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COP28 Dubai: PM Modi proposes to host COP33 in 2028 in India, underlines commitment to climate justice

OpIndia Staff
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COP28 Dubai: PM Modi proposes to host COP33 in 2028 in India, underlines commitment to climate justice

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Dubai on Thursday (30th November) night to participate in the COP-28’s ‘World Climate Action Summit’. The Indian diaspora in Dubai warmly welcomed him. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This program is being held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023. This is PM Modi’s third time attending the event after 2015 and 2021. UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had sent an official invitation to attend the summit.

What is COP?

COP stands for Conference of the Parties. It is an annual event where representatives from 196 countries come together to discuss and negotiate climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. The COPs are organised by the UNFCCC. UNFCC is the international treaty that outlines the global framework for addressing climate change.

The conference is held annually since the first UN climate agreement was signed in 1992. It is used by governments to limit global temperature rise and agree on policies favourable to the impacts associated with climate change. The current COP28 summit will be the first formal assessment of the progress of various countries toward the Paris Agreement‘s goal of limiting climate change to 1.5 Celsius of warming.

COP28 in Dubai

The 28th version of the COP is hosted by Dubai. This meeting is organised to review the implementation of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement and to negotiate new climate change agreements. Sharing information and best practices on climate change and raising awareness about climate change are other important objectives of the meeting.

Global leaders attending the conference will discuss ways to accelerate action to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and enhance climate finance for developing countries. They will also address loss and damage from climate change.

The Government of the UAE has said in its welcome message that it is hosting COP28 to build on past successes and to pave the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change.

At COP21 in 2015, the world agreed to limit global warming to 1.5°C higher than the pre-industrial level by 2050, the official statement said. Emissions must halve by 2030 to stay on target. However, only seven years are left to meet the target. The UAE government has said that COP28 is a significant opportunity to rethink, restart and refocus the climate agenda.

India at COP28

On Thursday, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav attended the inaugural session of the COP-28 Summit representing India. In his address, the minister said that there has been a positive signal of momentum from COP-28 on the first day in the UAE. He also underscored the importance of ‘climate justice’.

The Minister said India supports the decision to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund. A loss and damage fund is a relief package that rich countries give to developing countries more vulnerable to climate change to compensate for the damages.

PM Narendra Modi at COP28 in Dubai

Apart from Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, PM Modi also participated in the COP28 conference. PM Modi represented India at the high-level meeting of the World Climate Action Summit COP28 on Friday (1st December). The Prime Minister is also scheduled to attend three other high-level engagements during the visit. PM attended the climate conference for the third time after Paris in 2015 and Glasgow in 2021.

In his remarks at the COP28 in Dubai, PM Modi proposed the organisation of COP33 in 2028 in India. He asserted that India’s contribution to global carbon emissions is less than 4 per cent. Furthermore, he emphasised that India has showcased a developmental model to the world, effectively achieving a commendable equilibrium between ecological considerations and economic growth.

Stripped naked, beaten with PVC pipes and metal rods: 20-year-old Indian student held captive and tortured for months in the US; three arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Stripped naked, beaten with PVC pipes and metal rods: 20-year-old Indian student held captive and tortured for months in the US; three arrested

The authorities saved a 20-year-old Indian student who had been held captive for several months in the Missouri region of the United States. He had been brutally abused, denied necessities like toilets and made to work at three different residences by his cousin and two men of Indian origin. The victim, who travelled to Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla last year from India to pursue his studies, is presently receiving medical attention at a hospital for several bone fractures, cuts and injuries all over his body.

The victim, whose identity was kept secret, was imprisoned in three houses in the US state of Missouri for several months. Police raided a house on a rural St. Charles County highway on 29 November and arrested his cousin and main accused 35-year-old Venkatesh R Sattaru, 23-year-old Sravan Varma Penumetcha and 27-year-old Nikhil Verma Penmatsa, a day later. They were charged with crimes including kidnapping, assault, and people trafficking. A concerned citizen learned of the young man’s predicament and called 911, prompting the summoning of police to inspect the house.

The student reportedly endured over seven months of torture. He was stripped naked and thrashed with electric wire, PVC pipes, metal rods, wooden boards, sticks and a washing machine’s water supply hose. According to the charges, the accused confined him to a basement and made him sleep on a concrete floor only for three hours where Sattaru kept an eye on him with a surveillance camera. He foraged in neighbouring restaurant dumpsters for scraps.

According to the police, the student was brought to Sattaru’s house in April of this year. He was forced to perform household chores from 4:30 am, work a whole day for Sattaru’s IT business and afterwards finish a list of assignments in the evening. Furthermore, they stated that he would give the other two culprits instructions to beat the victim over a livestream. He would direct them to strike the latter more forcefully if he did not scream loud enough. “Sattaru is a wealthy, powerful man in India with political and law enforcement connections,” the student informed the police.

Prosecutor Joe McCulloch remarked, “It’s absolutely inhumane and unconscionable that one human being could treat another human being like this.” The three perpetrators are suspected of stifling and torturing the victim at three separate houses owned by Sattaru in Defiance, Dardenne Prairie and O’Fallon. Investigators identified Sattaru as the primary conspirator. He lives in the O’Fallon house with his spouse and kids.

He is also accused of assisting in human trafficking by misusing papers and trafficking people for the purpose of servitude. The student was saved from a house where Penumetcha and Penmatsa stay. The student received harsh beatings if he failed to accomplish the chores correctly. He was struck all over his body and forcefully stripped naked, per the accusations. In addition to prior fractures and breaks that did not heal properly, allegations pointed out that he was kicked, stomped and beaten.

The Indian student believed that he would receive a student visa sponsorship from the trio, but he conveyed they destroyed his passport. He also told authorities that he had very little food and was always being watched. According to the authorities, the accused only let him call his mother back home while they were present. He was never permitted to conduct video calls either.

The police briefed a conference, stating that they were first denied entry into the house by a man. The student did, however, finally emerge from the basement running. According to the accusations, he was severely scarred shaking violently and had bruises and swelling all over his body.

On 30 November afternoon, Sattaru’s door was not at his place and court records did not name attorneys for any of the three men. “They beat him with their fists, they stomped on him, they beat him with electrical wiring, with PVC pipes. They forced him to sleep in an unfinished basement, they starved him and limited his access to the public and to restrooms,” proclaimed Joe McCulloch and expressed his gratitude to the person for enabling the rescue mission.

He added, “If you see something, say something. We would much rather check it out and find nothing than have an incident like this that’s been going on for nearly a year.” He noted that the offenders are being held at the St. Charles County Jail without bond because they are well-off and have political ties in India.

India vs Australia T20: No electricity at Raipur stadium due to unpaid bill worth Rs 3.16 crore

OpIndia Staff
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India vs Australia T20: No electricity at Raipur stadium due to unpaid bill worth Rs 3.16 crore

The fourth T20 international between India and Australia will be played at Raipur’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium on Friday (December 1). However, with only hours till the vital match, there is no electricity in some sections of the stadium since an electricity bill has not been paid since 2009.

According to an NDTV report, the stadium has an overdue bill of Rs 3.16 crore, for which the stadium’s electricity connection had been cut five years ago. At the request of the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association, a temporary connection was set up, however, it only covers the spectators’ gallery and boxes. In an embarrassing turn of events, the floodlights would have to be powered by a generator during tonight’s match.

Ashok Khandelwal, Raipur Rural Circle in-charge, stated that the Cricket Association Secretary requested an increase in the temporary connection capacity. Although the upgrade to 1,000 KV has been approved, implementation is still pending.

The stadium’s electricity issue is not new. A lack of electricity supply took half-marathon participants off guard in 2018. Reports suggest that stadium’s electricity bills have been piling up since 2009.

The stadium’s maintenance was initially delegated to the Public Works Department (PWD), with the Sports Department liable for all additional expenses. However, it has been reported that both the authorities have been shifting the blame on each other concerning the overdue electricity bill.

Regardless of several notices from the electricity company to the two departments—PWD and the Sports Department, the debt remains unpaid. This financial impasse has lasted despite the stadium hosting three international cricket matches since the power outage in 2018.

Meanwhile, Tarunesh Singh Parihar, media coordinator for the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS), expressed reservations about holding international matches under these circumstances. According to him, the stadium uses generators as a workaround for important events, as reported by NDTV. He went on to say that a temporary connection had been established in the name of CSCS.

In tonight’s final T20 match between India and Australia at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Team India, led by captain Suryakumar Yadav, aims to seal a series win after falling short in Guwahati.

More than 1000 women Agniveers taken into Indian Navy: Admiral R Hari Kumar

ANI
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More than 1000 women Agniveers taken into Indian Navy: Admiral R Hari Kumar

The Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, said on Friday, during his speech at a press conference ahead of Navy Day, that more than 1,000 women agniveers have been incorporated into the Indian Navy.

Admiral Kumar, while lauding the Agnipath scheme, said that the implementation of Agnipath has been a much-needed, transformational change.

“Our first batch of Agniveers graduated from the premier-winning establishment, INS Chilka, in March this year. And importantly, this batch of Agniveers includes 272 female Agniveer trainees as well,” said Admiral Kumar.

“And going further, the second batch of Agniveers had a total of 454 women and I want to say that with the third batch, which has just been inducted, we have now crossed over 1000 women affiliates in the navy,” he added.

Admiral Kumar asserted that these statistics stand testament to the Indan Navy’s philosophy of all roles and all ranks with regard to the deployment of women in the service, both for officers and for personnel below the rank of officer.

“We also appointed the first woman commanding officer of an Indian naval ship. It has been our effort to constantly challenge the status quo to ensure that the navy remains on an aspirational and dynamic trajectory into the future,” said Admiral Kumar.

“Take a look at the year gone by, and you’d agree that 2023 has been a remarkable year for our nation. Leaving a mark across various sectors and spheres, be it the economic front, diplomacy, or sports arena,” said Admiral Kumar.

“Similarly, for the navy too, the last year has been remarkable. And in this period, our ships, submarines and aircraft have sustained a high operation tempo, undertaking missions and tasks encompassing military, diplomatic and constabulary roles,” he added.

He further mentioned that Indian units are mission-deployed across the Indian Ocean region and beyond to protect and promote the national interest, so these extensive deployments, coupled with the equally large number of exercises at sea, have really helped the Indian Navy and as a result, the Indian Navy has remained a combat-ready, credible, cohesive, and future-proof force, enabled by what we call our ship’s first outlook, where every single action that we take is aimed to enable our women and men in the operational units to perform that duty very well.

Admiral Kumar further said, “Our ships have been persistently present across the Indo-Pacific region. Submarines have undertaken operational turnarounds at foreign ports in Oman, Australia, and Indonesia.”

“In the data-level operational readiness exercise in the months of January and February this year, more than 151 operational units took part in the exercise, which spanned an area of more than 21 million square nautical miles,” he added.

He also highlighted the twin carrier operations that involved both of the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers, Vikrant and Vikramaditya.

The Chief of Naval Staff, during his speech, further said that among the Indian Navy’s number of operational achievements, nothing could be more reassuring than the maiden takeoff of LCA Navy and the MiG29K onboard Vikrant in February this year, reaffirming that the Indian Navy is on the right track in fostering ‘Aatma Nirbharta’ in the defence sector.

He further highlighted that the economic survey report for 2022-23 tabled in parliament on January 31 did, in fact, acknowledge the Navy’s role in providing substantial impetus to the Indian shipbuilding industry.

“So, as a subset of indigenization, we have retained our focus on fostering R&D in each technology,” he said.

Admiral Kumar also mentioned that the second edition of the Swavlamban seminar was conducted this year.

He further said that last year, answers were sought for 25 challenges, while this year, more than 1000 responses were received.

“We declared about 118 winners under the disc 7 sprint and the sprint prime and concluded over a hundred technological development agreements between IDEX and industry,” Admiral Kumar said, adding that these include a number of global first-game changers and first multipliers.

The Chief of Naval Staff further said that in driving self-reliance and technology development, the Indian Navy is well established on a path of budget optimisation, with the capital budget crossing the Rs 50,000 core mark, a 26 percent hike in the revenue budget.

“All this points to increasing trust in our efficient budget and utilising capacity to generate capability,” he said.

He also announced that the Indian Navy will be conducting the forthcoming Navy Day on December 4 in Maharashtra. 

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Muslim journalist repeats claim about Prophet Mohammad’s marriage with young Ayesha, which was pointed out by Nupur Sharma, wins praise by Islamists instead

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim journalist repeats claim about Prophet Mohammad’s marriage with young Ayesha, which was pointed out by Nupur Sharma, wins praise by Islamists instead

On Friday (1st December), former Indian Express ‘journalist‘ Irena Akbar tweeted the same thing that former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma had said, with several fellow Islamists agreeing with her. She tweeted (archive) a racist cartoon of a Hindu man (dark-coloured skin with saffron tilak), stating his objection to the Islamic Prophet’s marriage to an underage girl. “Your Prophet married a 9-year-old!!!” the cartoon depicting a Hindu man said. A ‘fair-skinned’ man, bearing a skull cap and representative of the Muslim community, is shown to defend Prophet Muhammad. “Yes and? Aisha’s father had no problem. Aisha’s family had no problem. Aisha’s tribe had no problem. Even the arch enemies of the Prophet had no problem.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Irena Akbar

The ‘dark-coloured’ Hindu man is shown crying over the antecedents of the Islamic prophet and saying, “We have a problem.” The ex-Indian Express ‘journalist’ conceded that Prophet Muhammad married an underage girl. “Alhamdulillah,” she said.

Irena Akbar was seen responding to Muslim apologists, who were claiming that Aisha was 18 when she married Prophet Muhammad. In a tweet (archive), she emphasised, “No, she was 9 when the marriage was consummated, as per authentic sources of the Seerah. Some apologetic ‘scholars’ attempted to advance her age to 18 in order to ‘fit’ Islam into the flawed Western-liberal-secular-feminist framework.”

“We shouldn’t change facts to appease Islamophobes. Aisha (RA) & her family had no problem with the marriage. The enemies of the Prophet (SAW) could’ve easily used the marriage to target him but they didn’t. It’s only modern-day Islamophobes who keep blabbering about this. And we should stop being apologetic,” Irena Akbar emphasised.

Screengrab of the tweet by Irena Akbar

She urged other Muslims to own up to the fact that the marriage between Prophet Muhammad and Aisha was consummated when the latter was 9 years old.

Irena Akbar tweeted (archive), “I am going by authentic Seerah sources, such as The Sealed Nectar. Please read it and listen to the detailed commentary about it by scholars from the Islamic University of Madinah.”

“Also, read biographical sources of Aaisha ( RA) herself who was gifted with intelligence at a remarkably young age. She was indeed a child prodigy. You might not be trying to appease, but with all due respect, your thread stems from Western-modern-day ideas of marriage,” she concluded.

Screengrab of the tweet by Irena Akbar

The plight of Nupur Sharma

Irena Akbar, who has acknowledged the underage marriage of Prophet Muhammad with Aisha, had targeted ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for essentially saying the same thing during a debate on Times Now in May last year.

“First, ruling BJP’s NupurSharma spewed vulgar language against the Prophet (SAW). Now, BJP’s Naveen Jindal went 10 steps ahead to tweet a horrific allegation against Prophet (SAW). Insulting Prophet (SAW) has become the latest self-promotion tool for India’s ruling party members,” she said in a tweet on 4th June 2022.

Nupur Sharma found herself at the centre of a raging storm after Islamists, egged on by the likes of AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair and Irena Akbar, issued multiple threats against her and her family for expressing her views on Prophet Muhammad and Islam.

Screengrab of the tweet by Irena Akbar

Sharma was part of a debate panel on Times Now, discussing the finding of Shivling in the Gyanvapi complex and the subsequent mockery of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses that followed in the wake of the discovery.

In response to the contempt and scorn poured over Hindu Gods and Goddesses, BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma asked them to refrain from insulting Hindu Gods and cited Islamic scriptures and the Holy Quran to substantiate her remarks on Prophet Muhammad and Islam.

Zubair shared an incomplete video of the debate, touching off Sar Tan Se Juda protests all over the country. While Islamists went on a rampage on the streets in many cities across the country, it was essentially Mohammed Zubair who was responsible for kindling a fire that had gone on to assume uncontrollable proportions.

Nupur Sharma received support from the likes of Kanhaiya Lal (Udaipur), and Umesh Kolhe (Amravati), who were later murdered by Islamists. Opindia had reported in detail about cases of murders and assaults faced by the Hindu community for extending their support to the former BJP spokesperson.

Muslims agree with Irena Akbar, do not issue threats

One Khazadah I Awadh appreciated, “Massive respects and salute to you. This coming from a woman is applaudable. In the times when liberalism and feminism are corrupting Muslim males and females, you chose to be unapologetic. May Allah (swt) bless you.”

Other Muslims were seen justifying the underage marriage as a commandment from Allah that Prophet Muhammad had to follow.

Unlike Nupur Sharma, Irena Akbar received neither abuse nor death threats since she happens to be a co-religionist of the Islamists. This is not the first time that the former Indian Express ‘journalist’ courted controversy on social media.

In October this year, she was seen defending Hamas terrorists over the killing and subsequent parading of the body of German citizen Shani Louk. While slut-shaming the victim, she claimed that Shani Louk could have been ‘partially naked’ at the time of her killing and not necessarily stripped by Hamas terrorists.

Bihar: BPSC teacher abducted from school and forced to marry in Vaishali; photos go viral on the internet

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: BPSC teacher abducted from school and forced to marry in Vaishali; photos go viral on the internet

A teacher from the Vaishali district in Bihar was abducted and forcibly married on Wednesday (29th November). The teacher was abducted from the school. After the complaint of kidnapping and the ruckus of angry people, the police took the couple into custody. The photos of the forced wedding have also gone viral.

Gautam Kumar, who recently passed the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination and became a teacher, was kidnapped from the school on Wednesday (29th November). Gautam Kumar teaches at the Utkramit Middle School in Repura, Patepur. He is a resident of the Mahya Malpur village under the Patepur police station area.

When the news of the teacher’s abduction came to light, angry people blocked the Tajpur-Hajipur state highway. Shortly after this Patepur police recovered teacher Gautam Kumar from the Narayanpur Dedhpura village under the Mahanar police station area. Gautam Kumar was caught with his bride. In this case, the police have also detained one person.

Gautam Kumar was teaching his students on Wednesday afternoon. At that time, Rajesh Rai, Dablu Rai, Bhushan Rai, Vinod Rai, and Pramod Rai of the same village reached the school. They threatened him with a pistol and forcibly took him away in a Bolero car. The school’s in-charge principal and Gautam Kumar’s grandfather lodged an FIR of kidnapping at Patepur police station. Angry over the abduction of the teacher, his family members and villagers stopped traffic on State Highway – 49.

Teacher from Bihar abducted and forcibly married. Image source: Aaj Tak

The police found the kidnapped teacher along with his wife within a few hours. According to reports, teacher Gautam was forcibly married to Rajesh Rai’s daughter. The marriage was done at the girl’s uncle’s in-laws’ house in Narayanpur Dedhpura. Now, in this case, the families of the boy and the girl are also reportedly coming on the terms of mutual agreement.

Patepur police station in-charge Hasan Sardar said that the statement of the aggrieved teacher will be recorded in the court under CrPC 164. Further action will be taken after the statement given in the court.

Recently, the Patna High Court, while hearing a case related to forced marriages, stated that forcibly applying sindoor to a woman would not be considered a valid Hindu marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act. The court emphasised that a Hindu marriage is not valid unless it is consensual. It highlighted the essential ritual of ‘Saptapadi’ (taking seven rounds around the sacred fire), emphasising its necessity for the marriage to be recognised as valid.

Congress spokesperson Sujata Paul goes on an unhinged rant during a TV debate, netizens call her ‘wannabe Supriya Srinate’

OpIndia Staff
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Congress spokesperson Sujata Paul goes on an unhinged rant during a TV debate, netizens call her ‘wannabe Supriya Srinate’

On Wednesday, November 28, Congress spokesperson Sujata Paul went on an unhinged rant against journalist Harshvardhan Tiwari during an IndiaTV news debate. The debate was over the Congress party’s politicisation of the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation and attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi who heads the NDMA.

While senior journalist Harshvardhan Tiwari was making his point that development work including the construction of tunnels and all-weather road in Silkyara should be undertaken and that it would be transformative for the local people, a visibly annoyed Sujata Paul was seen making faces, and gestures suggesting that Tiwari’s opinion is senseless. As Tiwari noticed the Congress spokesperson’s behaviour, he inquired if she has a problem since she is making weird faces.

To this, the wannabe Supriya Srinate harangued, “Because you are sitting here as journalist…don’t sit here as a journalist. You don’t know things…I am sitting here in Uttarakhand…what do you even know…Uttarakhand doesn’t need highway…have some shame…(unclear voice)…”

Leaving the Tiwari and the debate’s anchor shocked with her behaviour, Paul continued, “7 people have already died due to this project. What is he [Tiwari] even talking.”

When the anchor interrupted Paul saying that it is Tiwari’s opinion and she can disagree with him, however, the Congress spokesperson aggressively asked why the senior journalist was giving his personal opinion. While the anchor reiterated that Sujata Paul should let the debate continue properly and allow Tiwari to make his point, Paul reasserted that Tiwari should stop giving his personal opinion on the issue.

Reacting to Paul’s comments, Tiwari said, “Understand the real problem…this sudden burst of anger is a tactic of the Congress spokespersons. But they won’t achieve anything from it.”

In no mood to correct her behaviour and calm her tone down, Sujata Paul labelled journalist Tiwari as a spokesperson for the BJP. “Look at his way of talking. You are BJP spokesperson…everyone knows it… he is telling stories.

As the situation went calm momentarily, Tiwari decided to wind up his point saying that the tunnel project should be completed. Sujata Paul interrupted saying that it should be closed and a case be filed. Tiwari opined that to provide the local people with essential services like roads, tunnels are needed to ensure basic facilities for locals. He added that PM Modi should get credit for ensuring a successful rescue operation. But then the Congress spokesperson again said, “he is sitting in Lucknow and talking about Uttarakhand. PM Modi should get credit for the incident of 41 workers getting trapped in the tunnel.”

Taking to X, Congress leader Sujata Paul shared a video of her war of words with Harshvardhan Tiwari. Calling Tiwari a “Namoona” Paul alleged that the journalist hates women and its credit goes to his RSS upbringing.

“Listen to this amazing Namoona. Actually, his hatred towards women is the result of his RSS upbringing. They come to argue or to show people’s faces as dirty. Whose dirty, bad thoughts, his dirty mouth speaks equally dirty,” Paul wrote.

Netizens, however, were not pleased with the Congress spokesperson’s behaviour.

An X user wrote a sarcastic in response to Paul’s post, “And while you are talking so calmly and politely, yet this man is talking so rudely to the woman. This is absolutely too much, polite, polite and brilliant speakers like you, Supriya Alka Lamba, Ragini Radhika Khera should not be exposed to these.”

One X user wrote a sarcastic comment calling out Sujata Paul’s attempt to match Supriya Srinate’s level, “Nowadays everyone keeps trying to become @SupriyaShrinate in Congress, but no one becomes Supriya Srinate just like that, to become one has to contest elections and then get one’s deposit forfeited. That’s why you won’t be able to do it.”

Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue operation

On November 28, the 17th day of the rescue operation, all 41 trapped workers were safely evacuated from the Silkyara tunnel. The rescue operation had been ongoing since 12th November when the debris fell in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel trapping 41 labourers inside the under-construction structure. To make the rescue operation a success, the officials had inserted pipes to provide essentials like food, water, medicine, and sufficient oxygen supply for the trapped workers. They had also sent communication devices and maintained regular communications with the trapped workers to keep their morale high.

It is notable that the construction of the said tunnel is a part of the strategic 900 km long Char Dham project worth Rs 12,000 crore. The project will provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand. PM Modi laid the foundation of the project in December 2016.

Bigot-baby-secular-baby stories make a comeback, this time by hypocritical columnist with The Hindu, Telegraph who justified death of infant in Shaheen Bagh

Pragya Bakshi Sharma
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Bigot-baby-secular-baby stories make a comeback, this time by hypocritical columnist with The Hindu, Telegraph who justified death of infant in Shaheen Bagh

Islamist columnist Salma Nazma has invited a much-deserved backlash on social media platform X for reigniting the “bigot baby secular baby” narrative on the platform. On 30th November, Salma Nazma narrated an alleged incident claiming that her daughter’s classmate told her that she is not comfortable attending her birthday party because they are Muslims.

“Yesterday a classmate told my daughter, that she is not comfortable attending her birthday party, since we are Muslims. I really wonder, what kind of conversations parents have at home, for 11 yr kids to talk like this,” Nazma wrote on X.

Naturally, given her history of using children to target anything and everything that is Hindu, Nazma was countered by netizens. An X user shared her story that her driver and maid refused to eat at her house on any festival saying it is “haram”. “I don’t know who teaches this in their home,” she retorted.

To this, all Nazma had to say was a shameless “Lol”. Replying to another user, Nazma also suggested that perhaps her daughter’s classmate who refused the invitation was “allergic to Muslims”.

In response to a user who expressed concern, Nazma replied saying that “she has prepared her daughter for such things as this is not the first time”. A fine example of how Islamists are raising an entire generation feeding them assumptions, victimhood and cooked up narratives.

X users also pointed out how her timeline is full of Hindu hate and asked her why does she then want her kids to befriend a Hindu when she doesn’t like Hindus herself.

Netizens then called out Nazma for a post of hers from 2021 which was completely contradictory to her latest hue and cry.

On 23rd January 2021, Nazma wrote on X telling Muslim boys to “stop walking your Hindu girlfriends home and I don’t give a f*ck if people get offended. People will only outrage, no one will come to your rescue”.

Netizens pointed out how the so-called columnist then told Muslim boys to stop walking their Hindu girlfriends home while now ranting about how her daughter’s classmate allegedly refused to attend her birthday party.

In both cases, of course, she used the Muslim victimhood card as is the norm with Islamists while simultaneously demonising Hindu children, their families and by extension Hinduism. After all, that is always the larger cause of Islamists.

Dr Nazma, who has written for The Hindu, The Telegraph and the ilk, is one among many such ecosystem-fed Hindu haters who have resorted to the ‘bigot baby secular baby’ tactic.

Another screenshot of one of her old posts was shared by a user. As per the screenshot, in her post dated 14th October 2019, Nazma shared that, again, her daughter was told by a 10-year-old that he hates Muslims and also “threatened to slap her”.

“Dude! My daughter was told yesterday by a 10 yr old that he hates Muslims and also threatened to slap her. A few days back she was told that Muslims are bad people by her classmate. She is six. Twitter is not India, but it is a reflection of the Indian society. People replying here are not robots.” she wrote.

The reality check from netizens to the Islamist columnist hit the nail on the head. Alas if only reality checks were the solution for a people whose entire belief system is that waging jihad against ‘Kafirs’ is a call from the divine.

The hate for Hindus runs so deep in the minds and hearts of people like Dr Nazma that even children become means of psychological propaganda weapons for them.

In 2017, journalist Faye D Souza spoke of her 5-year-old niece and how she allegedly condemned the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh after the child died in a government hospital in Gorakhpur.

In 2017, Saba Naqvi claimed that her 8-year-old nephew was asked by a classmate if he is Pakistani because ‘they say’ he is tall and fair. She then asked whether this was an insult or idiocy.

Fake news peddler and propagandist who masquerades as a journalist, Rohini Singh, tweeted an entire thread where apparently, at a 5-year-old’s birthday party, some ‘little Zoya’ was asked to ‘go back to her country’ to which she said she ‘is not Pakistani’.

This ‘secular-baby-bigot-baby’ was then converted into an article, akin to atrocity literature, in the leftist propaganda portal, The Wire.

Rohini Singh in the article claimed that several other people had messaged her after her thread and narrated several other such stories.

In another story, she said a mother told her that her ‘little girl’ was told that she would be locked in a room forever. According to Rohini, that was an “obvious reference” to NRC.

It is interesting that the Islamists think it is believable that KG children would be discussing India and Pakistan or that toddlers would be discussing NRC.

That children should not be at the receiving end of any conflict in the world is a basic point that all humans can and should agree upon, for the sake of ethics, human rights, morality, all the words which by the way this ecosystem uses selectively.

But really, victimhood has worked so well for them that even if it comes at the cost of the child of a Hindu, they will grab the opportunity.

The anecdotes shared by Dr Nazma and her coterie to demonise Hindu children and their upbringing with carefully woven words and projected as personal stories are used to launch an offensive on the Hindu value system.

Notice how she writes, “I really wonder what kind of conversations parents have at home for 11-year-old kids to talk like this.” This Islamist is directly projecting a probably made-up incident to cast aspersions and doubts on the conversations an everyday Hindu parent and family has with their child.

No Nazma, us Hindus have children too, of course not 18-20 because that’s a record no one else but your community alone can achieve, but we do have children in our homes.

And in case you forgot, we are Hindus so of course, we do not radicalise our children into becoming jihadis or do and say anything that makes them come close to even the shadow or any harm, much less locking horns with Islamists who we are very much aware can be at our throats for something as normal as taking conducting peaceful festive processions.

We want our children to live and live happy and healthy lives at that for the greater good of their motherland and humanity. We are not the kind to weaponise their tiny, innocent hands with heavy, hurtful stones to hurl at “kafirs”.

We are not the ones who shamelessly justified the death of a four-month-old infant Mohammed Jahan during the anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh in the name of jihad. You did. You Nazma have endorsed putting a Muslim infant child in the arms of death and justified it by saying the infant “died for a cause”. Hindus, however, do not talk to their children about your community at all for these very fears. If you can justify infants being killed at protests “for a cause”, what will your ilk do with ours? We do not want to know.

The kind of conversations that the parents of Hindu children, whom you use to cook up stories and make them vulnerable to the fatal harm that can come their way, have is way beyond what your delusional and devious mind can comprehend.

‘Bigot baby secular baby’ anecdotes shared by Islamists resemble Nazi propagandists strategy

These anecdotes against Hindu children shared by Islamists in India mirror Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels’ strategy, who was Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany.

He was one of Adolf Hitler’s closest and most devoted associates and was known for his deep antisemitism. He advocated progressively harsher discrimination, including the extermination of the Jews in the Holocaust.

Goebbels propaganda was one of the large contributing factors to the genocide of Jews in Nazi Germany.

One notices the similarities in the manner in which Jews were vilified by Goebbels and what the ‘Liberals’ are doing today to Hindus, and it is difficult to escape a distinct chill that runs down one’s spine.

The ‘bigot-baby-secular-baby’ story seems to follow all of the propaganda tenets that Goebbels used to demonise the Jews.

One of Goebbels’ principles says that the propaganda must be crafted as such, that the aggression among the people must be directed to specific targets for hatred. What the ‘bigot-baby-secular-baby’ story does, is just that. it gives the Muslim population of the country, which has been fed the false victimhood pill a target to displace their hatred – the Hindus.

What Muslim parent would not be enraged by these stories? What Muslim mother would not want retribution from Hindus for their children, evidently being demonised for their faith? Even if this has not happened to their own children, would Muslims not feel further victimised by these false stories?

And given how sections of the Muslim community have often “expressed” their hatred, how does one think the Muslim community would react? By writing op-eds? Or by indulging in senseless violence?

Essentially, these stories paint a target on the back of Hindus and more dangerously, Hindus children, much like Goebbels painted a target on the back of Jews right before the Holocaust that resulted in the mindless and systematic murder of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Rape in UP mosque: Maulvi Muntazir Alam arrested for sexual assault of a minor girl who came to learn Urdu at a mosque in Hamirpur

OpIndia Staff
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Rape in UP mosque: Maulvi Muntazir Alam arrested for sexual assault of a minor girl who came to learn Urdu at a mosque in Hamirpur

In the Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh, a Maulvi named Muntazir Alam has been arrested for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl inside a mosque. The 30-year-old Maulvi used to teach Urdu to the student at the mosque in the Kurara police station precinct.

According to Hamir Sadar Circle Officer Rajesh Kamal, the police received information about the rape of a minor girl on Wednesday (November 29). A case has been registered in the matter under relevant sections at the Kurara police station and the accused Maulvi has been arrested. The arrested accused is being questioned. Meanwhile, Inspector in charge Shripraksh Yadav said that accused Muntazir Alam has been booked under the provisions of the POCSO Act in addition to rape charges.

The case was registered on the complaint of the minor victim’s uncle. According to the complaint, the 11-year-old girl had gone to the mosque along with her younger brother for Urdu classes. When the duo arrived at the mosque, the accused Maulvi gave toffees to the victim’s brother and made him sit outside and study. Meanwhile, Muntazir Alam took the girl inside a room in the mosque where he raped the girl.

Upon hearing the victim’s screams students present inside the mosque gathered outside the room and repeatedly knocked. Subsequently, the accused Urdu teacher left the girl go. A bloodied victim somehow reached her home and informed her family members about the crime. The victim’s family was shocked to see the minor in such a state.

According to media reports, accused Muntazir Alam is originally a resident of Kochgarh in Bihar’s Poornia district. He moved to Hamirpur around 4-5 years ago and with the consent of the local Muslims, was appointed as an Urdu teacher at the said mosque.

Russia: Gay activists fear arrest as country’s supreme court bans ‘international LGBTQ movement’ and labels it as ‘extremist’

OpIndia Staff
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Russia: Gay activists fear arrest as country’s supreme court bans ‘international LGBTQ movement’ and labels it as ‘extremist’

The ‘international LGBTQ movement’ was deemed an extremist group by Russia’s Supreme Court which also outlawed all activity connected to it within the nation which has led to fear of arrest and prosecution among gay and transgender activists there. The development came three years after the country changed the constitution to assert that marriage is a union only between a man and a woman. Same-sex unions are not recognised in Russia.

A plea to ban what the justice ministry referred to as “the international LGBT social movement” was pronounced by the judge on 30 November. The action conforms to a pattern of growing legislative prohibitions in Russia on gender identity and sexual orientation which includes laws that forbid advocating for “non-traditional” sexual relationships and that prohibit legal or medical gender transitions.

It is expected to further weaken the rights of the LGBTQ community which have been subjected to an increasingly harsh crackdown in recent years because President Vladimir Putin wants to maintain his standing as the protector of traditional moral values against the progressive West.

The court order stated, “the claims are to be satisfied: to recognize the international LGBT movement as an extremist organization and to prohibit its activities in Russia,” according to state news agency RIA Novosti, although there is no legally recognized LGBTQ community in Russia due to the discriminatory anti-gay law in place in the nation. The Justice Ministry was the only organisation present for the four to five-hour closed-door hearing which included secret information and proceedings, however, reporters were summoned to hear the decision. According to RIA Novosti, the judgment is going to take effect right away.

The Justice Ministry announced two weeks ago on its official website that it has started legal action to label the “international LGBT social movement” as an extremist group and seek Russia to declare it illegal. The ministry did not define the “movement” in any detail.

A United Nations statement denounced the ruling and claimed that Russia’s top court ruled in favour of a motion filed by the Ministry of Justice which argued that the LGBTQ community risked “inciting social and religious discord” in breach of Russia’s Law on Countering Extremism. “Repeal, immediately, laws that place improper restrictions on the work of human rights defenders or that discriminate against LGBT people,” demanded UN human rights chief Volker Turk of the Russian government.

The world body expressed its “deplorement” over the decision and warned that “members, employees, and people engaging with such organisations” could face criminal charges as well as jail time as a result. The UN human rights chief claimed that under Russian law, an organisation termed as extreme faces instant dissolution and its executives might face up to 10 years in prison.

He stressed, “This decision exposes human rights defenders and anyone standing up for the human rights of LGBT people to being labelled as ‘extremist,’ a term that has serious social and criminal ramifications in Russia.” Although homosexuality was no longer illegal in Russia in 1993, prejudice and homophobia are still pervasive.

Following the request from the justice ministry on 17 November which without providing examples mentioned that “various signs and manifestations of extremist orientation, including the incitement of social and religious discord” had been identified in the activities of the LGBT movement in Russia, the gay activists had come to view the decision as inevitable. LGBT activist Ada Blakewell stated outside the court that the decision went against Russia’s official claims that it does not discriminate against and grants equal rights to LGBT people.

She alleged that to convince her that she was not a transsexual woman, she had undergone “conversion therapy” for a year against her will. “In practice, after the adoption of this lawsuit, I won’t be able to talk about conversion therapy.”

Multiple anti-LGBTQ laws have been enacted or strengthened by the Kremlin in recent years as part of a conservative movement that has been stronger since the invasion of Ukraine. President Putin is almost certainly going to continue in office beyond the next presidential elections next year. A rule prohibiting doctors from performing gender reassignment surgery on children was passed in Russia in July of this year, except for situations involving the treatment of congenital physiological defects.

The president passed a bill into law in December 2022 that broadened Russia’s ban on LGBTQ “propaganda” prohibiting anybody to advocate for same-sex partnerships or imply that non-heterosexual inclinations are “normal.” He signed a package of amendments that included harsher sanctions for those who advocated gender transition and/or “non-traditional sexual relations and/or preferences.” The 2013 legislation that forbade the communication of LGBTQ-related information to children was expanded upon by the current law.

“I’d like this world to be a free place where people can love whoever they want, although my attitude to all this is neutral because I’m not in their shoes. But if I were forbidden to love, that would be very painful,” voiced a young woman named Lera in an interview with Reuters.

However, a man in his 20s named Daniil had a different opinion and observed that same-sex partnerships were “not normal.” He highlighted, “I believe the majority of people at least that I know, my friends and acquaintances, share a negative attitude towards homosexuality. That’s why it’s the right decision for our country.”

Russia has previously blacklisted over a hundred groups due to their “extremist” views. Prior designations have been used as a pretext for arrests, such as those about the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious movement and outfits connected to opposition politician Alexei Navalny. The state of the LBGT community in Russia, according to UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani is “just going from bad to worse” and the court’s ambiguous definition of the “LGBT movement” leaves the law vulnerable to misuse. She conveyed, “What this means for the LGBT community is its further repression of their fundamental rights.”

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