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Locals protest against illegal church in Gujarat’s Valsad village, had earlier alleged forced religious conversion

મેઘલસિંહ પરમાર
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Locals protest against illegal church in Gujarat’s Valsad village, had earlier alleged forced religious conversion

In Kaprada village of Valsad, Gujarat, local residents have protested against construction of illegal church. As per reports, when the village panchayat did not allow formation of society, some superseded the panchayat and went ahead to form a committee to oversee the construction. In the said matter, local residents have registered protest and along with the Sarpanch, have submitted a memorandum at the Collector’s office and demanded strict action.

According to local residents, not a single villagers has been registered as a person who follows Christianity. Despite that, superseding the Gram Panchayat, a church was constructed. A copy of the memorandum given by villagers to the Collector is with OpIndia.

As per the memorandum, one Chandarbhai Chaudhary, a local villager, works in local forest department and has claimed that he is Christian. However, he has not registered himself as a Christian in the government office. Local villagers believe he is responsible for the construction of the church.

Local residents have also complained that poor villagers are being lured into converting to Christianity. They are being told wrong and abusive things about Hindu gods and goddesses and lured into conversion to Christianity. Hence, churches have sprung across villages. Villagers have also alleged that most of these churches are constructed illegally on government and forest department lands.

Local residents have also raised concerns regarding the funding for construction of such churches. They also said that while there is no official record of Christian residents as per census, in recent times some people have converted to Christianity. In July this year, 90 people of 20 families had converted to Christianity.

Forced religious conversion in South Gujarat

Earlier we had reported that in the month of October, in Songadh village of Tapi district, an ancient Hindu temple was removed and a Church was constructed there. When Hindus went to offer prayers during Navratri, the Christian mob had stopped them and a scuffle had broken out. Thereafter, police had intervened and allowed Hindus to offer prayers there. You can read our detailed report in Gujarati here.

Note: This report was originally published in Gujarati. You can read it here.

Witness in Umesh Kolhe murder case receives threats from Islamists for extending support to Nupur Sharma, a Muslim ‘friend’ suspected to have tipped them off

OpIndia Staff
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Witness in Umesh Kolhe murder case receives threats from Islamists for extending support to Nupur Sharma, a Muslim ‘friend’ suspected to have tipped them off

On Tuesday, one of the witnesses of the Umesh Kolhe murder case revealed that he was being threatened after he extended support to former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over social media. The witness, who runs an electronic goods shop said that he had posted a WhatsApp message supporting Nupur Sharma but soon deleted it as he felt that it would lead to a huge controversy.

He said that though he had deleted the message, six people had already seen it, following which he started getting threatening calls from unknown numbers. He also said that the people issuing death threats asked him to apologise through a video.

The witness stated in his testimony that he also received a call from a ‘friend’ named Adil who inquired about the post. He explained that he had erased the message and had no malicious intent. After some time, another of his friends texted him a screenshot of his photo and store details with the words ‘Boycott’ written on it and asked him why they were calling for him and his shop to be shunned.

The witness indicated that he got calls from unidentified people demanding that he record a 30-second apologetic video or they would come to his house. Later, he learned that another Amravati businessman had been intimidated by the Muslim community for his Facebook post in favor of Nupur Sharma.

Reports mention that three more residents of Amravati namely Shreegopal Chandulal Rathi, Vishal Rajesh Bahad, and Jai Kumar Achhada were also threatened by radicalized Islamists for extending support to Sharma before Kolhe was killed.

Rathi shared a message and a photo in support of Sharma on his WhatsApp status on June 9. He received a call from an unknown number, and the caller identified himself as Razique Baig from the Rehebar Helpline. The aforementioned exchange was then made viral on social media. He received multiple threat calls and was ordered to produce a video apologising for his post and was encouraged to share it on social media. Rathi was then granted police protection.

On June 10, the proprietor of a mobile repair shop shared a status message on WhatsApp in favor of Sharma, but it was quickly deleted. However, the message went viral over social media platforms following which he received several threats from Mudassir Ahmed, Shakeel Shaikh, and other accused arrested in Kolhe’s murder.

On June 12, one Bahad wrote a comment on social media in favor of Sharma and was threatened by Mudassir, a frightened Bahad fled the city and reappeared only after 15 days.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday revealed that the 11 accused who murdered Amravati-based pharmacist Umesh Kolhe were radicalized members of Tablighi Jamaat. The officials also said that the accused were persuaded by two ‘social activists’ identified as Irfan Khan and Maulavi Mushfique Ahmad.

Those named in the NIA charge sheet are Mubashir Ahmed, Shahrukh Khan, Abdul Tausheef Sheikh, Mohd Shoeb, Atib Rashid, Yusuf Khan, Irfan Khan, Abdul Arbaz, Musfeeq Ahmed, Sheikh Shakeel, and Shahim Ahmed.

Umesh Kolhe was murdered by Islamists on June 21 for extending his support to beleaguered politician Nupur Sharma, who drew the ire of Muslim fundamentalists after Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair painted a target on her back for defending her faith in a news debate.

According to the chargesheet, the 11 accused hatched a conspiracy, acquired the murder weapon, plotted their strategy so that the pharmacist’s whereabouts could be traced, and then premeditatedly killed him. The NIA in the chargesheet also mentioned that the 11 accused were highly influenced by the Islamist ideology and believed in, “Gustakh -E- Nabi Ki Aik Saza, Sar Tan Se Juda.’

On July 2 this year, the NIA re-registered the case and took over the investigation. The case has been registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) Sections 16, 18, and 20 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34, 153 (A), 153 (B), 120 (B), and 302.

Delhi LG directs chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crores from ruling AAP for publishing political advertisements as govt ads

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi LG directs chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crores from ruling AAP for publishing political advertisements as govt ads

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has directed chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from AAP for publishing political advertisements as government ads. 

The governor said the ruling party contravened the orders of the apex court, Delhi HC order of 2016 and the Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising’s (CCRGA) order of 2016.

Singling out specific advertisements by AAP as being in “stark violation of guidelines”, CCRGA had in 2016 asked the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) to quantify the amounts spent by it on such advertisements and recover the same from the AAP. 

Rs 97,14,69,137 had been spent or booked on account of “non-conforming advertisements”, the DIP had said. 

“Of this, while payments amounting to over Rs 42.26 crore had already been released by the DIP, Rs 54.87 crore for advertisements published were still pending disbursal,” a report published by India Today quoted source as saying.

In 2017, the DIP ordered AAP to pay Rs 42.26 crores to the state exchequer immediately and directly pay the pending amount of Rs 54.87 crore to the advertising agencies or publications concerned within 30 days.

However, even after more than 5 years, the AAP government in Delhi is yet to comply with the order issued by the DIP. 

Besides, the LG had asked to audit the finances of Shabdarth – a public agency formed by the Kejriwal government. Shabdarth constitutes 35 individuals on a contractual or outsourced basis, out of the total sanctioned strength of 38 officials. The agency was supposed to be manned by government servants, instead of private individuals. 

The LG has now ordered that Shabdarth will be manned by government officials and not by outsourced or contractual employees.

‘Rakesh Tikait is not our leader…our rally is not politically funded’: 50,000 farmers stage peaceful protests at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, share list of demands

अनुपम कुमार सिंह
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‘Rakesh Tikait is not our leader…our rally is not politically funded’: 50,000 farmers stage peaceful protests at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, share list of demands

On Monday, December 19, around 50,000 farmers gathered at central Delhi Ramlila Maidan. The farmers congregated from across the country under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). After putting forward their demands to the central government, these farmers dispersed by the evening.

According to reports, the farmers, who reached the ground in 700 to 800 buses, and 3,500 to 4,000 private vehicles, put up posters of ‘Bharat Mata’ and ‘Lord Balram’ on the stage around which they sat peacefully and held the demonstration. A traffic advisory had been issued by the Delhi police with the suggested routes to be taken in order to avoid traffic hassles for the people of the city.  

In addition to the Delhi Police, a sizable paramilitary force was also deployed in the area. The flow of the traffic continued to be completely normal throughout the day with no untoward incident reported from the area.

OpIndia also visited the Ramlila Maidan to assess the situation and spoke with a number of farmers who were involved in the protest to find out, particularly what they expected from the central government.

We also questioned why the months-long demonstration against the three agriculture sector reform laws had been largely violent while this particular rally was conducted so peacefully. Suraj Singh Thakur, who hailed from Sehore in Madhya Pradesh, responded to our query by stating that their movement is not funded by any political party, which may be the reason why the rally was held peacefully.

He stated unequivocally that the so-called farmers who sparked a commotion in Delhi to oppose the three agricultural regulations had received political backing. He argued that those ‘farmers’ had a political objective and weren’t only there to present their demands to the government at large, but rather to malign the farmers.

Furthermore, the farmers whom we spoke to, asserted that they were there to put forward their rightful demand and not to foment trouble or beg before the government. They also categorically stated that they were not a part of the previous ‘Kisan Andolan.’ Some, however, confessed that they were only involved in the movement at its inception but backed out after the protest took a different turn.

The farmers participating in the “Kisan Garjana Rally” made it clear that they don’t want to cause any disruption and just want that their demands to be met. The farmers who had congregated from across the country at the Ramlila ground said they had three key demands. The Madhya Pradesh farmers we spoke to said that their first demand is that the money disbursed under the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KSNY) be increased to ₹20,000 annually from the current amount of ₹6,000. Additionally, they want that the GST levied on farmer instruments should be axed.

Their main demand is that the crop’s selling price be set according to its cost. The leaders are sitting and setting the price for us, the farmers taunted, not even knowing if potatoes grow below or above ground.

When asked whether they have any issues with private businesses, the farmers responded by saying that while they respect the agriculture laws, some inaccuracies should be rectified. These farmers asserted that they are nationalists and that they never had an issue with the three agricultural laws (now repealed).

‘Farmers are being fooled by politically motivated persons like Rakesh Tikait’, says a farmer at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan

The farmers claimed that they had come to accomplish their objectives peacefully and that they would embrace the farm laws once the shortcomings are fixed.

The farmers, who were chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Balaram’ slogans, said that they believe in the power of the vote rather than blocking roads. They unilaterally asserted that Rakesh Tikait is not their leader. They claimed that farmers are being fooled by individuals like Rakesh Tikait.

The ‘Kisan Garjana Rally’ had a very cultural vibe to it. While some farmers were seen performing traditional dance and playing music, some others were playing instruments like the jhal or kartal- a pair of small hand cymbals and drums.

Since it is now wheat season and they must work in the fields as well, many farmers were observed heading for the railroad station after evening.

The fact that there were many women present at the “Kisan Garjana Rally” was the most notable thing there. Additionally, when we looked around, we noticed that many farmers had come to the protest location in big groups and brought some goods along with them. Following the peaceful protest, they ate, drank, and sat calmly while keeping an eye on their possessions before ultimately going back in the evening.

We met some farmers who came all the way from Odisha. Pradeep Mahanta, one of them, also reiterated the same demands, which were fair prices, no GST on farm equipment and an increase in the money disbursed under “Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana”. He said that the farmers should receive at least three Rs 5000 instalments annually.

These farmers also made it abundantly clear that they had initially joined the ‘farmers’ protest against the agricultural legislation but had subsequently rescinded.

When asked whether they consider Rakesh Tikait to be their leader, the farmers said in unison, “No, every farmer is our leader.”

Additionally, when we reminded them of how some so-called ‘farmers’ had unleashed mayhem and laid siege to the iconic Red Fort on 26 January 2021, the farmers in Odisha asserted that they have always been in favour of peaceful demonstrations. They claimed that they are not against the government and that they are only here to seek their rights.

These farmers of Odisha told us that if there were some amendments made to the agricultural laws, they would be happy to accept them. They stated that they have a great deal of faith in Lord Balaram because he is regarded as Lord Jagannath’s elder brother and the Lord of the plough. Lord Balaram has numerous temples in Odisha as well. That’s why the slogan of ‘Jai Balaram’ echoed a lot in the ‘Kisan Garjana Rally’.

Along with the aforementioned slogans, others such as ‘जो हमसे टकराएगा, हमसे ही मिल जाएगा’ (Jo humse takrayega, humse hi mil jayega) were also heard during the protest. Some other interesting slogans were also raised, a few being, ‘पिएँगे क्या – रस, खाएँगे क्या – रसगुल्ले’ (Piyenge kya-ras, Khayenge kya-rasgulla), ‘देश के हम भंडार भरेंगे लेकिन कीमत पूरी लेंगे’ roughly translated as (We will fill the granaries of the country but take the full price for it).

As AAP pushes for life imprisonment or ‘more’ for blasphemy, here is how they are making things worse

Nirwa Mehta
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As AAP pushes for life imprisonment or ‘more’ for blasphemy, here is how they are making things worse

Aam Aadmi Party’s MP Raghav Chadha today gave Suspension of Business notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the amendments in laws to ensure stringent punishment, like life imprisonment or something even stricter, to culprits in sacrilege incidents. While Chadha does not seem to have specified what he means by ‘stricter’, one can easily draw conclusions that punishment stricter than life imprisonment would likely be death sentence.

Chadha is an MP from Punjab where AAP formed the government earlier this year. AAP has been accused of romancing the Khalistani elements which leaves India in a vulnerable position since they are ruling government in a state that shares its border with Pakistan. Pakistan has been actively spreading terrorism in India and abroad and has been giving strategic and tacit support to Khalistani elements along with Islamist jihadis to ruin India’s peace and harmony.

Unfortunately, this move by Chadha comes exactly a year after two men were lynched to death in two separate incidents of sacrilege in Punjab. In 2021, in a span of 24 hours, on December 18 in Amritsar and December 19 in Kapurthala mobs took to street to take law into their own hands and gave a ‘stricter’ punishment than life imprisonment for ‘sacrilege’. 2021 saw six lynching cases linked to sacrilege of Sikh Holy Books and symbols in Punjab. Reportedly there have been over 200 cases of sacrilege in the state since 2015.

While some condemned these killings, a large number of people kept mum on these murders. There is even a section of people that is supporting ‘instant justice’. And now the move by Chadha will only further embolden the mobs. That is how mob justice works. They think because the law allows death sentence over ‘sacrilege’ or ‘blasphemy’, it is okay to kill.

Case in point, our neighbour Pakistan. Studies have shown that the stricter laws on blasphemy has only done more harm and has encouraged lynching. A 2016 Amnesty report (who would’ve thought), exposed how stricter blasphemy laws in Pakistan are used to enable abuse against minorities. In its report “As good as dead”: The impact of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, Amnesty said how people accused of blasphemy struggle to establish their innocence. Even if a person is acquitted of the charges against them and released, usually after long delays, they can still face threats to their life.

Stricter blasphemy laws in Pakistan are so one-sided that once the complaint is made, police arrests the accused without even checking their innocence. Angry crowds, maulanas and supporters do not scrutinise evidence and the trial is lengthy and quite unfair. In fact, we’ve seen that in Pakistan, when someone even opposes strict blasphemy laws, they meet similar fate as the one who are ‘blasphemers’.

Pakistani politician Salman Taseer was assassinated by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri for his position on Pakistan’s blasphemy law. he had a somewhat ‘liberal’ stand on Asiya Bibi blasphemy case because he believed a hapless Christian woman should not be executed for ‘blasphemy’. The assassination instantly turned Qadri into a hero, as one would expect from a Jihadist state. He was showered with rose petals as he was dragged into the Court. “Death is acceptable for Muhammad’s slave,” his many supporters chanted.

If law itself says kill them, radicals might kill for glory, as we have seen how terrorism which has no religion but follows religious books works. This stricter laws on blasphemy is only a sure shot way to increase and encourage lynchings and justify it by ‘sacrilege’ or ‘blasphemy’. Pakistan saw it and let it happen, and now Punjab’s AAP MP wants India to follow it.

Ghaziabad: 19-year-old hangs herself after Irfan shares her intimate videos online

OpIndia Staff
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Ghaziabad: 19-year-old hangs herself after Irfan shares her intimate videos online

A 19-year-old girl from Khoda, Ghaziabad, committed suicide on Monday evening after getting tired of harassment at the hands of a youth named Irfan. As per reports, Irfan had lured and trapped the girl into a love affair, shot a personal video of the girl, and then made it viral on social media.

The father of the girl filed a case and revealed that Irfan used to harass the deceased regularly on her way to junior college. Fed up with this, the girl had reported the incident to Khoda Police station but according to her father, the Police didn’t take the case seriously.

The father of the girl alleged that she had filed a report on Saturday but her complaint was ignored by the Police. “The Police asked us to get the evidence and also asked us to get Irfan. Then we returned home. On Monday evening, my daughter committed suicide when she was alone with her two younger siblings”, the father stated.

The Police also reached the spot and began the investigation into the case. They sent the dead body of the girl for postmortem and confirmed that the girl had come to report a complaint in the case. However, the Police said that she was asked to file a written complaint in the case as she stayed adamant about first arresting the accused in the case.

On Monday, the Police stated that the girl had possibly committed suicide after her video went viral over social media platforms. “Advance legal action has been taken by taking possession of the dead body. Teams have been formed for the arrest of the concerned by registering a case based on the complaint filed by the family. Investigations in the case are underway,” said Indirapuram’s Assistant Commissioner of Police Swatantra Kumar Singh.

He also said that the matter is being probed from all angles. “Action will be taken against the accused on the basis of evidence. The negligence of the policemen will also be probed. If the policemen are found guilty, action will be taken against them as well,” he assured.

Several Hindu organizations also took cognizance of the event and confirmed that Irfan and his friends are auto drivers, and are drug addicts. “They also tease women and harass them usually. If the Police fail to take action in the case, we’ll do justice to the deceased,” the Hindu members said.

In the current case, the police have started searching for the accused and his family who are also absconding. Police have formed 6 teams and efforts are being made to nab the accused. The FIR has been registered under the relevant sections of the law.

Twitter Files 7.0: FBI paid $3.4 million to Twitter, made top executives dub Hunter Biden laptop story as ‘Russian disinformation’

Dibakar Dutta
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Twitter Files 7.0: FBI paid $3.4 million to Twitter, made top executives dub Hunter Biden laptop story as ‘Russian disinformation’

On Monday (December 19), the seventh tranche of internal communication between Twitter employees was released on the micro-blogging platform.

Dubbed the ‘Twitter Files 7.0’, it exposed how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) paid a whopping $3.4 million to Twitter between October 2019 and February 2021 and coerced top Twitter executives into gutting the ‘Hunter Biden story‘ of the New York Post (NYP).

The story, shared by author Michael Shellenberger, exposed how the federal agency was quick to discredit the revelations about Hunter Biden’s dealings as ‘Russian disinformation’, a move which impacted the result of the 2020 US Presidential elections.

At the very onset, Michael Shellenberger said, “In Twitter Files #7, we present evidence pointing to an organized effort by representatives of the intelligence community (IC), aimed at senior executives at news and social media companies, to discredit leaked information about Hunter Biden before and after it was published.”

It must be mentioned in the last weeks of the 2020 US presidential elections, the New York Post published an explosive story about Hunter Biden’s problematic emails with a Ukrainian gas company executive from Burisma.

In its report, the news outlet alleged that they had accessed material from a damaged Macbook that was brought to a service centre for repair. The customer who brought the laptop never collected or paid for the services.

The shop owner said he repeatedly tried to contact the client. Though he could not identify the owner as Hunter Biden, he said the laptop had Beau Biden Foundation’s sticker.

The report had several documents and mentioned a video that proves that Joe Biden met a high-profile businessman from Ukraine when he was Vice President of the United States. 

Despite issuing a subpoena and taking possession of the laptop, the FBI did not get back to the repair shop owner. As such, he submitted a copy of the data to Donald Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who handed it over to the New York Post.

“Hunter and Mesires had just learned from the New York Post that its story about the laptop would be published the next day,” Michael Shellenberger noted. Immediately, the FBI intervened and sent a set of 10 documents to Yoel Roth (former Global Head of Trust & Safety).

So far, the ‘Twitter Files’ has exposed how Roth justified the censorship of the infamous ‘Hunter Biden story’. He was also seen patting himself on the back for quickly censoring Donald Trump. 

Author Michael Shellenberger noted how the New York Post story was censored within hours of its publication on October 14, 2020. “…Preventing it from spreading and, more importantly, undermining its credibility in the minds of many Americans. Why is that? What, exactly, happened?” he continued.

Despite tens of millions worth of foreign dealings by Hunter Biden, the Federal Bureau of Investigation repeatedly forced top Twitter executive Yoel Roth to classify the explosive story as “Russian hack and leak” operation.’

It must be mentioned that in August this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed how the FBI directed the social media giant to censor the Hunter Biden story.

“The FBI basically came to us [and] was like, ‘Hey… you should be on high alert. We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election. There’s about to be some kind of dump similar to that’,” Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan.

Author Michael Shellenberger pointed out that the claim of ‘Russian disinformation’ in the Hunter Biden story was not based on new intelligence reports.

“Through our investigations, we did not see any similar competing intrusions to what had happened in 2016,” FBI agent Chan was seen admitting to the fictitious claims in ‘Twitter Files 7.0’.

Internal communication between top Twitter employees and the FBI showed some degree of scepticism in the former about sweeping claims of foreign-controlled bots. In one case, Yoel Roth was seen turning down the request of the federal agency with respect to the latter’s assertion of foreign influence in a pro-Trump tweet.

The ‘Twitter Files 7.0’ also revealed how the top Twitter guns were under a lot of pressure from the FBI to censor tweets as per their whims and fancies.

“Time and again, FBI asks Twitter for evidence of foreign influence & Twitter responds that they aren’t finding anything worth reporting,” author Michael Shellenberger had emphasised.

In a bid to lure top Twitter executives, one FBI agent Elvis Chan arranged for their ‘temporary’ Top Secret Security Clearances. The author noted, “…So that the FBI can share information about threats to the upcoming elections.”

By 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was actively involved in Twitter affairs so much so that they created their own “private Slack channel and a crib sheet to onboard new FBI arrivals.”

Michael Shellenberger informed that Twitter Safety Head, Yoel Roth, participated in “tabletop exercise” on a potential “Hack-and-Dump” operation pertaining to the New York Post story on Hunter Biden.

“The goal was to shape how the media covered it — and how social media carried it,” he emphasised.

The ‘Twitter Files 7.0’ revealed that FBI agent Chan and Twitter executive Yoel Roth also set up an ‘encrypted messaging network’ for communication. The internal chats exposed that the duo agreed to create a virtual war room for the FBI and the Office of National Intelligence.

Interestingly, the sixth tranche of Twitter Files also revealed 150 email exchanges between the FBI and Yoel Roth during the period of January 2020 and November 2022.

It must be noted that former Deputy General Counsel James Baker, who was fired by Elon Musk, had insisted that the Hunter Biden story was based on ‘fake or hacked’ materials and thus constituted a violation of Twitter policy.

This was despite the fact that the original New York Post article included the image of the original receipt signed by Hunter Biden, not to forget the FBI subpoena that his laptop was in the possession of the federal agency.

Michael Shellenberger posted screenshots of the internal communication between Twitter employees, wherein they were mulling censoring the Hunter Biden story. Interestingly, on the same day, Jim Baker had arranged for a telephonic meeting with the Office of the General Counsel of the FBI.

“The influence operation persuaded Twitter execs that the Hunter Biden laptop did *not* come from a whistleblower,” remarked Michael Shellenberger.

He further added, “There is evidence that FBI agents have warned elected officials of foreign influence with the primary goal of leaking the information to the news media. This is a political dirty trick used to create the perception of impropriety.”

He also pointed out, “In the end, the FBI’s influence campaign aimed at executives at news media, Twitter, & other social media companies worked: they censored & discredited the Hunter Biden laptop story. By Dec. 2020, Baker and his colleagues even sent a note of thanks to the FBI for its work.”

The ‘Twitter Files 7.0’ also revealed how the Federal Bureau of Investigation paid a whopping $3,415,323 to Twitter Inc. for their ‘staff time’ between October 2019 and February 2021.

Once the FBI was able to gain its foothold on Twitter, it held frequent meetings with the top executives and directed them to produce more and more ’emergency disclosure requests (a form of warrantless search).’

“Anyone who reads the Twitter Files, regardless of their political orientation, should share those concerns,” concluded Michael Shellenberger.

Twitter Files 3.0 also revealed the influence of the FBI on Twitter employees

On December 9, the third tranche of confidential conversations between top Twitter executives was released on the micro-blogging platform which also exposed the influence of FBI on Twitter. 

The ‘Twitter Files 3.0’ revealed that the senior executives of Twitter Inc. were in constant touch with federal agencies ahead of the 2020 US Presidential elections.

It revealed how the Federal Bureau of Investigation routinely sent tweets, posted by Republican candidates, to the moderation team for expunction.

Matt Taibbi informed that Twitter began enforcing rules arbitrarily and using pretexts to justify their actions. Following the US Capitol riots, the meetings between top Twitter employees and federal agencies intensified.

Matt Taibbi unearthed how the mindset of top Twitter executives evolved between late 2020 and early 2021. He informed that a channel titled ‘us2020_xfn_enforcement’ was created to discuss the censorship of high-profile accounts (also called Very Important Tweeters) in the context of US elections.

The ‘Twitter Files 3.0’ exposed how the likes of Vijaya Gadde (former Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust at Twitter) and Yoel Roth (former Global Head of Trust & Safety) were making decisions based on whims and fancies.

“The latter group were a high-speed Supreme Court of moderation, issuing content rulings on the fly, often in minutes and based on guesses, gut calls, even Google searches, even in cases involving the President,” journalist Matt Taibbi noted.

He also added that the duo was “clearly liaising with federal enforcement and intelligence agencies about moderation of election-related content”.

FIFA World Cup Final 2022: France’s Kingsley Coman, Aurelien Tchouameni face online racist abuses following penalty misses against Argentina

OpIndia Staff
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FIFA World Cup Final 2022: France’s Kingsley Coman, Aurelien Tchouameni face online racist abuses following penalty misses against Argentina

On December 19 (local time), FC Bayern Munich supported France’s player Kingsley Coman after he faced racial abuses online. As per reports, Coman was subjected to online racial abuses after missing a penalty against Argentina in FIFA World Cup 2022 finals in Qatar.

BBC reported footballer Aurelien Tchouameni also faced similar behaviour on social media platforms. Fans have posted comments calling him monkey and ape using emojis. Some trolls even threw the N-word.

In the final match, Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez blocked Coman’s shot. On the other hand, Tchouameni dragged his shot wide. The two misses were decisive in Argentina’s final victory as they won the shootout by 4-2.

Coman’s club Bayern Munich condemned the abuses he faced and said, “FC Bayern strongly condemn the racist comments made towards Kingsley Coman. The FC Bayern family is behind you, King. Racism has no place in sport or our society.” 

This is not the first time racial abuses have been thrown at football players after they missed penalty kicks. Last year, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jordan Sancho faced a similar fate online after they missed penalty kicks for England in Euro 2020 shootout against Italy. Following the abuses, English Football Association issued a statement condemning the language used against the players.

Umesh Kolhe murder: NIA reveals 11 arrested were radicalized members of Tablighi Jamaat, instigated by ‘social activists’ Irfan and Maulvi Ahmad

OpIndia Staff
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Umesh Kolhe murder: NIA reveals 11 arrested were radicalized members of Tablighi Jamaat, instigated by ‘social activists’ Irfan and Maulvi Ahmad

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has revealed that the 11 accused men who murdered Amravati-based pharmacist Umesh Kolhe were radicalized members of Tablighi Jamaat. The officials also said that the accused were persuaded by two ‘social activists’ identified as Irfan Khan and Maulavi Mushfique Ahmad.

This is days after the NIA filed a chargesheet in the Mumbai NIA court against the 11 arrested accused named in the murder case of Amravati’s pharmacist Umesh Kolhe. Those named in the charge sheet are Mubashir Ahmed, Shahrukh Khan, Abdul Tausheef Sheikh, Mohd Shoeb, Atib Rashid, Yusuf Khan, Irfan Khan, Abdul Arbaz, Musfeeq Ahmed, Sheikh Shakeel, and Shahim Ahmed.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the investigating agency has revealed that this was the second attempt of the radicalized group to murder the pharmacist. The plan to eliminate Kolhe began with one of the accused Yusuf Khan – a veterinary doctor propagating a post by Kolhe on one of the social media groups named ‘black freedom’ on June 14. According to the NIA, Yusuf purposefully took screenshots of the message after altering Kolhe’s phone number and disseminated it in another group called “Kalim Ibrahim,” which was founded by Irfan and others. The NIA asserted that the plan to kill Kolhe began with the dissemination of texts.

According to the agency, after the post on June 19, all of the key suspects, namely Mohammad Shoeb, Atib Rashid, Irfan, and Shahim Ahemad, gathered in Gausiya Hall in Amravati and resolved to kill Kolhe while Irfan promised to provide them with all possible help.

“In the said meeting Irfan instructed them not to carry mobile phones, to wear black T-shirts and track pants and compulsorily to cover their faces with a scarf to conceal their identity. Thus, the accused persons with their common intention formed a terrorist gang under the leadership of A-7 (Irfan) to kill Umesh Kolhe for striking terror into the hearts and minds of the general population who supported Napur Sharma’s statement,” the chargesheet filed by NIA read.

On June 20, the accused were to eliminate him when he was leaving for his medical shop. The strategy, however, failed when Kohle did not show up. After this, Irfan developed another strategy and formed a spy unit to monitor Kohle’s movements to execute their conspiracy. On the night of June 20, the gang then reconvened with other accused, including Shaikh Shakil, Abdul Arbaz Mudassir Ahmed, Abdul Taufeeque Shaikh, and Atib, to replan Kolhe’s murder.

The spy unit assisted Mohammad Shoeb and Shahim Ahemad, in finding Kolhe. When he arrived at the location, the two stopped their bike, and Shoeb attacked Kolhe with a knife. The inquiry indicated that after the murder, the accused fled and met Irfan, who had planned a party to commemorate the crime. According to the agency, Abdul Arbaz, a member of the gang, went to the hospital to confirm Kolhe’s death and notified Irfan, who then informed Maulvi about Kolhe’s death.

The NIA also stated that before the murder of Kolhe, three Amravati citizens, Shreegopal Chandulal Rathi, Vishal Rajesh Bahad, and Jai Kumar Achhada, were also threatened by religiously radicalized individuals for their posts on different media offering support for Nupur Sharma.

The NIA further maintained that Irfan Khan, a real estate dealer, was indeed the mastermind behind the murder. The agency stated that Irfan turned out to be a ‘black horse’ in the conspiracy. According to the agency, Irfan has established an NGO called Rehebar and maintains a hotline under this organisation that provides ambulance services to the poor. Reports mention that he also assists folks with their domestic problems.

Umesh Kolhe, a pharmacist in Maharashtra’s Amravati city, was murdered by Islamists on June 21 for extending his support to beleaguered politician Nupur Sharma, who drew the ire of Muslim fundamentalists after Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair painted a target behind her for defending her faith in a news debate.

According to the chargesheet, the 11 accused hatched a conspiracy, acquired the murder weapon, plotted their strategy so that the pharmacist’s whereabouts could be traced, and then premeditatedly killed him. The NIA in the chargesheet also mentioned that the 11 accused were highly influenced by the Islamist ideology and believed in, “Gustakh -E- Nabi Ki Aik Saza, Sar Tan Se Juda.’

On July 2 this year, the NIA re-registered the case and took over the investigation. The case has been registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) Sections 16, 18, and 20 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34, 153 (A), 153 (B), 120 (B), and 302.

Bharat Jodo Yatra is to be paused during Christmas and New Year, no clarity on where Rahul Gandhi will spend his holiday

OpIndia Staff
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Bharat Jodo Yatra is to be paused during Christmas and New Year, no clarity on where Rahul Gandhi will spend his holiday

On December 19, General Secretary in-charge Communications for Indian National Congress Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) would take a 9-day break starting from December 24. Though he did not mention Christmas and New Year, it was obvious that the break would include these two festivities.

In the tweet, Ramesh said, “Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach Delhi on December 24. It will then take a break of nine days so that the containers can be repaired and prepared for the harsh winters in the north. Also, many participants will be able to spend time with their family members after about four months. The journey will resume on January 3, 2023.” Notably, BJY will be paused in the middle of the Delhi chapter and will resume from the national capital itself. Furthermore, it is unclear where Rahul Gandhi will spend the break.

Netizens react to BJY break

Netizens did not miss a chance to speculate where Rahul Gandhi would spend those nine days. Twitter user Rishi Bagree said, “From December 24 to January 2, BJY will be closed as the leader is going out [abroad] to live with his family. Sorry for the interruption.”

Lutyens Watch pointed out that Gandhi skipped the winter session of the Parliament for BJY, and now he will be skipping BJY for the Christmas holidays.

Twitter user Tarunabh said, “Wasn’t the maintenance and repair accounted for when the Yatra was planned? If it was planned beforehand, why is this news coming now? No matter how much this break is pretended as something else, the message has gone out that the protagonist wants a break for himself.”

Twitter user Jayan shared an old tweet of Rahul Gandhi where he had announced travel plans for the New Year in December 2016.

Twitter user Sudhir Singh said, “The actual message is Rahul Gandhi is flying out to celebrate Xmas and New Year with his family; hence the yatra is going to a pause for few days. It will restart once he is back.”

Rahul Gandhi skipped the parliament winter session

On December 4, Congress MP KC Venugopal claimed that it would not be practical for Gandhi to attend the winter session of the Parliament amidst the ongoing BJY. Addressing the press in Delhi, KC Venugopal said, “Bharat Jodo Yatra is underway. It is not practical for Rahul Gandhi to attend the winter session of Parliament.”

Rahul Gandhi’s past vacations

In January 2021, it was reported that Gandhi returned after spending holidays abroad for New Year’s eve. He went to an undisclosed location that was believed to be Milan.

In 2016, Gandhi himself announced that he would be travelling. There were multiple instances when Gandhi went abroad for holidays and even missed important parliament sessions and his own party’s events. For example, in July 2022, amidst the Goa crisis, he went on a foreign trip. In May 2022, he was seen in a nightclub in Nepal.

In April 2022, he went missing for ten days. Before Diwali 2021, he reportedly went to London. In September 2021, amidst political drama in Punjab, he was spending holidays with his family in Shimla. In November 2019, he vanished after suggesting Congress hold press conferences across India. In May 2019, he vanished before counting votes for the Lok Sabha elections.

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