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Will drown Hindus in the Bhagirathi River within two hours or leave politics, you are 30% and we are 70% in Murshidabad: TMC MLA Humayun Kabir

OpIndia Staff
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Will drown Hindus in the Bhagirathi River within two hours or leave politics, you are 30% and we are 70% in Murshidabad: TMC MLA Humayun Kabir

Trinamool Congress leader has created a massive stir by threatening to drown BJP workers in the Bhagirathi river within 2 hours. He said that there are only 30% Hindus in Murshidabad, while the rest 70% are Muslims. The Bharatpur MLA made the controversial comments while addressing a party’s booth workers meeting at Shaktipur in Murshidabad.

In the video of the speech, he can be heard saying, “I will leave politics if I don’t drown you people (referring to BJP workers and Hindus) in the Bhagirathi River within two hours. I will not let you people stay in the Shaktipur. You are 30 per cent people, we are also 70 per cent here. If you think that you will demolish the mosque of Kazipada and the rest of the Muslims will sit back and relax. Then, I want to tell the BJP that this will never happen.”

Bharatiya Janata Party Party has reacted strongly to the TMC lawmaker’s offensive utterances. The majority of Hindus in this neighbourhood, according to party leader and IT chief Amit Malviya, are refugees who left Bangladesh to avoid religious persecution but are now facing new threats. He added, “In Murshidabad, Hindus are a minority. Just 28%. And this is what they are being subjected to. Imagine, what fate awaits Hindus, if they become a minority in the rest of Bengal.”

“Appeasement politics in West Bengal has touched a new low. Thanks to Mamata Banerjee, Hindus are now worse than second-class citizens in Bengal. Will she dare to kick out this MLA from the party? Can those intellectuals who routinely spread venom against the Hindus dare to speak a word,” he challenged.

Humayun Kabir grabbed headlines earlier for calling former cricket player Yusuf Pathan of Baharampur an “outsider” and opposing his candidacy for the Lok Sabha seat. This caused a rift inside the party and he threatened to run as an independent from Baharampur if the party did not replace the nominee. He had claimed that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress could not be defeated by a person from another state.

The politician stirred up controversy the previous year when he insisted that “Muslim leaders” take the place of other TMC members on the Murshidabad party committee. “Why should two members of the same house get powerful positions in the party? Are others unworthy? Is the top leadership blind? Murshidabad district has a 70% Muslim population. Will this community not receive importance from Mamata Banerjee,” he asked.

He warned the party high command that the community would turn against the party if “Muslim leaders” were not placed in control of Murshidabad. “In 2021, 90 out of every 100 Muslims voted for the Trinamool Congress. This is why the party has 20 legislators from the district. On the other hand, Hindus voted en masse for the BJP and made the saffron party strong. It cannot happen that those who gave power to Mamata Banerjee will now tolerate betrayal from her and we are expected not to speak a word about it. I will not tolerate this.”

He added, “Shaoni Sinha Roy should be removed and replaced with a competent Muslim leader. You cannot take the people of Murshidabad for a toss. Give us their due. They gave you their full support in 2021. So, Mamata Banerjee now must fulfil their aspirations.”

NewsClick used funds received from China for weapons to incite violence in anti-CAA protests, routed money from USA to Teesta Setalvad: Report

OpIndia Staff
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NewsClick used funds received from China for weapons to incite violence in anti-CAA protests, routed money from USA to Teesta Setalvad: Report

Fresh and explosive revelations have come to the fore in the NewsClick case as witnesses who have worked with the media portal have made some shocking statements during the investigation. Witnesses who were employed by the alleged media house said that they were instructed to provoke Muslims to engage in violence and riots. They received cash to distribute to protesters during the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and Shaheen Bagh demonstrations.

Furthermore, witnesses have stated that rioters obtained proceeds from China through the media platform to purchase firearms for unrest and arson. Money was also handed over to people in Kashmir to create insurrection, as per a report by India Today based on the chargesheet filed by the police.

These protected witness testimonies were recorded in court under section 41 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and are also included in the chargesheet that the Delhi Police recently submitted and cognizance has been taken on the same. The witnesses, some of whom had worked with NewsClick, unveiled that the staff was dispatched to the anti-CAA and Shaheen Bagh demonstrations to incite people against a particular religion. The employees of NewsClick collected payment from the company so that it could be transferred to the agitators and utilized to fuel the chaos.

Several groups, particularly two on WhatsApp, were active, and one of these groups wanted to use the anti-CAA, farmers and Shaheen Bagh protests to intensify the civil turmoil. The latter was engaged in efforts to sustain the uprising in Kashmir. There were people on the payroll of NewsClick who were not only working as journalists but also furthering propaganda. They altered maps of sensitive regions including Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.

Furthermore, the name of Sharjeel Imam, an accused in the anti-CAA violence case has also surfaced. He took money from Prabir Purkayastha to forward their nefarious agenda. The chargesheet, witness statements and the evidence of the funds have all been submitted by the Delhi Police in the court.

Routed money from Neville Roy Singham to Teesta Setalvad

The report states that one of the persons who received foreign funding through the portal was activist Teesta Setalvad. In the chargesheet, police claimed that she received the money through “convenient ways” which was use to revive her portal ‘Sabrang India’. According to the chargesheet, the ‘news-syndications scam’, whereby columnists and authors worked for Teesta Setalvad, were paid by Prabir Purkayastha.

In the articles supplied by Teesta’s group published by the portal, the names and authors were shown as ‘Sabrang India’, and the real writers were not revealed. This helped Teesta Setalvad to earn nearly Rs 3 lakh for ‘Sabrang India’, more than Rs 1 crore for her employees, and Rs 39 lakh for personal use by her family, as per the chargesheet.

Delhi Police in its chargesheet said that this was the “most convenient way” of receiving tainted foreign money by Teesta Setalvad despite being under the radar of probe agencies. The police said that analysis of retrieved e-mails, examination of witnesses, financial instigations and testimonies of protected witnesses established that Teesta Setalvad, Prabir Purkayastha and Neville Roy Singham were in an “interoperable triumvirate”. Singham is Purkayastha’s long-standing associate and an American millionaire.

The chargesheet further claimed that the three persons were supporting each other for their individual needs, apart from the execution of a larger Left Wing Extremism (LWE) agenda of Neville’s financiers. As per the police, email exchanges between Teesta Setalvad and Neville Roy Singham show that Neville Roy Singham was funding her portal ‘Sabrang India’ and NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace’ (CJP) via Prabir Purkayastha.

As per the chargesheet, during an investigation on December 13, 2023, a Special Cell team had gone to Mumbai to investigate this and a notice was served to Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand – also the co-editor of ‘Sabrang India’ – to provide details on the transactions. The team sought Sabrang India’s agreement with the NewsClick founder-editor for sharing manpower, salary details and articles/videos produced by them.

NewsClick is accused of collecting over Rs 80 crore from Chinese corporations. The First Information Report mentioned that the news outlet took money from Chinese organizations with the goal of “disrupting the sovereignty of India” and stirring up hatred for the country. A Delhi court had earlier granted police another 10 days to complete their investigation into Prabir Purkayastha. The head of NewsClick’s HR division and a former accuser who is now an approver, Amit Chakravarty’s judicial custody has been increased by ten days.

Police informed that in October 2023 raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and seven other states, targeting the individuals included in the FIR as well as those whose names emerged during data analysis. Furthermore, Prabir Purkayastha is charged with conspiring to sabotage the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and collaborating with the People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS).

The Delhi Police arrested Newsclick founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty on 3rd October of last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Delhi Police raided and sealed the NewsClick office on the same day in relation to the case involving foreign funding from China to spread narratives that were critical of India.

Rajdeep Sardesai continues his streak of being humiliated on live TV, this time by former CEC, ECI also dismisses the misleading claims about voter turnout data

Shraddha Pandey
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Rajdeep Sardesai continues his streak of being humiliated on live TV, this time by former CEC, ECI also dismisses the misleading claims about voter turnout data

On the 1st of May, IndiaToday journalist Rajdeep Sardesai faced embarrassment at the hands of former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N. Gopalaswami after he asked him about the alleged delay in Election Commission publishing voter turnout data of phase I and phase II.

The former CEC appeared on Rajdeep Sardesai’s show on IndiaToday on Wednesday. Insinuating that somehow the alleged delay of 11 days in publishing voter turnout data was alarming, Saredesai asked that the opposition parties are raising questions over the manner in which the election commission released the voter turnout figures of the first two phases of the general elections. He asked Gopalaswami if he was surprised over this alleged delay.

To this, the former CEC called out Sardesai for making misleading claims and said that just because Sardesai is not interested in checking the already available data that does not mean the ECI caused any delay.

“This eleven days and four days (after which the final data was published on 30th April) is your imagination. The information is available the very second day. It is available in their [EC’s] website. Everybody can see it. If you don’t care to see it then its alright. You don’t see it, they are publishing [the data] and still getting a bad name,” Gopalaswami said.

The former CEC further advised the Sardesai to “stop the nonsense” and not to try to be helpful to the opposition parties. “I thought of suggesting to them, stop this. Don’t try to be helpful to them. Stop this nonsense,” he said.

Despite the embarrassment, Rajdeep Sardesai did not refrain from peddling the opposition’s misleading claims. Following this, the former CEC explained to him how exactly the ECI officials operate after the polling concludes.

“Every polling station at the end of the day, the form 17C is filled in where the voter turnout figure is incorporated. Copies are signed by the polling agent and all of them have their copies. By the night, the approximate figures are put out. But when all these 17C forms go with the returning officer. He takes it one by one and keeps on updating the election commission’s website. When he completes it, all the data is put up there. If you have to see…” Gopalaswami said adding that making the claims about 11 days delay is “out of ignorance”.

Behaving the like true loyalist of the opposition, Sardesai decided to trust more on what “some people” told him than the former CEC as he reiterated his claim that there was a 11 day delay in publishing the final official data regarding the voter turnout of phase I and II.

N. Gopalaswami, however, made it clear that even “final official data” is published on ECI’s website on the third day as the voting phase concludes and that the data released on 30th April was just a compilation the ECI has put out. He further deemed it “unfortunate” that the ECI is publishing additional information and the opposition parties and their media allies are finding fault in it.

“If you don’t have time to look at the data, they [ECI] are trying to be helpful to you and release the data in the manner that you can look at it in newspaper or as a handout to the press. The data is available already,” he said adding that even all the contesting candidates know which polling station voted how many through their polling agents who are given form 17C…” Gopalaswami said.

Notably, in Form17C for Returning Officer, all relevant data, from the identification number of EVMs, Control Unit, Ballot, and VVPATs to total number of electors assigned, number of voters registered in Form17A, number of voters not allowed to vote under 49A and number of votes recorded per machine are included besides other details. In the second part of the same form, the results of counting are recorded.

Rajdeep Sardesai then claimed that the ECI’s data published on the 30th April was revised and that the same revision should have been done within 2 to 3 days. However, Gopaplaswami raised a strong objection to Rajdeep’s haranguing and said: “It [data] was available after the third day and then no change is made at all,” he said and explained the procedure involved in releasing the polling data.

The IndiaToday journalist later in the conversation tried to drag the former CEC into the political war of words and asked him what would he tell the opposition parties which are raising questions over the neutrality of the election commission and insinuating that somehow the results are being ‘influenced’. To this, Gopalaswami made it abundantly clear that he is not supposed to answer what the politicians are saying. He has simply explained the process of how the data is collected and published.

Opposition accuses ECI of causing delay in putting out final voter turnout data, Mamata Banerjee raises question over EVMs

Notably, the claims around the alleged delay in publishing voter turnout figures were made by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and the CPM(I). On Wednesday, Jairam Ramesh said: “Late last night, after a completely unacceptable delay of 11 days for Phase I and 4 days for Phase 2, the ECI finally released the voter turnout data. However, two issues have emerged in the ECI’s latest data release – 1. The number of registered voters per Lok Sabha and the assembly constituencies included in that Lok Sabha constituency have not been published along with the turnout data by the ECI, as is usually done. 2. The breakup of the number of votes and not just the vote percentage – as is typically made available by the ECI – is still not available,” Ramesh posted.

 “The whole point of releasing such data is to make it comparable over time. The ECI’s failure to release voter turnout data in the same format frustrates the very purpose of it all. One can only hope that political games are not being played through such data,” he added.

Meanwhile, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee while addressing a poll rally said: “There are lots of doubts and the commission must address it. There are apprehensions of manipulation of results by the BJP as several EVMs were missing for a long period.” She also raised questions over the credibility of the EVMs and went on to demand that the information about the company manufacturing EVMs should be made public.

Election Commission refutes the false allegations levelled by the opposition

The opposition and its media allies are spreading lies despite the fact that the ECI has stated that the final voter turnout numbers released on Tuesday were the same as those collected from constituency-specific voting figures on the poll body’s voter turnout app on 20 April evening, a day after the first phase ended, and 27 April evening, following the conclusion of the second phase.

Speaking to TOI, an ECI source said that form 17C, which records turnout at each polling station in absolute numbers at the end of voting, was inspected on the evening after polling day, and the turnout was 66.14 percent for the first phase and 66.71 percent for the second phase.

Source: ECI

“There was absolutely no delay in such disclosure on poll day… the narrative about non-disclosure of data is completely unfounded, without proper appreciation of the system in place. Leave alone constituency, even booth data of votes polled is available with the candidates and cannot be changed at any stage. Candidates use this data of votes polled station-wise to keep check on counting day,” ECI functionary said.

Rajdeep Sardesai’s past incidents of humiliation

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Rajdeep Sardesai has been schooled by a guest on his own show. In March 2017, India Today Conclave published a 6-minute interview of Rajdeep Sardesai with business tycoon Mukesh Ambani. Sardesai introduced him as the most powerful person in the country. When he asked Ambani how he felt when he introduced him the way he did, Ambani said, “I don’t believe that. I do not take you seriously.” Sardesai, humiliated by the ‘most powerful person’, could only say, “Are yeh kya baat hui (What are you saying).”

On December 14, 2021, during a debate on India Today where former Indian Captain Sunil Gavaskar was a panellist, he told Rajdeep it would not matter if Sardesai would not agree with him as he would not lose sleep over it. The debate was about the alleged rift between cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, which has been making rounds the whole day.

In January 2022, during a news debate on Devendra Fadnavis’ appointment as Deputy Chief minister after serving as the chief minister of Maharashtra, Rajdeep Sardesai asked BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla if that would affect the former CM, to which Poonawalla reminded the India Today journalist how he was once the Editor-in-chief of CNN IBN, and now he is working as Consulting Editor of India Today, which has not affected his stature or respect.

The greatest of all embarrassments for Sardesai was when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2007. PM Modi was attending Hindustan Times Leadership Summit as a guest. Sardesai, who was interviewing him, asked if he was sorry about what had happened in 2002. 

Then-CM Modi said, “A person who had got a chance to become anchor is trying to impose his propaganda while going out of the line from the topic for which I was called for in this Summit.” He questioned the organizers and asked them to decide how they wanted to move ahead with the interview.

Amit Shah deep fake video case: 5 persons, including Congress leaders and social media team members arrested in Hyderabad

OpIndia Staff
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Amit Shah deep fake video case: 5 persons, including Congress leaders and social media team members arrested in Hyderabad

5 persons have been arrested in Hyderabad in the case of circulating a deep fake video to defame Home Minister Amit Shah. As per reports, the arrested persons include members of the Congress social media cell in Telangana and political leaders of the party.

Earlier today, a team of Delhi Police had reached Telangana to investigate the deep fake case. The team had visited the Congress office too. The deep fake video falsely depicting Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying they would end reservations for SC-ST and OBCs was shared by the Telangana Congress’ social media handles.

The arrests have been made by the Hyderabad Cyber Crime department. Times Now journalist Sowmith Yakkati posted that 4 persons named Asma & Geetha, Naveen, Shiva and one more person have been held. 2 persons among these are Congress leaders while 3 are members of the Congress party social media team.

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has also been summoned by the Delhi Police in the case. He has been asked to submit his gadgets for examination too.

It is notable here that during the assembly elections in November this year, Congress’ Telangana unit was accused of circulating deep fake videos to defame BRS. BRS leader KTR had condemned Congress for deep fakes.

Earlier, the X handle of Jharkhand Congress was withheld in India for sharing the deep fake video. Reetam Singh, a Congress IT cell member from Assam has been arrested in the case.

Congress spokesperson Radhika Khera questions Priyanka Vadra’s silence on the harassment faced by women, BJP issues invitation

OpIndia Staff
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Congress spokesperson Radhika Khera questions Priyanka Vadra’s silence on the harassment faced by women, BJP issues invitation

On Thursday (2nd May), Congress spokesperson Radhika Khera slammed Congress leaders Bhupesh Baghel and Sushil Anand Shukla for insulting and defaming her amid the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Khera posted on X ahead of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s visit to Korba, Chhattisgarh alleging that the party and its leaders cared less about a woman’s dignity.

“Kaka’s fascination for ‘Dushil’ is more important than a woman’s honour. But, I am a girl, I am fighting. Didi is welcome in the maternal home of Lord Shri Ram’s mother Kausalya,” Khera posted.

In another tweet, she claimed that a woman was not safe in the holy land of Mother Kausalya’s maternal home. “Patriarchy just knows how to demean and defame and insult women. Will expose,” she stated.

This comes after a video of Khera went viral over the internet in which she could be seen crying and talking to somebody over the phone. Khera in the video could be heard saying that she had been insulted and that it had happened for the first time in her entire life.

“Today whatever has happened is very terrible. I have been insulted and this has never happened in my entire life of 40 years. He was screaming at me and also asked me to get out. Whenever I talk to him, he yells at me. Now I can’t stay in this party anymore,” she could be heard saying.

It is believed that the issue emerged after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge visited Janjgir Champa district in Chhattisgarh for campaigning amid Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The verbal brawl is said to have emerged between Congress leaders Sushil Anand Shukla and Radhia Khera over issuing a statement to the media after the rally. Khera along with other local leaders was in the Congress Bhavan when the duo engaged in a verbal fight. It escalated so much so that Khera was asked to leave the Bhavan.

After that, she could be seen crying and complaining about the insult to someone over the phone, the video of which is making rounds over social media.

BJP’s Kedar Gupta suggests Khera to join BJP

Amid the controversy, BJP’s Kedar Gupta expressed solidarity over the incident and suggested Khera to join BJP. “Whatever has happened is really very sad. This is Kausalya Maa’s maternal home land and any woman’s insult will not be tolerated here. You please save yourself from Congress. Rest assured that nothing will happen to you in Chhattisgarh. This is Modi’s guarantee. Congress talks about women’s empowerment and safety and does not even care about its women leaders. This is sad,” Gupta said.

Also MLA of Pandariya Constituency, BJP’s Bhavan Bohra also extended his support to the woman. “Be fearless, as long as the lotus is blooming in Chhattisgarh, you do not need to fear. In this fight of yours, whether the Congressmen who have pledged their souls join you or not, we all are standing with you,” he said.

Meanwhile, PCC President Chattisgarh Deepak Baij has commented on the matter saying that this is an internal matter of the Congress party and it will soon be resolved. “BJP need not interfere in the party affairs. This is our internal matter and we’ll look into it. BJP should look into their party affairs,” he said.

‘Congress is dying, so Pakistan is crying’: PM Modi after former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry praises Rahul Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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‘Congress is dying, so Pakistan is crying’: PM Modi after former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry praises Rahul Gandhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked Congress on 2nd May after former Pakistan minister Fawad Ahmed Hussain Chaudhry praised Rahul Gandhi in a social media post. He charged, “The interesting thing is that Congress is dying here and Pakistan is crying. You must have heard that now Pakistani leaders are praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make “Shehzada” (Rahul Gandhi) prime minister. You must have seen it yesterday. We already know that Congress likes Pakistan. The alliance between the two has been completely exposed,” in an election rally in Gujarat’s Anand.

He added, “Brothers and sisters, the adversaries of the nation don’t want a strong government in India. They want a feeble administration like there was during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks which used to send dossiers. The enemies of the country want a corrupt and unstable government like it was before 2014. Modi’s strong administration neither bows nor backs down. That is why the world is saying that its development can only be accelerated by India.”

The remark by the ex-Pakistani minister who served under Prime Minister Imran Khan and boasted of his country’s involvement in the 2019 Pulwama attack endorsing Rahul Gandhi sparked new political turmoil during election season. The comment was made in response to a Congress IT cell account that shared a video of Rahul Gandhi from a public event where he claimed that since Amitabh Bachchan, Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani were seen at the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir, PM Modi was working for the top 10-15 people in the country and creating distractions to divert attention from issues of public importance.

“Humne Hindustan ko ghus ke maara (We hit India in their home). Our success in Pulwama is a success of the people under the leadership of Imran Khan. You and we are all part of that success,” Fawad Chaudhry declared while addressing the National Assembly in 2020. He has a long history of making anti-India statements including mocking the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and India over Chandrayaan 2 mission.

Exclusive on NewsClick-China case: How Prabir Purkayastha and Neville Roy Singham spoke about ending democracy, taking lessons from Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood

Nupur J Sharma
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Exclusive on NewsClick-China case: How Prabir Purkayastha and Neville Roy Singham spoke about ending democracy, taking lessons from Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood

The Delhi Police Special Cell filed a chargesheet on 30th March in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case against Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and editor of NewsClick, who was apprehended by the authorities on 3rd October 2023 along with Human Resources (HR) chief Amit Chakraborty for receiving illicit funding from China that was transferred via the United States. The chargesheet included NewsClick, the news portal, as an additional accused party.

What the FIR in the Newsclick – Chinese funding case said

The Special Cell’s FIR against Prabir Purkayastha included a detailed list of assertions, including attempts to portray Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir as “not parts of India,” attacks on the Indian government’s efforts to combat Covid, financial support for the farmers’ agitation, and “putting up a spirited defence of legal cases” against Chinese telecom companies like Vivo and Xiaomi.

Funds to disseminate propaganda favouring China are reportedly received by NewsClick. The UAPA and the anti-terror law have been invoked against the news company. NewsClick is charged with obtaining more than Rs 80 crore from Chinese companies.

According to the FIR, the news outlet accepted funding from Chinese organizations with the intention of “disrupting the sovereignty of India” and inciting animosity toward the nation. Earlier, a Delhi court gave police a further 10 days to finish their probe into NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha. Amit Chakravarty, the chief of NewsClick’s HR department and former accuser turned approver, has extended his judicial custody for an additional ten days.

According to police, raids were carried out in October 2023 at 88 sites in Delhi and seven other states against the suspects listed in the FIR and those whose names came up during data analysis. In addition, Purkayastha is accused of working with the People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to undermine the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Purkayastha and Chakraborty were arrested after a full day of searches at more than fifty locations associated with the news portal, its staff and its contributors. The police reported that 46 “suspects” had had their “digital devices” confiscated and were being questioned following the searches, which took place around Mumbai and the National Capital Region. The Delhi office of the news outlet was also sealed by the police.

“Foreign funds in crores have been infused illegally in India by Indian and foreign entities inimical to India in pursuance of a conspiracy to disrupt sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, to cause disaffection against India and to threaten the unity, integrity, security of India,” the Special Cell established in its remand application, citing “secret inputs.”

Arunachal Pradesh was depicted as a disputed area on a new map of India, and the accused were “in direct touch with each other” and “discussing how to create a new map of India without Kashmir,” according to the remand application. They had also received “more than Rs 115 crore” in the “guise of foreign funds” for this purpose. Chakraborty has become an approver in the case, after Purkayastha and he, both have been in judicial confinement since November.

The People’s Dispatch Portal, owned and maintained by M/S PPK Newsclick Studio Private Limited has been used for purposefully peddling false narratives through paid news in lieu of crores of rupees of illegally routed foreign funds as part of a conspiracy, based on Delhi Police’s Special Cell’s FIR against NewsClick’s founder and Editor-in-Chief, Prabir Purkayastha.

The 8,000-page chargesheet reveals the seeds of conspiracy and who really wants to end democracy in India

The chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police Special Cell, parts of which OpIndia has seen, details the origins of the conspiracy hatched by Prabir Purkayastha, Neville Roy Singham and other accused. The chargesheet traces the beginning of the conspiracy from an email dump that ED shared with the Special Cell. One email from the 29th of June 2016 sent by Prabir Purkayastha to Neville Roy Singham marks the beginning of the conspiracy according to the Special Cell.

The subject of the email recovered by ED was “Social Media Group in India”.

In the email, Prabir tells Neville that a group in ‘their’ media project should focus only on tools – which is collating and analysing data. Second, he suggests a dedicated team for social media campaigns. The budget he allocates for the social media campaigns is anywhere between $60,000 to $80,000.

The chargesheet says that this innocuous email becomes relevant because soon after, a NewsClick article was shared over email on the 17th of September 2016 which spoke of creating mass movements in the typical Maoist style. In the article, NewsClick wrote that the Left needs to be at the forefront of such ‘struggles’.

Only 2 days later, on the 19th of September, a far more sinister email was exchanged, which revealed who really wanted to end democracy in India. This email was sent by Neville to Prabir.

In the email, Neville discusses 7 themes to combat the growing challenges that the Left faces globally, including in India.

1. The Communist vision: Neville says that they need to come up with an alternate vision for society since the communist vision is no longer “easy to project’. He asks how they can face rejection of mass struggles and how to counter the propaganda against communists and communism.

2. New characteristics of the working class: He laments that unions are on the decline, which were considered ‘reservoirs of the communists’. He also asks how they can deal with the “severe fragmentation of the working class” since due to mechanisation, thousands of workers are not collected in a factory space. ‘How do we organize the rural proletariat in the context of a new type of rural crisis that includes severe environmental destruction?”, he asks.

3. Emerging strategic issues in the post-Neo-Liberal era: In this, Neville talks about DMCs (Digital Monopoly Capital) and how the hegemony of Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft, along with AI, is reducing the need for human capital, thereby hurting communism. He further writes while capital has increased in the world, international working-class solidarity has decreased. He then equates Erdogan, PM Modi, Trump and Tremer to ask if pro-fascism is rising and how they can strategies to stop it.

4. In this theme, Neville talks about exploring other political instruments since the party form seems to be declining across the world. He also asks how they can attract the masses to join the movement.

5. Neville writes here, “Practical Questions: How do we effectively ally with ‘separatist’ or identity movements? These are the main dignity movements that have a different strategy than us. How to engage them and find commonality in action? How are we doing at mainstreaming gender and ethnicity issues inside-out movements? What is the real strategy of the left in local governments such as Barcelona, Port Elizabeth and Kerala? How do we amplify our political education efforts and network of schools and cadres?”.

6. Interestingly, in this theme, Neville talks about the Left taking lessons from Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood. He writes, “What should the rising “massification” of popular religions all around the world teach the left? Hezbollah and, the Muslim Brotherhood have used doctors, medical care and services to serve as central elements of organizing and providing services”. He further asks, “How do we build powerful partisan popular media centres and use social media in our struggles in an era of the end of print and TV along with their business models?“

7. In the last theme about ‘internationalisation’, Neville talks about how they can connect popular movements from across the world to be with explicitly Left ideological forces. He also talks about an international strategy.

From the 7 themes as discussed by Neville Roy Singham with Prabir Pukayastha, it becomes evident that the aim of NewsClick, its founders and the nexus with Neville Roy Singham was to attack at the very heart of Indian Sovereignty and displace democracy in India.

Here is what the 7 themes discussed by Neville reveal:

  1. The chargesheet explicitly says that the alternative vision mentioned in Theme – 1 of the mail is nothing else but to forcibly replace Indian democracy with a Party-State system like the one that exists in present-day China.
  2. While talking about declining international working-class solidarity, Neville also talks about bringing PM Modi down by branding him a fascist. This would point towards subversion of the Indian democratic process by someone who is proven to be funded by China and who is funding elements within India to push the Chinese narrative. If Neville Roy Singham is talking about displacing PM Modi as the head of the state, it is evident the Chinese state agenda that he is attempting to seed with elements like Parbir Purkayastha.
  3. He again talks about attracting the masses to join their movements. Given how he has spoken earlier of Maoist-style movements, it becomes clear that he supports violent movements.
  4. Neville talks specifically about allying with separatist movements in India. He also talks about allying with identity movements. This clearly points to NewsClick and its entire nexus encouraging terrorism and also, feeding the narrative that Muslims are in danger in India at the behest of China.
  5. Neville then treads an even more dangerous narrative by asking Prabir Purkayastha and others to take lessons from Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood.
  6. He further talks about building “powerful partisan popular media” and the use of social media to implement their strategy of disintegrating India.
  7. Lastly, he talks about aligning the Left with global popular movements. This thread could be seen in how the Black Lives Matter movement for example or the Intifada was connected to Indian Muslims in India.

From the email above, which is being considered the starting point of the conspiracy in the NewsClick case, it becomes evident that the ultimate aim of the left ecosystem is to ensure the end of Democracy in India with an alternate political system mirroring China in its place.

Media downplays the vile pro-Hamas, pro-Zakir Naik views of Parveen Shaikh even as Somaiya Principal confirms her insidious social media activity

Shraddha Pandey
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Media downplays the vile pro-Hamas, pro-Zakir Naik views of Parveen Shaikh even as Somaiya Principal confirms her insidious social media activity

The left-liberal and Islamist sympathising media ecosystem comes to the rescue of anyone expressing Hinduphobia and supporting terrorist groups like Hamas. Several media outlets including Scroll and Hindustan Times have published articles downplaying the pro-Hamas and anti-Hindu social media activity of Parveen Shaikh, the principal of the prestigious Somaiya Vidya Vihar school run by the Somaiya Trust in Mumbai. This comes after OpIndia published an exposé on Shaikh’s unflinching support for Hamas, usual Hindu haters including Islamist preacher Zakir Naik, and 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots mastermind Umar Khalid among others.

On the 1st of May, left-leaning portal Scroll published a report titled: “Mumbai school principal told to resign after being targeted by Hindutva website”. The bias of this article is evident from its headline itself, why would the ‘Hindutva’ website which OpIndia proudly is, target a random school principal if she was not liking terror group sympathising posts?

The insinuation of the Scroll article is rather simple – that OpIndia investigated Parveen Shaikh because of her Muslim identity. In truth, her Muslim identity is irrelevant. Her pro-Hamas views would affect Muslim and Hindu children alike. Not just those supporting Hindutva, but the Left too should be concerned about it. If they aren’t, as clearly, Scroll isn’t, then they are also pro-Hamas and pro-terror.

In a bid to whitewash Shaikh’s objectionable social media behaviour, without a smidgen of shame, Scroll passed off Parveen Shaikh’s support for Hamas as her ‘political views’. The publication presented the Hamas-sympathising posts liked by Shaikh on X (formerly Twitter) as “posts in support of the besieged territory of Gaza.”

Scroll’s report insinuates that OpIndia somehow ‘targeted’ Parveen Shaikh for having pro-Palestine opinions or for having sympathies for the people of Gaza, however, having pro-Palestine opinions is not the same as being pro-Hamas. Hamas is an Islamist terrorist group which has killed thousands of innocent Israeli civilians. Supporting a terrorist group is certainly not ‘political views’. While supporting Palestine could be considered a political stand, OpIndia’s coverage makes clear that a Principal who has the responsibility for thousands of children cannot possibly hold views that brand the killing of non-Muslim (Israeli in this case) innocent children and the rape of women as ‘resistance’ by an Islamic group.

The said report also downplayed Shaikh’s liking of several X posts abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bhartiya Janata Party and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

“Shaikh also liked several posts that were critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his political regime,” the Scroll report reads.

Contrary to Scroll’s assertion, the posts liked by Shaikh were not simply critical but abusive. If the left-leaning portal opines that posts calling PM Modi a “dog” referring to CM Yogi as “evil” and “critical” then their understanding of criticism and abusive behaviour is highly questionable.

Notably, OpIndia had found an outrageous tweet from Parveen Shaikh in which she stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a “dog” who is ready to fetch a ball at the instruction of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. She even engaged in internet propaganda against him making her dislike of him abundantly clear. She also voiced similar sentiments against Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and referred to the two BJP leaders as ‘evil.’

Parveen Shaikh invokes ‘freedom of speech’ after Somaiya School management asks her to resign

Speaking to Indian Express, Shaikh invoked ‘freedom of speech’ and democracy to justify her pro-Hamas social media behaviour. “I live in democratic India; I hold the principle of freedom of speech in high regard as it is a cornerstone of democracy… I will not resign because I have given a hundred per cent to the organisation,” she said. Much like Scroll, IE also mentioned that a section of parents extended support to Shaikh despite her objectionable opinions saying that “her views on certain subjects do not make a difference”.

HT downplays Parveen Shaikh’s pro-Hamas activities on X, despite Sheikh confirming to them that she liked posts sympathising with Hamas terrorists

In a pattern similar to Scroll and IE, Hindustan Times also reported selectively reported opinions of some parents supportive of Parveen Shaikh to assert that she has a great track record as the said school’s principal and thus, her outrageous social media behaviour should be overlooked. The report downplayed Shaikh’s pro-Hamas and anti-Hindu social media activities even though she confirmed to the publication that she indeed liked the contentious posts. Shaikh, however, passed off her pro-Hamas leanings as her support for the ‘Palestinian cause’.

“The news portal [OpIndia] that published the article about me is known for its bias against secular constitutional ethos, as well as the Palestinian cause. Its followers, who have trolled me, would share the same bias,” Shaikh told HT.

Both, HT and Scroll reports quoted a parent named Shilpa Phadke to assert that despite being a ‘progressive’ woman and excellent educator, Parveen Shaikh is being targeted for her Muslim identity. However, it is crucial to note that professional excellence does not give one a free pass to extend support to terrorist groups and abuse the country’s democratically elected prime minister, and a state’s chief minister over political differences.

Parveen Sheikh liked posts supporting Hamas terrorist Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s ‘resistance’ against Israel, and posts propagating anti-Ram Mandir views

On the 24th of April, OpIndia published a report which tracked the Islamist views of the principal and her leaning towards anti-Indian elements on social media. She frequently likes Hamas pronouncements endorsing their ‘resistance’ against Israel along with those supporting its senior leadership such as terrorist Ismail Haniyeh. She strikes as an ardent advocate of Hamas who rationalizes all the atrocities it commits as ‘resistance’ or ‘retaliation.’

Parveen Shaikh has an extensive record of “liking” tweets that echo her views. She also supports radicals such as Islamist preacher Zakir Naik and Umar Khalid, the mastermind of the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi. She also likes tweets holding Hindus liable for fundamentalist attacks on their sacred procession. Furthermore, Shaikh enjoys dehumanising Hindus by portraying them as beggars in front of Arab countries and is opposed to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.

Moreover, one of the X posts, Shaikh alleged that Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan “sold his soul to the devil” since he had requested that the Indian government reject any attempts by outsiders to meddle in domestic matters.

On the 12th of April, Shaikh liked a post by anti-semite and fake news peddler Jackson Hinkle which hailed the children and grandchildren of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh – who were neutralised by Israel for being Hamas terrorists. He called their death ‘martyrdom’, thereby revealing that he believes Hamas is ordained by Allah to heap atrocities against Jews.

As the OpIndia report sparked an outrage, Somaiya Trust took cognizance of the matter and said: “We were unaware of the sentiments expressed until it was brought to our notice today. We do not agree with such sentiments. It is certainly concerning. We are looking into the matter.”

Now that the Trust has asked Parveen Shaikh to resign, the media ecosystem has taken it upon itself to downplay and whitewash Shaikh’s terror-sympathising views and garner public sympathy for her.

Uttarakhand: Afzal pretends to be Rahul to befriend minor Hindu girl and rapes her, victim held hostage for forced conversion

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand: Afzal pretends to be Rahul to befriend minor Hindu girl and rapes her, victim held hostage for forced conversion

A girl from Uttarakhand’s Sitarganj was raped and forced into conversion by a man named Afzal, reported Hindustan. He had approached her and claimed to be a Hindu to get into a relationship with her, as per the victim’s complaint. She has leveled grave allegations against him as well as his family members.

The victim revealed that four years ago Afzal Ahmed, a resident of Ward 2 introduced himself as Rahul and proposed to her by masquerading as a Hindu. She was a minor at the time. The two then began a romantic affair and he sexually exploited her after some time.

She informed that on 27th November last year, the accused called her to his house where she realised the truth about his identity. The girl further charged that he and his family held her captive. Afzal and his brother Iqrar Ahmed locked the victim in a room and pressurised her to marry the former and embrace Islam. Police have now booked Afzal Ahmed, Iqrar Ahmed, their father Abrar Ahmed and mother under the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The girl underwent a medical examination on 1st May. Surendra Pratap Singh, in charge of Sarkada police station, stated that raids are being conducted to apprehend the culprits.

Notably, a few days ago on the 25th of April, a woman filed a police complaint in Haldwani that Atharuddin who ran a mobile shop took the number of her 17-year-old daughter when she visited the place to recharge her device. He sent dirty text messages to the minor and even pretended to be Sikh. He even stalked her to college stop and tried to hold her hand and molest her on the way. “Do what you want to do. I am not afraid of anyone. I will kidnap the girl in front of everyone,” he threatened when an acquaintance of the underage female confronted him and issued death threats to the person.

According to Bajrang Dal worker Joginder Singh Rana, the victim was nearly ten years younger than the Muslim male. He added that the offender lacked any legal documentation to operate the store and reportedly had stored numerous other phone numbers of Hindu girls on his phone, along with inappropriate conversations with them. The perpetrator was dragged out of his shop and assaulted by the locals when his action came to light.

Engineer who accused Boeing supplier of ignoring defects in 737 MAX dies, Joshua Dean is the second whistleblower to die

OpIndia Staff
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Engineer who accused Boeing supplier of ignoring defects in 737 MAX dies, Joshua Dean is the second whistleblower to die

On 30th April, former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems Joshua Dean died of a fast-spreading bacterial infection. He was one of the first whistleblowers who alleged that the company ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX. Dean was based out of Wichita, Kan, where Spirit is based.

45-year-old Dean was in good health. Reports suggest that he was following a healthy lifestyle. Two weeks before his death, he was rushed to hospital as he was having trouble breathing. He was incubated at the hospital after which he developed pneumonia followed by a serious bacterial infection Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). It is a serious staph bacteria infection that is resistant to some antibiotics.

As his health condition got worse, Joshua Dean was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City. Speaking to the media, his aunt Carol Parsons said that at the hospital in Oklahoma, he was put on an ECMO machine as his organs were unable to function properly. ECMO machine takes over the blood circulation and oxygenation outside the body. ECMO machine takes over the functions of the heart and lungs and it is used when these organs are unable to function on their own.

In a post on social media on 26th April, Dean’s mother informed that he was “fighting for his life”. She added that he was heavily sedated and put on dialysis. Furthermore, his mother informed him that tests revealed Dean had a stroke. Close to his death, the doctors were even considering amputating his hands and feet. Parsons termed what Dean went through as “brutal” and “heartbreaking”.

In a statement, Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino said, “Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.”

Role of Joshua Dean the case against Boeing

Notably, Dean gave a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit and filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration. In his complaint, he alleged that there was serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line. Dean started working for Spirit in 2019 as a mechanical engineer. In 2020, he was laid off during the pandemic. However, he returned to the company in May 2021 as a quality auditor. In October 2022, he found a serious manufacturing defect and when he flagged the issue, the company allegedly did nothing.

Another defect was discovered by him in April 2023 leading to delivery pause. He was removed from his job, after which he filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging he was removed as a retaliation for raising concerns over quality control.

Dean became the second whistleblower to die in the Boeing case. Earlier, John “Mitch” Barnett was found dead in an apartment in March this year. He was in the process of giving depositions against Boeing alleging the company retaliated against him for complaints about quality lapses. Barnett was found dead from a gunshot wound in Charleston SC. Boeing has its 787 manufacturing facility in the region. Barnett had spoken about manufacturing and quality issues in Boeing long before the Alaska Airlines mishap in January this year highlighted the safety concerns in Boeing aircraft. On January 5, a door along with a part of the fuselage of a Boeing 737 MAX-9 operated by Alaska Air fell off (Blowout as reported widely) when the flight reached an altitude of 16,000 feet.

The Coroner’s Officer of Charleston County asserted that his death “appeared to be from a self-inflicted gunshot wound”. The investigation into his death is underway.

Both Dean and Barnett were represented by same law firm in the case. One of Dean’s lawyers Brian Knowles said, “Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand It’s a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with John’s family and Josh’s family.”

Boeing aircraft suffer mishap after mishap, non-stop

Another FAA audit that spanned six weeks has concluded last week that multiple instances were found where Boeing failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.

In the January Alaska Airlines ‘door falling off mid-air’ incident, the US National Transportation Safety Board found that four key bolts, designed to hold the door securely in place, were not fitted.

Following the mid-air blowout, Alaska Airlines grounded all of its 65 Boeing 737-MAX 9 aircraft for inspection. A day after the Alaska Airlines incident, the United States air aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to temporarily ground more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for “immediate inspections” following the Alaska Airlines incident. Since then, dozens of incidents involving Boeing aircraft have been reported.

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