The poverty rate of Pakistan has risen by 35.7 per cent and the prices of edibles have increased by 20 to 31 per cent, reported Pak vernacular media, Intekhab Daily.
Pakistan ranks 92nd out of 116 countries on the list of the International Poverty Index. According to a report, Pakistan is advised to develop a system to control inflation because inflation has been badly affecting food security for the last few years, added Intekhab Daily.
Pakistan’s food security was already affected by terrorist activities, conflicts with Afghanistan and weather changes. The rising inflation has worsened it.
The rapid and continuous rising inflation has deprived people of their food and basic facilities, reported Intekhab Daily. Pakistan’s economic conditions are in very bad shape as evident from the following instances — the business community people are pleading before Import Consignment Clearance authorities for getting their goods out of Karachi airport, reported Pak vernacular media Kawish.
The situation has arisen because of a dollar shortage in banks. The dollar scenario has reached such a most unenviable position in the country, the report added.
The business community is worried about how to get their goods out of Karachi port. The finance minister and his team have miserably failed in bringing conditions under control, reported Kawish.
The foreign reserves have reached their lowest level. The government exchange rate is Rs 224-225 but banks say they are running short of dollars and hence they say they cannot give dollars and hence dollars are costing Rs 240 or more in grey/black market.
The lack of dollar availability in the open market is affecting imports of medicines, vegetables, oil and raw material required by several industries.
“What will be the future of the country’s economy in such conditions? What had led to the state of default in Sri Lanka? Conditions are deteriorating on similar lines also in our country,” reported Kawish.
Indications are coming from all sides that Pakistan’s economy is on ventilator. PM Shehbaz Sharif said action would be taken against those hoarding dollars, but will he be able to take action against those who are from his own party and also from allies’ parties? questioned Kawish.
Most often political mafias are found involved in supporting irregularities in wheat, dollar and urea in grey markets/black markets.
So far, finance minister Ishaq Dar seems to be failing in his missions to restore the economy and do something that can help Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) win people’s soft corner. In such a situation PTI continues to be the common man’s choice as a party for their future.
PML(N) has failed to retain its image in Punjab. Chaudhary brothers and PTI are confident of giving tough times to PML-N in the next polls, reported Kawish.
On the other hand, Baloch and Pushtoon parties, which are part of the alliance government in Islamabad, are now planning to come out in support of the Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance government in Islamabad following the Reko Diq pact issue.
In such times, if Punjab and KPK assemblies get dissolved, it will only add to the federal government’s tensions. The alliance parties, including Akhtar Mengal’s Balochistan National Party (Mengal) and Jamait e Ulema Islam (F), are also against legislation on the Reko Diq issue and both these parties have also threatened to quit the alliance government in Islamabad, reported Kawish.
According to political observers, after Imran Khan, some political parties in the PDM government can become a big headache for the government on the issue of the Reko Diq pact.
Balochistan National Party-Mengal and National Party held separate demonstrations in Quetta and another part of Balochistan province against the bill passed on the Reko Diq Copper-gold project, Dawn reported.
They threatened that if the legislation passed in the dark of the night regarding Reko Diq was not withdrawn and Balochistan people were not considered as the heir of mineral and other resources of Balochistan then the BNP-M would take a tough decision in this regard.
The resolution said under the Bill, all powers of the Balochistan government had been given to the federal government, bypassing the local people and this process was a clear violation of the country’s laws, Constitution, and the 18th amendment, according to Dawn.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The microblogging site Twitter is flooded with jokes mocking the ex-employee of NDTV, and alleged ‘journalist’ Ravish Kumar. Ravish Kumar claimed in an interview with The Wire’s Karan Thapar, that Gautam Adani, the chairman and founder of the multinational conglomerate Adani Group, “spent thousands of crores to buy NDTV to silence him.” Notably, Ravish Kumar had willingly quit NDTV after Gautam Adani took control of the media group.
After quitting the media house, Ravish Kumar gave two interviews and in one of them, he chatted with Karan Thapar from the leftist propaganda outlet called The Wire. While speaking to Karan Thapar, Ravish Kumar discussed Gautam Adani’s intention of acquiring a majority stake in NDTV. He claimed that the billionaire industrialist is spending hundreds or thousands of crores only to silence him (Ravish Kumar) and to make him unemployed.
Netizens couldn’t stop themselves from satirising the ‘journalist’ after The Wire released Ravish Kumar’s interview in which he was heard giving himself unwarranted prominence. Within no time, Twitter users started sharing funny jokes and memes with the hashtag #MainBhiRavish.
Ravish Kumar’s self-centred remark became a source of entertainment on the social networking site. Twitter user @whyteknight mocked the journalist with numerous one-liners. “Steve Jobs invented Apple to get me addicted to smartphones #MainBhiRavish,” he tweeted.
Steve Jobs invented Apple to get me addicted to smartphones #MainBhiRavish
“Elon Musk spent 44 Billions and bought Twitter because he was scared of my tweets #MainBhiRavish,” read his third Tweet in an obvious reference to Ravish Kumar’s bizarre remark on Gautam Ambani buying a stake in NDTV to settle scores with him.
Elon Musk spent 44 Billions and bought Twitter because he was scared of my tweets #MainBhiRavish
Mocking Ravish Kumar for believing that the billionaire industrialist invested thousands of crores in NDTV merely to silence him, popular social media user Norbert Elekes tweeted, “Gautham Adani started selling Refined Oil so that my Cholesterol goes high & I d!e early.”
Gautham Adani started selling Refined Oil so that my Cholesterol goes high & I d!e early.#MainBhiRavish
Similarly, many other social media users shared such witty remarks to mock Ravish. Sharing a piece of news shared by Bloomerang that the Adani Group rolled out a digital platform for its airport vertical, a Twitter user @darshanpathak wrote in jest that it was done simply to keep tabs on Ravish Kumar’s global movements.
“This revelation by Ravish ji has given me strength to reveal what has happened to me too.. E|on Musk spent hundreds of crores buying twitter to suppress my views and limit my reach on twitter..,” tweeted popular social media user @coolfunnytshirt.
This revelation by Ravish ji has given me strength to reveal what has happened to me too.. E|on Musk spent hundreds of crores buying twitter to suppress my views and limit my reach on twitter.. pic.twitter.com/aoZ3pQvbUX
In a subsequent tweet, the Twitter user shared screenshots of similarly amusing tweets that ridiculed Ravish Kumar for his bizarre remark, claiming that the NDTV ex-employee is not only delusional but also hallucinates.
It is important to recall here that on Wednesday, 30th November 2022, veteran TV ‘journalist’ Ravish Kumar resigned from NDTV India. Ravish Kumar was working as Senior Executive Editor of NDTV India, the Hindi News channel of NDTV group. His move comes after the Adani Group acquired over 29% stake in NDTV by acquiring 99.5% in RRPR, the promoter firm through which promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy held 29.18% in NDTV Ltd.
Reportedly, Ravish Kumar’s resignation was disclosed in an internal email addressed to NDTV employees by Suparna Singh, president of NDTV Group. She said in the email, “Ravish Kumar has resigned from NDTV and the Company has agreed to his request for his resignation to be effective immediately.”
Since willingly resigning from NDTV after Gautam Adani took control of the media group, Ravish Kumar has given two ‘interviews’, and he has spoken his heart out, or let’s say, has preached sermons to willing listeners. One was a chat with Ajit Anjum, a former TV journalist turned YouTuber, and another with Karan Thapar from the leftist propaganda outlet called The Wire.
They are not really interviews as there were hardly any tough questions – something over which Ravish keeps attacking every journalist who interviewed PM Modi since 2014 – but the two ‘interviews’ also went on to prove that the charge he frequently throws at PM Modi – of being some megalomaniac of sorts – that is actually applicable to him.
For example, while chatting with The Wire’s Karan Thapar, he went on to say about NDTV’s takeover by Adan is not a normal takeover, and it is like snatching food from someone’s mouth, he even went on to claim that Adani is spending thousands of crores to buy NDTV to silence him.
On December 20, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Quint, Ritu Kapur, fact-checked former NDTV reporter, anchor, and senior editor Ravish Kumar, stating that Adani Group has no ownership in her company.
In a tweet to the former NDTV journalist, Ritu said, “Requesting Ravish Kumar to check facts on his assertions on “sale of The Quint to Mr Advani” on The Wire. For the record: Adani does NOT have ANY ownership in The Quint. Journalistic due diligence was required or a Google search.”
Requesting @ravishndtv to check facts on his assertions on “sale of The Quint to Mr Advani” on @thewire_in . For the record: Adani does NOT have ANY ownership in The Quint. Journalistic due diligence was reqd or a google search https://t.co/OjVD067zPl
Ravish Kumar has claimed Adani Group is investing in The Quint
During an interview with The Wire that was published on December 19, Ravish Kumar ranted against Adani Group and claimed that Adani bought NDTV to kick him out of the company. Kumar, who recently resigned from NDTV on his own, also claimed Adani earlier invested in The Quint, but it does not make any difference. He said, “He [Adani] invested in The Quint as well. What happened?”. Notably, during the interview, Kumar claimed he does proper research and follows journalistic ethics before reporting anything.
In the interview, Kumar also mentioned that crores of rupees (on the part of Adani) were being spent to ‘silence’ him. The journalist who quit NDTV, after the Adani Group bought a stake in NDTV’s promoter firm RRPR Holding, said that if Adani Group wanted to achieve the journalistic success they could have as they had bought shares in Quint, but nothing major came out of it.
Adani acquired a stake in Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd
On May 15, it was reported that Adani Group acquired 49 per cent stakes in Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd. The execution of the shareholders’ agreement was made public by the Adani group through a document on May 13 2022. AMG Media Networks Limited, a subsidiary of the Adani group, has acquired 49 per cent stakes in Quintillion Media Limited, Quintillion Business Media Limited, and Quint Digital Media Limited.
The document stated, “We would like to inform you that AMG MediaNetworks Limited (AMG Media), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has signed Shareholders’ Agreement with Quintillion Media Limited (QML) and Quintillion Business Media Limited (QBML) and Share Purchase Agreement with QML QBML and Quint Digital Media Limited (QDML) dated May 13, 2022, in connection with its proposed acquisition of 49% stake in QBML.”
Quint Digital Media Limited owns the English and Hindi portals of The Quint. QBM is a business and financial news company that covers content based on the Indian economy, international finance, corporate law & governance, and business news, amongst others, through its platform Bloomberg Quint which changed its name to BQ Prime on May 15, 2022. Earlier in November 2021, Quint Digital announced the acquisition of a 100% stake in Quintillion Business Media. Earlier this year, on March 1 2022, Adani group announced that it would acquire a minor stake in QBM.
This, however, means that Adani’s shares in BloombergQuint (BQ) are separate from other media subsidiaries of Quint Digital Media. BQ is owned by Quintillion Business Media, which is a subsidiary of Quint Digital Media. Therefore, the deal with Adani did not include other digital properties of Quint Digital Media, like as The Quint, Quintype Technologies, the News Minute and Youth Ki Awaaz.
After Congress leader Ajay Rai stoked fresh controversy over his “latke-jhatke” remark about Smriti Irani, the Union Minister on Tuesday asked if such “indecent” statements are made to “please” the Gandhi family.
The Minister said that such “abuses” reveal the “true character” of the Gandhi family, in the presence of which many of the “foul” statements were made. Irani’s remarks came after Congress leader Ajay Rai, Uttar Pradesh party chief, said that Irani comes to her constituency Amethi only to do “latke-jhatke” and goes away.
Speaking to ANI, Irani asked why is it that the Congress leaders feel that using such language will “please” the top leadership of the party.
“Using inappropriate words for the Army, making derogatory remarks against a woman representative who has defeated their party president, and calling common Indians who were a part of the freedom struggle a “dog”, why do the Congress leaders feel that by using such indecent language, the Gandhi family will be pleased?” she said.
Further inquiring if the Gandhi family encourages such behaviour of its leaders, Irani said that the remarks reveal their “true character”.
“What is the culture which the Gandhi family has certified in Congress? Many of the derogatory remarks were made in the presence of the Gandhi family. Is it that the Gandhi family encourages such indecent behaviour? The basic question is, will the Gandhi family let you progress if you use such foul abuses? If yes, then this reveals the true character of the Gandhi family. If the Gandhi family likes such language why will leaders apologise?” Irani said.
The Minister said that it is not the culture of India and Varanasi to make derogatory remarks against women.
“I know Banaras, India. In our culture, in our civilization, it is not a matter of our culture to make indecent comments towards women. This may be a mirror of Congress’s political culture, but it is neither Kashi’s culture nor such words that are any description of our politics or cultural and social makeup,” she said.
Earlier on Monday, talking about Irani, who had dethroned Rahul Gandhi from his bastion Amethi in the 2019 elections, giving an unflattering reference to dance moves Rai said, “She only visits the constituency and ‘latke-jhatke dekar chali jaati hain (She does ‘latke jhatke’ and goes away).
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The Argentinian legend, Lionel Messi uploaded a heartfelt post on Instagram following his World Cup triumph, which has become the most-liked post ever on Instagram crossing 58 million likes by Tuesday. The post has created a new world record surpassing the earlier most-liked picture on Instagram featuring an unbroken egg.
According to the reports, the picture of the egg which was posted in January 2019 by the ‘world_record_egg’ Insta ID owned by Chris Godfrey had attracted 56.3 million likes. However, the photos posted by Lionel Messi of him and his teammates after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina attracted 58.9 million likes thus far, surpassing the world record egg.
On January 4, 2019, the ‘world record egg’ Instagram handle posted a snapshot of an egg to exceed the then-most-liked Instagram post, a photo of Kylie Jenner’s kid, which had 18.6 million likes. Serghei Platanov took the shot of that egg, which he subsequently uploaded to Shutterstock on June 23, 2015, with the caption “eggs isolated on white background.” The account ‘world record egg’ was created by Chris Godfrey, an advertising creative, and his pals CJ Brown and Alissa Khan-Whelan.
On January 14, 2019, the egg picture became Instagram’s most-liked post, prompting the egg account’s owner to write “This is madness. What a time to be alive. ” Kylie Jenner also reacted on Instagram with a video of herself cracking an egg open and captioning it, “Take that little egg.” The original photographer of the egg was taken aback by the photo’s popularity, remarking, “Egg is just an egg.”
However, the picture of egg happened to surpass even the recently posted photo by Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo who had shared a picture of him and Messi playing chess, advertising for Louis Vuitton. The picture had attracted 42.1 million likes as on November 19, 2022.
Lionel Messi posted the photos on Monday after beating France in the FIFA World Cup final at the Iconic Stadium in Lusail in Qatar. The Messi-led Argentina won the FIFA World Cup after a 36-year wait when Maradona inspired the team to a historic win. Argentina defeated France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the game finished in a 3-3 stalemate after extra time.
“CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!!!!!! So many times I dreamed it, so much I wanted it that I still don’t fall, I can’t believe it… Thank you so much to my family, to all who support me and also to all who believed in us. We prove once again that Argentinians when we fight together and united we are able to achieve what we aim. The merit is of this group, which is above individuals, is the strength of all fighting for the same dream that was also the one of all Argentinians… We did it!!! LET’S GO ARGENTINA DAMN!!!!! We’re seeing each other very soon,” Messi wrote in his Instagram post which attracted over 58 million likes.
Lionel Messi has 402 million Instagram followers, with about one-eighth of them making his post the most-liked ever. Notably, Messi has around 8 Instagram posts that have been liked the most by Instagram users and have made it to the list of top 20 most-liked Instagram posts.
While there is little doubt about Halal being a religiously discriminatory practice and its imposition on non-Muslims patently unconscionable, several media organisations have recently published reports claiming that the BJP government in Karnataka is all set to ban halal meat in the state.
Times of India published an article claiming that the BJP government in Karnataka is planning to place a bill that would prohibit halal meat in the state.
Source: Times of India
Zee News also published an article that read, “Karnataka: CM Basvaraj Bommai set to ban HALAL meat, plans to introduce bill in assembly soon”.
Source: Zee News
Hindi news organisation Amar Ujala also published an article with the headline insinuating that the Karnataka government is mulling banning halal meat in the state.
Source: Amar Ujala
Before long, several blog websites and social media users started spreading the claims and stoking fears among Muslims that the Karnataka government is moving towards imposing a ban on the consumption of halal meat within its geographical jurisdiction.
Many others, including Saba Naqvi, shared the article published in the Times of India. Naqvi posted a picture of the article from the Times of India and commented that it should make international news if it’s for real.
Source: Twitter
And soon thereafter, many across the world, especially the Muslim countries in the Middle East, took cognisance of the reports published in Indian dailies and expressed their concern over the purported ban on halal meat in Karnataka.
Source: Twitter
Is BJP imposing a ban on halal meat?
Contrary to what the media organisations would have us believe, the bill floated in the Karnataka Assembly is for the ban on halal certification by any organisation except the state government/centre-linked organisations and not on halal meat. The written by N Ravikumar to the governor urges the prohibition of certification issuance by anyone other than the state/centre affiliated body. Interestingly, the letter didn’t even have the word “halal” in it, as pointed out by Twitter user @thehawkeyex. In addition to this, the minister also added that such a move may bring a windfall of Rs 5,000 crores to the state exchequer.
The letter written by @CTRavi_BJP to the governor urges prohibition of certification issuance by anyone other than state/centr govt affiliated body. Interesting the letter didn’t even have word “halal”. The minister also mentioned the bill may bring ₹5KCr additional revenue.
Bill aimed at banning halal certification by unauthorised organisations and not halal meat
Recently, Karnataka Legislative Council Member N Ravikumar sought permission to introduce a private bill during the upcoming winter session of the assembly seeking a ban on Halal certification issued by several Muslim organisations. Notably, Halal certification is not limited to meat products but has expanded its reach to vegetarian food products, cosmetics, medicines, and construction businesses.
Ravikumar is the state general secretary of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In a statement on December 14, he said that several organisations charge money for issuing the certification without any authorisation. Notably, the word Halal is Arabic, which translates to “permissible”. It is in contrast to Haram, which translates to “forbidden”. Any food or product is Halal only if it is prepared as per Islamic law.
Ravikumar added, “The Halal certification, which was earlier restricted to meat, has now been extended to various products like cosmetic goods, and food items, among other things.” Furthermore, he questioned, “The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is the government agency which gives the certification. But who permitted these Muslim organisations to certify halal products? They are not a certified authority to do this. They charge lakhs of rupees to give halal certification. Where does this money go?”
He added that the private bill he plans to introduce in the legislature would seek amendments to the Food and Safety Standards Act 2006. Ravikumar said it would help the government to take action against the illegal certification.
India has no legal body to give Halal certification like Arab countries. The certification in India is obtained on a voluntary basis by the businesses. Several private bodies are comprised of Muslim clerics, religious groups and others who provide such certifications.
Longstanding demands against Halal certification
Notably, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) has been raising voices against Halal certification for a long time. They recently announced that the organisation would restart a state-wide campaign against the certification. On Tuesday, the members of HJS reportedly met several leaders of the BJP and submitted a memorandum seeking a law to ban the certification. The leaders who HJS approached included National Secretary of BJP CT Ravi and State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar.
Mohan Gowda, the spokesperson of HJS, said in a statement, “In the name of halal certification and religion, there is a huge conspiracy and mafia to sell halal products across India. Muslim organisations are collecting crores of rupees using halal certification, and the money is being used for anti-national activities.
On Tuesday (December 20), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and their Gujarat chief Gopal Italia took to Twitter to claim that he was arrested by the Bhavnagar police in Gujarat.
Gopal Italia claimed that he was arrested by Umrala Police in Bhavnagar in Gujarat, but actually, he withdrew his bail plea and came to the police station himself. The police took him into technical custody and released him.
In a tweet, the AAP Gujarat chief alleged, “The newly elected BJP government has started working on its sinister agenda. Just today, I was arrested by the Bhavnagar police.”
He claimed that the arrest took place at a time when his family was mourning his grandmother’s death. “My grandmother passed away yesterday (December 19). My whole family is mourning but the BJP government has arrested me. May be the BJP was elected to power to do such things,” Gopal Italia insinuated.
गुजरात की जनता द्वारा भ्रष्ट भाजपा को दिए पूर्ण बहुमत की नई सरकार ने काम करना चालू कर दिया है।
भावनगर पुलिस ने आज मुझे गिरफ़्तार कीया। मेरी ख़ुद की दादी माँ का कल निधन हुआ है, पूरा परिवार दुःखी है लेकिन भाजपा ने मुझे अरेस्ट कर लिया है। शायद यही काम के लिए बहुमत मिला होगा।
Following his tweet, one user questioned whether the AAP leader was actually mourning the death of his grandmother. The user (@jagat-janan) had shared the tweet of Gopal Italia, posted on Monday (December 19), wherein he was seen hailing a speech of AAP leader Raghav Chaddha as a ‘sixer.’
Aap ki dadi ki death ho gyi or aap yaha bhawo ki tarah usro ki six par tali baja rhe ho.https://t.co/KcBD6ymh3H
Earlier this year, Gopal Italia had courted controversy by comparing Lord Krishna to ‘Rakshas’ (demons) and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to ‘Arjun’ who would get rid of the demons.
A First Information Report was later filed against Gopal Italia in Bhavnagar based on a complaint by one Amit Ahir, a member of the Ahir community. The AAP leader was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 295A and 298.
Two months after the country of Pakistan exited the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the Islamic terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has begun its regrouping and collecting funds from people on the pretext of building mosques in the country.
The Masood Azhar-led terror group which is responsible for many attacks against India including the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Flight IC 814, the attack on the Indian Parliament, and the Pathankot attack in 2016, has now restarted its annual fund collection drive.
According to an exclusive report by India Today, the JeM is collecting money on the pretext of building hundreds of mosques in the country of Pakistan. The terror outfit has also sent an open invitation to the masses on several social media platforms to seek donations from the public for claimed religious purposes through bank accounts.
Some of the WhatsApp chats and audio conversations between the ‘donors’ and JeM terrorists have been attained by India Today which shows people asking for bank details to deposit the so-called donation amount. One of the under-cover reporters at India Today meanwhile is heard talking to one Imran Khan Mohammad from JeM. He is heard saying that he has been following JeM activities and that he is happy about JeM regrouping and collecting funds. Imran while talking to the reporter says that he is from Peshawar.
“I am happy that the activities of JeM have begun again by Allah’s grace. I just saw the message on the group and I wanted to contribute for the purpose. I have also given zakat (a donation given in Islam for religious purposes) and want to continue giving it. I just wanted to know where are you building the mosque?” the reporter asked amid the exclusive coverage.
Imran Khan Mohammad responded to this saying that the terror outfit has been collecting funds from villages and nearby areas from Peshawar and that the Mosque would be built in Peshawar. “Now we are building a mosque in Peshawar. More mosques are to be built across the country, in several villages and districts. I will send you the details on this,” Khan said.
The India Today report monitored several social media links and groups associated with the banned terror outfit to find that a lot of conversation has happened around the new mosque that is to be built in Peshawar. The report mentions that every year JeM terror group launches a mass donation drive to collect money from the public on the pretext of building mosques. “They come up with a particular number of mosques to be built. This time its 313. This is the old module of how JeM collects funds for its terror activities,” the report stated.
The exclusive report also stated that the team communicated to several operatives from Saudi Arabia and London who revealed the details of the project and bank details which are being used for collecting funds on the pretext of building mosques.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on October 2022 excluded Pakistan from the grey list of global watchdogs on terror financing and money laundering. “Pakistan is no longer subject to FATF’s increased monitoring process; to continue to work with APG (Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering) to further improve its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering & counter-terrorist financing) system,” FATF was quoted saying.
Earlier in November, there were media reports stating that the terrorist group had begun large-scale construction work near its headquarters in Bahawalpur. According to the reports, the area was acquired by the terrorist group in 2022 and it houses a seminary that teaches several hundred children.
The JeM is an Islamic terrorist organization with its base in Pakistan and is active in the terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir. It has been associated with multiple terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
On Monday (December 19), an alleged audio clip of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan having ‘phone sex’ with two unidentified women went viral on social media.
The said clips were first posted on the YouTube channel of a Pakistani journalist named Syed Ali Haider. In the purported audio clips, Imran Khan was allegedly heard talking about the ‘pleasure points’ of the woman, and his ‘penetration skills’.
“I cannot come to meet you. My boobs are so sore that I am in pain. I cannot even tell the doctor what you did to me. Naughty,” an unidentified woman was heard as saying, while Imran Khan allegedly pestered her to meet him again.
“Can we meet tomorrow then? My family, including my children, are coming over day after tomorrow. Let me try to postpone these plans,” the PTI supremo allegedly remarked.
The ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan was allegedly heard directing another woman to ‘touch herself’ and inquiring about the wetness of her v*gina.
“Should I lick it first before I put it in directly?” an inquisitive Khan was allegedly heard as saying. “Can you take it in, directly? Should I go slow or fast? Remember, I hump like a camel from the back,” he said after being told by the woman that she liked it ‘slow.’
“You will enjoy it more. All pleasure points will be tackled. I will explain you the process,” the ex-Pakistani Prime Minister had allegedly remarked. “Did you put your fingers inside your p*ssy? I hope it doesn’t get swollen…You will become wetter,” he added.
The audio clips are now being widely shared on other social media platforms. While some netizens have questioned the authenticity of the audio clips, others have slammed Imran Khan over his conduct.
Journalist Hamza Azhar Salam tweeted, “Khan saheb can do whatever he wants in his personal life but I hope he will stop presenting himself as some kind of role model Muslim leader for the entire Ummah.”
Khan sb can do whatever he wants in his personal life but I hope he will stop presenting himself as some kind of role model Muslim leader for the entire Ummah.
Journalist Naila Inayat also took potshots at the former Pakistani Prime Minister. She wrote, “In the alleged sex call leak, Imran Khan has become Emraan Hashmi.”
In the alleged sex call leak, Imran Khan has become Emraan Hashmi.
One Twitter user accused the ‘Pindi Boys’ (a reference to the Pakistani army establishment) of leaking the purported ‘phone sex tapes’ of Imran Khan and ignoring the situation in Bannu city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pindi Boys were busy in leaking audio of Imran Khan while Taliban were holding soldiers hostages in Bannu. We are doomed.
A similar allegation against the Pakistani army was made by popular Twitter user, Muhammad Ibrahim.
Obscene audio leaked to put a dent in Imran Khan’s political stature in public eye, this comes after former PM started calling out Gen (retd) Bajwa for toppling his Government. It should be available on the internet shortly. Can’t spoil my TL with the crap.
One Pakistani journalist, Ihtisham Ul Haq, remarked, “Releasing such tapes will only damage you but not IK. Don’t stoop so low. Spreading obscenity and explicit content will serve no purpose but have grave consequences in the long run as it will effect the basic morals of our society & may effect you too! Don’t make this mistake.”
Releasing such tapes will only damage you but not IK. Don’t stoop so low. Spreading obscenity and explicit content will serve no purpose but have grave consequences in the long run as it will effect the basic morals of our society & may effect you too! Don’t make this mistake.
Another Pakistani journalist claimed that the viral audio clips are fake. “Dubbed audio. I covered Imran Khan from 2010 to 2016 as a beat reporter. Listened to each and every speech and press conference of him. This is not Imran khan but rather a fake and dubbed audio. Very shameful act.”
Dubbed audio. I have covered @ImranKhanPTI 2010 to 2016 as a beat reporter. Listened each and every speech and press conference of him. This is not Imran khan rather a fake and dubbed audio. very shameful act. https://t.co/rbJiDoEuvd
Last month, Imran Khan was reportedly injured during his Azadi March from Lahore to Islamabad. The firing reportedly happened when Imran Khan’s container was anchored at Wazirabad.
The ex-Prime Minister was taken away on a stretcher to a hospital with a heavy security cordon surrounding him. Besides him, one man was killed and four other officials of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party were also injured in the gunshot attack.
Since willingly resigning from NDTV after Gautam Adani took control of the media group, Ravish Kumar has given two ‘interviews’, and he has spoken his heart out, or let’s say, has preached sermons to willing listeners. One was a chat with Ajit Anjum, a former TV journalist turned YouTuber, and another with Karan Thapar from the leftist propaganda outlet called The Wire.
They are not really interviews as there were hardly any tough questions – something over which Ravish keeps attacking every journalist who interviewed PM Modi since 2014 – but the two ‘interviews’ also went on to prove that the charge he frequently throws at PM Modi – of being some megalomaniac of sorts – that is actually applicable to him.
For example, while chatting with The Wire’s Karan Thapar, he went on to say about NDTV’s takeover by Adani, “It is not a normal takeover, it is like snatching food from someone’s mouth”, and he even went on to claim that Adani is spending thousands of crores to buy NDTV to silence him.
Ravish Kumar has resigned from NDTV. Currently, the “famous” journalist is unemployed and giving interviews to other journalists who are in sync with his thought process, the likes of privileged Karan Thapar and now fellow YouTuber Ajit Anjum. Ravish, who evidently thinks NDTV was running only because he was part of the media house, is definitely not pleased with Adani Group taking over the operations at the media house.
In an over 10-minute rant right at the beginning of the interview with Thapar, Ravish constantly targeted Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming he is unemployed because of these two persons. Gautam Adani controls over 27 percent of the share in NDTV and he will soon control the majority share. Thapar questioned Ravish what it meant for a channel that is considered “India’s best” now that Adani has bought 29 percent shares and launched a public offer for 26 percent more.
Ravish warned Thapar that the first answer itself would be wrong. We braced ourselves for a long rant while listening to the question, and behold, it was over a 10-minute rant! While Thapar tried to stop Ravish in between and ask the next question, Kumar had no plans to do so.
Ravish said, “When it was clear in August that Adani Group would take over NDTV, it was clear in my mind that they could not buy me off after all these years, so they have formulated the plan to take over.”
He did not miss the chance to emphasise that NDTV is a brand connected intangibly to him. He said, “There is no doubt that NDTV is in itself a brand, but as you know, it is obvious that this channel is seen as connected to me. People say it is Ravish’s channel. Dr Roy never had a problem with it. He was happy that people think this way.”
He mentioned an op-ed in TMC supporting paper ‘The Telegraph’ by Mukul Kesavan that the takeover was being done to remove him. He said, “When it was clear [that Adani Group will take over NDTV], many people said the same on social media. And it is a strong point. I firmly believe that this was planned to remove me. People call it a great deal and claim it is a normal corporate deal and a regular takeover. It is alright that you are pushing me towards the footnotes. You can keep doing it, but I am not a footnote. This much Adani must have known by now. The public and I know very well who was targeted by this takeover. When you could not buy the voice of the poor, you pushed it from the stage. Or just buy the stage itself.”
He added, “I feel that they have spent thousands of crores to make me unemployed. Karan, I feel with this amount, they could have employed thousands of young men and women from UP and Bihar.”
Ravish Kumar then pointed out an interview Adani gave in Financial Times where Adani said that if the government has done something wrong, the media is free to talk about it but should also talk about the good work that the government has done. He was angered by “something wrong” and said, “It was like this government only makes mistakes occasionally. It was an editorial diktat of Adani about what will happen to NDTV. I am reversing this diktat.”
Ravish further said that nobody in the media has the guts to criticise the government. He said, “The Godi Media and Godi Seths do not have the guts to talk about the government’s wrongdoings. If Adani had said this, I would have felt it was a message for me that no one would touch me, and I could continue doing what I was doing. You know my identity is linked to the government’s criticism. Can Adani tweet if a reporter criticises the Modi government, the BJP and its ministers should not boycott the reporter [or the channel]? Can Adani do this? If he tweets like this for four days, he will sit at ED’s office the next day. This is Adani’s real position and status. He will remain in this position until he does not start criticising the government. The day he criticises the government, he will not get a stool to sit at ED’s and CBI’s offices. You do not need to tell him. He knows it very well.”
He further added that his programs were boycotted, and as soon as he left NDTV, BJP’s spokespersons started appearing on those shows. “What are all these indications telling you, Karan? 99.99999 percent of the media in India praises the Modi government. They spent lakhs of crores to spread hate and fake news. It includes the channels of Ambani and others. Look how big the empire of Godi media is! Still, Adani thinks no one dares to praise the government. They praise the government from morning till evening. These channels do not give space to the public’s voice. I feel it is rubbish that Adani is giving a lecture on media freedom.”
Ravish further claimed that all his work was not just anti-someone. and he did the proper research and added context to what he said. He claimed he followed journalistic skills and ethics. “It is clear that Adani is giving me a message. He is challenging me. Can he tell PM Modi to watch ‘Bagon Mein Bahar Hai’, ‘Black Screen’, or any episode of Covid coverage on Prime Time? If he had done that, I would have known how much he or the ‘fluent English speaking journalists’ he brought respect the press freedom. Can he tweet The Wire’s Pegasus story?”
Ravish was also angry over the reports that Adani Group sometimes decides not to reply to the media houses, including Al Jazeera. He mentioned when Al Jazeera sought a reply from the Adani Group for a report on the NDTV takeover, and they were asked to check the interview published in Dainik Jagran. Ravish was angry that Adani Group decided not to reply to Qatar’s official mouthpiece which is known to be biased against India.
Towards the end of the 10-minute+ rant, he said, “Having money in the pocket and having courage are two different things. I say, hey Godi Seth, you can keep money in your pocket, and I will keep the courage.”
While Karan Thapar consistently tried to make Ravish Kumar say that the NDTV takeover took place at the behest of the Modi government and particularly PM Modi, Kumar kept his answer a bit diplomatic and said, “We cannot be sure what these two have talked about in private but what is evident from what has been happening, it is clear [it is being done to silence me].” Ravish also pointed out PM Modi did not congratulate the late photojournalist Danish Siddiqui who won a Pulitzer award.
Toward the end of the interview, Kumar claimed that no Hindi newspaper was ready to publish his articles. He said, “They are so scared that they [Hindi Newspapers] are not ready to publish my articles. They are spending crores to stop me from earning Rs 2,000 for writing articles in Hindi media.”
The interview with YouTuber Ajit Anjum
The interview with reporter-turned-YouTuber Ajit Anjum was hardly any different. It was interesting to see Anjum promote it as “Ravish Kumar’s first interview after leaving NDTV” and trying to cash in on his “popularity”. Maybe inspired by Piers Morgan’s explosive interview with Cristiano Ronaldo, Anjum decided to release the interview in parts. The first part of the interview was released on December 15, followed by clips on social media platforms. Then another two parts, one main interview, and one part only with personal questions, were published later on Anjum’s channel.
In the interview with Anjum, Ravish expressed how “hollow” and “empty” his days have become after leaving NDTV. “I do not know how my viewers are coping with it. It was a routine for me to sit for hours without sleep in the night and prepare for the show.”
He mentioned that since the reports came out that Adani Group was in the process of taking over NDTV, he stopped going to the office. “It was shocking when the news came. For a moment, I sat down. The production people thought I was not feeling well and offered to stop the shoot.” But the ‘show must go on’, so he shot the episode. “Every takeover is not a normal takeover,” Ravish Kumar also mentioned in the interview with Anjum.
During his megalomaniac episode on Anjum’s channel, Ravish targeted other journalists and news channels that he considered “Godi Media”. For those unaware, God Media is a term used for journalists and news channels that are allegedly pro-PM Modi or pro-Modi government. He questioned if there is press freedom and Adani talks about it, will he talk about the Washington Post reports on him, or will the “Godi Media” channels talk about the Al Jazeera report? He claimed the BJP leaders who saw him as a prominent journalist before 2014 started boycotting him after coming to power.
Ravish further claimed that the takeover took place not only to get rid of him but also because there would have been primetime episodes covering the failure of the Modi government based on the reports he had done in the past. “We had records. We would have talked about them from the next year till the elections,” he added.
Ravish was angry with the “mother democracy” and “mother India” as well. He said, “If democracy is mother, then mother threw me out of her lap. What you have done (the democratic system of India that includes the people of India and the media) and what you have let happen will weigh on your soul forever. I have worked hard, but you took the bread out of my mouth. I want to ask Mother India why she did not have a place for me in her lap.”
One interesting point Ravish raised is that the common exclusive interviews from inside the ministries have stopped. Notably, it was pointed out by Barkha Dutt as well during an interview after the Modi government came to power for the first time. It is a known fact that journalists used to enjoy deep relationships with ministries, and there are speculations that they even influenced decision-making processes in the ministries, as seen in Radia Tapes.
However, since the Modi government came into power, access to the inside scoops has completely stopped. So much so that the Modi government put a complete stop to the practice of letting journalists tag along with the Prime Minister on his plane on foreign trips. Earlier, Dutt expressed her anger over the issue, this time, it was Ravish Kumar who subtly expressed how the power went out of their hands.
Journalists are not Gods
Understandably, journalists have been seen as pillars of truth in society. It is assumed that they go by ethics to present the facts and only the facts without any bias. But look at the history of media and think once, was there a time when journalists, media houses, newspapers etc., were ever non-biased? Every journalist, media house, and person linked to media in any capacity is biased to a certain level. Some show their biases openly, but some keep themselves on the centrist lines just to stay in business.
For example, Ravish Kumar almost swore during an interview with Anjum that he talked facts and researched properly before presenting any report to the public. However, OpIndia, on several occasions, showed how Kumar openly spread fake information and data. For instance, In January 2021, he lied about paddy procurement. It is available in the public domain, and thanks to the digitisation of government data, people can cross-check. Otherwise, if it had been 2001, Ravish Kumar would have gotten away with the lies.
In the end, please note that no one snatched the bread from Ravish Kumar’s mouth. There was no request from Adani Group seeking resignation from Ravish Kumar. NDTV did not fire him. Ravish Kumar himself said he left the channel on his own.
