Home Blog Page 2379

Tajinder Bagga to Kapil Mishra: Twitter Files reveal how US govt, and Soros-funded DFR Lab wanted to censor ‘Hindu Nationalist’ accounts associated with BJP

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Tajinder Bagga to Kapil Mishra: Twitter Files reveal how US govt, and Soros-funded DFR Lab wanted to censor ‘Hindu Nationalist’ accounts associated with BJP

On Thursday (March 2), independent journalist Matt Taibbi posted a new tranche of ‘Twitter Files’ which revealed how the Atlantic Council’s US-funded Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab wanted to censor Twitter handles, allegedly associated with ‘Hindu nationalism’, and particularly with the BJP.

An analyst named Andy Carvin wrote to top Twitter executives on June 8, 2021, “Hi guys. Attached you will find… around 40k Twitter accounts that our researchers suspect are engaging in inauthentic behaviour… and Hindu nationalism more broadly.”

The DFR Lab analyst flagged over 40,000 accounts, claiming that they were paid employees/ unpaid volunteer’s of India’s largest party, namely, the BJP.

Journalist Matt Taibbi pointed out that the list comprised ordinary Americans, who had little to no connection to India or Indian politics.

Contrary to the wishes of the DFR Lab, the top Twitter executives refused to act on the flagged Twitter accounts. Yoel Roth, the former Global Head of Trust & Safety at Twitter, noted, “I spot-checked a number of these accounts, and virtually all appear to be real people.”

Interestingly, Roth has been at the epicentre of gutting the Twitter account of former US President Donald Trump and censoring the infamous Hunter Biden story.

DFR Lab wanted to censor BJP-associated and prominent RW accounts

Opindia had found that at least 66 prominent and verified Indian Twitter handles were sent by US-funded Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab to the top executives of the social media giant for censorship.

And the reason cited by the organisation was that they were connected to the BJP and the cause of Hindu Nationalism. Here is the list of the accounts that we found so far:

  1. Abhijat Mishra
  2. Amar Prasad Reddy
  3. Anubha Tripathi
  4. Arjun Bhati
  5. Arun Yadav
  6. Asha Nakum
  7. Ashish Merkhed
  8. Ashok Goel
  9. Baby Kumari BJP
  10. Bamba Lal Diwakar
  11. Barkha Shukla Singh
  12. Bhupesh Chaubey BJP
  13. Colonel Rohit Dev (RDX)
  14. Deomani Dwivedi
  15. Dinesh Chaudhary
  16. Dr. Pankaj Shukla
  17. Dr. Sarojini Agarwal MLC
  18. Gajendra Chauhan
  19. Gopal Krishna Dwivedi
  20. Hariom Pandey
  21. Harjinder Singh Kukreja
  22. Jitu Jirati ( jitendra jirati )
  23. Kapil Mishra
  24. khemchand sharma
  25. Kishore Ajwani
  26. Kuljeet Singh Chahal
  27. Manish Kaushik
  28. Manoj Manu
  29. Manu Bhaker
  30. Meena Das Narayan
  31. N Ramchander Rao
  32. Narendra Kumar
  33. Narendra Kumar Chawla
  34. Naveen Kumar Jindal
  35. Naveen Thacker
  36. NCIB Uttar Pradesh
  37. Neelkant Bakshi
  38. Parmod Kumar Vij
  39. Piyush Goyal Office
  40. Piyush Mishra
  41. Pradipsinh Vaghela
  42. Prakash Dwivedi
  43. Pravin Alai
  44. Priyanka Singh Rawat
  45. RaghavjiBhai Patel
  46. Rahees Singh
  47. Rajan Tewari
  48. Ramesh Solanki
  49. Rameshnaidu Nagothu
  50. Ramvichar Netam
  51. Ravi Rana
  52. ROHIT CHAHAL
  53. Sandeep Mittal, IPS
  54. Santosh Ranjan Rai
  55. Serv’ed,Call me Servüôè(Ravi Mantha )
  56. Shinjini Das
  57. Shishir
  58. Sumit
  59. Suresh Nakhua
  60. Swapnil Kamal Rani Varun
  61. Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga
  62. Uday Mahurkar
  63. UP MSMe
  64. VARANASI AIRPORT
  65. Varun Puri
  66. Vijesh Lunawat
Screengrab of the Twitter account flagged by DFR Lab

Interestingly, DFR Lab wanted to censor Twitter to censor the official Twitter handle of the Varanasi airport (@AAIVNSAIRPORT) and the MSME department of the Uttar Pradesh government (@upmsme) , and the office of Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

Earlier, it was revealed by Matt Taibbi that Twitter employees found no evidence of Russian influence in the 2016 US elections. Yet, they continued to allow Democrats and media organisations to use their platform to push the notion that Trump had Moscow’s backing.

What is DFR Lab

The DFR Lab is a self-proclaimed ‘fact-checking’ endeavour by the Atlantic Council, an organisation that works to promote US interests worldwide. Its board of international advisors involves the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Though it is not yet clear why exactly a US-based organisation associated with George Soros wanted BJP-associated social media handles censored by Twitter, the fact that Soros had recently hinted at politically weakening Modi as one of his goals, might shed some light in the broader context of the issue.

Comedian Daniel Fernandes brazens it out after saying how he refused to help those COVID-19 patients who voted for PM Modi, despite their pleas for help

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Comedian Daniel Fernandes brazens it out after saying how he refused to help those COVID-19 patients who voted for PM Modi, despite their pleas for help

On February 3, comedian Daniel Fernandes published a video, ‘Alive and Vaccinated’, on his YouTube channel, which was a recording of his live show. In the one-hour 39 minutes long video, comedian Daniel Fernandes displayed his bigotry unabashed and expressed genocidal and anti-Hindu views. 

OpIndia recently reported how he mocked Covid-19 patients who voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wished death upon them. He added even his friend thought the same. Quoting an unnamed friend, he said his friend gave the idea those who voted for PM Modi (referred to as “chai”) should have been denied hospital access. In a recently published 90-minute+ long recording of an alleged comedy piece, Daniel touched every aspect that would put him in the limelight for the wrong reasons.

After his video went viral on social media drawing widespread ire from netizens for his genocidal views, one would expect the comedian to introspect and apologise. The comedian, however, doubled down and brazened it out, in the face of the anger and backlash that he was getting.

Taking to Instagram, Daniel Fernandes mocked those who were questioning him and the audience for laughing and applauding his genocidal views.

Posting on Instagram, Daniel shared a screenshot of a Twitter handle, @TrulyMonica, which questioned Fernandes and his genocidal views. She said stand-up comedy had normalised hatred towards Modi supporters and had become the new Radio Rwanda.

Daniel Fernandes Instagram posts

He posted the screenshot with emojis, mocking the concern articulated by Verma. His followers then proceeded to mock and laugh at the tweet questioning Daniel.

He also posted two stories on Instagram where he was again mocking those who expressed disgust over his views.

Daniel Fernandes Instagram posts

An Instagram handle ‘prinaik24’ questioned how such people can be declared intellectuals or even liberals when they wish death upon those suffering from a deadly pandemic simply because of their political preference. She also shamed the audience for laughing and applauding these “jokes”.

Daniel Fernandes mocked the post by commenting “shame on the audience”.

Daniel Fernandes Instagram posts

Another Instagram handle posted that Daniel Fernandes was expressing such genocidal views to get views and publicity, so he could eventually pay his bills.

Daniel Fernandes then took that post and commented “so many bills”, mocking the concern about his content.

Besides mocking COVID-19 victims and saying that those who were pleading him for help were first asked by him if they voted for Modi, and if they did, he refused to help them, he also mocked Hindus and beeped himself while mentioning the Islamic faith.

While Daniel continued to mock Hindus whenever he found a chance, he made sure not to mock “the other religion” openly as he feared the consequences. He made a joke about “someone from that religion” without taking names and beeping whenever he said a word “that should not be said” to ensure, he does not face the heat. He claimed that he was showing “guts” to joke about “that religion”. The joke was, “Jesus, Buddha, and _________ walk into a bar! Jesus, Buddha, and _________ walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and goes, “What can I get you two gentlemen?” Was I right? Or was I right?” Daniel said the joke was not offensive to the people of the religion that he chose not to name and if the audience thinks about it, he was on the side of the people of “that religion”. Essentially, while Daniel named either Allah or Prophet or Islam, he made sure the sound was beeped and there was an emoji covering his mouth because he is aware of the repercussions, however, he had no qualms in mocking other religions, especially Hinduism.

After Md Zubair insulted Hindu Gods and Goddesses and Delhi Police claimed no offence was committed, Delhi HC reprimands police for no action against the person who complained against Zubair

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After Md Zubair insulted Hindu Gods and Goddesses and Delhi Police claimed no offence was committed, Delhi HC reprimands police for no action against the person who complained against Zubair

On Thursday, 2nd March 2023, the Delhi High Court asked the Delhi police whether it has taken any action against a Twitter user named Jagdish Singh who tweeted against Mohammed Zubair – co-founder of the propaganda website Alt News, for his insulting social media posts against Hindu Gods and Goddesses. It is notable that in response to that complaint, the Delhi police has earlier claimed that no offense was committed.

Justice AJ Bhambhani heard the petition of Mohammed Zubair which he filed to challenge the FIR registered against him for his tweet which he had posted in response to an allegedly abusive message from Jagdish Singh. After being booked by the Delhi Police, Zubair petitioned the High Court to have the case dismissed.

Justice Bhambhani asked if the Delhi Police had brought the matter to a logical conclusion while noting that Zubair was not mentioned in the chargesheet by the police. The court said, “What did you do about this gentleman called Jagdish Singh? My question is if you found nothing against this man (Zubair), what did you do about the person who put out those offensive tweets?”

Justice Bhambhani said, “Somebody starts a storm (Jagdish Singh) and you (Delhi Police) just say this person’s (Zubair’s) name is not in the chargesheet therefore. I want to see if things are coming to a logical closure.”

On August 7, 2020, Mohammed Zubair indulged in an online spat with Twitter user Jagdish Singh. The AltNews co-founder targeted a minor girl in his Twitter fight with this social media user. Instead of replying to the user directly, Zubair had brazenly referred to a minor girl seen in the profile picture of the user Jagdish Singh, presumably his granddaughter. Mohammed Zubair said in his tweet, “Hello Jagdish Singh. Does your cute granddaughter know about your part-time job of abusing people on social media? I suggest you to change your profile pic.”

After Zubair had highlighted the minor girl seen in the photo, Islamists started to issue rape threats to the girl. Zubair’s tweet came under heavy criticism from social media users who accused him of shamelessly using a child to get back at a critic.

When one Twitter user had tagged National Commission for Women to raise an alarm about the predatory behavior by Zubair, the co-founder of AltNews brazened it out justifying his blatant doxxing that was clearly endangering the life of a minor.

Supreme Court ruling changes the way Election Commissioners are appointed, says CJI of SC has to be a part of the decision making

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Supreme Court ruling changes the way Election Commissioners are appointed, says CJI of SC has to be a part of the decision making

The Supreme Court, in a five-judge constitution bench, ruled that Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners will henceforth be appointed by a commission that would comprise the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India. This ruling comes in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed in this regard.

This judgment comes at a time when the General Elections are only a year away. The bench was headed by Justice KM Joseph and included four other judges namely Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and CT Ravikumar. The CEC and ECs prior to this ruling were appointed by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

The Constitution does not contain detailed provisions regarding the appointment or powers of the Election Commissioner. The powers and scope of the EC have instead been dealt with in two separate pieces of legislation called the Representation of People’s Act 1950 and the Representation of People’s Act 1951.

Article 324(1) says- The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of,all elections of parliament and to the legislatures of all states and of elections of offices of President and Vice-President help under this constitution shall be vested in a Commission, referred to in this constitution as the Election Commission.

Article 324(2) reads The Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any as the President may from time to time fix and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President.

As can be seen above, the Constitution majorly remains silent on the process or method of election of the CEC and ECs.

Meanwhile, the esteemed court said that the founding fathers of the Constitution left it to Parliament to frame the law for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and ECs but political dispensations betrayed the trust and the law has not been framed in the last seven decades.

The court also said that democracy is fragile and would collapse if lip service is paid to rule of law

BJP wins Tripura elections despite strong contest while Tipra Motha emerges as a major force, here is how anti-incumbency was defeated

Dibakar Dutta
-
0
BJP wins Tripura elections despite strong contest while Tipra Motha emerges as a major force, here is how anti-incumbency was defeated

On Thursday (March 2), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinched the Tripura Vidhan Sabha elections with ease, despite facing strong opposition. Interestingly, Amit Shah made a similar prophecy about two weeks ago during an interview with the news agency ANI. The BJP-IPFT alliance was contesting against the Congress-CPI(M) alliance while facing a massive contest from the newly formed TIpra Moth in the tribal-dominated areas of the state.

The saffron party won 32 seats in an Assembly of 60 while its pre-poll alliance partner Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) managed to secure just 1 seat.

Screengrab of the Tripura election results, data via Election Commission of India

The main rival parties in the North-Eastern State, Congress and CPIM, joined hands in the hopes of overthrowing the incumbent BJP government but could win a grand total of 14 seats in the Tripura Vidhan Sabha elections. CPIM won 11 seats, while Congress won just 3.

Tripura Motha Party (also known as Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance), which has been demanding a separate State for indigenous people, was able to secure 13 seats in its maiden Vidhan Sabha election appearance, becoming the second largest party in the assembly. The party won more seats than CPIM and is all set to grab the position of leader of the opposition.

Putting a stop to the Communist rot in Tripura

Until 5 years ago, BJP did not have a real footing in Tripura. But the residents of the State were disillusioned with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) government (1993-2018).

Tripura government employees, mostly teachers, were forced to work for low salaries, with prolonged periods of no revision. They were stuck on the 4th Pay Commission scale (prevalent in the late 1980s) even in 2017. Needless to say, privatisation had taken a hit under the Left regime.

Most people were dependent on that one family member who had a government job. By 2018, people were desperately looking for a change. BJP saw an opportunity and under the banner of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it promised better wages to government employees.

The residents of Tripura, who were by then well aware of BJP’s development model, reposed their faith in the party. After being elected to power, the state government announced a hike in the pay scale for govt employees and pensioners at par with the 7th central pay commission.

After BJP managed to topple the CPIM government in 2018, the state government led by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb brought changes and developmental works long waited for by the people of Tripura.

Starting in January 2020, the BJP governments at the State and the Centre helped resolve the long-standing Bru refugee crisis in Tripura. The Bru refugees from Manpur were given permanent shelter in the state, their names were included in the voter list, and they voted in these elections.

In February 2021, the BJP government announced a 3% hike in Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief for employees and pensioners. In May of that year, it launched an online portal for supporting businesses that were impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. 

Successful management of the Covid-19 pandemic, the inauguration of a new airport terminal and incentives to government employees were some of the other achievements of the government.

However, in the course of time, the CM started to lose popularity among the people for various issues, including several controversial comments that he made. Worried that it might affect the party, BJP replaced him a year before the election. Dr Manik Saha, a dental surgeon who was elected to the Rajya Sabha, was called in to fill in the role of Biplab Kumar Deb in May last year.

Within just two months in office, the newly appointed Tripura CM announced a hike of 5% in Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief for employees and pensioners.

In the month of December last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first dental college in Tripura, a long-standing demand of the medical community.

Not to forget the continued emphasis on the development of national and state highways, and airports and boosting of internet and railway connectivity as part of PM Modi’s vision of the HIRA (Highways, Internet, Railways, Airport) model.

Days before the turn of the new year, the BJP government announced an additional hike of 12% in Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief for employees and pensioners. The unprecedented move received overwhelming support and further sealed the victory in the favour of the BJP.

The aftermath

The Opposition parties, namely the Congress and CPIM, were shoved into a corner after the BJP turned the tide against them. Out of desperation, they decided to contest the 2023 Tripura Vidhan Sabha polls together.

The two parties relied on arithmetical calculations in the hopes of overthrowing the BJP. As per data [pdf] on the ECI website, CPIM secured 42.2% vote share while Congress received 1.78% votes in the 2018 elections.

BJP steered ahead of both parties with a 43.59% vote share in the polls, held 5 years ago. Assuming that they could topple the BJP if they got together and somehow transfer the votes among themselves, the CPIM and the Congress forged a pre-poll alliance.

The result was imminent, a large number of CPIM workers defected to the BJP, not to forget how Congress defied the CPIM and ended up filing more nominations than what was decided initially.

However, instead of fixing the mess in their own house, they decided to hound psephologists for predicting BJP’s victory in the 2023 Vidhan Sabha polls in Tripura. Not to forget attempts at fake opinion polls and complete indifference to Tripura by top guns in the Congress party.

As predicted by most exit polls, BJP won the elections with an absolute majority and a vote share of 38.97%. The 5% loss in its vote share from the last election can largely be attributed to the defection of top BJP leaders Sudip Deb Barman and Ashish Kumar Shah to the Congress party.

The Congress benefitted in two ways – the defection of the two BJP leaders to the grand old party and the transfer of CPIM votes in key constituencies. As such, it was able to increase its vote share from 1.79% in 2018 to 8.56% in 2023.

Screengrab of the party-wise vote share in the 2023 Tripura elections

However, the biggest loser turned out to be the Communist Party of India (Marxist) party, the vote share of which declined from 42.3% in 2018 to 24.6% now, post the alliance with Congres. It further went down to 11 seats from 16, partly due to the transfer of indigenous (tribal) votes to the Tipra Mohta Party.

However, BJP’s alliance partner ITFT also suffered a massive loss. While it had won 8 seats (7.38% vote share) in 2018, it was decimated to 1 seat (1.26% vote share) in the 2023 polls. It was again due to the transfer of tribal votes to the Tipra Mohta Party. It is notable that ITFT had its base among the tribal-dominated areas of the state, where Tipra Motha emerged as a major force. BJP kept its vote share almost intact among the majority Bengali voters.

With a clear majority of the saffron party, Tripura is set to have a stable government for the next 5 years. Given that Tipra Mohta’s hopes of being the kingmaker have been dashed, the fantasy of ‘Tipraland’, a separate State to be carved based on ethnic lines, will also not see the light of day.

The Tripura royal, Pradyot Kishore Manikya, had been able to unify several tribal factions under one banner by selling them the dream of a separate State called Tipraland, and was able to snatch tribal votes from ITFT and CPIM. However, for now, the demand for a separate state will have to be put on the back burner. It is notable that Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who played a major role in the victory of BJP in the state, has said that the demand for a separate Tipraland state because it will open a pandora’s box as there are several such demands in the region.

Tipra Motha was able to win the votes of tribals due to the fact that some tribal populations in the state allege that they are reduced to a minority in the state. Tribals in the state keep demanding a new state for them from time to time, as they claim that they have become minorities due to the influx of Bengalis from East Pakistan during the partition and during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971.

Anti-drone system successfully destroying Pakistan drones carrying weapons and drugs, Indian Army satisfied with results

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Anti-drone system successfully destroying Pakistan drones carrying weapons and drugs, Indian Army satisfied with results

This year, the Indian Army deployed indigenous anti-drone jammers and spoofers in the Jammu and Punjab region to counter the drones carrying weapons, explosives, and drugs, launched by terrorist organizations with bases in Pakistan. Using the system which has worked effectively, Indian Army successfully prevented many such drones from flying into India, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

Pakistani drones are Chinese-made, and like the majority of UAVs, they have two links, one to the GPS satellites and the other to the handler located on the opposite side of the border. Anti-drone jammers hinder the controller and drone from communicating, while the spoofer takes over the controller’s communication link to confuse the drone.

These native technological products have produced useful results, and the army is impressed with their performance, according to the report. They have boosted the country’s ability to combat the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by terrorist organizations to transport supplies, weapons and improvised explosive devices (IED) into the two vulnerable areas of India.

The anti-drone system deployed by Indian Army has a range of over 10 km, and it is equipped with radar to detect incoming UAVs. After detecting intruding drones using electromagnetic waves or radio frequency, the system uses jammers and spoofers to disable them and prevent them from reaching their destination. The jammer blocks communication between the drone and its handler, as a result, the handler becomes unable to control the drone and it ultimately crashes. On the other hand, the spoofer confuses the drone by disrupting its link with the satellite, which causes the drone to loss direction and fails to reach its destination.

The army purchased 30 jammer and spoofer systems to be utilized in the Jammu and Punjab sectors, and tested them along the western border. The measures have successfully deterred drones from crossing the border into India for the past three months.

In addition to smuggling in weapons, drones are more frequently used to bring in drugs, mainly heroin and cocaine from the Afghanistan-Pakistan corridor. The army is particularly worried about the situation south of the Pir Panjal, where Pakistani terrorist outfits are smuggling weapons and military-grade explosives into India.

Terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba have been sending explosive-carrying drones from their launch pads in the Sialkot sector to inflict damage in the Jammu region for the past three years. In June 2021, such a drone attack targeted the Indian Air Force base in Jammu, when two drones carrying explosives crashed into the IAF station, causing minor damage to the station.

The Pakistani establishment is also targeting Punjab with drones that are loaded with weapons and narcotics so that separatists can use the proceeds from drug sales (which are a major issue in the state) to buy more weapons and explosives and radicalize young Sikhs in the name of religion.

The Indian Army intends to procure more anti-drone equipment as well as armed drones, according to South Block officials, in order to be able to launch retaliatory strikes in addition to preventing cross-border smuggling.

Muslim students in Jamia Millia Islamia intimidate, threaten other students against celebrating Holi on the campus, raise Naara-e-Takbeer and Allah-hu-Akbar slogans

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Muslim students in Jamia Millia Islamia intimidate, threaten other students against celebrating Holi on the campus, raise Naara-e-Takbeer and Allah-hu-Akbar slogans

Some Muslim students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMIU) reportedly created a ruckus and opposed the celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi on the campus. The incident allegedly occurred on March 1, 2023, during an event named ‘Rangotsav’ organised by the university’s YUVA chapter, to celebrate the upcoming Hindu festival on campus. Holi will be observed on March 8 this year.

Twitter user Jatin Jain shared a thread of tweets on Thursday, March 2, with snippets from the varsity’s campus where a group of students were seen threatening and intimidating their peers against celebrating the festival on the premises. The user also shared a screenshot of an Instagram story posted by a Muslim student of JMIU where he instigates Muslims against Hindus and forbids them from participating in the Hindu festivals.

The first video, posted by Twitter user Jatin Jain, shows a student who appears to be the group leader telling other students not to play Holi. He criticises the varsity proctor for permitting the Hindu festival to be celebrated on campus. The student, who is dressed in a black kurta pyjama set and a grey jacket, displays his wrath against the administration by referring to the proctor as a ‘Hijara’ (eunuch). He threatens the students as Holi revellers rejoice. He threatens the group of students who were celebrating Holi on the campus of the university.

In his subsequent tweet, Jatin Jain (@NijVaani2019) tweeted a screenshot of the Instagram story of a Muslim student of the University, going by the handle ‘dayar.e.shauq’, who instigates Muslims against Hindus and prevents them from partaking in the Hindu festivities.

Referring to a YUVA Jamia Millia Islamia poster inviting students to ‘Ragotsav,’ an event organised to celebrate the Holi festival on March 1, 2023, the student wrote, “Sahih Hadiths suggest that it is not allowed to participate in the festivals of disbelievers. When Hindus in India are oppressing Muslims and burning them alive just because they eat beef, still you’d want to “celebrate” it with them?”

Screenshot of the Instagram story posted by JMIU student dayar.e.shauq

OpIndia also obtained other similar messages in which other Muslim students discouraged other students of their community from participating in the Hindu festival.

Instagram stories of students of JMIU

In another video shared by Jatin Jain, Muslim students of the university opposing the celebration of Holi on the campus are heard raising “Naara-e-Takbeer, Allah-hu-Akbar,” slogans.

Celebrating Hindu festivals is considered Haram in Islam and Islamists have for long opposed and perpetuated violence during every Hindu festival. Be it the Hindu religious processions for Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Navami, Navratri, or Saraswati Puja, Islamists have never missed an opportunity to create disturbances. In fact, several incidents of stone-pelting, arson, and vandalism are documented each year, but what is concerning is how these vicious attacks on Hindus are increasing in both number and intensity with each passing year. Last year, OpIndia chronicled a list of incidents where Islamists displayed Hinduphobia during the festival of Holi. We also compiled a list of attacks carried out by Islamists against Hindu processions from 2019 to 2022.

The Caravan’s designer who stole artwork had earlier used Ganesh ji’s idol while referring to ‘sab but uthwaye jaayenge’ poem by Faiz

OpIndia Staff
-
0
The Caravan’s designer who stole artwork had earlier used Ganesh ji’s idol while referring to ‘sab but uthwaye jaayenge’ poem by Faiz

The Caravan’s designer, Samyak Prajapati, who was accused of stealing The Netherlands based artist Tijana’s artwork for the March 2023 issue to attack EAM Dr Jaishankar had earlier used Ganesh ji’s idol imagery to refer to ‘sab but uthwaye jayenge’.

Illustration by Samyak Prajapati

Prajapati had put up the image of idol of Ganesh ji with caption “hum dekhenge” (We shall see).

One of the couplet in the poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz is

Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se
Sab but uthwae jaenge
Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm
Masnad pe bethae jaenge
Sab taaj uchale jaenge
Sab takht girae jaenge

Bas naam rahega Allah ka

It means when from the God’s Kaaba, all idols (but) will be removed. Then we, of clean hearts, the keepers of Faith (Islam) would be placed on throne… All crowns will be thrown, all thrones will be demolished… and only the name of Allah shall prevail.

The couplet by Faiz Ahmed Faiz essentially talks about the destruction of Murthis, the idols whom the Hindus worship. To demonstrate the same, The Caravan illustrator Samyak Prajapati put up an image of Ganesh ji.

The above couplet from the poem glorifies Islamic supremacy. Idol worship is prohibited in Islam and over the years, Islamic invaders have destroyed Hindu temples and idols in India to establish the same. The Somnath idol was broken and parts of the idol have been used in foundation of Islamic structures such that those who enter walk over what were Hindu idols.

Even now, we read about news from neighbouring Islamic countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh where Hindu temples, whichever remain after decades of destruction, are desecrated and broken. Hence, for Samyak Prajapati to show an image of a Ganesh idol when he talks about destruction of ‘buts’ (बुत – idol) is no coincidence. As a visual artist, he knows exactly what he has been doing. Murti puja is an integral practice of Hinduism.

When netizens had asked Samyak Prajapati if he would make such artwork on divine figures of other faiths, he mocked them.

Samyak mocking

In reality, visual depiction of Prophet Muhammad is ‘blasphemy’ as per Islam and is punishable by death. When French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a cartoon of the same, terrorists blew up their office. When French teacher Samuel Paty showed the same image to his students in a class, he was beheaded publicly by an Islamic terrorist.

However, insulting Hindu gods and making a mockery out of them is hailed as something that is a liberal thing to do and aptly rewarded like how Samyak Prajapati was hired by The Caravan to create illustrations for them. Except, he seems to have stolen the artwork from someone else.

That’s not all. Samyak Prajapati also insulted the Hindu epic Mahabharat and other Hindu gods and goddesses.

Mahabharat

In what appears to be a perverse manner to create awareness about sexual abuse, Samyak Prajapati with an extremely skewed understanding of Hindu epics, talked about the episode in Mahabharat about the ‘vastra haran’ of Draupadi. Other illustrations around the ‘satirical’ news piece also mock Hanuman ji and Lord Ram.

Another Hinduphobic image

In another image, he has shown an ‘advertisement’ for ‘Fair and Godly’ (a so-called satirical take on Fair and Lovely), and in a racist comment mentioned how using the said cream will turn ‘Kali’ into ‘Lakshmi’. Kali is Goddess Kali, called so because of her ferocious form of ultimate power, time, and destruction. She is the ultimate manifestation of Shakti. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth.

Samyak has since removed the artwork he created for The Caravan from his public Instagram profile.

Here is the LinkedIn profile of The Caravan giving credit to Samyak Prajapati for the artwork for their December 2022 edition which Samyak has now removed from his public Instagram profile.

The Caravan giving credit to Samyak Prajapati

His other Hinduphobic content, however, remains.

As per his Behance profile, Samyak Prajapati is a visual communication student at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India.

‘PM Modi is the most loved global leader’: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni lauds PM Modi as the two countries decide to strengthen bilateral ties

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘PM Modi is the most loved global leader’: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni lauds PM Modi as the two countries decide to strengthen bilateral ties

On Thursday, March 2, the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni met her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at Delhi’s Hyderabad House as the two leaders discussed wide-ranging issues ranging from bilateral trade to terrorism. The Italian PM praised PM Modi and referred to him as the “most loved” among all world leaders. The efforts of PM Modi to quell the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine were also commended by PM Meloni.

PM Modi is the ‘most loved’ global leader: The Italian Prime Minister

In her statement at a joint press conference with PM Modi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni remarked, “Of all the world’s leaders, Prime Minister Modi is the most loved. This is really proven that he has been a major leader and congratulations for that.”

As G-20 President, India can play a central role in ending hostilities in Ukraine: PM Meloni

Italy, according to PM Meloni, hopes that India would play a ‘central role’ in assisting and negotiating the process for the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine during India’s G-20 presidency.

According to PM Modi, he and the prime minister of Italy expressed their concerns about the detrimental consequences the unrest in Ukraine has had on developing nations. PM Modi said that the food, fertilizer, and fuel crisis brought on by the conflict in Ukraine has had an impact on all nations.

PM Modi praises his Italian counterpart

PM Modi greeted PM Meloni upon her arrival in India for the first time, “She was elected as Italy’s first female and youngest prime minister in last year’s elections because of the votes of the Italian people. I congratulate her on this historic accomplishment on behalf of all Indians,” PM Modi remarked.

It is pertinent to note that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is the chief guest and keynote speaker at the 8th Raisina Dialogue 2023. This year marks the diamond jubilee or 75th year of India-Italy bilateral ties. The Raisina Dialogue is a conference held annually in the national capital.

“Our “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” campaigns are opening up great investment opportunities in India. We have decided to designate the Indo-Italy partnership as a Strategic Partnership on this occasion.  India will further strengthen its ties with Italy in the areas of space, semiconductors, IT, telecom, hydrogen, and renewable energy. We applaud the announcement of a Startup Bridge between India and Italy today,” PM Modi said.

Defense cooperation between India and Italy

PM Modi highlighted defense as one of the sectors where India and Italy could initiate a “new chapter”. The opportunities for “co-production” and “co-development” in the defense manufacturing industry could be beneficial for both nations as per the Indian PM.

The two leaders also decided to hold joint training sessions and exercises between the armed forces of both countries to further strengthen the cooperation in the fight against terrorism and separatism.

‘Meo Muslims are descendants of Ram and Krishna’: Says Rajasthan Congress MLA Shafia Zubair

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Meo Muslims are descendants of Ram and Krishna’: Says Rajasthan Congress MLA Shafia Zubair

On 2nd March 2023, Rajasthan’s Congress MLA from the Ramgarh constituency Shafia Zubair said in the assembly that Meos, the Muslim Rajput community in Mewat, are descendants of Ram and Krishna. She said this while responding to BJP MLAs saying that Mewat is a backward area. She also demanded compensation for the families of dead cattle smugglers Junaid and Nasir of the Bhiwani case just like compensation was given to the family members of Kanhaiya Lal who was beheaded by Islamists in June 2022.

She said that the Meo Muslims may have converted to Islam, but they were originally Hindus, and they are descendants of Ram and Krishna.

Shafia Zubair said, “Meo community resides in Alwar, Bharatpur, Nuh, and in some parts of Mathura, where Krishna was born. I traced the ancestry of the community to know what our history is. The result says that we are from the lineage of Lord Krishna. Even if we have converted our religion, the blood does not change, and it belongs to Ram and Krishna.”

Shafia Zubair added, “You should all remember who Meos are (descendants of Ram- Krishna) and consider them as Mewa (dry fruits). Nobody should tell us again and again that we are backward. It has given three MLAs (Zubair, Wajid Ali from Nagar, and Zahida Khan from Kaman) and you will see where the Mewat will reach in the next 10 years.” Therefore, Mewat should not be considered a backward region, she said.

She also demanded that the budget for the region should be increased from Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore for the development of the region, and demanded more schools in the region.

Shafia Zubair also demanded compensation for the family members of Junaid and Nasir – the deceased in the recent Bhiwani case. She urged that the compensation for Junaid and Nasir be equal to that received by Kanhaiya Lal’s family. She said, “Different compensation was given in the Udaipur incident and different in the Nasir-Junaid murder case, why is this happening? It was a very shameful incident, but the compensation to the victims has also been given very little.” Shafia Zubair Khan earlier made it to the news when she performed Rudra Abhishek in the Pratapeshwar Mahadev temple of Amer in Rajasthan.

On February 17 this year, the Rajasthan Police reached Haryana to probe the Bhiwani case in which the charred dead bodies of ‘cattle smugglers’ Junaid and Nasir were recovered by the Haryana Police. 

1...2,3782,3792,380...7,599Page 2,379 of 7,599