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Congress picks Coronavirus data of four random countries to prove that India has the highest number of cases, fails in that too

OpIndia Staff
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Congress picks Coronavirus data of four random countries to prove that India has the highest number of cases, fails in that too

Even as the entire world continues its focus on combating the deadly Coronavirus which is devastating countries after countries across the globe, India’s major opposition party Congress party’s single point agenda even in this time of a grave pandemic is to belittle the central government led by Narendra Modi. In such an attempt, the Congress party posted a chart to claim that India has the highest number of Coronavirus cases in the world. But in doing so, the party exposed itself as even the wrong chart does not show what they were trying to prove.

The Congress posted a tweet from its official handle saying that PM Modi was not wrong when he said he would make India a world leader, only he didn’t specify in which category, and now the PM has made India leader in number of coronavirus cases. They attached a chart with the tweet, showing Coronavirus numbers or five countries including India. It shows that India has much greater number of Coronavirus cases at 46,433, compared to the numbers of Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan.

Needless to say, it is laughable to claim that India is the world leader in number coronavirus cases based on comparison with just four other counrties, because the deadly virus that originated in China is not limited to these five countries alone. The COVID-19 has spread all across the globe, and there are several countries having more coronavirus patients than India. As per the latest data on worldometers.info website, The United States have 13,24,374 cases the highest in the world, while India’s number as on today is 59,881. Which means India’s total number is less than 5% of the US numbers, which is far from being world leader. In terms of the number of total cases, there are 13 countries above India.

Although being in 14th place in a list of almost 200 countries is still seems very serious, actually India’s current situation is better than that. It is because, rather than the total numbers, what matters is the proportion of the population which is infected. India has the second-largest population in the world, and hence, the number of Coronavirus cases per million population is actually one of the lowest among major countries. And even when compared with the four countries ‘selected’ by the Congress party, India’s position is better than all the other four.

If we calculate the per million coronavirus cases of the five countries mentioned by the Congress party using population data mentioned on US govt’s census website, we find that even among these selected five countries, India comes last, not first, owing to the large population of the country.

CountryCoronavirus cases as per Congress TweetPopulation in millionCoronavirus cases per million
India46433132635.02
Pakistan24073233.5103.1
Indonesia1207126745.21
Singapore80146.21292.58
Japan6748125.553.77

Comparing absolute numbers of various countries give a wrong impression, as we can see here. As of today, Singapore has 22,460 Coronavirus cases, which seems better than India. But actually, the city-state’s population is just around 60 lakh, which is less than the major metropolitan cities in India. Therefore, it is wrong to compare the absolute numbers, and the per capita numbers give the true picture of extent of the pandemic.

Coronavirus cases per million population of the 5 countries compared by Congress party

Therefore, while trying to attack the Modi government, the Congress party actually scored a self-goal in this case. First they excluded major Coronavirus affected countries like USA, China, Italy, UK etc and selectively picked only four countries to compare with India, and then they made a wrong comparison with absolute numbers, instead of using per capita numbers which is the accepted standard practice of comparing data among various countries.

Chennai: Ayurvedic Pharmacist dies after consuming the ‘cure’ he developed to battle Coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Chennai: Ayurvedic Pharmacist dies after consuming the ‘cure’ he developed to battle Coronavirus

A 47-year-old general manager and pharmacist of an Ayurvedic product company died in Chennai after consuming a drug he developed as a cure for coronavirus. According to the reports, the 47-year-old identified as K Sivanesan was a qualified ophthalmologist and worked with Sujatha Biotech, an Ayurvedic and herbal products company for 27 years.

Reportedly, Sivanesan had devised formulas of various products and used to visit his managing director Dr Rajkumar frequently in the city.

Cure for coronavirus to make huge profits

On Thursday, Sivanesan and Dr Raj Kumar, the company’s owner, decided to meet as they had a plan to make a medicine for coronavirus with Nitric Oxide and Sodium Nitrate. They mooted the plan hoping that the company will benefit in a large way if they succeed, said an officer probing the case.

During the experiment, Sivanesan and Kumar consumed Sodium Hydrate, used in the manufacture of chemicals and soaps, and in petroleum refining. The duo hoped that the company would make huge profits if they succeeded. 

The officer said that the duo seemed to have had a belief that the mixture may be used for coronavirus treatment and to improve platelet count in the body.

Reportedly, Both the employee and the owner consumed the mixture and developed health problems. Soon, Sivanesan was rushed to a private hospital in T Nagar but he was declared dead on arrival. His body was later sent for post-mortem.

The 67-year old owner’s condition is stable now. Meanwhile, the police said they have sent items seized from a temporary laboratory set up at the residence for tests.

Bangladeshi NGO ‘Bidyanondo’ hounded by Islamic fundamentalists for its Hindu name and Hindu founder: Here are the details

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladeshi NGO ‘Bidyanondo’ hounded by Islamic fundamentalists for its Hindu name and Hindu founder: Here are the details

Irrespective of doing incredible work for the underprivileged and marginalised especially at the time of a crisis like the Coronavirus pandemic, Bangladeshi NGO named Bidyanondo Foundation has now come under the attack of Islamist fundamentalist on social media. They are being targeted for its Hindu name and Hindu owner.

The attacks and propaganda against Kishore Kumar Das, founder of Bidyanondo Foundation, became so intense that he was forced to think of stepping down as the chairperson of the foundation. The announcement had come on May 5 through the official, verified Facebook page of the foundation.

Resignation posted by Kishor Kumar Das on the NGO’s verified Facebook page on May 5

The executive committee of Bidyanondo had, however, not accepted Kishor’s resignation which forced Kishor to take back the decision.

When Dhaka Tribune got in touch with the NGO’s chairperson he said: “I decided to resign following personal attacks against me on social media, due to my religious affiliations. But later I realized that it would negatively impact the foundation’s campaign and activities.”

For the last two years, activists of the foundation have been subjected to constant attacks on social media for its name and the founder’s religious affiliations, insiders were quoted as saying by the Bangladesh daily, Dhaka Tribune.

HinduPost reported, “Bidyanondo has been widely praised in Bangladesh for their work for the betterment of underprivileged children, fighting against hunger and social taboos. It has been feeding the underserved through a project titled “Ek takay ahar” (Food at Tk 1). Kishore dreams of a world where no child would suffer and no one would go to sleep with an empty stomach. After the coronavirus situation started unfolding, the foundation became even more active and started supplying food for the needy, spraying disinfectant in public vehicles and other areas of Dhaka, feeding street dogs and carrying out a multitude of activities that earned them praise from all quarters of society”.

According to reports, Kishor Kumar Das faced the ire of Islamists because of the  “non-Muslim” sounding name of the foundation.

Few of the allegations levelled at the NGO and the chairperson were:

  • The NGO’s cheap meals were laced with sedatives to put children to sleep and traffic them. Of course, this allegation did not stick as it was completely baseless.
  • Last year, it was alleged that the iftar arranged by the NGO was adulterated with cow urine/dung to convert “gullible” Muslims into Hindus. 
  • It was alleged on social media that Bidyanondo is a Hindu missionary (ISKCON) organization funded by India.
  • It has been alleged that Bidyanondo collects funds in the name of charity and smuggles it into India.

According to Hindupost, an article titled ‘Bidyanondo should not have to defend itself’ written by a Bangladeshi Muslim, Tanim Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Omnispace, lists out these ridiculous allegations hurled at Bidyanondo and its founder.

The writer had observed:

“There are strings of comments and remarks on social media questioning the authenticity and true intention of a Hindu organization being charitable, solely because it has a Bengali name and a founder who is said to be a Hindu…points to the growing religious intolerance among Bangladeshis. It is becoming obvious that Bangladesh is increasingly becoming a country of “Muslims” only, where people of other faiths will become second-class citizens while others like atheists and maybe even Ahmadiyyas will be hounded down”.

Bangladeshi NGO Bidyanondo Foundation

The Bidyanondo foundation was founded in the year 2013 by Kishor Kumar Das. The NGO has been widely praised in Bangladesh for their relentless work for the betterment of the underprivileged children, fighting against hunger and social taboos. It has been feeding the marginalised through a project named: “Ek takay ahar”.

After the coronavirus situation started unfolding, the foundation became even more active and started supplying food to the needy, spraying disinfectant in various areas in Dhaka, feeding stray dogs and carrying out a horde of activities that has earned the NGO praises from all quarters of the society.

Tamil Nadu Government moves Supreme Court against Madras HC’s order to close liquor outlets in the State

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu Government moves Supreme Court against Madras HC’s order to close liquor outlets in the State

On Saturday, the Tamil Nadu Government has reportedly moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court’s interim decision to ban all liquor stores in light of the massive crowds and lack of social distancing in public spaces.

Petition by Tamil Nadu Government

The plea was filed by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), a government-run firm that sells liquor in the State. The petition to the Supreme Court is premised on the fact that the State will suffer “grave losses” in terms of “revenue and commercial activity.” The petition argued that the decision to run a major commercial activity, through the sale of liquor, is the prerogative of the Government and not the Judiciary.

The State further stated that the ban on the local sale of liquor who make people flee to neighbouring states to procure it. Buyers living close by the borders have also travelled to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka where the liquor sale began one day before.

On Friday the Madras High Court had ordered the closure of liquor shops saying that there were huge crowds in front of the outlets and no social distancing was maintained. The court had only allowed doorstep delivery of booze through online mode.

Interim Order of the Madras High Court

Earlier the Madras High Court had allowed the sale of liquor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, but the court had imposed several restrictions. The court had said that an individual could only purchase alcohol twice a week with a minimum gap of three days in between. Furthermore, those paying online could purchase two bottles of 750 ml alcohol at a time while those paying through cash could purchase only one.

The High Court had also ordered that the name, address and Aadhar Card number of the buyer be recorded in the bill, essentially making Aadhar mandatory to buy liquor in the state. The High Court order came after a petition was filed by advocate G Rajesh and a complaint by Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), a party run by Kamal Haasan.

The High Court which on Wednesday allowed the sale of liquor in the State in accordance with the government order on May 5 observed on Friday, the blatant violation of lockdown and TASMAC norms.

Coronavirus Scare in Tamil Nadu

Sale of alcohol through state-run vendors began in Tamil Nadu on Thursday after a gap of 43 days, owing to the Coronavirus lockdown. Since buyers flouted social distancing guidelines, the Tamil Nadu government received backlash for its decision. It had also raised concerns about the potential spread of the deadly pathogen in the State that has reported more 6000 cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

Liquor Shops shut in East Delhi

On May 4, the Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Eastern Range) announced that all liquor shops that were operational for a few hours in East Delhi had to be shut down, owing to the violation of social distancing guidelines by people.

The cops had to resort to lathi-charge to tame unruly mobs in Laxmi Nagar, and Kashmere Gate areas area after people flouted social distancing rules since the sale of alcohol began at 10 am. Liquor shops had to be forced shut-in places such as Mayur Vihar and Krishna Nagar. Burari and Malviya Nagar also saw a footfall of massive crowds.

14-year-old Christian girl abducted, converted to Islam and married off to her abductor in Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
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14-year-old Christian girl abducted, converted to Islam and married off to her abductor in Pakistan

A 14-year-old Christian girl, Myra Shehbaz, was abducted in Faislabad in Pakistan by Muhammad Naqash and his accomplice while she was travelling to her workplace in April 2020, reported Forbes.

Eye witness accounts by Pervez Masih, Younas Masih, and Naeem Masih state that Myra was forcibly abducted in a car while she resisted. The men were armed and as such the eyewitnesses could not help the victim. The accused also fired shots in the air. Speaking to International Christian Concern, her mother, Nighat, expressed fears of rape, forceful conversion to Islam, and even murder. She was indeed married off to her abductor and forcibly converted.

While Myra’s marriage certificate stated her age as 18, it contradicted her National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) certificate. As a part of the modus operandi, a typed statement that she had left her home willingly was also produced. The case is yet to be taken to the Court.

Persecution of religious Minorities

Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP) has estimated that about 1000 Christian and Hindu women between 12 and 25 years are abducted, raped, married, and forced to convert to Islam. Due to limited financial means of the families of such victims, many cases go unreported.

On October 10 last year, another 14-year-old Huma Younus was abducted from her parents’ home in Karachi by a Muslim man named Abdul Jabbar, a resident of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. Farzana (14), and Sehrish (16) were gang-raped by 3 Muslim men but the families were forced to settle the matter outside the Court. In the case of Sana John (13) and Mehwish (14) who were abducted by Muslims, the police conducted a botched investigation and no attempts were made to rescue them. A 11-year-old Christian girl named Maria Sarfraz was also gang-raped for 3 days but was forced to settle the matter outside.

Justice Denied

Justice is rare in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In most cases, such abducted women never get to reunite with their families. In the case of Huma Yunus, a Pakistan Court upheld her marriage and forced conversion to Islam, despite her being underage. The case will now proceed to the Supreme Court.

Lack of proper investigation, prosecution of the accused, and denial of the right to the reunification of such abducted victims with their guardians make the victims an easy and vulnerable prey to the Islamic predators. It must be reiterated that every child deserves a normal childhood.

However, in an unprecedented judgment by the Lahore High Court, it was ruled that a 14-year-old Pumy Muskan who was forcibly converted to Islam lacked legal capacity to change her religion. The petitioner aka her mother Nasira, however, received some success in the case. “The Petitioner being the lawful guardian of Pumy Muskan is entitled to her custody. There is no reason to deprive her of that right”, the Court directed.

Minorities denied ration in Pakistan

Earlier, the Sindh Government had issued orders to local NGOs to distribute ration to poor daily-wage workers and labourers. However, the Hindus and Christians were singled out and denied their fair share of the ration by a Karachi-based NGO, Saylani Welfare Trust.

The Pakistani Hindus and Christians, most of who are daily wage workers, had gathered at Rehri Goth in Karachi to receive essential supplies. They were informed that the ration was meant only for Muslims and the minority were asked to go back. Moreover, no screening was done for the 3000 odd people who had gathered to receive ration. Similar treatment has been meted out to Hindus in Liyari, Sachal Ghoth, and other parts of Sindh.

Amidst cries of privacy concerns, Singaporean ethical hacker Frank Liauw gives thumbs-up to security features of Aarogya Setu app

OpIndia Staff
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Amidst cries of privacy concerns, Singaporean ethical hacker Frank Liauw gives thumbs-up to security features of Aarogya Setu app

As the Indian government aggressively pushed for widespread adoption of its contact-tracing app, Aarogya Setu, many privacy-focused groups, including the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), raised questions over the privacy concerns of the app. Putting an end to the ongoing rumours, the Singaporean ethical hacker Frank Liauw validated the security features of the Aarogya Setu app.

After running a security review of Singapore Government’s contact tracing app- TraceTogether which became widely popular among the global community for clearing the doubts regarding the privacy issues with the app, Liauw, on the request of one Indian user decided to perform an identical investigation on the Indian government’s Aarogya Setu app.

At the outset, Liauw claimed that the Indian app’s approach in contact tracing the COVID-19 patients was radically different than the approach espoused by Singapore’s TraceTogether. Aarogya Setu’s approach, he said, “Anonymised, aggregated datasets for the purpose of generating reports, heat maps, and other statistical visualisations for the purpose of the management of COVID-19 in the country.”

Shedding some light on the inner workings of the Aarogya Setu app, Liauw categorised his security review broadly in 5 categories to better understand the functioning of the app.

Cloud

Aarogya Setu app uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its backend. This enables the app to quickly scale up in the cloud to support millions of Indian users. Data centres are located in Mumbai, the Singaporean ethical hacker concludes.

Data Records and SQLite Storage

Aarogya Setu uses SQLite for on-device record storage. According to Liauw, the most significant feature of Aarogya Setu app which distinguishes it from Singapore’s Trace Together is the method collection of the user’s latitude and longitude information about the neighbouring devices detected. The Aarogya Setu app stores literal Bluetooth mac addresses of the neighbouring devices and does not collect the information regarding the type of the neighbouring devices.

Data Retention Policy

The review states that there is no policy in Aarogya Setu app, either in code or write, to destroy records from the SQLite database from the app user’s mobile after a pre-planned time interval. However, Liauw attributes this lapse to the lack of time for the development team to build and test the app, hoping that the fix will be pushed in the subsequent updates. However, he also added that it’s not a major issue if the records are stored indefinitely, considering that countries might be in for the long-haul should the pandemic prolongs.

Runtime Security

Liauw claimed that his assessment revealed that there is reasonable evidence of runtime security implementations to stop fiddling around with the operating system on rooted device and SSL(certificate?) pining to protect against the MITM(man in the middle) attacks.

Application Layer Encryption

Liauw was surprised to find the existence of an additional layer of encryption in the Indian Government’s Aarogya Setu app. He asserted that on top of TLS (Transport Layer Security) that’s free from the use of HTTPS (Secure HTTP), the Aarogya Setu app encrypted the latitude and longitude information in the application using AES-GCM or RSA (depending on Android version) before transmitting it over the network.

Aarogya Setu app reassures privacy after allegations of security concerns

Several groups, including French ethical hacker Elliot Alderson, raised flags about the security concerns of the app, claiming that the privacy of 90 million Indians is at stake, owing to a “security issue” in the Aarogya Setu app. He informed that he was contacted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the IT Ministry regarding the issue. In his Twitter thread, Anderson further cautioned that he would wait for a limited time before disclosing the matter to the general public.

However, a day after allegations of security issues surfaced, the official Twitter handle of Aarogya Setu replied to charges of privacy concerns on Twitter. It clarified that the app fetches the location of a user, as mentioned in its privacy policy, only during registration, self-assessment, and voluntary contact tracing. The app further reiterated that the data of a user’s location is stored in a secure, encrypted manner.

Many, including AltNews co-founder, share fake news from Indian Express, in a bid to shield Tablighi Jamaat and Maulana Saad

Jhankar Mohta
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Many, including AltNews co-founder, share fake news from Indian Express, in a bid to shield Tablighi Jamaat and Maulana Saad

Indian Express published a fake report today claiming that that the Delhi police suspects that the video where the Markaz Nizamuddin head Maulana Saad Kandhalvi of the Tablighi Jamaat was heard asking Muslims not to follow social distancing norms amidst the Coronavirus pandemic may be ‘doctored’.

Though Delhi police were quick to debunk the fake news, the Indian Express article was enough to get the ball rolling for the usual ‘liberals’ and ‘journalists’ on social media, who with haste took to Twitter to share the news to shield the Tablighi Jamaat and Maulana Saad.

Many including AltNews co-founder, Mohammad Zubair, who has on various previous occasions, notoriously peddled fake and misleading news took to Tweeter in a haste and shared the fake news published by Indian Express. Mohammad Zubair wrote: “Tablighi FIR: Police probe indicates Saad audio clip was doctored”.

In a subsequent Tweet, Zubair wrote that initial investigations revealed that the audio clip may be doctored and stitched together using a lot of audio clips.

Mohammad Zubair’s Tweet which has now been deleted

After backlash, Zubair promptly deleted his tweet, however, did not apologise for promoting fake news in his attempt to shield the Tablighi Jamaats and Maulana Saad. Interestingly, AltNews claims itself to be a fact-checking website and its writers regularly shield Islamists keeping ‘fact-checking’ as their shield.

However, Mohammad Zubair is not the only one who had clung on to this opportunity to build up a fake narrative. Ankur Singh tweeted a screenshot that showed several others peddling the same narrative. Controversial Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani also shared the fake news by Indian express to claim: “The fake factory is the fountain of hatred. After going through 350 audio clips, Delhi Police claim the alleged Tablighi Jamaat speech asking followers not to follow social distancing norms may be doctored and stitched”.

‘Journalist’ Nikhil Wagle, known for his casteist fangs, and who had once shown his endearment for dreaded terrorist Hafiz Saeed was also quick to share the Indian Express news to show his fondness for the Tablighis and Maulana Saad.

‘Journalist’ Vinod Kapri shared the same news by Indian Express and claimed that sharing fake audio and video on TV has become a common phenomenon nowadays. Calling those who had shared the ‘doctored’ audio, country’s enemies, Kapri demanded strict investigating against them.

Next to follow suit was The Wire’s, Rohini Singh. Singh, who is notoriously known for her propaganda, took to Twitter to write: “Police find the audio clip cited for blaming Tableeghis for being irresponsible was doctored. Now, who would have gone to such lengths to doctor audio to demonise an entire community?”

Swati Chaturvedi, abusive troll masquerading as a journalist, who has umpteen number of times been caught red-handed after propagating fake news, was also quick to use this opportunity to build up a fake narrative yet again. Sharing the Indian Express fake news, Swati insinuated that it is actually BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya who might have “doctored” the audio.

Interestingly she made this insinuation even though the Indian Express repoer wrote that it might have been “doctored” by a Tablighi Jamaat member.

Swati Chturvedi did not stop at this, in one of her subsequent Tweets she goes on to cast doubts on Delhi police also.

Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, also shared the Indian Express news to make similar assertions. He said that all the media houses which played by “doctored” clip, especially those who played up “corona Jihad” should be prosecuted for spreading communal hatred and fake news.

Despite the harsh fact that the Tablighi Jamaatis was the sole reason for the spike in Coronavirus cases in India, like many others who have peddled the narrative that the right-wing media has given a communal colour to the fiasco, Prashant Bhushan too wrote that the media which played up ‘corona Jihad’ should be prosecuted.

Delhi Police trashes story claiming Maulana Saad video ‘doctored’

The Delhi Police has issued a statement on Twitter calling the report in the Indian Express imaginary and fake news. The Delhi Police said that it does not stand by the story and the reporter, Mahender Manral has essentially imagined the details of the investigation.

The Delhi Police said, “The Indian Express report dated 9.5.20 with an article captioned: Tablighi FIR: Police probe indicates Saad audio clip was doctored – Written by Mahender Manral, is not only factually incorrect but seems to be based on wholly unverified sources and purely conjectural imagination”.

Further, the Delhi Police tweeted “He (Reporter Mahendra Manral) claims made by the reporter regarding the investigation are totally baseless. The Delhi Police does not in any way stand by the story of the reporter, nor has he spoken to any official sources claimed in his report”.

OpIndia had fact-checked the Indian Express report

The statement published by Delhi Police only vindicates the fact-check done by OpIndia earlier in the day.

We had said that firstly, most videos on any platform are often edited from the raw data to ensure that the final product is ready for viewership. We had also said that since the video was uploaded on the official Delhi Markaz page and it was a stretch of imagination to claim that the Tablighi Jamaat member himself edited the video maliciously to implicate Maulana Saad and the Delhi Markaz page allowed the video to be published. Further, we had also speculated that it does not add up for Maulana Saad to abscond if the video was, in fact, maliciously edited.

Fake news published by Indian Express

A report published in the Indian Express today claimed that the Delhi police suspects that the video where the Markaz Nizamuddin head Maulana Saad Kandhalvi of the Tablighi Jamaat was heard asking Muslims not to follow social distancing norms amidst the Coronavirus pandemic may be ‘doctored’. However, the claims cited in the report did not add up and OpIndia had done an extensive fact-check writing how the story is probably fake, in order to shield the Tablighi Jamaat and Maulana Saad.

Elite Left journalists assert changing cities for education and jobs akin to ‘migration’, call themselves ‘migrant workers’

Jinit Jain
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Elite Left journalists assert changing cities for education and jobs akin to ‘migration’, call themselves ‘migrant workers’

Perhaps, the biggest bane of our times is the Twitter activism or the social media activism by privileged individuals, who instead of using the resources at their disposal for alleviating the problems bedevilling the country, indulge in exploiting the miseries of the less fortunates so as to ridicule the government.

While the country is reeling under the double whammy of migrant crisis as well as expanding coronavirus outbreak, some left liberal vultures have indulged in scavenger activism, feeding on the dead bodies of the poor and helpless migrants, as a cover to slam their bete noire-the Modi government.

Privileged left-liberal journalists are deviously portraying themselves as the hapless migrants who had endured considerable hardships and travails to reach where they are. A Twitter campaign #MeTooMigrant has been launched by these bunch of elite individuals where members of the coterie recounted their story of migration and identify themselves as “migrants”, notwithstanding the conspicuous privilege that oozed through their tales of migration.

The Twitter campaign comes on the heels of the migrant crisis that has suddenly erupted in India after the extension of coronavirus lockdown. The issue came to the fore when migrant labours, most of whom are hand-to-mouth labours surviving on their daily wages, having lost their means of earning due to the coronavirus lockdown, made a desperate call to the government to arrange for their travel back home.

Heeding the appeals made by the migrant workers and in view with the threat posed by coronavirus, the central government along with the state governments had decided to run trains to transport the workers back to their native places. While the 85 per cent cost of the travel was borne by the Centre, along with providing food, water and other essential items to the migrants during their journey, there were some cases where the state governments, especially non-BJP governments in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Kerala, had made the beleaguered migrants pay for their travel.

In addition, the death of migrant workers crushed by the barreling train in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad exacerbated the gloom surrounding the migrant crisis in the country amidst the pandemic. The tragedy of the migrant workers, who lived thousands of kilometres away from their native houses and barely managed to eke out a living, was put to use by elite left-liberal journalists and political analysts who unabashedly attempted to hijack the issue of migrants by deceptively projecting themselves as migrants.

Controversial journalist Rohini Singh, who is often mocked on Twitter as an arm-chair critic perennially wallowing in whataboutery, dishonestly associated herself with the migrants by claiming that she too is a migrant as she left the city of Lucknow a long back for her studies and ever since has been in Delhi.

Another journalist associated with the left-wing rag ‘The Wire’, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, notorious for shielding the Islamists and peddling anti-Hindu propaganda, also joined on Twitter to declare herself as a migrant who had left her hometown Khurja 20 years ago and “gave her best years” to Delhi

In fact, propagandist Congress masquerading as an “unbiased” political analyst, Gaurav Pandhi, who has a chequered history of sharing fake news and making misleading assertions, quoted Rohini to assert how he has been a migrant who came to Delhi from Chandigarh more than a decade ago and since then has been there.

Another nondescript journalist, Mitali Mukherjee, also shamelessly trivialised the migrant worker’s ordeal by equating her privilege with them. Going generations back, Mukherjee claimed that her forebears had been migrants who had come from Bangladesh and Pakistan and settled in India.

The story of how she had been a migrant ever since she left her hometown Lucknow was shared by ‘journalist’ Stutee Mishra who claimed she had left Lucknow 6 years ago and studied and worked in Mumbai and is currently in Noida/Delhi from the last 2 years.

By claiming themselves to be migrants, the left-liberal journalists are not only distorting the meaning of migrant workers, but they are also minimising the sufferings and tribulations endured by the migrant labours, who travel to distant places to mitigate their financial woes and lead a dignified life. In the face of profound economic challenges, the migrant workers see no option but to leave all their loved ones behind in search of a steady source of income. However, the bird-brained left-liberals believe that the luxury of hopscotching from one city to another in search of better education and a better job prospect can match in gravity the immeasurable hardships borne by the migrant workers.

The luxury of shifting one’s location for higher studies or for a higher-paying job may technically be called migration but it cannot certainly be equated with the trials and tribulations suffered by the low-wage migrant workers for whom earning on a daily basis is not only a necessity but a stark reality.

There is a popular notion- “noblesse oblige” which means “privilege entails responsibility”. However, for the Indian left-wing ecosystem, it has a distorted connotation. They want to continue enjoying the privileges that they had inherited but they don’t want to acknowledge it publically. Nor do they want to discharge their responsibilities. All that they care is to preserve their privilege and elitism. It is to this end that they indulge in scavenger activism and deceitfully champion the cause of migrant workers.

Jharkhand: New details emerge in Jamtara incident where one Jamshed Ansari had removed barricades placed by the villagers to enforce lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: New details emerge in Jamtara incident where one Jamshed Ansari had removed barricades placed by the villagers to enforce lockdown

Yesterday it was reported how Jamtara area in Jharkhand averted a potential communal clash when locals from the Hindu and Muslim community, came face to face on May 8 after one Jamshed Ansari removed the barricades placed on the roads. As per reports the barricades placed on the Mojpur and Dakshanidih village crossroad, intended to prevent the entry of outsiders, were removed by Ansari.

Now fresh details have emerged in the Jamtara incident. According to Dainik Jagran, people of both communities had indulged in stone-pelting, and now, Jamtara police have lodged an FIR against 13 identified and 40 unidentified miscreants based on the complaint lodged by one Gautam Kumar.

Report in Dainik Jagran

In the written complaint a local villager Gautam Kumar said that Jamshed Ansari (who has been named as Mukseed Ansari by Dainik Jagran) removed the barricades placed by the villagers to block the entrance into the village amid the looming threat of community transmission of the deadly pathogen. When he was intercepted by some Hindus, he made a phone call and called people from his community who started pelting stones on the Hindus. There were retaliation and matter escalated until police reached the spot and dispersed the crowd.

Earlier it was reported that the timely intervention of the elders of both communities had prevented a potential communal clash.

Senior representatives of Mojpur village in Jharkhand, intervene to resolve the issue

An argument which initially started between a handful of people was on the verge of turning violent after many more people from both ends started flocking in as the news spread. Many villagers came armed with lathis and poles. However, due to the timely intervention of elders of both communities, who pacified the agitated persons, prevented a major clash.

Seeing the matter go out of hands, few senior members of both sides intervened and reprimanded Ansari for his recklessness. They tried to explain to Ansari and the rest of the villagers present there, that at the time like this when the entire country is fighting the pandemic, the onus lies on every individual to save oneself and others from the coronavirus scourge. They explained that at the time of a crisis the entire society should stand together and not unnecessary give a communal colour to every small tiff.

Ansari’s recklessness angered villagers

In what transpired, the villagers in Mojpur had blocked the entrance into the village with bamboo sticks almost fifteen days ago, disallowing people from neighbouring villages to enter their village amid the looming threat of community transmission of the deadly pathogen.

Since the last two weeks no one objected to this move, but yesterday, one Jamshed Ansari went and removed the barricade. Few villagers objected to this which led to a small argument between them and Ansari. Ansari was soon joined by people of his community who started speaking in his defence. This infuriated the Hindus in the village who went and replaced the barricade. Within minutes, dozens of people gathered from both sides and the matter escalated.

Four Muslim youths arrested in Ahmedabad for spreading fake tweet regarding the health of home minister Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
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Four Muslim youths arrested in Ahmedabad for spreading fake tweet regarding the health of home minister Amit Shah

The Gujarat police have arrested four people in Ahmedabad for spreading rumours regarding the health of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. According to police, they were found spreading a photoshopped tweet on Amit Shah which was posted on various social media accounts.

According to the reports, the accused have been identified as Firoz Khan, Sarfaraz, Sajjad Ali, and Shiraz Hussain. The four accused were reportedly spreading false rumours regarding the health of Home Minister Amit Shah.

“Today, at a time when the central government, Gujarat government and people are fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, spreading fake news over social media is a crime. A photoshopped Tweet was made on Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) and was posted in different social media groups,” Ajay Tomar, Special Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, told media after the arrest.

A case was registered under Section 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the IT Act and Section 419 of the Indian Penal Code against the culprits and further probe is on to find the origin of the fake news.

Over the last few days, rumours have been doing rounds on social media that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s health is not well. Apart from baseless speculations about his health, fake news about his health is also being circulate using photoshopped tweets of the home minister himself.

Home Minister clarifies regarding his health

However, days after several rumours began to spread regarding his health status, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter today to dismiss the conspiracy theories being floated regarding his ill-health. Home Minister Amit Shah also informed people and BJP workers that all theories surrounding his health were just rumours.

In a tweet, the Home Minister said that several social media users have used platforms to spread baseless rumours about his health and pointed out certain people even wished for his death.

Home Minister Amit Shah mentioned that how millions of his party workers and his well-wishers have expressed a lot of concern since the last two days regarding his health.

Rumours over Amit Shah’s health and death wishes

At a time when the country is fighting the major crisis of coronavirus pandemic, rumours regarding the health of Home Minister was spread on social media by vested interests. Controversial journalist Shahid Siddiqui had posted a tweet which suggested that all is not well with Shah. He claimed that something very unusual or serious has taken place, and demanded that govt should come out and tell the nation where he is. Before Siddiqui, known fake news peddler Rana Ayyub had also claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah has not been seen in recent times.

As rumours began to spread regarding the ill-health of Amit Shah, Islamists and anti-India brigade took to Facebook to wish death upon Home Minister Amit Shah. Certain journalists, AAP supporters were seen wishing death to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Fake news regarding Amit Shah suffering from cancer

A purported tweet has gone viral on social media platforms, claiming to be posted by Home Minister Amit Shah himself, in which Home Minister has announced that he has been suffering from cancer. The tweet has also resulted in a trend ‘Amit Shah Cancer’ on Twitter.

However, no such tweet was posted by Amit Shah from his verified Twitter handle. Moreover, if one looks at the tweet carefully, it can be determined that the image is fake as the character count in the doctored image has crossed the 280 characters limit on Twitter. The tweet is too long to be part of a single post and on the actual Twitter platform, this would have actually have to be posted as a Twitter thread.

Some part text of the tweet is also displayed below Amit Shah’s display picture, which does not occur on the normal Twitter user interface.

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