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The Wire suspends its story on the fictitious Tek Fog app after withdrawing the fake Meta story

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire suspends its story on the fictitious Tek Fog app after withdrawing the fake Meta story

On October 23, The Wire suspended its fake Tek Fog story from January 2022 that Ayushman Kaul and Devesh Kumar authored. Now the URLs that hosted various reports of the story page of the story display a message that reads, “Update (October 23, 2022): This story has been removed from public view pending the outcome of an internal review by The Wire. More details here.” It was linked to the announcement The Wire made earlier on Sunday that it has permanently suspended the ‘Meta Vs The Wire’ stories as certain “discrepancies” emerged in the reporting.

The Wire removed one of four stories on Tek Fog. Source: The Wire

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. Now, with the removal of the reports, it is clear that The Wire is doubting its Tek Fog report as well. Notably, the opposition parties and activists raised the Tek Fog issue in the Parliament and the Courts, which has now been withdrawn by the portal.

In the story claiming to be the existence of a fictitious and mysterious app named ‘Tek Fog’, The Wire had claimed that it allows BJP to bypass all security measures available in top social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram etc, and could 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. They claimed that the app can 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 BJP.

In the story, The Wire admitted that they could not verify the claimed superpowers of the so-called app, and they didn’t see the actually app. They had based the entire story spanning into three reports based on screenshots, which could be easily fabricated. They had admitted that they could not verify whether the accounts mentioned in the story were created by the app or created manually using the normal process.

While The Wire spread similar lies in both Meta and Tek Fog stories, they were slandering a global giant like Meta and dragged in another giant Microsoft, which resulted in a thorough examination of their ‘evidence’. On the other hand, in Tek Fog they had slandered BJP and the Indian social media platform ShareChat, and perhaps for that reason, the story was live on its website for 10 months. ShareChat had urged The Wire to take down the Tek Fog story after the Meta story was exposed.

BJP, named as the main villain in both stories, has not made any official comments on the issue so far.

While the three main reports on the Tek Fog story have been suspended from the Wire website, one report containing a video discussion on the fictitious app is still there. Sophie Zhang, Billy Perrigo, Robert Baptiste, Tarunima Prabhakar, V. Anand and Sagarika Ghose joined with The Wire journalists for the discussion.

The Wire’s statement

Before removing the Tek Fog stories from public access, the ultra-leftist news portal earlier in the day permanently retracted the Meta stories. The Wire was forced to withhold the stories and had decided to do an ‘internal review’ after the reports were found to be completely fake, based on fabricated evidence.

The formal retraction of the story by The Wire means it now admits that it has no evidence to prove the outlandish and bizarre claims made by it and therefore admits that the entire story was fake.

The Wire says that its ‘investigation’ is still ongoing, and they have found that they are unable to conclusively confirm the authenticity and bona fide of the sources used by their’ reporting team.’ They say that certain discrepancies have emerged in the material used, including their investigators’ inability to authenticate both the email purportedly sent from Andy Stone of Meta and Ujjwal Kumar of Microsoft.

Meta Vs The Wire

The Wire had carried multiple reports on the story based on these ’emails’, the first email from the Meta official purportedly proved that the Wire story about Amit Malviya having superpowers on Instagram is true, and the Microsoft official’s email purportedly confirmed that the first email was authentic. But both Andy Stone and Ujjwal Kumar denied writing the emails and said they were fabricated. Several experts stepped in and questioned the authenticity of the evidence provided by The Wire. Soon, The Wire said it would not continue with the story. Next, The Wire suspended the stories pending inquiry, and on Sunday, it formally retracted the stories.

Muslim Twitter users abuse journalist Rubika Liyaquat for celebrating Dhanteras, call her ‘begairat insan’

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim Twitter users abuse journalist Rubika Liyaquat for celebrating Dhanteras, call her ‘begairat insan’

ABP News journalist Rubika Liyaquat celebrated Dhanteras in Ayodhya and updated about her celebrations in a Twitter post on 23rd October 2022. As expected, many Muslim Twitter users abused her for celebrating a Hindu festival.

Rubika Liyaquat wrote in her tweet, “Ramlalla called and we were present. Purchased utensils in Ayodhya on Dhanteras. Earlier, my mother used to call and remind me. This time my sister Anjum Liyaquat told me to buy some metal. Happy Dhanteras.” Along with this tweet, Rubika Liyaquat posted some pictures in which she is seen buying some utensils in Ayodhya. Diwali is a Hindu festival celebrated across India to commemorate return of Shri Ram, Maa Sita and Lakshman back to Ayodhya after defeating Lankan demon king Ravan 20 days prior on Dussehra.

As soon as she posted this on her Twitter handle, many Muslim Twitter users attacked her in replies to her tweet and abused the TV journalist for celebrating the Hindu festival. Alfia Tauseef wrote, “You should have bought the utensils quietly if at all you wanted to buy them at a discount. Why make such a drama?” Aaesha Tauseef posted in her reply, “Begairat Insan hai ye” which means she is a shameless person.

Mohsin Shah posted, “Aunty, at least you opened up your true self just like Jitender Rizwi. This is a very good thing. Everyone has a right to follow the religion he believes in. No one becomes a Hindu or a Muslim just because of his or her name. Many people are deceived by your name. Thanks for revealing your true identity.”

Mohammad Umar replied, “Summun Bukmun Umyun.” This is verse number 18 from chapter number 2 of the Quran. It means, “Deaf. Dumb. Blind.”

Another Twitter user Zawiya posted, “It’s good to maintain the tradition of celebrating each other’s festival, but if you’re doing this to make the BJP supporters specifically Kapil Mishra & Yati types then you are on wrong track, and the attached video is self-explanatory, as no difference between Angrez and Bhakts.” In the attached video, Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan’s interview is seen in which he says how he isolated himself when he was in the UK and how he maintained his separate identity. Imran Khan further says that just because of being in the UK did not make him like a British man. For explaining this, he gave the example of a donkey. He said, “Even if a donkey is painted with black and white strips, it does not become a zebra.”

Sayed Shehzad Haider Abidi posted a video of Jitender Narayan Tyagi consuming gaumutra at the time of accepting Hinduism. He essentially suggested Rubika Liyaquat to convert to Hinduism.

Md Reyazul Haque wrote, “Do whatever you want to do in this world. Allah is watching rest all.”

Chahat Ali questioned Rubika Liyaquat’s faith (Iman). Chahat Ali replied, “What is the Iman of people like you?”

Asim Siddiqui took gaumutra jibe and replied, “Just now you have to drink cow urine to attain salvation!”

Many Muslim celebrities are on the receiving end of the abuse by hand of Islamists who get angry at them for celebrating Hindu festivals which, according to Islam, is a sin. Islam believes that idol worship is a sin and does not allow worship of any other gods other than Allah. Hence, Muslim celebrities get attacked when they celebrate Hindu festivals and also often have their Muslim credential cancelled.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, cricketer Muhammad Kaif and sometimes even Hindu Pakistani cricketer Dinesh Kanaria have been on receiving end of hatred for just being inclusive and celebrating Hindu festivals.

Punjab Police arrest Ajmer Dargah cleric’s son Tausif Chishti for having links with terrorist group Babbar Khalsa

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab Police arrest Ajmer Dargah cleric’s son Tausif Chishti for having links with terrorist group Babbar Khalsa

The Punjab police arrested one Tausif Chishti on Friday for helping an extremist who was allied with a Babbar Khalsa terrorist. Tausif is the son of a joint secretary of the Anjuman Committee of Ajmer’s Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah. He is accused of providing a safe haven and a weapon to Charat Singh, who is said to be a close friend of terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa from the Babbar Khalsa.

The arrest relates to a grenade attack on the Mohali police department’s headquarters on May 9 of this year. Tausif was captured and sent to Punjab by a special Punjab police unit after they raided a cafe in Ajmer.

Recently, authorities in Mumbai were successful in capturing Charat Singh. Charat Singh was apprehended by police in Mumbai a few days ago. During interrogation, he provided Chishti’s identity, alleging he assisted him in hiding after escaping from Mohali. Mohammed Naseem Alam and Mohammed Sarfaraz have also been arrested in connection with the investigation.

Tausif is the son of Tariq Chishti, a relative of Fakhar Jamali, who was arrested in July by Rajasthan police for threatening to behead former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma for alleged blasphemy.

Notably, the murderers of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor who was beheaded for supporting Nupur Sharma, were also associated with Ajmer’s Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah. It was revealed that a Khadim of Ajmer Dargah named Gauhar Chisti met one of Kanhaiya Lal’s assassins just days before his heinous murder. According to reports, Khadim Gauhar Chisti instructed Riyaz, a killer of Kanhaiya Lal to create a horrific clip after mercilessly beheading the Hindu tailor Kanhaiya Lal. On July 14, 2022, Chishti was apprehended by police in Hyderabad.

Deepak Tinu, the man suspected of murdering Punjabi musician Sidhu Moosewala, was earlier apprehended in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The Delhi Police took this action. He had fled from police custody in Mansa, Punjab.

Ambedkarite professor from Haryana University gets upset over Honda Car India’s wishes to two different individuals on a new car, forcefits caste angle

OpIndia Staff
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Ambedkarite professor from Haryana University gets upset over Honda Car India’s wishes to two different individuals on a new car, forcefits caste angle

On 22nd October 2022, Sunny Tawar – a professor at the University of Haryana – posted a tweet to point out the difference in greetings by car manufacturing company Honda for customers from different castes. The self identified Ambedkarite professor juxtaposed wishes by the social media account of Honda Cars India and tried to insinuate that the wishes for new car purchased by an Ambedkarite and an upper caste person were different.

In the two screenshots attached, there were new car purchase updates tweeted by Sunny Tawar himself and another customer Neharika Sharma who is a journalist working with ABP News.

In his tweet dated 30th May 2022, Sunny Tawar wrote, “Just bought New Honda City. Thanks Dr. Ambedkar.” Honda Car India wrote in a replying tweet, “Congratulations on the latest addition!!”

Journalist Neharika Sharma wrote in her tweet dated 21st October 2022, “As it happened. Dreams come true. First Car.” Honda Car India replied to her, “Congratulations! We are glad to welcome you to the Honda Family.”

Somehow, Tawar thought these wishes by the car company, where they have cheerfully welcomed both their customers, was ‘discrimination’. This post by Sunny Tawar attracted immediate criticism. A Twitter user TrueLibra wrote in a reply to Sunny Tawar’s tweet, “She has mentioned it’s her first car that’s why they said welcome to Honda family and you said new car so they congratulated you for adding another car to your collection. Savarn ko zabardasti target karna hai to thodi akal hi laga lo.” She meant “if at all you want to target upper castes at any cost, then at least apply some logic when you do that”.

Another Twitter handle named @Sumukh123 posted, “Even Ambedkar can’t help.”

Another Twitter user Alpaca Girl posted a photo of Rajratna Ambedkar with a BMW car. The number plate of this BMW car read Jai Bhim. Rajratna Ambedkar is Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s great-grandson. In the caption of this photo, Alpaca Girl wrote, “True. Please buy a BMW next time.”

Another Twitter user YCS replied, “He waited for more than 5 months to find a tweet where he can raise a point however an irrelevant one.”

Vox Populi vox Dei replied, “Maybe learn how algorithms work! The hashtag says first car and the response is quite apt! Don’t always be the victim.”

A Twitter handle named Bandhua Majdoor wrote in his reply, “More than casts I think it is about a verified handle getting special treatment.” It is notable that Neharika Sharma has a verified Twitter account, unlike Sunny Tawar.

There is a pattern one has noticed, especially on social media, where these ‘activists’ create an issue where none exists owing to their preconceived assumption of caste-based discrimination. To find ‘proofs’ to these bias, they look for discrimination even in things where it does not exist, thereby diluting the actual causes where discrimination may actually be there. This crying wolf of ‘activists’ of any such ‘movement’ does more harm than good to the cause.

The Wire formally retracts its Meta story after it was found to be based on fabricated evidence, to review previous stories done by same team

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire formally retracts its Meta story after it was found to be based on fabricated evidence, to review previous stories done by same team

Days after The Wire withheld its series of reports claiming that BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya had some superpowers to remove posts from Meta-owned Instagram, the ultra-leftist news portal has now permanently retracted the stories. The Wire was forced to withhold the stories and had decided to do an ‘internal review’ after the reports were found to be completely fake, based on fabricated evidence.

The formal retraction of the story by The Wire means now it admits that it has no evidence to prove the outlandish and bizarre claims made by it, and therefore admits that the entire story was fake.

The Wire says that its ‘investigation’ is still ongoing, and they have found that they are unable to conclusively confirm the authenticity and bona fide of the sources used by their ‘reporting team’. They say that certain discrepancies have emerged in the material used, which includes the inability of their investigators to authenticate both the email purportedly sent from Andy Stone of Meta and Ujjwal Kumar of Microsoft.

The Wire had carried multiple reports on the story based on these ‘emails’, the first email from the Meta official purportedly proved that the Wire story about Amit Malviya having superpowers on Instagram is true, and the Microsoft official’s email purportedly confirmed that the first email was authentic. But both Andy Stone and Ujjwal Kumar denied writing the emails, and said they were fabricated.

Now The Wire is saying that as both these persons have categorically denied such emails, it believes that it is appropriate to retract the stories. The portal states that are “still reviewing the entire matter, including the possibility that it was deliberately sought to misinform or deceive The Wire.”

The Wire had also used another email from another security expert to claim that he had authenticated the Meta email, and later that person Kanishk Karan had also clarified that he didn’t send such emails and it was fabricated. But the Wire does not mention the name of Kanishk Karan.

“Lapses in editorial oversight are also being reviewed, as are editorial roles, so that failsafe protocols are put in place ensuring the accuracy of all source-based reporting,” The Wire added.

It interesting that The Wire is now blaming its ‘reporting team’ for the fake story, when the fact is that its founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan was named as co-author in some of the stories. This makes the editor the part of the ‘reporting team’.

In another significant development, The Wire also said it “will also conduct a thorough review of previous reporting done by the technical team involved in our Meta coverage, and remove the stories from public view till that process is complete.” While they have not named which other stories done by the same team will be under review, another story with similar bizarre and outlandish claims about BJP’s ability to manipulate social media was the Tek Fog story published earlier this year.

Devesh Kumar was the primary ‘tech expert’ that worked on both the stories, and both the stories had similar claims and similar loopholes. The Wire had claimed that the mysterious app named ‘Tek Fog’ allows BJP to bypass all security measures available in top social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp etc, and could 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.

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 BJP.

While The Wire claimed that it will also remove the stories authored by the same reporting team from public view till the process of review of those previous stories are completed, the Tek Fog stories are still available on its website till the time of writing this report.

Given that it has been thoroughly proved that the Meta story was completely fabricated, The Wire should take down the Tek Fog story, and any other story where Devesh Kumar and others from Meta story were involved, as soon as possible.

It is notable that while The Wire spread similar lies in both Meta and Tek Fog stories, they were slandering a global giant like Meta and dragged in another giant Microsoft, which resulted in thorough examination of their ‘evidence’. On the other hand, in Tek Fog they had slandered BJP and Indian social media platform ShareChat, and perhaps for that reason, the story is still live on its website.

ShareChat has already urged The Wire to take down the Tek Fog story after the Meta story was exposed.

BJP, named as main villain in both the stories, has not made any official comments on the issue so far.

Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan says ‘Kerala is replacing Punjab as the capital of drugs’

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan says ‘Kerala is replacing Punjab as the capital of drugs’

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan stated at a book launch event on Saturday that the state was replacing Punjab as the “capital of drugs” and that he was ashamed that the southern state’s two major sources of revenue were lottery and liquor.

Governor Khan, who is at odds with the Left government over a slew of issues, including university appointments, said that while everyone was campaigning against alcohol consumption, Kerala was encouraging it.

“Here, we’ve decided that the lottery and alcohol are sufficient for our development. What a disgrace for a state with a literacy rate of 100%. I am ashamed to be the head of state. What exactly is the lottery? You are robbing people. You are causing your people to become alcohol addicts.  Do you know what the position is today? Kerala is replacing Punjab as the capital of drugs. Everyone does anti-alcohol campaigns, yet here, alcohol intake is encouraged. What a shame?” Khan stated that at a book launch event.

Khan made these remarks at a book launch event for Advocate VK Beeran’s book, CH Muhammed Koya: Ariyatha Kathakal, about Kerala’s former Chief Minister CH Muhammed Koya.

In September, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan indulged in a war of words. Khan had slammed the ruling LDF for relying heavily on lottery and liquor sales to generate revenue.

On Saturday, Khan raised the issue of the appointment of vice-chancellors to several universities in Kerala, claiming that the Supreme Court had previously stated that the appointment of vice-chancellors was the responsibility of the Governor.

He stated that the state government has no part in it and that any legislation passed by the government should be in conformity with the provisions of the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations.

“Human sacrifices are happening in Kerala,” Khan stated, referring to a recent human sacrifice case in the state. “How can you put these criminals with Kerala’s ordinary people?”

Khan also slammed Kerala ministers who questioned his authority, claiming that a state minister had wondered whether a governor from Uttar Pradesh could understand Kerala’s education system.

“…The Supreme Court made it obvious yesterday. Don’t say the same thing about the Supreme Court’s honorable judges because they just ruled against your appointment as VC of Kerala Technical University,” Khan said.

The Supreme Court gave its verdict on Friday on a case filed against Dr Rajasree MS’s appointment as Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (APJAKTU). The bench, which included Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar, ruled that Dr. Rajasree’s appointment to the job, which was announced in 2019, breached University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines.

Minor actress Riva Arora’s mother dismisses concerns raised about her sexualisation, justifies it as for being an ‘actor’

OpIndia Staff
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Minor actress Riva Arora’s mother dismisses concerns raised about her sexualisation, justifies it as for being an ‘actor’

Minor actress Riva Arora’s mother has come out to defend her daughter’s videos and pictures that have raised quite a concern over the internet in past few days. Netizens had raised concerns that Arora, who is believed to be 12-13 years of age, was wearing revealing outfits and will be seen romancing and doing otherwise intimate appearing scene with an actor, Karan Kundra, who is over double her age. She was also seen dancing on a song with 45-year-old Mika Singh, on a song which was full of sexual innuendos.

Riva has also been on the receiving end of sleazy comments on her Instagram posts where many times men have also said how they are masturbating to her images, videos. This is highly disturbing and the hyper sexualisation of a minor raised a lot of concern. However, now Arora’s mother has come out in defence and instead of addressing the issue of her daughter’s safety, she was focussing on her age and claimed that she is not 12.

Riva Arora’s mother posted on Instagram. Image Source: Instagram handle of Nisha Arora

According to a report by India Forums, Riva Arora’s mother said, “It’s unfortunate to see renowned publications spreading false information about a young girl without any verifications. My daughter is currently in the 10th grade. She has been working in the industry for more than 13 years and has achieved everything with utmost integrity and perseverance.” If Arora is in 10th standard, she would likely be 14-15 years of age, and still a minor and too young to understand hypersexualisation of herself.

Nisha Arora is a supreme court lawyer.

Riva Arora has previously starred in films such as Rockstar, Mom, Uri – The Surgical Strike, and Gunjan Saxena – The Kargil Girl, as well as entertainment shows such as Tripling and Bandish Bandits.

Organiser of Diwali party in US to raise funds for Pakistan-based jihadi outfit cries Islamophobia, says AlKhidmat recommendation came via American public broadcaster

OpIndia Staff
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Organiser of Diwali party in US to raise funds for Pakistan-based jihadi outfit cries Islamophobia, says AlKhidmat recommendation came via American public broadcaster

In a recent statement, the person behind the organisation of the Diwali celebration at “The Bell House” in the Brooklyn borough of New York to fundraise for a Pakistan-based Islamist Jihadi group AlKhidmat said that she was acting in accordance with the festival’s spirit and termed criticism of her actions as Islamophobic.

Tweet by the organiser of the event.

In the statement, the organiser of the event Arti Gollapudi wrote, “The decision to donate to The Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan’s flood emergency fund was one where we believe the foundational belief in our own practices and family lineages of Hinduism to help bring light amongst the darkness of all evils of the world.”

She said, “In that spirit, we chose to donate to a part of the world where much of our South Asian community has ties to: Pakistan. A large part of Pakistan is under water due to marginalized voices who have suffered due to climate disaster. We researched orgs, looked up resources, and through that found where to donate (to Alkhidmat that was primarily recommended through PBS.org).” PBS is short for Public Broadcasting Service, American public broadcaster.

She further stated, “If you are filling your messages with Islamaphobia, hate towards helping folks who are not of my same religion, or slut shaming images of me, then I cannot stand with you,” adding that Diwali is a hopeful holiday for Indian women and to raise funding for needy people is to “hope for a peaceful tomorrow.”

OpIndia reported how the Diwali celebration event was coordinated to fund the Alkhidmat Foundation, the charity wing of the radical Islamist Jihadi outfit Jamaat-e-Islami. Notably, Islam does not allow believers to celebrate the festivals of other religions (non-believers) and accept gifts and proceeds from such festivals. This raised concerns if the Diwali fundraiser could be used to fund terror activities in India and abroad.

Alkhidmat Foundation, for which the New York DIWALI PARTY is raising funds, and its links to terrorism

As per a 2018 report in Rabah Times, Alkhidmat Foundation serves as the charity wing of the Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Pakistan. The organisation was responsible for the genocide of the Bengali population during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War.

In 2006, JeI reportedly transferred $1,00,000 to the terror outfit, Hamas, to continue their Jihad against Jews and the State of Israel. Rabah Times had flagged how the organisation had been working closely with the ‘Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD)’, a Muslim American charity.

Last year,  Jamaat-e-Islami chief Siraj-ul-Haq rejected the idea of using taxpayers’ money for constructing temples in Pakistan.

While assuming taxpayers in Pakistan to be only ‘Muslims’, Haq said that the money cannot be used against the guidelines of the Sharia and the discretion of the Muslim population in the country. 

While slamming Siraj-Ul-Haq for his comments, Pakistani Hindu activist Kapil Dev tweeted, “Siraj-ul-Haq, there are five million Hindu tax payers in this country. You make it with their money. Even if it is not approved, make it from the taxes received from buying and selling alcohol in our name. If not, the endowment department will be closed. Build from the rents of temples and gurdwaras.”

It is thus ironic that a Hindu festival is now being used to raise funds for the charity wing of the Islamist outfit under the garb of relief work. Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist political party that is based in Pakistan, is the Pakistani successor to Jamaat-e-Islami, which was founded in colonial India in 1941.

Founded by Abul Ala Maududi in Lahore, The Jamaat-e-Islami was split into Jamaat-e-Islami(Hind) and Pakistan soon after the partition. Earlier in an OpIndia report, we revealed how the organisation is receiving funds from Saudi Arabia universities to spread radical Islam in the country.

Modi govt cancels FCRA licence of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, both are chaired by Sonia Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Modi govt cancels FCRA licence of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, both are chaired by Sonia Gandhi

On Saturday, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), a non-governmental organisation linked with the Gandhi family, had its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence revoked by the Centre for alleged violation of the foreign funding law. Licence of Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) has also been cancelled. Both the organisations cannot receive foreign funding anymore.

According to reports, the decision was made based on investigations conducted by an inter-ministerial committee constituted by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in July 2020. A notice regarding the termination of licence has been sent to the office-bearers of the foundation.

In July 2020, the MHA formed an inter-ministerial committee led by an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer to investigate three foundations linked to the Gandhi family, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, for alleged violations of the Money Laundering Act, Income Tax Act, and FCRA.

The committee, which included officers from the Union home and finance ministries in addition to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was tasked with investigating whether the trusts run by the Gandhi family and other Congress leaders tampered with documents when filing income taxes or misused and laundered money received from foreign countries.

Both the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and RGF have not commented on the matter yet.

In 2020, several shocking details about the financial dealings of the RGF were reported. Back then, OpIndia had extensively reported on how the Chinese government donated funds to RGF in 2006 and subsequent years. It is worth noting that Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and the trustees have been Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra since 2005.

During UPA1 in 2008, the Congress party and the Communist Party of China (CPC) had signed a deal in Beijing for exchanging high-level information and co-operation between them. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) also provided the two parties with the “opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments”.

Interestingly, the MoU was signed by the then Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and on the Chinese side, it was signed by none other than Xi Jinping himself, who was then the Chinese vice-president and standing committee member of the CPC’s politburo. The MoU was signed in the presence of his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi. 

Before the signing of the MoU, the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi had held a long meeting with Xi and other senior leaders of the Communist Party of China to discuss issues of mutual interest.

In 2008, Sonia Gandhi had visited Beijing along with Rahul, daughter Priyanka, son-in-law Robert Vadra and their two children to attend the opening of the Olympic Games. A year before, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had also led a delegation of the Congress party to China. 

The 2008 MoU between CCP and Congress came at a time when the Left parties in India had expressed lack of trust in UPA-1 government led by Congress. The India Today report suggests that even as China was aware of the political landscape in India, Xi Jinping went ahead and signed the pact with Congress as CCP wanted deeper ties with Congress, especially the Gandhi.

In addition to the donations from China, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation diverted tax-payers money from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received a grant from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund in 2005-2006, according to the Annual Report. The same information is disclosed in the 2006-2007 report. In 2007-2008, the Foundation again received a ‘gift’ from the PMNRF.

In particular, the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was founded in 1948. Initially, the fund’s objective was to aid displaced Pakistanis during and immediately following India’s partition. The PMNRF’s resources are now mostly used to provide emergency aid to families of those died in natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, and earthquakes, as well as victims of severe accidents and riots.

Further, it was alleged that the RGF received donations from individuals accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. In August 2020, BJP’s Sambit Patra had said that money laundered by entities and individuals with questionable integrity such as Mehul Choksi, Rana Kapoor, Jignesh Shah, Zakir Naik and GVK group found its way to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. 

It was alleged that hate preacher Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), an accused under the PMLA, had donated Rs. 50 lakh on 08.07.2011 to the Trust from its DCB Bank account. It was later found that Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust had donated an amount of Rs 50 lakhs to IRF on 12.07.2016 from a different bank account. 

Economic offender Mehul Choksi donated to both the foundations, the BJP had alleged. Jignesh Shah, an accused in the NSEL scam, too, had donated to RGCT. Patra had alleged that a sum of Rs. 50 lakhs, out of the proceeds of crime earned by FTIL and Shah, were donated to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust on 27.10.2011. 

Rajiv Gandhi Foundation was set up in 1991 and Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson. Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Former Union Minister P Chidambaram, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Suman Dubey and Ashok Ganguly are other trustees of the foundation. Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust is chaired by Sonia Gandhi and has Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Ganguly, Bansi Mehta and Deep Joshi as its trustees.

Kerala: Swapna Suresh accuses top CPI(M) leaders of seeking sexual favours from her, promises ‘nuclear bomb’ in her biography

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Swapna Suresh accuses top CPI(M) leaders of seeking sexual favours from her, promises ‘nuclear bomb’ in her biography

Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, has now alleged that three senior CPI(M) leaders sought sexual favours from her. Talking to Manorama News on Friday, Swapna named two of them, former minister Kadakampalli Surendran and former Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan, calling the womanisers. She added that she refused their advances as she was in a powerful position, but ordinary woman will be forced to give in to their demands.

“Womanizer, pathetic, childish, cheap, frustrated gentlemen. How can they do such things while being ministers? The Police and the Crime Branch should monitor the phones of ministers. People like Sreeramakrishnan are frustrated,” Swapna Suresh said, according to local media reports.

“A separate platform should be opened for them to satisfy their sexual interests. Else, they will ask those women of poor families to lie down with them when they go in search of jobs. They approached me in a similar manner, although I was in a powerful position. Then just think of the plight of ordinary women and girls,” she further said.

In the interview, Swapna Suresh also claimed that she has evidence against Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his family, and she will reveal the same when the time comes. She said that there will be nuclear bomb in the second part of her biography. She also claimed to have evidence against controversial IAS officer M Sivasankar, who was suspended for involvement in the gold suspension case, but was reinstated later.

Both Congress and BJP attacked the left government after the interview. Union Minister V Muraleedharan said that Suresh’s allegations should be considered as legal evidence and immediate action should be taken against the accused named by her. “Why the CPI(M) and the Chief Minister are not reacting to the charges raised by Swapna Suresh. She is talking with evidence. A case should be registered and the charges should be probed. There is absolutely no doubt about it,” he said.

On the other hand, Congress party also demanded action against the CPI(M) leaders. State Congress chief K Sudhakaran  said, “Let the accused CPI(M) leaders prove their innocence. We are not saying now that they are guilty. But if there is an allegation, it should be investigated. The government and the police should be ready for that.”

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