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The ‘fearless voices’ who regularly exposed the poor Bihar administration, why are they missing from the ground in Bihar Sharif and Sasaram

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The ‘fearless voices’ who regularly exposed the poor Bihar administration, why are they missing from the ground in Bihar Sharif and Sasaram

Whether it is government officers or politicians, they are not afraid to question anyone, they never hesitate to land on ground zero with cameras and mics in tow. Sometimes, they would question the quality of roads and bridge construction, sometimes they enter the police stations and talk about policing methods, sometimes they become the voice of the students, and sometimes of the common man.

People may have different opinions regarding their methods, but thousands and thousands of people actually listen to them. These YouTubers are the reason why, in recent times, the problems of Bihar got discussed at the national level even though the mainstream media keeps ignoring those problems.

But now, when Ram Navami Shobha Yatras have been targeted in many cities of Bihar, these voices of Bihar are neither heard nor seen anywhere. After all, why are these fearless voices not being heard from the ground zero of Bihar Sharif and Sasaram? We are talking about those YouTubers who had emerged as ground zero’s voice on every issue related to Bihar in recent times. This includes names like Manish Kashyap, Ravi Bhatt, Nibha Singh, Abhishek Tiwari, Abhishek Mishra, Suraj, and Ravi Ranjan.

Surprisingly, none of them are reporting the recent violence in Bihar. Manish Kashyap, who runs a YouTube channel named ‘Sach Tak News’, is in the custody of the Tamil Nadu Police. The name of Ravi Bhatt’s channel may be ‘Time of Ayodhya’, but his channel focuses primarily on Bihar. Bhatt is currently being investigated by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOU) of Bihar Police and they are searching for him. Seeing the condition of these two, the remaining YouTubers have kept their distance from news reports on Bihar Sharif and Sasaram.

One such YouTuber from Bihar told OpIndia on the condition of anonymity, “We all know that the cases against Manish Kashyap have no merit. Sooner or later, he will get relief from the court. But the treatment meted out to him was meant to scare people like us. It was always easy for the government to control the mainstream media, but we also used to bring to the fore that news that the government did not want to gain prominence. News that did not find a place in mainstream media. The action was taken against Manish Kashyap only to suppress the people running the local YouTube channels in Bihar.”

He further said, “We are all scared. In this environment, if things are shown from Bihar Sharif and Sasaram, then no one knows when the police will implicate in which case. Still, we have been reporting across the state. But channels like ‘Bihar Darshan News’ which has been covering Sasaram’s local news, also do not want to get into trouble seeing Manish Kashyap’s condition. They have not reported on the violence on Ram Navami and what happened later.”

We also searched the YouTube channel of ‘Bihar Darshan News’ to verify this claim. The last video that was uploaded on this channel was related to the Dehri Municipal Council elections. Before that, there was news of taking out a grand procession on motorcycles. However, we could not find any news related to the attack on the Ram Navami procession on this channel.

Similarly, Manish Kashyap’s ‘Sach Tak News’ channel which has more than 66 lakh subscribers, doesn’t have any new video for over two weeks. The last video is the one that was released on his behalf before his surrender. It is worth mentioning that Manish Kashyap faced legal troubles after reporting cases related to the alleged violence with workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu. It may be noted that reports about the alleged violence were also published in the mainstream media, including several national dailies. It is also worth knowing that just before the Tamil Nadu controversy, Manish Kashyap had reported on the Bihar Police allegedly beating up an army soldier.

We could not find any report on the recent violence on The Abhishek Tiwari Show either, a channel with 2.23 lakh subscribers. Nibha Singh of ‘RN News’, popularly known as Reporter Nibha, has more than 10 lakh subscribers, but we did not see any report related to the Ram Navami violence on that channel either. Other popular Bihari channels like Samarth Rathore, Principal of News, Sach Bihar, Kaabil News etc also maintained their distance from the news of the violence.

Even more disappointing than their disappearance from ground zero, is the fear within them, due to which many of them refused to respond even when contacted by OpIndia. Due to the lack of coverage from local sources, the picture is not completely clear regarding the real situation of places like Bihar Sharif and Sasaram.

For instance, the Bihar Police claimed that the situation in Bihar Sharif and Sasaram was normal and under control. But a few hours after that claim, the news of a bomb being hurled in Sasaram’s Mochi Tola area came out on Monday (April 3, 2023) morning. The mainstream media’s reports quoted locals as claiming that four people on a motorcycle came and hurled the bomb and left. Police said a few hours later that it was just firecrackers. However, what the people of that locality have to say about this claim of the police, we don’t know yet.

Similarly, videos surfaced of people fleeing the violence-affected areas, which the police termed as rumours. Many media houses later deleted their tweets related to this news about people fleeing. On April 1, 2023, there was also news of a blast near the mosque in Sasaram. The police called it an explosion while preparing a bomb in the compound of a house, but did not inform whose house it was, in whose premises the bomb was being made, who are the people arrested in the case etc.

In a state where journalists are killed for publishing news about ‘bahubalis’ protected by people in power, in a state where Lalu Prasad Yadav, a former Chief Minister, and a convict, publicly told a journalist, “You will fall after two punches”, in that state, these voices had exposed the system in front of the common people. Perhaps this is the reason why it is being asked in social media that the intention with which action was taken against Manish Kashyap, has the Bihar government been successful in that?

‘Deploy adequate police force in affected areas’: Calcutta HC pulls up West Bengal government on Ram Navami violence

OpIndia Staff
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‘Deploy adequate police force in affected areas’: Calcutta HC pulls up West Bengal government on Ram Navami violence

On Monday, the Calcutta High Court remarked that the West Bengal government should have exercised greater caution before allowing Ram Navami processions in areas that had experienced violence in the past.

The Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice T Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya directed the State to deploy sufficient police personnel in the affected areas to prevent any further outbreak of violence.

“See to it that you (State) deploy adequate police force in these areas and ensure that the general public, the schools and shop owners etc aren’t affected by the violence. You will have to safeguard them,” ACJ Sivagnanam told Advocate General SN Mookherjee.

During the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, the Court was presented with a request for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the violence that occurred in the Howrah and Dalkhola regions during the Ram Navami celebrations.

Attorney General Mookherjee informed the Bench during the hearing that the situation in the districts of Howrah and Dalkhola is currently under control.

Nonetheless, the counsel representing Adhikari brought to the Court’s attention that the internet remains suspended in these two districts and certain parts of the adjacent Hooghly region.

The counsel representing Adhikari questioned the Attorney General’s statement about the situation being under control, stating that the suspension of the internet contradicts this claim. The counsel compared the situation in these districts to that of the North Eastern states, where internet suspension is usually implemented for more serious reasons, and requested the Attorney General to submit a report on this matter.

In response, AG Mookherjee stated that the internet has been restored in Hooghly. He further submitted to the Court his desire to present certain videos that demonstrate how weapons were wielded by individuals participating in the procession.

The Attorney General emphasized that there were multiple instances where individuals violated the permissions that were granted by the authorities. He cited the use of weapons and firearms, excessive volume levels of DJ music, and an unauthorized deviation from the approved route. The AG stated his intention to file an affidavit and report on these matters.

However, the counsel representing Adhikari disputed the claim of a deviation from the approved route and asserted that the procession adhered to the conditions under which permission was granted. Additionally, the counsel pointed out that some of the locations where violence occurred on March 30 of this year also experienced similar incidents of violence in the previous year.

The ACJ remarked that if that was indeed the case, then the State should have exercised greater caution in granting permission for rallies in locations that experienced violence in the previous year. Furthermore, the AJ questioned why the police did not intervene to halt the rally immediately if there were any violations of the approved conditions.

Nonetheless, AG Mookerjee requested additional time to address the inquiries raised by the Bench and to submit a comprehensive report on the actions taken concerning this matter. He highlighted that the authorities have already arrested over 35 individuals.

Meanwhile, the counsel representing Adhikari noted that he had made appeals to both the Governor and the Union Home Ministry to intervene in this matter. The counsel asserted that the State Police had severely failed in managing the situation. The matter will be heard next on April 6. 

Adhikari’s plea stated that all requisite permissions had been obtained from the appropriate authorities to conduct the processions. Nevertheless, despite this, communal tensions arose.

Adhikari alleged that although such attacks occur frequently each year, this year, they have exceeded all bounds, and the police officials were unable to prevent them.

Therefore, he requested the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces in the affected areas to maintain peace.

Even as Yamuna remains polluted, a new report reveals Kejriwal govt spent over Rs 6,800 cr to clean the Delhi stretch of Yamuna in five years

OpIndia Staff
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Even as Yamuna remains polluted, a new report reveals Kejriwal govt spent over Rs 6,800 cr to clean the Delhi stretch of Yamuna in five years

In a recent reply to a question asked in the Delhi Assembly, the Environment Department of the Delhi Government led by Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party revealed that it has spent around Rs 6,856.91 crores in five years, from 2017 to 2021. The department provided the information to March 22 question, said The Hindu report.

Despite over a thousand crores spent on cleaning the river every year, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) reports suggest the stretch remains polluted almost the whole year. In February, DPCC reported the faecal coliform in the river was 500 times high the desirable level at the point where the river exits the city.

Lost list of promises but no concrete results

In the budget presented by Delhi Government for the financial year 2023-24, around 1,028 crores have been earmarked for cleaning River Yamuna. CM Kejriwal again promised that he would take a dip in the river in the next assembly elections, a promise that he made before but never fulfilled.

In January 2020, just before the assembly elections, he had said, “The Yamuna will be cleaned and made pollution-free. We promise that after five years, anyone will be able to take a dip in the Yamuna without fear of diseases due to dirty water.”

In a statement, convener of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan Manoj Mishra said, “One, a single agency should be responsible for the rejuvenation to ensure accountability. Second, increasing the natural flow of the river has to be prioritised. Third, the floodplains should be protected. No developmental work should be allowed on them, and they should be restored in an ecological manner.”

In a National Green Tribunal committee report, 2 per cent of the total 1,400 KM long Yamuna flows between Wazirabad and Okhla in Delhi. This 2 per cent stretch constitutes 76 per cent of the river’s pollution load.

Kejriwal’s failed promises to clean Yamuna

The series of issuing dates after dates for cleaning the Yamuna by the Delhi government has been going on since the year 2015. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal 2015 promised to clean the Yamuna river within five years (by 2020). In the same year, he said, “After five years, we will bring every resident of Delhi to the Yamuna so that they can feel proud of the clean river.”

In November 2019, he said his government has planned to clean the Yamuna in the next four to five years, and people would be able to take a dip in it. In December same year, he promised the people attending his rally that by the next elections (scheduled in 2025), he would take the whole village for a dip in the Yamuna.

In January 2020, he again promised to get it cleaned in five years. He had promised to take a dip in the Yamuna himself. He did not fulfil the promise. Notably, toxic foam appears in the river every now and then, reminding the residents that the river desperately needs attention.

Sonia Gandhi aide Yogendra Yadav gets a taste of his ‘bhaichara’ pontification over Ghazwa-e-Hind: Read what happened

Jinit Jain
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Sonia Gandhi aide Yogendra Yadav gets a taste of his ‘bhaichara’ pontification over Ghazwa-e-Hind: Read what happened

Yogendra Yadav, a close aide of Sonia Gandhi and a professional disruptor, probably had a shock of his life when a penny dropped on him that his ideological compatriots after all may not share the same stance as him on Ghazwa-e-Hind, the Islamist supremacist fantasy of turning India into an Islamic country.

The rude awakening took place after Yogendra Yadav shared a video of his monologue pontificating over the importance of maintaining brotherhood and staying away from ideologies that he construed were detrimental to the unity of the country.

Taking to Twitter, Yadav shared a video with the caption: “Khalistan, Ghazwa-e-Hind, or Hindu Rashtra: Three faces of assaults on India’s self-religion.” In over 25 minute long video, Yadav equated Khalistan, Ghazwa-e-Hind, and Hindu Rashtra—three radically varying conceptions—and tried to draw a parallel between them.

While Khalistan pertains to the dismemberment of India and the creation of separate nationhood and Ghazwa-e-Hind talks about bringing the entire Indian subcontinent, by inducement or force, under the fold of Islam, the concept of Hindu Rashtra broadly entails decolonisation of the Indian thought process and reverting the country’s political, cultural, and religious system to its native heritage, which celebrated diversity, exercised tolerance, and shunned monotheism—a stark contrast to the present system, which is heavily borrowed and influenced from the West and the Middle-East coloniality.

The term Ghazwa-e-Hind or a holy raid of India has been used by Islamists, including Pakistani terrorists against India for decades. The concept of Ghazwa-e-hind roots in several works of Islamic literature named Hadiths. The doctrine prophesizes a pitched battle between Hindus and Muslims before (qayamat), resulting in a decisive victory of Muslims over Hindu India.

As per the prediction, the battle to the end will start in modern-day Syria, with forces marching towards India. Islamic armies carrying black flags will supposedly come from Khorasan and conquer India to turn it into an Islamic state.

Many Islamists believe that they are religiously ordained to lead for the express purpose of fulfilling the prophecy of Ghazwa-e-Hind. This doctrine of capturing India and turning it into an Islamic state is exploited by terror organisations to recruit young and impressionable youth into the fold of terrorism, indoctrinating them into believing that conquering the lands of ‘non-believers’ is their holy duty.

Islamo-leftist lobby attack Yogendra Yadav for drawing attention toward the threat of Islamist fantasy of Ghazwa-e-Hind

Naturally, Yogendra Yadav and his ilk are not expected to comprehend such profound concepts and the fundamental differences that exist between the said concepts; what was interesting is the way Yadav’s ideological brethren attacked him for shining light on the pernicious Islamic fantasy of converting entire India into Islam.

Shams Ur Rehman Alavi, a former journalist with many media houses as his Twitter bio, who does not mind lecturing Hindus over imaginary radicalisation, referred to Yadav as a “fanatic right-winger” and slammed him for not talking about radicalisation in his community without bringing others’.

S Irfan Habib, exalted by the Islamo-leftist lobby as a ‘historian’, said he had never heard any Indian Muslim talk of Ghazwa-e-Hind, terming it as a figment of Hindu communalists’ imagination—a reasoning often employed by apologists who routinely shield Islamists and downplay their supremacist dreams.

Not just faux historians and ‘seculars’, but even academicians who are supposed to be aware of the bloody history of the Islamic conquest of India and the context of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’, proceeded to minimise the threat and express their disappointment over Yadav’s pontification. DU professor Apoorvanand, whose name cropped up as an accused in the 2020 Delhi Riots, claimed that Ghazwa-e-Hind is an imaginary concept raised by ‘Hindutvavadis’, and that no Muslim talks about it.

Another Twitter user claimed that no Muslim organisation or an individual has ever given a call for Ghazwa-e-Hind, claiming that GEH is evoked by ‘Hindutva’ to justify violence against Muslims.

Another Muslim ‘journalist’, Aasif Mujtaba, trashed Yogendra Yadav saying he is known for creating a false equivalence. Mujtaba alleged that he had never spoken to anybody who asked for ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’.

Other Islamists hiding behind the facade of ‘secularism’ too attacked Yogendra Yadav because he spoke about the threat of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ facing the country.

PFI’s Ghazwa-e-Hind and Mission 2047 to convert India into an Islamic Nation

While the Islamo-leftist lobby sought to undermine the existence of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ sentiments and rubbish it as the figment of Hindutva imagination, it is worth noting that the National Investigation Agency recently unearthed a nefarious plan by the Islamist group Popular Front of India (PFI) of perpetuating Ghazwa-e-Hind and attempting to turn India into an Islamic country by 2047.

In September 2022, the Islamist organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI) and its sister organisations and fronts were banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India under the UAPA Act. Before the ban was announced, multiple raids were conducted on the locations linked to PFI leaders, workers and associates. 

During these raids, the investigation agencies recovered manuals to make IEDs, weapons, GPS devices, cash, and jihadi documents that outlined a plan to convert India into an Islamic country by 2047. The agencies also recovered brochures and CDs related to Vision 2047, which is a document containing material for converting India into an Islamic state by the year 2047. The document, along with PE training material, was recovered from the house of PFI Maharashtra’s state president.

Several PFI leaders are linked to criminal and terrorist activities. OMA Salam, PFI chairman, was suspended from his department at Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). There is an investigation underway for his unauthorised travel abroad and also holding the post of PFI Chairman while being a government employee.

Investigation agencies recovered a diary during raids from M Mohammed Ismail, who is a close associate of Salam. The diary revealed a sinister plan of the organisation to create a civil war-like situation in the country.

On July 16 last year, Patna Police arrested a member of the Popular Front of India (PFI) identified as Margoob Ahmad Danish alias Tahir from Munir Colony at Saguna More under the Rupaspur Police station area. As per the Police, he had connections with terrorists from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, and Gulf countries. Notably, Phulwari Sharif, which is located on the outskirts of Patna, has a sizeable Muslim population. There are several madrasas and old mosques.

Margoob had studied in a Madarsa in the Phulwari Sharif area. Later, he went to Dubai and stayed there for 12 years. After returning from Dubai, he started teaching Quran to local youth. He was a member of a WhatsApp group named ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and used the Pakistani flag on the map of India as its icon. The FIR registered against Margoob read, “This group provides information about Ghazwa-E Hind, the persecution of all Muslims and also gives information about all the special events in the world.”

A campaign was run against Priyanka Chopra: Filmmaker Apurva Asrani talks about the reasons why the former Miss World left Bollywood

OpIndia Staff
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A campaign was run against Priyanka Chopra: Filmmaker Apurva Asrani talks about the reasons why the former Miss World left Bollywood

National Award winner Apurva Asrani has extended his support to Priyanka Chopra Jonas after she disclosed that she had left Bollywood following a dispute with several powerful figures in the business. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Asrani discussed how some families in the industry have an advantage in the market since they have been around for decades and are familiar with the audience pulse.

“Obviously they have their favourites and have every right to work with the ones they like. The problem is when they gang up to oust an actor or a technician from not just their movie, but from the entire ecosystem”, Apurva Asrani told Hindustan Times.

Asrani recalled seeing many big egos getting hurt when an actor turned down their project or quit due to artistic disagreements. Talking about it, Asrani said, “Then these egos make phone calls to other egos to warn them not to collaborate with this individual. They then launch attempts to malign this person using the media and prominent journalists. Corrupt scribes who write articles often level false allegations.”

He further said, “There are fabricated rumours of improper behaviour on set. If this performer or technician perseveres and produces quality work, their work may receive low, or worse yet, no reviews at all. Even if the project is successful, the success is not publicly announced.”

The filmmaker further said that all this may be very harmful to a young talent, especially one who doesn’t have a parent or uncle in the film industry.

Asrani further described how Priyanka Chopra was targeted with a similar campaign against her in 2012 even though she had given two enormous successes in one year, Barfi and Agneepath. At the time, the front page of a Mumbai newspaper featured a headline declaring that no hero wanted to collaborate with Priyanka. Asrani said that Priyanka’s subsequent rise benefits everyone who is continuing to battle against a primarily corrupt system.

Asrani also said that anyone who is outspoken, who refuses to be humiliated, who doesn’t demean themselves by subscribing to their retrograde notions, is forced into a corner in Bollywood, and that several other performers had similar treatment.

He further said, “If you do your research, you will find that the ones labelled difficult and problematic are usually the outsiders. The star children are rarely messed with.”

Priyanka Chopra, who is now an established name in the United States, recently said in an interview that she had some beef with people in Bollywood that had made her feel uncomfortable in her skin. She also talked about how difficult it was for her to be a woman in the male-dominated industry and how she had to fight for her place in Bollywood.

“I was being pushed into a corner in the industry (Bollywood). I had people not casting me, I had beef with people, I am not good at playing that game so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break,” Priyanka Chopra said in the interview.

The actress stated that she wanted to break free from the limitations that Bollywood had placed on her and explore new opportunities in the US. She shared that her move to the United States was not an easy decision, but she needed to grow as an artist and a person.

Indore stepwell tragedy: Bulldozers demolish illegal structures in Beleshwar Mahadev temple, idols shifted

OpIndia Staff
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Indore stepwell tragedy: Bulldozers demolish illegal structures in Beleshwar Mahadev temple, idols shifted

Days after 36 people lost their lives in the strategic stepwell collapse incident in Indore’s Beleshwar Mahadev Temple, the municipality has finally taken strict action against illegal encroachments. On April 3, bulldozers removed the illegal structures of the temple built on government property.

As per reports, on the morning of April 3, Monday, the local administration reached the Temple with bulldozers and several officials. The idols of Hanuman and Lord Shiva were worshipped and shifted to another Temple as per Hindu rituals.

Action has also been taken against illegal encroachments around 3 more religious structures in the city, as per reports.

Temple had illegally occupied over 10,000 sq feet area, old stepwell was covered up with rods and tiles

As per reports, it was known among locals that the Temple trust had built illegal structures around the old religious shrine. An old Bavdi or stepwell was hastily covered up, with just rods and tiles, without filling it up. As a result, the hollow space and the well existed while the Temple carried out its rituals. On Ram Navami, as the crowd gathered in large numbers, the tiles collapsed under the weight, killing 36 persons and injuring dozens.

The stepwell has now been covered up by dumping debris in it. As per the reports, over 10,000 square feet area of a public garden was encroached upon to expand the Temple. The authorities have removed the encroachments.

“We have removed all illegal constructions in the public garden to ensure the safety of citizens. The Bawdi has been filled with debris so that no accident takes place,” Siddharth Jain, the additional municipal commissioner of Indore was quoted as saying.

A new Temple that was being built alongside the existing place has also been demolished.

FIR against Temple Trust president and secretary

The Indore Police have booked Sevaram Galani, the president of the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust, and secretary Murli Kumar Sabnani under section 304 of the IPC (multiple homicides not amounting to murder). They have been accused of carrying out unsafe and illegal construction work and ignoring the directives of the municipal corporation to remove the illegal structures. Sabnani himself was injured in the March 30 tragedy.

2 officials of the Indore municipal corporation have also been suspended for negligence of duty.

Local leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad reportedly objected to the demolition drive, calling it illegal.

Finland set to join NATO and become the 31st member of the alliance

ANI
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Finland set to join NATO and become the 31st member of the alliance

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that Finland will become a full member of NATO on April 4. His remarks came after the Turkish Parliament on March 30 voted in favour of Finland’s application to join NATO.

Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Stoltenberg said, “This is a historic week. Tomorrow, we will welcome Finland as the thirty-first member of NATO. Making Finland safer and our Alliance stronger.” 

He further said, “We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at the Nato headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole,” according to the statement released on NATO’s website. He added, “Sweden will also be safer as a result.”

Jens Stoltenberg said that allies in 2022 made a decision to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO and noted that Finland’s accession has been the fastest ratification process in NATO’s modern history.

He said that tomorrow NATO will hold the NATO-Ukraine Commission with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv and the military alliance’s support for Ukraine. Stoltenberg said that he welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan which upholds the principles at the heart of the UN Charter.

On Friday, Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Turkey’s decision to ratify Finland’s membership in NATO. He said that Finland’s inclusion will make the country “safer” and NATO “stronger.”

Stoltenberg said, “I welcome the vote by the Turkish Grand National Assembly to ratify Finland’s membership in NATO. All 30 NATO Allies have now ratified the accession protocol. And I have just spoken with President Sauli Niinisto to congratulate him on this historic occasion.”

On Thursday, the Turkish Parliament on Thursday voted unanimously in favour of Finland’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while also continuing to block Sweden from joining the military alliance, CNN reported.

The vote in the Parliament fulfils Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “promise” to allow Finland to become part of the military alliance, as per the news report. Turkey was the last NATO member to approve Finland’s accession. Following the vote, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said his country is “ready to join NATO.”

In 2022, Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO. A majority of NATO members welcomed the applications of Finland and Sweden except for Turkey and Hungary.

Turkish President Erdogan accused Finland and Sweden of housing Kurdish “terrorist organizations.” Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Finland and Sweden were disseminating “outright lies” about his country’s rule of law record, as per the CNN report.

Later, the two nations softened their stance on Finland’s accession. However, Hungary and Turkey continue to remain opposed to Sweden becoming part of NATO.

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

‘Watt laga di dada ji’: Pakistani journalist Arzoo Kazmi regrets grandfather’s decision to migrate from India

OpIndia Staff
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‘Watt laga di dada ji’: Pakistani journalist Arzoo Kazmi regrets grandfather’s decision to migrate from India

Pakistan is currently enduring an era of poverty and economic doldrums. Burgeoning inflation, which has surpassed a 50-year high and a deepening cost-of-living crisis has left millions of people across Pakistan struggling to put food on their tables. 

Soaring food prices, flour shortages and the apathy of the country’s ruling dispensation have made it even more challenging for millions of people across Pakistan to provide two square meals to their loved ones.

On Friday, at least 12 people were killed, including 9 women in the stampede during a ration distribution drive in a factory in Karachi. Amidst all this, a tweet by Arzoo Kazmi, a journalist living in Islamabad in Pakistan, is going increasingly viral on social media where she regrets her ancestor’s decision to move to Pakistan from India.

Regretting her forefather’s decision to migrate from India to Pakistan in 1947, the Pakistan journalist tweeted on April 1, “My brothers and other family members feel that they have no future in Pakistan. My grandfather and his family migrated from Prayagraj and Delhi to Pakistan for a better future. Watt laga di dada ji (created serious trouble, grandfather).”

After Arzoo’s tweet went viral, many users on social media asked her to return to India with her family. An Indian Twitter user wrote, “You are most welcome here.”

“Don’t worry, Abba (India) has a big heart,” Manzoor Ahmed Naik wrote, referring to India as Pakistan’s ‘abba,’ or father.

A Twitter user going by the handle @Jagdish_2204 replied to Arzoo’s tweet with conviction that Yogi Adityanath could bring her back. “Yogiji Ghar Wapsi kar sakte hai!” he tweeted.

Welcoming the Pakistan journalist back to India, Twitter user @AbhishekSaket quipped that her grandfather got carried away by his emotions otherwise she could have witnessed history being created in Prayagraj today. “Dada ji emotionally beh gaye. Aaj Prayagraj me itihaas bante dekh rahe hote. You are always welcome back to your roots,” he wrote.

Some other Twitter users responded by thanking their grandfather for taking the right decision at the right time and migrating from Pakistan to India.

Twitter user Suraj Rajput retaliated by saying that chances were high that if the Pakistani journalist was currently living in India she would be hating Modi and the Hindus without any reason and loving the future less Pakistan.

For the uninitiated, Arzoo Kazmi is a Pakistani journalist who does not mince her words in criticising puritanical interpretation of Islam and often appears on Indian channels with her uncharacteristically liberal views concerning Pakistan. She also has a YouTube channel with as many as 335 thousand subscribers.

After getting a bail extension, convicted Rahul Gandhi tweets a cryptic message claiming the truth is on his side

OpIndia Staff
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After getting a bail extension, convicted Rahul Gandhi tweets a cryptic message claiming the truth is on his side

On April 3, after getting a bail extension from Surat Court, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted a cryptic message. “This is a fight to save democracy against ‘Mitrakal’. Truth is my weapon, and the truth is my support in this struggle.”

It is unclear though how getting bail in a defamation case where he abused an OBC community can be considered a “fight to save democracy”. Similar rhetoric was presented in front of the world when Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were called by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a money laundering case.

Rahul Gandhi’s sentence suspended

A Surat Court has suspended Rahul Gandhi’s two-year prison sentence that was awarded to him for using defamatory language against the Modi surname. The case was filed against him by BJP leader Purnesh Modi over a 2019 speech. Usually, the convict is not required to appear in court to file an appeal, but Rahul Gandhi chose to do so to turn the entire thing into a spectacle.

Rahul Gandhi’s conviction

Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Surat Court and sentenced to 2 years in prison in a 2019 defamation case. The Congress scion’s conviction led to an automatic disqualification from Lok Sabha as per the regulations. Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification has been used by him and Congress leaders to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming “democracy is in danger” and “Modi is suppressing the voice of the opposition”. In 2019, Rahul Gandhi abused the Modi OBC community by questioning “why all thieves have a common surname, Modi”. The Surat Court found him guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison for criminal defamation. He had 30 days to appeal against the sentencing.

Blast in St Petersburg: ‘Woman assassin’ arrested for delivering bomb camouflaged as statuette to kill pro-Russia military blogger

OpIndia Staff
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Blast in St Petersburg: ‘Woman assassin’ arrested for delivering bomb camouflaged as statuette to kill pro-Russia military blogger

Russia’s Investigative Committee reported on Monday that a woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing a well-known military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on April 2. The assassin Darya Trepova was earlier placed on Russia’s wanted list. The authorities report that the explosion injured over 30 persons, 10 still in critical condition.

Earlier the Russian Interior Ministry had identified the suspect as Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old native of St. Petersburg who had previously been detained for participating in anti-war demonstrations. Russian media has stated that Darya Trepova was associated with pro-Ukraine groups and has been linked to Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

Tatarsky whose real name was Maksim Fomin was hosting a fan gathering at a cafe in the heart of St. Petersburg on Sunday night when a bomb exploded, killing him and injuring over 30 others. According to witnesses, Tatarsky received a figurine from a young woman just before the explosion. According to a witness named Alisa Smotrova, the woman informed Mr Tatarsky that she had created a figurine of him but that the guards had requested her to leave it at the entrance because they thought it might be a bomb. They laughed and joked before she went to the door, picked up the bust and handed it to Mr Tatarsky.

Meanwhile, a video of the blast has also surfaced.

According to several Russian media reports, the improvised explosive device was camouflaged as a statuette given to Tatarsky during the event.

According to Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, Mr Tatarsky’s activities “had earned him the enmity of the Kyiv administration,” and he and other Russian military bloggers have long faced threats from Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian owner of the Wagner Group military contractor leading Moscow’s attack in eastern Ukraine, claimed to run the cafe and had granted permission for a patriotic group to hold meetings there.

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