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‘About 50 per cent of Ram Mandir construction work is completed’: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

OpIndia Staff
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‘About 50 per cent of Ram Mandir construction work is completed’: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

On Thursday 6th October 2022, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that over 50% construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has been completed. According to the temple trust, the Lord Ram idol is likely to be enshrined in the temple’s sanctum sanctorum on Mankar Sankranti Day in 2024, and the temple’s construction, which began in 2020, is anticipated to be finished by the end of 2024. Yogi Adityanath said this while he was speaking at a function organized by Shri Panchkhand Peeth in Jaipur.

Yogi Adityanath said, “I believe in the philosophy of ‘Karmanyevadhikaraste, Maa Phaleshu Kadachana’ (perform your duty but do not have any expectation of the fruits) propounded by Lord Krishna. Dedicated efforts were made to realize the dream of Ram Mandir for which a movement started in 1949. Now, because of these efforts, over 50% of the work of the temple has been completed.”

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath underlined the role of the Shri Panchkhand Peeth in social and religious movements and offered tributes to its former head seer Acharya Dharmendra who passed away recently. He said Acharya Ji always dreamt of a temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi. Yogi Adityanath said, “Mahatma Ramchandra Veer Ji Maharaj and Swami Acharya Dharmendra Ji Maharaj were the ones who contributed selflessly towards the country. The ‘Peeth’ also played a crucial role in ensuring public participation in various campaigns led by the saints for the welfare of the country.”

At Swami Somendra Sharma’s “Chadarposhi” celebration, Yogi Adityanath remarked that Acharya Dharmendra had been connected to Gorakshapeeth for three generations. Notably, Yogi serves as Gorakshapeeth’s chief priest. He said, “Acharya Ji always had a sense of belonging, my deepest respect to him.”

Yogi Adityanath added, “Today, even when Acharya Ji is not present physically, his values, ideals, and contribution remain alive among us all.” The CM of Uttar Pradesh stated that Acharya Ji was revered by the Hindu community since he used to communicate his ideas in an open, logical manner.

Ram Mandir construction in Ayodhya

The construction work on the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya began on August 5, 2020, after the foundation stone laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra (SRJBTK), the authority in charge of Ram Mandir’s operations, is supervising the temple’s construction. Former IAS Nripendra Mishra is the chairman of the construction committee.

Larsen & Toubro is the main contractor for the construction of the temple and the ramparts, while Tata Consulting Engineers has been hired as the project management consultant, while four other engineers four engineers Jagdish Aphale (IIT- Mumbai), Girish Sahastrabhujani (IIT-Mumbai), Jagannathji (from Aurangabad), and Avinash Sangamnerkar (from Nagpur) are also working voluntarily on behalf of the Trust.

The entire project is projected to cost between 900 and 1,000 crores to build and will be spread over 110 acres of land. The temple complex will also include a museum, a research centre, and an archival centre. By December 2023, the temple’s lower floor, which will house the sanctum sanctorum and a Ram Lalla idol, would be ready for worship.

CBI files charge sheet against Lalu Prasad Yadav for cases related to the land-for-job scam

OpIndia Staff
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CBI files charge sheet against Lalu Prasad Yadav for cases related to the land-for-job scam

On Friday 7th October 2022, the central bureau of investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and former union railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for cases regarding land-for-job scams. A search operation was conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the residences of senior RJD politicians in Bihar last month in relation to the land-for-jobs scam that allegedly occurred when Prasad was the railway minister.

The residences of several senior leaders of the RJD, including MLC Sunil Singh, Rajya Sabha MPs Ashfaq Karim, and Faiyaz Ahmed, and former MLC Subodh Rai were raided at that time. The RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav have all been named by the CBI in the matter. 12 other individuals who received employment in the Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur Railway Zones in 2008-2009 are also named in this case.

The land-for-job scandal

On September 23, 2021, the CBI launched a preliminary investigation into the land-for-jobs scandal. The central investigation agency has opened a preliminary investigation into the claim that numerous people were granted railway employment between 2004 and 2009 in return for land. According to CBI authorities, prominent properties in Patna were reportedly sold or handed to the RJD supremo’s family members. The owners of these properties or their relatives secured a railway job in exchange for these properties.

On May 18, 2022, CBI filed a new case of corruption against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and his daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, accusing them of obtaining land plots as bribes from some people who were recruited in the Railways.

Lalu Prasad Yadav convicted in Fodder scam

The RJD patriarch has been convicted in the infamous Fodder Scam, which was unearthed during the 1990s in united Bihar when Jharkhand was still a part of the state. Lalu Prasad was then the serving Chief Minister.  

It was found that excessive withdrawals had been the trend for several years. For example, between the years 1993-96, Rs. 10.5 crores was approved by the government to purchase 5,664 pigs, 40,500 hens, 1,577 goats and 995 sheep. However, the State Department of Animal Husbandry withdrew a whopping Rs 255.33 crore. After factoring in over-expenses, according to the Auditor General’s report, the total fraudulent withdrawals stood at Rs. 409.62 crores. 

The Department of Animal Husbandry had allegedly issued fake bills for large disbursements from government treasuries across districts of undivided Bihar. It should be noted that Lalu Prasad had given himself the additional charge of the state’s Minister of Finance during this time. 

The Auditor General’s comments while preparing the report on financial irregularities drew the imagery which became synonyms for the fodder scam. He commented, “cattle were transported on scooters, police vans, oil tankers and autos”.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot lavishes praises on business tycoon Gautam Adani, long vilified by Congress and Rahul Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot lavishes praises on business tycoon Gautam Adani, long vilified by Congress and Rahul Gandhi

While senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has led the charge against corporate tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, his loyalist and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot invited Gautam Adani to the two-day “Invest Rajasthan Summit”, which began at JECC Campus in Jaipur on Friday and showered praise on the industrialist.

During the summit, when Adani informed that he had invested over Rs 35,000 crore in the state and an investment of another Rs 50,000 crore is under implementation, Congress senior leader Gehlot lauded the business tycoon and referred to him as ‘bhai’.

“Gautam Bhai was speaking about Gujarat. Gujaratis have always been very capable, even pre-independence. It had industrialisation even before independence. Maharashtra-Gujarat has always been economically well off,” Rajasthan CM said, adding, “I’ll speak about Rajasthan. The state faced drought and famine for centuries. There used to be migration. Gautam Bhai, one should appreciate the courage of Rajasthanis. Your state was in good condition, now we hear Gautam Adani is among the top two richest people in the world.”

Given Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of Adani, BJP was quick to point out Congress’ hypocrisy, and BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya warned that a rebellion is building inside Gandhi’s ranks.

“In another sign of revolt and brewing discontent against the Gandhis, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot invites Gautam Adani for the investor summit. He is given a seat right next to the CM. This is an open message to Rahul Gandhi, who doesn’t tire berating Adani-Ambani, to back off…,” Tweeted Amit Malviya.

‘The country is being run by crony capitalists’: Rahul Gandhi’s persistent tirade against Ambanis and Adanis

In his speeches, Rahul Gandhi has often made Adani-Ambani jibes, alleging that they both run the country. In the run-up to the 2019 general elections, the former Congress president accused PM Modi of helping his ‘two friends’, Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Continuing his tirade against the top industrialist, Rahul Gandhi, last month, during his interaction with the media in Ernakulam in Kerala as part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra insulted a female journalist from NDTV because the controversial media house is being acquired by the Adani group. 

Rahul Gandhi had said that only 2-3-4 big industrialists can do anything they want, like running ports and airports, working on agriculture, building silos, and other people don’t get any help from banks and the government.

Last year in December too, while addressing the gathering during a rally organized by Congress in Jaipur, Rahul Gandhi had said, “Airports, coal mines, supermarkets, wherever you see, only two people are visible. Adani Ji and Ambani Ji.” Interestingly, as reports emerged that the Rajasthan government had given land to Adani Group for the solar plant, Rahul Gandhi’s speeches against Adani started making rounds on social media platforms.

While the Rajasthan-led Congress government has invited Gautam Adani to the investment summit, Rahul Gandhi attacked the Adani group Chairman only last month, asking, “Who gives him money to develop businesses?”

Adani’s investments in Rajasthan

Gautam Adani addressed the “Invest Rajasthan Summit” and in his speech, he informed about the investment by the Adani group in Rajasthan. He said, “It is a privilege to be attending this Summit and have this opportunity to talk about the existing presence and future plans of the Adani Group in this magnificent Land of Kings. Sitting next door in Gujarat, I am privileged to have a ringside view of Rajasthan’s social upliftment and the state’s economic growth.”

Gautam Adani added, “The Adani Group has already invested over Rs 35,000 Cr across multiple industrial sectors in the state of Rajasthan. Combining all ongoing and future investments, we anticipate investing an additional Rs 65,000 Cr in Rajasthan over the next 5 to 7 years and creating over 40,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Adani Group is also making one of the world’s largest bets on Energy Transition. We are betting on green hydrogen, given our ability to generate the most inexpensive solar and wind power.

UP: Hindu girl commits suicide alleging police inaction against her abductor and rapist Arshad, who was already in an affair with her aunt

OpIndia Staff
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UP: Hindu girl commits suicide alleging police inaction against her abductor and rapist Arshad, who was already in an affair with her aunt

A minor gang-rape victim has committed suicide by hanging herself in Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. The victim’s family has alleged that the girl took the extreme step after Ambedkar Nagar police refused to take action against the accused in the case. It has also come to light that Arshad, an accused in the case, was having an affair with the victim’s aunt Meera.

The victim was a student in the eighth standard. The accused Arshad kidnapped her on 16th September 2022 and raped her for two days. The family has alleged that their daughter committed suicide because police refused to file a case against the accused. The girl committed suicide on 4th October 2022. The incident took place in a village under the Malipur police station area of Ambedkar Nagar.

The accused Arshad was already having an affair with the victim’s aunt Meera when he allegedly kidnapped the minor girl along with others and gang-raped her. Social media users have highlighted communal motivation in the crime, citing the Islamist belief of raping the infidels to attain Jannat. Incidents in the recent past have been a testimony to this.

According to reports, the 15-year-old student was kidnapped on September 16, 2022. The family members had lodged a case of kidnapping at the police station. On September 18, the victim reached her home and told the family that she was gang-raped at a hotel in Lucknow. After this, the family members reached the police station with the victim and they filed a case of gang rape. But according to the family, the police started pressuring them to suppress the case.

The victim was in shock since she returned home. The victim had told the police, “On September 16, I was coming back home from school. But about 1 km away from home, I saw a woman from the village and a man named Arshad. Then some masked men got down from a car on the spot and forced me into the car. The woman and Arshad were also at the spot at the time of the incident.”

The victim further said, “After this, these people took me to a hotel in Lucknow and raped me there. They were telling me that if I make noise, they will kill me there. I was locked up in a room for two days. For two days, I was confined to that room without food or water. On September 18, I somehow ran home from Lucknow after getting a chance. When I reached home, I gave all the information to the family members.”

The victim’s parents had gone to Durga Puja when the minor committed suicide by hanging herself on the night of October 4, 2022. Tension prevailed in the village after the minor’s suicide. The family says that their daughter has lost her life due to the negligence of the police and that the administration should take action against the accused negligent policemen and arrest the accused as soon as possible.

The victim’s father said that his daughter was in shock after this incident, due to which she ended her life. He said, “The police and administration did not pay attention to the case. The girl had stated that she would end her life if the case was not taken seriously.” In this case, SP Ajit Kumar Sinha has transferred the SO to police lines and suspended the sub-inspector.

It is notable that, the case went viral after the victim committed suicide. While the locals were enraged by the incident, questions are now being raised about the police. In defence, the police have said that they had sent the victim for medical examination after receiving the complaint. A case was also registered against 2 people on the complaint of the family. The whole matter is now being investigated.

Ambedkar Nagar Superintendent of Police Ajit Kumar Sinha said, “On September 16, we received a complaint by the victim’s family and registered a case under Section 363 (kidnapping) and 364 of the Indian Penal Code. After the victim returned home, her medical examination was conducted and her statement was recorded under section 164. In her statement, she said that two unidentified people raped her. Then the sections of gangrape and those of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were added to the FIR.”

Mathrubhumi News issues a public apology to RSS for a defamatory and factually incorrect article published in 2011

OpIndia Staff
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Mathrubhumi News issues a public apology to RSS for a defamatory and factually incorrect article published in 2011

The Malayalam News channel Mathurubhumi News issued a public apology to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in its issue on October 9, 2022, for a defamatory and misleading article written and published by Mathrubhoomi weekly in the year 2011 against the Sangh.

The apology came after the Malayalam news agency lost a legal battle in the Supreme Court, which dismissed its case and transferred it back to the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

The Malayalam News agency was for the last 11 years fighting a legal battle against a defamation suit filed by RSS for publishing an article that was allegedly defamatory towards the organisation.

The Mathrabhumi editor’s apology came in response to the article with the cover page title “Bheekarathude Virus” (Virus of Terrorism). It was part of a series of five articles written and published from February 27, 2011, to March 2011, titled “Will RSS Terrorism Swallow India ?” The article was authored by Badri Reyna.

Apology carried in Mathrubhumi weekly (source: Twitter handle @vskjaipur)

The details of the legal battle between Mathrubhumi and RSS

The lawsuit was filed against Mathrubhumi Illustrated Weekly based on a complaint filed by the RSS’s Kerala State Secretary in 2013, alleging offences punishable under Sections 120B, 153A, 500, and 34 of the IPC.

The complainant alleged that the article written and published by Mathrubhumi weekly contained defamatory and deceptive imputations, harming RSS’s public reputation.

The defamation case filed by then-RSS Prath Karyavah P Gopalankutty Master was heard in the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

On March 19, 2013, Magistrate Court Adv KK Baralaram issued a legal notice to Mathrubhumi, pointing out that its report was factually incorrect. It claimed that the Mathrubhumi article was based on a statement submitted before the Panchkula Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Haryana by RSS activist Swami Aseemanand, who was allegedly pressured by the erstwhile UPA government to deliver false testimony in order to defame the RSS.

The notice further read that Swami Aseemanand was acquitted by the court in 2019 after it was discovered that the statement he was forced to sign was false.

It may be recalled that in the Samjhauta Express blast case, though LeT was initially blamed and a Pakistani national Asif Qasmani was named as the main accused, the proceedings of the case took a surprising turn when RSS activists Swami Aseemanand and others were blamed. After an expose by Times Now claimed that the UPA government might have let the Pakistani suspects go and pinned the blame on RSS, the BJP had stated that it was another attempt by the then UPA government to further their Hindu-terror agenda.

Mathrubhumi’s initial explanation to the RSS legal notice was that the article was written by Badri Reyna based on his studies and research. The Malayalam news channel then approached the Kerala High Court with an appeal to dismiss the case, claiming that the RSS State Secretary did not have locus standi (right) to represent the organisation.

However, the Kerala High Court rejecting the plea, ruled in January this year that because the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is a definite and identifiable body, its members have the locus standi (right) to file a defamation complaint.

In March 2022, Mathrubhumi approached the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court verdict, but the Supreme court bench comprising Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Aniruddha Bose had in its March 25 order refused to entertain a petition challenging a Kerala High Court order.

“Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner and on perusal of the record, we do not find any reason to entertain this petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. The petition seeking special leave to appeal is, accordingly, dismissed,” the apex court said.

Upholding the verdict of the Kerala HC, the Supreme Court ordered to continue the case in the trial court. Accordingly, the case continued in the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

Meanwhile, after 11 years of legal battle, Mathrubhumi has now published an apology accepting that the article was factually incorrect.

Altnews’ Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair were never even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize: Details of the PR Hoax

OpIndia Staff
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Altnews’ Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair were never even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize: Details of the PR Hoax

Only hours after the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the name of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Times Now exposed a massive public relations (PR) hoax by revealing how AltNews’ Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha were never Nobel Peace Prize favourites, a claim that OpIndia had already debunked.

Earlier in the day, Human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights group Center for Civil Liberties were declared the joint winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to document human rights abuses.

Prior to the announcement of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner, it was widely reported that Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha, founders of the fake news factory that calls itself the “fact-checking” website Alt News were among the list of prospective winners for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The propaganda was peddled after TIME magazine listed some of the shortlisted candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 that included the names of Alt News Pratik Sinha and Zubair. 

Times Now has, however, debunked this claim and revealed how this circulating rumour about Mohammad Zubair and Pratik Sinha being among the shortlisted candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 was nothing but a PR hoax.

It is worth noting that OpIndia had already dismissed the claim, pointing out how there is no such thing as an official list from which the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, and that the names cited by TIME Magazine were simply speculations made by a media organisation whose ideology is anchored in the global left.

Now, Times Now has also exposed how the names of the duo that was circulated in a Time magazine article were part of the “biggest Nobel PR con job.”

Times Now writes to the Norwegian Nobel Committee which denies that there was any shortlist of candidates

In order to determine whether there was any factual basis for Time Magazine to name Zubair and Pratik as contenders for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, Times Now wrote to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which categorically denied that there was any shortlist of candidates.

In an email response to Times Now, the Nobel Committee emphasised that it does not provide the names of nominees to the media or the contenders themselves. Furthermore, for the next 50 years, the Committee will not reveal such nomination-related data.

The Committee further emphasised in its statement that these advanced hypotheses are the result of pure speculation.

Notably, nominees for the Nobel Prize in any category cannot be revealed until fifty years have passed. That is part of the reward committee’s rule. “Neither the names of nominators nor of nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize may be divulged until 50 years have elapsed,” says the official website of the Nobel Prize.

Times Now further pointed out how Time magazine had cited to three sources in its report on nominees: a Reuters survey, which did not include Pratik and Zubair’s names; bookmakers’ odds, which also did not include the duo; and the PRIO director’s list.’

Zubair and Pratik’s names appeared solely on the director of the Oslo Peace Research Institute’s personal list. For the record, the director has no say in who is nominated or who wins.

Henrik Urdal, the director, only mentioned Zubair and Pratik as “other worthy contestants” in passing. Their names were not even on the PRIO director’s list of five recommendations.

TIME magazine’s list of the shortlisted candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 included names of Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha

It may be recalled that TIME Magazine had placed Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha, founders of the fake news factory that calls itself the “fact-checking” website Alt News, among the list of prospective winners for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, WHO, David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg, Alexey Navalny among others.

Mohammad Zubair is the man responsible for unleashing the wave of Islamist violence in India that resulted in the death of at least 6 Hindus, including Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur and Umesh Kolhe in Amravati. These brutal deaths were a direct fallout of Mohammed Zubair’s dangerous dog-whistling against ex-BJP leader Nupur Sharma, which instigated Islamists, who then went on to kill the Hindus who came out in support of the BJP leader. Not only this, Zubair was arrested in June for hurting religious sentiments, destroying evidence, and other charges majorly belonged to Pakistan, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and other middle-east nations.

Considering all these facts are in the public domain, it is incredibly ironic that the Times Magazine included his name on a list of qualified contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize 2022.

While making a case for their win, Time Magazine described Sinha and Zubair as crusaders battling misinformation online, conveniently missing out and pointing out occasions when the two were caught red-handed spreading fake news and falsehoods. 

“Journalists Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair, co-founders of Indian fact-checking website AltNews, have relentlessly been battling misinformation in India, where the Hindu nationalist BJP party has been accused of frequently stoking discrimination against Muslims,” read the article in TIME Magazine, dressing up pro-Congress propagandists as ‘journalists’ and revealing the organisation’s penchant for vilifying the democratically elected government of India, besides scaremongering over the imaginary institutional “discrimination” against Muslims. 

As Time’s report authored by Sanya Mansoor got published, several leftist Indian media houses like The News Minute, Outlook India, NDTV, The Wire, The Pioneer etc as well as the liberal cabal jumped to the front to announce that the duo got “nominated” for the Nobel Peace Prize or at least suggested that they are indeed in the race.

OpIndia had, however, debunked the claim by pointing out how there is no such thing as an official list from which the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, and that the names cited by TIME Magazine were simply speculations made by a media organisation whose ideology is anchored in the global left. But cheerleaders of Zubair and Sinha, who extol them for “fact-checking”, could not distinguish between a shortlist and a speculative list by a media organisation.

Reuters journalist blames Indian Hindus for Islamist violence against Hindus in Leicester; Scroll amplifies the fake narrative

Dibakar Dutta
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Reuters journalist blames Indian Hindus for Islamist violence against Hindus in Leicester; Scroll amplifies the fake narrative

On Tuesday (October 4), Reuters journalist Rina Chandran blamed the Indian Hindus for violence perpetrated by radical Islamists in Leicester against the Hindu community.

In a propaganda piece published in ‘Context’ (a media platform run by Thomas Reuters Foundation), Chandran alleged that disinformation, which supposedly originated in India, was the cause of Hindu-Muslim unrest in Leicester city in England’s East Midlands region.

“It was a social media storm – mostly cooked up a continent away – that materialised in real life in Leicester, where police made almost 50 arrests and a community was left in tatters,” she alleged.

Rina Chandran
Screengrab of the article by Rina Chandran

“Rumour had it that a Muslim girl had been kidnapped and a Hindu temple had sent masked thugs into combat,” she wrote, without mentioning that both these rumours were conceived in Leicester and disseminated by the Islamists living there.

Opindia reported how Islamists had blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) for supposedly trying to kidnap a 15-year-old Muslim girl. A Hindu man was dubbed as a paedophile and his address was leaked on Facebook, as part of the onslaught. Later, it turned out to be fake news.

“Add in local fury over an India-Pakistan cricket match, and Hindu and Muslim men were soon fighting on the streets of central England,” Rina Chandran resorted to false balance despite the fact that it was only the Hindu community that has been at the receiving end of violence.

The ‘brown sepoy’ shrewdly pointed out the fake stories without specifying the group that spread it in the first place. For the fake abduction story of a Muslim girl, she conceded that it was debunked by the police without mentioning that Islamists deliberately spread it to create a foundation for violence against Hindus.

“…Police took to social media themselves, saying they had fully investigated reports of three men approaching a teenaged girl in an attempted kidnap, and found no truth whatsoever to the online story,” she had written.

Opindia had also reported how Islamists tried to mainstream the conspiracy theory that ‘truckloads of RSS workers’ were brought to Leicester by a travel agency named ‘Angel Tours’, with the support of a local Hindu temple.

“Fact-checkers also found no truth to claims that gangs of masked thugs were bussed into Leicester,” Rina Chandran wrote, again without mentioning the community that was at the helm of this fake news.

Bizarre fact checks

She then relied on ‘experts’ who claimed that disinformation that supposedly led to the unrest in Leicester came from India. “Some 80% of tweets with geographic coordinates, or geo-tagged information, were connected to India, Logically said,” the Reuters journalist wrote.

Logically’s claim that ‘fake news’ was manufactured in India was based on the fact that the majority of the tweets about Leicester violence originated from India.

“The ratio of tweets geo-tagged to the UK versus those geo-tagged to India was remarkably high for what, ostensibly, was a domestic incident. The involvement of high-profile figures in India setting the discourse was a key element,” a spokesperson claimed.

BBC made a similar claim based on Indians posting tweets with hashtags such as #Leicester, #HindusUnderAttack and #HindusUnderattackinUK

Given that the Hindu population in India is close to a billion and that the community was concerned about the atrocities committed by Islamists in far-off Leicester, it explains why most tweets demanding justice for Hindus were from India.

A Hindu temple was indeed desecrated by an Islamist, a fact testified by the police and conceded by a Muslim journalist. This however did not Rina Chandran from claiming, “Many of the misleading posts alleging that Hindus and Hindu sites were being attacked came from India, the analysis showed.”

The brown sepoy then went a step ahead and blamed the ruling BJP government for events that unfolded in Leicester in England. “Some commentators and rights groups say India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has a hand in the social-media warfare that targets religious and ethnic minorities,” she wrote.

Screengrab of the scroll article

Nonetheless, the left-propagandist website Scroll republished her article and further amplified her propaganda piece among its Indian reader base.

Rina Chandran and her contentious views

The Reuters journalist then cited Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Equality Labs and dubious ‘fact-checkers’ such as Pratik Sinha to further her claims.

None of this is surprising, however, given that Rina Chandran has a history of peddling fake news. For years now, Chandran has been using social media platforms to vilify Hindus and make false allegations against them. In April this year, Chandran resorted to scaremongering and spreading fake news alleging that Hindu goons in India were destroying Muslim livelihoods, but without providing any evidence to prove her claims.

Rina Chandran
Source: Twitter

On one occasion, she has also equated Hindus with white supremacists, underscoring her hatred for the followers of one of the oldest and most composite faiths in the world.

Rina Chandran
Screengrab of the tweet

Rina Chandran is not new to drawing false equivalence or defaming Hinduism at a global level, based on her skewed understanding of faith. She has also cast aspersions on Indian democracy and the autonomy of its institutions through her tweets. And these credentials made her a worthy candidate for leftist rag Scroll to piggyback on the claims made by her and peddle the false narrative that Hindus in India are responsible for the havoc wreaked by Islamists in Leicester.

Mahsa Amini died due to illness and not because of police beatings, claims Iran

OpIndia Staff
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Mahsa Amini died due to illness and not because of police beatings, claims Iran

Three weeks after the death of an Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini, Iran’s Forensic Organisation revealed a report stating that the woman had died due to illness and not due to blows and beatings given to her in police custody. “Mahsa Amini’s death was not caused by blows to the head and vital organs and limbs of the body. Her death was related to surgery for a brain tumour at the age of eight”, the medical report read.

Mahsa Amini dies after being taken into custody by ‘morality police’

According to the reports, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was abducted by the ‘morality police’ in Tehran for not complying with the mandatory hijab laws of the country. Amini who was on a pleasure trip to Tehran had not covered her hair properly in the hijab. She was arrested by the police and then beaten in the police van while being taken to a detention centre, dubbed as a ‘re-education class’ for not conforming to the country’s mandatory hijab rules.

The police took the woman to the police station on Vozara Avenue where already dozens of other women were being held for not following the hijab rules. They beat the women and schooled them about the proper dress rules of the country. Mahsa was brutally beaten and taken to the hospital after she stopped responding in the custody. The doctors at the hospital stated that her heart continued to beat but her brain was no longer functioning.

The Police back then had tried to cover up the matter. The Tehran Police released a statement claiming that Mahsa was already suffering from a heart problem and that she was never beaten in the custody. “The police cooperated and provided her immediate medical facility”, the statement read. The girl however died three days after the incident.

Amini’s custodial death sparks anti-hijab protests across Iran

Her killing sparked massive protests in Iran, with women taking to the streets to up raise their voices against the regime. Several ladies including school-going girls burnt their hijabs in sympathy with the tragedy, while women all throughout the world trimmed their hair in the protest. Protests erupted in dozens of places around the country in the aftermath of her death after which the government retaliated with a harsh crackdown.

Meanwhile, in reaction to the death of the Iranian woman, the US placed further penalties on Iranian government officials on Thursday, as protests engulfed dozens of Iranian cities for weeks and developed into the broadest threat to Iran’s authority in years. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified seven high-ranking leaders for punitive measures as a result of Iran’s internet shutdown, suppression of free expression, and violence against protesters and civilians.

Sanctions have been imposed on Iran’s interior and communications ministers, as well as many law enforcement officials. In recent months, Iran’s state-sponsored ethical patrols have increased their appearance in major cities, intimidating and pulling women from the streets due to their attire choices.

Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the hijab became mandatory in public for Iranian women and girls above the age of nine in Iran. Many Iranian women have broken the prohibition and pushed the limits of what officials consider acceptable apparel throughout the years.

Delhi HC reserves plea of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan challenging the order declaring him ‘BC’

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi HC reserves plea of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan challenging the order declaring him ‘BC’

On Friday, the Delhi High Court reserved its order on the plea of AAP MLA and an accused in the Waqf Board irregularities case Amanatullah Khan, challenging the Delhi police order declaring him a bad character (BC).

SHO Jamia Nagar had prepared a dossier on March 28 proposing opening a “history sheet” against Khan and labelling him a “Bad Character” as he had been previously involved in 18 cases. On March 29 and 30, the ACP, New Friends Colony, and the DCP, South-East, respectively, approved the decision.

He began his business in Jamia Nagar and quickly formed a group with people from his village and nearby villages, engaging in land grabbing and illegal building projects. Intimidation, threatening, bodily harm, riots, impeding the performance of public officials’ duties, and fostering hatred between groups and communities were among the most common charges brought against him, according to a report from the Jamia Nagar police station.

According to Delhi Police, Khan was declared a “history-sheeter” and “bad character” on March 30 and has more than 18 FIRs registered against him. Police claim that Khan is declared a ‘history-sheeter’ and a ‘Bad Character’ because he is a habitual offender and has serious cases such as land-grabbing and assault lodged against him.

The order came just days after a court last week granted bail to AAP MLA saying that “prima facie the allegations against the accused are not grave and serious in nature”.

The FIR states that Khan engaged in a number of irregularities while serving as the head of the Delhi Waqf Board, including illegally hiring 32 people while flouting all rules and regulations.

According to the CEO of the Waqf Board’s testimony, the court found that it was “prima facie demonstrated that the accused, as Chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, proceeded with the recruitment in violation of the Delhi government’s instruction, just to favour his relatives and members of his constituency.” 

The court ruled that there was no material on record to support Khan receiving bribes from any contractual employees.

Noticeably, Delhi police had registered 3 FIRs against the supporters of Amanatullah Khan for attacking an ACP and ACB, and for possessing illegal weapons and live cartridges and Rs 10 lakh cash. Two FIRs have been registered against his aides Hamid Ali & Kausar Imam Siddique, and a 3rd for blocking the raiding party of ACB in the discharge of government duty.

BJP files complaint against Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MLA Rajendra Pal over conversion rally, accuses them of attempting to incite riots

OpIndia Staff
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BJP files complaint against Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MLA Rajendra Pal over conversion rally, accuses them of attempting to incite riots

In relation to a conversion video, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lodged a complaint against AAP minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday. On October 5, the Delhi BJP released a video of Gautam taking part in a ceremony when almost 10,000 Hindus converted to Buddhism.

The AAP minister and other guests made a vow not to worship Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, Goddess Gauri, Ganpati, or any other Hindu God after joining Buddhism.

On Friday, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta went to the Parliament Street police station to file a case against Gautam. The BJP accused the AAP minister Rajendra Gautam of “provoking general public at large against the Hindus and subsequently defaming them to incite riot, violence and public nuisance by making statements in Ambedkar Bhavan and sharing the same on social media platforms.”

The complaint accused Arvind Kejriwal of collaborating with Gautam, adding, “Arvind Kejriwal in conspiracy with Rajendra Pal Gautam and other unknown persons used social media platforms to build a tensed situation by spreading such videos. It can be made out that the posts quoted above are prima facie acts of criminal nature with criminal motive of dividing the country on the basis of religion resulting in violence, riots and the overall spread of enmity between various religions.”

Further, the complaint reads, “I shall be grateful if you kindly investigate the matter by Special Investigation team and take appropriate steps to unearth the conspiracy and motive behind this, as prescribed by law and charge the accused criminally or take any other action as you may deem fit in these above-mentioned circumstances.”

Gupta and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari held a news conference earlier today, accusing the AAP administration of “anti-Hindu” acts and disrespecting Hindu deities.

Tiwari stated that this is a slap in the face to Hinduism and Buddhism. “AAP ministers are attempting to incite riots. The minister should immediately be removed from the party. We’re submitting a complaint against him,” he added. 

Gautam has insulted Hindu deities, said Adesh Gupta, who was also present at the press conference. Gupta stated that Kejriwal’s minister Rajendra Gautam’s insulting of Hindu deities is unacceptable and that he should be penalised. He asserted that the AAP’s history has always been one of inciting hatred and denigrating the Hindu faith.

Rajendra Pal Gautam, AAP MLA (Seemapuri), was sighted at a ceremony when 10,000 Hindus got converted to Buddhism on Wednesday (October 5). The Buddhist Society of India hosted the contentious event in the Dr BR Ambedkar Bhavan in Jhandewalan, New Delhi.

Gautam, the Delhi Cabinet’s Social Welfare Minister, rushed to Twitter to celebrate the widespread conversion of Hindus. The ceremony coincided with the Hindu festival of Dusshera, which commemorates Lord Ram’s triumph over Ravana.

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