A 22-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a bike taxi driver and his friend after she hired the services of Rapido, a bike taxi aggregator and logistics service provider, police said on Tuesday.
The Bengaluru Police arrested the driver and his friend based on a complaint filed by the victim. The woman said the incident took place on November 24 after she hailed a bike taxi from BTM Layout to Electronic City. Shahabuddin, the Rapido driver, took the victim to his house, which was close to where she was staying. The police said Shahabuddin and his friend Akhtar raped the victim in the house.
“The woman had hired a ‘Rapido’ bike to go from one friend’s house to another. On the way, the bike driver took advantage and has taken her to his place, where he along with his friend raped her. There was another woman along with them during the crime, who cooperated and then tried to hush it up,” Bengaluru Police Commissioner Pratap Reddy said.
The victim filed a complaint with the police a few days later. Talking about police action in the case, Reddy said they registered an FIR soon after the woman visited doctors for medical help on November 26 after she complained of suffering pain in her body parts.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner further said that evidence has been collected from the spot with the aid of forensic lab experts. The police said the driver worked as a Rapido bike driver while his friend Akhtar was employed at a mobile store. One accused had a criminal case against him in the past, Reddy added.
In addition to Shahabuddin and Akhtar, the police have also arrested their female friend who was present at the house when the incident took place. The woman provided false information to protect the other accused, Deputy Commissioner of Police South-East division Bengaluru, CK Baba was quoted as saying by The News Minute.
Reports also said that Shahabuddin had misbehaved with the victim when he had stopped the taxi at a shop on the way to Electronic City. As per an article published in The Hindu, the police are currently investigating if the accused were involved in similar cases in the past.
On November 29, The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced that the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Delhi would get the status of ‘mini councillors’. Codenamed ‘Janta Chalaegi MCD’, the poll promise was announced by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference. He said, “Under this scheme, people need not go to a councillor to file their complaints. If you have complaints regarding sewer, garbage, cleanliness etc, you can go to the RWAs ‘mini-parshad’. He will be your ‘neta’ and will solve the problem.”
In his statement, Kejriwal claimed he does not care to whom the members of RWAs belong and urged them to door-to-door campaign for Aam Aadmi Party. He also urged them to ask people to vote for AAP on social media and WhatsApp groups. Kejriwal claimed, “Keep in mind that if a councillor of another party wins in your ward, he will not let you work. He will create hurdles in the powers we want to grant to RWAs.”
Kejriwal said RWAs would get funds to solve the problems people bring to them. He further added that his government would make an online system to track the grievances received by RWAs. Blaming BJP for not doing any work in the last 15 years in MCD, he said, “I asked a union minister who is campaigning for BJP in MCD polls. He told me that they get a 2-page brief before campaigning, and it is filled with abuses directed at me. When he asked why there was no list of projects done by MCD, they told him he only needed to abuse me.”
When asked about the controversial videos of AAP leader Satyendar Jain leaked from Tihar Jail, he said, “They release a film every day just like Bollywood releases a film every Friday. Their films get released on news channels but only run until 12 PM as there is no ‘masala’ in them. Their films lack drama and songs. Ask them to add ‘Rinkiya ke papa’ and other such songs in their films so that people can at least enjoy them. Otherwise, they are very boring.” BJP has released a series of videos showing AAP leader Satyendar Jain getting VIP treatment in Tihar Jail.
‘Old wine in a new bottle’: BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slam Arvind Kejriwal’s promise
Speaking to OpIndia, Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “This is nothing but rebranding and repackaging old wine in a new bottle. Kejriwal promised in 2013 and 2015 about Mohalla Sabhas would be empowered to decide how Janta would run the government or the administration. He had, in fact, even said that before opening the liquor shops, he would ask the local women’s committees about the locations and only after that kind of consultation would decisions be taken. He mentioned this in his book called Swaraj also. But none of those was implemented. Now, yet again, he is repackaging an old promise which he hasn’t fulfilled, which he hasn’t kept. This is classic Kejriwal. Lie and then repeat things assuming that people have forgotten just because time has passed.”
MCD Polls
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections is scheduled for December 4. The results will be announced on December 7. The main competition is between AAP and BJP. Notably, BJP has been in power for the last fifteen years in MCD. The Central Government passed Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill in March 2022 to re-merge the municipal bodies in Delhi. The unified Municipal body came into existence on May 22, 2022.
On November 29, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri called out Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid for calling The Kashmir Files a ‘vulgar propaganda’ film. In a video statement released on Twitter, Agnihotri said, “Friends, yesterday at IFFI Goa, the Jury Chairman said that The Kashmir Files is a propaganda and vulgar film. This is not something new for me. Such statements have been given by terrorist organisations, urban Naxals, and people who belong to the Tukde Tukde gang. But what surprised me is that the narrative of terrorist sympathisers who claim Kashmir is not an integral part of India was supported at an event organised by the Government of India. Furthermore, the narrative [propagated at IFFI’s platform] was used by some ‘Indians’ against India.”
He added, “Who are these people? These are the same people who have been calling this film propaganda since I started researching the topic four years ago. This film was made after personal interviews with 700 people. Are these 700 people whose parents and siblings were killed in broad daylight, who was gang-raped and cut into two pieces propaganda and vulgar? The land that used to be a Hindu land has no Hindus left. Hindus are being selectively killed there even today. Is this propaganda and vulgar? Yasin Malik confessed to his crimes and is currently lodged in jail. Is this propaganda and vulgar?”
Challenging the urban Naxals, intellectuals and Lapid to prove the film wrong, he said, “Friends, again and again, The Kashmir Files is deemed as a propaganda film. That means the genocide of Hindus never happened there. So I challenge all these intellectuals and urban Naxals of the world, I challenge the “great” filmmaker from Israel to prove that a single event or dialogue of the film is completely false. If they succeed, I will stop making films. Friends, who are these people who stand against India? These are the same people who hid the truth about Mopla.”
“These are the same people who hid the truth about direct action days where lakhs of Hindus were killed. These are the same people who hid the truth about Kashmir. These are the same people who were selling pyres for a few dollars during Covid. Now, as I have announced Vaccine War, they have stood against it. But I am not going to get scared. You can issue as many fatwas as you want, but I will keep fighting. Jai Hind,” he further added.
The IFFI controversy
On November 29, an Israeli filmmaker and International Film Festival of India (IFFI) jury chairman Nadav Lapid said called filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s film ‘The Kashmir Files’ “vulgar” and “propaganda”. During his closing remarks at the festival, he said he was “shocked” and “disturbed” by the inclusion of the film in the competition section.
He said, “Usually, I don’t read from paper. This time, I want to be precise. I want to thank the director and head of the programming of the festival for its cinematic richness, diversity and complexity…There were 15 films in the international competition — the front window of the festival. Fourteen out of them had cinematic qualities…and evoked vivid discussions. We were, all of us, disturbed and shocked by the 15th film, The Kashmir Files. That felt to us like a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for a competitive artistic section of such a prestigious film festival.”
The Kashmir Files
Directed by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, The Kashmir Files was released on March 11, 2022. The film was a blockbuster and widely appreciated for showing the true story of the exodus and genocide of the Kashmiri Pandits in the Vally in the 1990s. The film’s description on IFFI’s website reads, “Krishna Pandit is a young Kashmiri Pandit refugee living with his grandfather Pushkarnath Pandit – who has been a witness to the 1990 genocide of Kashmiri Pandits. He had to flee from Kashmir and has been fighting for the revocation of Article 370 all his life. Krishna believes his parents died in an accident in Kashmir. As a student of JNU, under the influence of his mentor, Professor Radhika Menon, he refutes the genocide and fights for Azad Kashmir, discovering the truth only after his grandfather’s death.”
Disgusted by the conduct of certain students, a Hijabi teacher at a Meerut school filed a complaint of harassment and molestation on Friday (November 25, 2022). The teacher now alleges that one of the accused and his parents have tried to intimidate her and are pressurising her to drop the case.
The teacher reported the event to the police and a new case was filed in this respect. In this case, the police detained two suspected students as well as the mother of a student. The student’s mother was granted bail by the court and two of the students were placed into juvenile custody. These students are reportedly studying in class 11 and are minors.
The incident occurred in Meerut’s Ram Manohar Lohia Inter College in the Kithor Police Station area of Meerut, where Aman, Kaif, and Amaltas of Class 12 openly harassed the teacher teaching in their class. Occasionally they said ‘I love you’ in class, and at times they embarrassed the teacher by making vulgar remarks during the prayer gathering.
Arif, the father of an accused student, and his mother Rizwana were enraged by this, and they went to the teacher’s residence with their son. These people allegedly intimidated the teacher and pushed her to drop the complaint. Following this, the teacher re-registered her case with the police.
According to the teacher, who is Muslim and wears a hijab throughout school, she is quite disturbed by the students’ behaviour. The students finally crossed the limit of her tolerance when they shared the video of harassment on social media. Fearing defamation in the classroom and now in her neighbourhood, the teacher decided to take action and notified the police.
UP के मेरठ में क्लास रूम के अंदर 3 छात्रों ने महिला टीचर को “I Love U” बोला और सोशल मीडिया में इसकी Video वायरल कर दी। छात्र अतश, कैफ, अमन पर FIR हुई। टीचर डिप्रेशन में है। #Meerut
According to inspector Arvind Mohan Sharma, 4 students including a girl have been booked under IPC Sections 354 and 500 and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. The teacher has stated that she has been going through depression as a result of this harassment.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) took to Twitter Tuesday to inform that the Ashoka edict in Bihar has been reclaimed by the agency. In September this year, reports emerged, that the 2300-years-old historical site in the natural cavern of Chandan Hill of the Kaimur hill range at Sasaram, the headquarters of Bihar’s Rohtas district had been encroached upon and converted into a ‘mazar.’
Today, however, ASI confirmed that the “key of the site, which is a protected monument, was handed over to officials of @ASIGoI after the intervention of district authorities.” The agency also shared a picture of the encroachers handing over the keys to the site to the ASI officials.
Emperor Asokan’s Minor Rock Edict at Sasaram in Rohtas, Bihar was encroached for long.
The key of the site, which is a protected monument, was handed over to officials of @ASIGoI after intervention of district authorities. pic.twitter.com/mDS8MpyBO2
The agency further informed that a portion of the Asoka inscription of Sahasaram (232 or 231 BCE) which consists of eight lines in archaic Brahmi characters is damaged.
Asoka inscription of Sahasaram (232 or 231 BCE) consists of eight lines in archaic Brahmi characters. A portion of the inscription is damaged. The inscriptions, probably contains a date referring to the death of Buddha; but no convincing interpretation of it has yet been found. pic.twitter.com/6HqK7jbrxz
2300-year-old Ashoka edict in Sasaram, Bihar converted into Mazar
It may be recalled that in September this year, OpIndia reported how the site of the Ashokan edict had been converted into a Mazar, and Islamic prayers were being offered at the site after it has been covered with a green cloth.
Ashoka the Great embossed the edict 2300 years ago in the natural cavern of Chandan Hill of the Kaimur hill range at Sasaram, the headquarters of Bihar’s Rohtas district. This inscription is in Brahmi script, and it is one of just eight in the country. This inscription is listed among them, and it is the sole inscription from Bihar.
The inscription had been encircled by unlawful construction around it. The inscription had been made a Mazar by covering it with a green cloth after it had been coated with white lime. An annual Urs was also being organised there by declaring it as the tomb of a Sufi saint. The gate of the monument was kept closed following this illegal construction.
In the years following independence, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) designated this edict as a protected monument in 2008. The ASI had also put up a conservation board near the inscription at Kandara, which is located about 20 feet below the top of the Ashiqpur hill in the Kaimur hill range between Sasaram city’s old Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) and the new bypass. However, the encroachers removed the board.
In 2008, 2012, and 2018, the ASI ordered that the encroachments surrounding the Ashoka edict be removed by the District Magistrate (DM). Following this, the District Magistrate directed the SDM of Sasaram to take appropriate action. The SDM had ordered the Markazi Muharram Committee, which had illegally encroached on the site, to immediately hand over the key to the administration, but the committee refused. A large structure was gradually constructed illegally there.
In a bid to garner support for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections, newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made an offensive remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, equating him to the demon king Raavan.
Mallikarjun Kharge remarked at a public event in Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat that Modi has 100 heads since he is present in every election. “We see your face everywhere in corporation elections, MLA elections, and MP elections. Do you have 100 heads like Raavan?” Kharge said at a gathering in Ahmedabad’s Behrampura.
“I’ve been seeing that votes are sought in the name of Modiji, be it municipality elections, corporation elections (or Assembly elections)… Ask for a vote in the name of the candidate… is Modi going to come and work at the municipality? Is he going to help you in times of your need?” Kharge added.
Responding to his jibe, BJP spokesperson and their IT cell head Amit Malviya said that Kharge failed to tolerate the heat of the elections and Congress has been pushed to the margins so he insulted the Prime Minister.
“Unable to take the heat of Gujarat election, pushed to the fringe, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge loses control over his words, calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Ravan”. From “Maut ka Saudagar” to “Ravan”, Congress continues to insult Gujarat and its son,” Malviya stated in a tweet.
Unable to take the heat of Gujarat election, pushed to the fringe, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge loses control over his words, calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Ravan”.
From “Maut ka Saudagar” to “Ravan”, Congress continues to insult Gujarat and it’s son… pic.twitter.com/je5lkU4HBw
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Kharge’s characterization of Prime Minister Modi as Raavan has disappointed the whole nation and demonstrates the mentality of the Congress.
“Narendra Modi is the pride of Gujarat and has been working for the development of each and every citizen. These are merely words of Mallikarjun and the ideology is of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Remember who called Narendra Modi ‘Maut ka Saudagar’? Madhusudan Mistry said he will show Narendra Modi his place his ‘Aukaat’,” Sambit Patra said.
“What ‘Aukaat’ will you show Soniaji? Every Gujarati should teach a lesson to this Congress party which has used such words against the Pride of Gujarat, every Gujarati should come out and vote and teach Congress a lesson,” Patra further added.
2022 Gujarat Assembly elections
Elections for the Gujarat Assembly are scheduled to take place in two phases on December 1 and 5, with results set to be announced on December 8. In the 2017 elections in Gujarat, the BJP won 99 seats out of a total of 182. The state has been ruled by BJP for the last 27 years since 1995.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and CR Patil at the helm, the party is looking for more than 140 seats during this election. The state has historically been a BJP stronghold, and the party has its sights set on taking back control for a record-breaking seventh time.
On November 28, Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid sparked a controversy by calling filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s film The Kashmir files ‘vulgar’ and ‘propaganda’ during his concluding remarks at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that was held in Goa. In his remarks, Lapid attempted to show his opinions as a collective agreement from all the jury members.
However, another jury member categorically denied being part of the statement and said the issue was not raised during jury meetings. He added that Lapid gave the statement in his personal capacity.
Who is Nadav Lapid?
Nadav Lapid is a writer and filmmaker born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1975. He studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University and Literature in Paris. In 2001, he published a novel titled “Continua Bailando”. He has worked as a cinematographer on several documentaries. In 2006, he graduated from Sam Spiegel Film School, Jerusalem. In 2011, he received a special jury prize for the Policeman, his debut feature film, at Locarno International Film Festival.
In 2019, he was awarded the Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festival. In 2014, his film The Kindergarten Teacher premiered during the Critic Week section of the Cannes Feature Festival. In 2016, he served as a jury member for Cannes Film Festival’s Critics Week. He has won numerous awards throughout his lesser-known career as a filmmaker.
Nadav’s connection to IFFI
Nadav’s name has been linked to IFFI before. His 2014 film The Kindergarten Teacher’s actor Sarit Larry won the Best Actor Award (Female) at the 45th edition of the fil awards.
Earlier controversies linked to Nadav
Filmmaker Nadav Lapid is known for being a Palestine sympathiser and often speaking against his own homeland Israel. The 47-year-old Israeli filmmaker was among a group of 250 Israeli filmmakers who signed an open letter to protest against the Shomron Film Fund. As per reports, the group felt that it had only one goal, which was to invite Israeli filmmakers to “actively participate in whitewashing the Occupation in exchange for financial support and prizes.” The main aim of the said film fund is to provide finance to the films created by the settlers and about Jewish settlements. After the backlash from the group of filmmakers, including Lapid, the veteran filmmakers had come in support of the fund and called it “a new home for creation”.
In 2019, during one of his interviews with the Now Toronto magazine about his movie Synonyms, Lapid called the collective soul of Israel a “sick soul”. He said, “The film talks about the collective Israeli soul, and the Israeli collective soul is a sick soul. Something in the deepest essence of Israeli existence is false – it is rotten. It’s not just Benjamin Netanyahu – it’s not special to Israel. But, at the same time, I think this Israeli sickness or nature is characterised by young Israeli men who are muscular, smiling, who don’t raise any questions and don’t have any doubts. They are extremely proud of being Israeli. They have a total dichotomist vision of existence: Us versus all the others.”
In 2021, with his film Ahed’s Knee, Lapid tried to show his “love-hate” relationship with the homeland. The film was inspired by his own experience of “government meddling”, reports suggested. In a press conference, he said, “A sort of intimacy towards Israel sneaked behind my back and got into the screen.” He added, “want to show how people’s souls are changed, tormented, perverted sometimes by a state, by a place, less than talking about the state of Israel itself.”
Lapid, despite having a sharply critical view of his own country, was invited to IFFI as chief jury. The lesser-known filmmaker’s credentials do not seem well-versed to be the chief jury member of a film festival that has been going on for over 50 years.
YS Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRTP president, was arrested Monday (November 28) in Telangana’s Warangal district after a scuffle broke out between her supporters and ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) members. The incident took place in Lingagiri village under Warangal’s Chennaraopeta block, where Sharmila was on a padayatra (march) with her supporters.
https://t.co/76sRne8P8f వైయస్ షర్మిల గారి బస్సును తగలబెట్టి, పార్టీ శ్రేణులపై దాడులకు పాల్పడిన టీఆర్ఎస్ గూండాలను వదిలి.. ప్రజా సమస్యలపై నిరంతరం పోరాడుతున్న వైయస్ షర్మిల గారిని పోలీసులు అరెస్ట్ చేయడం హేయమైన చర్య. అక్రమ అరెస్టులతో పోరాటాన్ని ఆపలేరు.#PrajaPrasthanam#YSSharmila
In a viral video of her being arrested and taken away by the Telangana police, YS Sharmila angrily questioned the Telangana police, “Why are you arresting me? I am the victim here not the accused.”
Notably, Sharmila, who founded the YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP), has been on a ‘padyatra’ since last October. She has travelled 3,500 kilometres so far. Yesterday, she was in Narsampet where she criticised TRS MLA Peddi Sudarshan Reddy accusing him of extorting money from people, indulging in land grabbing and threatening contractors.
Her remarks apparently enraged members from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s (KCR) party, who attacked and set fire to the van in which Ms Sharmila was travelling during her ‘padyatra.’ This apparently enraged her supporters, who got into a brawl with TRS party workers.
According to media reports, TRS activists attacked Sharmila’s convoy and set fire to a bus where she spent the night and rested during the day. Some YSRTP leaders’ vehicles were also vandalised. The YSRTP workers resisted the TRS workers’ attack, resulting in fights between the two factions.
According to Narasampet Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) RV Phaninder, some people attempted to set fire to Sharmila’s bus. “As the local police rushed to the spot, they fled the spot. We are on the lookout for them,” he said.
Sharmila was later arrested by police and taken to Hyderabad. Her party members organised a protest and barricaded the roadways, prompting police to use force to disperse them.
Sharmila questioned why the police arrested her rather than prosecuting those responsible for the vandalism. “We have permission for our padayatra. Why are the police stopping me?” she asked.
Telangana police say arrested Sharmila as it was not possible to provide security
The Telangana police reportedly told her that providing security to her would be difficult since activists from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had been mobilised everywhere and were attempting to chase her. So she was arrested and shifted towards Narsampet.
‘Democracy or a Taliban kingdom’: YS Sharmila hits out at ruling TRS party after her arrest
Following her arrest, Sharmila took to Twitter and questioned the move saying. “Is it a democracy or a Taliban kingdom?”
టీఆర్ఎస్ ప్రభుత్వ కుట్రలో భాగంగానే పాదయాత్రలో బస్సును తగలబెట్టారు. అన్ని పర్మిషన్లు తీసుకుని పాదయాత్ర చేస్తున్నా.. శాంతిభద్రతల సమస్య సృష్టించి నన్ను అరెస్ట్ చేయాలని, పాదయాత్రను అడ్డుకోవాలని చూస్తున్నారు. పోలీసులను పనోళ్లలా వాడుకుని దాడులు చేస్తున్నారు. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/bCSV4nGjdR
“The TRS government is plotting to arrest me who is fighting for the people. TRS is inciting goons by using the police as workers. Is this a democracy or Taliban?” she tweeted.
The left-leaning ‘liberals’, who had been bouncing off the walls ever since Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid denied the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits, blamed the BJP IT Cell after Israeli ambassador to India Naor Gilon apologised for his fellow countryman’s uninformed comments on ‘The Kashmir Files’.
Lambasting the leftist filmmaker, Naor Gilon said that he should have been a bit sensitive towards the sufferings of Kashmiri Hindus and apologise to Indians for the “bad manner” in which he repaid them for their generosity and friendship.
An open letter to #NadavLapid following his criticism of #KashmirFiles. It’s not in Hebrew because I wanted our Indian brothers and sisters to be able to understand. It is also relatively long so I’ll give you the bottom line first. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED. Here’s why: pic.twitter.com/8YpSQGMXIR
The Israeli ambassador also highlighted how he has been receiving messages from people expressing their displeasure with Lapid’s despicable remarks denying the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits and doubting movies like The Schindler’s List, Holocaust, and the persecution of Jews in Germany.
“You will go back to Israel thinking that you are bold and ‘made a statement’. We, the representatives of Israel, would stay here. You should see our DM boxes following your “bravery” and what implications it may have on the team under my responsibility. The friendship between the people and the states of India and Israel is very strong and will survive the damage you have inflicted. As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologise to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship,” Gilon said in his open letter to Lapid.
Liberals defame BJP IT Cell after Naor Gilon apologises for Nadav Lapid’s comments denying the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits
But no sooner did Gilon slam Lapid for his remarks against ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie, a raft of left-leaning liberals, who are always on the prowl to undermine statements that challenge their narrative, blamed the BJP IT Cell for forcing the Israeli ambassador to apologise over his countryman’s comment on ‘The Kashmir Files’.
Sakshi Joshi, a YouTuber who pretends to be a journalist, took to Twitter and posted a gibberish rant against ‘Bhakts’, a term that the Left uses for Indians who stand up for nationalism and patriotism.
Source: Twitter
Rohini Singh, who had recently mocked Akshay Kumar with a ‘Canadian’ jibe for standing in support of the Indian Army, went into raptures about Nadav Lapid, an Israeli filmmaker who denied the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits. Responding to Gilon’s thread, Singh accused the nationalists of registering their protest to the Israeli ambassador.
Source: Twitter
Then, there were others who blamed the BJP IT Cell for Gilon’s apology over Lapid’s comments.
Source: Twitter
The modus operandi of the Left to demonise the BJP IT Cell and mask genuine criticism as contrived outrage
For the left-leaning liberals, who are used to living in an ever-shrinking echo chamber, any voice of criticism of their narrative, even well-meaning ones, is a product of the BJP IT Cell. Indians, who felt genuinely outraged by Lapid’s disgraceful remarks against The Kashmir Files, a movie that chronicles the atrocities faced by Kashmiri Hindus that eventually led to their exodus from the Valley, registered their protest with the Israeli ambassador.
But the ‘liberals’ used a broad brush to paint everyone who objected to Lapid’s remarks as members of the BJP IT cell involved in pushing the saffron party’s bidding. Anyone who dared to criticise Lapid for his remarks or registered their protest to the Israeli ambassador for his countryman’s denial of the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits, the ‘liberals’ pigeonholed them members of the BJP IT Cell.
This modus operandi of using sweeping generalisations serves two purposes. It discredits genuine criticism as propaganda-driven outrage and vilifies the BJP IT Cell as an organisation involved in online mobbing, even at the cost of maligning honest critics and painting them as members of the IT Cell.
How the ‘liberals’ leaned on now-withdrawn Tek Fog and Meta stories to defame India
And to make the BJP IT Cell all that powerful and omnipotent to force diplomats and foreign envoys into apologising, the ‘liberals’ lean on fiction peddled by far-left propaganda organisations like ‘The Wire’, which recently came up with Meta Story to allege that BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya had the power of pulling down any Instagram post from across the world that he found offensive.
However, to the liberals’ chagrin, The Wire’s deceit was called out after several social media users and independent researchers listed by the organisation refuted the claims made by the propaganda website. Subsequently, The Wire pulled down all its reports on the Meta Story and promised an internal probe over its fiasco.
The expose of The Wire’s story had implications for its earlier reports, where it claimed that BJP has a fictitious super app called ‘Tek Fog’ to manipulate social media trends and control the online narrative. In its statement, The Wire said it would also look into the older reports by the authors of Meta stories. At that time, it was unclear if Tek Fog stories would come under scanner in The Wire’s “internal investigation” or not. But the leftist portal suspended its Tek Fog stories too, indicating their suspicion over the veracity of claims made in those reports.
In the story claiming to be the existence of a fictitious and mysterious app named ‘Tek Fog’, The Wire had claimed that it allowed BJP to bypass all security measures available in top social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram etc, and helped create and delete dozens of accounts at the click of a button. They claimed BJP could hijack social media trends and target hatred towards journalists using the app, adding that the app had the ability to bypass email and OTP verifications required to log on to those platforms to create temporary accounts.
Similar to the Meta story, netizens had exposed the massive loopholes in the Tek Fog story too. That story also entirely relied on ‘screenshots’ of the so-called app and didn’t have any other verifiable evidence. And again, like the Meta story, the Tek Fog story was also questioned by tech experts who are not supporters of the BJP.
However, despite questions and doubts over its authenticity, several dubious international organisations cited The Wire’s Tek Fog stories and lowered India’s ranking on their prejudiced indices. From Freedom House to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Wikipedia, a mesh of leftist organisations and media outlets promoted The Wire’s fiction about Tek Fog, underscoring how a global nexus was at play to tarnish India’s reputation.
Vivek Agnihotri’s blockbuster film The Kashmir Files, which had previously thrown Islamists and the entire leftist ecosystem into disarray, has once again made headlines after Israeli filmmaker and jury head at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Nadav Lapid, referred to the Kashmiri Hindu genocide perpetrated by Pakistan-backed Islamist terrorists in the late 1980s and early 1990s as “vulgar propaganda.”
While several individuals from different walks of life, including Naor Golin, the Israeli Ambassador to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, have chastised the left-wing filmmaker for attempting to undermine the Kashmiri Hindu massacre, the typical suspects of the leftist ecosystem and opposition parties, especially the Congress have come out in defence of Nadav.
Members of the Congress party, which has taken an exceedingly controversial stance on the film from its conception to its success, flocked to Twitter to support the Palestinian-sympathizing Israeli filmmaker. The grand old party has not only been dismissing the veracity of the Kashmiri Hindus genocide but also casting aspersions on the film-makers’ sincere efforts to expose the unspoken and harsh truth about the Islamic terror in the valley in the 1990s that forced thousands of Kashmiri Pandits to flee their homeland.
INC youth leader Srinivas BV reasserted his party’s position on the massacre of Kashmiri Hindus by sharing a snippet of Nadav Lapid’s closing remark at the 53rd edition of the IFFI festival held in Goa between November 20 and November 28, where he said he was “shocked” and “disturbed” by the inclusion of the film Kashmir Files in the competition section.
“PM Modi, his govt, BJP, the RW ecosystem feverishly promoted ‘The Kashmir Files’ A movie rejected by International Film Festival Of India. Jury Head Nadav Lapid called it ‘propaganda, vulgar movie – inappropriate for the film festival’. Hate gets called out, eventually,” tweeted Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.
PM Modi, his govt, BJP, the RW ecosystem feverishly promoted ‘The Kashmir Files’
A movie rejected by International Film Festival Of India. Jury Head Nadav Lapid called it ‘propaganda, vulgar movie – inappropriate for the film festival’.
On expected lines, Swati Chaturvedi, the abusive troll masquerading as a journalist, jumped in to support the Congress spokesperson for mocking BJP for promoting The Kashmir Files.
Likewise, many other members of this ‘elite’ leftist ecosystem went on to endorse views of Palestine sympathising with the Israeli filmmaker who denied the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus at IFFI 2022.
Chair of the Jury of Goa Film Festival says that the Jury felt that Kashmir Files was a vulgar propaganda film, inappropriate for the film festival pic.twitter.com/FKTF93ZlRY
Notably, when Vivek Agnihotri’s movie- The Kashmir Files, a film based on the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus had hit the theatre in March 2022 and went on to become a roaring success, the same set of leftist liberals and Islamist apologists, including members of the grand old party were thrown completely off balance. Not only did they downplay the whole Kashmiri Hindu genocide but also effectively exonerated the Islamists who carried it out.
At first, the Congress Kerala tried to blame the BJP for the genocide. Then Congress went on to blame Governor Jagmohan, the man who actually saved Kashmiri Hindus from a fate much worse than the exodus. “Jagmohan theory” is a long-peddled lie by Congress and its cabal to give a clean chit to the Islamists for their actions in 1990.
Following this, the party’s media head in Chhattisgarh effectively exonerated the Islamists who carried it out. Then its senior leader Jairam Ramesh went on to not only dismiss the veracity of the Kashmiri Hindus genocide but also cast aspersions on the film-makers’ sincere efforts to expose the unspoken and harsh truth about the Islamic terror in the valley in the 1990s that forced thousands of Kashmiri Pandits to flee their homeland.
Notably, several first-generation Kashmiri victims have come forward since the film’s release to testify that the film is, in its entirety, based on pure truth and facts. Many victims sobbed after seeing the film, exemplifying how relatable it was to them. Furthermore, the ‘Jagmohan conspiracy,’ which Congress continues to exploit to blame the BJP for the Kashmiri Hindu Genocide, has also been debunked a million times over the last three decades. Despite this, since the release of The Kashmir Files, the ruffled Congress members and the entire leftist cabal have either questioned the film’s veracity and discredited the filmmakers or blamed the BJP for the genocide.
