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Islamist portal Maktoob Media fans Hinduphobia by attributing hate crime by a Jat Sikh to a Hindu, quietly deletes its post after being exposed

OpIndia Staff
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Islamist portal Maktoob Media fans Hinduphobia by attributing hate crime by a Jat Sikh to a Hindu, quietly deletes its post after being exposed

Islamist propaganda portal Maktoob Media, notorious for peddling fake news and propagating Hinduphobia, recently published fake news, which said a court in the United Kingdom prosecuted a Jat Hindu man for posting a casteist post on social media.

“A Jat Hindu man has been given an 18-week custodial sentence by a United Kingdom court after posting a casteist offensive message on social media. It is perhaps the first case of its kind in the UK where caste-based slurs have been prosecuted, ” read a tweet posted by the official Twitter handle of Maktoob Media on April 6.

Source: Twitter

The case pertains to the United Kingdom, where one Mr Amrik Singh Bajwa had posted a grossly offensive video on TikTok on 19 July last year, wherein he hurled sexual abuses, obscenities, and casteist slurs at the Dalit Sikh community.

He was subsequently arrested following a Thames Valley Police investigation and was slapped with an offence contrary to section 127(1)(a) and (3) of the Communications Act 2003 for sending an offensive/indecent/obscene/menacing message/matter.

The case was initially referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision, but it was later elevated to the Attorney General for a final decision. This was the first instance in the UK where charges were pressed for both caste-based insults and sexual hate speech.

The court held Bajwa guilty and sentenced him to 18 weeks of a custodial sentence for posting casteist offensive messages on social media. 

Maktoob Media falsely describes the perpetrator, a Jat Sikh, as a Jat Hindu to fan Hinduphobia in the West

However, Maktoob Media, with its penchant for vilifying Hindus and shielding rioters and Islamists indulging in unlawful activities, published a report about the incident claiming that an upper-caste Hindu man was jailed by a UK court for the first time for posting casteist slurs on social media.

A popular Twitter user, Sonam Mahajan, who goes by the handle @AsYouNotWish, pointed out that the man in question was not a Jat Hindu but a Jat Sikh and slammed the Islamist portal Maktoob Media for falsely attributing a hate crime committed against the Dalit Sikh community in the UK to Hindus while the perpetrator was a Jat Sikh supremacist.

As Maktoob Media’s claim that an upper-caste Hindu Jat man had made an offensive video against the Dalit Sikh community ended up being fake as Mr Amrik Singh Bajwa turned out to be a Jat Sikh, the Islamist portal quietly deleted its tweet and updated its report, removing references to the Hindus previously mentioned in their article. The portal offered no apology or disclaimer that the report had been updated after wrongly ascribing the identity of the perpetrator to the Hindu community.

The Islamist portal’s brazen targeting of Hindus comes at a time when Hinduphobia is on an ominous rise, especially in the West, most notably in the United Kingdom in the wake of the Leicester violence incident, which brought to the fore the rampant Hindupobia present in the UK as violence erupted following the defeat of Pakistan by India in the Asia Cup match on August 28 last year. Muslims, primarily Pakistani Islamists, reportedly assaulted Hindus and their homes in the area. Several videos of the incident went viral a week after the incident.

The videos showed Hindus being assaulted in their cars while parked in their driveways, and Hindu families huddled in their houses, stunned, while massive groups wandered the street vandalising property. The majority of these incidents of violence and provocative religious sloganeering were reported in the city’s Belgrave region.

Two cases filed against organisers of Hanuman Jayanti program in Hooghly, police allege swords brandished and DJ music played in the procession

OpIndia Staff
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Two cases filed against organisers of Hanuman Jayanti program in Hooghly, police allege swords brandished and DJ music played in the procession

On Friday, April 7, West Bengal’s Hooghly district police registered two cases against the Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra organizers. The police said that the organizers did not have permission to take out the Shobha Yatra and that some of the participants brandished swords during the Yatra in Bansberia. No arrests have been made so far.

Reportedly, the Hooghly Rural Superintendent of Police Amandeep said that “several weapons and DJ boxes were seized during the Shobha Yatra. Legal action will be taken against those who violated the law after identifying them.”

According to police, the participants of the procession brandished swords and other such weapons. Police sources said that a large number of weapons have been seized from the procession. However, locals are asking how the procession featured swords despite a strict ban on such displays as per a High Court order when there was a heavy police presence.

The procession had started in front of the Hanuman temple at Kalbazar in Banshberia, where 17 committees had participated. Allegedly each committee carried their own DJ system in the procession. A paramilitary force did a route march ahead of the Hanuman Jayanti Sobha Yatra.

It is notable that following the attack on Ram Navami processions last week in Howrah, the Calcutta High Court had directed the state government to seek assistance from the para-military forces during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. The court had also said that nobody should make any statement regarding the festival in public or in the media. Due to the presence of the security forces, the Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated peacefully in West Bengal without any violence. Reportedly a total of eight processions and around 80 puja and bhog distribution programmes were held on Thursday.

Yesterday BJP leader and Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee was stopped by the State police officials from joining the Hanuman Jayanti procession in Hooghly by calling her an ‘outsider’. The BJP MP was on her way to a temple at Banshberiea to perform puja on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti when the police stopped her vehicle and denied her to go further citing a court order banning entry of outsiders. Today DSP (Special Branch) Nimai Chowdhury said that the MP was stopped as per court orders.

The MP tweeted in Hindi, “Like every year, I was going to the temple to perform Puja on the occasion of Shri Hanuman Janmotsav following a formal invitation, but the police stopped me, citing an order from the High Court that stated that no outsiders could attend the programme. Are Regional MPs outsiders for Mamta Banerjee’s government? she asked.

She was stopped at Bansberia Boropara intersection in the district around half a kilometre away from the venue. She had argued with police stating that as an MP from the area she can’t be called outsider, but the police didn’t budge. After that she along with her supporters sat on a dharna on the road.

The Calcutta High Court had mandated that central forces be deployed in the state in order to prevent any adverse incident on Hanuman Jayanti. Following the high court’s recommendation, three companies of the central forces were stationed in some areas of Kolkata, Hooghly, and Barrackpore on Thursday to assist the state police to maintain the law and order situation.

‘There should be censorship on OTT’: Salman Khan says vulgarity, nudity, abusive words need to stop

OpIndia Staff
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‘There should be censorship on OTT’: Salman Khan says vulgarity, nudity, abusive words need to stop

On Wednesday,  April 5, Bollywood actor Salman Khan raised concern over vulgar content shown on OTT shows. While addressing a Filmfare Awards press conference, Salman Khan batted for censorship on digital platforms adding that ‘clean content’ always works better. 

“I really think there should be censorship on OTT. All this… vulgarity, nudity, gaali galauch(abusive words) should stop. A kid as young as 15 or 16 years old can watch all such content. Would you like it if your young daughter watches such content under the guise of studying? I just think the content on OTT should be checked. The cleaner the content, the better it will be. It will also have a better viewership.”

Taking a shot at actors who have let their inhibitions fly on screen, he said that the guard at your building might be watching the content as well.

“You have done it all. Lovemaking, kissing, and exposing in scenes. And when you enter your building, your watchman has also watched your work. I just don’t think that is right for security reasons also. We don’t need to do that. We live in Hindustan, to some extent it is fine but some time ago it was too much. But now it has finally come under control. Now, people have started doing a lot of good and decent content. Some people are way too talented and do it all but others who don’t want to, are left behind. Thus, there should be censorship, when it can be on our movies why not on OTT? Even television has it (censorship), I host BiggBoss, I know it,” Salman Khan said.

He also dismissed the notion that OTT has become cooler than Television. 

“When it was just film industry, TV was not there, when TV came a lot of people from the film industry started working on TV then and now people who do not get work on television started getting work on OTT,” Khan said.

On the work front, Salman Khan will have Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan released on April 21. He also be seen in Tiger 3 alongside Katrina Kaif. According to speculations, he will star alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Tiger Vs. Pathaan, Aditya Chopra’s next venture.

‘Not India’s democracy, it is Gandhi family’s dynasty politics that is in danger’: Amit Shah slams Opposition for ending Paliament session without discussion

OpIndia Staff
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‘Not India’s democracy, it is Gandhi family’s dynasty politics that is in danger’: Amit Shah slams Opposition for ending Paliament session without discussion

On Friday, 7th April 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed Congress leader and disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi for his “democracy in danger” comments, saying it is the Gandhi family and their dynastic politics that are in danger, not India’s democracy. He also criticised the opposition parties for interrupting parliamentary operations in response to the Gandhi scion’s disqualification.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a program at Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh. During his address, Amit Shah said, “Yesterday the session of Parliament ended. It never happened in independent India’s history that the budget session ended without discussion. But the Opposition leaders did not let the Parliament do work. What was the reason? The reason was that Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as the MP. The country will not forgive Opposition parties for disrupting Parliament proceedings over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.”

Amit Shah criticised the disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi for his contentious comments against Indian democracy that he made while visiting the UK. The Home Minister questioned the crowd, “Should any Indian politician defame the country on foreign soil?” To which the crowd responded in unison, “No.”

Amit Shah further said, “They say Democracy is in danger. Democracy is not in danger, your family is in danger. The ‘Idea of India’ is not in danger, but the idea of the dynasty and autocracy by one family is in danger. You had surrounded the country’s democracy with casteism, dynasty politics and appeasement. PM Modi ended all of these, that’s why you are scared.”

The Home Minister added, “Congress has lost even the post of Leader of Opposition (in Lok Sabha). This time too, the Modi govt will be formed with more than 300 seats… As many times as Sonia ji, Rahul ji or anyone else, whenever Modi ji has been abused, the public has made the lotus grow stronger in the mud of these abuses.”

Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday, March 23, for his remarks insulting the Modi surname. During an election rally in 2019, Rahul Gandhi alleged that everyone with the Modi surname, including Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, and Narendra Modi, are thieves. Following this, Gujarat BJP leader Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case against the Congress leader, accusing him of defaming the entire Modi community. The court, however, granted him bail immediately and suspended the sentence for a month.

Notably, the Representation of the People Act, of 1951 specifies the qualifications and the disqualifications of Members of Parliament and state legislatures. Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, contains provisions aimed at decriminalizing electoral politics. According to section 8(3) of this law, any MP or MLA convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of conviction. In accordance with the law, the Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified Rahul Gandhi and declared his constituency vacant in response to the Surat court judgment.

About Muslims being the real majority, of Islamic revolution and more: 4 years old hate speech of former Students Islamic Organisation president goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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About Muslims being the real majority, of Islamic revolution and more: 4 years old hate speech of former Students Islamic Organisation president goes viral

A video of Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) former president Mohammad Salman Ahmed is making rounds on Twitter in which the leader can be seen instigating the Muslim gathering in the Nanded city of Maharashtra. According to Ahmed, Muslims are the majority population in India and Hindus are minorities as they are allegedly divided into 6000 plus castes.

“People say that we Muslims are minorities and are 14%, 15% or 20% of the total population whereas Hindus form 80%. But this is not true. The fact is that Hindus are divided into 6000 castes, and each consists of only 3% to 4%. So we Muslims are the real majority,” Ahmed said in SIO Nanded Grant District Conference named ‘Wo subah hum hi se aayegi’ on September 25, 2018.

The former SIO president further instigated the Muslim students to realize the power of the ‘majority’ and start working in the right direction. “We all are the real majority. Earlier we were just 7%, but now we form 14% of the total population. Earlier we were 700-800 people. Now the Muslim population in the country is more than 25 crores. What is needed is to start working in the right direction,” he said.

Ahmed also during the conference slammed PM Modi and stated it had been four years to his chair then but no ‘acche din’ had arrived. He indicated that ‘Acche din’ would arrive only when they (Muslims) rise to power and from that day bad days of Modi would begin. “We have been imposing our rule on this land for more than 800 years. And then why should we get affected by this Modi’s 4 years rule? This is not at all possible. These people can’t just wipe off Muslims,” he said.

He further called the Modi-led government as fascist government and asked the gathering to have faith in Islam and its power. He said that every Muslim should believe that ‘we need not fear anybody other than Allah’. “If you want the power and the rule, you’ll have to work in that direction. We need to build expertise in every possible field to showcase the power,” he added.

While addressing the Muslim gathering in Nanded, Ahmed also noted that he wanted to bring Islamic revolution to the country for which he indicated that Muslims should be ready for a war-like situation. “People seeking revolution should be ready to die and flow blood. This is the only way to bring the Islamic revolution. The Muslims from Nanded are fiery enough to provide leadership to the entire state and also the nation. This is how we’ll bring Islam ki subah and Inqilab,” he was heard asserting.

Notably, Mohammed Salman Ahmed was detained by the Mumbai Police in a joint operation with Nanded Police in connection with a case of alleged hate speech delivered during the anti-CAA protest. He was booked along with the organizer of the protest under sections 153, 109, and 34 of IPC for allegedly giving a provocative speech at an anti-CAA protest in Nanded on February 1.

“There is no space for negotiations in this fight. Neither will CAA remain nor this government. The Muslim community is ready and Muslim youngsters are also ready. There will be no ifs and buts. This is not Babri Masjid where we will follow the court’s decision. We have decided, now India has to decide,” Ahmed had said while delivering the ‘hate speech’.

Later the SIO issued a statement condemning Ahmed’s detention and demanded his immediate release. “Along with many others, he has been actively involved in the ongoing movement for equal citizenship. A speech given by him in Nanded in the backdrop of this movement has mischievously been taken out of context and edited to present a distorted version,” it had said.

Israeli jets hit Hamas targets in Lebanon, Gaza after rocket attacks in northern Israel, PM Netanyahu says ‘enemies of Israel will pay a price’

OpIndia Staff
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Israeli jets hit Hamas targets in Lebanon, Gaza after rocket attacks in northern Israel, PM Netanyahu says ‘enemies of Israel will pay a price’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday that regardless of internal divisions regarding the government’s judicial reform, the enemies of Israel would “pay a price.”

After 34 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon during the Jewish holiday of Passover, marking what Israeli media outlets have called the most serious escalation between Lebanon and Israel since the 2006 war, the PM said, “We are all, without exception, united on this, will hit back at our enemies, and they will pay the price for every act of aggression.”

“Israel’s response, tonight and later, will exact a significant price from our enemies. Our enemies will learn again that during times that we are tested, Israeli citizens stand together united,” Netanyahu added.

Following the rocket attack from Lebanon, the Israeli military jets struck targets in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in retaliatory attacks. The Israeli military said that it hit a number of targets belonging to the terror group Hamas in southern Lebanon. They said that Israeli jets hit targets in Gaza including tunnels and weapons manufacturing sites of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. According to IDF, two tunnels operated by Hamas, two weapon production sites, and an anti-aircraft missile launcher were hit. Later a heavy machine gun in northern Gaza was taken out by an Israeli drone. The weapon was used by Hamas to fire at Israeli aircraft.

Later Israel also hit Hamas targets in southern Lebanon. They said that “terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas” in southern Lebanon were targeted. Hamas has a strong presence in southern Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps. The IDF said that its airstrikes were in response to security violations by Hamas in recent days.

Almost immediately after Israel launched the attack, Palestinian militants in Gaza started firing rockets into southern Israel, setting off air raid sirens across the region. Hamas members also fired shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli aircraft, even though they do not pose much threat to the jets.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday that Israel “will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory.”

Although no one has taken responsibility for the incident, an IDF official informed reporters that Hamas was to blame and that Lebanon was also “responsible for any attack from its territory.” Beirut and Hamas have not responded to the accusations. Hezbollah and Palestinian factions in Lebanon are also among the suspects. Hezbollah controls the area in South Lebanon from where the rockets were fired.

The military has apparently been told to prepare “all possible options of retaliation for the rocket attack” and present them to the cabinet, according to Yoav Gallant, the defence minister who was fired by Netanyahu last week before being reinstated in the wake of fierce protests.

Notably, on Thursday, 6th April 2023, militants in Lebanon fired multiple rockets on the targets in the northern part of Israel, forcing people into bomb shelters and injuring at least one person. According to the Israeli military, 34 rockets were fired into the border, 25 of which were shot down by the Iron Dome air defence system, while five of them landed within Israel.

Warning sirens were sounded in the town of Shlomi and in Moshav Betzet in northern Israel due to the rocket attacks, the Israeli army said. Israel’s ambulance service said one man had sustained minor shrapnel injuries. Reportedly Katyusha-time rockets were fired

It is notable that this attack came after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque. Threats of revenge had been sent from all around the region as a result of the violence within the third-holiest place in Islam. Israel also refuted accusations from Lebanon that it had responded to the incident with retaliation strikes.

According to reports, Lebanon had fired a “salvo” of rockets. Right now, no one has claimed responsibility for the assault. In the northern Israeli towns of Shlomi, Moshav Betzet, and Galilee, warning sirens were heard. According to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he “received continuous updates regarding the security situation and will perform an assessment with the chiefs of the security services.”

After days of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, riots at Al-Aqsa, and an alleged Iranian drone launched from Syria earlier in the week, tensions were unprecedentedly high when the rocket attack occurred. After such instances, Hezbollah seemed to imply that it may possibly join the conflict.

Hezbollah had said in a statement, “Hezbollah forcefully denounces the assault carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its attacks on the faithful. Hezbollah proclaims its full solidarity with the Palestinian people and the resistance groups, and pledges that it will stand with them in all measures they take to protect worshipers and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to deter the enemy from continuing its attacks.”

Hezbollah controls most of the area in Southern Lebanon, across the border with Israel, and regularly clashes with Israeli border forces. This incident has raised fears of an escalation in hostilities.

The Rahul Gandhi guide to similar-sounding, utterly confusing country names

Sneha
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The Rahul Gandhi guide to similar-sounding, utterly confusing country names

Rahul Gandhi, in his obsession, to prove that Adani and PM Modi’s government have some quid-pro-quo dealing going on, has recently brought up some utterly bizarre claims. He has been trying to make everyone believe that the Republic of China(Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (China) are the same things.

Well, China does claim that Taiwan belongs to them, and Taiwan calls itself the ‘real China’. But that doesn’t mean they are the same thing. For the rest of the world, for official purposes, they are 2 separate nations. Taiwan is a friendly country to India, and China, unfortunately, is not-so-friendly.

For an aspiring Prime Minister to confuse two totally different countries and try to claim that they are the same country is really sad. Geography can be a difficult subject for many and a lot of kids struggle to memorise the names of countries, rivers and their locations. We understand.

We have, therefore, compiled an easy reference guide for Rahul Gandhi in case he needs to make political statements on complex geopolitical issues in the future. We cannot save his political prospects, but the ‘geo’ bit we can help with a bit. Here is a quick and easy guide to similar-sounding country names and how to remember them.

Monaco and Morocco

Yes, there is a country named after the salty biscuit. It is buried deep in the complicacy that is the map of Europe. It is really tiny, just another overrated sea-side city with pretty buildings and tourist-trap streets. Very Karan Joharish. Monaco is a biscuit-sized country in Europe.

But Morocco is not so biscuit-sized. Morocco is in Africa, though very close to Spain. But Morocco is big, very big, and dry, and it has a lot of sand. In Hollywood movies, they always show Morocco in sepia tint, because it is not white like Europe and North America.

Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Papua New Guinea

It is a bit more complicated than Monaco and Morocco. Because Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are neighbouring countries in Western Africa. They are on the Atlantic side, close to other nations like Sierra Leone, Gambia and Liberia. We have no idea why they are different countries, but it is what it is.

Papua New Guinea has no common borders with either of the above. It is an Island nation far, far away in the Pacific Ocean, and has a lot of forests. It is Australia’s neighbour.

Australia and Austria

See, it is Western colonisation that is the reason behind all the confusing names on the World Map. Austria is a European country, in Europe. It is Germany’s neighbour. It doesn’t play cricket at all.

Australia is down south, at the bottom of the globe, where kangaroos and many IPL players live. You know what Rahul ji, Adani owns ports in Australia too. Australia’s PMs are always being nice to Modi ji. There must be some connection that you can use to campaign for the 2029 general elections.

Niger and Nigeria

They are different countries that just wanted to name themselves after the same river. There is only one Niger river, that flows through Niger, Nigeria, and Mali too. But Niger and Nigeria are 2 different countries. Niger is landlocked, and Adani is yet to buy ports in Nigeria. So Rahul Gandhi can ignore these countries for now.

North Korea and South Korea

North Korea is called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK. It has a dictator. No, not Modi ji, the other one. The one who just keeps firing missiles for no particular reason at all.

South Korea is where the good things, like BTS, Samsung, K-Dramas, etc come from. South Korea is rich and it is a democracy. It is US-friendly, so Hollywood never uses the sepia filter for them.

Turkey and Turkmenistan

Turkey is well, as you must be knowing, where Congress has an office. Pakistan loves Turkey, because they made an Islamic Game of Thrones sort of series called Ertugrul. Turkey the country is not the same as Turkey the bird that American people roast on Thanksgiving.

Turkmenistan is among the ‘never in news’ countries located beyond Afghanistan. Modi ji had visited the country in 2015.

There are many other sets of countries, with needlessly similar names. For example Slovakia and Slovenia, Ireland and Iceland, Mali and Malawi, Zambia and Gambia, etc etc. If Rahul Gandhi ever becomes the PM of the country, he should bring an ordinance asking those confusing countries to call themselves by easier-to-remember names.

SDPI members admit that the banned Jihadi outfit PFI made SDPI a backyard of its erstwhile cadres to continue operations in Karnataka: Full details

OpIndia Staff
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SDPI members admit that the banned Jihadi outfit PFI made SDPI a backyard of its erstwhile cadres to continue operations in Karnataka: Full details

On 28 September 2022, the Central government banned the Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and eight of its associates for five years under a stringent anti-terror law, accusing them of having links with global terror organisations, including ISIS. However, its political affiliate Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) was the only organisation of the radical Islamist outfit that was not banned by the Central government last year. Therefore, after being declared illegal in September of last year, the Popular Front of India (PFI) made SDPI a backyard of its erstwhile cadres to continue operations in Karnataka.

India Today probed that matter and came to the conclusion that with the Popular Front of India (PFI) banned and its top leaders jailed, the outfit’s political wing the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is trying hard to re-group its cadres and strengthen the party in Karnataka. The banned outfit has reportedly made SDPI a backyard of its erstwhile cadres to continue operations in the state.

India Today caught SDPI leaders on camera admitting that SDPI has absorbed jihadis from the outlawed outfit PFI.

Chand Pasha, the PFI’s Chikkamagaluru district president for three years prior to the ban, told India Today’s investigative reporter that he is mobilising cadre on the ground and giving video diktats on WhatsApp in order to enforce his will on Muslim voters in the area.

“We are the PFI people. We have our members and cadre and our well-wishers. We hold regular discussions on who should be supported (in the elections). We inquire about winning candidates. We are dead against the BJP. We want to defeat the BJP,” he admitted.

Pasha admitted that the PFI network is still working closely with presidents of local shrines and message groups.

“When we issue a single video on WhatsApp, it’s viewed by thousands of people. We don’t have to meet up with all those members in person,” he explained, adding, “There are 30-50 mosques in this area. Ten to 15 presidents of those mosques have created 10-15 groups each. If we have to raise our point or raise our objections, we issue them on WhatsApp.”

Pasha confirmed that roughly 70% to 80% of the PFI’s membership in the Chikkamagaluru district is still active. He asserted that the cadre of the outlawed Islamist group had shifted to the SDPI.

“Some of the PFI members are in the SDPI. And some of the SDPI members are in the PFI. Everyone isn’t here (in the PFI) because it’s a Muslim-only organisation whereas the SDPI also has Hindus and Dalits.”

Asif, the SDPI’s in charge of the Moodbidri Assembly constituency in Karnataka’s coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, corroborated Pasha’s assertions that the PFI cadre had blended seamlessly into the party.

“Let me tell you off the record that the PFI cadre is now the SDPI cadre,” he told India Today’s reporter.

The PFI cadres, he said, are not identifiable. “They work in the background. Arrests can’t happen. They don’t have evidence. If, for instance, I belong to the PFI, there isn’t any document to establish it. There was no such system for issuing IDs in the PFI.”

Asif also disclosed that the SDPI, with PFI Jihadis on board, receives financial support from the Gulf region.

“We get the maximum support from the Gulf. They (our financiers) would tell us to collect their remittances from the homes (of their contacts) here,” Asif said.

Similarly, Muneeb Bengre, an SDPI corporator in the Mangaluru City Corporation, accepted that PFI Jihadis are now working under his party’s umbrella.

“They have come in. It’s no longer the PFI after the ban. They have come to the SDPI. They are our supporters, our members. They are all working,” he said, adding, “That cadre are not working with PFI identity, but it’s working for our SDPI.”

Bengre claimed that both the organisations were as strong as the RSS because of their combined strength.

In Udupi, India Today spoke to Nazir, another SDPI office bearer, who also acknowledged that the PFI base is as intact as before.

“It’s not shaken. Cadres aren’t something that will go away. Young men who don’t have training shake. But we are fully trained from the beginning,” he said.

When questioned if they were classified as the PFI or the SDPI, Nazir responded the SDPI. According to Nazir, the core of his party was made up of PFI supporters.

“I don’t know if they (the PFI cadre) are attacking leaders (of other right wing groups), but there’s always a fear – the PFI is highly feared,” he bragged.

It may be noted that before the central government had banned PFI, the Kerala High Court had observed that the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) are extremist organisation indulging in serious acts of violence. The Kerala High Court further noted that both SDPI and PFI have a history of attacking members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Pakistan: Islamabad brings law recognising Hindu Marriage after 75 years of the country coming into existence

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Islamabad brings law recognising Hindu Marriage after 75 years of the country coming into existence

More than five years after it was passed, authorities in Islamabad have issued the guidelines for the Hindu Marriage Act 2017, allowing the members of the minority Hindu community to solemnise their marriage in accordance with established customs. It took 75 years for the country to take this decision.

Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan would also be able to execute the marriage laws approved in 2017 according to the regulation named ‘Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Hindu Marriage Regulations 2023.’ According to a representative of the ICT administration, all union councils (UC) in the federal area have received the notification for implementation.

Under the guidelines, the appropriate UCs in Islamabad will register a ‘Maharaj’ to perform marriage ceremonies. To qualify as a ‘Pundit’ or ‘Maharaj,’ a person must be a Hindu male with a sufficient understanding of Hinduism. The local police must provide a character reference along with the written consent of at least ten Hindu community members before the appointment of ‘Maharaj.’ 

The appropriate UCs will issue a ‘Shaadi Pert’ (marriage certificate) to a ‘Maharaj’ who would be registered with the relevant UC, much like the ‘registered nikah-khawan’ for Muslims. All marriages would be registered at union councils as well.

The one who drafted the rules, Mehfooz Piracha, who is also the district attorney for ICT, remarked that the announcement is a significant step towards protecting the rights of the minority community. He added that Punjab, Balochistan, and KP can now implement similar laws as well.

He claimed, “Politically and technically, it is easy for provinces to adopt the laws enacted in Islamabad rather than formulating new legislation for each jurisdiction.”

An organisation named the ‘National Lobbying Delegation for Minority Rights’ (NLD) has made the key effort to get Hindu marriage laws approved. According to NLD member Jai Parkash, the ICT administration must retroactively execute this regulation in order to help the community as there are a lot of Hindus who have made Islamabad their residence.

Notably, the Hindu population of Islamabad has increased dramatically over the past ten years as a result of emigration from Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to security concerns.

‘Just enjoy it’: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader’s shocking rape analogy causes uproar, party issues notice

OpIndia Staff
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‘Just enjoy it’: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader’s shocking rape analogy causes uproar, party issues notice

Nabil Gabol, a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was given a show-cause notice by his party on Tuesday for making an offensive rape-related statement in a podcast. He trivialised rape and made an outrageous comparison between sexual assault and political persecution during the discourse.

“There is an English proverb which reads, if rape is imminent, just enjoy it,” he alleged, shocking the host who informed him that there is no such saying. However, the former reiterated his claim and implied that there actually is.

A Twitter user sharing the clip asked, “Could someone please tell me this politician’s name (the one being interviewed?) He’s from PPP. Whoever he is, he’s got the sickest mind ever. He just said ‘When rape is imminent, just enjoy it.’ What a sick, sick mind. If people like him end up making our policies and laws, rape wouldn’t even be deemed a crime. Never heard as filthy a remark as this one.”

Nabil is suggestively seeking the contact information of Ayesha Mano (of Mera Dil Yeh Pukare Aaja fame) in an earlier podcast uploaded by another Pakistani netizen. He then declared he is an innocent man and that he was only testing the host.

In yet another video that has surfaced, Nabil can be seen accusing people of Karachi for keeping their emotions bottled up to ‘release them in the bathroom,’ and boosted that people like him ‘can simply get whomever’ they want, nonchalantly mentioning that he picks up women he admires.

Pakistani netizens, human rights activists and lawmakers all slammed the statement, calling it shameful and insensitive. Meanwhile, Nabil’s son, Nadir Nabil Gabol, came to the defence of the lawmaker. He posted a series of tweets justifying his father’s demeaning statements and attacking those who condemned him.

The summon issued by PPP Sindh president Nisar Khuhro asked him to explain his remarks within three days. In case of non-clarification, it added, organisational disciplinary action will be taken against him. According to a party spokesperson, “Inappropriate conversation and use of un-parliamentary words are not the policy of PPP.”

Forceful Abduction of Minor Hindu Girls in Pakistan

Nabil Gabol’s words are a living nightmare for thousands of Hindu girls living in Pakistan. Recently, a Human Rights Observer 2023 fact sheet disclosed that in Pakistan, 124 females from minority communities were abducted and forced to convert to Islam in the year 2022. 81 of them were Hindus, 42 were Christians, and one was Sikh.

Moreover, the fact sheet found that 23% of females were under the age of 14, 36% were between the ages of 14 and 18, and just 12% were adults, with the ages of the remaining 28% of victims remaining unreported.

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