A video has surfaced late night on Wednesday where a violent mob of rioters can be seen attacking the Delhi Police officers with stones and sticks. It is believed this is the attack which injured DCP Shahdara IPS Amit Sharma and claimed life of constable Ratan Lal.
The video is believed to be of 24th February from Chand Bagh area. One can at first see the mob running away from the spot as police started taking action. However, soon a mob from the other side started attacking the police. The mob had individuals wearing black burqas who could be seen pelting stones at the police. One could safely presume the women were also attacking the Delhi Police with stones. If you listen closely, you could also hear gunshots in the background.
Soon a crowd gathered in middle of the road when the rioters overpowered the policemen. The mob which was found running in opposite direction initially now returns in even bigger number.
As per reports, DCP Amit Sharma was badly injured by the rioters and constable Ratan Lal was killed by the rioters as he tried to save IPS Sharma. On same day, one Mohammad Shahrukh was found wielding a gun and shooting at Delhi Police personnel. He was later arrested after being on the run for almost a week. One IB official Ankit Sharma was also brutally murdered by the rioting mob. As per reports, he was stabbed as many as 400 times before his body was thrown in a drain.
On Wednesday, Delhi Police said that 531 cases have been registered of which 47 cases are under the Arms Act in connection with the Delhi anti-Hindu riots.
The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) has long been accused of observing dual standards in granting its “code of principles” to the applicants. Their prejudiced practices were exposed yet again when they rejected FactHunt’s application on the grounds of violation of its non-partisanship policy by its founders.
IFCN’s external assessor Kanchan Kaur initially responded with approbatory remarks for FactHunt, suggesting that IFCN would soon accredit it with its “code of principles”. In her preliminary assessment, Kaur hailed the website which has been publishing fact-checks regularly. She added that there is no ambiguity about the source of the funding of the website and all the authors who contribute to the website have their profiles manifestly listed with their biographies and roles. She recommended that the application may be accepted with certain edits.
Source: Fact Hunt
However, a few days later, Kaur backpedalled and rejected the application citing violation of the non-partisanship policy of IFCN by directors of Fact Hunt. She cited a 2-year old tweet by one of the co-founders of the Fact Hunt in justifying her decision to dismiss their application.
Neel Kumar, the co-founder of Fact Hunt, had simply tweeted Congratulatory message for BJP’s victory in Karnataka elections.
Congratulations Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the victory. In our celebration we must not forget the party workers who were killed by political rivals. Next target Bengal 🙂 #KarnatakaElections
Kumar issued a clarification that his tweet was meant to express victory for a party which he voted in the elections, adding that he had never been a part of any political apparatus in the country. However, he was given a cold shoulder by Kaur who had, perhaps, chalked him up as a BJP volunteer.
Source: Fact Hunt
This was not enough, she also referred to a few tweets wishing to meet PM as proof of Shashank Singh’s (Another co-founder of Fact Hunt) allegiance to the BJP.
In her response, Kaur stated that the application of Fact Hunt should be rejected because the directors of the Fact Hunt were supporters of the BJP and they continued to support the saffron party.
Kaur’s stance altered after a co-founder of Altnews accused Shashank Singh of being a member of a political party. Fact Hunt has cast aspersions on a possible connection between Kaur and the Altnews cofounder. In their article, Fact Hunt has asserted that IFCN application remains private until it is verified and accepted but Altnews co-founder’s allegations against Singh suggest that they were privy to the fact that Fact Hunt had applied to be a part of IFCN. Fact Hunt has also raised doubts if Altnews co-founder had attempted to influence Kaur’s decision.
The criterion 2B of the IFCN prohibits the applicants or the employees working with them to have any direct involvement with the political parties and advocacy groups.
Source: Fact Hunt
Fact Hunt founders openly stated they had no political connection with any of the political parties but their application was still rejected based on the past tweets by its founders. Kaur, in her response, said that the old tweets of the directors of the Fact Hunt was the sole reason for the rejection of their application.
In their clarification, directors of Fact Hunt responded that as citizens of the country, they have voted for a particular political party and expressed their political predilections but it has in no way influenced their work. They also argued that they haven’t tweeted in favour of any political since the inception of Fact Hunt.
They further mentioned that they were ready to adhere to the guidelines stated by IFCN and if need be Shashank Singh would step down if required. However, Kaur’s stand on the rejection of Fact Hunt from IFCN remained firm.
It is, however, important to note the duplicity of IFCN in granting recognition to the fact-checking websites. Altnews, which is known for peddling slanted and more often fake news, has been dubiously acknowledged by the IFCN as compliant to non-partisanship policy.
Md Zubair, one of the co-founders of the Altnews, nurses perennial hatred for the BJP and is frequently seen supporting the Aam Aadmi Party. He runs a Facebook page “Unofficial: Subramanian Swamy” where he mocks/insults the BJP while toeing the AAP line. He also ran a Twitter account by the same name which was revealed by his colleague Sam Jawed and admitted by Zubair himself.
Another co-founder of Altnews, Pratik Sinha, has a chequered history of running a fake news website “TruthofGujarat” and mislead people by peddling lies and propaganda against PM Modi. There have been umpteen instances when Pratik has used his website- “TruthofGujarat” to brazenly lie about PM Modi. Here’s a link that conclusively debunks his lies.
Altnews too has a colourful history of lying and peddling propaganda. There have been innumerable instances when Altnews had used its platform to propagate falsehoods. In one such instance, the Facebook page owned by Zubair, “Unofficial: Subramanian Swamy”, was caught spreading lies about the Modi government approving 100 per cent FDI in retail. Before that, Altnews was exposed for lying about the protests in Delhi. Recently, Altnews fabricated a police quote to downplay the brutality heaped on the Aligarh child victim.
Besides, AltNews founder Pratik Sinha and directors Nirjhari Sinha and Murlidhar Deomurari are members of the Jan Sangharsh Manch which is a civil rights organizations with obviously political objectives. The organization was founded by Mukul Sinha and Nirjhari Sinha, the parents of Pratik Sinha. The leadership of the Jan Sangharsh Manch also founded the New Socialist Movement which was registered as a political party with the Election Commission in 2007. Mukul Sinha had also contested elections in the past and lost horribly.
By virtue of being associated with an advocacy group and a political party, the founder of Altnews, Pratik Sinha, clearly seems to have violated the criterion 2B of the IFCN which restricts applicants and their employees to have any connection with the political parties or advocacy groups. But despite this flagrant violation, Baybars Orsek, director of IFCN, announced that they had asked AltNews a set of questions and after being satisfied with their response which was replete with lies, they concluded that there was no ground for any action against Altnews.
It is thus a profound irony that a website who ran a factory of lies, deceit and distortions, whose founders unapologetically expressed their political leanings, one of them ostensibly associated with a political party and advocacy group, is hailed by IFCN as fact-checker and accorded their Indian partnership, but Fact Hunt’s application is rejected based on merely a couple of tweets. IFCN’s double standards stand exposed as it has shown differing yardsticks in assessing Altnews and Fact Hunt. IFCN had no qualms in granting recognition to habitual fake-news peddler Altnews, whose founders had brazenly displayed their bias against the BJP but have a problem in approving Fact Hunt’s application despite its director offering to step down to get the accreditation.
A Paytm employee in Haryana’s Gurgaon (now officially known as Gurugram) has been tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The employee had recently returned from a vacation in Italy. Italy has been emerging as one of the worst-hit countries from coronavirus.
The company has advised its employees to work from home for the next couple of days while the Gurugram unit gets sanitised, according to the statement. It also said that as a precautionary measure, they have suggested their team members get health tests done immediately.
Meanwhile, the Paytm employee who has been tested positive is receiving appropriate treatment, the company as quoted by news agency ANI.
Paytm: One of our colleagues based out of Gurgaon office who recently returned from Italy has sadly been tested positive for Coronavirus. He is receiving appropriate treatment. As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members to get health tests done immediately. pic.twitter.com/gXol1a4vOU
Following today and day before’s developments, where a Noida man was tested positive for coronavirus, Paytm, one of India’s leading digital payment banks has decided to shut its offices in Gurugram and Noida for at least two days.
Today it was reported that the Noida man’s (who was recently tested positive after he returned from Italy) six relatives in Agra have been tested positive for COVID-19. He had travelled to Agra to meet them.
Morever, after an Italian man and his wife tested positive in Jaipur, today 14 Italian members from the tourist group and their Indian driver also tested positive, making total 17 infections in the group.
Yesterday, Shriram Millennium school in Sector 135 Noida decided to shut down the premises for two days and also postpone its annual examinations amid concerns that their student’s parent, had tested positive with COVID-19 and has been isolated on Monday.
This followed reports that the individual who contracted coronavirus in Italy had attended a birthday party on February 28 (Friday) with his child studying in the Noida school. This party was also attended by other students of the school and their family members.
Prior to this, a techie from Hyderabad was suspected to have contracted the virus.
With these, the total count of known coronavirus infected cases in India rose to 29, including sixteen Italians.
Coronavirus has infected more than 89,000 people globally and caused over 3,000 deaths. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.
After Supreme Court refused to hear a plea of activist Activist Harsh Mander after his controversial remarks against parliament and court had surfaced, the Delhi Police has filed an affidavit in the top court against him for his incendiary speech at Jamia. The police have claimed in the affidavit that Mander’s speech not only instigated violence but also brought disrepute to the judiciary, and have sought contempt of court action against him.
#DelhiPolice file affidavit in the #SupremeCourt, seeking contempt action against activist Harsh Mander. Police say his speech at #Jamia not only instigated violence but also brings judiciary to disrepute. Speech submitted to court in a pen drive. Hearing by SC on #Friday. pic.twitter.com/aqoWXwAQa7
Along with the affidavit, the Delhi Police has submitted the video of Mander’s inflammatory speech in a pen drive, and a link to the video on Youtube has been included in the affidavit. The apex court will be hearing the matter on Friday, March 6, 2020.
The affidavit states that Harsh Mander’s speech is “not only instigating violence but also seriously contemptuous as it makes derogatory remarks against the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to a huge gathering of people”.
Delhi police have further added that “Harsh Mander is known for taking contemptuous stand, and bringing the judiciary, as an institution and individual judges to disrepute”.
Therefore, the petitions filed by Harsh Mander should be dismissed with exemplary costs and proceedings fo contempt of court should be initiated against him, the affidavit states.
The affidavit was filed after the union government stated before a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde that the controversial activist, who has asked filing of FIRs against some BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches which allegedly resulted in violence in Delhi, himself made certain offensive statements against the top court, “majesty of law”, the government and Parliament.
Harsh Mander, a controversial left-wing ‘activist’ who is associated with billionaire George Soros, was seen in a video inciting mobs to hit the streets to protests against the country. In what appears like an attempt to create anarchy and violence on the streets of the country, Mander said the time has come to decide our fate on the streets as he indirectly called for the dismantling of public institutions in the country. He had said that “there is no trust left in the courts and that ultimate justice has to be on the streets”.
The video has now gone viral where Mander can be heard saying how there is no scope of secularism in Supreme Court, especially after the Ayodhya verdict. Speaking to a gathering in Delhi, the foreign-funded activist was seen inciting mob, calling them to descend on streets to decide for themselves based on the show of the strength. Mander claimed that time has now come for people to hit the streets as both Supreme Court and parliament have failed them.
After the video was presented at the Supreme Court by the Solicitor General today morning, the bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had refused to hear Mander’s petition before he clarifies his comments seen in the video.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday declared one-rank promotion for the fourteen police officers for their courageous act of capturing Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab during the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks.
Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh made the announcement while speaking outside the State legislature. He said, “Tukaram Omble, who was martyred during the 26/11 attacks, and 14 other policemen had captured (terrorist) Ajmal Kasab alive. The government has decided to proffer one rank promotion to the 14 policemen for showing historic valor.”
The 26/11 attack was one of the most horrific terror attacks in India’s history, which was carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists who claimed the lives of 166 people including 18 security personnel and 300 injured, apart from that damaging property worth crores.
Ajmal Kasab, who was the only terrorist to be captured alive, was hanged four years later. It is notable that Ajmal Kasab and other militants with him were carrying Identity cards with Hindu names and wore sacred threads. Certain appaling revelations were made by a book of Former top cop of Mumbai Rakesh Maria that all ten terrorists were made to seem like they were disgruntled Hindus who were against India because of ‘atrocities’ against Muslims. All ten terrorists were given saffron or red thread to be tied around their wrist. Identity cards with Hindu names with Indian addresses were placed in their pockets as the ISI and Lashkar wanted all the ten terrorists to die in the attack. Catching Kasab alive was the biggest breakthrough for Mumbai Police. Had he not been caught alive, the whole world would have been led to believe that this was a Hindu terror attack.
The Sunni extremists in Pakistan stopped the organisers of the Aurat March for women’s right in Islamabad from completing a mural, claiming it was against Sharia. The Islamists also defaced the mural and wrote hateful messages addressed to the Shia community.
Nearby graffiti credits the defacing to the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a Sunni extremist group banned under Pakistani law. One slogan – since painted over – declares all Shia Muslims to be “kaafir” (infidels). pic.twitter.com/CBGPQa8BlC
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a Sunni extremist group banned under Pakistani law, took the responsibility of vandalising the mural. The extremists painted hostile slogans against Shia Muslims, who are a minority in a Sunni dominated Pakistan. The slogan written on the mural declared Shia Muslims to be “Kaafir” (infidels).
The Mural before vandalised by clerics
According to one of the organisers of the Aurat March, Tooba Syed, Sunni extremists vandalised the mural of two women painted on the wall by spraying black paint over it while the police silently watched over their vandalism. She took to Twitter to mention that the rabid clerics threatened them saying that the painting was a fahashi (obscene).
The first two are the photos of the mural which has been sprayed black by the goons of Lal Masjid in Islamabad. The city administration didn’t do anything. The police stood there watching and asking us to stop. This was painted by permission of the family. How is this okay?! pic.twitter.com/jxhcsrC0E6
Syed accused that the clerics who defaced the mural were goons from Lal Masjid. She also added how the administration stood there as a mute spectator instead of taking action against the clerics for vandalising the mural which was painted after taking the permission of the family.
Minorities, including Muslim sects of Shia and Ahmadiyya, live under a constant threat in Pakistan for not espousing the same set of beliefs as held by the majority of Pakistan. Radical outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) is a Sunni sectarian outfit that has been alleged to be involved in terrorist violence, primarily targeted against the minority Shia community in Pakistan. The Pakistan government had banned the organisation twice, first in 2002 and then again in 2012. It has been accused of committing atrocities against Shias in Pakistan.
Speaking at the rally in Buniadpur, South Dinajpur district on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Trinamool Congress will start a ‘BJP chi chi’ (shame shame) campaign in all blocks of West Bengal on Friday to protest against “genocide” in Delhi.
“On Friday, in every block of the state, there will be a BJP chi chi campaign, against the genocide in Delhi, which was later portrayed as riots,” she said.
Pinning the blame on BJP for the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, Mamata Banerjee said: “BJP is responsible for the genocide. So on Friday, we will say: “BJP, reply, where did the genocide happen in Delhi. BJP chi chi”.
She said the campaign will also raise “chi chi” slogans against the BJP for enacting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and undertaking the National Population Register exercise, besides proposing a National Register of Citizens project across the nation.
“Such people (BJP) have no place in our country,” she said.
Mamata Banerjee has been opposing the CAA and the proposed NRC strongly. West Bengal has also seen great violence in the aftermath of the passage of the CAA in both houses of the Parliament. The Chief Minister of West Bengal has also taken to raising unconventional slogans during her rallies opposing the CAA, the most prominent among which goes something like “Caa Caa Chi Chi, Chi Chi Chi Chi.”
Mamata Banerjee today in the Buniadpur rally had come up with another bizarre rant against the BJP government. She accused the central government of ‘creating coronavirus panic’ to ‘divert attention’ from the Delhi riots. She even alleged that BJP killed those who died in the communal violence in the national capital. The TMC chief alleged that the BJP government at the Centre is trying to cover up the riots with coronavirus.
Accusing centre of spreading panic about coronavirus to ‘divert attention’ from the recent Delhi riots is one of the most bizarre allegations against the BJP in recent times.
BJP leader Kapil Mishra today took to Twitter to show how he showed the mirror to Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint when the portal had approached him for an interview, after the portal had published a story whitewashing Shahrukh, the man arrested for firing at police during Delhi riots. He shared screenshots of his conversation with one of the employees from ThePrint. Captioning his Tweet as: “So “The Print” wants to do a story on “How there is actually a lot of support for me”, Mishra shared screenshots of ThePrint employee’s message to him on Whatsapp and that of his befitting reply.
So “The Print” wants to do a story on “How there is actually a lot of support for me”
A reporter with ThePrint sought his appointment to discuss a story they wanted to do on him. In the message, the reporter wrote: “There is actually a lot of support for you…I was thinking of doing a story so I thought of meeting you first”.
ThePrint employee’s messages to Kapil Mishra
In a stern response to this proposal, Kapil Mishra reprimanded ThePrint for its biased coverage of Delhi riots. He wrote: “Print is one of the most biased and a fake news factory. There is support for me despite your fake agenda and constant hate campaign against me”.
Asking the employee to quote him verbatim in their report, Kapil Mishra added: “Everyone you will meet on ground will support me other than fake news factories like ‘The Print’. I don’t actually need your story to establish that”.
“People of Delhi have rejected your propaganda outrightly. You better do a story on how cute Shahrukh was in his childhood or how ‘bad Hindus’ have forced Tahir to become a terrorist”.
SS of Kapil Mishra stern response to ThePrint’s message to him.
It is pertinent to note here that when violence and anarchy had broken out in Delhi over the ongoing riots against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the assorted liberals, political hacks and Islamists had pinned the blame of the riots on BJP leader Kapil Mishra. They claimed that his speech instigated the riots at the national capital.
On one side, the ‘liberals’ have been blaming Kapil Mishra for the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, and on the other hand, they are busy trying to shamelessly shield the Islamists and paint Hindus as the aggressors in the Delhi anti-Hindu riots. Steadfast in join the bandwagon is the leftist propaganda website ‘ThePrint’.
Today we reported how Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint tried its best to humanise the Islamic shooter Mohammad Shahrukh who was recently arrested for open firing at the Delhi Police during the anti-Hindu Delhi riots. ThePrint, in its article, described Shahrukh as ‘an aspiring model, TikTok buff, PUBG addict and a hookah smoker’ in its headline. The fact that he fired at a police officer and wielded gun on the streets of the Delhi is not his major identifier. ThePrint talks about how Shahrukh aspired to be on the cover page of a fashion magazine before becoming the face of Delhi anti-Hindu riots.
ThePrint says that Shahrukh has revealed to Delhi Police how he took his gun out and shot 8 rounds of bullets ‘in the spur of the moment’ when ‘other side’ started pelting stones. As if roaming around with a loaded gun, in all possibility obtained illegally, is the most normal thing a person does. ThePrint claims they talked to Shahrukh’s neighbours who claim Shahrukh went to ‘save’ his sister who was sitting at one of the protest sites at Jaffrabad when riots broke out. Quoting one of the unnamed neighbours, ThePrint reasons why Shahrukh was carrying a gun, “He was very angry.”
However, this is not the first time ThePrint’s morality is being questioned. While most fo the Indians were appalled by the brutal murder of IB sleuth Ankit Sharma during the Delhi anti-Hindu riots at the behest of now expelled AAP MLA Tahir Hussain, ThePrint had immediately rushed to paint Tahir Hussain as an innocent man.
In one of their articles where they covered which channel discussed what on Prime Time, the adjectives used in the article painted an innocent picture of Hussain.
While Tahir is accused of serious crimes, ThePrint led by Shekhar Gupta said that he responded in his ‘trembling voice’ trying to insinuate that he is an innocent man almost being bullied by the media.
13-year old Vanshika Gautam, who is a class 8 student, will be felicitated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for her courageous act of stopping child marriage of her minor cousin.
Vanshika studies in class 8 of Kasturba Gandhi Avasiya Vidyalaya in Kharkhauda area in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. She is among the 20 girls from the state who will be felicitated by the CM Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on March 5, ahead of International Women’s Day.
“Nearly a year ago, I had intervened when my paternal aunt was preparing to marry my 16-year old cousin. It was only after I convinced her and my entire family that they cannot get her married before the age of 18, that they agreed to let her continue her education”, Vanshika said.
Gautam is a member of Meena March, which is a girls’ activity group that aims at improving enrollment and spreading awareness on various issues as education for the girl child and women empowerment.
Officiating warden of Kasturba Gandhi Avasiya Vidyalaya, Kumari Priyankar said, “Vanshika has been called to Lucknow on March 5 along with other girls from the state where they will be felicitated for their efforts. It is a matter of pride for the school that our student is going to be honored at the state level.”
The award is felicitated by the Uttar Pradesh government to girl students who work to promote education and are involved in other awareness activities.
A US-based psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Dr Sheenie Ambardar today took to Twitter to share a Facebook post by a Hindu living in America in which she pens down the harassment she reportedly faced by an Uber driver in America over the Delhi communal riots.
Though Dr Sheenie does not share the name of the victim, the post makes it evident that she was a Hindu. In her Facebook post, she writes that she was targeted by her Uber driver for her religious and ethnic identity.
The SS of Tweet by Dr Sheenie Ambardar
The lady in her Facebook post narrates that after her Uber driver confirmed that she was an Indian Hindu, he began ranting, making references to the Delhi anti-Hindu riot. He was miffed at “how Hindus are killing Muslims in India”. The driver also grumbled on how “Hindus in India were destroying Mosques”. The Hindu passenger narrates that she tried explaining to the driver that his idea of the Delhi riots was not true and that in the communal riots in Delhi, people of both communities were injured and killed.
The Uber driver, however, reportedly ‘kept getting angrier’ and despite the lady requesting him to stop all conversation, he kept on accusing her and the Hindus. At one point the Uber driver got so agitated that he stopped the cab and asked the lady and her sister to get off his cab.
Only after threatening him with the police, did he calmed down, affirms the lady in her post. Recollecting the scary incident which could have become worse, the Hindu lady said that this goes on to show how one-sided and false international reporting of Delhi riots had led to more Hinduphobia.
Delhi has been on the edge after so-called anti-CAA protests took the shape of full-blown anti-Hindu riots. Contrary to the claims made by the Indian and international mainstream media, Muslim mobs went on a rampage, amidst chants of ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ and ‘Nara e Taqbeer’ and engaged in arson, stone-pelting and vandalism in the national capital.
For the past few days, social media has been abuzz with heart-wrenching tales of Hindus who have been victimised by the mob, masquerading as Anti-CAA protestors. The proofs which have emerged over the days are not only a testimony to the brutality unleashed by the Islamists on Hindu’s in the national capital but also confirm that these attacks were not spontaneous but were pre-planned, well-crafted and discreetly organised onslaughts.
