dal Lake and asked her to spend the night on the boat before boarding a bus to Dharamshala the next morning.

Houseboat Y H Sunbeam (Source: dailymail.co.uk)

Raped continuously for two months at Rafiq Ahmad Dundoo’s houseboat in Kashmir

However, soon after Ms Greentree arrived on the boat, she realised the evil intentions of Dundoo who tried to force himself on her on the first night itself. For initial few days, Ms Greentree tried to repulse Dundoo’s amorous advances but later she gave in, hoping against hope that once he raped her he would let her go.

Rafiq Ahmad Dundoo(Left) (Source: dailymail.co.uk)

“The worst feeling was when I gave in and let him take what he wanted,” she said. 

But Ms Greentree soon realised that Dundoo was in no mood to let her go. Dundoo raped her every night and whenever he wished to in the next two months when she was held captive and flogged her mercilessly whenever she pleaded him to leave her.

“I lost count of how many times he raped me. I have tried to shunt that experience so much so that I no longer remember the assaults any more,” said Ms Greentree.

“He was a man without moral scruples and was clearly didn’t care about it. He showed me he had the intention to do harm to me and he felt not an ounce of guilt for what he was doing to me,” Ms Greentree said.

Family of Dundoo served as mute spectator to Ms Greentree’s sexual abuse

Even Dundoo’s family members served as mute spectators, overlooking the physical abuse and molestation Ms Greentree was subjected to. The Australian pro surfer said that Dundoo’s elderly mother and father, two brothers, his wife and their wife and their baby were all on the houseboat but none of them helped her escape.

Room where Ms Greentree was held captive and raped for two months(Source: dailytimes.co.uk)

She expressed her anguish to Dundoo’s father, hopeful of shaking his conscience. However, the old man contemptuously turned down Ms Greentree’s requests. Dundoo’s two brothers thought women to be property, and silently consented and condoned their brother’s inhuman behaviour, Ms Greentree said.

Ms Greentree was heavily persuaded to embrace Islam while being held in captivity

According to the Australian surfer, Dundoo’s wife likened serving her husband to the service of Allah. “She said it was her honour to have given up everything to serve her husband and that’s how she serves Allah,” Ms Greentree said.

Ms Greentree further adds that she was coerced to dress like traditional Kashmiri women, including headscarf, and ate meals with the family. She was also asked to work around the boat, helping women with the cooking, cleaning and sorting grains of rice, and laundry. She was also heavily pressurised to pray 5 times a day. A copy of Qur’an with English translation was given to her.

Police stormed the houseboat to rescue Ms Greentree

Ms Greentree’s miseries came to an end when her captive’s avarice resulted in her release. Her captor, Dundoo, in his rapacious greed to extort money in exchange of her release, was caught by the police in a dramatic operation after the officials boarded the houseboat and freed Ms Greentree.

Dundoo and his brother Shabir Ahmad Dundoo were arrested by the police and her passport and her other belongings were retrieved from them. However, they never faced the justice because Ms Greentree was too traumatised to testify against them and therefore the case against them collapsed. They were released after being held for 6 months in the jail.

Similar cases of abduction by the same family

Similar to Ms Greentree’s abduction, a British backpacker was kidnapped and extorted on the same boats nine years earlier.The British backpacker contacted Ms Greentree earlier last week, claiming that he was abducted by the same family nine years earlier and extorted for all his money. She is alarmed that there might be other victims of such atrocities as well and regrets her decision of not visiting India for testifying against the Dundoo family for abducting and raping her.

Gold smuggling case: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan distances himself and the state government from the raging controversy

OpIndia Staff
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Gold smuggling case: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan distances himself and the state government from the raging controversy

On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reportedly gave a clean chit to the State government from any involvement in the high-profile gold smuggling and had instead passed on the blame to the Centre. He stated that the parcel carrying smuggled gold was not received by any agency of the State government. He pointed out that the said parcel came to the UAE consulate and that the Kerala government had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that since the airports and its facilities are controlled by the Union government and that the parcel was seized by the Customs department, therefore, it was the responsibility of the Centre and not the State Government. The Kerala Chief Minister had received social media backlash after an image of him with one of the kingpins of the gold smuggling syndicate, namely, Swapna Suresh, went viral.

Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that the said woman had no connection with the Information Technology (IT) Department or the Chief Minister’s Office. “This woman was working as a Marketing Manager for a project under the IT Dept as a contract employee. She was taken through a placement agency.”

Principal Secretary to Pinarayi Vijayan removed

On Tuesday, the Kerala government had removed M Sivasankar as the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister after his name surfaced in a high-profile gold smuggling case related to the UAE embassy in the capital of Kerala. He has now been replaced by IAS Mir Mohammad Ali. As per reports, Sivasankar was also removed as the IT secretary.

Reportedly, Sivasankar is accused of making calls to the customs department to get clearance for a ‘diplomatic package’ that was smuggling 30-kg of gold. He has also been accused, by both the Congress and the BJP, for protecting one of the kingpins of the gold smuggling syndicate, namely, Swapna Suresh. Swapna Suresh’s diplomatic baggage with smuggled gold was held at the Thiruvananthapuram airport.

Swapna Suresh was misusing ‘diplomatic immunity’

Custom officials in Kerala had earlier nabbed a former employee of the UAE Consulate in Kerala named Sarith where he had divulged that Suresh, also a former staffer, had forged documents to misuse diplomatic privileges. Suresh’s baggage, marked with the address of the UAE Consulate was held at the airport on July 5. Swapna Suresh was working as the marketing liaison officer Space Park under the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL) that comes directly under the IT department.

The Wire’s claims that NCPCR saw 8-fold increase in complaints post-Coronavirus outbreak are false: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire’s claims that NCPCR saw 8-fold increase in complaints post-Coronavirus outbreak are false: Read details

The leftist propaganda website, ‘The Wire’, has once again in its article titled: “COVID-19 Lockdown Lessons and the Need to Reconsider Draft New Education Policy”, claimed that the National Commission for Protection of Children Rights (NCPCR), which is the primary monitoring agency of the RTE Act 2009, has seen a huge swell in the number of complaints it has received post-Coronavirus-lockdown.

The article published by The Wire on June 10, 2020

Conjecturing that the Coronavirus-pandemic had magnified educational equalities in the country like never before, the article claimed that the National Commission for Protection of Children Rights has said that it has seen an 8-fold rise in the complaints post lockdown. “In the previous year, the NCPCR addressed around 5,000 complaints; post-outbreak (beginning March 2020), this has increased about 8-fold”, read the article, insinuating that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a critical impact on children’s education, particularly of those from marginalised sections.

The Wire’s article claiming thet NCPCR has seen a 8-fold surge in the number of complaints post lockdown

This claim made by the news portal was immediately fact-checked by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), which said that the National Commission for Protection of Children Rights (NCPCR) has categorically denied the 8-folds increase in the complaint. It said that NCPCR has denied the wrong information being circulated and warned people against misleading reports quoting incorrect facts.

PIB’s fact-check was also endorsed by the National Commission for Protection of Children Rights, which retweeted PIB’s tweet.

PIB’s tweet retweeted by NCPCR calling out The Wire

This is, however, not the first time, the leftist media portal has made such baseless and unsubstantiated claims to project the government in poor light. In fact, the leftist media portal has recently been trying to milk the coronavirus pandemic to cast aspersions on Modi government.

The Wire has peddled fake news with impunity

At the beginning of the month, ‘The Wire’ had maliciously misrepresented facts to project the India Railways in poor light and to propel its agenda it went on to claim that 3 out of 4 ‘fact-checks’ by PIB were ‘unsubstantiated’. To prove the government in a bad light, the website essentially claimed that the country saw an unprecedented crisis with migrant workers from different states wanting to go back home amidst the pandemic. It insinuated that PIB had lied about the cause of death of migrant workers and that they indeed did die due to starvation. 

Last month, too in a similar attempt to deride the Modi government, The Wire blatantly lied about the ventilators which were received in a donation by Gujarat government. It alleged that the firm from which the Modi government procured the ventilators had close ties to the BJP leaders and insinuated that the payment of which might have been made by the PM Cares fund. A claim, which was once again fact-checked by PIB, which did not miss on calling out the lie and deceit peddled by The Wire ‘journalist’ Rohini Singh.

Well lying and maliciously peddling false claims is a talent which this leftist media house has flaunted in abundance. We have reported many incidences in the past where ‘The Wire’ has been caught several times peddling the most outlandish lies with impunity.

‘Turn vegan’ anti-slaughter poster in Lucknow featuring goat not related to Eid, claims PETA in an exclusive interview with OpIndia

OpIndia Staff
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‘Turn vegan’ anti-slaughter poster in Lucknow featuring goat not related to Eid, claims PETA in an exclusive interview with OpIndia

There seems to be no need to the controversy that was kicked up after PETA, the world’s largest animal rights group, put up a hoarding in Lucknow, of a goat urging people not to slaughter it. The poster predictably riled up a set of influential Islamic clerics who expressed their vehement protest over the banner and asked for its removal. The Islamic clerics asserted that the banner showing a goat was deliberately put up in Lucknow ahead of the Muslim festival of Bakrid to target the minority community.

As the controversy continues to snowball, OpIndia contacted the international animal right’s group and sought their response on the matter. We had a conversation with PETA official–Radhika Suryavanshi, wherein we asked her questions about the aforesaid hoarding in Lucknow along with the discrimination meted out to Hindus. We also heard PETA’s side on the allegations made by the Muslim clerics that the banner was deliberately put up to target the minority community. Here is the detailed conversation with Radhika Suryavanshi:-

If not PETA, who removed the hoarding? Are you alleging that police and local administration have pulled down PETA’s banner in Lucknow?

I would like to tell you that the billboard was not removed on PETA’s orders. The agency entrusted with the responsibility of putting up such hoardings informed us that the billboard was removed by a local vendor at the behest of the owner of the site. PETA is firm on its stand that there is no wrong in eating vegetarian food and bestowing kindness on the animals. We have also asked for the re-installation of the said hoarding.

The President of the Islamic Center of India, Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, has asked why such hoardings were placed before the festival of Bakri Eid? Is he wrong? What would you say about this? When was the hoarding installed?

PETA India has conveyed the same message on behalf of all of its Muslim supporters and associates and has also installed similar hoardings in Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. The consumption of goat meat happens on a regular basis, it has got nothing to do with Eid. We want to create public awareness about vegetarianism every day. In fact, the said hoarding is one of our new advertisements endorsing our vegan expedition. There are other posters of chickens, fish and other animals also, that are consumed as meat by people. All these boards have been installed in many cities across the country.

Many organisations such as KFC endorse their non-vegetarian food. These advertisements manifestly supporting the killing and consumption of innocent creatures are also wrong. Then why shouldn’t their posters be pulled down as well?

Athar Hussain of the Director of Center for Objective Research and Development (CORD) has said that Muslims sacrifice goats on the festival of Bakri Eid. The hoarding of PETA is giving the wrong message and we have reservations about it. Muslim community opposes this. What is PETA’s response to this?

All religions give a message of compassion and permit the eating of vegan food. Goats are very sensitive and playful animals. In fact, all animals can feel sorrow and pain just like human beings and they deeply care about their self-preservation. Many people celebrate the festival of Bakri Eid by distributing vegetarian food, donating and helping the destitute. Vegan eating is good for our heart health and helps us to avoid cancer, heart disease, diabetes and many other life-threatening diseases.

Is PETA India seeking anything from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in this matter?

It is pertinent to note that as per the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, the animals can be slaughtered only in licensed abattoirs. PETA India had earlier requested all the states to take strict measures against illegal transport and killings of animals during Eid.

It is not unusual during Eid that a large number of animals are packed in small trucks to be to transported to slaughterhouses. Often their bones break and many of them die during their journey to the slaughterhouses in cramped trucks. When frightened animals hesitantly walk towards the slaughterhouses, their tail is twisted and broken to force them to move fast. Inside the abattoirs, these animals are slaughtered in open in front of each other by untrained butchers who slits their throat partially and leaves them all to die painfully.

Have you received any threatening emails, phone calls or messages from fundamentalist Muslims? If yes, can you give the details? (In this case or any other case as well)

No, we have not received any kind of threat from anywhere. And we request the residents that there is nothing wrong in talking about compassion for animals or promoting consumption of vegan food. Like all other advertisements, this vegan billboard of ours is just to create awareness among people about the atrocities faced by animals.

How much truth is there in the allegation that PETA India makes a lot of noise on Hindu festivals but keeps mum on the festivals of Muslims?

See, our campaigns are not based on our against any religion. PETA India is not a religious institution and people of all religions are our supporters. We are only against cruelty to animals. This includes misbehaving with animals for their entertainment such as circus, horse racing, bullock racing, hunting, Jallikattu and many other events. We are against capturing elephants and training them for circuses, or in any other festivals. We are also against the sacrifice of animals, regardless of religion.

An elephant is a social animal who should be living in the jungles on the grasses. However, humans hold them in chains on their paved floors made of cement by imprisoning them for their benefits, subjecting them to extreme physical and mental torture. Without adequate food and water, their condition deteriorates. The nails of their feet get dislocated, their soles are cut, their feet become swollen, and they are made to stand amidst their excreta. According to a survey, more than 50 per cent of elephants who die in captivity, die of these reasons.

This animal suffers from severe mental stress because of its imprisonment, lack of opportunities for a social life or not being able to lead a free life, and it can be easily seen when elephants are seen doing the same thing by moving their head around or right. Huh. The chains tied at the feet lacerate their skins. Sharp metallic curbs are used to control them.

Innocent animals are killed not just on Eid but everyday around us. Their throats are slit with sharp-edged knives and they are left to die a painful and agonising death. The only difference is that on the other days, animals are not killed on the streets but in the slaughterhouses. This does not mean that the cruelty on them reduces. Lat year, we inspected the cattle market in proximity to Mumbai’s Deonar slaughterhouse.

The controversy surrounding the PETA poster in Lucknow

A hoarding put up by Animal rights organisation – PETA with a photograph of a goat, urging people not to slaughter it, was removed in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh after Islamic clerics objected to such hoardings.

According to the reports, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal (PETA) had put up a hoarding in Qaiserbagh, which displayed a huge picture of a goat and read – “Mai Jeev Hoon, Maans Nahi. Hamare Prati Nazariya Badlen, Vegan Bane” (I am a living being and not just meat. Change your view towards us and become a vegan).

As posters were put up by PETA across other parts of the city, Islamic clerics in the city claimed that such posters hurt their religious sentiments.

Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, President of the Islamic Centre of India, had even complained to the Lucknow Police Commissioner demanding the removal of PETA’s hoarding. The Maulana objected to the hoarding by placing a photo of the goat before the festival of Bakrid.

“Bakrid is expected to be celebrated on July 31. Why such hoarding is being put up just ahead of the festival?” the cleric queried. “It seems that these hoardings were deliberately put up in a mischievous attempt to hurt Muslim sentiments,” he added.

Shockingly, two complaints were also registered with the Kaiserbagh police demanding the removal

A letter was also sent by the director of Centre for Objective Research and Development (CORD) Athar Husain.

“Muslims observe ‘Qurbani’ (sacrifice) on the festival. The hoarding is sending out a wrong message, it is objectionable. The community strongly objects to it, “Husain added.

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