Home Blog Page 2673

From creating Islamic Terrorism to toppling governments to inventing fake Saffron Terror: the white man’s sophisticated suited-booted terror

Prelude

For the common man, organised terrorism was an alien idea, a phenomenon for a very long time. It suddenly hit us hard only once it became a billion Dollar industry- yes, I am using the word Industry as terrorists manufacture terrorists and terror through terrorism. It is no more a thought, a ‘soch’ a concept but a manifestation of twisted ideologies cultivated over a long period systematically.

Indians tasted their own blood and the blood of their kin in a bloodbath in Kashmir during the exodus of approximately two lakh Kashmiri Pundits from the Valley in the early months of 1990 at the hands of Islamic jihadis. Although we lost close to a million Indians in the process of partition in 1947, it could not be termed terrorism.

Therefore, Children of 1950, 60 and 70 had never even heard this word. Though the pot was always kept boiling.

Although Plane hijackings, murders of one community by another were sporadic, riots, incidents of violence and reportedly committed by extremists often related to religious beliefs were witnessed.

So, a common man thinks it is just a 30-year-old phenomenon and done by some crazy fellows proliferating into organized gangs, now called terrorist organizations. Yes, a gang is of thugs, a syndicate or mafia is also a collection of goons but ‘organisation’ gives it a corporate-ish look and feel. These are well-organised, structured, hierarchical, funded, armed and networked groups. Terrorists.

White Man’s show- the biggest bluff

But how did they come into existence? Who propped up these mercenaries? They didn’t come from Mars or the Moon. Who created terrorists? The world at large must know.

Largely these were Islamic groups. But these guys must have had some logical reasons to pick up arms and kill innocent people. The reason was hatred due to exploitation, international political scheming and selfish interests of the powerful nations controlled by the white man.

The means to get justice against foul play was to hit the soft targets to teach a lesson to the mighty forces who created them or forced them to come into being! ‘You punch me in the face and I will hit your toes with a hammer’ – as I am not as big as you- was the underlying idea. They also got maximum bang for the buck because such ghastly acts were like an apple pie for the media- sensation. It served the purpose.

The game was played on a much larger scale and size.

The root causes of this menace- white skin

The largest operator in this business of organised terror today is the Islamic network with scores of small medium and large groups working in sync to form a multi-national corporation of sorts. Often labelled as ‘non-state actors,’ these are actors created and crafted backstage by some crafty white men.

The British colonised the world over three centuries- two for sure. They lost out a big way during the Second World War and USSR and USA emerged as two big daddies.

The British hastily exited from most of their colonies leaving many in disarray.

The colonial era of the British failed at state formation and created deep fissures with the nations they exited. One major gaping wound was the partition of Bharat into Hindustan and Pakistan. Obviously, you created two constantly warring nations who hate each other even till date- as if on purpose.

Similarly, though not exactly, the creation of Israel gave birth to a series of anti-Western movements throughout the Islamic world. The growth of these nationalist, revolutionary movements, along with the view that terrorism could be effective in reaching political goals, generated the first phase of modern international terrorism. They could shoot and scoot and also take credit at hitting the larger powers where it hurts more. That was the first Islamic nail in the white man’s coffin.

American contribution on the world map.

The British left their subjects to their fate and let them fend for themselves largely.

Americans have a sacred heart, so to say.

They are the biggest manipulators and smart manipulators at that – across the world. They change regimes as often and at a whim as a common man changes his shirts!

Since the last 200 years, the US Administration at the, and from the, highest level has participated and interfered, both overtly and covertly, in the replacement of several foreign governments. In the latter half of the 19th century, their government-initiated actions for regime change were mainly in Latin America and the southwest Pacific, including the Spanish–American and Philippine–American wars.

At the beginning of 20th century, the United States engineered or installed governments in several countries around the entire globe, including neighbours in Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.

After World War II, the Americans cudgelled with the USSR for global leadership, termed as the Cold War. There was a continuing war but there was no war. Under President Eisenhower, the U.S. government feared that national security would be compromised or adversely hit by regimes propped by the Soviet Union’s own involvement in regime change. A dominos effect was expected and promoted the domino theory, with successive presidents following this precedent which became a part of their foreign policy.

Because of this, it started expanding the geographic scope of its actions beyond the traditional close-by areas of influence like Central America and the Caribbean. The United States and the United Kingdom for instance – engineered the 1953 Iranian coup, and the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion targeting Cuba that failed.

According to one study, the U.S. alone performed at least 81 overt and covert known interventions in foreign elections during the period 1946–2000. Among this, the U.S. engaged in 66 covert and six overt attempts at regime change during the Cold War period.

Following the disintegration of the USSR, the United States supported wars to determine the governance of a number of countries. They pretended to fight the War on Terror, fighting for peace and restoration of democracies, or removing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) which never ever existed, as in the Iraq War. They could rally the entire white man’s tribe behind them to restore rights to the people of nations who had nothing to do with them.

1979 was a point of no return in international terrorism. The Iranian Islamic revolution sparked fears of a wave of revolutionary Shia Islam. In addition, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent anti-Soviet mujahedeen war, lasting from 1979 to 1989, stimulated the rise and expansion of terrorist groups.

The growth of well-trained, battle-hardened militants is the basic reason for the present-day international terrorism. Militants from the Islamic world fought in Afghanistan, supported by conservative countries such as Saudi Arabia.

The Riyadh-backed Islamic Front was established to provide financial, logistical, and training support for Yemeni volunteers. Similarly trained men created unrest in Kashmir, Chechnya and Bosnia.

Ukraine war is happening

The white man has no love lost for another white man. They are geographic entities wedded to land mass. Europe and America are different and Russians are whites too but are different whites! But the white man of America is like Captain America, it wants to control others not by fighting but by making others fight with each other.

So, it played its NATO trump card. When America during the time of JF Kennedy tried to overthrow Cuba’s government of Fidel Castro, Russians came to protect Cuba by deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba which was less than 100 kilometres from the US mainland. The US panicked and better sense prevailed amongst the Russians and Americans, and USSR agreed to take back its arsenal, avoiding a nuclear war.

The same thing is being done by America today. By expanding NATO to Ukraine, it is allowing itself to have boots on the ground just less than 100 Km from the Russian mainland- exactly what was done by USSR during the Cuban Crisis.

The EU is right under the American white man’s wings who is having God knows what stranglehold. India like several others is not to take sides and not against Russia in this ‘white man terror’. Therefore the Americano white man is unhappy with India.

But hello, once this Russo- Ukraine- EU war gets over, there could be thousands of armed well-trained mercenaries looking for ‘employability’, and will find the softest juiciest target- Europe. It may haunt- their own Frankenstein- creating havoc and will enter the continent never to leave. It will be an invasion like that of cockroaches. You can kill them but never eliminate them- they are ‘auto breeding’ types. You kill five in the bed room, you get ten in the toilette, you kill ten there you have 20 in your cupboard. The infestation goes on and on. Is the white man listening?

The biggest Bogey of the white man is the concoction of something like ‘Saffron terror’

In connivance (probable) with the left-leaning forces and the political opposition in India which is not comfortable with Modi led BJP government and the great progress India has made in the last 8 years under Modi government, the white man somehow or the other wants to dislodge the present government in India.

It is well-known fact that BJP has adopted Hindutva as its ideology and it is ‘cultural nationalism and Indian Nationhood’ not a religious or theocratic concept. This became a fulcrum of sorts for the negative forces to latch on to. So, they wanted to prop an idea of Hindutva as a fascist ideology and came up with terms like ‘Hindu terror and saffron terror’.

In any case, the white west is also not happy with the progress India is making economically, militarily and the idea of ‘decolonizing’ Indian minds which are being achieved at a pace they are not comfortable with. India refuses to toe the White Man’s line and the Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar has clearly said ‘They wanted our policies to be made according to their wishes. We have refused that and they will have to learn to live with this!’

What better than seeking support for an idea which can be propped against the Modi government to show it in a bad light in India and abroad? Therefore, they have connived with some Great white men, some disgruntled journalists and opposing forces within India to create a world wide web against a sovereign nation-state with a democratically elected government.

They are neither Islamic nor any other coloured terror, they are colourless white terror- A ‘holistic terror’ involving universities, students, paid professors, media even the church and so-called intellect through booker prizes and awards to do this. There is no saffron terror- it is a colourless terror.

Those who are past masters at changing regimes across the world are again trying the same trick- as white man’s sophisticated suited booted terror.

How can you come and lecture us on democracy or human rights when you have blood of so many races belonging to more than fifty nations, and men, women and children on your hands? How dare you?

‘COVID retreated because of Jesus, Christianity responsible for India’s development’: Telangana Health Director G Srinivas Rao

0

Telangana Health Director Srinivas on Wednesday attributed the reduction in coronavirus cases in the country to Jesus Christ. He also hailed Christianity for teaching mankind the art of survival.

The comments came at a time when China is in the midst of an unprecedented coronavirus wave, with hospitals overwhelmed with patients and medical staff stretched thin.

Srinivas said the reason COVID-19 subsided in India was because of the benevolence of Jesus Christ. He made the remarks while participating in the Semi-Christmas celebrations held in the Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

“Christianity is the reason for India’s development. It is because of the grace of Jesus Christ that Covid has decreased. Many people think that it has decreased because we are doing good, but that is not the reality. The cases have reduced because of Jesus Christ,” said Srinivas as per a report published on TV9 Telugu.

He reportedly added, “The existence of humankind is in danger. There are many gods but Jesus is the only one who walked on earth.” Srinivas said that the ancestors saw all this and they said it to future generations. He further exhorted people to carry the message of Jesus Christ and convey it to future generations, regardless of caste and religion.

Contrary to Telangana Health Director’s evangelical proclamations, India managed to blunt the deadly wave of coronavirus because of several factors, including its strategy to impose stringent lockdown that helped in reducing community infection, manufacturing of efficacious vaccines, and smooth implementation of the inoculation programme.

India began its vaccination programme on 16 January 2021 and as of 2 December 2022, India has jabbed ver 2.19 billion doses overall, including first, second and precautionary (booster) doses of the currently approved vaccines. In India, 95% of the eligible population has received at least one shot, and 88% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated.

Aussie sociologist Dr Salvatore Babones shames Newslaundry for editing his interview, video suddenly vanishes from YouTube

On December 21, within hours after uploading an unedited version of an interview with Australian sociologist Dr Salvatore Babones, the propaganda news portal Newslaundry sneakily made it private on its YouTube channel. The 1-hour 35-minute interview will be available only for the Newslaundry subscribers in an edited version.

Video made private by NewsLaundry. Source: YouTube

Notably, Dr Babones’s praises for India and Modi government on several platforms had raised the hackles of ‘liberals’. When Newslaundry uploaded the interview teaser, Dr Babones slammed them for sharing ‘aggressively edited clips’ and challenged them to upload the unedited version, which they did on YouTube. However, it was made private minutes after Babones posted the link on his Twitter page.

In the interview titled ‘Salvatore Babones on the failings of Indian intellectuals’, Dr Babones accused the co-founder of Newslaundry, Abhinandan Sekhri, of setting up traps and calling him names. Questioning Sekhri’s journalistic approach, Dr Babones called him an “unprofessional interviewer”.

Interestingly, when Dr Babones challenged Newslaundry to upload a full unedited interview, Sekhri said, “As I told you, all our interviews are uploaded unedited, professor. This one will be no different. These calls for “courage” are childish.” However, the video was gone from NL’s YouTube channel in less than an hour.

Dr Babones had shared its link on his Twitter account earlier today, but within an hour of his tweet, Newsalaundry turned the video private.

After the video was made private, Dr Babones said, “Hi All. With apologies, Abhinandan has now set my interview to “private”. But if any of you subscribe to Newslaundry, please DM me. You can send me the unlisted link, and I’ll publish it on Twitter every time they update it. Or any other Newslaundry video.”

A Twitter user asked if he had an unedited version of the video, to which Dr Babones said he would not upload it and added, “They [Newslaundry] are. Unedited and in full.”

Furthermore, Babones also shared that his subscription to Newslaundry has ended. “Aww … Newslaundry is sad to see me go! Anyone who is unfortunate enough to have an @Newslaundry subscription, please DM me with some unlisted YouTube video links. Oh, and @AbhinandanSekhr, please do publish the full, UNEDITED Zoom recording of my interview. Thanks and goodnight!” he tweeted.

Dr Salvatore Babones is an Australian socialist who recently created a buzz in India after his videos from India Today conclave went viral. Salvatore had cornered India’s ‘intellectual’ class and said that they were probably losing their place in society. He also lauded India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, “The personality of Modi is an affront to India’s intellectual class. It has brought them to a new fever pitch of anger over the loss of their place in society”.

Dr Salvatore had said that India is being wrongly portrayed as a fascist state by the global media, which is affecting its image internationally. He also cornered the left-liberal ecosystem in India who usually keeps on targeting the BJP-led government and called them ‘anti-India.

“India has problems. And activists, journalists, and intellectuals absolutely have a role to call out the problems. But the problem is that they allow internationally to colour the overall evaluation of this system,” he said. He reiterated that India is not a fascist country and that it is being wrongly portrayed as a fascist state by the global media.

Three more places in India included in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Three more sites in India have made it to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. While two of them are from Gujarat, one site is from Tripura. These three sites consist of Vadnagar town and Modhera’s Sun Temple in Gujarat, and rock-cut sculptures and reliefs of Unakoti ranges in the Unakoti district in Tripura.

The ministry of culture tweeted on 20th December 2022, “Congratulations India! India adds 3 more sites to UNESCO’s Tentative List: 01 Vadnagar- A multi-layered Historic town, Gujarat 02 Sun Temple, Modhera and its adjoining monuments 03 Rock-cut Sculptures and Reliefs of the Unakoti, Unakoti Range, Unakoti District.”

The Archeological Survey of India retweeted the ministry of culture’s tweet and said, “Big boost to India’s cultural heritage, as Sun Temple, Modhera & adjoining monuments, Rock-cut Sculpture & Reliefs of Unakoti, and Vadnagar: A multi-layered Historic town, Gujarat are the 3 new sites added to Tentative List of UNESCO world heritage sites making the count 52.”

Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy shared brief information about the three sites in his tweet thread. He also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for this achievement and congratulated the ASI. Reddy wrote, “With this, India now has 52 sites on UNESCO Tentative List. The List indicates the rich cultural & natural wealth of India & shows the huge diversity of our heritage. With Hon PM Narendra Modi’s dynamic vision & leadership, India is committed to adding more sites to the World Heritage List.”

G Kishan Reddy further wrote, “I congratulate ASI for their role in identifying more monuments and places for the world heritage nomination. The Sun Temple, Modhera dedicated to Surya dev, is a gem of temple architecture in India & the pride of Gujarat. It is the earliest of such temples which set trends in architectural & decorative details, representing Solanki style at its best.”

Informing about Unakoti, the union minister wrote, “Located in the northeastern part of Tripura, Unakoti is known as an ancient holy place associated with Shaiva worship. The site is a massive gallery set amongst the forest displaying a number of towering low relief images in a unique style, making it a masterpiece of human creative genius.”

Vadnagar in Gujarat is the hometown of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The town is inhibited for at least the last 2700 years and is now included in UNESCO’s heritage list. G Kishan Reddy wrote, “Vadnagar is a municipality under Mehsana district of Gujarat. A multi-layered Historic town, the history of Vadnagar stretches back to nearly the 8th Century BCE. The town still retains a large number of historic buildings that are primarily religious & residential in nature.”

As Covid cases surge in China amid the failure of its vaccines, here is how ‘liberals’ had hailed China to run down India’s vaccination campaign

On December 20, India issued an advisory to all states and UTs amidst a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases worldwide. One of the countries that are experiencing an unprecedented spike Covid-19 infections is China. Though there are doubts if China is reporting the exact number of cases or not, World Health Organisation’s (WHO) data shows worrying signs in terms of China. As per WHO’s website, China is in the seventh position of the top ten countries facing the spike in Covid-19 cases.

Although the Chinese government had imposed strict lockdowns and restrictions as part of its ‘zero Covid’ policy which had triggered massive protests across the country, the policy has failed and there is a huge spike in new cases. In the last week, China has reported 1,48,665 new cases of Covid-19. 443 people have lost their lives due to the complications linked to the disease in just one week. Notably, the visuals that have been leaked on social media claiming to be recent from China, are not in sync with the numbers. Recently, it was reported that China was rapidly building quarantine centres. Videos of lockdowns and patients stuffed in hospitals have surfaced from time to time in recent weeks.

WHO data on Covid-19 cases. Source: WHO

Furthermore, recent reports have noted that one of the primary vaccines used in China, i.e. Sinovac, has been proven ineffective on several strains of the virus. As per The Singapore Post report, “Recent studies have indicated that Chinese vaccines such as Sinovac have only been effective up to 61% against deaths and 55% against hospitalization, while vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer fared much better at 90% protection from both.” The ineffectiveness of the Chinese vaccine is not only a red alarm for China but also for the rest of the world.

‘Liberals’ hailed China and undermined India during the peak of Covid

As the country that has been accused of being the ground zero for the spread of the pandemic is again in the grip of the disease, we should not forget how the ‘liberals’ had hailed China in an attempt to run down India’s vaccination campaign. Many obvious actors played a role in undermining the efforts made by the Indian government in scaling up the vaccination efforts and showing China in a good light.

Saba Naqvi hailed China and said, “Some good news from the Vaccine world. China is vaccinating 14 million each day. Just digest that.”

Source: Twitter

Former Associate Editor of TOI Indrani Bagchi also hailed China for vaccinating 14 million people daily.

Source: Twitter

All India Congress Committee’s in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Dinesh Gundu Rao, wrote, “China is vaccinating 15 million a day now. India is now at 1.6 million. At this, our Vishwaguru will take years to vaccinate all.”

Source: Twitter

Context Newsroom journalist Rina Chandran also reported that China vaccinated 20 million people daily.

Source: Twitter

Twitter user PKR claimed that India achieved 8.6 million shots in one day by slowing down the vaccination program. While he tried to undermine India’s efforts, PKR hailed China, a country famous for messing with the data, for vaccinating 20 million people daily.

Source: Twitter

Fake news peddler Swati Chaturvedi last year hailed China for vaccinating 20 million people a day. At that time, India was vaccinating 4 million people per day.

Source: Twitter

The covid-19 situation across the world

Other countries among the top 10 nations facing the spike in Covid-19 cases are Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, France, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, and Peru. 13 other nations have reported between 10,000 and 50,000 cases in the last one week. Globally, over 35 lakh cases have been reported in one week. Over 10,000 people have lost their lives, and the accumulative death toll has reached 66,48,457 since the pandemic started in 2020.

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tests covid positive after he attends Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra

On Monday, 19th December 2022, Himachal Pradesh’s chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tested positive for coronavirus. A state government official announced this as his meeting with the Prime Minister scheduled on Monday was postponed due to the infection. It is notable that Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had recently participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi.

According to the spokesperson, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu who recently took over as the chief minister of the hill state tested COVID-positive in New Delhi when he was examined as per protocol before meeting the Prime Minister. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was asymptomatic and he isolated himself as a part of the cautionary measures.

It is being speculated that it was the Bhaat Jodo Yatra where Sukhu came in contact with a large number of people and that he might have caught the infection in the Yatra led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote a letter to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, on Tuesday 20th December 2022, asking to follow the COVID-19 guidelines strictly during the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. 

Sukhu, Pratibha Singh and other Congress leaders from Himachal had participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Friday, 16 December.

While briefing the media about the measures being taken against the coronavirus, union health minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said, “Himachal Pradesh’s chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tested COVID positive after he joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra. I have therefore written a letter to the convenor of this Bharat Jodo Yatra Mr Rahul Gandhi. People are criticizing me for writing this letter, but I would like to make it clear that this is a part of my duty to ask responsible leaders in the country to abide by COVID protocols so that the spread can be curbed.”

Manipur: Several school students feared dead in a bus accident during a study tour

On Wednesday, 21st December 2022, a bus carrying school students on a study tour met an accident in the Noney district of Manipur. Several students were reportedly killed in this accident while many others are injured. The mishap took place along the Bisnupur-Khoupum (Old Cachar road) in the Noney district.

Two buses were carrying students of Thambalnu Higher Secondary School, Yairipok in the Imphal East district of Manipur on a study tour. The buses were heading toward the Khoupum side when the unfortunate incident happened. According to reports, 15 to 20 students are feared to have died in this incident. East Mojo News confirmed the death of 8 students and mentioned that the actual number can be much more than this.

Manipur’s chief minister N Biren Singh tweeted, “Deeply saddened to hear about the accident of a bus carrying school children at the Old Cachar Road today. SDRF, Medical team and MLAs have rushed to the site to coordinate the rescue operation. Praying for the safety of everyone in the bus.”

The injured students were given first aid at the Bishnupur District Hospital and were referred to the Raj Medicity Hospital in Imphal for further treatment.

US allots $200 million for gender equity and equality programs in Pakistan, 20 times increase from $10 million given in 2020

The US government has allotted $200 million for gender equity and equality programs in Pakistan. US Congressman Rep. Dan Bishop shared the details of the omnibus bill passed in the USA for the fiscal year 2023 as he wrote a threat criticizing its various provisions. A member of the Republican party, Dan Bishop is known for authoring House Bill 2, also known as the Bathroom bill, which prohibited transgender people from using public restrooms other than those of their biological sex as mentioned on their birth certificates.

The Gender Equity Fund allotted for Pakistan is part of a mammoth 4155-page $1.7 trillion government spending bill introduced in the Senate, marking an increase from around $1.5 trillion in the last fiscal year. The bill is meant to fund the federal agencies of the US government through September 2023, which also includes funding for various social programs across the world. The bill has been accepted for discussion by the Senate in a 70-25, and will be passed by this weekend as Democratic and Republican negotiators have agreed to pass the bill to prevent a partial shutdown of federal agencies.

Talking about the bill, Rep. Dan Bishop wrote, “My team and I are reading through the omnibus bill today – all $1.7 trillion and 4,155 pages of it. Follow along for some of the most egregious provisions in the bill.” He posted several provisions of funding included in the bill.

In one of the tweets in the long thread, he mentioned, “Gender programs in Pakistan and a $200 million for a Gender Equity Fund.” Notably, of the funds appropriated under section III of the corresponding act, a gender equity and equality action fund of $200 million may be made available for the said cause. The funds are given to promote democracy and gender equality in Pakistan.

It is pertinent to note that the fund allotted for this purpose has registered a whopping increase in the last few years. In December 2020, the US congress cleared $10 million for promoting gender equality, along with $15 million for strengthening the democracy in Pakistan. Therefore, $200 million allotted for gender equity in Pakistan is a 20-fold increase from the 2020 allotment for the same cause.

What happens to the funds approved by the US to Pakistan for gender equity is not clear though. The situation of women in the Islamic country is not so good and girls from religious minorities are frequently raped and forcibly converted despite such huge funds. The civil rights of Muslim women are also subordinate to those of Muslim men. While gender equality seems impossible in Pakistan, democracy in the factory of Islamic terrorism is also questionable as the democratically elected representatives have become a tool in the hands of the Pakistani army.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 of the World Economic Forum which was published in July 2022, Pakistan ranked 145 among 46 countries ranked for the index. According to the report, Pakistan is the country where women have the smallest share of senior, managerial and legislative roles.

Moreover, despite giving such huge aid to Pakistan, everything the US gets in return is a protest for disrespecting Islam. One recent example was that of supporting LGBTQ. Islamists lambasted the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, over a Tweet supporting LGBT rights. The tweet was made on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. It sought to organize international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights abuses and generate interest in LGBT rights work throughout the world. The tweet was condemned by Islamists in Pakistan stating that the embassy needs to obey the social norms of Pakistan.

Afghanistan: Male students walk out in protest after Taliban bans women’s entry into universities

0

A day after the Taliban regime in Sharia-governed Afghanistan banned women students from universities, several male students at the Nangarhar University in Jalalabad and at Kandahar University in Afghanistan reportedly staged a protest and expressed solidarity with the women. The male students walked out of the examination hall at the University and stood by women’s rights in the country.

The video of the protests at Nangarhar University was posted by journalist Abdulhaq Omeri who said that male students at the University were walking away from their exam in a show of solidarity with the female students to protest the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education. The video which was shared with the hashtag ‘Let Her Learn’ showed female students applauding the gesture by men as the latter walked out of the exam halls.

Another similar video of the protests was shared by activist Habib Khan. “Bravo! Men of Nangarhar university protested along with women against the Taliban ban on girls’ education. Nangahar is a Pashtun-dominated province, and this is the first demonstration protesting the ban,” the tweet read.

The video also showed the male students holding posters in their hands and standing for the rights of the female students. Several female students were seen crying outside the classrooms as they were suspended access to education after the government instructed all the public and private universities to comply with the cabinet decision.

In the series of tweets further, Khan also shared a video that showed male students walking out of the classroom at Kandahar. “Following Nangarhar, male students in Kandahar also walked away from their exam in a show of solidarity with the female students and to protest the Taliban ban,” he tweeted.

“You are all informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending female education until further notice,” said a letter signed by Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem and addressed to all government and private universities.

As reported earlier, the US has condemned the regressive order issued by the Taliban. US State Secretary Antony Blinken called the Taliban’s announcement a setback to their objective of being accepted by the international community.

Also, Human Rights Watch, slammed the move by the Taliban and said, “A shameful move. The Taliban have banned women in Afghanistan from attending universities. This is the latest in a series of policies that have restricted the basic rights of women and girls.”

Despite pledging a more progressive government that respected the rights of women and minorities at first, the Taliban have largely applied their stringent interpretation of Islamic law since gaining control of the country last year.

They have barred females from middle and high school and have also barred women from most jobs. They require them to wear full-body coverings in public. Women are also barred from entering parks and gyms and from traveling without a male relative. The ban on higher education comes three months after thousands of girls and women across the country took university entrance exams.

China’s resurgent coronavirus crisis is a scathing indictment of its inefficacious homemade vaccines

China is in the throes of a raging coronavirus outbreak as caseloads surge at an unprecedented rate, ominously overwhelming its healthcare facilities, straining its medical staff, and causing panic among the pandemic-weary population that witnessed differing levels of COVID-19 restrictions from the past three years.

The dangerous surge comes at a time when the CCP, uncharacteristic of its nature, heeded the public outcry over stifling zero-covid policy and relaxed restrictions to ward off anger and resentment brewing among the populace.

But no sooner did China relax restrictions than the country confronted itself with the daunting task of containing the surge of COVID-19 cases that climbed precipitously in the last few days. Therefore, the current spike in infection is striking, given that China was among the first nations to aggressively vaccinate its population against the pandemic that had wreaked havoc across the globe and caused upwards of 6 million deaths.

The BBC quoted epidemiologist Wu Zunyou as saying that this may be the beginning of a ‘first wave’. He has predicted that the second wave will be in late January when mass travel due to the Chinese New Year celebrations will spread infection. The Third wave is likely to hit from late February to mid-March as millions of people return after the holidays, as per Zunyou.

How studies raised concerns over the ineffectiveness of Chinese-made vaccines

The inexorable rise of COVID-19 cases in China has raised questions on the efficacy of the vaccines administered by Beijing to its population, vindicating concerns and studies that raised alarms over the effectiveness of the homemade vaccines it used to vaccinate its population of more than 1 billion.

Earlier this year, a Singapore research studied the likelihood of people jabbed with China’s Sinovac vaccine developing severe symptoms of COVID-19 vis-a-vis those administered with Pfizer/Moderna mRNA vaccines.

The study, which covered 2.7 million who received 2 doses of the vaccine, observed lower relative effectiveness of the two inactivated whole virus vaccines – Sinovac and Sinopharm – against COVID-19 infection compared to the mRNA vaccines – Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Those who received the Sinovac vaccine were 4.59 times more likely to develop severe COVID-19 compared to those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. They were also 2.37 times more likely to be infected, compared to those who took the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the study concluded, heightening fears that the Chinese-made vaccines may not be effective against Omicron, the more virulent strain of coronavirus. 

In early December this year, a report published in The Singapore Post said that Chinese-made vaccines have raised the spectre of pushing the world into the grips of coronavirus yet again. It highlighted how many in the developing world had leaned on China for their vaccine requirements and how the reports of low efficacy of China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm may push the world into another bout of coronavirus pandemic.

Another study measuring the effectiveness of China’s vaccines against Indian-made coronavirus vaccines earlier this year concluded that the former had been less than desirable efficacious levels needed to blunt the impact of the pandemic. The study found that the effectiveness of Indian vaccines was 99.30 per cent in fully vaccinated people, while the potency of Chinese vaccines could not go beyond 79 per cent.

Besides, a study published in the Lancet Infectious Disease journal showed that Chinese vaccines were unable to detect omicron-sub variants, reported Asian Lite International. 

Countries that had jabbed their populations with Chinese vaccines scrambled for booster shots of other vaccines to ward off COVID outbreak

In 2021 too, questions were raised over the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines manufactured by China. Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, UAE, and Bahrain scrambled to provide their populations with more effective vaccines after they witnessed a surge in the coronavirus cases despite vaccinating their people with Chinese vaccines. 

Another research conducted in 2021 discovered that Chinese vaccines had a lower efficacious rate and offered a limited period of protection. In a group administered with Coronavac, only 30% of them were found to be effective at preventing severe disease and 45% effective against death, compared with 67% and 85%, respectively, for the Oxford–AstraZeneca jab.

Will China swallow its pride and import more effective vaccines from India and the West?

Despite efficacy flags raised by research organisations, the CCP government in China refused to heed their warnings and continued jabbing its population with the Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines. The authoritarian government in Beijing had inexplicably linked the persistence of continuing with homemade vaccines to their premier Xi Jinping’s pride, refusing to import more effective vaccines from neighbouring India and archrival US, considering it an insult to its ability to protect its population with domestic vaccines.

As Beijing stares at a mountain of coronavirus cases in days to come, it may have to swallow its pride and order vaccines from elsewhere to tame the pandemic and alleviate the misery of its population. It will be interesting to see if CCP can once prioritise saving the lives of its people over being obsessed with projecting its supremacy.