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AAP government in Punjab seeks to resume trade with Pakistan, BJP calls AAP a ‘Pak Parast Party’

OpIndia Staff
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AAP government in Punjab seeks to resume trade with Pakistan, BJP calls AAP a ‘Pak Parast Party’

The National Conference of State Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers was held this year on 14 July 2022 in Bengaluru. The conference was inaugurated by Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in presence of Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Health and Family Welfare, and Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai. In this conference,  the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab raised the demand to resume trade with Pakistan which was suspended by Pakistan in response to the Modi government’s historic decision of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. This demand was raised by Punjab Minister for Agriculture and Farmers and AAP leader Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal during the conference.

Notably, the minutes of this conference were circulated to all the Agriculture Production Commissioners (APCs), principal secretaries, and the directors of agriculture of all the states.

The records of the discussions reveal that, among other things, Dhaliwal demanded the resumption of bilateral trade with Pakistan. He requested that trade with Pakistan be reopened, according to the records. It is important to note that no other state raised this demand.

Screenshot from the minutes of the conference

According to the records, the Punjab government’s demand for the reopening of trade with Pakistan was included in the list of “action points emerging from the discussion with the state governments” prepared following the conference. This list of “action points” has also been released, as have the conference minutes. Dhaliwal’s other requests, such as providing agricultural input support in border areas that are nearly 14,000 acres, allocating Rs 1,000 crore for cold storage for vegetables, financial assistance to stop stubble burning, farm loan waivers, funds for agriculture university and financial assistance to boost groundwater levels, have also been incorporated into the action points.

BJP has slammed the Aam Aadmi Party as the ‘Pak Parast Party’ over the AAP-led Punjab government’s demand to reopen trade ties with Pakistan.

Shehzad Poonawalla, the national spokesperson of the BJP, took to Twitter and said, “Punjab’s AAP govt sought resumption of trade ties with Pakistan-demand was raised by Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal- AAP minister. AAP’s Pakistan Parasti parallels Congress Pak prem! Much like Congress AAP had questioned surgical strike, demanded Balakot proof, blamed Pulwama on India.”

“On one hand Kejriwal claims he is a kattar desh bhakt but in reality, he is a votebank bhakt. From abusing Hindus to Pakistan parasti AAP is mirroring Congress. AAP is now PPP – Pak Parast Party,” Ponawalla wrote in another tweet.

Notably, Pakistan had unilaterally suspended trade with India in August 2019 to protest the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August 2019. Then Foreign Minister of Pakistan,  Shah Mahmood Qureshi had opined that there could be no normalization of ties until New Delhi reverses its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. However, compelled by the circumstances, Pakistan later allowed limited trade with India.

Previously, India had withdrawn the status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) to Pakistan on February 15, 2019, following the cowardly terrorist attack in Pulwama in which 40 security personnel were martyred. Interestingly, India accorded MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, while Pakistan failed to implement its November 2, 2011 decision to accord the same status to India. 

After the withdrawal of MFN from Pakistan, the basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India was also increased to 200% on February 16, 2019. 

Army dog ‘Zoom’, who attacked terrorists and was shot during ops, stable after surgery

OpIndia Staff
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Army dog ‘Zoom’, who attacked terrorists and was shot during ops, stable after surgery

Army dog Zoom underwent a surgery and is currently stable after sustaining injuries during an anti-terror ops in Kashmir, Indian Army officials said. 

Providing details about its treatment, the officials said dog’s fractured rear leg was plastered and his splinter injuries on face treated during the surgery. The next 24-48 hours are critical & he is under close observation of medical team at Army Veterinary Hospital in Srinagar, the officials added.

The canine suffered injuries during an anti-terror operation in Kokernag, Anantnag, when Zoom attacked terrorists and received two bullet injuries. However, despite injuries, Zoom continued with his task, resulting in the neutralisation of two terrorists. 

Chinar Corps released a video to celebrate the bravery and unparalleled courage displayed by the dog in identifying and neutralising the terrorists. The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Tangpawa area of the south Kashmir late on Sunday after receiving specific input about the presence of terrorists in the region. 

On Monday morning, the Army sent its assault dog named ‘Zoom’ inside the house where the terrorists were hiding, the officials said. “Zoom is a highly trained, ferocious, and committed canine.Has been trained to locate and bring down terrorists,” officials added.

They further added that Zoom has been a part of several anti-terror ops in the valley and as usual, was tasked with the responsibility of the clearing the house where terrorists were holed up. 

Despite sustaining severe injuries, the canine kept on fighting and helped the Army in neutralising the two terrorists. The terrorists were later identified as members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

United Nations will become ‘irrelevant’ without reforms: EAM S Jaishankar reiterates India’s demand to expand UNSC

OpIndia Staff
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United Nations will become ‘irrelevant’ without reforms: EAM S Jaishankar reiterates India’s demand to expand UNSC

India has been advocating for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a while now. Amid this, on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar underlined India’s stance and said that reforms are a hard nut to crack,  but hard nuts can be cracked. EAM Jaishankar was speaking in an interview at the Lowy Institute in Australia.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six main bodies of the UN, consisting of 15 members. Out of these, five are permanent which include China, Russia, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom and the other 10 rotate every two years. India’s non-permanent status commenced in the year 2020 and will terminate by this December.

The reforms being discussed would increase the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. However, there has been little progress in terms of growth due to the enormous authority wielded by the permanent members, who may reject reform measures.

“When I look back and think, well, this one is too difficult, I won’t be doing too much in my life. Life has been a set of challenges particularly for a country like India. I would not let the difficulties of the challenge discourage me. I’d put it the other way around”, Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister also emphasized that the UN Security Council has not adequately assisted certain nations in dealing with their challenges. “There are whole continents today which actually feel that the Security Council processes do not take into account their interests”, he added.

He also said that a few African countries and Latin American countries feel that the UN is doing nothing for them, and it is posing damage to the reputation of the United Nations. “If you go to a UN General Assembly and talk to countries in Africa and Latin America, and the small island states, quite apart from Asia, you feel very very strongly that this is not their UN and I think this is damaging to the UN”.

Jaishankar also said that India endured a terrible two and a half years with China, involving the first violence on their borderline after 40 years. “We had a two-and-a-half very difficult years in our relationship with China, which has included the first bloodshed we’ve had on the border after 40 years and where we actually lost 20 soldiers”, he said adding that the country kept communication line open with Beijing as neighbors have to deal with each other.

“My endeavor has been to keep the communication lines going. I called up my counterpart Wang Yi and urged him to ensure that there are no escalatory moves or complicated moves on the Chinese side. Diplomacy is about communication. It’s not just in relationship with China, even in relationship to (other countries)… If diplomats do not communicate with each other, then what kind of diplomacy will they do?”, he maintained.

To note, on September 24, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a push for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform after recognizing the weaknesses of the current multilateral institutions in dealing with global challenges. He also had hosted a meeting of two separate groupings, G-4 and L-69 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and had discussed how global challenges have brought to the forefront the ‘urgency of reforming the United Nations and updating its main decision-making bodies’.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, India and Brazil are the top candidates for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Reports mention that aside from these two, Japan and Germany are also vying for a permanent seat. However, according to Jaishankar, India enjoys the backing of various countries since it advocates for the greater and global good.

‘Drunk Sudama offering alcohol to Krishna’: Students of Maulana Azad Medical College mock Krishna and Sudama, apologise after uproar

OpIndia Staff
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‘Drunk Sudama offering alcohol to Krishna’: Students of Maulana Azad Medical College mock Krishna and Sudama, apologise after uproar

On October 9, a video of students of Maulana Azad Medical College went viral on social media platforms in which they mocked Sudama and Bhagwan Krishna by portraying Sudama as a drunkard. In the 44-second video shared by Author Anshul Pandey, the ‘Are Dwarpalon Kanhaiya Ko Kehdo’ song is playing in the background.

One of the girls performing on the stage portrayed herself in Krishna’s form. A male actor comes from the right of the screen portraying Sudama in a drunkard state. He fumbles and sits on the stage and then throws currency notes in the air. Then, the actor stands up and walks towards the centre of the stage while portraying it as if he is drinking alcohol directly from the bottle.

Towards the end, he goes towards the actor playing Krishna and offers her a drink from his bottle. The crowd cheers.

Speaking to OpIndia, Pandey said, “I was disgusted when I saw the video. I wanted everyone to see what was happening in the name of ‘art’. After the video went viral, I got a DM on Twitter with the said “apology” letter that I shared on my timeline. I want to ask them if they think we Hindus will sit back just after the apology. I believe because we do not take strict action against such activities, they feel it is okay to mock Sanatan Dharma.”

When asked if he felt the apology was enough, he said, “I did not see the apology from the students. If you see, it is just a sort of notification from the Residential Doctors Association at the medical college that they allegedly took some action against the student. I am not convinced that just banning them from performing in the future is enough to put an end to this “culture” of mocking Hindus. To be honest, the act of the students comes under Section 295A. I hope they understand that they have hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.” 

OpIndia reached out to sources in the college to understand the situation. A resident doctor who was aware of the situation told OpIndia on the condition of anonymity that this was the first time that the Residents Doctors Association and Azad Medicos Association organised the four-day annual fest Synapse. “When the seniors noticed that the act could hurt the sentiments of a community, they called the members of Mahaul Makers, the group that performed the satirical act, and asked them to give a written apology,” said our source.

OpIndia has asked for a copy of the written apology from the students, and we will add it when and if we receive it.

He further said, “Many of the doctors here are devotees of Bhagwan Krishna. We understand that they might have argued, but the apology was rendered without any condition. We only want to put an end to this controversy as it will unnecessarily harm the name of the institute. I can assure you that the students involved in the act will not be allowed to perform in the future, and the group Mahaul Makers has been disbanding as well.”

The press release by the Resident Doctors Association

The Resident Doctors Association of the Maulana Azad Medical College issued a Press Release on the matter. They said, “We wish to clarify that the said incident happened on the evening of September 27 2022, during a satirical comedy event as part of the annual college fest. The college festival- Synapse was a 4-day event organised by the Residents Doctors Association and Azad Medicos Association as a joint venture. Given the competitive nature of the event, the script for the same was undisclosed. And was against the rules and regulations of the organising committee.”

They added, “Whereas the act depicted in the video was demeaning and unethical, the cultural society performing it (called Mahaul Makers) was unconditionally banned and disqualified from any future activities on the campus, the very next day, i.e. September 28. A written apology was also requisitioned and furnished.”

Emphasising the role of the college and hospital in the Covid pandemic, they said, “MAMC and Lok Nayak Hospital have a national record of treating the maximum number of COVID patients in the recent pandemic, leading from the front since the pandemic began.” Furthermore, the association said the college believes in ‘secularism’. They said, “Since the 62 years that this college has served the country with excellence in medical care, SECULARISM has been at the core of many values that it imparts.”

Mahaul Makers have a history of performing exactly the same script

During our research about the group Mahaul Makers, we found out that their Instagram page had been deleted. Furthermore, we found videos from past performances, and one specific video from 2018 caught our attention. In the video, the members of Mahaul Makers performed exactly the same script. Now the question arises, why was no action taken against them at that time and if the current reaction come only after the uproar?

Interestingly, one of the copies went missing from social media after we mentioned it while talking to our source. It now shows that the video is private. This was the first result when we searched Mahaul Makers on YouTube.

A 2018 video was made private. In this video, the group had used the same script. However, the video was available on the college’s fest page as well which has been embedded above. Source: YouTube

The video now shows that it is private. OpIndia has a copy of the video from 2018.

Meta vs The Wire – Not even the liberal cabal trusts the propaganda website, speculations, concerns and more

Anurag
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Meta vs The Wire – Not even the liberal cabal trusts the propaganda website, speculations, concerns and more

Ever since propaganda outlet The Wire claimed to have an expose on the “relationship” between India’s ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Facebook’s parent company Meta, social media is buzzing with comments from both sides. Apart from the to-and-fro comments from the companies’ representatives, a lot of journalists, technology experts, and above all the so-called liberal cabal has expressed their concerns over the genuineness of The Wire’s story.

Questions about the language of the email

First of all, let’s discuss the retweets done by Andy Stone, the Communication Head at Meta. The most interesting retweet that we noticed during the whole fiasco was from former Amnesty India head and propagandist activist Aakar Patel, who is known for his anti-BJP stand. In replying to Jahnavi Sen, Aakar Patel looked down upon the language of the email that The Wire claimed was sent by Andy and said how the language and punctuation in the mail was unusual and ‘sounded desi’.

Tweet by Aakar Patel raising question over the language of the screenshot of the email that The Wire claimed Andy Stone sent. Source: Twitter

The typical colonial hangover suggested that emails were forged by an Indian because only they would use such language, thereby insinuating that the Americans have better grip over English.

Earlier, OpIndia reported that Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer Guy Rosen had dismissed the claims made by The Wire in a series of Tweets. Following rebuttals by two senior executives at Meta, more speculations were raised against the report.

In all that it is worth, there are a lot of speculations over the style of language claimed to have been used by Andy in the email. The native English speakers are brazened out over the language and have “confidently” said that Andy could not have written the email. Daniel Nazer, Senior IP & Product Counsel at Mozilla, while replying to Systems & Network Security Engineering Alec Muffett, who pointed out “bad English”, said, “It’s really sad to see them fall, and double down, for such an obvious fake. We need strong independent media willing to stand up to populist governments and big companies, but this ain’t it.”

While Nazer wants to have a ‘strong independent media’, he looked unconvinced with The Wire’s story.

The curious case of the ‘like button’ in the email

In one of the screenshots shared by The Wire in its reports, they claimed that Andy lashed out at his team for the “leak” and asked for putting Jahnavi and The Wire’s founder Siddharth on the watchlist. Apart from the easily notable “spelling errors” in the name of The Wire’s founder and weird sentence formation, there is one aspect of the screenshot that caught the eye of the experts.

Hetal Rach, while replying to a tweet by Medianama founder Nikhil Pahwa, pointed out that the alignment of the like button was off in the screenshot. He also raised speculations over what a like button was doing anyway in emails! Rach said, “IMO, someone’s playing with wire folks. Names as hyperlinks (which likely happens via auto-complete, but why??) and then a typo in the name? Alignment of the like (like on email??) button is also wrong.”

Maybe it was a Facebook thing, but who knows… The alignment is indeed off, and Pahwa also agreed to that. He said, “You’re right. The alignment of the like button is off. Curioser and curioser.”

When we detached the like button and straightened the screenshot, the like button got even more displaced. Things just do not add up here from any point of view.

Original image (above), realigned image (below)

OpIndia tried to check if what happens to Like button if we detach it and straighten the screenshot. As one can see, the ‘like’ button on top right corner of the screenshot is strangely aligned. It is likely that the confirmation bias that The Wire had did not allow them to see such glaring discrepancies.

What can be expected from Meta?

One of the easiest ways to debunk the screenshots at least is by publishing at least one screenshot of the emails Andy sends from his official email ID. Of course, the content can be hidden, but the curiosity over the ‘like button’ in the email will at least have some rest.

The story is expected to develop further as TMC leader Derek O’Brien has jumped into the controversy and announced he would raise the issue during the winter session. Not to forget, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are expected to have Assembly elections in November and December this year.

In a way, the winter session is again going to be all about shouting and raising slogans and not letting the house do its job, just like it happened in the case of Rafale and “Tek Fog”. This makes one wonder if The Wire conjured up Meta hoax to create a background for ‘BJP controls Big Tech’ for Congress and others to play around with when BJP sweeps the upcoming polls.

Punjab and Haryana High Court quashes FIR against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga in a case of alleged provocative statement against Kejriwal

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab and Haryana High Court quashes FIR against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga in a case of alleged provocative statement against Kejriwal

On Wednesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR against Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Bagga in a case of alleged provocative statements against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. 

Notably, an FIR was lodged against the National Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, after he criticized Kejriwal for his insensitive comments on the film The Kashmir Files which is a retelling of the Kashmir Genocide of Hindus.  

Apart from Tajinder Bagga, FIR against former AAP leader and poet, Kumar Vishwas has also been quashed. Vishwas was booked for his remarks against Arvind Kejriwal.

Reacting to the development, Tajinder Bagga tweeted, “Satyamev Jayate, Big slap on @/ArvindKejriwal’s face. Punjab High Court quashed FIR against me and @/DrKumarVishwas ji.”

In another tweet, Tajinder Bagga wrote that Arvind Kejriwal today has lost in court and will also lose Delhi. “Kejriwal lost in Court, Now he will lose Delhi. @/ArvindKejriwal ji apni sarkar ki ulti ginti shuru kar dijiye,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Kumar Vishwas also took a jibe at Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and advised him to protect the self-respect of Punjab from ‘dwarf eyes’. 

On April 2nd this year, Tajinder Bagga had revealed how the Punjab Police had arrived at his residence in Delhi to arrest him without intimating about any FIR. The Punjab police had allegedly not informed the local police about the same. After the arrest, Bagga was brought back to Delhi after the Haryana and Delhi police intervened.

Previously, Punjab Police had filed an FIR against Bagga for his criticism of Arvind Kejriwal after the Delhi CM mocked ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie during the Delhi assembly’s budget session, calling it a ‘jhoothi’ film. The film depicts the plight of Kashmiri Hindus during the genocide that occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

Tajinder Bagga’s statement was played by India TV during coverage of the protest outside CM Kejriwal’s house on March 30. “The way the biggest genocide in India’s history after independence was mocked in Delhi Assembly, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal claimed the story of Kashmiri Pandit’s genocide on which the film [The Kashmir Files] was based was a lie, I feel the 100 crore Hindus will never forgive him,” Bagga said in the statement.

“In 2007, Sonia Gandhi said Bhagwan Ram does not exist,” he continued, “and today that party’s existence is in doubt.” As a result, I’d like to assure Arvind Kejriwal that the Hindus of this country will tell him where he stands. He must apologise for what he said. If he does not apologise, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha workers would not let him live (Wo jab take maafi nahi manngenge hum unhe chayn se jeene nahi denge). We would continue our protests till he apologizes.”

Notably, what Tajinder Bagga said was a commonly used phrase, and there was no threat to his life, but the gist of it was lost in repetition and translation.

Terror accused Altaf Ahmed Shah, son-in-law of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani dies of cancer at Delhi AIIMS

OpIndia Staff
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Terror accused Altaf Ahmed Shah, son-in-law of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani dies of cancer at Delhi AIIMS

On Tuesday, jailed terrorist Altaf Ahmad Shah, son-in-law of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Shah was diagnosed with renal cancer that spread to other parts of his body leading to his death on October 11.

The incident was confirmed by Shah’s daughter named Ruwa who said that her father had died of cancer in Delhi’s AIIMS hospital. “Abu breathed his last at AIIMS, New Delhi. As a prisoner,” she tweeted. According to the reports, Shah was the son-in-law of separatist leader Geelani who was the former Hurriyat chief. Shah was arrested in the year 2017 and was in Tihar jail since then in a terror funding case.

Shah, Mehrajuddin Kalwal, and Peer Saifullah were produced before Delhi’s Patiala Court in the year 2017 in the terror funding case which also involved terrorist Hafiz Saeed. The NIA also questioned Geelani’s sons in the matter and eventually filed a case alleging separatists of collaborating with terrorist organizations.

The NIA had launched searches at many locations around the union territory (a state at the time) other than Haryana and the national capital, seizing electronic gadgets and valuables worth crores of rupees. The complaint was filed for illegally soliciting, receiving, and collecting funds for separatist and terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. It also included spreading havoc in the Valley by throwing stones at security officers, torching schools, destroying public property, and declaring war against India.

According to Shah’s daughter Ruwa, Shah, a resident of Soura in Srinagar was diagnosed with renal cancer and was not keeping well for the past six months. He was taken to Deendayal hospital Janakpuri, then to Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital, and was later shifted to AIIMS where he breathed his last.

TMC’s Derek O’Brien steps in to give legitimacy to The Wire’s Meta joke that turned out to be a hoax

Nirwa Mehta
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TMC’s Derek O’Brien steps in to give legitimacy to The Wire’s Meta joke that turned out to be a hoax

After it was concluded beyond doubt that propaganda website The Wire quite likely fell for a haox, if they have not perpetrated it themselves, involving Facebook’s parent company Meta and BJP’s IT Cell head Amit Malviya, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien has now stepped in to give legitimacy to this. Taking to Twitter, O’Brien said that he would raise this issue in the Parliament.

The ‘good fight’ O’Brien wants to take up has been categorically denied by Meta executives as fake and fabricated documents. In an article published on October 10, 2022, titled ‘If BJP’s Amit Malviya Reports Your Post, Instagram Will Take It Down – No Questions Asked’, leftist propaganda website ‘The Wire’ alleged that BJP’s Amit Malviya is an all-powerful individual who can get any social media post on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram removed. The article was based on some random troll account calling itself ‘political satire’ account with less than 5,000 followers claiming Malviya personally targeted his posts and ‘curbed his reach’.

On one hand, The Wire wanted everyone to believe Malviya is some super-villain-ish individual with all the power on the internet and on other hand, it wanted us to believe he would personally go after obscure accounts on Instagram with hardly any clout when there are way more political influencer accounts who have way more nuisance value.

Meta says The Wire story based on fabricated documents

After the report was published Meta has categorically come out and denied the writeup published by The Wire and said that the documents they used for building up the narrative were fabricated. Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Guy Rosen, issued a statement calling out the hoax and concluded it by saying that he hopes The Wire was a victim in the hoax and not a perpetrator.

Even before Facebook’s denial came out towards the evening India time on Tuesday, many Twitter users, a lot of whom know a thing or two about technology had cast aspersions on The Wire’s report which appeared ridiculous from the word go. In fact, a lot of Modi critics and haters too did not buy The Wire’s writeup as it was clearly way too exaggerated and appeared ridiculously hilarious. Amusingly, it is the Left-Liberal cabal that has a history of deplatforming critics while championing the ’cause’ of free speech. Remember how former US President Donald Trump was deplatformed from all social media platforms? Social media platforms such as Twitter has quite clearly mentioned that their employees are left-leaning and it does show in the way it operates too.

Derek O’Brien goes after hoax instead of sorting his own backyard

But Derek O’Brien here would like to take this hoax as some sort of gospel and raise ‘the issue’ in the Parliament in winter session. The Wire hoax was so unbelievable that even Rahul Gandhi didn’t share its screenshot to attack Modi government, like he usually does. To put things in perspective, Islamists are running riots in O’Brien’s backyard, attacking Durga Puja pandals and opposing the celebration of Hindu festivals. But no, O’Brien would rather exaggerate a hoax in Parliament than get the law and order in his own home state in order.

O’Brien was also mocked at by netizens for the same.

While some even gave him advice to choose his battles wisely.

This, obviously, is not the first time O’Brien has chosen to raise inconsequential issues in Parliament in what appears to be his way of making up for lack of credibility otherwise. Back in 2018, O’Brien had threatened to name Twitter users in Parliament whom he found ‘offensive’ and those who ‘irritate him’.

As seen above, Derek decided to accuse a twitter user of lying about Omar Abdullah’s statement and as a result threatened that he would be mentioned in the Parliament. It was indeed shocking to note that a senior MP wanted to use Parliament’s precious time to discuss social media disagreements and call out private citizens, who would be in no position to defend themselves from his attacks.

Even before this, in 2017, based on a writeup by Swati Chaturvedi, abusive troll masquerading as a journalist with The Wire like sources, O’Brien made childish accusations against some Twitter users, including against OpIndia co-founder Rahul Raj, accusing them of issuing criminal threats to other people while being followed by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. This is akin to an MP quoting a pamphlet printed by ISIS to claim that Barack Obama was a terrorist. What next? An MP quoting a WhatsApp forward to make a point? It was a clear case of intimidation.

But it seems O’Brien would still continue to put his bets on trash published by dubious platforms with questionable credibility and create noise in the Parliament so that the cries of people back home in West Bengal are stifled.

Imagine being so petty.

Mohammad Zubair caught stealing from Hanuman Mandir in Bareilly, had identified himself as ‘Rohit’

OpIndia Staff
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Mohammad Zubair caught stealing from Hanuman Mandir in Bareilly, had identified himself as ‘Rohit’

A Muslim youth was on Tuesday caught stealing inside Bada Bagh Hanuman Mandir in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. The accused was caught stealing money from the donation box. When caught he initially told his name as Rohit, however, when locals beat him and asked for his phone number, Rohit Turned out to be Mohammad Zubair.

An amount of Rs 1692 was also recovered from Zubair. The video of the incident is going viral on social media.

After getting information about the incident, members of Hindu Jagran Manch also reached the spot. The accused was taken to the police station and after questioning he admitted that his name is Mohammad Zubair Khan and he is a resident of Sirolli police station. Hindu Jagran Manch has expressed apprehension that the motive of Zubair might have been something serious and alleged that the accused was doing a recce of the temple for the last few days.

Reportedly, the accused Zubair was raising religious slogans and was making derogatory remarks about Hindu deities. According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, the accused threatened to blow up the temple with a bomb.

Mohammad Zubair has been arrested on a complaint of the temple priest Kuldeep Mishra. 

According to SP City Rahul Bhati, a youth was caught stealing today at the Bada Bagh Hanuman temple in Premnagar. After that, he initially claimed his name as Rohit, and when questioned, he revealed his real name as Mohammad Zubair. He was arrested immediately. The SP stated that a case has been registered against him under sections 380, 506, 511, and 295A of the IPC.

OpIndia Exclusive: Secretary of Durga pandal committee sheds light on the deliberate plan by Islamists to stir anti-Hindu violence

OpIndia Staff
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OpIndia Exclusive: Secretary of Durga pandal committee sheds light on the deliberate plan by Islamists to stir anti-Hindu violence

Days after Islamists ran riot in the Mominpore locality of Kolkata, Opindia reached out to the organisers of the Durga Puja pandal that was targeted by the attackers.

In a telephone conversation, Mishri Lal Dhanuk informed us about the events leading up to the attack. Dhanuk is the Secretary of the Harijan Durgosave Committee. He said that an Islamic flag was affixed, in the middle of the road, ahead of the Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations.

“It was put up opposite the Puja pandal – something that had never happened before. The Islamic flag was placed in such a way that if any heavy vehicle passed through that road, then, it would either dislodge the flag or tear it,” he emphasised.

Secretary of Durga Pandal Committee narrates the ordeal

Mishri Lal Dhanuk remarked, “We did not have any issue with the flag. We thought they wanted to celebrate the festival in that way.” He informed that the local Hindus had gone to Dashami ghat for Visarjan of the Durga idol on Friday (October 7) and returned home late in the night.

“At about 2:30 am on Saturday (October 8), there was chaos over the ‘uprooting’ of an Islamic flag. Mobs came in droves, damaged vehicles, and electric light posts. About 42 bikes and 4 taxis were damaged during the orgy of violence,” he said.

“All of us in the neighbourhood were up on our feet. Islamists were about to enter the Puja pandal but their plan was thwarted by the arrival of the police. The mob was successful in destroying the Hindu houses in the neighbourhood”, Dhanuk added.

On being asked about the aftermath of the attack, he said, “We are still in shock. We have not been able to process the shock. Our neighbourhood has suffered a lot of damage. You can only assess the magnitude of destruction if you see it through your own eyes.”

“Police were deployed after the first attack on Saturday. Again on Sunday (October 9), there was another attack in the evening. The carnage went on for 2 days. There was bombing and arson,” Dhanuk added,

Mishri Lal Dhanuk speaks about Lakshmi Puja visarjan, police protection and compensation

Opindia also asked about the Lakshmi Puja and whether the worship of the deity was affected by the Islamist attack. “Puja was somehow conducted under police supervision. We were worried about the immersion of the idol, “Dhanuk pointed out.

He said that the local police granted them a special pass and arranged for a car for the immersion of the idol of Goddess Lakshmi, amidst the imposition of Section 144. On being asked about government compensation, the Secretary of the Harijan Durgosave Committee said that no such assurance has been made by the government so far.

“IPS Crime officer Murlidharan however said that he will request the government for partial compensation to those whose vehicles, and houses were damaged in the carnage. He has asked us to submit names and details of the bikes, and cars that were damaged,” Dhanuk remarked.

“The Puja is conducted by the employees (cleaning staff serving in Wards 65-80) of Kolkata Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) since 1945. We do not seek outside contributions and are funded by Dhanuk, and Mallik communities,” he concluded.

The decision to not remove the Lakshmi Puja pandal irked Islamists

Opindia has earlier learnt how the Hindus were targeted by Islamists for refusing to dismantle the Durga Puja pandals, ahead of the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.

A Kolkata-based journalist, who was privy to the incident, informed, “Mominpore is a Muslim-dominated area. There are small pockets where Hindus live.” He stated that a Durga Puja pandal, organised by the Harijan Durgosave committee, was the primary target of the Islamists.

“Muslims in the area have been pressuring them to remove the pandal and stop the conduct of Lakshmi Puja,” he informed. “In West Bengal, wherever Durga Puja is celebrated, it is mandatory to worship Goddess Lakshmi at the same site,” the journalist added.

While the Hindu Dalits were being coerced into submission since the time of Durga Puja, they refused to relent. In their defence, the Harijan Durgosave Committee informed that the Durga pandal could only be removed after the conduct of Lakshmi Puja.

This however did not sit well with the local Muslims, who came in droves to vandalise the pandal, pelt stones and damage vehicles on Sunday (October 9).

“They coerced the Ekbalpur police station to register a case against Hindus, who are associated with the Puja committee. They also carried out targeted attacks on Hindu homes and looted shops belonging to the Hindu community,” the Kolkata-based journalist added.

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