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Former Pakistani cricketer, who was banned for spot-fixing, charged for inciting people to murder a Dutch MP

OpIndia Staff
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Former Pakistani cricketer, who was banned for spot-fixing, charged for inciting people to murder a Dutch MP

On Monday, April 17, the authorities in the Netherlands confirmed that it was prosecuting a ‘famous’ Pakistani for allegedly inciting the murder of a lawmaker. According to the Dutch public prosecution office, a 37-year-old man offered 21,000 euros ($23,000) in 2018 for the murder of a Dutch MP through an online video but did not specify the suspect or the victim.

“In this particular case, the suspect is identifiable. He is a famous person in his own country. As a result, the Dutch police recognised him from the images,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Geert Wilders, a Dutch MP, however, tweeted about it and identified the accused as the former international cricketer Khalid Latif.

Wilders, who in 2018 withdrew a competition for drawings of the Prophet Mohammed due to protests and death threats, tweeted that the suspect was former Pakistan opening batsman Khalid Latif.

“The Dutch Public Prosecutor will prosecute and subpoena cricket player #KhalidLatif from #Pakistan who put a price on my head to kill me in 2018. They will ask for his arrest and extradition as well. I hope #SaadHussainRizvi and @DrJalaliTLY who put a fatwa on me will be next!” tweeted the MP.

When asked to confirm that Latif was the suspect, a representative for the Dutch prosecution service said, “We never give names.”

When asked, Latif claimed he was not aware of the allegations. “I have no knowledge of this. I will only comment once I get any communication on this,” he reportedly told the French news agency AFP.

Currently, Dutch prosecutors have asked Pakistan to serve the summons on the suspect, but they warned that this would be “very complicated” due to the lack of a legal treaty between the two nations.

Latif has been ordered to appear in court near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on August 29 for charges of attempting to incite murder, sedition, and threats. According to Dutch media, Latif was questioned by prosecutors in 2019 as well. The Pakistani embassy in The Hague has not responded to the case yet.

It may be recalled that Khalid Latif was banned from cricket for five years in 2017 for spot-fixing in a Pakistan Super League match in Dubai. The Pakistan Cricket Board had charged Khalid Latif with six major breaches under the PCB’s anti-corruption code and banned him from all forms of cricket. Khalid Latif was also fined a million Pakistani Rupees.

“Anti Corruption Tribunal has found Khalid Latif guilty of all charges…” the PCB had tweeted from its verified Twitter handle.

Later, in 2022, Khalid Latif accepted his role in spot-fixing and apologised to PCB in writing.

Elon Musk to launch TruthGPT, a rival to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT, says hyper-intelligent, unregulated AI could end civilisations

OpIndia Staff
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Elon Musk to launch TruthGPT, a rival to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT, says hyper-intelligent, unregulated AI could end civilisations

Elon Musk announced on Monday that he will introduce a platform for artificial intelligence (AI) called “TruthGPT” to compete with Microsoft and Google’s products. He said this in an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News.

He accused OpenAI, the company behind the trending chatbot ChatGPT, which is supported by Microsoft, of “training the AI to lie” and said that OpenAI has since transformed into a “closed source,” “for-profit” organisation “closely allied with Microsoft.”

Musk stated that he wants TruthGPT because OpenAI’s ChatGPT is “being trained to be politically correct and lie to people”. He added that he intends to create an AI that “understands the universe”, because an AI that seeks the maximum truth and understands human civilization and the world in general, is unlikely to annihilate humanity.

Additionally, he charged Google co-founder Larry Page with not taking AI safety seriously. In an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired on Monday, Musk claimed, “I’m going to start something which I call ‘TruthGPT’, or a maximum truth-seeking AI that seeks to comprehend the nature of the universe. TruthGPT, he claimed, “might be the best path to safety” and “unlikely to annihilate humans.”

“It’s only that it is starting late. But I’ll work to come up with a third choice,” Musk stated.

It is notable here that the primary reason for Elon Musk to take over Twitter, as per him, was that the social media giant was being misused as a Left-liberal propaganda machine that was working on choking free speech, rather than giving a platform for all voices to be heard.

Requests for comment were not immediately answered by Musk, OpenAI, Microsoft, or Page. According to people familiar with the situation, Musk has been stealing AI experts from Alphabet Inc.’s Google in order to found a company that will compete with OpenAI.

According to a state document, Musk registered a company called X.AI Corp, which was incorporated in Nevada last month. The company listed Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musk’s family office, as a secretary and Musk as the only director.

The action was taken despite Musk and a group of industry leaders and specialists in artificial intelligence calling for a six-month moratorium on creating systems that are more potent than OpenAI’s recently released GPT-4, citing potential threats to society.

The portions from the conversation with Carlson show that Musk repeated his cautions about AI, stating that “AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production.”

“It may end up destroying civilizations”, he warned.

He claimed, for instance, that an extremely intelligent AI could write astonishingly effectively and possibly sway public opinion. He tweeted over the weekend that he had met with former US President Barack Obama and advised him that Washington needed to “encourage AI regulation” when he was in office. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but he left the organization’s board of directors in 2018. He tweeted in 2019 that he had to concentrate on Tesla and SpaceX and had quit OpenAI.

In addition, he tweeted at the time, “Tesla was competing for some of the same people as OpenAI & I didn’t agree with some of what OpenAI team wanted to do.”

In addition to running Tesla and SpaceX, Musk is now in charge of Twitter, the social media giant he bought for $44 billion last year. Musk claimed in the Fox News interview that he recently valued Twitter at “less than half” of the acquisition cost. Microsoft Corp. announced another multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI in January, escalating competitor Google’s fight and igniting the race for AI financing in Silicon Valley.

West Bengal: Islamic organisation takes out ‘candle march’ in support of gangster Atiq Ahmed

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Islamic organisation takes out ‘candle march’ in support of gangster Atiq Ahmed

A day after the assassination of Atiq Ahmed, a religious organisation named ‘Raza Islamic Mission’ took out a candle march in support of the deceased gangster-politician.

The candlelight vigil was organised on Sunday (April 16) evening in Ramganj Bazar in Islampur in the Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal. The Raza Islamic Mission had floated a poster on social media, wherein it claimed that the event was meant against ‘UP police and Gundaraj.’

The ‘social and religious organisation’ also asked the protestors to ‘raise voice for justice’. The poster also bore pictures of the deceased Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed.

Screengrab of the poster of Raza Islamic Mission

In a Facebook post on Monday (April 17), the Islamic organisation announced, “Members of Raza Islamic Mission wearing Black Bands on their Faces took out a Candle March in Ramganj Bazar to Protest Against the killing of Ex MP Atique Ahmed in Police Custody by Terrorists Of Bajrang Dal, RSS And VHP.”

“On This Occasion, President of Raza Islamic Mission, Asjad Raza said that the Uttar Pradesh government has not only killed Two Persons but has also killed democracy,” it further claimed.

Raza Islamic Mission also posted pictures of men in skull caps, holding candles in hand, and protesting in support of criminal Atiq Ahmed and his brother.

The Islamic outfit also gloated over the fact that it was able to draw coverage from mainstream media.

Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead from point-blank range in Prayagraj on the night of April 15, 2023. The assassins were identified as Lavlesh Tiwari, Arun Maurya and Sunny. They had posed as journalists.

Atiq’s son Asad Ahmed and aide Ghulam were also neutralised in an encounter operation by the Uttar Pradesh Police last week.

Madhya Pradesh: Section 144 imposed in Khandwa after stones pelted at Police, Ashfaq, Umed arrested for kidnapping

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Section 144 imposed in Khandwa after stones pelted at Police, Ashfaq, Umed arrested for kidnapping

The Madhya Pradesh Police on Monday imposed section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in Khandwa city after a few people from the other community tried to create communal tension by pelting stones at the Police station followed by a kidnapping incident. The accused in the case have been identified as Kaharwadi ward councillor Ashfaq Sigad and his associate Umed. The duo has been arrested and booked by the police under National Security Act.

The saga began on Sunday when a Muslim girl was celebrating her birthday with two of her male friends in a cafe in the Anand Nagar area. A group of Muslims saw the scenario and approached the Hindu boys. Later the Muslims engaged in a brawl with the girl and then abducted the two men. According to the reports, the men were taken by the Muslims to a place near Dargah in the Khanshahwalli area.

The girl then happened to call the police who reached the spot and saved the two abducted men. The duo was brutally beaten by the accused persons, Mohammad Irfan and Azhar Ali who abducted them. Based on the complaint filed by the girl and two men, the police happened to register a case of kidnapping and thrashing and booked 16 persons belonging to the Muslim community. The FIR was registered at the Moghat Police Station.

The Police immediately jumped into action and detained two of the 16 persons named in the FIR. They also launched a manhunt to nab the rest of the accused who went absconding after the FIR was registered. Following this, the enraged Muslim crowd led by Kaharwadi ward councillor Ashfaq Sigad reached the police station and surrounded it demanding the release of the two accused detained in the case of thrashing and kidnapping.

The Muslim group also raised slogans and pelted stones at the police station. The stones were also pelted in the Gandhi Nagar area of the city. The mob also threw stones at the policemen. After this, the police forcefully dispersed the crowd. Several Police officers have been deployed in sensitive areas and main intersections in the city and section 144 also has been imposed.

In the case of stone pelting, cases have been registered against 15 others including Ashfaq s/o Arif Sigad resident of Kaharwadi, and Mohammad Umed s/o Mohammad Ejaz, resident of Chhipa Colony under Sections 353, 332, 147, 148, and 149. Meanwhile, Ashfaq and Umed have been arrested. The Police are checking the CCTV footage installed at the police station and looking for the other accused involved.

Reports mention that the accused named Ashfaq, who pelted stones at the policemen, has a criminal record. In the year 2020, a case was registered against him in the SC-ST Act including section 302 of murder and section 307 of an attempt to murder. Similarly, in the year 2021, cases were registered under sections 294, 323, 324, 147, 148, 452, 307, and 506. In the year 2020, a case was registered under Section 188, 506, and in the year 2022 under Section 188. Most of the cases are of Kotwali police station.

Notably, shortly after the stone pelting incident on Sunday, unknown people who were standing near the gate of Gandhi Nagar assaulted Waqar’s son Istekhar Ahmad resident of Doodh Talai. Waqar claimed that he and his companions, Abdulla Qureshi and Seemanaz, were beaten up without any reason. All three were beaten with plastic pipes. Along with this, they were threatened to be killed, as per Waqar.

However, the Superintendent of Police, Satyendra Kumar Shukla has appealed to the residents not to pay heed to any rumors. “Certainly those who are troublemakers give birth to such rumors and then try to vitiate the atmosphere of the city. The police are fully active and are with you. If any person takes the law into his hands, action will be taken against him. The general public should not pay attention to any kind of rumor. Don’t get confused by the number of rumors circulating on social media. The atmosphere of the city is peaceful,” he noted.

He said CrPC Section 144 has been imposed in the city till further orders as some people tried to create communal tension. “The situation is now peaceful,” he added.

Pakistani mob chants ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’, demands beheading of Chinese national accused of ‘blasphemy’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani mob chants ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’, demands beheading of Chinese national accused of ‘blasphemy’

On Sunday (April 16) night, a frenzied mob of Islamists raised the slogan of ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ while demanding punishment for a Chinese national accused of blasphemy.

Although the accused was taken into police custody, this did not stop the mob from baying for his blood. In a video shared by the popular Twitter handle ‘Frontal Force,’ the Islamists were heard saying, “Gustaak-e-Rasool ki ek hi saza, sar tan see juda”.

The loose translation of the disturbing slogan goes “The punishment for insulting/ dishonouring Prophet Muhammad is beheading (separation of the head from the rest of the body).”

“Naarae-e-Takhbeer…Allah hu Akbar(God is Great),” the mob chanted in the hopes of avenging the ‘insult’ of Prophet Muhammad.

In another video posted by “Nepal Correspondence’, the Islamists were heard hailing the Prophet as the last Messenger of God (Khatme Nabuwat). They could also be heard raising the slogan of ‘Sar Tan se Juda.’

Another video shared on the micro-blogging platform by one Raquf Qadri also showed a large group of Islamists calling for the beheading of a Chinese national on the allegation of blasphemy.

“Chinese engineer has abused #Prophet Muhammad in KPK, #Pakistan after having a bitter conversation with the workers. Workers attacked the #Chinese engineer and chanted “Sar Tan se Juda,” he said in a tweet.

On Sunday (April 16), Pakistan police arrested a Chinese engineer (named Mr Tian) working at a hydropower project in Kohistan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on accusations of blasphemy. The Chinese national working in China Gezhouba Group Company was accused of ‘insulting’ Allah.

According to South China Morning Post, Tian had allegedly commented about the slow pace of work during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan, which infuriated the Pakistani employees of the company.

As the news of the argument and alleged blasphemy spread, a charged mob of several hundred people, chanting death threats against Tian, gathered outside the residential camp and began pelting it with stones.

Sialkot mob lynching case

In December 2021, a Sri Lankan man Priyantha Kumara was tortured and burnt to death by a murderous Islamist mob over rumours of blasphemy. The incident took place on Wazirabad Road in Sialkot in Pakistan, where the workers attacked the export manager of a factory and burnt his body after killing him.

In a video, the frenzied mob could be heard chanting “Nara e Taqbeer” and “Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah”. Other slogans that were heard included ‘gustakh-e-nabi ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda sar tan se juda’.

Following diplomatic pressure from the Sri Lankan government, Pakistan was forced to act on the Islamists who killed Priyantha Kumara. With the help of CCTV footage, the police were able to apprehend 235 people for partaking in the heinous crime.

According to reports, 900 workers of the Rajco Industries were booked under Sections 302, 297, 201, 427, 431, 157, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Sections 7 and 11WW of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Elon vs CBC: Read how Canadian public broadcaster got labelled ‘69% govt funded’ and stopped Twitter operations

OpIndia Staff
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Elon vs CBC: Read how Canadian public broadcaster got labelled ‘69% govt funded’ and stopped Twitter operations

On April 17 (local time) Canadian public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada announced that it has paused its Twitter activities. In a tweet, it wrote, “Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on Twitter.” CBC took the step after Twitter labelled it as Government Funded Media.

In a Tweet, thread CBC wrote, “Twitter’s own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,” which is clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada.”

It further added that CBC Radio Canada is a publicly funded broadcaster through a parliamentary appropriation that was voted upon by all members of the Parliament in Canada.

Earlier on April 12, in an official statement, CBC Radio Canada pointed out that it received a letter from Twitter urging them to apply for the Government-funded Media label for the CBC’s various news-related accounts.

The statement read, “Yesterday, a letter to Twitter urged the platform to “apply the Government-funded Media label to the CBC’s various news-related accounts.” We can’t comment on the motives behind the letter.

Twitter’s own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,” which is clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada.

As every Canadian knows, CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded. Its editorial independence is protected by law in the Broadcasting Act.“

‘69 per cent government funded’

Soon after CBC raised objection over the label, Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk took cognisance of the matter and acted accordingly.

Commenting on the thread by TitterDaily, he mentioned that the label was changed to ‘70% government funded’ which was in accordance with the 2021-22 annual report of CBC.

However, a Twitter user pointed out that CBC should get the benefit of the doubt and get a better label of ‘69% government funded’ to which Musk agreed.

In a tweet, Musk said, “Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re “less than 70% government-funded”, so we corrected the label.”

The steps taken by the social media platform did not please the public broadcaster that later announced it would stop its activity on Twitter.

Earlier, other media houses including British Broadcaster BBC stopped their Twitter activities after they were labelled as Government Funded Media.

Anti-Hindu propaganda, whitewashing rioters, and more: Meet Geeta Pandey, the BBC journalist who hailed gangster Atiq Ahmed as ‘Robinhood’

Dibakar Dutta
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Anti-Hindu propaganda, whitewashing rioters, and more: Meet Geeta Pandey, the BBC journalist who hailed gangster Atiq Ahmed as ‘Robinhood’

On Sunday (April 16), BBC News ‘journalist’ Geeta Pandey stirred the hornet’s nest by trying to create a sympathy wave for deceased gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed.

In her piece titled ‘Atiq Ahmed: The brazen murder of an Indian mafia don-turned-politician,’ Pandey went on to weave a sorry tale around Ahmed’s childhood days. “The 60-year-old was born in a poor family in Prayagraj and was a school dropout…” the report read.

Hinting at a rags-to-riches story, she added, “…But over the years he amassed huge wealth, enjoyed political patronage and power and came to wield immense influence in the city of his birth and beyond.”

Citing former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh, Geeta Pandey highlighted how the gangster Atiq Ahmed was a sort of ‘Robinhood’ who helped people in distress.

“(He) spent lavishly to help poor people – paying for weddings, giving them money during Eid festivals, and helping poor women buy school uniforms and books for their children,” she quoted Singh as saying.

The BBC journalist also cast doubts on the police encounter of Asad Ahmed, the son of Atiq Ahmed, but decided to not delve into the details of his criminal activity.

Interestingly, she was able to find a 40-year-old anonymous ‘Muslim’ man, who was left wondering whether the assassination of Atiq Ahmed was related to his Islamic Faith.

Anti-India propaganda masked as ‘good journalism’

This is not the first time that Geeta Pandey displayed her excellence in vicious propaganda. In June last year, she falsely claimed that bulldozers were being used ‘to destroy homes and livelihoods of the minority Muslim community.’

This allegation is not rooted in reality. The BJP government has been razing illegal structures, irrespective of the faith or political affiliations of the accused. It is curious that Geeta Pandey associates only Muslims with illegal encroachment.

The illegally acquired properties of dozens of criminals and mafias have been demolished in UP, and the names include non-Muslims like Vikas Dubey, Yogesh Bhadora, Ramesh Pradhan, Badan Singh, Sundar Bhati, Vijay Mishra and many others.

Screengrab of the BBC report by Geeta Pandey

In September 2022, the Uttarakhand government demolished the resort owned by the son of ex-BJP minister Pulkit Arya in connection to the murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari. Pulkit Arya is neither a Muslim student nor an activist but that did not stop the government from taking swift action against him.

The BBC ‘journalist’ has deceptively tried to claim that action has been taken unilaterally against the Muslim community. During the Coronavirus pandemic, she was actively involved in anti-Hindu propaganda, even going to the extent of labelling Kumbh Mela devotees as ‘Covid superspreaders.’

The false characterisation of the event and the Covid-19 scare gave the opportunity to the usual suspects to compare ‘Kumbh’ with the Nizamuddin Markaz event, organised by Tablighi Jamaat.

Screengrab of the BBC report by Geeta Pandey

Opindia had reported how the Panchayati Niranjani Akhada asked Sadhus to leave Haridwar and conclude the festival within 17 days instead of 30 days (cut down from the original) and displayed awareness about the fatal consequences of the pandemic.

Geeta Pandey did not content herself by calling Hindu pilgrims ‘super spreaders’. She also exploited the rising cases during the second wave of the pandemic to tarnish the image of India on a global scale.

It is interesting to note that some ‘journalists’ took aerial shots of the burning pyres, breached the privacy of the grieving families and used the tragedy of millions of people for furthering their political narrative.

Screengrab of the BBC report by Geeta Pandey

In her article, Geeta Pandey tried to link the presence of dead bodies in the river Ganga to ‘unaccounted Covid-19 deaths’, a claim which was debunked in May last year.

She had also resorted to blatant Hinduphobia in the past. Following the death of a man named Tabrez Ansari on the accusation of being a thief, the BBC journalist compared the sacred Hindu chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to a ‘murder cry.’

“Jai Shri Ram has now been turned into a cry of attack, meant to intimidate and threaten those who worship differently,” she claimed in her vicious piece.

In February this year, she wrote a propaganda-laden article with the objective of painting Bageshwar Dham Sarkar as ‘regressive’, ‘orthodox’ and anti-Muslim.’

“Mr Shastri has also been embroiled in political controversies over what appear to be anti-minority statements and calling for India to be made a Hindu rashtra (nation). He was also accused of practising untouchability last year after a video went viral that showed him telling a man “Don’t touch me… you’re untouchable”, the article read.

Screengrab of the BBC report by Geeta Pandey

Geeta Pandey has never shied from acknowledging the impact of her articles. Following the incarceration of Delhi riot accused Safoora Zargar, the left-liberal lobby campaigned for her release on grounds that she is pregnant.

The BBC journalist had also amplified the campaign, with the claim that Zargar was at health risk in jail. A month after the publication of her article, Pandey informed, “She’s finally been granted bail and her family tells me she’s expected to walk out of jail today.”

The BBC journalist had also batted for fake news peddler Prashant Bhushan in an article titled ‘India finds an unlikely hero in lawyer-activist.’ Geeta Pandey has also tried to discredit ‘love jihad’ as a conspiracy theory, despite 100s of documented cases of forced conversion and identity fraud.

Her latest attempt to discover a ‘Robinhood’ in a deceased gangster-politician is part of the same politically motivated ruse.

Supreme Court grants bail to TMC leader Saket Gokhale in crowdfunding case

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court grants bail to TMC leader Saket Gokhale in crowdfunding case

The Supreme Court on Monday (April 17) granted bail to Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Saket Gokhale in the case where he is accused of misusing money he had collected through crowdfunding. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by the TMC leader against a Gujarat High Court order refusing him bail in the matter.

The allegations against him are that he collected over Rs 72 lakh from more than 1,700 persons through a crowdfunding platform ‘our democracy’ and used that money for personal use and thus, misappropriated the funds.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju representing the state, opposed bail claiming that the allegations were serious. Senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal appearing for the TMC leader apprised the court that Gokhale had been in jail for the last 109 days.

After hearing the arguments presented by both sides, the Supreme Court bench of justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath said, “Taking into consideration that the charge sheet has already been filed, the applicant is directed to be released on bail.”

Gujarat HC dismisses Gokhale’s bail plea in the crowdfunding case

Notably, in January this year, the Gujarat High Court dismissed the bail application filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Saket Gokhale observing that prima facie it appears that Gokhale had utilised the funds raised through crowdfunding for his personal expenses.

Noting that the case is of the nature of fraud and cheating and that the investigation is still going on and that the necessary evidence is to be recovered, the court denied bail to the TMC leader.

On December 29, Gokhale was arrested in Delhi by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch. Gokhale is accused of misappropriating Rs 1.07 crore collected from the public through crowd-funding. Saket Gokhale was charged under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 467 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code.

ED arrests TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale and his repeated arrests

TMC leader Saket Gokhale was arrested by the Gujarat Police in December last year for siphoning off money in the name of activism. The police had found accounts linked to Gokhale where he was receiving money, which he claimed was being used for legal fees for activism-related cases but were instead being used for personal expenses. Before that, he was arrested by Gujarat police for spreading fake news about PM Modi.

On January 25, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Gokhale under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in Ahmedabad.

From Kargil war to ‘real vs reel’ life of a spy – Ex-RAW chief Vikram Sood talks about his experience in the Indian Spy Agency

OpIndia Staff
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From Kargil war to ‘real vs reel’ life of a spy – Ex-RAW chief Vikram Sood talks about his experience in the Indian Spy Agency

On Sunday, April 16, News Agency ANI published the 57th episode of ‘Podcast With Smita Prakash’ with former RAW chief Vikram Sood as the guest. During the interview, Sood talked in detail (to the point he could divulge) about the Kargil war with Pakistan. Sood mentioned that intelligence about the possible attack from Pakistan’s side was given not only by RAW but also by Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau.

“We can only give intelligence, how they [the government] react is up to them,” he said. Sood also talked about the incident when RAW taped a conversation between Musharraf and Aziz Khan that had the mention that the then-Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, was not fully informed about the operation against India. He said, “RAW sent a report in 1998 that they were planning something big. The report even mentioned the word war. But it was not accepted.”

Sood added that the conversation gave evidence that the Pakistanis wanted to maintain no involvement in the Kargil infiltration. When Sharif got information about the recording, he ran to the then-President of the United States, Bill Clinton, for intervention as Sharif’s “own people” were playing a game without getting him in the loop.

Smita Prakash reminded him of the incident when then-Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani held a screening of the movie LOC which was based on the Kargil war. There was a mention in the movie that intelligence was given to the government and at that time, the whole theatre looked at Sood who was fuming. “It becomes the storyline,” Sood said as nothing in the aftermath could have been done.

‘I will not be considered secular’ – Indira Gandhi recalled Sikh guards

Though there is no written documentation of the incident, Sood pointed out that after Operation Blue Star, the Sikh bodyguards protecting then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were removed based on intelligence. However, the legend says, when Indira Gandhi came to know about it, she recalled the bodyguards saying, “Bring them back otherwise how can I be considered secular”.

Sood pointed out that it is a legend. There have been instances in the past when the ministers including the Prime Minister ignored the intelligence reports. Though the ministers like doing adulation and mixing, it is a nightmare for the security agencies. The same happened in the case of Rajiv Gandhi. The intelligence provided was checked after the assassination of Gandhi. On that day, Sood said, Gandhi did not have ample security with him which led to the incident.

Bhindranwale was made in India and Amritpal Singh is a copycat

Talking about Operation Blue Star, Sood mentioned that in his book ‘The Khalistan Conspiracy’, Special Secretary of RAW GBS Sidhu mentioned that Bhindranwale was created by India. He said, “Once you create [it] then it has a life of its own. It evolves and develops.” Sood mentioned that the Bhindranwale went out of hand and the same happened with LTTE chief Prabhakaran who was behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

Speaking on the Amritpal Saga that has been going on in Punjab, Sood called it a copycat of the Khalistan movement of Bhindranwale. In December 2022, OpIndia published a detailed report on the similarities between Bhindranwale and Amritpal Singh that can be read here. He said, “[Once it has evolved and developed] it gets repeated or copycat instant like now there is Amritpal movement is growing which is aided from abroad.”

Sood also compared the threat posed by Pakistan and China. He said the bigger threat is China which is a totalitarian state. “We are not even ready to accept Balakot happened” he added while slamming the opposition for not trusting the armed forces.

India did not retaliate in time

Regarding several major attacks initiated by Pakistan on Indian soil, Sood said India did not react to many attacks in time. From the Kashmiri Hindu exodus to the 2008 Mumbai attack, there were several instances where India should have reacted but it did not.

“We had these horrible incidents in Kashmir where the Kashmiri Hindu Pandits had to flee. We had the kidnapping of sister [he meant the daughter of then Home Minister of India Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Rubaiya Sayeed]. We had the killing of the Air Force Squadron leader [Ravi Khanna]. What did we do in return, we later described Yasin Malik as a moderate”, Sood said. Notably, it was only after the BJP government came to power, Malik was arrested and subsequently put behind bars.

Furthermore, India did not react adequately to the 1993 Mumbai blasts, the 2006 Mumbai blasts, and the Mumbai terror attack in 2008. All these incidents required a strong reaction from India but were missed. Speaking about the importance of a political message, Vikram Sood talked about the Uri surgical strike and Balakot surgical strike. He said, “The message was important. We will strike. We can do it and we will do it and we will do it again.”

The Reel vs real spies of India

Speaking about how spies are depicted in Indian movies, Sood said it is nowhere close to reality. “They are good as a comedy but not reality,” he said. He talked about different levels of intelligence, how spies who go to collect intelligence are completely different from those who are on the desk job or are handlers, and more. While spies who collect information may have to go silent in terms of communication with the families for months or even years, the case of those like Sood, who was a handler, go for missions with a much smaller span.

Sood agreed with Smita’s point that it is said “it is better to die than to survive in Pakistani jails owing to the torture Indian spies suffer.” He said, “We can only take care of their families [without talking about the courage they showed for the country]. We can provide them with employment and jobs. Everything else is forgotten.”

Media needs to be careful so does the general public

Speaking about the use of the latest technology in reporting what has been happening at the borders or during an attack, Sood emphasised that media should restrain from live reporting. Those, including the general public, who gets photographs or intel, should share it with the authorities first before putting it on social media.

Intelligence needs experts from outside the ‘circle’

Vikram Sood talked about the involvement of experts from all arenas in gathering information from different means. He noted that the intelligence personnel cannot be just those who have passed UPSC. In today’s time, there is a need of bringing all possible experts to the table. It could be a time-bound contract or a lifetime association with the agency. The intelligence agencies need explosive experts, communication experts, financial experts, cipher experts, and even global warming experts who can gather data and provide workable inputs to the agencies. All such experts cannot be from one sector and have to be pulled from across sectors.

AAP leader Gopal Italia arrested by Surat Police for derogatory remarks on BJP leaders, released on bail

OpIndia Staff
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AAP leader Gopal Italia arrested by Surat Police for derogatory remarks on BJP leaders, released on bail

Another AAP leader was arrested today, adding to Aam Aadmi Party’s woes. Gopal Italia, a senior leader of the AAP in Gujarat, was detained by the Crime Branch of the Surat Police for making a contentious remark about the state’s BJP president CR Patil and home minister Harsh Sanghvi. He was eventually released on bail today.

Italia was detained as a result of a viral video that surfaced last year in which he was heard calling Harsh Sanghvi “Drugs Sanghvi.” A complaint was filed against him, following which he was arrested by the Crime Branch of Surat Police. Italia is no stranger to such problems; in the past, he has also made offensive remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother.

The arrest of Italia comes as several other AAP leaders, including Satyendar Jain and former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia, are being held in Tihar jail on various charges. Arvind Kejriwal, the national convenor of the AAP and the Chief Minister of Delhi, was recently interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over the excise (liquor) policy scam for more than nine hours on Sunday, April 16.

The arrest of Italia has once again brought attention to the AAP’s leaders’ purported inappropriate behaviour and controversies. This most recent incident only compounds the party’s problems as it continues to experience legal difficulties and political setbacks across the nation.

Italia’s arrest is linked to his derogatory remark against Harsh Sanghvi and CR Patil, wherein he referred to Sanghvi as “drugs Sanghvi” in a viral video that had caused a stir in political circles, and a case was filed against Italia based on a complaint filed by a BJP worker. The case was later handed over to the Crime Branch, which arrested Italia for his alleged defamatory comments.

Italia’s controversial statements have been a cause of concern for AAP in the past as well. Last year, he was detained by the Delhi Police and taken to the Sarita Vihar police station for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A video of Italia calling PM Modi a “neech aadmi” (a lowly person) surfaced, reportedly from 2019 during the run-up to the general elections. The video was widely shared on social media, and it sparked controversy, drawing criticism from various quarters.

AAP’s national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, who has been leading the party’s charge in various state elections, including Gujarat, has also faced intense questioning by investigative agencies in recent times. The CBI’s questioning of Kejriwal in connection with the excise (liquor) policy scam has further intensified the spotlight on AAP and its leaders.

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