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Indian Muslims attack veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah for advising them to be peaceful, non-violent and not to support Taliban

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Muslims attack veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah for advising them to be peaceful, non-violent and not to support Taliban

A day after veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah condemned Indian Muslims for celebrating the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan, some Indian Muslims descended on the social media platforms to abuse the award-winning actor for asking Muslims to observe peace and non-violence and not support radical Islamist groups.

On Wednesday, Naseeruddin Shah released a video condemning a section of Indian Muslims for celebrating the onslaught of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The veteran actor termed a section of Indian Muslims celebrating the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan as dangerous.

“While the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan is a cause for concern for the whole world, celebrations by a section of Indian Muslims of the barbarians are no less concerning,” said Shah in a video.

His video had come as a reaction to a section of Indian Muslims glorifying the radical Islamist outfit Taliban for capturing Afghanistan using force. Prominent Muslim clerics, a section of Indian “secular-liberal” media, had congratulated the Taliban for its recent success in Afghanistan and had said that the victory of the Taliban in the war-torn country is a moment of celebration for the entire Islamic community. 

In response to such celebrations, the 71-year-old actor had released a video saying those rejoicing in the revival of the Taliban should question themselves if “they want to reform their religion or live with the old barbarism”.

In the video, Shah added that each Indian Muslim should ponder whether they are interested in a “reformed, modern Islam” or the “barbaric values” of past centuries. 

“I am an Indian Muslim, and, as Mirza Ghalib said years ago, my relationship with my God is informal. So I don’t need a political religion,” the veteran actor said.

Naseeruddin Shah also further distinguished between what he called “Hindustani Islam” and what is practised elsewhere. “May God not bring a time when Islam in India changes so drastically that it is no longer recognisable,” he said in the video that has gone viral now.

Islamists take offence against Naseeruddin Shah’s video, asks him to mind his own business

The timely video of Naseeruddin Shah advising the fellow Muslims about cosying up to the radical Islamists outfits such as the Taliban has created an outrage in the Muslim community. Several Muslims, including the literates ones, have taken offence to the video of the veteran actor and have asked him to stay away from commenting on Islam.

Rifat Jawaid, of pro-AAP blog Janta Ka Reporter, slammed Naseeruddin Shah for his comments and said that he should rather stick to his films and steer clear of topics he does not know.

Calling Naseeruddin Shah a “non-practising” Muslim, Jawaid attacked the veteran actor for demanding religious reforms in Islam. “I wish he had first practised Islam before coming up with this appalling suggestion,” Rifat Jawaid said in his Twitter post.

Saba Naqvi, another ‘journalist’, also had a problem with Naseeruddin Shah’s advice to Indian Muslims. Taking to Twitter, Saba Naqvi asked why are so many Indian Muslims being asked to condemn the Taliban. She asked whether Indian Muslims chose, elect or invite the Taliban to India.

Saba Naqvi further said that the veteran actor has fallen into a trap to speak on the issue of the Taliban take over of Afghanistan.

Well, it is not just Rifat and Saba. Since yesterday, several Muslim social media users have been active on Twitter to abuse and condemn Naseeruddin Shah for giving “friendly” advice to his Muslim brethren.

Mohammed Hazar Imam schooled Naseeruddin Shah, saying that there is no need for reforms in Islam and nobody can bring reforms to the religion. Hazar Imam also claimed that if one followed the rules of Islam with all sincerity, he would be successful not just in his life but also in life after his death.

Another user Abdul Shahid said that Islam is about following Quran and following the Sunnah of the Nabi and nothing else. Refuting Naseeruddin Shah, Shahid claimed that Islam was already complete since its inception 1400 years ago, and there is nothing to add or remove from the religion.

They were responding to the video shared by The Wire journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani. However, she has since done a flip flop on the entire issue. Initially, Arfa had taken to Twitter to post the video of Naseeruddin Shah on her timeline, quoting, “Indian Muslims should think whether they want reform and modernism in their religion or the values ​​of past centuries.”

However, she took a u-turn after Islamists began to abuse her on the timeline. Fearing condemnation from fellow co-religionists, Arfa took a u-turn, saying she disagreed with Naseeruddin Shah. She said he could not certify who is an ideal or perfect Muslim.

“Only Allah knows who is the most virtuous of us all,” Arfa said, adding that she does not agree with everything Naseeruddin Shah said.

Responding to Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who initially was on the same page as Naseeruddin Shah but later changed her stance after being trolled by Islamists, a social media user Wasim Shaikh warned both Arfa and Naseer to not offer their opinion on the issue as they have no status to talk about Islam. He said if Muslims acts like Mongols, the world will be full of Muslims by now.

Taki Khan indirectly compared Naseeruddin Shah to a dog.

Ever since Taliban took over Afghanistan, people have raised their concerns over human rights violation as well as women’s rights. Shocking visuals emerged from Afghanistan after Kabul fell to the Islamist group where people were trying to get out of the country in hope for a better future. Visuals of people hanging on to planes as they took off went viral along with visuals of Afghans falling from the sky from these planes. Amid all this, many Indian Muslims have welcomed the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Taliban is a believed to have drawn inspiration from Deobandi movement from Uttar Pradesh.

The son of the lion: Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Massoud follows into his father’s footsteps in fighting the Taliban

Jinit Jain
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The son of the lion: Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Massoud follows into his father’s footsteps in fighting the Taliban

Uprooting the Taliban is the guiding principle of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, a military alliance of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban fighters formed in the wake of the 2021 Taliban offensive. The group is led by vice president Amrullah Saleh and Afghan politician and military leader Ahmad Massoud, the 32-year-old son of the celebrated mujahedeen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

As fates would have it, Massoud found himself eerily at the same crossroads as his father did more than two decades ago. He needed to figure out whether to surrender to the Taliban and accept their supremacy or mount a resistance to reclaim his country. And expectedly, Massoud made the same choice his father did and picked up his tenacious fight against the Taliban.

Just days after the Taliban stormed Kabul and toppled the US-backed Ashraf Ghani government in a swift offensive on August 15, Massoud and Saleh retreated to Panjshir, a narrow mountainous valley province 70km north of Kabul, which has a storied history of never succumbing to invaders and whose residence swore allegiance to the legendary Massoud name.

It was the Panjshir valley from where the revered Afghan fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud controlled his anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban campaigns in the 1980s and 90s respectively. Now, as the Taliban once again threatens to establish its hegemony, Massoud’s son has aped his father and mobilised armed militias to launch the resistance movement against the fundamentalist group.

Who is Ahmad Massoud?

Ahmad Massoud was born in July 1989 in the Warsaj district of Afghanistan. He is the only son and the oldest of Ahmad Shah Massoud’s six children.

With Afghanistan remaining perpetually in flux, Massoud was sent to neighbouring Iran where he completed his secondary education. He then spent a year studying a military course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK.

In 2012, he began pursuing an undergraduate course in War Studies at King’s College London and obtained his bachelor’s degree three years later, in 2015. He also completed his master’s degree in International Politics from City, the University of London in 2016. Interestingly, his topic of dissertation in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses was the Taliban.

As Massoud was occupied with his intellectual pursuits, the condition back in Afghanistan deteriorated sharply, with the Taliban making significant gains amidst a rudderless US-led NATO campaign. After completing his master’s degree, Massoud returned to Afghanistan to mobilise resistance against the Taliban.

On August 18, three days after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, Massoud penned a poignant opinion piece in the Washington Post, describing his opinions on the protracted struggle that lies ahead of him and his fellow resistance members.

“I write from the Panjshir Valley today, ready to follow in my father’s footsteps, with mujahideen fighters who are prepared to once again take on the Taliban. We have stores of ammunition and arms that we have patiently collected since my father’s time because we knew this day might come,” Massoud wrote, highlighting the inevitable that lays ahead.

Massoud also cautioned the west on leaving Afghanistan in the lurch, asserting that such an ill-thought strategy could haunt the countries for years to come as it would provide a breeding ground not just to the Taliban, but also to the forces inimical to democracies around the world and spawn a new wave of radical Islamist terrorism.

“The Taliban is not a problem for the Afghan people alone. Under Taliban control, Afghanistan will, without doubt, become ground zero of radical Islamist terrorism; plots against democracies will be hatched here once again,” Massoud wrote.

Massoud is currently in Panjshir and raising an armed militia to confront the Taliban. In his interaction with French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, Massoud harked back to the harangue his father delivered to his soldiers in a cave in Panjshir in 1998. “When you fight for your freedom, you fight also for our freedom,” Massoud told Levy he heard his father saying it to a gathering of soldiers.

Inviting all anti-Taliban forces to combine their efforts against the Taliban, Massoud told Levy that the “resistance has just begun” as “surrender is not a part of his vocabulary”.

Invoking this belief, Massoud, in his opinion write-up, sought help from the West, saying, “We have fought for so long to have an open society, one where girls could become doctors, our press could report freely, our young people could dance and listen to music or attend soccer matches in the stadiums that were once used by the Taliban for public executions — and may soon be again.”

Regardless of whether the West throws its weight behind Massoud or not, several reports say he has already attracted thousands of soldiers to the valley, including remnants of the Afghan Army’s special forces and some of Ahmad Shah Massoud’s experienced guerrilla commanders, who see in Massoud not only a striking resemblance to his father but also a reflection of his grit and determination.

The legacy of Ahmad Shah Massoud

Ahmad Shah Massoud is a legendary figure in Afghanistan, hailed by his followers as a revolutionary hero. He was born in 1953 in Bazarak in the Panjshir Valley to a well-to-do family native to the Panjshir valley. While he was born in Panjshir, he spent most of his time in Kabul after his family shifted from the valley to Herat and then finally to the Afghan capital.

Massoud, the father, was a Francophile who was educated in the lycée in Kabul. His birth name was Ahmad Shah but he embraced the name “Massoud” as nom de guerre when he went into the resistance movement in 1974. But he rose to prominence as an ethnic Tajik mujahideen commander after joining the rebel forces against the Soviets in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s.

Massoud earned the sobriquet of “Lion of Panjshir” among his followers for his role as a powerful insurgent leader of the Afghan mujahideen after he successfully repelled the Soviets from capturing the Panjshir Valley. In the late 1990s, he redirected his armed rebellion against the Taliban, rejecting their puritanic interpretation of Islam. He was pushed back to Tajikistan for anti-Taliban activities, following which he became the military and political leader of the Northern Alliance, which by 2000 controlled only between 5 and 10 per cent of the country.

Lion of Panjshir Ahmad Shah Massoud

Then in April 2001, Massoud travelled to Strasbourg to forewarn the European Parliament about Afghanistan being used as a base for the terror by Osama bin Laden. In the same year on September 9, two days before the 9/11 attacks, Massoud was killed in a bomb attack by Al-Qaeda. The assassination was said to have been a gift by Laden to the Taliban that reportedly won him protection from the group. The 9/11 attacks ultimately resulted in NATO allying with the Northern Alliance and deposing the Taliban from power in December 2001.

The Taliban steps up attacks to bring Panjshir Valley under control

With the Panjshir Valley being Afghanistan’s only remaining holdout, the Taliban has intensified its offensive to bring the last independent enclave under its control. It has laid siege to the region and called upon the National Resistance Front (NRF) to lay down its arms.

The development came after negotiation talks between the Taliban and the NRF that took place on Wednesday failed to yield any result. The resistance force said it will continue its campaign against the Taliban. 13 members of the Taliban were killed in an ambush by National resistance in the Chikrinow district of Panjshir province, and one of their tanks was destroyed.

As the resistance force girds for the impending clashes with the Taliban, it remains to be seen whether Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh succeed in preserving the valley’s reputation as the deathbed of invaders or does the Taliban trounces the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan to consolidate their grip over the country.

Fake video claiming death of actor Sidharth Shukla captured by CCTV goes viral: Here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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Fake video claiming death of actor Sidharth Shukla captured by CCTV goes viral: Here is the truth

Just minutes after news reports emerged that actor Sidharth Shukla died due to a heart attack, some social media users took to Twitter to post a video claiming that the footage of the actor’s death was captured on CCTV.

A social media user identified as @HalkutManus posted CCTV footage to claim that Sidharth Shukla’s tragic death due to a heart attack was captured on a CCTV camera.

In the viral video, a young man in his workout gear can be seen climbing steps, who suddenly stops as he faces discomfort. He sits on the steps to take a bit of rest. The young man can be seen in massive pain, who presses his chest and arms. A minute later, the young man, who is being claimed as Sidharth Shukla, tries to climb the steps, however, he suffers further discomfort again.

As he sits on the steps, he loses his consciousness and collapses onto the floor.

The purported video that has gone viral on the internet is not connected to the deceased actor Sidharth Shukla.

Fact Check:

The viral video has been doing rounds on the internet for over a week now. The CCTV footage was captured from an apartment in Bengaluru. The video pertains to an incident in which a 33-year-old young man from Bengaluru could be seen falling unconscious on staircase.

The young man collapsed due to a heart attack after a gym session. Incidentally, there is a time stamp on the CCTV footage that clearly shows that the incident was recorded on 25-August-2021, almost a week before Sidharth Shukla’s death.

Hence, the video has no connection to Sidharth Shukla’s death whatsoever.

Actor Sidharth Shukla passed away on Thursday at the Cooper Hospital in Mumbai. The 40-year-old actor suffered a massive heart attack in the morning that led to his death.

He gained popularity by his role in serials like Balika Vadhu and also emerged as the winner in the reality show Bigg Boss 13. He also acted in Dil Se Dil Tak and hosted the crime drama series Savdhaan India and the reality show India’s Got Talent. He made his Bollywood debut in 2014 in the film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.

According to reports, last night, he took his medicines but did not wake up in the morning.

China plans to control “terrorism” in Xinjiang by shrinking the number of Uyghur Muslims using “population optimisation strategy”

OpIndia Staff
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China plans to control “terrorism” in Xinjiang by shrinking the number of Uyghur Muslims using “population optimisation strategy”

The global pressure and backlash seem to have no effect on China as it continues to thrust restrictions on the Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang. Calling West delusional for going hammer and tongs at Beijing’s human rights violations, China has now imposed a new strategy to curb the population of Uyghur Muslims, as the govt considers the minority community a terrorism threat.

This was revealed in a report by German researcher Adrian Zenz, based on official Chinese documents and academic debates. In the paper titled “End the Dominance of the Uyghur Ethnic Group”: An Analysis of Beijing’s Population Optimization Strategy in Southern Xinjiang published in peer-reviewed journal Central Asian Survey, Dr. Adrian Zenz suggests that this campaign to destroy an ethnic minority population could be classified as genocide under the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention.

According to the report, Chinese academics and politicians in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have argued that the region’s “terrorism” problem can only be solved by “optimizing” southern Xinjiang’s ethnic population structure. High Uyghur population concentrations are deemed a national security threat by the administration.

As per official Chinese documents cited in the report, Beijing has imposed a “population optimisation strategy” to reduce the population of the Uyghur Muslims in the country’s southern Xinjiang. Under this strategy, China is settling the people of the Han Chinese community in Uyghur populated regions to dwindle the numbers. Additionally, China has imposed strict birth controls on the Uyghurs. 

China reportedly sees a tiny percent of Hans population in Southern Xinjiang as a potential security concern and hence trying to populate the area with ethnic population. Adrian Zenz on the new development said, “Increasing the Han population is seen as the number-one method to control southern Xinjiang and suppress the unrest that could be created by Uyghurs in resistance.”

“China’s policies are designed to achieve assimilation (by) trying to neutralize, assimilate, and dilute the Uyghur population,” revealed Zenz further. 

Beijing is also looking to promote interfaith marriage, interethnic marriage as a way to dilute the Uyghurs, informed a senior fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington. 

“If you mix a lot of Han into an Uyghur community, that community changes. You can also justify a change in policy so that you no longer need to respect the minority language or religion because it’s no longer mono-ethnic, (but rather) multiethnic,” he added. 

China, however, is undeterred in its agenda to persecute the Uyghur Muslims despite facing increased global scrutiny. Currently, as many as 2,000 ethnic Uyghurs born or living in Afghanistan fear being deported to China. 

A fearful Uyghur jewellery merchant from Kabul and the father of five said, “I’m most fearful that the Taliban will eventually give us back to China, and China will just shoot us.”

Reportedly, the Chinese foreign minister in Tianjin met a Taliban delegation last month and asked the Jihad organization’s cooperation in combating the extremist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Afghanistan. The ETIM is a U.N.-designated international terrorist organization linked to Uyghurs living outside China.

Jharkhand: Cops thrash army jawan in Chatra for not wearing mask, video goes viral

Vijay Deo Jha
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Jharkhand: Cops thrash army jawan in Chatra for not wearing mask, video goes viral

An Indian army jawan Pawan Kumar Yadav was badly beaten by cops in Chatra district in Jharkhand on Wednesday for not wearing mask. Ironically, neither cops nor senior officers of the mask checking drive were wearing mask properly.

Later on, Chatra SP Rakesh Ranjan suspended three cops and two were attached to police line on late Wednesday night.

“Three cops have been suspended and two cops attached to police line. But initial investigation has suggested that the army jawan was at fault who first abused cops on the duty,” Chatra SP informed.    

The incident took place at Karma Chowk under Mayurhand police station area about 45 km from the district headquarters. The army jawan identified as a native of Arabhusahi village under Katkamsandi police station of Hazaribagh, was passing through the chowk on his bike.

Since he had not masked his face he was stopped by cops and one of the cops Havaldar Sanjay Bahadur Rana took away key of his bike. That infuriated Yadav who protested strongly and warned cops to behave properly.

This soon escalated into assault and outrage as cops knocked down Yadav and mercilessly beaten him.  All these happened in presence of magistrate cum Block Development Officer Saket Kumar Singh besides Assistant Sub-Inspectors Jawahar Ram and Munna Prasad. All of them were silently watching cops assaulting Yadav despite he had revealed his identity. Yadav is GD jawan posted in Jodhpur.

Amid chaos the jawan was taken to police station. Local residents objected to cops dragging and thrashing an army jawan and they also blocked Itkhori-Jihu road. The blockade could be removed on late Wednesday night after Chatra SP suspended three cops and attached two cops to policeline.  

The incident could have gone unnoticed and unreported but somebody filmed the incident and uploaded it on social sites that became viral in no time. The local BJP MP Sunil Kumar Singh too spoke to Chatra SP Rakesh Ranjan about the incident. Now in order to save the face and situation Chatra SP directed DSP (Headquarter) Kedar Ram to submit report.  On the basis of his report Chatra SP took action against five cops.

Md Sarfaraz, a local resident however pointed out that Chatra SP should teach discipline and civic sense to his cops.

“Here in Chatra even a cop carries arrogance of IPS. On the name of mask and helmet checking they abuse civilians,” said Sarfaraz.

Actor Sidharth Shukla dies of heart attack in Mumbai

OpIndia Staff
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Actor Sidharth Shukla dies of heart attack in Mumbai

Television actor Sidharth Shukla died of heart attack in Mumbai.

He gained popularity by his role in serials like Balika Vadhu and also emerged as winner in reality show Bigg Boss 13. He also acted in Dil Se Dil Tak and hosted crime drama series Savdhaan India and reality show India’s Got Talent. He made his Bollywood debut in 2014 in the film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.

According to reports, last night he took his medicines, but did not wake up in the morning. Shukla was 40 years old

Supreme Court orders status quo on Patna HC order for demolition of Waqf building, next hearing on Oct 18

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court orders status quo on Patna HC order for demolition of Waqf building, next hearing on Oct 18

On August 30, the Supreme Court stayed the demolition orders issued by Patna High Court of a proposed Waqf Board ‘Musafirkhana’ building constructed in the close proximity of the newly inaugurated Centenary Building of the High Court.

In its order, the High Court had said that the building was in gross violation of the provisions of The Waqf Act, 1995; Bihar Municipal Act, 2007; and Bihar Building By-Laws, 2014.

Justice UU Lalit was presiding over a three-judge bench that issued notice to the Bihar State Building Construction Corporation (BSBCC) and the State of Bihar based on the petition filed by the Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board and ordered status quo of the building.

Waqf board’s petition in Supreme Court

In its petition in the Supreme Court, Bihar Waqf Board said that the project was commenced in accordance with the Waqf Act, 1995. The Bihar government’s architect also approved the construction. The petition stated that as per bylaw no. 8(1) (A) of the Bihar Buildings Bylaws, there was no permission required from the Patna Municipal Corporation for carrying out the construction as the plans were signed by the government architect.

It read, “In the present case, the construction plans were approved by the Minority Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, and the Map and Plan of construction was approved by the senior architect of the Bihar State Building Construction Corporation, which is a government company,” the Waqf Board contended. “Therefore, the construction having been carried out by the state department and the plan having been approved by the senior architect of Bihar State Building Construction Corporation, no separate sanction was required from the Patna Municipal Corporation.”

While mentioning the High Court’s judgement where the court said that the construction had violated bylaw no. 21 that stipulates an unexceptionable and absolute embargo upon the construction of any building exceeding 10 meters in height within 200 meters radius of the boundary of important buildings, including the High Court, the Waqf board said, “The state authorities and the Waqf Board had had themselves agreed to demolish the offending portion of the building (i.e. to bring the building within the height of 10 meters)”.

High Court had ordered the demolition

In its August 3 judgement, the Patna High Court had stated that the construction was illegal as per Bihar Building Bylaws, 2014. The court said, “Such construction made without a valid sanction plan must thus be held to be an illegality rather than a mere irregularity.” The court had added that no approvals were taken from the Patna Municipal Corporation.

Three judges, Ashwani Kumar Singh, Justice Vikash Jain and Rajendra Kumar Mishra agreed on the lead judgement by Justice Jain to completely level the construction and deemed it as an illegally constructed building that violates the bylaws. Justice Chakradhari Singh directed the state government in order to set up an inquiry commission. Justice Amanullah, however, was against the demolition and deemed the construction as irregular and not illegal.

Bihar Chief Secretary and other stakeholders had agreed in a meeting to limit the height of the building to 10 meters and presented the proposal in the High Court, but it was rejected. The court said, “It is too late in the day for damage control. The respondents have collectively undermined the statutory provisions with complete abandon and lack of accountability far beyond the limits of mere negligence.”

The matter will be next heard in the Supreme Court on October 18.

Priyanka Chopra’s Bvlgari mangalsutra photoshoot triggers ‘feminists’, call it ‘symbol of patriarchal oppression’

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Chopra’s Bvlgari mangalsutra photoshoot triggers ‘feminists’, call it ‘symbol of patriarchal oppression’

Priyanka Chopra in her recent photoshoot with Vogue magazine sported a ‘mangalsutra’ by the designer brand Bvlgari.

This has triggered the so-called feminists who have accused her of wearing a symbol of ‘patriarchal oppression’.

i_quinboot on Twitter

One Twitter user ‘quinboot’ who uses ‘she/her’ pronouns in her bio and identifies herself as 19-year-old marxist-feminist, accused Chopra of ‘exploiting’ feminism for personal economic gains.

Amulya’s tweet

Another feminist was also upset that Priyanka Chopra was making a lot of money by partnering with Bvlgari for mangalsutra. She then compared the holy symbol of matrimony to dowry, a social evil and claimed mocked the same.

Feminists hating on Priyanka Chopra

In fact, not just these, former India Today journalist Aishwarya Subramanyam, too, had an elaborate meltdown over Priyanka Chopra’s photoshoot.

Aishwarya Subramanya’s meltdown on Priyanka Chopra

In fact, she even went on to mock other Hindu symbols like the Janeu, ‘that Brahmin thread thingy’ as described by her friend.

@otherwarya on Instagram

More Hindu symbols of matrimony were mocked because Priyanka Chopra wore a mangalsutra.

In fact, not just that, she even held a Clubhouse discussion on the same. Earlier, Subramanyam was found justifying rape culture of the ‘woke liberals’ after a Clubhouse conversation normalising rape culture went viral on social media. She was also part of the Clubhouse discussion where along with other social media influencers, like Kusha Kapila discussed ‘hate sex’ with Sanghis and ‘Sanghis’s were dehumanised.

The Bvlgari mangalsutra Priyanka Chopra wore retails for Rs 3,49,000.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani: A lifetime of peddling Pakistan’s agenda in Jammu and Kashmir. A profile

OpIndia Staff
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Syed Ali Shah Geelani: A lifetime of peddling Pakistan’s agenda in Jammu and Kashmir. A profile

Pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who spearheaded the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir for over three decades, died at his residence in Hyderpora in Srinagar at the age of 92 years.

The hardline separatist leader was buried in Srinagar’s Hyderpora area on Thursday amidst attempts by Pakistan and its sympathisers in Kashmir to stoke tensions in the Union Territory. Geelani was buried at Srinagar’s “Martyrs’ Cemetery”, where most terrorists and separatist leaders have been buried. The police allowed only a limited number of his relatives to attend the funeral.

Here is a brief profile of Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his pro-Pakistan propaganda in Kashmir for over seven decades.

Who is Syed Ali Shah Geelani?

Born on September 29, 1929, at Zurmanz in Bandipore, Syed Ali Shah Geelani became the face of the pro-Pakistan agenda in Jammu and Kashmir. After his early education in his home town, Geelani travelled to Lahore for higher studies. He returned to India after finishing his degree in Islamic theology and worked as a teacher.

Geelani started his political career under Maulana Mohammad Sayeed Masoodi, a senior National Conference (NC) leader. Later, on instigation from Pakistan, Geelani quit NC to join radical Islamic organisation Jamaat-e-Islami. The pro-Pakistan radical Islamic organisation has been implicitly involved in spreading unrest and violence in the valley.

Geelani first contested the Assembly elections in 1972 from the Sopore constituency in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. He won the elections for two successive terms, first in 1972 and then in 1977. He lost the 1982 poll to NC candidate, however, he won the controversial 1987 polls for his third term. The last term ended abruptly in 1987 after Pakistan-sponsored terrorists created havoc in the valley, which led to the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits.

Geelani, a face of Pakistan in Kashmir

Geelani, a three-time legislator and the face and voice of Pakistan in Kashmir, was active in the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir for around seven decades. In the 1990s, with active support from Pakistan, Geelani instigated several Kashmiri Muslim youths to pick up arms against the state. In a way, Geelani was the chief architect of terrorism in the valley.

With active backing from Pakistan, Geelani advocated for an armed struggle to resolve the Kashmir issue and opposed the government of India. Geelani was one of the masterminds of the separatist movement in Kashmir, who founded the Hurriyat Conference in 1993. He was a staunch supporter of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession with Pakistan.

A vocal supporter of Pakistan and its designs in the Kashmir valley, Geelani had made it clear that his agenda is Islamism, packaged and delivered as per Pakistan’s wishes. “Hum Pakistani Hain Aur Pakistan Hamara Hai”, was his famous slogan.

Imran khan mourning for Geelani

However, internal power struggles and ideological issues led to growing tensions between him and other members of the Hurriyat Conference, leading to a split in 2003. In 2004, Geelani also quit from Jamaat-e-Islami when it distanced itself from terrorism, and formed his own political outfit, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

Geelani and his minions were responsible for pushing generations of Kashmiri youth towards bloodshed, violence and hatred. While his own progeny enjoyed a sheltered, lavish life, Geelani spent his life inciting the poor and uneducated people in Kashmir to shun development, education and embrace the hollow ideologies that brought nothing but violence and misery.

Faced crackdown in later part of his life

In March 2019, Syed Ali Shah Geelani was charged with a penalty of over Rs 14 lakh by the Enforcement Directorate under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for illegally possessing foreign exchange of USD 10,000. A month later, the officials attached the properties belonging to Geelani located at Delhi over tax fraud.

In a massive crackdown on the separatist Hurriyat leaders in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, the security cover of 18 Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani was withdrawn by the government calling it a wastage of resources. 

In 2020, eight months after the Modi government scrapped the controversial special provisions of Article 370 granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Geelani resigned as head of the Hurriyat in June 2020.

The separatist leader, who was on the payroll of Pakistan and its intelligence agency ISI, had also written a detailed two-page letter highlighting the reasons behind his resignation from the Hurriyat Conference. Apparently, Geelani had quit the pro-Pakistan separatist unit 27 years’ association after he had founded it, claiming that he was being sidelined by Pakistan and its army intelligence, the ISI.

Last year, the Pakistan government awarded him with Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian honour of the country.

Geelani’s life was the living narration of how a pro-Pakistan Islamist agenda ruined millions of lives in the Kashmir valley, made the Pandits refugees in their own country and pushed a resource-rich, beautiful region into decades of meaningless violence.

‘We are the custodians of Taliban, they got shelter and home in Pakistan’: Says Pakistani minister Sheikh Rashid

OpIndia Staff
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‘We are the custodians of Taliban, they got shelter and home in Pakistan’: Says Pakistani minister Sheikh Rashid

After the Taliban called Pakistan their ‘second home’, Pakistani Minister Sheikh Rashid has now confessed on a TV show that the Imran Khan-led government has indeed been the custodian of the Talibani leaders. 

“We are the custodians of Taliban leaders. We have taken care of them for long. They got shelter, education and a home in Pakistan. We have done everything for them,” declared Rashid openly while speaking on Hum News programme ‘Breaking Point with Malick’.

Welcoming the Taliban and snubbing the US, Rashid in another interview last week had also revealed that Pakistan is unwilling to shelter the US troop for a long time. “Their stay in the country is only for a limited period,” remarked the minister. 

It is notable here that Rashid is the same person who had once said Pakistan has the technology to develop ‘smart bombs’ that would kill only Hindus in India and spare the Muslims.

The Imran Khan government is gradually shedding its pretence of having nothing to do with the Jihadi organization. In fact, as the Taliban strengthens its position in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s dreams of ‘conquering’ Kashmir with its assistance has come to the fore. 

Speaking on a Pakistani news channel, Neelam Irshad Sheikh, a leader of Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party had said that ‘the Taliban are with us’ and that they will help win Kashmir. 

Pakistan defends the Taliban

The Pakistani Interior Minister’s comments come shortly after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asserted that Islamabad would continue to play a constructive role to support Afghanistan.

“It is essential for the world community to stay engaged with Afghanistan to stabilise the situation and help the Afghan people economically and to continue providing humanitarian assistance,” said Qureshi making Afghanistan their new favourite neighbour. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan too in a recent interview called the Taliban ‘normal citizens’. He also justified the Jihadi actions by claiming that the Afghan population had broken the ‘chains of slavery’ with the Taliban coming to power.

“We look forward to deepen ties with Pakistan”

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid during a television interview expressed his love and relation with Pakistan. 

“Afghanistan shares its borders with Pakistan. We are traditionally aligned when it comes to religion, the people of both countries mingle with each other. So we are looking forward to further deepening of ties with Pakistan,” said Mujahid adding he would want to establish good relations with India too. 

“The ISKP has links with the Taliban”

Acting president of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh has been the strongest critique of Pakistan for giving shelter to the Taliban. Saleh has been incessantly talking about the deep ties between the terror organizations breeding in both countries. 

“Every evidence we have in hand shows that IS-K cells have their roots in Talibs and Haqqani network, particularly those operating in Kabul. Talibs denying links with ISIS is identical/similar to the denial of Pakistan on Quetta Shura. Talibs have learned very well from the master,” Saleh reiterated after the bomb blast that killed over a 100 civilians in Kabul last week. 

Prior to this, Saleh had accused Pakistan of setting up terrorist factories and camps that provide explosives materials to the Taliban to create chaos in Afghanistan.

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