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Kerala: KSRTC seeks compensation of Rs 5.06 crores from PFI for damaging buses, says 71 damaged buses won’t resume services soon

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: KSRTC seeks compensation of Rs 5.06 crores from PFI for damaging buses, says 71 damaged buses won’t resume services soon

On Tuesday, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) moved to the Kerala HC seeking compensation of Rs 5.06 crores from the Popular Front of India (PFI) for losses caused to the corporation during the strike called by the PFI. The PFI on September 13 had called for state-wide protests against the NIA raids and had damaged around 71 KSRTC buses.

According to the reports, the PFI workers created a ruckus in the state during the protest last week and damaged several KSRTC buses by pelting stones at them and breaking the bus windshields. Buses and cars were damaged by the PFI workers at Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, and Wayanad districts of Kerala.

As reported earlier, many of the private buses were also destroyed by the PFI workers. Around 71 of the KSRTC buses were damaged and 11 KSRTC employees were injured. The corporation incurred severe losses from the attack and has sought compensation of Rs 5.06 crores from the Popular Front of India (PFI).

Reports mention that the buses have become non-operational from September 23 and that the losses incurred from non-operation of these services will be accounted as loss from the hartal. The buses will resume their services only after repair works.

The Kerala High Court earlier filed a suo motu complaint against members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) for declaring a one-day statewide bandh in the state without permission and for inciting violence. The court stated that hartal had previously been prohibited and that the damage to public property could not be tolerated.

The Court impleaded PFI State General Secretary A Abdul Sathar as an additional respondent in the case and has directed the State government to file a report. The matter will be taken up next on September 29.

The second phase of the statewide crackdown on the Islamic group Popular Front of India (PFI) is underway, days after multi-agency raids on key leaders and officials resulted in over a hundred arrests. So far, 247 people have been arrested. Investigations are being carried out in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh. PFI has been accused of supporting terrorism, arming Muslim youngsters, and radicalizing them to join terrorist organizations. 

From the US to UP, Hindus are awakening: Of hope and caution because the task for our generation is cut out

Omendra Ratnu
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From the US to UP, Hindus are awakening: Of hope and caution because the task for our generation is cut out

On 10th March 2022, we prepared ourselves for the worst outcome of the UP assembly elections. All media trends and internet chatter indicated a very narrow win or even a defeat for the BJP in UP. It would be an eternal nightmare for Hindus like us who had celebrated the experiment of a Hindu Sanyasi leading the Hindus politically out of a morass created by the Leftist-Congress-Jehadi cabal in the past seven decades. 

Yogi Adityanath embodied not just the spiritual prowess of Hindu Dharma but also gave hope to the depressed Hindu Samaj that the traditional Mathas of Hindus could rise to fight their existential wars when the need arose. 

The defeat of Yogi Adityanath would not be a mere electoral setback. It would mean a civilisational loss for Hindus from which recovery would be at least arduous, if not impossible.

It would also mean that the average Hindu had become so depleted in intellect and his ‘Shatru-Bodha’ or enemy consciousness, that he was ready to forsake his own safety and prosperity and bring in the Samajwadi Party which had unleashed a dance of death for Hindus in its previous tenure. 

And then as results started pouring in, the adrenaline started settling down and we heaved a sigh of relief by the time all the results were in, announcing a comfortable win for BJP under Yogi Adityanath.

Few months after this election, a book titled, Maharanas: A thousand year war for Dharma was released by the Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi . 

Amit Shah talked of the Hindu Samaj rising up to rewrite its glorious history. 

Then the book tour of the Maharanas through Bharat and the US was undertaken by the writer to a very attentive Hindu Samaj in Bharat and the US, which rejoiced in the glory and valour of its ancestors and was ready to unshackle itself from the chains of the mental slavery which had been thrust upon it by the Leftist-Jehadi cabal.

From Bhilai to Bhagyanagar to Bengaluru, from Kashi to Karnawati, from New Delhi to New Jersey, and from the East Coast of the US to the West Coast, the sense of awakening and the will to rise to the civilizational challenge is surely taking shape in the Hindu consciousness.

What is the cause of this awakening? How has this spell of doom, cast over unsuspecting Hindus been losing its grip? What is the single reason that a critical mass of Hindus is rising up and noticing the evil game being played around them in the name of coexistence and secularism?

It is the advent of the internet. Social Media has made it possible for a small but significant group of awakened Hindus to broadcast the truth to every Hindu on this globe.

While we were analyzing the UP results of March 2022, the only reasonable deduction for this win was a Hindu consolidation against a looming Jihadi apparatus about to take over the state. All atrocity literature maligning Yogi Adityanath on spurious issues, all fake projections and forecasts were defeated by one path-breaking event: the Hindu consolidation in favour of the BJP under Yogi.

All castes of Hindus in the Uttar Pradesh shed their pettiness and ignored the calls of their myopic caste leaders to Rally around him on a singular issue: Hindu survival.

This is a tectonic shift in the Hindu consciousness of the day.

What brought this shift? 

The hard and courageous work of Hindu thought leaders like Pushpendra Kulshrestha, Sanjay Dixit, Tufail Chaturvedi, Neeraj Atri, Madhu Kishwar, and the likes of them is bearing fruit as Hindus are waking out of sloth and indifferences with each passing day.

The videos of these modern sages managed to reach the most remote villages in UP helping educate the average Hindu on the street. The stoat dance of Leftists-Islamists is very gradually losing its charm for Hindus as the reality of Sufism, the Dargahs, Shero-Shayari, Bollywood, and Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb is being revealed.

The biggest culprits of this treacherous game still remain the Hindu Dharmacharyas and Mathadheeshas who are either dumb or complicit in their complete silence on the unleashing of terror and mayhem by Islamists. The complete lack of ‘Poorva-Paksha’ on the civilisational attack on Hinduism is the singular reason for the infantilisation of the Hindu mind. The average Hindu is just a beast of burden who raises a family, collects his EMIs and pays the taxes while a group of lampoons sits on its haunches and enjoys the fruits of the labour of Hindus. This evil group also beheads and rapes Hindus periodically to cripple us with fear as lawmakers and enforcers watch this anarchy helplessly. 

On top of this, the Hindu leadership has the gall to preach to Hindus to not only keep on dancing to this song of death but also keep indulging this group of criminals in day-to-day civic life. The climax of the great masterpiece ‘Godfather’ has a very significant lesson for Hindus if we pay attention to it. 

Don Corleone on his death bed gives parting advice to his son Michael. Corleone’s family was at war with the Tattanglia family. Don tells Michael that whosoever brings the peace proposal with the Tattanglias to you is a traitor. After Don’s demise, Tessio brings that proposal to Michael. Michael eliminates him. 

When an entire society raises its children on hatred of Hindus and justifies the murder and rape of Hindus in its theology, any Hindu religious or political leader who talks of peace is only playing the role that Tessio played in The Godfather. Peace is a contract between two equals, where mutually assured destruction is the only deterrent from violence. The only other contract is that of master and slave. 

Hindu leadership has been pushing the Hindu Samaj to slavery by talking peace with a bunch of rapists and murderers. 

Although the comforting whispers of lies of the Leftists reverberating the entire globe still manage to confuse a large mass of Hindus, there is a section of Hindus who are ready to walk out of their comfort zone and take notice of the dangerous trends revealing around us. How else can it be explained that in spite of all their tools to break the Hindu unity, Hindus of UP consolidated by defying caste and voted as Hindus to defeat a Sharia-compliant political dispensation?

The unprecedented interest evoked by The Book, ‘Maharanas: A Thousand Year War for Dharma’ is a glaring example of the thirst of the Hindu Samaj to hear the truth of their glorious ancestors who kept them Hindu in spite of 1400 years of incessant attacks by Islamic invaders. The innate leaning of the Hindu samaj is to stand up and fight for what is right, what is Dharma. Hindu Samaj finds it unbelievable that our forefathers remained slaves and yet were able to protect Dharma. This dilemma is sorted out to an extent by the book Maharanas which chronicles the unrelenting opposition to Islamic invaders by one Sisodiya family of Mewar in Rajasthan. The writer toured 15 different cities across the US and everywhere hundreds of Hindus listen to The Saga of these great Maharanas glued to their chairs for 2 hours and sometimes more.

They cried and laughed in ecstasy and pride as the saga of unimaginable fortitude was revealed to them. 

It was a feeling of finding a missing piece in the Aatma of Hindu Dharma where every Hindu wanted to believe that we were never slaves, we were never overrun by a group of bandits masquerading as a religion. 

Similar books like ‘Unbreaking India‘ by Shri Sanjay Dixit, ‘Brainwashed Republic’ by Shri Neeraj Atri, and the phenomenal works of modern-day Maharishi Shri Rajiv Malhotra are gradually turning the tide of the narrative war by breaking India forces towards Dharma. 

So the lies of Panchmakkars (Mullah, Marxist, Missionary, Macaulayputras and Media) are being exposed each day. There is little doubt now that the lowest point for  Hindu Samaj in this clash of survival with Abrahamics is behind us. The point which gave birth to legal sanction to pulverise the Hindu Samaj through unconstitutional laws like the places of religious worship act, the minority commissions, the waqf board act, the PCTV bill and the malicious Sachar Committee recommendations. 

The point where the prime minister of this besieged nation said publicly that the first right over the resources of Bharat lies with Muslims. 

The point where a non elected Natinal Advisory Council (NAC) dictated the Indian state to legislate blatantly anti Hindu laws. 

The point where Breaking India forces openly pitched one caste of Hindus against another and reaped the windfall benefits.

The point where not even one Hindu or Sikh of Pakistan was granted citizenship by Indian government between 2004-14. 

The point where the whole idea of the Indian nation state was shaken so vehemently that it would be impossible to repair it. 

Hindu Samaj is well beyond that point. From here on, only recovery can happen.

It is almost a miracle how Hindus have managed to survive this pillage of their civic life, history, economics and social security. Maybe Mahadev wishes for Hindus to survive because, without Hindu Dharma, this globe will auto-destruct. 

Now we have entered a very decisive and interesting phase of the clash of Hindu Dharma with BI forces . 

With news portals being forced to telecast a balanced view of events, Hindu legal activists actively engaging in judicial remedies, Hindu thought leaders churning new ideas to expose the darkness of the Left and the beauty of Hindu Dharma, a significant number of Hindus walking out of the lies of ‘ Sarvadharma Vadapaav’, the world is at a cusp of a revolution. 

The greatest and the oldest way of life, that has withstood all assaults of time, deceit and bigotry is rising from its ashes to fight for its rightful place in the world order. 

This isn’t to say that all is hunky dory for Hindus and we have arrived. That is certainly far from the truth. All this churning of Hindu thought means is that the work of Hindy awakening is yielding results and it needs to be scaled up.

During his visit to the US, the writer witnessed the legitimate anxiety of immigrant Hindus about the hybrid culture to which their children were exposed. It was very heartening to see how NRI Hindus have kept the Dharma and culture alive in their next generation. But the Hindu Samaj is under a lot of pressure. The Hindu child is consumed by the Leftist lie machine the moment he is out of the shadow of his parents. 

Hence more Hindu philosophy needs to be aired to occupy the academic and social space of the world. The beauty of the Upanishads and the wisdom of the Geeta need to be taken to the global street so that the dark philosophies pale out automatically. 

The task for Hindus of our generation is cut out .

1. We must continue pushing the Hindu agenda aggressively.

It is crucial to convert confused Hindus to proud Sanatanis and also to tell the world about the beauty of the Hindu way of life. The issues of Hindus globally are more or less the same. The threat of conversion by Abrahamic cults and the threat of deracination by the left. We have to align with each other globally and fight both.

2. The temples have to be reclaimed. They have to become the nerve centres of Hindu awakening. While Kirtans and pravachans help bind the ordinary Hindu to Dharmic traditions, we also need temples to be congregational centres for Hindu leaders to meet weekly or fortnightly to brainstorm on Hindu issues. These congregations can be entirely non-political but no one can stop us from debating issues of the Hindu Samaj.

3. Every awakened Hindu should take out time and coach himself on one issue of Hindu survival. It could be Love Jihad, Legal activism, Hindus of Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, documentation of atrocities against Hindus or any issue close to his or her heart.

4. Do not judge fellow Hindus for inaction and indifference. They are all coached by the same stinking mindset of the left that controls our schools and colleges. Treat a fellow Hindu with love and compassion. Be calm in telling the truth. Sooner or later, few will join.

6. Every human being is born a leftist. Everyone who has graduated to the right side has laboured against the propaganda and his inertia for the status quo. Only 1% of mankind has that talent and willpower, and that much is enough. It takes only a few good men to save civilisations. Our job is to find those men and align in a loose coalition.

7. Congregate. Gather every week or fortnight in the nearby temple or park and form a bond with the Hindus of the neighbourhood. When the murdering hordes descend on our homes and temples, we must be ready to face them collectively. As they say in Hindi ‘ You don’t start digging a well when the house is on fire ‘. Start congregating now.

8. Preserve the institution of the family. Preserve it at all costs. Family is the strongest cushion against the traumas of life. Family is the only unit that nourishes our Atma with the love and care needed to make productive citizens of a stable society. Leftists know this and hence are destroying families. We need to fight back.

9. Lastly, this is an economic war of survival. Even though it is being played out there on the streets, the moving force is money. The Abrahamics are able to wreak havoc because of their collective money. Hindus have to have this collective funding platform to take on the well-oiled, well-funded killing machines. That platform is Dharmansh. Each country must have a local Dharmansh unit funded by a small amount of monthly donation given by every Hindu to fund the Hindus on the ground. The links for the Dharmansh foundation in India, ( DFI ) are given at the end of the article. A small amount of money from a large base of Hindus will do the trick. Rich Hindus funding poor Hindus will fortify Hindu Samaj against the conversion mafias working ceaselessly to reduce our numbers. Bright, committed Hindu boys and girls need to be on the payrolls of Dharmansh foundations globally to articulate and defend the Hindu point of view. 

For too long , the Hindu Samaj has been brutalised by the Leftists and Jehadis without an iota of opposition. 

The confused Hindu leadership will keep on parroting deceptions like Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, but it is our neck on the line here. It is our fight and we have to fight it for our children. 

The Hindu resistance has only begun. 

The resurgence of Hindu dharma is critical if this world has to survive the madness unleashed by brain dead masses of religious bigots. 

Our forefathers fought the evil barbarians from deserts with bare hands to pass on a safer and saner world to us. 

It is our turn now to do our but you save Hindu Dharma and pass it on to our children. 

It is better to live one day with honour instead of a hundred years as a slave. 

The left and conversion mafias will settle for nothing less than our slavery. 

Now it’s upto us not to yield to this assault on human dignity. 

Of 100 Crore Hindus inhabiting this globe , all we need is 1%. 

That is one Crore Hindus. 

Just imagine the clout of one Crore Dharmic Hindus aligned globally. 

Imagine the collective political and economic power of this one Crore Dharmic Samaj. 

Can our enemies even conceive of Leicesters, Birminghams , Kanhaiyas, Nupurs, or Sar Tan se juda threats if one Crore Hindus are standing up to their evil? 

To stand against Adharma is the purest of Karma. 

To stand against Adharma is the only tribute we can give to the great Maharanas and all our valiant forefathers who kept fighting for 1400 years. 

To stand against Adharma is real manhood. 

To stand against Adharma is the surest path to Moksha in this Kaliyuga. 

You can buy the book here.

(The author is the Director of Dharmansh Foundation)

U’khand: Man poses as Kabir Bhati to befriend a minor girl, sexually assaults and threatens to convert her to Islam, booked

OpIndia Staff
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U’khand: Man poses as Kabir Bhati to befriend a minor girl, sexually assaults and threatens to convert her to Islam, booked

The Uttarakhand Police has filed a complaint against a Muslim man for sexually assaulting a minor girl and threatening her to convert to Islam. The accused has been booked under the relevant sections of the IPC.

According to the reports, the accused posed himself as a non-Muslim and introduced himself as Kabir Bhati on social media. The minor girl victim and the accused became friends through social media. The incident happened in Dehradun on September 19 when the boy called the girl for a party and then sexually assaulted her.

The girl was called to a friend’s house by the accused for a party. He deceptively took her to the bedroom and sexually assaulted her. He also recorded the incident on his phone and used the clips to blackmail her. He assaulted her several times by blackmailing her.

After a few days, the victim girl learned that the accused who had introduced himself as Kabir Bhati was a Muslim. He then threatened the girl to convert her religion to Islam and said that she would die if she refused to convert. He also asked the girl to keep shut her mouth.

The incident however came to light on September 24 when the accused sent the video clips to the elder sister of the victim. The victim had refused to convert her religion and so the accused sent the videos to her elder sister. He also stated that the victim girl would face the worst consequences for refusing to convert to her religion.

The sister reportedly filed a complaint at Dehradun Police Station and booked the accused under the relevant sections of the law. Inspector Rajendra Singh said that the police are searching for the accused who is absconding. “Strict action will be taken against the accused in the case”, he added. Further investigations in the case are underway.

Fact-Check: Did a Times Now survey show Rahul Gandhi ahead of PM Narendra Modi in popularity?

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-Check: Did a Times Now survey show Rahul Gandhi ahead of PM Narendra Modi in popularity?

On September 26, Rajasthan Youth Congress shared a screenshot of an alleged survey by Times Now where Rahul Gandhi was shown as the top-rated leader to have ‘Positive Sentiment Across Twitter.

Rajasthan Youth Congress published a morphed screenshot of 2017 video of Times Now. Source: Twitter

In the image shared by Rajasthan Youth Congress and other Congress followers, Rahul Gandhi was shown having 66% vote, Narendra Modi with 15% vote, Mamata Banerjee with 7%, Akhilesh Yadav with 5% and Arvind Kejriwal with 4% votes.

Tweet by Congress supporter Imtiaz. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Congress supporter Spirit of Congress. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Congress supporter BharatJodoINC. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Congress supporter Elighten Telangana. Source: Twitter

There were some issues with the image that caught our attention. Upon zooming the image, we found that under Mamata Banerjee’s photo, the name appeared to be Hardik Patel. Furthermore, the name under Akhilesh Yadav was Vijay Rupani, and under Arvind Kejriwal’s photo, the name Jignesh Mewani appeared. It was clear that the screenshot was edited by someone to make it appear as if the survey happened recently.

The next step was to find out where the screenshot came from. We reverse-searched the image and found out that the screenshot was taken in the 2017 Gujarat Elections after the results were announced. The screenshot appeared as a featured image of this Times Now report.

Screenshot from the original video of Times Now. Source: Times Now

The video from which the screenshot was taken was also available on Times Now’s YouTube channel.

Someone from Congress cunningly edited the images and tried to blur the names. However, it appears whoever did the editing part was not well versed with photo editing software, or he/she was in a hurry to publish the tweet. In any case, major blunders were made while editing the image.

Netizens also trolled Congress for the fake survey image.

The discussion was about who was being talked about on social media

The Congress “warriors” on social media who shared the edited image tried to assert that there was a survey where Rahul Gandhi was ahead of PM Modi in the popularity votes. But in reality, Times Now was showing the percentage of mentions each leader got on Twitter. Rahul Gandhi got around 90,000+ mentions during the election results. It was found that 66% of the tweets mentioned Rahul Gandhi, and he became the subject of discussion on that day.

Furthermore, around 65% of the tweets that mentioned Rahul Gandhi were positive towards him. Similarly, 54% of the tweets mentioning Narendra Modi talked positively about him.

Now, one crucial thing to understand is that there was no mention of the political choice of those tweeting. Many Congress supporters might have trended Rahul Gandhi on the day Congress faced defeat in the Gujarat elections to show him in a positive light.

Verdict: Official Congress handles and supporters shared a doctored screenshot from a 2017 news report by Times now to claim Rahul Gandhi is favoured more by Indians as compared to PM Modi.

British Hindu body issues safety advisory for upcoming festival season amid Islamist violence

OpIndia Staff
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British Hindu body issues safety advisory for upcoming festival season amid Islamist violence

On September 25, British Hindus, an organisation of Hindus living in the United Kingdom, issued a safety advisory for the upcoming festival season amid Islamist violence in the country. In the advisory, the organisation asked the Hindus living in the UK to be vigilant of their surroundings and avoid going out alone considering the threats, especially for women and the elderly.

The advisory read, “With the recent spate of Hinduphobic attacks, we recognise that many of you are concerned about your safety during upcoming Navratri, Durga Puja, Diwali and other festivals. Please take the following steps to remain safe whilst attending festivities:

  1. Ensure that the elderly, children and other vulnerable Hindus do not travel alone to and from festivals
  2. Many anti-Hindu social media posts specifically threaten violence against Hindu women. We advise that Hindu women avoid travelling alone where possible.
  3. Inform the Police of any suspicious activity and/or threatening social media posts
  4. Have your mobile phone ready to record any incidence of verbal abuse or violence, as recording acts as a deterrent, and evidence can be sent to the Police if necessary.”

The advisory pointed out the social media posts that allegedly instigated anti-Hindu attacks, especially on the vulnerable section, including children, women and elderly members of the community. Furthermore, they asked the members of the Hindu community to inform the Police of any suspicious activity and record videos of any incident as it will act as evidence if required.

Public enquiry to be held on October 2

In another post, the organisation announced that an online public enquiry had been planned for October 2, where the community members will discuss and learn how they can support each other within the community.

The anti-Hindu attacks on the UK

In the last few weeks, there has been a notable increase in the attacks against the Hindu community living in the UK. What was earlier believed to be a spat between the two communities over a cricket match where India defeated Pakistan in a T20 match during Asia Cup that was held in Dubai, it became more and more evident that the idea behind the attacks was to disrupt the Hindu community that has been living in the areas like Leicester and Birmingham for a long time.

‘US govt gave coffee, biscuits and water to Pakistani delegates, but hosted dinner for Indian MEA Dr Jaishankar’: Journalist laments

OpIndia Staff
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‘US govt gave coffee, biscuits and water to Pakistani delegates, but hosted dinner for Indian MEA Dr Jaishankar’: Journalist laments

On Tuesday (September 27), a Pakistani journalist named Taha Siddiqui took to Twitter to lament the cold treatment meted out to Pakistani delegates including Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

In a tweet, he wrote, “Just found out that Pakistani delegates were served coffee, cookies and water while meeting American counterparts at the US State Department. And immediately after the meeting with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Secretary Blinken was hosting a dinner for DrSJaishankar.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Taha Siddiqui

On Monday (September 26), Antony Blinkedn met the Pakistani Foreign Minister and vowed to help the cash-starved nation with $56.5 million in foreign aid.

It was followed by a meeting at the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) during which Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Anthony Blinken talked about 75 years of US-Pak relationship and flood relief efforts. Pakistan, which is reeling under an economic crisis, also got an additional $10 million from the US for food security in the country.

According to journalist Taha Siddiqui, the Pakistani delegates were offered only coffee, cookies and water during the two sessions.

As per the schedule of the US State Department, a working dinner was hosted for Dr S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, on Monday (September 26) in McLean in Virginia by Secretary Anthony Blinken.

Earlier, Dr S Jaishankar was welcomed with an honour cordon by US Defense Secretary Lloyd J Austin III at the Pentagon.

The Indian Affairs Minister shared details of the meeting with the US Secretary of Defense, which took place prior to the dinner hosted by the US Secretary of State.

As per the schedule of the US State Department, Antony Blinken will meet S Jaishankar on Tuesday (September 27) morning and also hold a joint press briefing.

Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui was miffed at the grand treatment meted out to the Indian External Affairs Minister. It must be mentioned that India is an emerging world power and the 5th largest economy. The strategic importance of an economic powerhouse such as India for the US cannot be compared with the likes of Pakistan, which is surviving on foreign alms.

Sadanand Dhume and liberal propaganda: Why he is wrong about Indian democracy being in danger and how he refused to answer pertinent questions

S. Sudhir Kumar
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Sadanand Dhume and liberal propaganda: Why he is wrong about Indian democracy being in danger and how he refused to answer pertinent questions

Serial commentator Sadanand Dhume, tweeted a thread yesterday, yet again reminding us that democracy is in danger in India. This time, he chose an interesting strategy, that I think warrants a deeper discussion on the contrived thinking of this self-proclaimed liberal gang. 

First, Dhume begins by quoting Professor Ashutosh Varshney, who in turn quotes a report of an obscure institute from Sweden called V-Dem. The loop is fascinating – these folks quoting just amongst themselves and telling us that this is the absolute truth! I am reminded of how The Print invented a lie that the Central Vista will cost 20,000 crores; how The Wire, The Hindu, The Week et.al picked it up; how The Print quoted their own lies in future reports; and how Sonia Gandhi ended up using that lie in one of her letters to the Prime Minister of India.

The graph that Dhume and Varshney are fascinated with, is plotting two indices. One is “Electoral Democracy” and the other is “Liberal Democracy”.  Here is that graph:

“Electoral Democracy” and “Liberal Democracy” graph used by Sadanand Dhume

You can easily two dips in the graph. One during the 1975 to 1977 phase. And the other dip starts right from the year 2014 (What a beautiful coincidence). India was under Emergency from 1975 to 1977. That meant, no elections. That also meant, no dissent and therefore no space for “liberal democracy”. Zero elections and zero dissent allowed during the emergency. Yet, for this period, this wonderful graph says that both “electoral democracy” and “liberal democracy” score a non-zero, positive number on the index! 

So, it’s natural to ask what exactly was the methodology used to arrive at this brilliant conclusion that there existed “liberal democracy” during the Emergency. This is exactly what the former CEO of Prasar Bharati, Shashi Shekhar, asked Dhume to explain. Dhume calmly tells us that the onus is not on him to explain. In his own words, “But the onus is on those who think the indices are wrong to argue convincingly…”. This is yet another game plan that the whole allegedly liberal gang employs. The “onus of proof” is on the reader and not on the writer. And if the reader actually ends up proving the lies of the writer, then the reader is wrong (duh!). This entire gang thrives on two things – 1. lie regularly, and 2. badmouth those who call out their baseless lies regularly! 

When Shashi Shekhar persists and asks – “what is the underlying model and what data was used to compute the indices ?”, Dhume very innocently asks – “Which index specifically do you mean, and what information would you like to see that is not available?”

At this stage, I stood up from my seat and gave a standing ovation to Dhume. His entire thread is based on just two indices – “Electoral Democracy” and “Liberal Democracy”. And when asked what is the underlying model for these indices, he so very innocently asks “Which index”? I would really like to gain such guts in life and brazen it out like this! Dhume doesn’t stop there. He goes on to tell us that “V-Dem, on which Varshney’s charts are based, does go into quite a lot of detail on their website.” The easy thing for Dhume to do would have been to just give us the specific link to the website, but why do such hard work when you can brazen out your lack of intelligence? 

Now that we have proved the farce that the graph is, we can move on to discuss the other brilliant arguments in Dhume’s thread. He classifies the Indian population into two categories – One is “Scholars” and the other is the “average Indian”. Dhume certifies that India’s “electoral democracy” does well despite us having a “low per capita income” and this is what the lowly average Indian cares about. The “scholars” of course think that India is doomed. Or maybe Dhume classifies them as “scholars” because they think India is doomed? 

Dhume tells us that there is a “decline of institutions like the Supreme Court”. Elsewhere in the thread, he also tells us that “Judges are cowed”. What proof does he offer for this? Nothing. He just says this is “well documented”. This means that it is the headache of the “average Indian” to go find out this documentation and then just agree with the documentation!

Dhume shares a page in which the author gives us just two examples from the Congress regimes of the past where freedom of expression was challenged. The chapter then mentions that nothing was as worse as how things were between 1998 to 2004, and from 2014 onwards. Again, no proof is offered. Why do you need proof when the “scholars” have told you so? 

Dhume attempts to end his 8-tweet thread on a sad note that Indians don’t seem to care about what the world thinks about our democracy. Dhume doesn’t realise that he is making the fallacious assumption that some articles in some newspapers amount to what the “world thinks”. You cannot blame him for thinking so – because this is how the entire gang thinks. The gang believes they are the torchbearers of this sinking world and the hapless citizens simply don’t want to recognize the awesomeness they bring to this world! 

You know what is the best part of this entire thread? Dhume adds two more tweets and tells us that “personally I find V-Dem Institute’s methodology confusing.” Why would you form opinions based on confusing methodology and express your opinions/conclusions based on such confusing methodology? There can be only one reason for this – to further an agenda that shows India in poor light and gain attention. This is the only way the alleged liberal gang knows how to thrive! 

Russian Orthodox Church head says Russian soldiers dying in Ukraine will be cleansed of sin

OpIndia Staff
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Russian Orthodox Church head says Russian soldiers dying in Ukraine will be cleansed of sin

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Moscow Patriarchate or the Russian Orthodox Church on September 25 said that sacrifice in the course of carrying out military duty against Ukraine would help the Russian soldiers wash away all their sins. This is days after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the country’s first mobilization since World War II.

According to the reports, the patriarch said the remarks during his Sunday sermon on September 25. “We know that many today are dying in the fields of internecine battle. The church is praying that this battle will end as soon as possible, that as few brothers as possible will kill each other in this fratricidal war”, Kirill said who has been a prominent supporter of President Vladimir Putin.

“At the same time, the Church realizes that if somebody, driven by a sense of duty and the need to fulfil their oath … goes to do what their duty calls of them and if a person dies in the performance of this duty, then they have undoubtedly committed an act equivalent to sacrifice. They will have sacrificed themselves for others. And therefore, we believe that this sacrifice washes away all the sins that a person has committed”, the head was quoted.

Notably, Patriarch Kirill’s remarks came in the midst of countrywide protests and mounting criticism over the Kremlin’s recent declaration of a partial mobilization to replenish Russian military fighting in Ukraine. Kirill had earlier blessed the war efforts and had claimed that Russians were doing a heroic deed by killing Ukrainians.

Putin announced the military mobilization on September 21. Kirill then claimed that unidentified forces were trying to turn Ukrainians from being part of Russia. “Danger looms over the Ukrainian people”, he had said. According to Western sources, Russia has sustained 70,000 to 80,000 casualties since its February invasion of Ukraine.

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.

Chandigarh University video leak: Accused army personnel says he assumed Rankaj’s identity to talk to the university student

OpIndia Staff
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Chandigarh University video leak: Accused army personnel says he assumed Rankaj’s identity to talk to the university student

Another twist has surfaced in the Chandigarh University video leak case as the army personnel Sanjeev Kumar arrested in the matter, told the court that he had assumed the identity of Rankaj Verma to talk to the accused student of the University. He further told the court that Rankaj had nothing to do with the case and he had never met him before.

Sanjeev allegedly picked up Rankaj’s photograph from social media and used it to befriend the university student. He was arrested in Arunachal Pradesh and handed over to Punjab Police on September 24.

As per reports, some personal videos of the accused student were found on Sanjeev’s phone, but videos of other girls were not found. Hindustan Times quoted an unnamed Police officer saying that Sanjeev attempted to erase the evidence from his phone, but the Police managed to recover the data. “Prima facie, the accused only shared her own videos with Sanjeev. We have sent the phone to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to ascertain whether videos of other girls were shared with him or not,” the officer added.

On September 26, all four accused in the case were produced in the court, where the court sent them to a five-day Police remand. The police informed the court that Sanjeev was using two phones and they have recovered one phone from his possession. The police had asked for seven-day remand to cross-examine the accused.

The officer told HT that the number that appeared in the First Investigation Report (FIR) to which the accused student shared the videos were being used by Sanjeev. Following his revelation to the cops and to the court, Verma’s advocate Harjinder Singh Johal said, “He (Verma) has never met any of the accused. He has also lodged a complaint with the Police saying that his photograph was being misused by unidentified miscreants.”

However, the Police have not given a clean chit to Verma yet, and his alleged involvement in the case is being probed.

Chandigarh University video leak case

On September 18, it was reported that objectionable videos of multiple female students of Chandigarh University were being shared on social media. The videos were allegedly recorded by one of the hostellers.

Initially, the Police and Chandigarh University administration claimed the accused student only shared her videos with the accused person from Shimla. However, later the Police told the court that they found a video of at least one other student on the phone of the accused. Furthermore, it was assumed that based on the chats with the accused, the accused student was being blackmailed.

An SIT was formed by the Punjab government to investigate the case. There were several rumours floating around on the day when the matter came to light, including the death of a girl student by suicide whose video was allegedly leaked on the internet. However, the Police refuted the claims and said no student had committed suicide.

Tumhari g**nd se – Heated discussion on TV channel gives a new gem for memes. NSFW, smh

OpIndia Staff
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Tumhari g**nd se – Heated discussion on TV channel gives a new gem for memes. NSFW, smh

On Tuesday, September 27, a video clip from a TV debate went viral on Twitter, showing a Muslim scholar exchanging unpleasantries with another panellist.

Zee Hindustan journalist Tushar Srivastava posted a 0.04-second clip from a debate show on Prime TV in which BJP’s Shafayat Hussain asks Maulana Aamir Sabri, “Muslim scholar kahan se peda hue aap,” to which the latter replies, “Tumhari g**nd se.”

The Muslim scholar’s unrestrained use of expletives on national television amused Netizens. As is customary, the clip soon went viral with users erupting into endless jokes and memes on the microblogging site Twitter.

This particular footage was from a debate show that aired on Prime TV on September 22. The debate show was on the recent massive searches and raids that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out on properties linked to the radical Muslim outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).

The anchor Gaurav Srivastav opened the debate by discussing how the National Investigation Agency, on the intervening night of September 21 and September 22, conducted several raids on locations linked to the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) across 10 states, including Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana.

The anchor asked the panellists if they believe the crackdown on the radical outfit, which on the surface calls itself a neo-social movement allegedly committed to empowering people from minority communities, Dalits, and other weaker sections of society, but has always been at the heart of many riots, criminal activities, anti-Hindu activities, is justified.

As the argument progressed, the panellists began to oppose and contradict each other, but at roughly 19.55 minutes into the debate, it reached its pinnacle. At this point, Maulana Aamir Sabri began defending the radical organisation and criticising the BJP administration and federal agencies for cracking down on PFI. He is heard calling the searches on PFI members a BJP government plot to divert people’s attention away from the real issues.

Shafayat Hussain, the BJP leader, interrupted the Maulana and asked him to list a few “real issues.” As soon as this question was posed to him, the Maulana became upset. The debate became increasingly heated from this point on, with the two panellists bickering with one other.

Gaurav Srivastav, the anchor, attempted to settle down the two panellists at points, but they did not appear to listen. While the BJP leader pressed the Maulana to explain where he obtained his education, the latter continued to hurl insults at the BJP leader.

At around 19.55-minutes, the agitated BJP leader asked the Maulana “Muslim scholar kahan se peda hue aap,” to which the latter replied, “Tumhari g**nd se.”

Following that, the two engaged in a verbal spat, with both mouthing profanities at the other. Amusingly, while the two continued to argue, the rest of the panellists remained calmly on the sidelines and observed the two dispute.

The particular clip from the debate triggered a meme fest on the microblogging site.

Second round of raids on PFI underway

Meanwhile, on September 27, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with other investigation agencies, carried out the second round of raids on the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India. As per reports, the raids took place in eight different states and the investigation agencies detained several members of the organisation.

NIA has reportedly received a lot of crucial information during the interrogation of the PFI leaders who were arrested during the first round of the raids. Based on the information, NIA, state police, and other investigation agencies carried out the second round of raids against the organisation.

Round one of NIA raids on PFI

On September 22, the NIA, Enforcement Directorate and state police in 15 states raided locations linked to PFI. The raids were carried out at 93 locations in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Bihar and Manipur. Over 100 PFI leaders and members were arrested by the investigation agencies.

The raids were conducted based on the inputs and evidence that the organisation was linked to terror funding across the country. PFI reportedly organised camps to provide arms training and radicalised the members of the community to join banned organisations. PFI chief OMA Salam’s house was also raided during the first round. Similar raids were conducted on September 19 as well.

PFI organised protests

Following the raids, PFI members in 15 states organised protests and accused the government of attacking the organisation. Interestingly, during one of the protests in Pune, PFI members raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans.

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