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London: Hindus protest outside Guardian office for biased reporting blaming Hindus for Leicester violence, ask them to tone down anti-India narrative

OpIndia Staff
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London: Hindus protest outside Guardian office for biased reporting blaming Hindus for Leicester violence, ask them to tone down anti-India narrative

On 28th September 2022, Hindus in the United Kingdom gathered in front of the Guardian News office in London to protest against their biased reporting of the Leicester violence that painted the Hindu community in a bad light despite it being the victim of the incident in which a Hindu temple was vandalized. The biased reporting in The Guardian causing the outrage of the Hindu community is credited to journalists Jessica Murray, Aina J Khan, and Rajeev Syal. It is notable that, Aina J Khan had previously invoked RSS in the Leicester violence in which Islamists attacked Hindus.

After the protest, the protestors handed over a memorandum addressed to Katharine Viner, the editor of the Guardian, to the Chief of Security of the media house. One of the protestors said that they are very concerned about the very anti-Hindu bias and anti-India bias that Guardian has, and the media house is publishing articles daily condemning Hindus for various acts. He said that the Guardian articles are creating hate for Hindus in the country, and therefore the Hindu community is asking the Guardian to tone down their anti-India rhetoric. The person added that the anti-Hindu hate triggered by the newspaper can lead to conflicts and Hindus may be hurt in the process.

The Hindu community leader said that most of the articles are written by people in India with half-truths to further their anti-Hindu agenda, deliberately written to create an impression that Hindus are demonic people. “There is no standard of professional journalism in Guardian coming from Delhi,” he added. He called the protest today a warning to the Guardian, that they will keep coming there again and again if they don’t stop publishing anti-Hindu and anti-India content.

Before handing over the memorandum to the chief of security, he further asked Guardian to reconsider their agenda and said that they expect a response from the media house as soon as possible.

Several photos and videos of the protest in front of the Guardian office were posted on Twitter. The protesters were seen holding placards saying ‘Hindu Lives Matter’, ‘ Stop putting lives at risk’, ‘Guardian stop false narrative’, ‘Stop spreading fake news’, ‘Stop demonising Hindus’, ‘Hindu is peace’ etc.

Poonam Joshi is an Indian women’s rights activist in the UK. She tweeted, “We are not nazis, we are not fascists. Angry Hindus protesting outside the office of Guardian newspaper protesting against an article published branding them as extremists.”

One of the protesters said, “Stop penalizing us. Stop burning our temples. We are going to fight.”

Another protester said, “It’s turning here a protest against biased journalism of UK newspapers and media houses like Guardian and BBC. They call us the Hindu extremists while we are the most peace-loving people on earth. Here we have gathered to show our displeasure and condemnation of this biased journalism against Hindus. Hindus are victims of terrorism. Hindus are victims of attacks.”

It is notable that, when the violence broke out in Leicester, a journalist associated with UK-based leftist media outlet The Guardian, Aina Khan, tweeted about her ‘tense day’ while covering the Leicester violence. She claimed to have interviewed one Hindu man who was wearing a motorbike helmet and holding an Indian flag. Khan then claimed that the man in the helmet claimed he was an RSS supporter. She then added one disclaimer that the RSS was inspired by Italian dictator Mussolini.

Even in the second article that she wrote along with two co-writers, Hindus are painted in bad colours. The title of the article reads, ‘It feels like people want to fight’: how communal unrest flared in Leicester. In the body of the article, a Muslim councilor Ruma Ali is quoted to be saying “It’s been going on for months. It is calm for now but there will be reprisals. It feels like people want to fight.” Here, she is referring to Hindus in the locality. By giving such titles to the articles, Guardian and Aina J Khan tried to propagate that it is Hindus who actually want to fight, whereas Hindus are the victims of the Leicester violence. Hindus in London have therefore protested in front of the Guardian News office against such biased journalism against Hindus.

Ex-Buzzfeed employees talk about toxic work culture after Try Guys’ Ned Fulmer admits to cheating on wife

Anurag
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Ex-Buzzfeed employees talk about toxic work culture after Try Guys’ Ned Fulmer admits to cheating on wife

On September 27, the internet was buzzed with reports that the famous YouTube channel ‘The Try Guys’ parted ways with one of its members Ned Fulmer. The reason behind the move was the revelation that Fulmer cheated on his wife. Notably, Fulmer had stopped appearing on the channel’s videos for the last couple of weeks. The whole fiasco revolving around ‘The Try Guys’ prompted discussion over the toxic work culture among former Buzzfeed employees.

The toxic work culture at the Buzzfeed

Before we move on to Ned Fulmer’s story, let’s have a look at what Buzzfeed’s former employees are talking about about the work culture at the company.

Sam Stryker, who worked at Buzzfeed between 2014 and 2017 and appeared in The Try Guys series as well, said, “You have to understand working at BuzzFeed from 2014-2017 was like being a part of the suicide squad.”

He mentioned how the employees were not let be free even for a short break. He wrote, “If you had 5 free minutes, you would get pulled into a video to try deer penis for the first time. Hilary duff glitter bombing you in the office. Going undercover to nail a Hollywood predator bc you were the only twink in the office.”

Some netizens discussed that Ned, who was a manager at Buzzfeed, was allegedly a very toxic person himself in the office. Many people that he had hired left the company allegedly because of him.

Former BuzzFeed employee Candace Lowry Bryant said that the period between 2014 and 2018 at BuzzFeed deserves a documentary.

While replying to a Twitter user, she said, “It was pretty wild times.”

So how toxic is the work culture at BuzzFeed? Well, imagine you are an intern at a company that makes videos, and they tell you to drink your own urine as a part of an experiment and that was just only one example.

The people who appeared on videos were made to eat weird stuff including, well, the genitals of different animals.

Buzzfeed India was accused of perpetuating similar toxic work culture

Buzzfeed India, which had shut shop, was no different. In September 2018, a then-employee of BuzzFeed India Pranav Dixit bullied a woman on Twitter, stalked her on the professional networking site LinkedIn, and reached out to her employers just because she countered him on his views.

It happened when filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri prepared a list of “urban Naxals”. Dixit did not agree with the list and when a woman named Seema Trivedi disagreed with Dixit, at one point he snapped. He went out against Trivedi on social media platforms and reached out to her employers for an ‘official statement’ on her contrary views.

He even wanted to use BuzzFeed as a platform to bully Trivedi, in an attempt to intimidate her from expressing her views. While BuzzFeed as a platform has always tried to portray itself as a champion of freedom of speech. Because, how dare you ‘troll the press’?

Ironically, Dixit has written on online bullying and how Twitter needs to ‘step it up’ after talking to ‘survivors of harassment, journalists and cops’.

Later, after many netizens stood against him and threatened to file a formal police complaint, Dixit apologised.

Who are ‘The Try Guys’

Those who are not aware of the YouTube channel The Try Guys, it is a company formed by four former Buzzfeed employees, Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfield and Eugene Lee Yang. Before starting their own venture, they had a very successful series by the same name on Buzzfeed.

In 2018, they left Buzzfeed and started their own venture, and millions of fans who had followed their videos on Buzzfeed followed them on their new channel. At present, they have around 7.5 million subscribers on YouTube. The whole concept of the channel revolves around trying new things. They have shared many personal experiences since the beginning under the concept of “trying new things”.

Ned Fulmer, the “Wife Guy”

Ned Fulmer was known as someone who loved his wife Ariel dearly from the beginning. The couple got married back in 2012 after living together for over a year. In 2014, after the group started working on the ‘The Try Guys’ series on Buzzfeed, Ariel appeared on several videos in and out of the series.

When the group separated from Buzzfeed, the couple was expecting their first child, and the whole experience was covered in multiple videos as well. Ariel has also appeared in the podcast ‘You Can Sit With Us’ by The Try Guys productions. However, she has been missing from the recent episodes as well.

Ned Fulmer admitted cheating on his wife

Fulmer confirmed on September 27 that he had cheated on his wife. As per some reports, it was The Try Guys producer Alex Herring (Alexandria Herring) with whom he was involved in an extramarital affair. Herring appears in the series “The Food Babies”.

In a social media post, Ned wrote, “Family should have always been my priority, but I lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship. I’m sorry for any pain that my actions may have caused to the guys and the fans, but most of all to Ariel. The only thing that matters right now is my marriage and my children, and that’s where I am going to focus my attention.”

A few days before the revelation, there were some rumours that Ned and Alex were caught kissing at a New York City bar, following which the group announced that he was fired from the group. The post read, “Ned Fulmer is no longer working with The Try Guys. As a result of a thorough internal review, we do not see a path forward together. We thank you for your support as we navigate this change.”

Following the controversy, Ariel also published a post on Instagram and urged everyone to respect her family’s privacy. She wrote, “Thanks to everyone who has reached out to me – it means a lot. Nothing is more important to me and Ned than our family, and all we request right now is that you respect our privacy for the sake of our kids.”

Ned’s wife Ariel released a statement at the same time. “Thanks to everyone who has reached out to me—it means a lot,” she said. “Nothing is more important to me and Ned than our family, and all we request right now is that you respect our privacy for the sake of our kids.”

The Reddit user who exposed Ned’s extramarital affair

According to Twitter user Camitwomeyy, a Reddit user Hamilton390 claimed he got a blurry video of Ned kissing Alex in the bar from an unknown user. He further claimed that he talked to Ariel about the issue as well.

Following the expose, Will Thayer, Alex’s fiancé, removed all her photographs from his account and made his account private.

Furthermore, YB, another Buzzfeed employee who edited The Try Guys videos and appeared in the series The Food Babies, unfollowed Ned and Alex. YB is one of the most famous former Buzzfeed employees who rose to fame with her content on YouTube.

Please note that all the reports about an affair between Alex and Ned are just speculations. The names have been confirmed by the persons involved or The Try Guys.

‘Get out while you still can’: US Embassy in Russia issues security alert for its citizens, warns Americans with dual citizenship may be drafted into military

OpIndia Staff
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‘Get out while you still can’: US Embassy in Russia issues security alert for its citizens, warns Americans with dual citizenship may be drafted into military

On Tuesday, United States of America officials issued a stern warning to its citizens residing in Russia, as a dreaded military draft sparked widespread concern across the country. The official asked those with dual US-Russian citizenship to leave immediately if they did not want to be forced into Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

“Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service”, the official statement issued by the US Embassy in Moscow said. This is after the Russian government announced on September 21 the mobilization of its citizens to the armed forces in support of its invasion of Ukraine.

The embassy also asked the citizens to make independent travel arrangements as it stated that the commercial flight options were extremely limited and were often unavailable on short notice. “Overland routes by car and bus are still open. If you wish to depart Russia, you should make independent arrangements as soon as possible”, it added.

The notice also stated that the US Embassy’s capacity to help US nationals was severely constrained, and conditions, particularly transportation alternatives, might suddenly become much more limited. The warning further restricted US citizens from travelling to Russia and said that those who are residing or travelling in the country at present should exit Russia quickly while limited commercial travel choices exist.

The embassy meanwhile also warned the US citizens against staging protests and exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. “The right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are not guaranteed in Russia. Avoid all political or social protests and do not photograph security personnel at these events. Russian authorities have arrested US citizens who have participated in demonstrations”, the statement noted.

The advisory further asked the US citizens in Russia to carry proper identification documents including their passports with their current Russian visas and advised them to have a contingency plan that does not rely on US government assistance. The US citizens are asked to follow the Department’s Travel Advisory for Russia, issued on August 15, which is ‘Do Not Travel and Leave Immediately’. It is a level 4 advisory, the highest level.

The travel advisory had said that there was potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials, and U.S. citizens in Russia may be singled out by Russian government security officials for detention and other actions, and that Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia was limited. The embassy had also cited other issues like limited flights in and out of Russia, COVID-19-related restrictions, and terrorism. The embassy had also noted that U.S. credit and debit cards no longer work in Russia after the US-based major card companies withdrew from Russia in protest against the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the country’s first military mobilization since World War II on September 21. According to Russian officials, the draft would focus on reservists and will add 300,000 troops to the war effort. However, Russian media has reported that the true aim is one million additional troops. Reports mention that the recruitment of men having combat training and are above the draft age has sparked condemnation even from pro-Kremlin voices.

PFI Ban: Islamist organisation’s links with international terrorist outfits revealed during the investigation

OpIndia Staff
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PFI Ban: Islamist organisation’s links with international terrorist outfits revealed during the investigation

The Islamist organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI), was banned on September 28 by the Ministry of Home Affairs via a gazetted notification. Several revelations have been made by the investigation agencies as reasons behind the ban. The involvement of its members in anti-India, anti-social and terrorist activities is among the top reasons.

One such member who has been linked to terrorist organisations and anti-India activities is the founder member of the PFI, Prof P Koya. The National Executive Council member of PFI is a former member of the banned Islamist organisation Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and an Ansar during 1978-79. An Ansar, according to Islam, was the helper of Prophet Mohammed and his followers who provided the required support to bring “victory” during several wars. P Koya also played a role in creating a divide among the Mali and Gujjar communities in Rajasthan.

PFI’s links to IHH

In November 2020, it was reported by a Swedish research organisation named Nordic Monitor that PFI leaders had met Turkic extremist group İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı (IHH). The meeting took place on October 20, 2018, seven months before the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.

PFI
S Koya and E.M. Abdul Rahiman of PFI meeting with IHH members. Source: Nordic Monitor

The meeting, clouded in secrecy, was apparently part of Erdogan’s outreach toward Muslims in Southeast Asia. The two key PFI leaders who attended the meeting were E.M. Abdul Rahiman and Prof. P. Koya, members of the National Executive Council of the PFI, the report claims. It was attended by IHH Secretary-General Durmuş Aydın and IHH Vice President Hüseyin Oruç as well, and partnerships in various fields were discussed.

PFI
S Koya and E.M. Abdul Rahiman of PFI meeting with IHH members. Source: Nordic Monitor

The Nordic Monitor says that IHH works with Turkish intelligence service MIT, led by Erdogan loyalist Hakan Fidan, an Islamist as well. It also said that the PFI was promoted by Turkic state-run media Anadolu as a civic and social group, the members of which were abused by Indian police. The IHH was accused of having smuggled arms to Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jihadists in Syria in January 2014.

Presence of Taslim Rehmani in the meeting

Interestingly, during that meeting, Taslim Ahmed Rehmani, President of the Muslim Political Council of India and former member of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), was also present. SDPI is the political front of PFI.

PFI
PFI members including Taslim Rehmani (then-SDPI leader) meeting IHH. Source: Nordic Monitor

The presence of Rehmani in the meeting is also notable because he was the person who allegedly instigated former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nupur Sharma during a debate on Times Now by speaking ill of Shivalinga. Following his remarks, Nupur Sharma countered him, which was later published by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair as an “insult to Islam and Prophet Mohammed”. Sharma was suspended from the party, and the matter resulted in the murder of several Hindus, including Kanhaiya Lal from Rajasthan and Umesh Kohle from Maharashtra.

PFI, IHH and Majid Freeman

Majid Freeman is a local Leicester Muslim “activist” who is known to harbour problematic and extremist Islamic views. Throughout the Leicester violence, Majid was at the forefront of spreading fake news that instigated violence against Hindus.

On August 30, after the Leicester police got influenced by the Muslim organisations and lied about “death to Muslims” being chanted by Hindus (they later clarified their investigation found no such chants were heard), Majid took to Twitter to rabble-rouse against Hindus. Despite being debunked several times, Majid continued to instigate Muslims against Hindus in the UK.

Who is Majid Freeman

To understand who Majid Freeman is, we must travel back to 2013 when ISIS activity was at its peak in Syria. In 2013, BBC aired a documentary about the “Aid for Syria” convoy, which had “humanitarian organisations” and “activists” travelling to Syria to help those affected by ISIS atrocities. BBC, at the time, hid the names of the charities involved in the convoy – it was later revealed by analyst and scholar Sam Westrop that those charities were One Nation, Al Fatiha Global and Aid4Syria.

In 2013, when the Aid For Syria charity was being exposed as Islamist by several scholars, Majid Freeman was in Syria under this banner, with another “aid worker”, Alan Henning, who was later abducted and beheaded by ISIS. He was with Henning when he was abducted by ISIS, indicates reports.

Freeman spoke at the memorial service for Henning, calling him a beautiful man who helped when the international community looked away, however, according to a Telegraph report, only two weeks after the beheading, he started posting messages supporting ISIS. In his Facebook post, he asked for “dua” for a British ISIS terrorist, Ifthekar Jaman, who was charged with a Syrian terror plot. He also posted a video that essentially said that ISIS was a reasonable response to Western policy and said, “This brother hit the nail on the head”.

Majid Freeman, according to the Telegraph report, has expressed support for Al Qaeda terrorists calling them Shaheed, said that Al Aqsa will be conquered by Jihad and expressed sympathy and support to Al Qaeda clerics who incited terrorist attacks against non-Muslims.

Majid has, essentially, encouraged European Muslims to “do jihad in Syria” and has promoted “tributes” to the late Al Qaeda terrorist Anwar Al-Awlaki on his Twitter and Facebook accounts – this screenshot was posted by Sam Westrop in his expose.

Not only this, Majid Freeman has expressed his support for Pakistani terrorist Aafia Siddique.

Majid Freeman and his links with organisations connected to Al Qaeda, IHH – Is there a PFI connection?

At the heart of this question are three so-called charities that were ‘working’ in Syria – Aid4Syria, Al Fatiha Global (Aid4Syria’s parent organisation), IHH and Children in Deen and One Nation.

It is pertinent to note that Majid Freeman was travelling in the humanitarian convoy to Syria along with these organisations and is personally involved with others like One Nation and Aid4Syria.

Given the involvement of Majid Freeman in the violence against Hindus in Leicester, the misinformation he spread to instigate Muslims to target Hindus and his terror sympathising views and associations, one has to wonder if there is more to the violence than meets the eye. The fact that IHH was involved in the Syrian convoy, of which Freeman was a part, and that IHH has forged an alliance with radical Islamist PFI in India, which works explicitly against Hindus (read this vision document to know about their plans to turn India Islamic and subjugate Hindus) raises far more questions than it answers.

Pakistan officials come out in support of the banned Islamist outfit PFI

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan officials come out in support of the banned Islamist outfit PFI

Pakistani officials have openly come ahead to support the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). Rattled by the ban imposed on PFI and its allied organizations, Pakistan tried to gather international support for the Islamist organization. Pakistan’s Consulate General Vancouver tagged the Twitter handles of various organizations affiliated with the United Nations and European Union in its response to the tweet by the official handle of the PFI.

PFI tweeted, “Massive arrests are going on in the BJP-ruled states in the name of Preventive Custody. This is nothing but Prevention of d Right to democratic protests against d Central government’s witch-hunt targeting PFI is Quite natural & expected under this autocratic system.”

Replying to this tweet, Pakistan Consulate General Vancouver tagged the former executive director of the Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth, United Nations Human Rights Commission, United Nations Geneva, United Nations Human Rights Asia, United Nations Human Rights Council Secretariat, United Nations, European Commission, European Union at the United Nations, European Union Council, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the spokesperson of Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs. The sole purpose of this was to gather international support to back the Islamist organization banned in India.

It is notable that the same prominent international Twitter handles were tagged by the same Pakistan embassy’s Twitter handle while replying to a tweet blaming the Indian government for a so-called economic crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.

It is notable that, on September 27, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India banned the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associated or affiliated fronts with immediate effect for a period of five years by exercising its powers under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).

It is noteworthy that PFI and its sister organizations have a presence in over 17 states in the country. Police and NIA had registered over 1,300 criminal cases against the cadres of PFI and its front organizations in different states. Some of these cases were also registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act/UAPA, the Explosive Substances Act, the Arms Act, and other heinous sections of IPC.

In a gazetted notification, the GoI named its associates as Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.

Delhi Excise Policy scam: Arrested Indospirit MD Sameer Mahendru sent to ED custody till 6 October by a Delhi court

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Excise Policy scam: Arrested Indospirit MD Sameer Mahendru sent to ED custody till 6 October by a Delhi court

On Wednesday 28th September 2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru in the Delhi excise policy scam case. He was arrested in the morning, and his arrest is the second big arrest in the case after Vijay Nair. Mahendru is the managing director of Indospirit Group – a liquor distributor in Delhi’s Jor Bagh. Along with Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, he is also named as a key accused in the Delhi excise policy scam in the FIR filed by CBI.

After a day and night of questioning, the businessman in the liquor industry was taken into custody under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was presented before a court in Delhi, where the ED had sought custody for further interrogation. Accordingly, the court remanded Sameer Mahendru to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till October 6.

According to the FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Sameer Mahendru had sent two payments totalling many crores to Manish Sisodia’s close acquaintances. He reportedly transferred Rs 1 crore to Radha Industries, which is run by Sisodia’s close friend Dinesh Arora. Arjun Pandey received between Rs 2 and Rs 4 crore in cash from Mahendru on behalf of Vijay Nair, another Sisodia ally.

In the CBI FIR, it is mentioned, “Arun Ramchandra Pillai used to collect undue pecuniary advantage from Sameer Mahendru for onward transmission to the accused public servants through Vijay Nair. A person named Arjun Pandey has once collected a huge cash amount of about Rs 2-4 crore from Sameer Mahendru on behalf of Vijay Nair.”

On Tuesday 27th September 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Vijay Nair for his alleged involvement in the conspiracy in allocating liquor licenses. Nair served as the communication head for Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party and was formerly the CEO of the event management firm Only Much Louder.

Both the ED and the CBI are looking into alleged anomalies in the now-cancelled excise policy, which reportedly favoured some big liquor distributors and retailers while excluding smaller vendors from the tendering process.

GPS enabled Marine radio sets, pen drives with ISIS, Gajwa-e-Hind videos recovered from PFI leaders in Tamil Nadu

Siddhi Somani
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GPS enabled Marine radio sets, pen drives with ISIS, Gajwa-e-Hind videos recovered from PFI leaders in Tamil Nadu

Following the second round of crackdown, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday issued a notification banning the Islamist organization named Popular Front of India and its affiliate organizations. The MHA stated that the organizations including All India Imams Council, Campus Front of India (CFI), Rehab India Foundation, National Conf of Human Rights Org, National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, and Rehab Foundation, Kerala operated unlawfully and needed to be banned under UAPA.

The ban on the PFI came after two rounds of searches by the NIA in a multi-agency investigation against the organization for sponsoring terror operations in the nation. The initial series of raids occurred on September 22, with a follow-up on Tuesday, September 27 in multiple states, resulting in the arrest of at least 250 persons associated with PFI.

The NIA officials also recovered several incriminating materials from the PFI hubs located in around 17 states of the country. Prominent among them include a brochure and CD related to ‘Mission 2047’. As reported earlier, the document has been recovered from the possession of the vice president of PFI Maharashtra and PE training material from Irfan Milli’s house, State President PFI Maharashtra.

Further, a huge amount of undocumented cash has also been recovered from the PFI leaders of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also document in a ‘short course on how to make IEDs using easily available materials’. Meanwhile, pen drives containing videos related to ISIS, and Gajwa-e-Hind have been found from the Uttar Pradesh PFI leadership and Marine radio sets from Tamil Nadu PFI leadership. Many such other materials including wireless communication devices have been taken into custody by the official.

Marine radio establishing sea terror links

While the NIA officials recovered the ‘Mission 2047’ document and PE training material from the PFI hideout in Maharashtra, a huge amount of unaccounted cash and other incriminating devices were recovered from the PFI leaders of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, most important of those being GPS enabled wireless communication devices and marine radio sets. In the national crackdown on September 23, the NIA officials recouped wireless communication devices from the house of now arrested PFI member Barakabdullah.

Two Lowrance LHR-80 recovered from the residence of Barakathulla

Barakabdullah who also is Ramnad West District President and State President, Fisherman Wing, SDPI, was arrested from his house in Valinokkam in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. According to the reports, two wireless sets, Lowrance LHR-80 Floating Handheld VHF with GPS, were seized from his home. The receiver incorporates a distress call button and illuminated function buttons for nighttime use enabling easy communication and navigation. Reports mentioned that wireless gadgets are used to map water routes, and the apprehended suspect may have been utilizing them for sea terror actions and money exchange.

Lowrance LHR-80 is a combo radio and navigator, a floating handheld VHF Marine Radio with an inbuilt GPS function, made by American marine electronics company Lowrance.

Pen drives include video of Gajwa-e-Hind, 1993 Bombay riots

Notably, the pen drives and other digital devices including three mobile phones recovered from the PFI hideout in Uttar Pradesh contained a video of ISIS, a video of Gajwa-e-Hind, a video of a provocative speech, and a few video clips from the Islamic States. The pen drive also contained videos related to the 1993 Bombay riots and Kashmiri Mujahid. The PFI members had plans to spread the roots of the organization to almost every household by 2047. They also had plans to establish Islamic rule in the country by 2047, the year that would mark 100 years of the country’s independence.

For this purpose, the PFI leaders had prepared a document named ‘Mission 2047’ which had an “Internal document, Not for circulation”, written on it. The document stated that the Muslims in the country are denied their rights and that they should increase their population and target Hindus to become a political power in the coming 25 years.

According to the reports, the recovery of the pen drives, mobile phones, and other incriminating digital devices was made by the Police from the PFI outfit in Uttar Pradesh. The ATS last week arrested the PFI individuals from Varanasi, Lucknow, and Meerut for conspiring to break the country and form an Islamic nation in 2047. The ATS stated that these people were engaged in anti-national activities by preparing sleeper modules in the state.

PFI UP instigated Muslims by calling state ‘an anti-Muslim government’

The ATS identified 24 such accused associated with the PFI who were misleading the Muslims by setting rhetoric against the Hindu community in Uttar Pradesh. They also criticized the Central Government led by PM Modi and the state government led by CM Yogi Adityanath by calling it ‘an anti-Muslim government’. The ATS interrogated the arrested individuals on September 24 to learn that PFI also had plans to launch severe anti-Hindu protests like that of anti-CAA and NRC riots.

The arrested accused identified as Shadab Aziz Qasim from Meerut and Rizwan from Varanasi and 4 others associated with the PFI trained their cadres for guerrilla warfare tactics to attain Gajwa-e-Hind. The goal of PFI, according to the security agency, is to strive toward making India the Islamic Republic. The PFI adherents want India to build a new Sharia-law-based society by 2047 by targeting and harming Hindus and engaging in subversive operations. The accused associated with the PFI believe that the organization will not stop until the goal of Gajwa-e-Hind is attained.

Four arrested PFI members on September 23 from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

The ATS also arrested Mohammad Shadab Aziz Qasmi, the President of All India Imam Council Western UP, Maulana Sajid, Mufti Shahzad, and Mohammad Islam Qasmi who were members of the Adhoc Committee of PFI Uttar Pradesh. Also, Abdul Majeed who operated the PFI media cell from Lucknow was detained by the officials amid the raids. Reports mention that Majeed was involved in spreading communal violence during the Ram Janmabhoomi Pujan and abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. The ATS however earlier had arrested one PFI member named Raj Mohammed who had threatened to blow up the RSS offices in Tamil Nadu.

Promoting Love Jihad and religious conversion

The investigating agencies also revealed that the PFI activists were deliberately encouraging the Islamists to trap Hindu women in love affairs and produce more children ultimately expanding the Muslim community. The PFI asked its cadres and other Muslims to force the Hindu women to convert their religion to Islam. At every PFI gathering, the activist would influence Muslims to run the agenda of love jihad and religious conversion. The organization had also declared a financial reward of Rs 2 lakh, a shop, and a house to anyone who would convert a Hindu girl to Islam. Reports mention that several Islamic organizations from several Islamic countries provided funds to the PFI for this purpose.

The MHA in the notice issued on September 28 stated that some PFI activists had joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and taken part in terrorist acts in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Some of these PFI cadres affiliated with ISIS have been executed in these conflict zones, while others have been apprehended by state police and central authorities. According to the government, PFI has ties to Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a banned terrorist organization, and some of its founding members are leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), another banned organization.

The Home Ministry went on to say that the PFI’s office-bearers and cadres, along with others, were scheming and soliciting cash from within and beyond India via banking channels, ‘hawala’, and contributions as part of a “well-crafted criminal conspiracy.” According to the report, after collecting the finances, cadres moved, stacked, and integrated them through many accounts in order to present them as legal, and then utilized them to carry out various criminal, unlawful, and terrorist acts in India.

It is noteworthy that in the last couple of weeks, the central agencies, including NIA and ED, along with state police, have raided over a hundred locations linked to PFI across the country. More than 150 cadres of PFI were arrested or detained, including its chief OMA Salam.

Organising terror camps and engineering riots: OpIndia Exclusive on PFI’s ‘jihad’ of fomenting unrest and creating mayhem

OpIndia Staff
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Organising terror camps and engineering riots: OpIndia Exclusive on PFI’s ‘jihad’ of fomenting unrest and creating mayhem

As the centre banned the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) over its link with global terror outfits, including ISIS, the charge sheets filed by NIA in past cases against the group shone a light on its dangerous playbook—organising terror camps, hatching conspiracies, and engineering riots—as a part of its jihad against non-Muslims.

Narath PFI terror camp

Back in 2013, a group of people belonging to PFI/SDPI organised a terror camp at Narath, Kannur district, Kerala, and entered into a criminal conspiracy to impart training to youth for using explosives and weapons, intending to prepare them for carrying out terror activities.

However, the police got a tip-off about the terror camp underway at Narath and decided to raid the location. The police carried out a search operation on 24 March 2013 of the building owned by the Thanan Foundation, whose owner was the President of PFI, Kannur district. They found all the accused inside the building attending training in weapons and explosives.

The police recovered explosives, including 2 live bombs from the said location. The scrutiny of the bank accounts of some of the accused shed light on massive international transactions, revealing transnational involvement in organising the PFI terror camps in Kerala. Even the Enforcement Directorate found that PFI had raised substantial funds to organise terror camps in Kerala.

The investigations found that the SDPI/PFI leaders hatched the conspiracy to impart training in weapons and explosives to their cadres to retaliate against the alleged torture faced by Muslims in India, especially from the Hindus.

The NIA took over the case and invoked relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against the 24 accused in the case.

2020 Bengaluru riots case

On August 11, 2020, a Muslim mob went on a rampage and unleashed mayhem in Bengaluru over a Facebook post, which was allegedly derogatory to Prophet Mohammad. The post was uploaded by one P Naveen, the nephew of Congress legislator Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy.

The frenzied mob of 200-300 Islamists vandalised the residence of the Congress MLA and set police vehicles on fire. They also attacked police personnel in DJ Halli and KG Halli with stones and deadly weapons. Government properties and the building of KG Halli police station were destroyed in the arson attack.

In September 2020, an independent fact-finding committee published chilling testimonies of a few Hindu survivors, which proved that Hindus were selectively targeted and their homes and vehicles were damaged in the pre-planned carnage. 

During the deadly riots, 80 police officials sustained injuries. The Bengaluru police had arrested over 300 people in connection to the case and registered a total of 64 criminal cases.

One of the cases filed by the police was against Afnan, Muzammil Pasha, Syed Masood, and Ayaz for the destruction of public property.

As per the charge sheet filed by NIA, Pasha and Mohammed Sherif (SDPI President) were the key conspirators behind the riots that convulsed Bengaluru in August 2020. A provocative message was shared in a group, of which Pasha was one of the members. Instead of filing a complaint against Naveen, Pasha was found instigating the Muslim mob against him.

Naveen’s message was in response to a provocative video shared by Firdous Pasha in the group. Pasha knew well that Naveen would respond to the provocative video, and with this intention, he shared the incendiary clip with the group. Naveen’s response to the provocative video against Hindus was spread like a wildfire among Muslims to create unrest as Pasha desired to become a corporator and had joined the SDPI for the same reason.

SDPI Thanisandra ward convened a meeting on August 11 when the incident took place. Another WhatsApp group ‘brother’ shared video footage of happening outside the police station to further instigate the crowd. The investigating agencies later found that the majority of the accused were members of PFI and SDPI or gathered there on the call of PFI and SDPI leadership. 

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi opposes the ban on radical outfit PFI, plays the ‘Muslim victimhood’ card

OpIndia Staff
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AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi opposes the ban on radical outfit PFI, plays the ‘Muslim victimhood’ card

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday fulminated against the Centre after it banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) over its links with global terror outfits, including ISIS.

Owaisi addressed the issue in a series of tweets. Owaisi questioned why the PFI was outlawed when the organisation linked with the Khaja Ajmeri explosions was not. Why did the government not outlaw right-wing organisations? He stated, “while I have always opposed PFI doctrine and backed a democratic approach.” However, I oppose the ban on PFI. The action of a few individuals does not imply that the entire organisation should be banned.”

AIMIM chief went to play the victim card over what he called a ‘draconian ban’. Owaisi fear-mongering in his tweet, wrote, “But a draconian ban of this kind is dangerous as it is a ban on any Muslim who wishes to speak his mind.” Calling the UAPA a ‘black law’, Owaisi alleged that now every Muslim youth will be arrested with a PFI pamphlet. To support his claim, Owaisi cited the case of journalist Siddique Kappan, who was given bail 21 months after his detention.

Amidst his rant, Owaisi did not forget to take a jibe at BJP and Congress over amendments made in the UAPA law over time. Owaisi also questioned the government for not banning right-wing ‘majoritarian’ organizations.

Interestingly, Asaduddin Owaisi on an ABP News TV show with journalist Sumit Awasthi, while answering the question if PFI should be banned, said that if PFI wants to turn India into an Islamic country then it should have no place in the country and that banning the PFI is government’s duty. 

Ban on PFI

On September 27, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, exercised its powers under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), and banned the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associated or affiliated fronts for a period of five years with immediate effect.

It is worth noting that PFI and its sister organisations are present in over 17 states across the country. In several states, police and the NIA had filed over 1,300 criminal cases against PFI cadres and front organisations. Some of these cases were also filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act/UAPA, the Explosive Substances Act, the Arms Act, and other heinous IPC sections.

Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, and Rehab Foundation, Kerala were named as associates in a gazetted notification by the Government of India.

It is worth noting that in the past few weeks, central agencies such as the NIA and ED, along with state police, have raided over a hundred PFI-related locations across the country. More than 150 PFI cadres were arrested or detained, including the organization’s chief, OMA Salam.

Congress refuses to welcome the ban on PFI in as many words, issues word salad for statement: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Congress refuses to welcome the ban on PFI in as many words, issues word salad for statement: Read details

The Congress party has refused to openly welcome the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several other allied organizations. On 28th September 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs banned these organizations for a period of five years starting from immediate effect. Congress party issued a statement on the development, but the statement issued by the party did not openly welcome the move by the central government. It did not clearly mention the radical organization and why it is banned.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, the general secretary (communications) of the All India Congress Committee, issued an official statement on 28th September 2022, that reads, “The Congress party has always been and will continue to be against all forms and types of communalism – the majority, minority makes no difference. Congress’ policy has always been to fight uncompromisingly all ideologies and institutions that abuse religion to polarise our society, that misuse religion to spread prejudice, hate, bigotry, and violence. This fight is of utmost priority to preserve, protect, and celebrate the secular and composite construct of our society and nationhood.”

Though the Congress party’s statement does not mention any of the banned organizations including PFI, its leaders have shown through their statements that they want a similar action against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Congress Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Kodikunnil Suresh compared the radical outfit PFI to RSS.

He said, “We are also demanding a ban on RSS also. PFI ban is not a remedy. RSS is also indulging in communalism across the country. RSS is spreading Hindu communalism everywhere. RSS and PFI are equal. So, the government should ban both. Why only PFI? RSS is doing majority communalism. Wherever RSS is spreading majority communalism, minority communalism is also coming up. Ultimately, both communalism is dangerous.”

Sheikh Bashir Ahmed is the provincial secretary of the National Conference. He claimed that the PFI has minimal influence across the country. He said, “PFI is an organization having no significant influence at any place. The organization is not much known in the whole country. But, as the existence of the organization has come to light recently and as it is known that it was working against the security interests of the country, then banning this organization is not a bad thing. But the time frame of 5 years is not convincing. What would be the situation after five years?”

He further said, “No one should be allowed to play with the security concerns of the country, but there should not be selectiveness in the action. Even RSS was banned once upon a time. But after that RSS went on to grow and today it says that we are the biggest patriots in the world. Even their activities are not good. The things they are preaching should also be kept watch upon. And these things are not hidden from anyone. They are breaking the nation. Their activities in the country are not good. They should also be checked.”

Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPIM), on the other hand, started demanding action against RSS hours before the ban was imposed on PFI and other organizations. The ban order was issued on 28th September 2022. A day before that, on September 27, CPIM issued a press statement.

In the press release, CPIM stated, “The BJP President, J. P. Nadda, has said Kerala is becoming a hotspot of terrorism.  This false accusation cannot cover up the fact that political violence in Kerala is being perpetuated by killings and retaliatory killings indulged in by the RSS and the Popular Front of India (PFI).  This year itself, there have been four deaths due to killings and retaliatory killings by workers of these two organizations in the Alappuzha and Palakkad districts. This is a deliberate effort to vitiate communal peace in the state and create communal polarization.  It would be better for the BJP President to advise the RSS not to engage in such provocative activities.  The LDF government has been taking firm action against the violent activities of all extremist organizations.”

It is notable that, on September 27, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India banned the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associated or affiliated fronts with immediate effect for a period of five years by exercising its powers under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).

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